im not quite sure who william heath is. I know Heath Newton owns this site. And Wilm part is because of Cape Fear Games in WILMington North Carolina. A pretty awesome store for paper magic needs. Good article though.
As a budget player, I was really disappointed by the Mythic announcement. I usually play Prismatic, Commander, and other specialty Constructed formats, and doing so on a tight budget is tough. I've yet to purchase a single mythic because they are so overpriced. Seeing the same awesome cards on the other side of the table is frustrating when you know they would cost way more than you are willing to spend in order to use yourself. Pauper is a lot of fun, but you can't find a Pauper Commander game, for example.
On the other hand, overall prices seem to have fallen a bit for rares and uncommons, so it's not all bad. But I too think Mark Rosewater lied when he told us mythics wouldn't be the best cards in a set. Clearly, they are.
I'm always a fan of foils, but I never go out of my way to grab them, if I have them or need a couple more cheap cards to round out a purchase I'll get em, but they are of course a luxury...
I think you make a pretty good argument about Mythics, I am one of those who thought that RoE is very mythic heavy and most of the hyped cards are mythic, from the planeswalkers to the eldrazi it's a little crazy, I can see prices going nuts on them because of availability...
any ways I think you drew up some nice conclusions and definitely had the numbers to back it up, that being said I'm sure there are few of us who have the luxury to draft the number of packs you do lol the most packs I've been able to get from a set was US and that was no where near your estimates for completing a set (I know I didn't get close to filling in all of it), so while it's interesting it can feel a bit irrelevant since it's so far out of reach for a person like me to crack 100+ packs in a set, instead what the Mythic argument becomes instead of how many till I get it is just how lucky did I get this time around with my 10-20 packs or whatever
"Conclusion regarding redemption: the mythic rare has made sure redemption from Magic Online is no longer profitable for the little guy."
This seems completely wrong.
I would be inclined to think that the oft quoted massive increase in mtgo players in the past year or so, is actually what has killed redemptions profitability.
Theres a lot more supply for what one would assume would be relatively static demand (e.g. i very much doubt the number of set buyers has increased at the same rate as online drafers).
if I never see another Thrax deck again it'll be too soon lol, but good stuff, I know i tend to groan whenever I see the 5c commanders, but theyve decreased in quantity these days
Fun article. I love the big guys/gals but they can be painful to play when your opponent is running a theft and love deck. They can be painful to play when your opponent is running a ton of removal too. It is hard to build a consistently good five color deck for commander. It isn't impossible but it is tough. I love Horde of Notions for the simple ability to return Reveillark, Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter to play at will.
Ive never enjoyed collecting foils because they seemed like a money grab even before they came to MTG. Back when my nephew was getting into Pokemon and Magic had no foils of its own yet the foil craze was enough to drive my Dad to ask me for advice on what to get his grandson. Needless to say I told him to avoid foils. Some people like foils and I always find this somewhat surprising. Particularly online where even with great graphics cards and immense screens the foil animations still look horrible and distort what might otherwise be enjoyable art (half the reason people play magic, imho.)
I can't say I agree with all of your conclusions but you can't go wrong not collecting a money grab item.
Do you know Endless_Cockroaches? I've chatted with and played against him a few times. He's also a professional exterminator, and it amused me no end that he's always playing decks featuring insects, spiders, and rats & cards that make tokens of them. Often runs Swarmyard too - he had some pretty strong decks he's built! If you see him online maybe you'd want to say hi.
Thanks for all the feedback guys. This article was really fun to write. It was a little different than my typical writings as it didn't revolve around Legacy.
@Paul - I agree most people find bugs disgusting. However, once properly educated they will find bugs really aren't that big of a deal.
The flow of life that revolves around insects is truly amazing.
Thanks again everyone, glad you enjoyed it. Next time I will make sure to include fly larvae found in opening wounds for a much more graphical effect lol.
Yes I took the rare counts from Gatherer, thanks for pointing this out. I found the wikki and added the rares up in a few sets to double check it was right which it is.
edit: " So you might include a simple Up (+), Down (-), Static (=), and New (*) " I will include this in the colours as long as excel doesnt have a tantrum.
Well the difference between late Feb drafts of ME and the up commingones in my mind is the fact that Legacy has been announced since then. And the duel lands have been creeping up in price ever since. I'ld love to have my own set of those but I dont see that happening any time in the future.
