The Return Of The Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour: ua-cam.com/video/pfAUYKGTppQ/v-deo.html >AND< The Fall Of House Dimir | A Magic: The Gathering Story Dive: ua-cam.com/video/Iee77Z29IBY/v-deo.html
I bought physical planewalker decks back in Dominaria- they came with arena redemption codes. They have the technology... they just want us to spend extra mythic wildcards on our superfriends decks.
It's one of the reasons I got into arena. Saw the code said wth and downloaded the game. I've bought a season pass or two so prof is right. I use arena as a way to understand how cards should interact, and it also helped me understand the stack a lot better.
@@Lucarioguild7 how am i missing the point? it clearly says on the package if it has a arena code or not. not every product that is released ; comes with an arena code. some do; others do not.
I remember the talk about these when the decklists were revealed a while back, but until I saw this video show up in my feed, I honestly completely forgot about them.
The biggest thing keeping me from trying arena is having to start from scratch. Having a code would give me something to work with and build off of. Whatever, more money for my LGS I guess.
@@ShredAimlessly92 I've done some prerelease with the codes in it, but they are of course single use. Once you use it, you can't put another one. So dumb
Idk why but I found 2:31 where Prof fumbles a deckbox then laughs about it, saying he'll "leave the take in", so wholesome. Reminds us that he's not just this figure on UA-cam but more human and relatable.
These videos have been helping me be a better magic player for a long time now, but I never had anyone to play with due to my location. When you opened up your discord to everyone, I was able to play a paper game of magic for the first time in almost two years. Not going to lie, I nearly cried. So thank you, Professor, from the bottom of my heart, for allowing me to get that little bit of fun back into my life.
To be fair, I think they were going off of the meta's trajectory from the start of standard. gruul werewolves was quite competitive and Dimir Control was competing with Izzet Dragons for the top spot at times. It's not like these decks are poorly constructed, the Dimir and Gruul ones are very well built for a $30 standard deck.For someone who just wants to get games at FNM these are more than enough in terms of performance. The main issue is how much the meta has shifted since these archetypes were meta,and that might have something to do with how wildly it's swung since Kamigawa/the Epiphany ban. I don't think it was Wizards's intent to just make random decks for the sake of it, but given the constantly changing state of the meta that's absolutely what it feels like. Just a thought. Great video as always, Prof.
I agree with you buddy. Meta is changing all the time, and the decks needed a time to be designed, printed and distributed... this decks were archetypes once, and now the meta changed. Additionally to this, the target of this products doesn´t really care if these are top tier archetypes, they just want a good preconstructed deck, good cards and quick fun. And this is my case, I don´t even play tournaments, but having the chance of getting good preconstructed decks from time to time to play with my friends is a great idea. Not to talk about the great mana base the decks got this time...
... the issue with the decks clearly is ... that they were designed during a time of an unreasonably stalled meta ... with wizards unwilling to deal with it. If they had banned Epiphany back in the day ... the Challenger Decks certainly would look different. If they had chosen not to touch Alrund's Epiphany itself ... the viability of the decks would have been much better. The decline of the dominance of Epiphany decks started in January anyway ... and the banning of Divide by Zero would probably have been enough to reduce the archetype to a reasonable share. A share the Dimir and Gruul decks would profit from. So for the Challenger Decks ... the bannings of Jan 25th were a huge miss.
I will say, the inclusion of more "special" prints like showcases and alt art lands are pretty cool at least. Not the main reason you should buy these for sure, but a nice little bonus.
I havent played standard in a couple years (who can guess why lol) but now this is a pretty decent way to get back into local games so I ended up getting one. even if its not super optimized for tourneys.
As someone who just got into MTG only a few weeks ago, I am actually quite excited. The Gruul Stompy is a surprisingly good fit for what I need, as I just got my budget EDH Tovolar deck. A competitive deck? Far from it. However, this allows me to very easily upgrade my lands to the art I enjoy as well as convert my EDH deck to a decent standard deck for the half of my play group that likes standard, while saving money compared to buying the singles I’d want.
when prof leaves the take in … just wanted to say prof, my friends and I always discuss your videos when they come out, and it’s one of the ways I stay in contact with them. bringing the community together, or should I say … gathering? thank you as always prof for the amazing review on the decks. keep up the amazing work and being a pilar of the community :)
I was about to order the decks because they looked great and forgot about the magic arena code, but then my inner voice came and said "no no don't do that, wait what the prof says about it" 😂 thanks for the reminder!
They did that with a modern precon deck you could buy many years ago, beautiful sleeves, but absolute garbage in quality, they barely lasted one FNM before they started splitting, ended up using them for commanders and gave some away and just put the rest in a box and forgot about them
@@KlaireMurre Pokémon does so many things so right. Wotc could really take some notes from it! Codes in everything that give you everything (code for sleeves, coins, etc)
I've very recently started playing paper Magic again which was fun. What wasn't fun was trying to parse all the product they had which included stores pushing pre-orders for three separate lines including these, New Capenna, and Baldur's Gate. Your videos have been vital to keep everything in order.
