That's a shame, the Duel decks being discontinued. My first Magic the Gathering experience was my aunt and I playing against each other with Elspeth v Kiora. We still play from time to time around the holidays.
After my dad taught me with a pile of cards we had lying around, we did Phyrexia vs. The Coalition. One of my favorite times playing Magic, and I'm sad to see the decks go away.
Here's my major issue with the duel decks: they weren't designed for Standard. These were a nightmare for new players who wanted to show up at FNM. Just last night, our shop was helping a new player get started, and, of course, the first thing they bought was goblins vs merfolk. After explaining the problem, they had to then buy a planeswalker deck and fill it out with whatever we could pass along. I understand that this product was designed to give reprints to competitive players and fun out of the box for casual players, but I can't remember the number of times I've sat down at FNM and had to explain to someone that their new deck wasn't legal in the format. I think that challengers decks ARE the correct replacement for duel decks, and WOTC is just going to have to figure out how to get reprints into the hands of players in a way that is less confusing for newbies.
Shy Guy Gamer These decks aren't supposed to be a finely-tuned PT deck out of the box. They are for a new player to be able to pick up, go to FNM, and not feel bad the entire night because their deck is utterly wonky. Or for someone who wants to swap decks and not feel like they're breaking the bank every time. Not everyone drops $300 on Standard every six months. Some people want to just play and have fun without worrying about the legality of their cards. This is for the player last night who was asking me which direction they should tap their cards, not the player who is one step away from going to a GP.
Actually, I think the Planeswalker decks are supposed to be the replacement for Duel Decks, at least for brand new players. You and you friend both pick one up and you can start playing against each other right away.
Shy Guy Gamer Your my favorite type of player. Bringing out a $300 deck and due to your cocky puffed up attitude, underestimate your opponent and get destroyed by a $50 or less deck. Something I love to do time and time again. Never gets old.
Shy Guy Gamer That doesn't mean that the deck is going to have every good card on it. It just means that it's going to look different from the event decks they did before. They're going to try and actually match the decks with what's happening in Standard. These sound like they'll be similar to the commander decks. Are they good enough to play out of the box in a friendly environment? Definitely. Do they need some upgrades to survive in a truly competitive environment? Absolutely.
BlaineTog That's fair. I think of those decks as more of a tool for just learning how to play or for someone to easily get a handful of the new set's cards without committing a lot of money, but they could also serve as a fine replacement for duel decks. Regardless, these challenger decks sound perfect for new players going to FNM for the first (or fifth) time who want to play a more competitive strategy.
Wizard's knack for dropping ideas or products that don't work out very immediately or because they chose poorly is super bothersome. Whether it's extremely poor design for individual Duel Decks that are otherwise a good product, Event Decks discontinued in the past because they were piles of burning poo, returning to Kamigawa or gimmick sets, they're far too fast to try to end an idea full stop instead of just doing it better. Even the Masters sets up until Iconic Masters they were too timid to print the amount we actually needed at a reasonable price to really effect Modern.
But then what is the other option? Would you rather have them not take back their bad ideas? In that world we would live with an overly fast standard rotation as well as materpieces shoved into our faces. We wil have to allow for them to change things. When the community cries out, they will listen... at some point anyways. Without experiment, there will be no betterment.
Duel decks were not a bad idea, it was the card choices in duel decks later years that were a bad idea and killed off people's interest in getting them.
Aquielleoz Jon Godinez it was mine too, switching from Yugioh, the deck has such rich fantasy atmosphere that intrigue me I couldnt see from cards today.
Professor I don't know if you'll read this, but I only in the last month have found your channel. It has changed my life in so many ways, my family originally didn't like that I spent so much time playing magic. And then I started watching your channel, and I started showing my grandmother ( whom I live with) your videos, she has learned due to you, why I play. And why it's a great thing I play MTG. And then I got the courage to teach my friends how to play MTG, now my family is ok with MTG, my friends love it. And I wanted to say thank you professor. So... THANK YOU!
I don't know if he reads these but my family feels the same way we been watching him for about a year now, hes the best there is out there! Merry Xmas!
I have my doctorate, I have played with a surgeon, numerous doctors, and other intellectuals or interesting people at local game stores across the country. This game is extremely mentally stimulating (and meditative all at once), it brings people together, makes friends, and keeps everyone out of trouble including myself! Better than watching TV or shooting someone on a TV screen all day (looking at you FPS genre)... But it is also useful to step back if you get too carried away, and ensure you are diversifying your skills. I balance guitar, exercise, research, friends, etc.
? Are you rudely and unconstructively responding to me? I just feel that may be relevant information to OP here, if his family is "worried" about the time he spends playing. Its not just people who sit in a dark room and mindlessly play for hours like some people think. Its highly social and mentally stimulating, leading to reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Um, ok? right back to your comment
Someone has to get those marketing maniacs out of WotC, they need to slow the fuck down and get back to a normal predictable release schedule. This madness is iritating even the most enfranchised players. Stop the plethora of bullshit and special releases and get back to being like you were 5 years ago, before player influx made you lose your mind!
Crystal Griffith That's fucking right. If they cancel commander decks, I say we go down to their HQ and burn the building down We'll tell them their place of residence was cancelled. Ha ha.
i dont even play commander, and i would feel inclined to agree there. but like so many others just said, they wont. not in their best interests in doing so.
Angelo M they'd rather drown in money while they can than please the fans, which of course will lead to no more money in the end. They're heading down the toilet.
You think investors know what a dual deck is? WotC have product managers, their job is to find out what people like/don't like and deliver that... they are doing a shitty job. Nothing to do with investors. Forgetting all the bad business practices of WoTC even if you forget all that and just focus on gameplay, for ages MTG community have been saying they don't like fast decks, cos it means if you miss a 2 drop you lose. What do we get? The fastest format in years. This isn't investors, it's R&D just don't give a fuck what the consumers want, it isn't more or less expensive to create a slower or faster set. Evidence of that.. go join an Ixalan queue. It's dead, no one is playing. Versus HoD which people were playing till the last day cos it was fun,
Thank you! I am so excited about the points you made in this video. Especially about the new Challenger decks. It is so hard to "jump into" magic. I've only been playing since February 2017, it was a major struggle to get playing. It would be nice to have more ways to get started without having to spend copious amounts of moolah.