Yeah after reading this artical I went and set up a excel spread sheet to try and see what would be best to draft when I deside to start heading in that direction. One of the first things I discovered is that Wizard's Gatherer lies a bit. LOL Actually what it does is counts total rares even if a card is uncommon for a set but rare in another. So the total mythic, rare, uncommon, common counts are wrong. Even total cards tends to be off by about 10 cards or so. From what I could tell most of your numbers match up to Wizard's so I would guess thats where your base numbers came from originally. With a bit of looking I found this Wiki site that actually has the numbers of mythics, rares, uncommons, commons, and total counts of cards. Was a great help in getting a basic number of cards. Also like many said before gatherer does not split out the rarity of the cards very well for each set. Over all its got some great info. And just off the top of my head the ME's all seem to me to be the best to draft if you get the chance. With legacy just anounced a few weeks back all those duel lands are going to be doing nothing but going up in price. And those sets seem to all have the most over all high cost cards with relative lower total card counts. So you have a much greater chance to actually get one of those rares.
Oh on another note I think the issue with the color is due to some people are partial color blind so are unable to see some shades of colors so it makes it difficault to tell certian colors apart. So you might include a simple Up (+), Down (-), Static (=), and New (*) to your condition column. Though I personally like the color it adds something to the tables and makes them less dull.
Getting 8 guys together is not rigging the draft as long as you play. I will definitely play as many MVW queues as I can. Last time they were around, I played 8 of them and left with an LED, a Null Rod and a few other goodies. Kicking myself for passing that foil City of Solitude.
im not quite sure who william heath is. I know Heath Newton owns this site. And Wilm part is because of Cape Fear Games in WILMington North Carolina. A pretty awesome store for paper magic needs. Good article though.
As a budget player, I was really disappointed by the Mythic announcement. I usually play Prismatic, Commander, and other specialty Constructed formats, and doing so on a tight budget is tough. I've yet to purchase a single mythic because they are so overpriced. Seeing the same awesome cards on the other side of the table is frustrating when you know they would cost way more than you are willing to spend in order to use yourself. Pauper is a lot of fun, but you can't find a Pauper Commander game, for example.
On the other hand, overall prices seem to have fallen a bit for rares and uncommons, so it's not all bad. But I too think Mark Rosewater lied when he told us mythics wouldn't be the best cards in a set. Clearly, they are.
I'm always a fan of foils, but I never go out of my way to grab them, if I have them or need a couple more cheap cards to round out a purchase I'll get em, but they are of course a luxury...
I think you make a pretty good argument about Mythics, I am one of those who thought that RoE is very mythic heavy and most of the hyped cards are mythic, from the planeswalkers to the eldrazi it's a little crazy, I can see prices going nuts on them because of availability...
any ways I think you drew up some nice conclusions and definitely had the numbers to back it up, that being said I'm sure there are few of us who have the luxury to draft the number of packs you do lol the most packs I've been able to get from a set was US and that was no where near your estimates for completing a set (I know I didn't get close to filling in all of it), so while it's interesting it can feel a bit irrelevant since it's so far out of reach for a person like me to crack 100+ packs in a set, instead what the Mythic argument becomes instead of how many till I get it is just how lucky did I get this time around with my 10-20 packs or whatever
"Conclusion regarding redemption: the mythic rare has made sure redemption from Magic Online is no longer profitable for the little guy."
This seems completely wrong.
I would be inclined to think that the oft quoted massive increase in mtgo players in the past year or so, is actually what has killed redemptions profitability.
Theres a lot more supply for what one would assume would be relatively static demand (e.g. i very much doubt the number of set buyers has increased at the same rate as online drafers).
if I never see another Thrax deck again it'll be too soon lol, but good stuff, I know i tend to groan whenever I see the 5c commanders, but theyve decreased in quantity these days
I just built a table and linked all the cards from mtgotraders. The screenshots are made using MTGO B***.=)
Fun article. I love the big guys/gals but they can be painful to play when your opponent is running a theft and love deck. They can be painful to play when your opponent is running a ton of removal too. It is hard to build a consistently good five color deck for commander. It isn't impossible but it is tough. I love Horde of Notions for the simple ability to return Reveillark, Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter to play at will.