Saw this video and reminded me this was released. Was heading home so I stopped by my local game store n bought the dimir control and gruul decks. Those land bases will be used in other shells going forward! Really happy to see full play sets of rare duel lands.
2:25 He's right WOTC. I have quit MTGA because i'm not goign to spend money on both formats. On top of which, I would buy more physical products if that meant I got the digital versions along side it.
Hm I actually find these pretty great, especially Dimir and Gruul offer a lot of sought after cards. Of course playability in Standard should be a factor with a Standard precon, but we have to keep in mind that Wizards has to design products far in advance, which makes it near impossible to print meta decks in such a fast changing format as standard. This seems obvious when looking at the vampires deck, where they seem to have had no real player data, as it includes the most recent cards. While playability might not allow for a great grade ith should be noted that Wizards didn't skimp on the value this time, which is a big factor for me personally.
Absolutely agree on the digital code. I’m currently transitioning from Pokemon to Magic. I mainly play online but, with Pokemon league battle decks I could play both at home with the family and online with the same deck. If these challenger decks had a digital code I’d definitely buy, but i don’t have enough in person game time with Magic. My wife and youngest daughter like Pokemon, but have shown no interest in Magic. My 13 year old loves magic, but it’s hard to drag him off the PS5… and when I do he usually destroys me anyway 😂
I didn't realize until this video that Iymrith, Desert Storm is spelled with an I as in igloo rather than an L as in Large. I dunno, I guess it just seems so much more natural with an L at the beginning of his name that I've completely overlooked it this whole time.
Those are really nice decks based on the snow covered and regular lands they give themselves but also the value of the other cards, is really worth it!
ALSO, Prof, you madman, don't forget to mention the inclusion of FULL ART Innistrad Forests & mountains in the Gruul deck! This is the subtle stuff you're supposed to be noting! Those are super sweet includes, it's the details. The flavour.
Your point on redemption codes for online is especially poignant when the mono-white deck is allowed in paper tournaments if played as designed without modification while it's completely banned from online play. A redemption code could have resolved this inconsistency.
To be fair, it wasn't exactly a problem caused by the lack of redemption codes because, unlike online which is completely trackable, someone could simply build the deck list and play it in the paper format with no proof of purchase. This was clearly a concession to placate the marketing and sales teams when Faceless Haven got the ban hammer to keep the sales from completely tanking. When you consider that fact, you begin to understand why the concession wasn't made for online play. It sets a bad precedent for differing play environments simply because the sales team doesn't want to take the hit. Redemption codes could have easily solved this. You can prove you bought it, you can play it. It's still kinda bullshit. "You can play this illegal deck because Brad in Sales said it's okay". It seems like they allowed it in this very specific instance because: 1) They designed it. 2) They didn't want the complaints from the stores if it was banned even though it's illegal because they're already going to get complaints about people not buying Rakdos Vampire. If half the case is unsellable, stores aren't likely to buy the same quantity next time. 3) It's a suboptimal use of this card in this build rendering it less of a real threat to compete. Hey Brad, can I run four Time Walks if the rest of my deck is utter dog shit?
I was thinking about maybe building an Esper control deck for standard, and the blue and black deck seems like a good springboard to get some of the components together at a discount. I don’t think I expected these to be amazing, for the price I expected them to be good decks for new players or good bases to build proper decks.
Awesome video... It gives me an idea something you dont see often. I would be hilarious to see a Blooper video of all your little moments. Your videos are always so perfect a little humor couldn't hurt !
You should review the new League Battle Decks coming out on June 17th for Pokemon TCG to reinforce the fact that companies are indeed capable of releasing a product that doesn't water down the meta decklist that the deck is based off of as well as include a full product redemption code for digital, all at a budget price for players with included extras.
How useful, rich and diverse are the videos in your channel! I love your acting on screen too! We miss your dad! Bring him to another episode! Have him compose an MTG inspired song!
The gruul one looks like a decent pickup for Commander for the Goldspan and dual lands at the least :/ I haven't really been blown away by a challenger deck since the ones from Amonkhet standard tbh.
Dang, I wish I saw this video when it dropped! I saw those decks at my LGS when I swung by today and thought about getting one, but didn't know anything about the contents.
I ended up buying two of these since I’ve been wanting to get back into standard, but building a deck is a bit of a daunting task. Should be fun to play with casually
I’m in the same boat. I’m trying to get back into mtg and play with my brothers every once in a while. I also am not a very good deck builder so this might be for me.
might pick up the Dimir one for the Shipwreck Marshes and some other cards that might find their way into my commander decks (looking at you, Hullbreaker Horror). I'm glad they aren't entirely devoid of value this time around, but as always, the standard metagame shifts so much by the time these come out. at least they have some NEO cards in them, which came out after they were initially announced.
In defense of the Rakdos vampires deck, there's actually one card that you can add to the deck to make it very potent, that being the "Bloodvial Purveyor" which is a 5/7 flying trample. Ironically enough the Dimir control deck comes with two copies of him in the sideboard. The deck actuallly does pretty well being geared towards an aggro deck and if you have some pretty good early game removal you can just decimate your opponent. I actually managed to win with it on turn 5 of a game.