Nail on the head Professor. I don't have the budget nor the time to play standard/modern magic and commander is enjoyable but not the experience I value most. But I still love and want to play magic once in a while. I have every single Duel Deck (save the anime JvC) sleeved and boxed in matching deck boxes because it allows me to play with other friends like me without all the commitment else-wise. The Duel Decks offer an experience with variety and function and feature mechanics that the latest set or last set uses so I can get a taste of what magic is doing these days. I AM that illusive Duel Deck enthusiast you mention in your videos now and then. I eagerly check for spoilers of the new Duel Decks and twice a year I get my magic fix when they release. This news saddens me immensely.
Ryan Braun well with this i really want to start getting those battle decks that card kingdom sells so that if i do not feel like playing commander and want to play casual magic with a well constructed deck o can
From me and mine , Merry Xmas to you and yours professor!!! we respect and love you round here. It's good to see there is a mtg channel that is still about MTG. I hope this next year is good for you and your endeavors sir, God bless and happy new year!!
Duel Decks were okay. I'm more excited about event decks. They FINALLY got it right with BFZ, then discontinued them. I hope the next ones pick up where they left off.
Amen! When I came back to Magic it was because a new game store opened in a mall I frequent and the owner told me about the free standard tournament he holds. I said I didn't have a deck and didn't wish to spend $300 for a "free" tournament. He showed me an event deck a blue white tempo deck. I remembered the old precons, and most sucked, but I wanted to play so I bought the deck showed up and won half my games, but more importantly I had a blast. I looked over card lists and bought a second event deck and a few singles, and upgraded at a low cost and turned the deck into a beast. I have now been back for 4 years now, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on the game. I started drafting again. I got into commander (though a commander precon) and modern as well. I have since brought others to this game. Since they ended event deck there hasn't been an easy bridge for these players to jump from borrowing my decks to having their own because the planeswalker decks are so bad a good player can't win against a real deck. A new player wouldn't even really get to play magic against a tuned deck with a skilled pilot. That is not fun, and If I suggested them I feel I would be turning them away from magic. I am glad to hear they are bringing back event decks even if they are calling them "Challenger decks". The game needed a bridge for new and returning players to constructed magic. This is the best news I have heard involving magic this year, well out side of unstable. I love my unsets.
Duel Decks: Venser vs Koth was my introduction into MTG. I still have them and the memories of my brother and I learning via the included rules slip during summer nights
I have 3 duel sets and they were my first magic products. I have so many good memories from these duel decks, I bought them with my dad, brother and sister to have a game to play with everyone on vacation and the memories I had from them make me remember on of the best vacations I've ever had. I'm really going to miss these decks. RIP duel decks, we'll never forget.
School out for winter break professor. Merry Christmas and happy New year professor. My New Year's resolution is to show up on time from now on I promise just stop doing videos so damn early!! Jk lol
My first MTG product was Mind vs Might, and it was great fun. It's still one of my favourite sets, and I still bring it out occasionally for a game with my son. They really give new players confidence that they can enter the game and try.
Wizards needs to think about making these new products as though they were making a bridge. They may have planned it, but later it will break. That doesnt mean they have to give up at making the bridge, but rather think about making the bridge better, and before they know it, the bridge will be done, not perfect but done. Enough room for upgrades to it.
knights vs dragons was excellent. I dont understand why WOTC is muddying the water so much lately. One of this game's biggest strengths in its product lines was its predictability and consistency. If I had taken a break and wanted to return right now, i probably wouldn't because the product lines are so much different from a couple years ago, the new sets have bad quality stock, fnm rewards are pathetic or nonexistent, and WOTC just keeps doing unpredictable shit. I really dont understand what they're trying to pull off. dont fix it if it isnt broke, and instead maybe focus on fixing what is
ericofire it's as if they want to become yugioh with formats changing quickly and secondary markets being floppy, as a former yugioh player of recent year the one good thing about them is they reprint a lot of things in secondary packs, and Wizard does care a hell of a lot about a secondary market because of the reserved list, people want it to expand so that it isn't yugioh where oh hey 20 reprints of the blue-eyes white dragon and becomes 20 cents. And a lot of people say they will quit if they get rid of the reserved list because they are investing, my one friend but a grim monolith and a 200$ mox for commander and it makes me sad that if I want to increase my chances of winning I need that kind of ramp to catch up to a freaking locus god deck of all things. And if those cards got reprinted right now, he would probably eat those cards. I know rambling but still point being that they see they made to much strong product and want to lower power levels
I just came back to playing, and if I had not bought in with as much money as I did, I would back out and run. Ixalan is great, but Standard is a mess, My black cards range from grey to black, and my red cards are orange to red. it is ridiculous.
Event decks are sorely needed. I remember once buying one from the Mirrodin Besieged era for Infect, and it was basically competitive right out the box.
Merry Christmas Prof! I asked to get planechase anthology for christmas, so hopefully I can get together a few friends over the break to play some planechase commander!
I'm actually really dissapointed with the discontinuation of duel decks. They had so much potential to be the perfect all round product for both new players and experienced alike. I personally preferred the commander precons anyway, but I've had some really amazing games with Nissa vs Ob nixilis and Blessed vs Cursed, and it's the main reason why some of my friends play magic. Seems like a counterproductive decision on Wizard's part.
I remember a friend of mine, who already played magic, got a vampire event deck from his little brother as birthday gift. His brother had no clue of magic, but the upgraded version of the vampire deck is still one of his favourites, because he liked to play the deck just out of the box, because it was pretty strong already and the cards were pretty good
I blame your reviews for why Duel Decks got cancelled. You remember the last clash pack you reviewed you gave it an A and they cancelled it. You gave the last Duel Deck an A and they cancelled it. Coincidence? :-P
I loved event decks even as a seasoned player. They made it easy to just try a new unique deck when you got bored of a deck and didn't want to brew a new one.
