MTG is not a bad thing in the same way that video games are not a bad thing. They're fine if you do them a little bit and can even be beneficial. Anything in excess is detrimental to you some how.
You realize that you can report stores doing anything like this to Wizards, right? They have an email you can contact specifically for this kind of issue, and Wizards will investigate and take action from there.
Stores can get in huge trouble for even selling counterfeit cards, knowingly or unknowingly. If what you say is true, Wizards would send a rep, find the problem, and probably revoke all of their product without compensation. It's against the law, not a "call the cops!" kind of against the law. More of a "Get me a good lawyer." kind of against the law.
As a few other posters have pointed out, Magic is a self regulating market. As it gets more popular, the more valuable the rares will get. As people get tired of paying out the ear, people will leave the game and demand for the products will go down. Prices will drop, and more people will get back in.
Rinse and repeat. It's expensive now, it'll go down when people stop spending money on an unnecessary commodity. No one needs to purchase Magic cards to survive--people who do it as a job a rare exception--so it can be dropped with little consequence by the vast majority of the population.
Wizards won't provide support for a format that they cannot directly interact with. Because of the reserve list, a ton of staples like the $180 Revised Underground Sea will only continue to increase as price, with other Eternal and non-competitive formats like Commander still allowing these cards and increasing the demand for them with no way to supplement the supply.
As a result, as they years go by, things already expensive on the reserved list will climb in price. Eventually, entering Legacy as a format will be a $5,000 excursion, and no one is interested in doing that when Modern exists.
Legacy will die, but not until demand completely outweighs supply and only the most wealthy or preemptive Magic players can remain in the format. It'll take quite some time though, especially since I know so a couple Legacy players who have no interest in Modern whatsoever.
1x Savannah (Revised, EX)
1x Windswept Heath (EX)
2x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2x Ancient Tomb
Pile B:
1x Sword of Fire and Ice(foil) (MM)
1x Karmic Guide(foil) (Judge)
Pile A a million times over. 6 staples =/= 1 foil staple and a judge foil kind of staple. The person trading away pile A would be losing a ton, both in card value and in play value.
Modern does have a Stifle. It's called Trickbind. It's a different effect slightly, but it's still an effect that stops activated and trigger abilities.
I love prevention effects as well as Annihilator. Eldrazi are awesome late game and make opponents really think around how to sacrifice permanents to still have a chance. I've seen people come back from 12 permanent losses, it can be done!
Prevention effects like Humility are amazing because of their complexity. As well as their general "shutdown" effects.
True about the Goyf. However, I was just curious if there was more room for creatures like this to show up in sideboard or anything like that. Nothing is REALLY going to beat Goyf, or Scavenging Ooze in terms of Green two drops, but many of these are one drops so that's also something to consider.
Just figured I'd ask in case I ever want to play something that isn't High Tide, Belcher, Sneak Show, or TES in Legacy and know what creatures to play around with. By the looks, unless it's ridiculously good like Delver, it's got no place in Legacy main or sideboard.
So while browsing through Urza's block cards, I stumbled upon a few select cards that are curiously not used in the format whatsoever... but seem like they could easily be.
While some of them seem less applicable than others, some of these actually seem quite aggressive in the meta, particularly the Hidden Herd, Hidden Gibbons and Hidden Guerrillas.
Just curious what you guys think. Sideboard tech seems viable...
I'm more of a combo player, so creatures don't honestly hit the board too often in my plays... but these seem like they'd be more than ok for sideboard against some decks, and possibly even mainboard depending on the meta.
Play Magic to win. The fun is the competition, not the cute little monsters.
This is a complete opinion and although it may be the trend in your opinion or play group, people SHOULD remember to play Magic for fun occasionally. If winning is fun, play to win. If you have fun with a Johnny combo, play a Johnny combo.
EDH is a less competitive format than anything else because at present, Magic does little to reward EDH and few stores hold tournaments. Though it's moving toward competition, it's certainly not there yet.
Playing to win is only 1 way of looking at it. Our playgroup has a few extremely competitive players, so when I play them I play a deck accordingly. It's stressful, little fun, and makes me just want to play legacy instead.
I like playing EDH because you don't have to win before turn 4. You can have fun enjoying interactions and winning isn't always the case. Have a deck for the hyper competitive and a deck for the fun and casual games. That way you can play with both types of people.