Thanks for the review, these are really helpful. I was about to order a couple of these decks but I watched the video and decided to order the pioneer decks you reviewed earlier.
I’ve only ever played with standard preconstructed decks going back the Urza block. Maybe I’m stubborn, but this is awesome to see for a self proclaimed extremely casual player.
As a pretty new player, who's also trying to start having game nights with friends to teach them magic and play paper... These are a perfect set of "Now we all have some decks to use, even though we barely have collections and barely know how to build a deck of our own, or what we even like. Then, as we get better and build our collections we can upgrade them." Any precon non-commander deck is great for players trying to get into the hobby, play with friends of any experience level, and have a good time.
"Just buy singles" doesn't work when you're new to the game, still learning the archetypes and which ones you enjoy. These are a great jumping off point.
I’m surprised there wasn’t some sort of Orzhov one or something with the ghasts and the deadly disputes and whatnot, the dimir and rakdos ones seem quite random.
As a commander player, I bought the Gruul deck just to pick up a copy of Goldspan Dragon, because I hadn't wanted to spend that much on the card, but with more and more treasure support it's just getting better - and it practically pays for the deck! Then all the other sweet cards, particularly the dual lands, are a bonus. I was pleasantly surprised to find the black and white Innistrad lands included - certainly a nice counter offer to the snow lands in two of the decks - and a bit baffled by one showcase Kappa Tech-Wrecker alongside one regular frame.
To be fair to the vampires deck, its doing pretty well at my LGS and is always a close game for my UW control deck. Aggressive early creatures, man lands, and the tokens to cycle makes it hard to outvalue early on. Local version does have a few upgrades over the challenger deck though like the lands, and it is an aggro vs control battle instead of aggro vs aggro or midrange where I have little experience in seeing it play
Professor! I started playing last week and wanted to buy a precon commander deck. But after searching, i saw that there are 63 decks (soon 65). When looking online, everyone recommended different decks. So i was wondering if you could make a video of your top 5 best precon commander decks out of the box.
My biggest issue with these decks is how they didn’t consider future proofing. The inclusion of Zendikar through Forgotten Realms cards means they’ll only be playable in standard for a few months. If it were my decision, I would’ve released these after New Capenna, and tried to recreate the same strategies using only cards from Innistrad through New Capenna.
While I agree, they’ve come out in the beginning of April basically every time they’ve released these. I think this is the first time they’ve included cards from the latest set release though
Congrats on your kickstarter thing. The Philippines Apple store and Android store don't have access to MTG Online/Arena. So there's a "Thing" on why there's still no clue on why they still haven't put MTGO/MTGA codes on it. I bought the Dimir and the Gruul challenger decks since do want to go back into the paper magic thing and this is a good entry point for me with the budget I have, too bad didn't have enough money to get ALL of them and only have the budget for the two. Would definitely look forward to the 2022 Pioneer Deck if they decide to make it. Would laugh and kek if they decide to make Challenger Decks for Modern!
I managed to grab the gruul stompy deck for 5 bucks from a liquidation sale, its my first deck and I am new to magic so its been nice to see all this info on what it is and what upgrades I can do to it.
What we're seeing here is the classic wotc move. They release a product that, let's be honest, it's good for the players but not so much for the secondary market, and therefore, their bottom line. The product is "too" good for their own sake, it has too many good cards, etc, etc. So they start diluting it and deliberately making a shittier and shittier product with every iteration, so it sells less and less, which gives them the excuse to end it all together. "We ended the product because the numbers show people weren't interested in it". No. People aren't interested in the shittier, worse version of this product that you've been delivering. But by then it's too late and they're perfectly fine with not having to go through the hassle of actually fulfilling its costumers' demands, that go directly against their beancounter way of handling their business.
A redemption code in the paper product would actually get me to download the game again. As a dad of two young kids, I don't have time for the Arena grind and would rather play with the cards I want to play with. Something like this would give me a much better starting jumping off point in going digital... Thanks, Prof, for continuing to make that argument!
Now that they're doing Challenger decks consistently, I think their efforts for them should be put on stuff like Modern (pipe dream) and especially Pioneer. The standard metagame can shift so much with one set that trying to guestimate where the meta is going to land leads to some really bad reads like these ones. I love the idea of standard challenger decks since I myself don't play much standard, but because I'm an enfranchised player in other formats I can't really justify buying a preconstructed deck that isn't going to help me have a positive experience.
I bought the challenger decks with three friends to play something other than Commander again. I got the Dimir deck and I'm very satisfied. After the first two defeats against mono white, I had no problem with the other decks and then only won, which of course didn't cause much joy when Dimir control wins. ;)
I still think that if they’re willing to make a “deck-list specific rule” to include faceless haven, I think they should’ve just gone with the “ban these two cards in the same deck” to prevent the combo rather than limiting it to one very specific deck list. That would also allow more options to play faceless haven instead of out right banning it because of its synergy with ONE other card
I never got hit by 2 card combo with faceless haven, but i got hit A LOT with just haven. Wasn't this card too strong on its own and got baned bcs of it?