The discontinuation of Duel Decks makes me very sad as I collect them and I play with them in a board game kind of way. I always felt they were a fun way to play. I'm curious as to why they are scraping them. Is it due to only a few failing?
I would like to know the answer to this question as well. I am wondering why wizards can´t simply have two very different products at the same time, that both fill their very own niche.
I suspect it's because they dropped the planeswalker based decks and started being very stingy with useful reprints there as well. A huge amount of the problems of the last few years started with shifting power and complexity out of common with New World Order, and then went completely crazy when they shifted Standard design to exclude powerful reprints. It pushed the burden of making decent cards available onto all the supplemental product, and then the marketing team got the "brilliant" idea that instead of putting them in the supplemental product, they should almost all go in $10/pack Masters sets. And before anyone says it, yes, I know that occasionally cards that were unusually expensive due to being in Portal or some tiny set from a decade back, with Commander or Cube specific demand, get reprinted in Commander and Conspiracy sets. But the cards that hold usefulness across the board in a wide variety of Magic formats almost always end up in Masters sets now, which are not at an appropriate price point to be considered "supply" to the average player. In addition, the format that should be the main supply of cards for the game, Standard, has become almost entirely disposable. All signs point to the marketing department working to change Magic to a disposable game rather than a collectable one, and that is truly depressing to see. If they do a major overhaul of design, I might take a look at their other products again, but at this point I have stopped buying anything but Commander and Duel decks - I guess with this I'm down to just Commander now. Oh well. I don't have any expectation that they will release a preconstructed deck that's actually viable with the way they described it. Two mythics just will not cut it given that even the cheapest deck in the Standard meta right now is almost $130 and uses a playset of a mythic with two of another in the sideboard. It then relies on 27 other rares (including sideboard), 8 of which are lands, which they always like to use as a lure to buy packs. Consistency is what gets wins in a competitive environment in Magic, which many LGSs are, and a half-baked version of a deck is going to be consistently beaten by a version that isn't using handicapped versions or half-playsets of the cards in the deck it's actually based on.
Ill give them a pat on the back for the on-ramp idea. Good job. Now, a gift box. They nailed the quality on the box. Put back in some cool stuff and I'll buy it. I kinda liked the box for storage ...
My first deck I got was a dual deck with my stepbrother about 10, and it’s how we got into Magic. It’s also how I got my GF into Magic too about 2 years ago PS. My brother and I usually buy singles to build decks, but we sometimes buy booster packs, deck builders, for fun! Nothing better than opening up some packs!
The problem with Duel Decks is that they had one bad release after another - I remember Mind vs Might, Zendikar vs Eldrazi and Speed vs Cunning being sold for less than half of MSRP withing one month from release.
When I first started out, I had bought a Deck Builder's Toolkit, which was fun for a bit, but then I went out and got Elspeth vs. Kiora (partly because I wanted to see how planeswalkers worked, but also because it was an example of a a properly constructed deck). Me and my sister had much fun playing with them. And while I eventually traded the Kiora half, I still have Elspeth's deck and incorporated Sun's Champion into my Emmara commander deck. Such a shame they're discontinuing them.
My fist mtg deck was a kamigawa snakes path. The second was Nezumis Nest and the fourth the Izzet. Today i have a Izzet Blitz on pauper and a Snake Tokens and a Mono B Rat control to play modern with my friends. What i want to say ia that preconstructed decks are part of my history with the game, they connected me with the lore and introduced me to the games archetypes and i miss they when I returned to play
Well, this is sad the duel decks are gone, but I'm glad we're getting back event decks. They really have an opportunity to make a deck in which new players can pick up and upgrade for minimal cost and have a (semi)competitive standard deck. My very first deck I had in Magic that I really loved was the Selesnya tokens event deck back in Dragon's Maze. I upgraded it for $30 or so and actually won a few games at some FNMs. It was some of the most fun I'd ever had with the game and if they do this right and don't mess up with these event decks (which they probably won't seeing the direction they went back in the very last event deck in BFZ) then we might actually see really nice product.
I remember world championship decks the cards had gold borders and a different back. But they were remakes of the top decks at the world championship. They were great
I remember coming back to magic after not playing for 6 years, me and a friend bought a hero vs monster duel deck. It was there I found the spark to renew my interest in the game again. I am sad to see it go!
My first buy was Elves vs Goblins back when I was a kid and then I just picked up Merfolk vs Goblins. Loved duel decks, loved the tribal theme that didn't have a planeswalker. Still never really played with a planeswalker. Sounds like they should have scrapped the planeswalker decks for challenger decks.
I agree, Prof. We need some preconstructed decks that have meaningful reprints. I liked the Modern Event Deck because it had really good cards and was playable out of the box and easy to upgrade over time. Something like the Commander Pre-Cons is needed for standard and modern. We need less bad product, but a few good products instead. One Masters-Set per year is enough. And bring back FNM Promos and make them good.
Good Lord, it's like someone at WotC heard that I was picking up MTG for the first time in 18 years and decided to make Challenger Decks. This is perfect for me... thanks for the heads up, Prof
Back in the day when I decided to start going to tournaments again, I did have that question of 'I'm just coming back to Standard but I'm not sure what I should do. Any advice?'. The answer was the Spectral Slam Precon. For those that don't know, Phantoms in Judgment had a unique property. They were creatures with 0 toughness that prevented all damage dealt to them. Then removed a +1/+1 counter. Since there was a period between those two lines, as long as the phantoms had one point of toughness, they would live through everything that was damage based because of the prevent clause being separate. It was a surprisingly powerful deck and I won more than a few of the games I played because of how strong that interaction was. All that said, it seems to be one of the stronger precons Wizards has ever printed...
Spectral Slam was part of the older line of precons, called Theme Decks. While Theme Decks varied considerably over the years, they were generally stronger than Intro Packs or Planeswalker Decks, and sometimes a lot stronger.
Challenger decks are going to be a real version of the old World Championship decks. I bought a Goblin Bidding WC deck back when I was just getting competitve. Helped me learn how to build decks by buying them and playtesting with friends. They were cheap but great ways to have great cards to just sit around and play with friends and some of the cards has value to this day.