Without accounting them as combo pieces and just stand alone cards, there's a lot to consider. Time Vault was pretty garbage until Urza's Saga. Then it became awful.
So counting that, basically it means taking cards that are just all around awesome, being able to throw them in nearly any deck, and make it better as a result. Still though, will parrot some other lists already. Like almost all of them.
0- Black Lotus Duh. Any deck in Magic can benefit from a three mana advantage on turn 1.
1- Sol Ring Only slightly beating out Mana Vault, Sol Ring untaps and is an immediate 2 mana advantage. Again, more mana, more possibilities, and Sol Ring sits atop a throne of broken with all the other Broken Mana Artifacts.
2- Time Walk Because splashing blue for an extra turn is completely reasonable in nearly any deck in Magic. Extra turns are nice. Especially for 1U.
3- Toss up completely between a few cards. Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Will, and Tinker. All require some degree to build around... but by gum are they all magnificent in their own right.
4- Jace, the Mind Sculptor Because he was the biggest mistake in R&D since all of Ravager Affinity was printed in one set at one time. The bluest of blue cards, Jace is the peak of Planeswalker power.
5- Force of Will? I'll put it here though really it should be a 0. It keeps the entirety of Legacy and almost manages to keep Vintage so. Getting a better five drop is going to be... pretty difficult.
6- Yawgmoth's Bargain Ha. Like Griselbrand, but so much worse.
7- Tooth and Nail Again, probably more of a 9 than a 7, but whatevs. Playing it usually means the end of the game for everyone involved, save for massive multiplayer or EDH games.
8- Griselbrand Such a mistake to print. Especially with Show and Tell still around in Legacy, or even Dream Halls. 14 cards wins the game in Legacy.
9- Iona, Shield of Emeria Not so much a mistake, but still an amazing card in every way. To be honest, aside from #7, probably the most balanced because multicolored decks could still answer to her and no Painter's Servant meant she could still be worked around.
10- Omniscience Again... even on its own it's nuts, but Show and Tell is still a card Wizards.
11- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre Eldrazi are a thing. Indestructible Eldrazi are a different one. Evasion, 4 permanents and 11 life when swinging... gross.
12- Blightsteel Colossus The vintage win condition! But still... 11 power, indestructible, infect. One hit kill.
13- A future future card!
14- Blinkmoth Infusion Winner by default, you awful awful thing.
15- Emrakul, the Aeons Torn Because nothing says 15 CMC like can't be countered, protection from colored spells, extra turn, flying, 15 power, and an almost guaranteed 6 permanents from the enemy field.
16- Draco The biggest dragon in all of Magic P/T wise. And the biggest pain in the ass to get out and keep out.
Land- Tolarian Academy You have to build around this, like with all broken lands... but this was probably one of Magic's greatest R&D mistakes of all time, possibly superseceding even Power Nine. It's conditional, which is why it didn't beat Lotus out, but something about 7 blue mana with the potential to untap multiple times is disgusting, something the Lotus can't do as easily. Built around, this card is ludicrous above nearly any other.
That's the list. Would be different for Legacy or Modern... may post a list for Legacy later since it's really the only format I play. Tarmogoyf just isn't anywhere near a two slot with Time Walk on the board.
Conspiracy is the win condition I would use with this card. Because suddenly, making 7 druids is about the easiest thing in the world, ramp up with elves and lands and then drop him with the conspiracy and then take everything.
Then just big stompy creatures and protection so any time they play a land you can steal it. Could see it happening around turn 5-6 consistently if you built the deck around the concept, depending on if it were EDH or casual.
It'd be different if you were actually missing out on something. The Planeswalkers they chose to print were nothing impressive, they were scarcely playable.
Having short run collectable stuff is what can keep a game alive in both primary and secondary market. Being able to have collectible cards is what can make collectors interested, and Wizards knows that.
If you want to collect these cards, go on eBay and prepare your bank account, because you're going to pay hundreds of dollars for 5 alright cards. If you want to collect them, good luck to yee. These aren't meant to be tournament staple cards, they're meant to be fun things for people at Comicon and for collectors to get their hands on. Nothing requires you to have these cards to be as good a player as anyone else.
Looking back more on this thread, it really comes down to what kind of player you are. Magic broke this down a while back into Timmy's, Johnny's, and Spikes.