@@habibicometome Hunh, looking at the official announcement you’re right. Didn’t realize it was bc it was just too consistent by itself, I always thought it was bc of the combo it had with The Book of Exalted Deeds
Pokemon has been doing digital code cards to redeem products in their online digital game for years. I have been saying WotC needs to do this for so long. Another great video!
I've been playing it on arena for a while, since I preordered it and the rakdos decks. It plays fine, but struggles against some of the fast starts as you might expect
@@Krypto84 The Dimir deck doesn't seem inherently great but the inclusion of 4 memory deluge's, the hullbreaker horror, and 4 Shipwreck marches seems like a good foundation for building other control decks. A few of the blue cards here including Imryth are used for Azorious control. A low key contender in the current meta.
@@stoiccrane4259 yup, it's definitely not perfect, but its hard for me to ever pass up playing UB control. I've not played sanctioned magic since maybe 2015 or so (mostly just played cube or draft new sets once with friends) but a few colleagues have picked it up, so I preordered the UB and RB lists
@@Krypto84 Nice, I'm a UB player too! Unfortunately since Divide by Zero was banned from standard it crippled our Dimir Lier/Hullbreaker Horror shenanigans before they had an opportunity to dominate the meta. Azorious artifact control seems like it's poised to be the next good control archetype on the horizon though and a few of the cards from this UB deck like memory deluge, Imyrith, Horror may mesh well with it.
Back in the day we used to buy preconstructed decks with a bunch of boosters to buff the deck up. They weren't terrible,made for a decent base to build on. I only play arena now because paper is too freaking expensive where I live. It's cute seeing people complain about paying $200 for a booster box when the prices we get start at $300 on a good day
The production value on this April fool's joke is absolutely off the charts. He even designed the packages! And "no code for digital" was a nice touch. (I know this is real, but if every company gets to make lazy jokes, so do I)
I got the Gruul one for $20 from my LGS to put into a commander deck. They had a little event where you can play the decks against each other with the entry only being buying the deck. After I heard that and then played the deck in the event, I kept the deck together and upgraded it a bit to play at FNM Standard at my LGS! I am primarily a Brawl/EDH player. I just REALLY wish it came with Arena code like you said :( I play Arena with all my friends over the internet and having this deck would be fun to use against them.
Honestly even the Rakdos one isn't that bad. A playset of Voldaren Epicure and Bloodtithe Harvester are present in both the Standard and Pioneer versions of the Anvil Rakdos decks, and Sokenzan Smelter is a pretty decent card in the format version of that deck too. All it needed was 2 more Anvils and a playset of Deadly Dispute, especially considering the latter is a 2-dollars Common. You're pretty much better off buying singles but it's a shame that this one seemingly counts on the popularity of Vampires as a tribe rather than actually try to stick close to its Jund equivalent in the pre-Kamigawa meta. Oh also Kamigawa being such a high-impact set preceded by lower-impact ones definitely ruined those decks' competitive chances.
I'm looking forward to a nice influx of new Vamps from New Capenna. WotC might have been wary of putting too much powerful vampire support in such a short period, but I'm hoping that it will be more grixis fun!
I would actually buy these paper products if they had a code for digital as I only play digital. I do feel like they are leaving a lot of money on the table from people like me.
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The Return Of The Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour: ua-cam.com/video/pfAUYKGTppQ/v-deo.html
>AND<
The Fall Of House Dimir | A Magic: The Gathering Story Dive: ua-cam.com/video/Iee77Z29IBY/v-deo.html
That deckbox fumble is one of the funniest and most wholesome things I've seen on your channel, I'm glad you left it in!
I bought physical planewalker decks back in Dominaria- they came with arena redemption codes. They have the technology... they just want us to spend extra mythic wildcards on our superfriends decks.
Just not for standard,pioneer decks. Keep that money rolling for WOTC -.-.
It's one of the reasons I got into arena. Saw the code said wth and downloaded the game. I've bought a season pass or two so prof is right. I use arena as a way to understand how cards should interact, and it also helped me understand the stack a lot better.
these are not planewalker decks. #1. it said on the package that there was a code for arena. these do not.
@@ChickenMcThiccken You're completely missing the point
@@Lucarioguild7 how am i missing the point? it clearly says on the package if it has a arena code or not. not every product that is released ; comes with an arena code. some do; others do not.
I remember the talk about these when the decklists were revealed a while back, but until I saw this video show up in my feed, I honestly completely forgot about them.
I thought it may have been a April fools joke at first
@@TriotheHoly Same!
@@TriotheHoly “do you guys not have phones? “
Same my dude
Prof breaking at 2:36 was so wholesome. Man I love this channel
Was about to write the same ahah, loved it
up until that point I figured that was in the script.
I would 100% buy this if it had a digital code.
good. because what idiot wants to make 80$ profit per deck purchase?
