Well that was certainly an interesting number of Shocks. Until this video I had only seen Cracking Packs openings. He must have gotten some lucky juiced boxes, getting from 7-10 in his openings. Maybe the boxes are not as Shock heavy or did you just pull the short straw on this one? I certainly appreciate the video, and while I don't want people getting bad boxes, it is important for people to see that not every box is gonna have 10 Shocks and retro/anime Cyclonic Rifts. Always appreciate your well-thought-out takes on a set. I'd say you nailed it. You can love Ravnica as a plane and enjoy the set and the art and the draft experience and still have critical takes on the pricing and impact. Thanks for the video!
I’m pretty sure 5 is the very low end of shock counts. There’s probably a 4 shock box out there but I think 5-10 is the range and I definitely ended up on the low side.
Curious what you thought of the draft. Oh me? I played a bad azorius control deck and got matched with two other azorius control players. 😵 It...was a long night. I might try again, although I have some reservations. Also, you probably know that positivity and honesty/criticality aren't opposites. 😎 ...Although I think--based on just the Prof's reaction to folks thinking he's generally negative--sometimes the mtg yt community has trouble with nuance. Appreciate the effort as always!
Draft I have played… Dimir control, Boros splash for green (so Naya-ish), and straight up Mardu which was primarily a Rakdos shell but splashing for some white removal and extort creatures. The Mardu deck was my least successful but my mana base was bad. Having to use signets to fix while trying to be aggressive was not a recipe for success. I haven’t found a specific route to be super dominant. Izzet and super aggro Boros have impressed me. I don’t think there is much in the way of board wipes so go wide is really hard to stop. I appreciate your reassurance on the honesty vs. positivity. I try to walk that line between the two. I think I was most worried about “if you hate the product then why are you opening it?” And hope I made the point that I don’t hate the product at all but just want people to know that short of pulling a serial numbered card you are going to have a heck of a time getting legitimate value back that is at the price you paid for the box.
Ugh Rav is such a big part of my connection to the game- I wish these boxes would have been better thought out. Honestly- with this not being the “best” box considering the pulls, what would a good one even be? (P.S. That is a nice Bruvac tho! I hope my LGS gets one of the retros.)
The set itself is cool. Like TSR and DMR, I’m a fan of the remastered product line. It’s really fun to be able to experience cards, synergies, and power level from years past. What I don’t love is the price point which was always going to be a problem for Ravnica because Ravnica sets aren’t exactly bursting with value and many were propped up by the shock lands. They mismanaged the reprinting of Doubling Season and Tithe to the point where they couldn’t even be included in the set which is a shame. Bruvac was the most valuable card in the set prior to release and he wasn’t even in a Ravnica set. He was a very difficult to pull card from Jumpstart and then on The List for a period of time. So even his price is mostly scarcity driven. I’m basing my opinion of not being a great box off: - Low shock count. From what I have seen collector boxes range 5-10 per box. They probably exist but I haven’t heard of a box that has less than 5 yet. Regardless it’s on the low side. - medium anime foil hit. Crypt ghast is a good, not spectacular anime foil hit. If you’re going to get “only” 5 shocks you need something else pretty big. Overarching point, right now box values look great because anime and shocks are hot commodities. They are also extremely prevalent in this product. The prices are unlikely to hold up. When shocks go from $20 to $10, I didn’t get $140 worth of shocks I get $70. They won’t be able to buoy a $255 price tag on the box and there isn’t enough value in the set otherwise to make up the difference. So…. If you don’t hit a serial numbered card the vast majority of box openings are huge losing propositions.
