Magic: the Gathering: the Thread

[Dontrike]

Eternal Masters previews started and so far we got.

Chrome Mox - Mythic
Jace 2 - Mythic
Bloodbraid Elf - Uncommon
Deathrite Shaman - Rare
Goblin Charbelcher - Rare
Nimble Mongoose - Common
Daze - Uncommon
Sneak Attack - Mythic
Necropotence - Mythic

So far so good, but then again MM2 was looking good until we got past a quarter of the set, but the hopes have risen on this a bit.

[Dontrike]

Things went a bit down hill for EMA with a few spoilers, but there is still some hope.

[endersblade]

Things went a bit down hill for EMA with a few spoilers, but there is still some hope.

Went DOWN? Fuck, every time they update that list I have an orgasm. Many of the commons they've spoiled so far are pretty solid, and the rares/mythics are dreamy. Reprints of Tops, Tutors, Necropotence, big daddy jace, hell, even the uncommon Animate Dead is fucking amazing. And a non-Legends, non-promo Karakas?

This is one of those sets where I'm not so much looking at "Oh, I'mma use the SHIT out of that", but rather that many of these were in desperate need of reprints to (hopefully) bring the prices down, and give more access to cards that everyone wants but can't afford. I'm hoping this brings Tops down under the $10 range, preferably under $5.

[Pendulous]

Wooow, they reprinted Balance. Wasn't that one of those super rare, super expensive Alpha cards?

And Counterspell is a common? Huh.

Animate Dead still has incredibly complicated rules. I get the reason, but I've had thirty minute long discussions about the wording of certain cards with my friends. Animate Dead does exactly what it sounds like it does.

Ichorid is cool, a repeatable Unearth. I would love if it had trample though.

I've always wanted to build a deck with Sneak Attack and Kiki Jiki and other cards to abuse "comes into play" abilities.

Gaea's Blessing, awesome. Would work great in my blue/green deck. Regal Force would be great with my elves.

TIMBERWATCH ELF! Stupid expensive card I love so much.

WIREWOOD SYMBIOTE! Stupid expensive card I love so much.

God. I wish the really cool elves like Shaman of the Pack weren't part black. I get it has to be, but damnit.

And some really cool lands reprinted so far.

I'm with Enders. So far the set looks bloody awesome.

[endersblade]

TIMBERWATCH ELF! Stupid expensive card I love so much.

WIREWOOD SYMBIOTE! Stupid expensive card I love so much.

What's expensive about them? Timberwatch is 3 CMC, and costs around ten cents. Wirewood Symbiote is 1 CMC, and is about a buck. (Which surprised me). Neither the CMCs nor the actual cost of these cards is 'stupid expensive'.

Balance was printed in A/B/U/R/4th, as well as FTV: Exiled, Judge Promo, and Arena Promo. It's also banned in EDH lol.

[Pendulous]

What's expensive about them? Timberwatch is 3 CMC, and costs around ten cents. Wirewood Symbiote is 1 CMC, and is about a buck. (Which surprised me). Neither the CMCs nor the actual cost of these cards is 'stupid expensive'.

I meant money-wise. They were like $1.50-$2 each last time I looked for em, which to me is a lot for uncommons. I think I bought a couple Timberwatches, but now I might have to find a spot for some more symbiotes.

[Dontrike]

There are only a few problems when it comes to the rarity of the card(s).

Diminishing Returns should not have been rare, even for limited. Control Magic at least is powerful in limited and while it is still stupid it becomes rare that does have a reason for it, although it could have been many other cards that have more value than 50 cents. Diminishing Returns on the other hand isn't even that great in the places it is used.

Worldgorger Dragon being mythic bugs the crap out of me, but with Animate Dead in it probably had to be unless Animated Dead was rare too, which would be just as stupid.

Karakas being mythic makes no sense, at least when it comes to limited, but I'm sure we all know the reason it is mythic is because of the power it has elsewhere and to protect collectors for some reason. For limited it really should be rare, unless there are a dozen legendaries that would make this too abused.

Unexpectedly Absent being rare here seems a bit off. At uncommon it wouldn't have done much more harm than Swords to Plowshares would.

One thing I am surprised by is that Counterspell is common and not uncommon, but I'm good with it.

After that the set is shaping up well, but it doesn't have too much room for error right now.

[endersblade]

I meant money-wise. They were like $1.50-$2 each last time I looked for em, which to me is a lot for uncommons. I think I bought a couple Timberwatches, but now I might have to find a spot for some more symbiotes.

Path to Exile and Sensei's Divining Top would like to have a word with you about expensive uncommons lol.

- - - Updated - - -

There are only a few problems when it comes to the rarity of the card(s).