Same
Same..
I would probably buy this if they had the code
100% I would. Not going to without it tho
Then it’d have to be legal on arena 😅
The biggest thing keeping me from trying arena is having to start from scratch. Having a code would give me something to work with and build off of. Whatever, more money for my LGS I guess.
@@ShredAimlessly92 there are a slew of free codes to use to get started on arena.. Like a lot.
@@ShredAimlessly92 I've done some prerelease with the codes in it, but they are of course single use. Once you use it, you can't put another one. So dumb
I got a Gruul Stompy preorder for $23.... I only wanted the goldspan dragon
literally the reason why me and all my friends bought it lol
Magda is cool add in as well. So worth it though for a goldspan
Saaaaaame
Same here hahaha
Yeah, goldspan dragon finna be to 2022 challenger decks what true name nemesis was to 2013 commander decks
Idk why but I found 2:31 where Prof fumbles a deckbox then laughs about it, saying he'll "leave the take in", so wholesome. Reminds us that he's not just this figure on UA-cam but more human and relatable.
He was testing the deck box. He's multitasking.
These videos have been helping me be a better magic player for a long time now, but I never had anyone to play with due to my location. When you opened up your discord to everyone, I was able to play a paper game of magic for the first time in almost two years. Not going to lie, I nearly cried. So thank you, Professor, from the bottom of my heart, for allowing me to get that little bit of fun back into my life.
And his isn't the only one! Do some digging, there are lots of discord servers for webcam Magic
I would explore them, but I feel safe with the credibility of the professor.
❤️❤️❤️
To be fair, I think they were going off of the meta's trajectory from the start of standard. gruul werewolves was quite competitive and Dimir Control was competing with Izzet Dragons for the top spot at times. It's not like these decks are poorly constructed, the Dimir and Gruul ones are very well built for a $30 standard deck.For someone who just wants to get games at FNM these are more than enough in terms of performance. The main issue is how much the meta has shifted since these archetypes were meta,and that might have something to do with how wildly it's swung since Kamigawa/the Epiphany ban. I don't think it was Wizards's intent to just make random decks for the sake of it, but given the constantly changing state of the meta that's absolutely what it feels like. Just a thought. Great video as always, Prof.
I agree with you buddy. Meta is changing all the time, and the decks needed a time to be designed, printed and distributed... this decks were archetypes once, and now the meta changed.
Additionally to this, the target of this products doesn´t really care if these are top tier archetypes, they just want a good preconstructed deck, good cards and quick fun. And this is my case, I don´t even play tournaments, but having the chance of getting good preconstructed decks from time to time to play with my friends is a great idea.
Not to talk about the great mana base the decks got this time...
... the issue with the decks clearly is ... that they were designed during a time of an unreasonably stalled meta ... with wizards unwilling to deal with it.
If they had banned Epiphany back in the day ... the Challenger Decks certainly would look different. If they had chosen not to touch Alrund's Epiphany itself ... the viability of the decks would have been much better.
The decline of the dominance of Epiphany decks started in January anyway ... and the banning of Divide by Zero would probably have been enough to reduce the archetype to a reasonable share. A share the Dimir and Gruul decks would profit from.
So for the Challenger Decks ... the bannings of Jan 25th were a huge miss.
I will say, the inclusion of more "special" prints like showcases and alt art lands are pretty cool at least. Not the main reason you should buy these for sure, but a nice little bonus.
I havent played standard in a couple years (who can guess why lol) but now this is a pretty decent way to get back into local games so I ended up getting one. even if its not super optimized for tourneys.
@@alexlandsbergs hope you enjoy it! Sounds like a good place to start if you haven't competed in a bit.
"I'm leaving that take in" is the Prof's version of, "Fuck it, we'll do it live!"
As someone who just got into MTG only a few weeks ago, I am actually quite excited. The Gruul Stompy is a surprisingly good fit for what I need, as I just got my budget EDH Tovolar deck. A competitive deck? Far from it. However, this allows me to very easily upgrade my lands to the art I enjoy as well as convert my EDH deck to a decent standard deck for the half of my play group that likes standard, while saving money compared to buying the singles I’d want.
when prof leaves the take in …
just wanted to say prof, my friends and I always discuss your videos when they come out, and it’s one of the ways I stay in contact with them. bringing the community together, or should I say … gathering?
thank you as always prof for the amazing review on the decks. keep up the amazing work and being a pilar of the community :)
Thank you for leaving That Take in, it was very entertaining and made my morning.
Glad you enjoyed it
This wasn't on my sub feed, the *pro tour for video led me here?? Thank you professor!!
Hope you enjoyed it!
@@TolarianCommunityCollege I did! I want to smash the mono white aggro and the dmir decks together to stomp locals
I was about to order the decks because they looked great and forgot about the magic arena code, but then my inner voice came and said "no no don't do that, wait what the prof says about it" 😂 thanks for the reminder!
I'm starting a movement,
"I'd buy this if it had a Code"
will be our modus operandi.