I guess I must have been playing for a while, when I read about challenger deck's event decks were not the first thing that came to mind. What did come to mind however were Theme Decks. Back when I was playing only casual in the time spiral era the theme decks were amazing. Pick up one of the four with a theme you liked (i believe they were all standard legal cards at the time) and what my friends and i did was just buy whatever singles from anywhere in magic that might have fit with the theme of the deck and it was just a total blast. Now because i was strictly a casual player back then, I have no idea if they were actually intended to be an entry point into standard but regardless, they were fun and excellent products. If they can bring them back and at the same time making them a bit more competitive for standard, i'm all for them.
prof @ my local game store we have a decent player base and if someone wants a deck people have not only have decks ready to go we also have all our commons and un commons for budget decks, it is really good cause even if you are an experienced player but you wanna move from modern to standard people have a bunch of decks
If they're doing 4 decks each time (which is a good idea), they should do twice a year. Once on each major block. Intro decks basically, instead of planeswalker decks.
Irish Identity Ugh, Intro decks. We had those once, don't bring back the bad memory. Although the flavor was good in these decks, they have been nowhere near competitive. I rather hope they build challenger decks twice each Standard season by taking the top 4 metadecks, watering them down making them lose their individual 'player-flavor' but leave their core functionality fully effective. We get: A product kinda like the old WCS-decks, but black instead of gold borders and intended to be modded and upgraded. I'm up for it, this could be fun.
The Battle Decks from Card Kingdom. I guess that would be my answer to the casual quick pickup for cheap player... of course... I don't ever see those sold in a store. I'm not a huge fan of CK... but these always hit the mark for fun with me. Probably because I'm a "theme" obsessive player.
Honestly i love the idea of the challenger decks because i was worry that in the next rotation i was gonna be left with having to buy many new cards to make something competitive but if those work then i might stand a chance to keep playing at the FNM without having to save every penny for singles
The best part about the challenger decks being for standard is that they don't suffer from the "one product has the best/ most expensive card, so value hunters will buy them all" issue! If all the product is gone, just buy the singles (which should hopefully be at low cost since the product contains additional supply)!
I think they’ll be onto a winner if they cover the main archetypes and the decks are somewhat competitive shells that can be upgraded with a few mods to pro-level decks. Still wish they kept up with the duel decks, though.
The theros event deck was amazing, it was a true step stone to mono black. If they can do that again they can help get so many people into standard and getting back into fnm.
Hey Professor! First, I'd like to say that I really enjoy your videos, and love your channel, keep up the awesome work!! I'm also here to ask you to make a video about the banned cards in Modern format and why they are banned (although some of them are obvious, others are not so much)!! Thank you for listening! =]
Planeswalker decks and the Annex line are the replacements. Planeswalker decks are upgrade-able, balanced, and fun. They server double purpose as a starter deck and a fun duel deck replacement AND a starter standard deck. The annex line is a box experience for multiplayer casual play. It has the issue that it is optimized for MORE than, rather then, two players, but it contains needed reprints, fun gameplay, and shelf-ability.
![DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD [#22] - Misja "Cienie Minratusu" || 4K GAMEPLAY PL - RTX 4090](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q7slcR2tpc4/mqdefault.jpg)
That's a shame, the Duel decks being discontinued. My first Magic the Gathering experience was my aunt and I playing against each other with Elspeth v Kiora. We still play from time to time around the holidays.
Richard Smith My first experience was with Heroes vs Monsters against my nephew
Tibalt vs. Sorin...good times....good times indeed.
I too played with my aunt a lot after buying Merfolks vs Goblins.
After my dad taught me with a pile of cards we had lying around, we did Phyrexia vs. The Coalition. One of my favorite times playing Magic, and I'm sad to see the decks go away.
Are you playing this holiday season with your aunt and what deck are you using
IvG was my first product. Turned them both into commander. Ever since I've been looking forward to duel decks. I'll miss them
Adwins yeah me too
Here's my major issue with the duel decks: they weren't designed for Standard. These were a nightmare for new players who wanted to show up at FNM. Just last night, our shop was helping a new player get started, and, of course, the first thing they bought was goblins vs merfolk. After explaining the problem, they had to then buy a planeswalker deck and fill it out with whatever we could pass along. I understand that this product was designed to give reprints to competitive players and fun out of the box for casual players, but I can't remember the number of times I've sat down at FNM and had to explain to someone that their new deck wasn't legal in the format. I think that challengers decks ARE the correct replacement for duel decks, and WOTC is just going to have to figure out how to get reprints into the hands of players in a way that is less confusing for newbies.
Shy Guy Gamer These decks aren't supposed to be a finely-tuned PT deck out of the box. They are for a new player to be able to pick up, go to FNM, and not feel bad the entire night because their deck is utterly wonky. Or for someone who wants to swap decks and not feel like they're breaking the bank every time. Not everyone drops $300 on Standard every six months. Some people want to just play and have fun without worrying about the legality of their cards. This is for the player last night who was asking me which direction they should tap their cards, not the player who is one step away from going to a GP.
Actually, I think the Planeswalker decks are supposed to be the replacement for Duel Decks, at least for brand new players. You and you friend both pick one up and you can start playing against each other right away.
Shy Guy Gamer Your my favorite type of player. Bringing out a $300 deck and due to your cocky puffed up attitude, underestimate your opponent and get destroyed by a $50 or less deck. Something I love to do time and time again. Never gets old.
Shy Guy Gamer That doesn't mean that the deck is going to have every good card on it. It just means that it's going to look different from the event decks they did before. They're going to try and actually match the decks with what's happening in Standard. These sound like they'll be similar to the commander decks. Are they good enough to play out of the box in a friendly environment? Definitely. Do they need some upgrades to survive in a truly competitive environment? Absolutely.
BlaineTog That's fair. I think of those decks as more of a tool for just learning how to play or for someone to easily get a handful of the new set's cards without committing a lot of money, but they could also serve as a fine replacement for duel decks. Regardless, these challenger decks sound perfect for new players going to FNM for the first (or fifth) time who want to play a more competitive strategy.