Diminishing Returns should not have been rare, even for limited. Control Magic at least is powerful in limited and while it is still stupid it becomes rare that does have a reason for it, although it could have been many other cards that have more value than 50 cents. Diminishing Returns on the other hand isn't even that great in the places it is used.

Worldgorger Dragon being mythic bugs the crap out of me, but with Animate Dead in it probably had to be unless Animated Dead was rare too, which would be just as stupid.

Karakas being mythic makes no sense, at least when it comes to limited, but I'm sure we all know the reason it is mythic is because of the power it has elsewhere and to protect collectors for some reason. For limited it really should be rare, unless there are a dozen legendaries that would make this too abused.

Unexpectedly Absent being rare here seems a bit off. At uncommon it wouldn't have done much more harm than Swords to Plowshares would.

One thing I am surprised by is that Counterspell is common and not uncommon, but I'm good with it.

After that the set is shaping up well, but it doesn't have too much room for error right now.

I was more surprised they are printing Rorix Bladewing. Talk about a junk rare.

[Dontrike]

I was more surprised they are printing Rorix Bladewing. Talk about a junk rare.

Call the Skybreaker is even more so. At least Rorix hasn't seen a lot of reprints,. but yeah all of these 50 cent rares are getting a bit annoying. It isn't as bad as MM2 so far, but I guess we won't know the damage until Friday.

[Dontrike]

The rarity upshifts in this set are so weird and yet plenty of cards needed a down shift in a set like this.

[Pendulous]

Hey, Mesa Enchantress got downgraded to uncommon at least. Though Argothian as mythic sucks. At least it got a reprint.

[Dontrike]

Hey, Mesa Enchantress got downgraded to uncommon at least. Though Argothian as mythic sucks. At least it got a reprint.

While that is true, and not all of the rarity upshifts are not understandable, things like Sinkhole and Mother of Runes makes sense for limited, but something like Heritage Druid doesn't make sense at rare.

Karakas is another card that shouldn't be mythic for limited reasons. It does seem like Wizards is paying attention to the secondary market this time around rather than making sense for limited in any way.

- - - Updated - - -

Only cards that I was surprised by that weren't spoiled before today were Wall of Omensand Duplicant. After that the rest of this is filled with a bunch of single type stuff to buy. The land cycle pisses me off so much though. They could have done vivids at common and then had spots for lands that aren't useless.

Overall this set is better than MM2, which wasn't going to be hard, but I'm having trouble saying whether or not it is better than MM1, maybe they are about the same? I did preorder a box, but this set is making me want to cancel it, but I like the idea of waiting 5 years for it to increase in value and get like $450 out of it, but even then that doesn't seem enjoyable. I will have a lot more fun getting $50 worth of singles out of this than a box. My box is $230 and even that doesn't seem worth it for what is in the set, plus my luck is pretty shit with pulling anything good out of boxes.

With most of the rarity upshifts not being for the greater good but to make sure people have their money, even though this set is to make sure they get less expensive and get as many out there, in conjunction with the MM1 esque level of of print run, the $10 packs, the terrible common land cycle, and more often than not not going to get your moneys worth from this, minus extremely lucky cases, this set just isn't very good. Now if it wasn't so limited and the packs were $7 then we could be talking about this being a pretty good set. That isn't to say it doesn't do some good, the cards that are here, that needed a reprint, are going down, which is nice, and this does give us plenty of foils for cards that never had them, as well as modern borders, plus the tokens that never existed previously there are some things to say, but unfortunately the bad outweighs the good on this one.

TLDR - Better than MM2, but this set could still have been a lot better in many different areas.

[Pendulous]

So it looks like they're going for a remake of Goblins Vs. Elves, which I'm totally for. Also enchantments, bringing back Rancor, the king of auras.

Tragic Slip might be my favorite common. Love it getting a reprint.

Phyrexian Ingester goes to uncommon. It's a crazy good card too.

I've never seen Jareth before. Holy crap he's awesome.

Oh god Glare of Subdual. My friends HATE this card because it's in my token deck.

[endersblade]

Oh god Glare of Subdual. My friends HATE this card because it's in my token deck.

Heh, yeah. I run it in Ghave and Rhys. So fun :-) Basically says nobody else can attack, ever. Or use abilities.

[endersblade]

Hmm, this set would've been a great time for them to reprint Regrowth. I'd love to be able to get my hands on a foil that doesn't cost $50...

Overall I'm satisfied with Eternal Masters. Much moreso than MM15. I'm also kinda surprised they didn't reprint 'goyf yet again. He's been printed three times and still carries a ridiculous pricetag.