Dimir control is my favorite archetype and this deck has a ton of pieces I’d want to buy. I’m super excited to pick it up and start upgrading!
I don't play MtG anymore, but your wholesome and chill vibe. Keeps me coming back from time to time. Keep up the positive vibes Professor.
The blooper take was my favorite. Thank you for everything.
When do we get sleeves with our constructed decks? Maybe exclusive sleeves that mirror the core card of the deck? I'd love that
i would love a magic set thing like what pokemon does where you get those really pretty sleeves. those pokemon box set sleeves are so damn nice
They did that with a modern precon deck you could buy many years ago, beautiful sleeves, but absolute garbage in quality, they barely lasted one FNM before they started splitting, ended up using them for commanders and gave some away and just put the rest in a box and forgot about them
@@Mars-hs3kf that's so sad but almost worth it all things considered.
@@KlaireMurre Pokémon does so many things so right. Wotc could really take some notes from it! Codes in everything that give you everything (code for sleeves, coins, etc)
@@brentkilgore5182 it's a shame their game is just not as fun to play.
I've very recently started playing paper Magic again which was fun. What wasn't fun was trying to parse all the product they had which included stores pushing pre-orders for three separate lines including these, New Capenna, and Baldur's Gate. Your videos have been vital to keep everything in order.
Saw this video and reminded me this was released. Was heading home so I stopped by my local game store n bought the dimir control and gruul decks. Those land bases will be used in other shells going forward! Really happy to see full play sets of rare duel lands.
That take you didn't edit was awesome. Had me howling. Bravo Brian.
The thing that impresses me is that they come with the cool looking lands and not just basic basics.
2:25 He's right WOTC. I have quit MTGA because i'm not goign to spend money on both formats. On top of which, I would buy more physical products if that meant I got the digital versions along side it.
Hm I actually find these pretty great, especially Dimir and Gruul offer a lot of sought after cards. Of course playability in Standard should be a factor with a Standard precon, but we have to keep in mind that Wizards has to design products far in advance, which makes it near impossible to print meta decks in such a fast changing format as standard. This seems obvious when looking at the vampires deck, where they seem to have had no real player data, as it includes the most recent cards. While playability might not allow for a great grade ith should be noted that Wizards didn't skimp on the value this time, which is a big factor for me personally.
Prof laughing after bungling that box handling was the chaos I needed today.
The opening riff is so nostalgic to me, it instantly makes me feel good.
Absolutely agree on the digital code. I’m currently transitioning from Pokemon to Magic. I mainly play online but, with Pokemon league battle decks I could play both at home with the family and online with the same deck. If these challenger decks had a digital code I’d definitely buy, but i don’t have enough in person game time with Magic. My wife and youngest daughter like Pokemon, but have shown no interest in Magic. My 13 year old loves magic, but it’s hard to drag him off the PS5… and when I do he usually destroys me anyway 😂
This kind of "I am leaving the take in" is a reason why I love your Videos even more. Thanks for your work. Keep it up.
I didn't realize until this video that Iymrith, Desert Storm is spelled with an I as in igloo rather than an L as in Large.
I dunno, I guess it just seems so much more natural with an L at the beginning of his name that I've completely overlooked it this whole time.
I would like to see a bit more explanation on the how the deck plays when you review one.
Congrats on the Kickstarter success!
Thank you!!
Those are really nice decks based on the snow covered and regular lands they give themselves but also the value of the other cards, is really worth it!
Leaving that take in was genius. Loved it, haha.
Thanks for leaving that take in 💖
Preordered the Gruul one when it was revealed and it was shipped today, the Goldspan alone makes me excited, everything else is a goodie on top :)
ALSO, Prof, you madman, don't forget to mention the inclusion of FULL ART Innistrad Forests & mountains in the Gruul deck! This is the subtle stuff you're supposed to be noting! Those are super sweet includes, it's the details. The flavour.
Your point on redemption codes for online is especially poignant when the mono-white deck is allowed in paper tournaments if played as designed without modification while it's completely banned from online play.
A redemption code could have resolved this inconsistency.
To be fair, it wasn't exactly a problem caused by the lack of redemption codes because, unlike online which is completely trackable, someone could simply build the deck list and play it in the paper format with no proof of purchase.
This was clearly a concession to placate the marketing and sales teams when Faceless Haven got the ban hammer to keep the sales from completely tanking. When you consider that fact, you begin to understand why the concession wasn't made for online play. It sets a bad precedent for differing play environments simply because the sales team doesn't want to take the hit.
Redemption codes could have easily solved this. You can prove you bought it, you can play it.
It's still kinda bullshit.
"You can play this illegal deck because Brad in Sales said it's okay".
It seems like they allowed it in this very specific instance because:
1) They designed it.
2) They didn't want the complaints from the stores if it was banned even though it's illegal because they're already going to get complaints about people not buying Rakdos Vampire. If half the case is unsellable, stores aren't likely to buy the same quantity next time.
3) It's a suboptimal use of this card in this build rendering it less of a real threat to compete.
Hey Brad, can I run four Time Walks if the rest of my deck is utter dog shit?