Johnnys are the ones who are probably never going to netdeck, because Magic is a creative outlet for them and taking another person's idea, even if to improve it, drastically decreases the creativity in their deck.
Spikes are the "net-deckers" because they play Magic for the purpose of bettering themselves through improving their playstyle and winning at tournaments. Doesn't make them bad players, they're often some of the bests due to competitive experience and lots of play, but the game isn't so much about creativity as it is bettering oneself and one's experience by being better each time the game is played.
Timmy's like big stuff.
Really I suppose that's part of what it comes down to. Truly, Magic Cards like to assemble themselves into decks. It doesn't take a ton of thought to see what cards go together. Caw-Blade put itself together essentially. Throw in good cards, more good cards, chuck in some synergy, BAM! Best deck in Standard, allowing for very little variation. Ravager Affinity was the exact same way!
A competitive environment isn't the most conducive to creativity. It fosters winning, refinement, fluidity, and consistency. EDH and more casual environments, those are where to look for creativity and expression more than anything else, unless you just want to play in a tournament for fun to see how you do, and in that case, more power to you!
MTG is not a bad thing in the same way that video games are not a bad thing. They're fine if you do them a little bit and can even be beneficial. Anything in excess is detrimental to you some how.
Stores can get in huge trouble for even selling counterfeit cards, knowingly or unknowingly. If what you say is true, Wizards would send a rep, find the problem, and probably revoke all of their product without compensation. It's against the law, not a "call the cops!" kind of against the law. More of a "Get me a good lawyer." kind of against the law.
Rinse and repeat. It's expensive now, it'll go down when people stop spending money on an unnecessary commodity. No one needs to purchase Magic cards to survive--people who do it as a job a rare exception--so it can be dropped with little consequence by the vast majority of the population.
As a result, as they years go by, things already expensive on the reserved list will climb in price. Eventually, entering Legacy as a format will be a $5,000 excursion, and no one is interested in doing that when Modern exists.
Legacy will die, but not until demand completely outweighs supply and only the most wealthy or preemptive Magic players can remain in the format. It'll take quite some time though, especially since I know so a couple Legacy players who have no interest in Modern whatsoever.
Pile A a million times over. 6 staples =/= 1 foil staple and a judge foil kind of staple. The person trading away pile A would be losing a ton, both in card value and in play value.
Prevention effects like Humility are amazing because of their complexity. As well as their general "shutdown" effects.
Just figured I'd ask in case I ever want to play something that isn't High Tide, Belcher, Sneak Show, or TES in Legacy and know what creatures to play around with. By the looks, unless it's ridiculously good like Delver, it's got no place in Legacy main or sideboard.
Hidden Gibbons
Hidden Ancients
Hidden Guerrillas
Hidden Herd
Hidden Predators
Hidden Spider
Hidden Stag
While some of them seem less applicable than others, some of these actually seem quite aggressive in the meta, particularly the Hidden Herd, Hidden Gibbons and Hidden Guerrillas.
Just curious what you guys think. Sideboard tech seems viable...
I'm more of a combo player, so creatures don't honestly hit the board too often in my plays... but these seem like they'd be more than ok for sideboard against some decks, and possibly even mainboard depending on the meta.
This is a complete opinion and although it may be the trend in your opinion or play group, people SHOULD remember to play Magic for fun occasionally. If winning is fun, play to win. If you have fun with a Johnny combo, play a Johnny combo.
EDH is a less competitive format than anything else because at present, Magic does little to reward EDH and few stores hold tournaments. Though it's moving toward competition, it's certainly not there yet.
Playing to win is only 1 way of looking at it. Our playgroup has a few extremely competitive players, so when I play them I play a deck accordingly. It's stressful, little fun, and makes me just want to play legacy instead.
I like playing EDH because you don't have to win before turn 4. You can have fun enjoying interactions and winning isn't always the case. Have a deck for the hyper competitive and a deck for the fun and casual games. That way you can play with both types of people.
So counting that, basically it means taking cards that are just all around awesome, being able to throw them in nearly any deck, and make it better as a result. Still though, will parrot some other lists already. Like almost all of them.
0- Black Lotus Duh. Any deck in Magic can benefit from a three mana advantage on turn 1.
1- Sol Ring Only slightly beating out Mana Vault, Sol Ring untaps and is an immediate 2 mana advantage. Again, more mana, more possibilities, and Sol Ring sits atop a throne of broken with all the other Broken Mana Artifacts.