[Dontrike]

As I thought more and more about Eternal Masters it is better than MM2, but just barely, and in my opinion is the exact same as MM2. They really improved on one aspect of the Masters sets after MM2, but the rest....yeesh.

+The card choices are better than MM2, but....
-.....many leave a sour taste in your mouth when they are bumped up in rarity "for limited" which isn't really a great reason for many of them. Some of the upward shifts made sense, but others were down right stupid.
-Not to mention many are bumped up in rarity because of their secondary market prices, which goes against what Wizards had said that they don't look at the secondary market when deciding.
-They brought down the print run back to MM1 levels. MM2 had great print run, although the fact you can find more is proof of how bad the set is rather than them printing too much. Hard to say if MM2 was good would there still be any?
-The set itself isn't really a great callback type of set, using cards from the Modern pool, like the Hondens, when we could have gotten things like P3K cards to see foils for the first time.
-The Khans refuge cycle of lands. They could easily have gotten the color fixing down without reprinting cards that saw heavy printing already, like going with Vivids and Mirage fetches, or really anything else.
-With how limited this set is, and the EV of the set only really being about $8 as of now $10 packs hurts, especially when you can open things like Control Magic and Diminishing Returns, or Worldgorger Dragon as your mythic. Packs for Masters sets should really be $7, especially when drafts are going to run $40-$50 now.


Now it will do its job and reduce the prices of the cards in it, but we all know it could have done a better job of it without becoming Chronicles 2.

[endersblade]

As I thought more and more about Eternal Masters it is better than MM2, but just barely, and in my opinion is the exact same as MM2. They really improved on one aspect of the Masters sets after MM2, but the rest....yeesh.

+The card choices are better than MM2, but....
-.....many leave a sour taste in your mouth when they are bumped up in rarity "for limited" which isn't really a great reason for many of them. Some of the upward shifts made sense, but others were down right stupid.
-Not to mention many are bumped up in rarity because of their secondary market prices, which goes against what Wizards had said that they don't look at the secondary market when deciding.
-They brought down the print run back to MM1 levels. MM2 had great print run, although the fact you can find more is proof of how bad the set is rather than them printing too much. Hard to say if MM2 was good would there still be any?
-The set itself isn't really a great callback type of set, using cards from the Modern pool, like the Hondens, when we could have gotten things like P3K cards to see foils for the first time.
-The Khans refuge cycle of lands. They could easily have gotten the color fixing down without reprinting cards that saw heavy printing already, like going with Vivids and Mirage fetches, or really anything else.
-With how limited this set is, and the EV of the set only really being about $8 as of now $10 packs hurts, especially when you can open things like Control Magic and Diminishing Returns, or Worldgorger Dragon as your mythic. Packs for Masters sets should really be $7, especially when drafts are going to run $40-$50 now.


Now it will do its job and reduce the prices of the cards in it, but we all know it could have done a better job of it without becoming Chronicles 2.

Oh god, I didn't realize control magic got bumped to a rare...what in the fuck.

I agree, the lands they chose to print made no sense at all.

I did notice the correlation between rarity bumps and the secondary market. Way to go, WotC.

[Dontrike]

Oh god, I didn't realize control magic got bumped to a rare...what in the fuck.

I agree, the lands they chose to print made no sense at all.

I did notice the correlation between rarity bumps and the secondary market. Way to go, WotC.

Yeah there are a lot of rarity upshifts based on secondary market price, and it is so obvious that it isn't funny. Force of Will, Heritage Druid, Shardless Agent, Natural Order, and Karakas are all examples of this. Personally I would add Vampiric Tutor to this list, but that's me.

Then you have cards up shifted for limited, which don't make sense. Like Pyrokenesis, Imperious Perfect, Argothian Enchantress, and Worldgorger Dragon.

After that there is the list of cards that should have been bumped down in rarity. Giant Solifuge, Unexpectedly Absent, Baleful Strix, Void, and Call the Skybreaker.

Finally, the list of cards that shouldn't be in the set. The Onslaught Coliseum Champions, Hondens, Braids, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, and some of the Conspiracy reprints.

I will admit some of the shifts made sense, like Mother of Runes and Sinkhole.

[Dontrike]

Got ourselves some cards previews for Eldritch Moon. The set symbol is kind of dumb, the legendary werewolf is underwhelming, and Emrakul is kind of neat, but a little head scratching with the Mindslaver portion.

[Karrotlord]

As someone trying for a little while to build a Werewolf deck, Ulrich is thoroughly uninteresting to me. He's just a beatstick that occasionally makes another beatstick. As a stand-alone he's ok, I guess, but doesn't help the tribe at all. Hopefully the rest of the set has some more synergistic wolves. That's what I really want.