I run both in mono red burn. They still yet to disapoint.
Same, they're an easy 4+4. Feels kind of nuts sometimes, and even the floor of these cards is okayish at three mana.
Even as a mono red player, I'm glad we have Wildgrowth Walker in the format to keep things balanced, that thing just continues to hose mono red. The other matchups are pretty good across the board.
As a Magic fan and consumer, I personally am firmly against any change that pulls their customers towards the tempting yet treatcherous booster lottery. I dislike boosters like these and showdown boosters that are only made for cracking and hoping to get lucky, and I dislike masterpieces because they increase the value variance and at the same time tempt gullible people, those that are willing to take a chance even though they know that the house always wins, to buy boosters and hope to get a lottery card.
Why? Because not getting rewarded for those gambles, which is the average result, leads to disappointment and the feeling of having been duped, and those feelings do not create long lasting customers and new loyal Magic players. It provides a short term cash grab, but turns people away in the long term. That's not a good long term plan for the game as a whole.
Look at it this way, there are 2 golden tickets in each pack! Less **opens booster** “meh”, and more ** opens good stuff ** “YEAh!!!!!!”
Triple the rares at more than triple the price does not increase the meh to yeah ratio. Even if we disregard the commons and the fact that you can't use this to play limited, which is actually some of the inherent value of regular booster packs, you basically get a random uncommon and a random foil for $1. Would you buy that?
I'm happy that they hit KCI, the card, and not Stirrings and Opal. The splash damage would be unreasonable.
Oh and it's sooo fashionable on the internet these days to read a statement, ANY statement, and go "oh but I have some superior insight, this is what they're really saying, it's part of a bigger plot to destroy everything that we love". I'm so tired of the "me against the world, wake up sheeple" underground wannabe attitude that people put on like a pair of new jeans so that they can feel unique and important.
8 didn't they only do 4 last time wonder if they value goes down.
8 decks per display does not mean 8 different decks, in case that's your question.
Generally speaking, most preconstructed/curated MTG products start out awesome, then they get slowly and gradually watered down, then discontinued and replaced by something else that follows the same trajectory. It happened with FTV, Commander, Duel Decks, Event Decks and Clash Packs, and it is likely to happen with Challenger Decks and Spellbooks as well.
Now this is only the second set of Challenger decks, so I expect it to still be great. But I do expect the 2023 edition to be terrible.
Boring answer, but it's a healthy mix of both. To win, say, a GP you need both. But new/bad players often blame bad luck when they lose instead of looking closely at their own decisions and taking responsibility for everything that they could in fact control, while they feel like they rightfully deserve every win they get and ignore their luck in those instances.
Like it or not, this is part of what makes Magic so successful. You can come in as a new player, get some wins against better players and feel good about it, which makes you come back for more and improve. But anyone who takes this game seriously, needs to make a big efford to identify every mistake they did that was under their control and own those losses to improve, instead of shaking losses off as bad luck. It's harder than it seems, but this is a big part of what separates okayish players from the good ones.
Also, don't complain about bad luck, even when there was nothing you could do. You're being bad company, and you're also tilting yourself. Just be quiet and move on.
Additionally, it mitigates the amount of time you get stuck playing "that guy" (which is often a big boon in many people's books).
Shouldn't "that guy" also get to play Magic? I mean yeah, he's annoying and/or smells, but he's still a worthy opponent, and part of what makes this game so beautiful is that it brings people together and give them an easy, safe and non-awkward platform to communicate through, regardless of social skills. Don't take that away from "that guy", he needs all the social interaction he can get so that he might one day stop being "that guy".
Edit; I do agree that player-chosen pairings at FNM and higher is very, very unlikely.
... it's a white 3/3 for 3 mana! That's crazy efficient for a white creature, at least for an uncommon. A great ability tacked onto that is pretty nutty.
Creatures seem big in this set in general, a lot of the Gruul and Simic beaters are very beefy.
If you dont get paired with people and you simply seek out an opponent that is available in a store , it will be bad too, as it further increases the "anti-social" part, as some players will not be as "liked" as others and if nobody or just less players want to play them, its not really a good social gathering anymore ; thats problematic in my view.
Some might seek out the "easy" opponents just to get more wins, which is also problematic.
Pairings are fair and neutral and you get to play against different opponents.
If you get to choose who you want to play, thats just not going to end well.
This is true and important. Getting paired with opponents that you don't get to choose is a HUGE part of the social aspect of events, and cutting it would make FNM a lot worse. It would get incredibly awkward. Shy and awkward players could get to play less, have a bad experience and not come back.
This season I'm gonna T4 Chainwhirler and then Skewer your x/4.
This, Wizards's Lightning, Shock, L. Strike, Viashino Pyromancer and Fanatical Firebrand, fueled by Frenzy. That's my plan. That's a LOT of direct damage. Glad UW got some incidental lifegain in this set.
Even as a mono red player, I'm glad we have Wildgrowth Walker in the format to keep things balanced, that thing just continues to hose mono red. The other matchups are pretty good across the board.
Oh and it's sooo fashionable on the internet these days to read a statement, ANY statement, and go "oh but I have some superior insight, this is what they're really saying, it's part of a bigger plot to destroy everything that we love". I'm so tired of the "me against the world, wake up sheeple" underground wannabe attitude that people put on like a pair of new jeans so that they can feel unique and important.
Generally speaking, most preconstructed/curated MTG products start out awesome, then they get slowly and gradually watered down, then discontinued and replaced by something else that follows the same trajectory. It happened with FTV, Commander, Duel Decks, Event Decks and Clash Packs, and it is likely to happen with Challenger Decks and Spellbooks as well.
Now this is only the second set of Challenger decks, so I expect it to still be great. But I do expect the 2023 edition to be terrible.
I hope I'm wrong.
Like it or not, this is part of what makes Magic so successful. You can come in as a new player, get some wins against better players and feel good about it, which makes you come back for more and improve. But anyone who takes this game seriously, needs to make a big efford to identify every mistake they did that was under their control and own those losses to improve, instead of shaking losses off as bad luck. It's harder than it seems, but this is a big part of what separates okayish players from the good ones.
Also, don't complain about bad luck, even when there was nothing you could do. You're being bad company, and you're also tilting yourself. Just be quiet and move on.
Edit; I do agree that player-chosen pairings at FNM and higher is very, very unlikely.
Creatures seem big in this set in general, a lot of the Gruul and Simic beaters are very beefy.
Minor gripe of course, I'm stoked for upcoming sets.
This, Wizards's Lightning, Shock, L. Strike, Viashino Pyromancer and Fanatical Firebrand, fueled by Frenzy. That's my plan. That's a LOT of direct damage. Glad UW got some incidental lifegain in this set.
Great card for limited, trash everywhere else of course. That's ok.