2- Time Walk Because splashing blue for an extra turn is completely reasonable in nearly any deck in Magic. Extra turns are nice. Especially for 1U.
3- Toss up completely between a few cards. Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Will, and Tinker. All require some degree to build around... but by gum are they all magnificent in their own right.
4- Jace, the Mind Sculptor Because he was the biggest mistake in R&D since all of Ravager Affinity was printed in one set at one time. The bluest of blue cards, Jace is the peak of Planeswalker power.
5- Force of Will? I'll put it here though really it should be a 0. It keeps the entirety of Legacy and almost manages to keep Vintage so. Getting a better five drop is going to be... pretty difficult.
6- Yawgmoth's Bargain Ha. Like Griselbrand, but so much worse.
7- Tooth and Nail Again, probably more of a 9 than a 7, but whatevs. Playing it usually means the end of the game for everyone involved, save for massive multiplayer or EDH games.
8- Griselbrand Such a mistake to print. Especially with Show and Tell still around in Legacy, or even Dream Halls. 14 cards wins the game in Legacy.
9- Iona, Shield of Emeria Not so much a mistake, but still an amazing card in every way. To be honest, aside from #7, probably the most balanced because multicolored decks could still answer to her and no Painter's Servant meant she could still be worked around.
10- Omniscience Again... even on its own it's nuts, but Show and Tell is still a card Wizards.
11- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre Eldrazi are a thing. Indestructible Eldrazi are a different one. Evasion, 4 permanents and 11 life when swinging... gross.
12- Blightsteel Colossus The vintage win condition! But still... 11 power, indestructible, infect. One hit kill.
13- A future future card!
14- Blinkmoth Infusion Winner by default, you awful awful thing.
15- Emrakul, the Aeons Torn Because nothing says 15 CMC like can't be countered, protection from colored spells, extra turn, flying, 15 power, and an almost guaranteed 6 permanents from the enemy field.
16- Draco The biggest dragon in all of Magic P/T wise. And the biggest pain in the ass to get out and keep out.
Land- Tolarian Academy You have to build around this, like with all broken lands... but this was probably one of Magic's greatest R&D mistakes of all time, possibly superseceding even Power Nine. It's conditional, which is why it didn't beat Lotus out, but something about 7 blue mana with the potential to untap multiple times is disgusting, something the Lotus can't do as easily. Built around, this card is ludicrous above nearly any other.
That's the list. Would be different for Legacy or Modern... may post a list for Legacy later since it's really the only format I play. Tarmogoyf just isn't anywhere near a two slot with Time Walk on the board.
Then just big stompy creatures and protection so any time they play a land you can steal it. Could see it happening around turn 5-6 consistently if you built the deck around the concept, depending on if it were EDH or casual.
Having short run collectable stuff is what can keep a game alive in both primary and secondary market. Being able to have collectible cards is what can make collectors interested, and Wizards knows that.
If you want to collect these cards, go on eBay and prepare your bank account, because you're going to pay hundreds of dollars for 5 alright cards. If you want to collect them, good luck to yee. These aren't meant to be tournament staple cards, they're meant to be fun things for people at Comicon and for collectors to get their hands on. Nothing requires you to have these cards to be as good a player as anyone else.
Johnnys are the ones who are probably never going to netdeck, because Magic is a creative outlet for them and taking another person's idea, even if to improve it, drastically decreases the creativity in their deck.
Spikes are the "net-deckers" because they play Magic for the purpose of bettering themselves through improving their playstyle and winning at tournaments. Doesn't make them bad players, they're often some of the bests due to competitive experience and lots of play, but the game isn't so much about creativity as it is bettering oneself and one's experience by being better each time the game is played.
Timmy's like big stuff.
Really I suppose that's part of what it comes down to. Truly, Magic Cards like to assemble themselves into decks. It doesn't take a ton of thought to see what cards go together. Caw-Blade put itself together essentially. Throw in good cards, more good cards, chuck in some synergy, BAM! Best deck in Standard, allowing for very little variation. Ravager Affinity was the exact same way!
A competitive environment isn't the most conducive to creativity. It fosters winning, refinement, fluidity, and consistency. EDH and more casual environments, those are where to look for creativity and expression more than anything else, unless you just want to play in a tournament for fun to see how you do, and in that case, more power to you!