Wizard's knack for dropping ideas or products that don't work out very immediately or because they chose poorly is super bothersome. Whether it's extremely poor design for individual Duel Decks that are otherwise a good product, Event Decks discontinued in the past because they were piles of burning poo, returning to Kamigawa or gimmick sets, they're far too fast to try to end an idea full stop instead of just doing it better. Even the Masters sets up until Iconic Masters they were too timid to print the amount we actually needed at a reasonable price to really effect Modern.
Kelzam Wizards motto: If at first you don't succeed cancel it.
But then what is the other option? Would you rather have them not take back their bad ideas? In that world we would live with an overly fast standard rotation as well as materpieces shoved into our faces. We wil have to allow for them to change things. When the community cries out, they will listen... at some point anyways. Without experiment, there will be no betterment.
Duel decks were not a bad idea, it was the card choices in duel decks later years that were a bad idea and killed off people's interest in getting them.
The modern event deck was actually good. Wonder why they don't want to sell people an actual functioning deck for a price tag.
Kelzam yeah, agreed.
Duels Decks: Elspeth vs Kiora was my very first purchase and it was only later that i was able to appreciate what a good purchase i made
ours too. overtime I made that Elspeth deck better and better until it now rules the kitchen table
Aquielleoz Jon Godinez it was mine too, switching from Yugioh, the deck has such rich fantasy atmosphere that intrigue me I couldnt see from cards today.
I quite like that one but I find the Elspeth deck just destroys the other one most of the time. Still the flavour is really cool, not gonna deny that.
Nice ka J.. Akong Vial.. haha..
These new decks are definitely gonna be the true test of the Play Design team.
Joshua Lee Air elementals. Air elementals everywhere.
Professor I don't know if you'll read this, but I only in the last month have found your channel. It has changed my life in so many ways, my family originally didn't like that I spent so much time playing magic. And then I started watching your channel, and I started showing my grandmother ( whom I live with) your videos, she has learned due to you, why I play. And why it's a great thing I play MTG. And then I got the courage to teach my friends how to play MTG, now my family is ok with MTG, my friends love it. And I wanted to say thank you professor. So... THANK YOU!
I don't know if he reads these but my family feels the same way we been watching him for about a year now, hes the best there is out there! Merry Xmas!
Ely Molloy thank you two! He is awesome.
I have my doctorate, I have played with a surgeon, numerous doctors, and other intellectuals or interesting people at local game stores across the country. This game is extremely mentally stimulating (and meditative all at once), it brings people together, makes friends, and keeps everyone out of trouble including myself! Better than watching TV or shooting someone on a TV screen all day (looking at you FPS genre)... But it is also useful to step back if you get too carried away, and ensure you are diversifying your skills. I balance guitar, exercise, research, friends, etc.
um, ok?
? Are you rudely and unconstructively responding to me?
I just feel that may be relevant information to OP here, if his family is "worried" about the time he spends playing. Its not just people who sit in a dark room and mindlessly play for hours like some people think. Its highly social and mentally stimulating, leading to reduced risk of dementia and cognitive decline.
Um, ok? right back to your comment
Someone has to get those marketing maniacs out of WotC, they need to slow the fuck down and get back to a normal predictable release schedule.
This madness is iritating even the most enfranchised players. Stop the plethora of bullshit and special releases and get back to being like you were 5 years ago, before player influx made you lose your mind!
testthewest123 YES!
Iconic masters was a mistake
I agree. It was a damned blast on MTGO phantom drafts though lol. Maybe they should release shiz like that online only :-P
Was watching a few of your old vids when this popped up.
Thanks for giving me the gift of Professor.
Watching the intro in 2020 hits different
Ikr
If they get rid of Commander decks, we riot.
Crystal Griffith
That's fucking right. If they cancel commander decks, I say we go down to their HQ and burn the building down
We'll tell them their place of residence was cancelled. Ha ha.
They won't.
They wont ever cancel the Commander products, they're extremely well made for what they are and extremely popular cash cows
i dont even play commander, and i would feel inclined to agree there.
but like so many others just said, they wont. not in their best interests in doing so.
HELL YA!
i wish WotC listens more to community than to their investors.
Angelo M they'd rather drown in money while they can than please the fans, which of course will lead to no more money in the end. They're heading down the toilet.
you mean, like, making special occasion promos for reserved card reprints possible again? oh, wait...
Not gonna happen. Smart business pushing as much as they do. If you throw enough shit, It'll eventually stick to the wall.
You think investors know what a dual deck is?
WotC have product managers, their job is to find out what people like/don't like and deliver that... they are doing a shitty job.
Nothing to do with investors.
Forgetting all the bad business practices of WoTC even if you forget all that and just focus on gameplay, for ages MTG community have been saying they don't like fast decks, cos it means if you miss a 2 drop you lose. What do we get? The fastest format in years.
This isn't investors, it's R&D just don't give a fuck what the consumers want, it isn't more or less expensive to create a slower or faster set.
Evidence of that.. go join an Ixalan queue. It's dead, no one is playing. Versus HoD which people were playing till the last day cos it was fun,
You know that a company who does this can't really survive in capitalism...?
Thank you! I am so excited about the points you made in this video. Especially about the new Challenger decks. It is so hard to "jump into" magic.
I've only been playing since February 2017, it was a major struggle to get playing. It would be nice to have more ways to get started without having to spend copious amounts of moolah.
Nail on the head Professor. I don't have the budget nor the time to play standard/modern magic and commander is enjoyable but not the experience I value most. But I still love and want to play magic once in a while. I have every single Duel Deck (save the anime JvC) sleeved and boxed in matching deck boxes because it allows me to play with other friends like me without all the commitment else-wise. The Duel Decks offer an experience with variety and function and feature mechanics that the latest set or last set uses so I can get a taste of what magic is doing these days. I AM that illusive Duel Deck enthusiast you mention in your videos now and then. I eagerly check for spoilers of the new Duel Decks and twice a year I get my magic fix when they release. This news saddens me immensely.
Ryan Braun well with this i really want to start getting those battle decks that card kingdom sells so that if i do not feel like playing commander and want to play casual magic with a well constructed deck o can
I always agree with you magic insight . Duel decks is how I started and I'm sad to see it go.