Every set in 2024 and beyond I will be looking at the cards from a playable longevity standpoint. What of it will survive the next 5 years on the battlefield and honestly it's just the lands that stick out to me. It's fairly expensive to assemble any kind of bling version semi-set specific theme build as of late. It's not because of the set, it's because of the meta staples. I don't mind the challenge of deck or theme building but it's all kinda for naught if it can't maintain a meta balance in the long run. In the end as much as I desire a full on hoard of varying strategies and decks the truth is that most people need a fast deck, a slow deck a test deck and if possible a deck of pure self expression. Something that not only defines the player but also their journey consolidated. The goal in its finality but not fully conclusive. I have that deck built already. One of the major financial crisis's of buil/play/collect is that wanting it all is not a design for bringing stability to a table. It takes alot of play experience to define the tables needs for a better player interaction and staying current leaves everything all jumbled together. This constant guessing game is fun for some but I think the majority may agree they mainly want to express their defining moments and characteristics more efficiently yet everyone is running under the presumption that they need the newest shiny thing available but that's never really explaining the truths of themselves. It is perfectly okay to play and build in an expanded multiversal way. But it would be cool to see deck design be a tangible and firm, finely crafted story of the things that touched one most without all the deck swapping. Ive been watching how I play and think and clearly I'm more esper dominant with lighter holdings in gruul. I would call this my color identity. Color pie categorically there are 20 to 40 types of people at most but 10 if well defined. The shard side of ourselves is the core expression and the guild anti-side is the completion of that image. It is easy to say "I love all things equally but that cant be true. That is until you do decide to build a consolidated amalgamated deck of your journey. This deck should be slow but also refined and calculated for expressing your story. One deck of the happiest moments. One deck if you had to leave everything else behind. Many would define this kind of deck as a 5c goodstuff build but it's so much more than that. Consumerism wants us all to be fluidic in our consumption. It doesn't want nor care for our definition of uniqueness. It wants an ocean of endless purchasing. It's not healthy to be fully submerged in the limitless. Because it makes it meaningless or complicated to know or be one thing and this in nature causes bonding conflicts. Where any of this matters is in how we interact. It's funny because the mtg library may not be at an apex but there is enough of it to support the defining process.
Appreciate the time and thought you put into your comment. I’m very much an “invest in real estate” guy when it comes to MTG. No matter what deck you are building, you need a workable mana base. Beyond that it’s incredibly tough to know which cards will remain impactful as new cards are released and power level rises. I love to play different archetypes but there are color combinations that clearly fit my play style and are more fun for me to play than others.
@@WildcatMTG I hear you there! I've had an okay haul with the few drafts I cracked. Almost a play set of each. Just gonna sit back and watch. Maybe crack some MH2 for fun.
Can see your face on the wizards shrink wrap ! Great opening!
I’ll have to start wearing a mask while filming! 😂😂😂
Well that was certainly an interesting number of Shocks. Until this video I had only seen Cracking Packs openings. He must have gotten some lucky juiced boxes, getting from 7-10 in his openings. Maybe the boxes are not as Shock heavy or did you just pull the short straw on this one? I certainly appreciate the video, and while I don't want people getting bad boxes, it is important for people to see that not every box is gonna have 10 Shocks and retro/anime Cyclonic Rifts.
Always appreciate your well-thought-out takes on a set. I'd say you nailed it. You can love Ravnica as a plane and enjoy the set and the art and the draft experience and still have critical takes on the pricing and impact. Thanks for the video!
I’m pretty sure 5 is the very low end of shock counts. There’s probably a 4 shock box out there but I think 5-10 is the range and I definitely ended up on the low side.
Curious what you thought of the draft. Oh me? I played a bad azorius control deck and got matched with two other azorius control players. 😵 It...was a long night. I might try again, although I have some reservations.
Also, you probably know that positivity and honesty/criticality aren't opposites. 😎 ...Although I think--based on just the Prof's reaction to folks thinking he's generally negative--sometimes the mtg yt community has trouble with nuance.
Appreciate the effort as always!
Draft I have played… Dimir control, Boros splash for green (so Naya-ish), and straight up Mardu which was primarily a Rakdos shell but splashing for some white removal and extort creatures. The Mardu deck was my least successful but my mana base was bad. Having to use signets to fix while trying to be aggressive was not a recipe for success. I haven’t found a specific route to be super dominant. Izzet and super aggro Boros have impressed me. I don’t think there is much in the way of board wipes so go wide is really hard to stop.
I appreciate your reassurance on the honesty vs. positivity. I try to walk that line between the two. I think I was most worried about “if you hate the product then why are you opening it?” And hope I made the point that I don’t hate the product at all but just want people to know that short of pulling a serial numbered card you are going to have a heck of a time getting legitimate value back that is at the price you paid for the box.
For some reason that "Ravnica" font reminds me of Battlestar Galactica...
We’re probably only 18-24 months away from that Universes Beyond. 😏
ya. i've seen a video recently with 10 shocks.. this one didn't quite make that.
Yeah, I have yet to see a collector box with less than 5 shocks so this was definitely on the low end.
Ugh Rav is such a big part of my connection to the game- I wish these boxes would have been better thought out.
Honestly- with this not being the “best” box considering the pulls, what would a good one even be?
(P.S. That is a nice Bruvac tho! I hope my LGS gets one of the retros.)