Ive never enjoyed collecting foils because they seemed like a money grab even before they came to MTG. Back when my nephew was getting into Pokemon and Magic had no foils of its own yet the foil craze was enough to drive my Dad to ask me for advice on what to get his grandson. Needless to say I told him to avoid foils. Some people like foils and I always find this somewhat surprising. Particularly online where even with great graphics cards and immense screens the foil animations still look horrible and distort what might otherwise be enjoyable art (half the reason people play magic, imho.)
I can't say I agree with all of your conclusions but you can't go wrong not collecting a money grab item.
What happened to your promised follow up of the cruel control deck? I quite liked that deck, and more matches would definitely be interesting
Do you know Endless_Cockroaches? I've chatted with and played against him a few times. He's also a professional exterminator, and it amused me no end that he's always playing decks featuring insects, spiders, and rats & cards that make tokens of them. Often runs Swarmyard too - he had some pretty strong decks he's built! If you see him online maybe you'd want to say hi.
Next article, where I cover the Green, Artifact, and "Other" hoser category. Coming soon!
How did you generate those screenshots and the list of your cardpool with all the links? The decklist generator I use doesn't have RoE support yet.
*scampers off to buy some life from the loams*
wrong place, sorry!
Thanks for all the feedback guys. This article was really fun to write. It was a little different than my typical writings as it didn't revolve around Legacy.
@Paul - I agree most people find bugs disgusting. However, once properly educated they will find bugs really aren't that big of a deal.
The flow of life that revolves around insects is truly amazing.
Thanks again everyone, glad you enjoyed it. Next time I will make sure to include fly larvae found in opening wounds for a much more graphical effect lol.
For awareness the Master Edition rare counts are well out, they are in fact as below
Masters Edition1 60
Masters Edition2 80
Masters Edition3 70
Yes I took the rare counts from Gatherer, thanks for pointing this out. I found the wikki and added the rares up in a few sets to double check it was right which it is.
edit: " So you might include a simple Up (+), Down (-), Static (=), and New (*) " I will include this in the colours as long as excel doesnt have a tantrum.
Thanks Cheetoe
Thanks
No colorblindness here. lol. Otherwise id be hosed as an artist. There is no shading yet as he hasn't differentiated between up/down and steady yet.
Well the difference between late Feb drafts of ME and the up commingones in my mind is the fact that Legacy has been announced since then. And the duel lands have been creeping up in price ever since. I'ld love to have my own set of those but I dont see that happening any time in the future.
Yeah after reading this artical I went and set up a excel spread sheet to try and see what would be best to draft when I deside to start heading in that direction. One of the first things I discovered is that Wizard's Gatherer lies a bit. LOL Actually what it does is counts total rares even if a card is uncommon for a set but rare in another. So the total mythic, rare, uncommon, common counts are wrong. Even total cards tends to be off by about 10 cards or so. From what I could tell most of your numbers match up to Wizard's so I would guess thats where your base numbers came from originally. With a bit of looking I found this Wiki site that actually has the numbers of mythics, rares, uncommons, commons, and total counts of cards. Was a great help in getting a basic number of cards. Also like many said before gatherer does not split out the rarity of the cards very well for each set. Over all its got some great info. And just off the top of my head the ME's all seem to me to be the best to draft if you get the chance. With legacy just anounced a few weeks back all those duel lands are going to be doing nothing but going up in price. And those sets seem to all have the most over all high cost cards with relative lower total card counts. So you have a much greater chance to actually get one of those rares.
Oh on another note I think the issue with the color is due to some people are partial color blind so are unable to see some shades of colors so it makes it difficault to tell certian colors apart. So you might include a simple Up (+), Down (-), Static (=), and New (*) to your condition column. Though I personally like the color it adds something to the tables and makes them less dull.
Ive drafted TTS about 15 times and TSE 10. Out of those, I have gotten ZERO Wastelands. Big fat 0. Id say mythic uncommon =/
m10 containes 53 rares, not 52
Getting 8 guys together is not rigging the draft as long as you play. I will definitely play as many MVW queues as I can. Last time they were around, I played 8 of them and left with an LED, a Null Rod and a few other goodies. Kicking myself for passing that foil City of Solitude.
The ME123 drafts in late Feb? Plenty of those fired.. Like one every half hour. I did tons of them and all I got was this stupid Vesuvan Doppelganger.