From me and mine , Merry Xmas to you and yours professor!!! we respect and love you round here. It's good to see there is a mtg channel that is still about MTG. I hope this next year is good for you and your endeavors sir, God bless and happy new year!!
Duel Decks were okay. I'm more excited about event decks. They FINALLY got it right with BFZ, then discontinued them. I hope the next ones pick up where they left off.
BFZ's event deck was one of the first things that got me into more competitive magic. It's definitely a niche that needed filling.
Uhavefriendss BFZ's was very good but thanks for your opinion.
Amen! When I came back to Magic it was because a new game store opened in a mall I frequent and the owner told me about the free standard tournament he holds. I said I didn't have a deck and didn't wish to spend $300 for a "free" tournament. He showed me an event deck a blue white tempo deck. I remembered the old precons, and most sucked, but I wanted to play so I bought the deck showed up and won half my games, but more importantly I had a blast. I looked over card lists and bought a second event deck and a few singles, and upgraded at a low cost and turned the deck into a beast.
I have now been back for 4 years now, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on the game. I started drafting again. I got into commander (though a commander precon) and modern as well. I have since brought others to this game. Since they ended event deck there hasn't been an easy bridge for these players to jump from borrowing my decks to having their own because the planeswalker decks are so bad a good player can't win against a real deck. A new player wouldn't even really get to play magic against a tuned deck with a skilled pilot. That is not fun, and If I suggested them I feel I would be turning them away from magic.
I am glad to hear they are bringing back event decks even if they are calling them "Challenger decks". The game needed a bridge for new and returning players to constructed magic. This is the best news I have heard involving magic this year, well out side of unstable. I love my unsets.
Great video thanks for showing me such a great game professor. You’re the reason I got into magic the gathering
Duel Decks: Venser vs Koth was my introduction into MTG. I still have them and the memories of my brother and I learning via the included rules slip during summer nights
love your reviews for products they have NEVER let me down
I have 3 duel sets and they were my first magic products. I have so many good memories from these duel decks, I bought them with my dad, brother and sister to have a game to play with everyone on vacation and the memories I had from them make me remember on of the best vacations I've ever had. I'm really going to miss these decks. RIP duel decks, we'll never forget.
School out for winter break professor. Merry Christmas and happy New year professor. My New Year's resolution is to show up on time from now on I promise just stop doing videos so damn early!! Jk lol
Professor professor.
Glad to be a patron, you're an amazing human.
Always love your stuff prof! Thanks!!
Looking forward to the card lists for challenger decks. A precon that's a budget-competitive standard deck sounds fabulous to me.
My first MTG product was Mind vs Might, and it was great fun. It's still one of my favourite sets, and I still bring it out occasionally for a game with my son. They really give new players confidence that they can enter the game and try.
Modern Event Deck was my all time favorite mtg product.
I love your way of making your intros.
It always makes me laugh so hard, really enjoy your irony/sarcasm!
Wizards needs to think about making these new products as though they were making a bridge. They may have planned it, but later it will break. That doesnt mean they have to give up at making the bridge, but rather think about making the bridge better, and before they know it, the bridge will be done, not perfect but done. Enough room for upgrades to it.
I just have to say I loved this intro, Professor. Thanks for making these great videos!
knights vs dragons was excellent. I dont understand why WOTC is muddying the water so much lately. One of this game's biggest strengths in its product lines was its predictability and consistency. If I had taken a break and wanted to return right now, i probably wouldn't because the product lines are so much different from a couple years ago, the new sets have bad quality stock, fnm rewards are pathetic or nonexistent, and WOTC just keeps doing unpredictable shit. I really dont understand what they're trying to pull off. dont fix it if it isnt broke, and instead maybe focus on fixing what is
ericofire it's as if they want to become yugioh with formats changing quickly and secondary markets being floppy, as a former yugioh player of recent year the one good thing about them is they reprint a lot of things in secondary packs, and Wizard does care a hell of a lot about a secondary market because of the reserved list, people want it to expand so that it isn't yugioh where oh hey 20 reprints of the blue-eyes white dragon and becomes 20 cents. And a lot of people say they will quit if they get rid of the reserved list because they are investing, my one friend but a grim monolith and a 200$ mox for commander and it makes me sad that if I want to increase my chances of winning I need that kind of ramp to catch up to a freaking locus god deck of all things. And if those cards got reprinted right now, he would probably eat those cards. I know rambling but still point being that they see they made to much strong product and want to lower power levels
Money.
Moxes are banned in edh tho
I just came back to playing, and if I had not bought in with as much money as I did, I would back out and run. Ixalan is great, but Standard is a mess, My black cards range from grey to black, and my red cards are orange to red. it is ridiculous.
corrackisdead yeah unless your group allows it all the mox cards and i believe black lotus are banned in commander.
Event decks are sorely needed. I remember once buying one from the Mirrodin Besieged era for Infect, and it was basically competitive right out the box.
Fingers crossed on those Challenger Decks too, Prof!
That cup of coffee at the beginning was just epic
Merry Christmas, Professor
Merry Christmas Prof! I asked to get planechase anthology for christmas, so hopefully I can get together a few friends over the break to play some planechase commander!
I'm actually really dissapointed with the discontinuation of duel decks. They had so much potential to be the perfect all round product for both new players and experienced alike. I personally preferred the commander precons anyway, but I've had some really amazing games with Nissa vs Ob nixilis and Blessed vs Cursed, and it's the main reason why some of my friends play magic. Seems like a counterproductive decision on Wizard's part.
I remember a friend of mine, who already played magic, got a vampire event deck from his little brother as birthday gift. His brother had no clue of magic, but the upgraded version of the vampire deck is still one of his favourites, because he liked to play the deck just out of the box, because it was pretty strong already and the cards were pretty good
I blame your reviews for why Duel Decks got cancelled. You remember the last clash pack you reviewed you gave it an A and they cancelled it. You gave the last Duel Deck an A and they cancelled it. Coincidence? :-P
Mrtfarrugia Let's give Iconic Masters an A :X
the professor nailed it! I miss clash packs too, hope they change their mind and add more duel decks...