The set itself is cool. Like TSR and DMR, I’m a fan of the remastered product line. It’s really fun to be able to experience cards, synergies, and power level from years past. What I don’t love is the price point which was always going to be a problem for Ravnica because Ravnica sets aren’t exactly bursting with value and many were propped up by the shock lands. They mismanaged the reprinting of Doubling Season and Tithe to the point where they couldn’t even be included in the set which is a shame. Bruvac was the most valuable card in the set prior to release and he wasn’t even in a Ravnica set. He was a very difficult to pull card from Jumpstart and then on The List for a period of time. So even his price is mostly scarcity driven.
I’m basing my opinion of not being a great box off:
- Low shock count. From what I have seen collector boxes range 5-10 per box. They probably exist but I haven’t heard of a box that has less than 5 yet. Regardless it’s on the low side.
- medium anime foil hit. Crypt ghast is a good, not spectacular anime foil hit.
If you’re going to get “only” 5 shocks you need something else pretty big. Overarching point, right now box values look great because anime and shocks are hot commodities. They are also extremely prevalent in this product. The prices are unlikely to hold up. When shocks go from $20 to $10, I didn’t get $140 worth of shocks I get $70. They won’t be able to buoy a $255 price tag on the box and there isn’t enough value in the set otherwise to make up the difference. So…. If you don’t hit a serial numbered card the vast majority of box openings are huge losing propositions.
Every set in 2024 and beyond I will be looking at the cards from a playable longevity standpoint. What of it will survive the next 5 years on the battlefield and honestly it's just the lands that stick out to me.
It's fairly expensive to assemble any kind of bling version semi-set specific theme build as of late. It's not because of the set, it's because of the meta staples.
I don't mind the challenge of deck or theme building but it's all kinda for naught if it can't maintain a meta balance in the long run.
In the end as much as I desire a full on hoard of varying strategies and decks the truth is that most people need a fast deck, a slow deck a test deck and if possible a deck of pure self expression. Something that not only defines the player but also their journey consolidated.
The goal in its finality but not fully conclusive. I have that deck built already.
One of the major financial crisis's of buil/play/collect is that wanting it all is not a design for bringing stability to a table. It takes alot of play experience to define the tables needs for a better player interaction and staying current leaves everything all jumbled together. This constant guessing game is fun for some but I think the majority may agree they mainly want to express their defining moments and characteristics more efficiently yet everyone is running under the presumption that they need the newest shiny thing available but that's never really explaining the truths of themselves.
It is perfectly okay to play and build in an expanded multiversal way. But it would be cool to see deck design be a tangible and firm, finely crafted story of the things that touched one most without all the deck swapping.
Ive been watching how I play and think and clearly I'm more esper dominant with lighter holdings in gruul. I would call this my color identity.
Color pie categorically there are 20 to 40 types of people at most but 10 if well defined.
The shard side of ourselves is the core expression and the guild anti-side is the completion of that image.
It is easy to say "I love all things equally but that cant be true. That is until you do decide to build a consolidated amalgamated deck of your journey. This deck should be slow but also refined and calculated for expressing your story.
One deck of the happiest moments.
One deck if you had to leave everything else behind.
Many would define this kind of deck as a 5c goodstuff build but it's so much more than that.
Consumerism wants us all to be fluidic in our consumption. It doesn't want nor care for our definition of uniqueness. It wants an ocean of endless purchasing.
It's not healthy to be fully submerged in the limitless. Because it makes it meaningless or complicated to know or be one thing and this in nature causes bonding conflicts.
Where any of this matters is in how we interact. It's funny because the mtg library may not be at an apex but there is enough of it to support the defining process.
Appreciate the time and thought you put into your comment. I’m very much an “invest in real estate” guy when it comes to MTG. No matter what deck you are building, you need a workable mana base. Beyond that it’s incredibly tough to know which cards will remain impactful as new cards are released and power level rises. I love to play different archetypes but there are color combinations that clearly fit my play style and are more fun for me to play than others.
Yea. Get those crappy boxes out the way. 😂
100%.
I'm still failing to see the justification of their over pricing lol
I think sealed prices will continue to fall but yeah, it definitely feels out of touch.
Buy singles! Lol
Honestly… I intend to buy up some shocks when they sink.
@@WildcatMTG I hear you there! I've had an okay haul with the few drafts I cracked. Almost a play set of each. Just gonna sit back and watch. Maybe crack some MH2 for fun.
bad box unfortunately...but thats fine just for experience
That’s the way I look at it as well.
That box is a big oof. You got hosed on shocks and the other hits weren't awesome either. Very meh.
Yeah, I am fairly sure that’s the low end of the shock spectrum. Some “okay” hits but not hitting like an upper tier anime foil hurts too.