Goooooood morning Prof!
Your videos seriously keep me going, the consistency is something my brain needs in such a chaotic time.
Thanks :)
It is so refreshing to not see an April Fool's video in my subscriber feed and it is luckily another great review video.
Love this channel, prof, always. Love that take w the box you kept in, beautifully human and improvised hilariously!
Not to mention how helpful the video is… always interested in these precons!
I was thinking about maybe building an Esper control deck for standard, and the blue and black deck seems like a good springboard to get some of the components together at a discount. I don’t think I expected these to be amazing, for the price I expected them to be good decks for new players or good bases to build proper decks.
Yeah that’s my thought, I don’t care about the deck itself, but it has a lot of components for less that I’d want for other decks.
It's definitely good value and a good starting base.
I'd love an upgrade guide for the gruul and white decks
Awesome video... It gives me an idea something you dont see often. I would be hilarious to see a Blooper video of all your little moments. Your videos are always so perfect a little humor couldn't hurt !
You should review the new League Battle Decks coming out on June 17th for Pokemon TCG to reinforce the fact that companies are indeed capable of releasing a product that doesn't water down the meta decklist that the deck is based off of as well as include a full product redemption code for digital, all at a budget price for players with included extras.
How useful, rich and diverse are the videos in your channel! I love your acting on screen too!
We miss your dad! Bring him to another episode! Have him compose an MTG inspired song!
The gruul one looks like a decent pickup for Commander for the Goldspan and dual lands at the least :/
I haven't really been blown away by a challenger deck since the ones from Amonkhet standard tbh.
Glad to here the mono white deck is solid. I bought this the other day while I work on my own mono swamp deck
Dang, I wish I saw this video when it dropped! I saw those decks at my LGS when I swung by today and thought about getting one, but didn't know anything about the contents.
I ended up buying two of these since I’ve been wanting to get back into standard, but building a deck is a bit of a daunting task. Should be fun to play with casually
I’m in the same boat. I’m trying to get back into mtg and play with my brothers every once in a while. I also am not a very good deck builder so this might be for me.
might pick up the Dimir one for the Shipwreck Marshes and some other cards that might find their way into my commander decks (looking at you, Hullbreaker Horror). I'm glad they aren't entirely devoid of value this time around, but as always, the standard metagame shifts so much by the time these come out. at least they have some NEO cards in them, which came out after they were initially announced.
One of the best fumbaliyas I have seen in a long time! Thank you for leaving that one in. Hilarious. And, I bought two of the decks from my LGS.
Thanks for leaving that take in :D
In defense of the Rakdos vampires deck, there's actually one card that you can add to the deck to make it very potent, that being the "Bloodvial Purveyor" which is a 5/7 flying trample. Ironically enough the Dimir control deck comes with two copies of him in the sideboard.
The deck actuallly does pretty well being geared towards an aggro deck and if you have some pretty good early game removal you can just decimate your opponent. I actually managed to win with it on turn 5 of a game.
Thanks for the review, these are really helpful. I was about to order a couple of these decks but I watched the video and decided to order the pioneer decks you reviewed earlier.
I’ve only ever played with standard preconstructed decks going back the Urza block. Maybe I’m stubborn, but this is awesome to see for a self proclaimed extremely casual player.
As a pretty new player, who's also trying to start having game nights with friends to teach them magic and play paper... These are a perfect set of "Now we all have some decks to use, even though we barely have collections and barely know how to build a deck of our own, or what we even like. Then, as we get better and build our collections we can upgrade them."
Any precon non-commander deck is great for players trying to get into the hobby, play with friends of any experience level, and have a good time.
"Just buy singles" doesn't work when you're new to the game, still learning the archetypes and which ones you enjoy. These are a great jumping off point.
I’m surprised there wasn’t some sort of Orzhov one or something with the ghasts and the deadly disputes and whatnot, the dimir and rakdos ones seem quite random.
Loved the included blooper
As a commander player, I bought the Gruul deck just to pick up a copy of Goldspan Dragon, because I hadn't wanted to spend that much on the card, but with more and more treasure support it's just getting better - and it practically pays for the deck! Then all the other sweet cards, particularly the dual lands, are a bonus.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the black and white Innistrad lands included - certainly a nice counter offer to the snow lands in two of the decks - and a bit baffled by one showcase Kappa Tech-Wrecker alongside one regular frame.
To be fair to the vampires deck, its doing pretty well at my LGS and is always a close game for my UW control deck. Aggressive early creatures, man lands, and the tokens to cycle makes it hard to outvalue early on. Local version does have a few upgrades over the challenger deck though like the lands, and it is an aggro vs control battle instead of aggro vs aggro or midrange where I have little experience in seeing it play
For a second, you turned into a cat knocking things off of the desk, and it was amazing.
Professor! I started playing last week and wanted to buy a precon commander deck. But after searching, i saw that there are 63 decks (soon 65). When looking online, everyone recommended different decks. So i was wondering if you could make a video of your top 5 best precon commander decks out of the box.