Professor, that was a hilarious and thought-provoking intro you made here with the "Ultimate Dad" cup.
Great idea and a great execution :)
I loved event decks even as a seasoned player. They made it easy to just try a new unique deck when you got bored of a deck and didn't want to brew a new one.
Cool vid, It's honestly surprising that wotc hasn't had an intro deck series for standard up until now.
They have. Welcome decks, Intro decks, Planeswalker decks all fill the niche. Prof just doesn't like them for being kinda gimmicky sometimes.
Bam bam bam! We need these! This is why I love the professor. Lol.
I love Duel Decks. i have 10 intact decks and they are fun as hell ,
if the professor made a recap video of the year in the style of the first 30 seconds
I'd watch that
I'm excited for the Challenger Decks and they just might be my entry back into standard.
Prof, you are a voice of sanety through 2017.
Oh god temur energy event deck...
Kaladesh will be gone by that time
yes please
Love your videos man. I'm sad to see duel decks go away. Hopefully we will get something new and shiny to make us all go crazy over it.
The discontinuation of Duel Decks makes me very sad as I collect them and I play with them in a board game kind of way. I always felt they were a fun way to play. I'm curious as to why they are scraping them. Is it due to only a few failing?
I would like to know the answer to this question as well. I am wondering why wizards can´t simply have two very different products at the same time, that both fill their very own niche.
They want to force others into the Garbage Fire that is Standard.
I suspect it's because they dropped the planeswalker based decks and started being very stingy with useful reprints there as well. A huge amount of the problems of the last few years started with shifting power and complexity out of common with New World Order, and then went completely crazy when they shifted Standard design to exclude powerful reprints. It pushed the burden of making decent cards available onto all the supplemental product, and then the marketing team got the "brilliant" idea that instead of putting them in the supplemental product, they should almost all go in $10/pack Masters sets. And before anyone says it, yes, I know that occasionally cards that were unusually expensive due to being in Portal or some tiny set from a decade back, with Commander or Cube specific demand, get reprinted in Commander and Conspiracy sets. But the cards that hold usefulness across the board in a wide variety of Magic formats almost always end up in Masters sets now, which are not at an appropriate price point to be considered "supply" to the average player.
In addition, the format that should be the main supply of cards for the game, Standard, has become almost entirely disposable. All signs point to the marketing department working to change Magic to a disposable game rather than a collectable one, and that is truly depressing to see. If they do a major overhaul of design, I might take a look at their other products again, but at this point I have stopped buying anything but Commander and Duel decks - I guess with this I'm down to just Commander now. Oh well. I don't have any expectation that they will release a preconstructed deck that's actually viable with the way they described it. Two mythics just will not cut it given that even the cheapest deck in the Standard meta right now is almost $130 and uses a playset of a mythic with two of another in the sideboard. It then relies on 27 other rares (including sideboard), 8 of which are lands, which they always like to use as a lure to buy packs. Consistency is what gets wins in a competitive environment in Magic, which many LGSs are, and a half-baked version of a deck is going to be consistently beaten by a version that isn't using handicapped versions or half-playsets of the cards in the deck it's actually based on.
Wizard should copy Pokémon with the tins and collectors box.
That High West pour opening had me chuckling. How very Red Letter Media of you.
Ill give them a pat on the back for the on-ramp idea. Good job.
Now, a gift box. They nailed the quality on the box. Put back in some cool stuff and I'll buy it. I kinda liked the box for storage ...
Elspeth vs. Tezzeret was my first one. Happy Memorys.
Excellent choice of whaskey.
Serious LAUGH out loud at the start. Kinda startled my parents next to me. Lol love ya Prof
My first deck I got was a dual deck with my stepbrother about 10, and it’s how we got into Magic. It’s also how I got my GF into Magic too about 2 years ago
PS. My brother and I usually buy singles to build decks, but we sometimes buy booster packs, deck builders, for fun! Nothing better than opening up some packs!
How to pick good promo's? Choose the playable cards to become promos, its not that difficult.
But then all the pros will attend FNM which is unfair to me players!
Seriously, that's the excuse Wizards have for not printing good promos.
Those challenger decks takes me to memory the tournament decks in mirrodin. 75 single cards semi-random.
Watch up to 1:40... yeah, that pretty much says it all about what we as players can expect in the future.
Dual decks are how I got into mtg, they’re fantastic for new players because now you’ve got two decks you can share with anyone
The problem with Duel Decks is that they had one bad release after another - I remember Mind vs Might, Zendikar vs Eldrazi and Speed vs Cunning being sold for less than half of MSRP withing one month from release.
I really hope that these decks work and can continue to be successful. I hope Duel decks can return again some time in the somewhat near future.
The intro was epic!
Dafuq why would You discontinue one of the best products???
0:04 Prof you have no idea
When I first started out, I had bought a Deck Builder's Toolkit, which was fun for a bit, but then I went out and got Elspeth vs. Kiora (partly because I wanted to see how planeswalkers worked, but also because it was an example of a a properly constructed deck). Me and my sister had much fun playing with them. And while I eventually traded the Kiora half, I still have Elspeth's deck and incorporated Sun's Champion into my Emmara commander deck. Such a shame they're discontinuing them.
My fist mtg deck was a kamigawa snakes path. The second was Nezumis Nest and the fourth the Izzet. Today i have a Izzet Blitz on pauper and a Snake Tokens and a Mono B Rat control to play modern with my friends. What i want to say ia that preconstructed decks are part of my history with the game, they connected me with the lore and introduced me to the games archetypes and i miss they when I returned to play
Well, this is sad the duel decks are gone, but I'm glad we're getting back event decks. They really have an opportunity to make a deck in which new players can pick up and upgrade for minimal cost and have a (semi)competitive standard deck. My very first deck I had in Magic that I really loved was the Selesnya tokens event deck back in Dragon's Maze. I upgraded it for $30 or so and actually won a few games at some FNMs. It was some of the most fun I'd ever had with the game and if they do this right and don't mess up with these event decks (which they probably won't seeing the direction they went back in the very last event deck in BFZ) then we might actually see really nice product.
Prof. That intro was so on the ball, it sort of made my head spin.
Great Choice in Whiskey Prof!
I remember world championship decks the cards had gold borders and a different back. But they were remakes of the top decks at the world championship. They were great
I don't even play magic anymore but this guy is just way too entertaining
I love Sarcastic Professor so much.
Totally agree Prof! If only it was coming out sooner rather than 5 months away...
I remember coming back to magic after not playing for 6 years, me and a friend bought a hero vs monster duel deck. It was there I found the spark to renew my interest in the game again. I am sad to see it go!
My first buy was Elves vs Goblins back when I was a kid and then I just picked up Merfolk vs Goblins. Loved duel decks, loved the tribal theme that didn't have a planeswalker. Still never really played with a planeswalker. Sounds like they should have scrapped the planeswalker decks for challenger decks.
I agree, Prof. We need some preconstructed decks that have meaningful reprints. I liked the Modern Event Deck because it had really good cards and was playable out of the box and easy to upgrade over time. Something like the Commander Pre-Cons is needed for standard and modern.
We need less bad product, but a few good products instead. One Masters-Set per year is enough. And bring back FNM Promos and make them good.
Good Lord, it's like someone at WotC heard that I was picking up MTG for the first time in 18 years and decided to make Challenger Decks. This is perfect for me... thanks for the heads up, Prof
Very intellectual. I enjoy a opinion from knowledge.
I agree with you Prof. Im a Modern player of 7 years and I've been wanting to get into Standard but need something to get me into it.
Back in the day when I decided to start going to tournaments again, I did have that question of 'I'm just coming back to Standard but I'm not sure what I should do. Any advice?'. The answer was the Spectral Slam Precon. For those that don't know, Phantoms in Judgment had a unique property. They were creatures with 0 toughness that prevented all damage dealt to them. Then removed a +1/+1 counter. Since there was a period between those two lines, as long as the phantoms had one point of toughness, they would live through everything that was damage based because of the prevent clause being separate. It was a surprisingly powerful deck and I won more than a few of the games I played because of how strong that interaction was.
All that said, it seems to be one of the stronger precons Wizards has ever printed...
Spectral Slam was part of the older line of precons, called Theme Decks. While Theme Decks varied considerably over the years, they were generally stronger than Intro Packs or Planeswalker Decks, and sometimes a lot stronger.
Challenger decks are going to be a real version of the old World Championship decks. I bought a Goblin Bidding WC deck back when I was just getting competitve. Helped me learn how to build decks by buying them and playtesting with friends. They were cheap but great ways to have great cards to just sit around and play with friends and some of the cards has value to this day.
I guess I must have been playing for a while, when I read about challenger deck's event decks were not the first thing that came to mind. What did come to mind however were Theme Decks. Back when I was playing only casual in the time spiral era the theme decks were amazing. Pick up one of the four with a theme you liked (i believe they were all standard legal cards at the time) and what my friends and i did was just buy whatever singles from anywhere in magic that might have fit with the theme of the deck and it was just a total blast. Now because i was strictly a casual player back then, I have no idea if they were actually intended to be an entry point into standard but regardless, they were fun and excellent products. If they can bring them back and at the same time making them a bit more competitive for standard, i'm all for them.
prof @ my local game store we have a decent player base and if someone wants a deck people have not only have decks ready to go we also have all our commons and un commons for budget decks, it is really good cause even if you are an experienced player but you wanna move from modern to standard people have a bunch of decks
If they are like Commander decks, sure. But they need to print at list two or three of these per year.
88Hyo it sounds like each batch will have 4 full decks with 15 cards sideboards
If they're doing 4 decks each time (which is a good idea), they should do twice a year. Once on each major block. Intro decks basically, instead of planeswalker decks.
Irish Identity Ugh, Intro decks. We had those once, don't bring back the bad memory. Although the flavor was good in these decks, they have been nowhere near competitive. I rather hope they build challenger decks twice each Standard season by taking the top 4 metadecks, watering them down making them lose their individual 'player-flavor' but leave their core functionality fully effective. We get: A product kinda like the old WCS-decks, but black instead of gold borders and intended to be modded and upgraded. I'm up for it, this could be fun.
The Battle Decks from Card Kingdom. I guess that would be my answer to the casual quick pickup for cheap player... of course... I don't ever see those sold in a store. I'm not a huge fan of CK... but these always hit the mark for fun with me. Probably because I'm a "theme" obsessive player.
good choice on the brand of whiske.
Delicious whiskey choice, proff. I've been to their distillery.
Honestly i love the idea of the challenger decks because i was worry that in the next rotation i was gonna be left with having to buy many new cards to make something competitive but if those work then i might stand a chance to keep playing at the FNM without having to save every penny for singles
The best part about the challenger decks being for standard is that they don't suffer from the "one product has the best/ most expensive card, so value hunters will buy them all" issue! If all the product is gone, just buy the singles (which should hopefully be at low cost since the product contains additional supply)!
Can’t wait for them to announce the return of Dual Decks! Probably tomorrow morning
Turning a $20 challenger deck into a $50 modern deck was one of the highlights of this year, I'm so glad wotc decided to make this product
I think they’ll be onto a winner if they cover the main archetypes and the decks are somewhat competitive shells that can be upgraded with a few mods to pro-level decks. Still wish they kept up with the duel decks, though.
The theros event deck was amazing, it was a true step stone to mono black. If they can do that again they can help get so many people into standard and getting back into fnm.
Hey Professor! First, I'd like to say that I really enjoy your videos, and love your channel, keep up the awesome work!! I'm also here to ask you to make a video about the banned cards in Modern format and why they are banned (although some of them are obvious, others are not so much)!! Thank you for listening! =]
It’s like grave born all over again, because Mark Rose Water said “ Not enough of you loved it” and this is similar to that situation.
Planeswalker decks and the Annex line are the replacements. Planeswalker decks are upgrade-able, balanced, and fun. They server double purpose as a starter deck and a fun duel deck replacement AND a starter standard deck. The annex line is a box experience for multiplayer casual play. It has the issue that it is optimized for MORE than, rather then, two players, but it contains needed reprints, fun gameplay, and shelf-ability.