I would also like to add that cardkingdom is only available for US residents.
I love it when Boromir discusses MTG.
2:33 - absolutely delightful
My biggest issue with these decks is how they didn’t consider future proofing. The inclusion of Zendikar through Forgotten Realms cards means they’ll only be playable in standard for a few months.
If it were my decision, I would’ve released these after New Capenna, and tried to recreate the same strategies using only cards from Innistrad through New Capenna.
While I agree, they’ve come out in the beginning of April basically every time they’ve released these. I think this is the first time they’ve included cards from the latest set release though
@@Battosai83 I’m a returning player from the days of “intro packs” so I had no idea.
Congrats on your kickstarter thing. The Philippines Apple store and Android store don't have access to MTG Online/Arena. So there's a "Thing" on why there's still no clue on why they still haven't put MTGO/MTGA codes on it.
I bought the Dimir and the Gruul challenger decks since do want to go back into the paper magic thing and this is a good entry point for me with the budget I have, too bad didn't have enough money to get ALL of them and only have the budget for the two.
Would definitely look forward to the 2022 Pioneer Deck if they decide to make it. Would laugh and kek if they decide to make Challenger Decks for Modern!
Where did you get the decks and how much?
@@leonard9624 I bought it on my Local Game Store and the decks cost around 31USD or 1600php here
@@ryukaze20 that's a good price if you bought it here in ph
@@leonard9624 Indeed it is a "Good" Price as I even decided to shell out and just get the last two to complete them all.
@@ryukaze20 what is the name of the lgs? Usually challenger decks are 2k or more
I managed to grab the gruul stompy deck for 5 bucks from a liquidation sale, its my first deck and I am new to magic so its been nice to see all this info on what it is and what upgrades I can do to it.
What we're seeing here is the classic wotc move. They release a product that, let's be honest, it's good for the players but not so much for the secondary market, and therefore, their bottom line. The product is "too" good for their own sake, it has too many good cards, etc, etc. So they start diluting it and deliberately making a shittier and shittier product with every iteration, so it sells less and less, which gives them the excuse to end it all together. "We ended the product because the numbers show people weren't interested in it". No. People aren't interested in the shittier, worse version of this product that you've been delivering. But by then it's too late and they're perfectly fine with not having to go through the hassle of actually fulfilling its costumers' demands, that go directly against their beancounter way of handling their business.
Yeah they do that a lot. Very true.
Prof is too right on this! I would buy every product offered with a code to redeem on arena. Damn that technology!
A redemption code in the paper product would actually get me to download the game again. As a dad of two young kids, I don't have time for the Arena grind and would rather play with the cards I want to play with. Something like this would give me a much better starting jumping off point in going digital... Thanks, Prof, for continuing to make that argument!
Time to combine all of these Standard precons and the upcoming Pioneer ones for an Ultimate Deck!
Now that they're doing Challenger decks consistently, I think their efforts for them should be put on stuff like Modern (pipe dream) and especially Pioneer. The standard metagame can shift so much with one set that trying to guestimate where the meta is going to land leads to some really bad reads like these ones.
I love the idea of standard challenger decks since I myself don't play much standard, but because I'm an enfranchised player in other formats I can't really justify buying a preconstructed deck that isn't going to help me have a positive experience.
I bought the challenger decks with three friends to play something other than Commander again. I got the Dimir deck and I'm very satisfied. After the first two defeats against mono white, I had no problem with the other decks and then only won, which of course didn't cause much joy when Dimir control wins. ;)
I would have been so hyped for this, if I'd literally even heard they were thinking of doing them...
Imagine Prof just stumbling through Rudy's storage space knocking everything over in excitement.
I still think that if they’re willing to make a “deck-list specific rule” to include faceless haven, I think they should’ve just gone with the “ban these two cards in the same deck” to prevent the combo rather than limiting it to one very specific deck list. That would also allow more options to play faceless haven instead of out right banning it because of its synergy with ONE other card
I never got hit by 2 card combo with faceless haven, but i got hit A LOT with just haven. Wasn't this card too strong on its own and got baned bcs of it?
@@habibicometome Hunh, looking at the official announcement you’re right. Didn’t realize it was bc it was just too consistent by itself, I always thought it was bc of the combo it had with The Book of Exalted Deeds
Pokemon has been doing digital code cards to redeem products in their online digital game for years. I have been saying WotC needs to do this for so long. Another great video!
I love how laid back the Professor is these days 😄👌
I actually feel like the Dimir deck is a decent list
I've been playing it on arena for a while, since I preordered it and the rakdos decks. It plays fine, but struggles against some of the fast starts as you might expect
@@Krypto84 The Dimir deck doesn't seem inherently great but the inclusion of 4 memory deluge's, the hullbreaker horror, and 4 Shipwreck marches seems like a good foundation for building other control decks. A few of the blue cards here including Imryth are used for Azorious control. A low key contender in the current meta.
@@stoiccrane4259 yup, it's definitely not perfect, but its hard for me to ever pass up playing UB control.
I've not played sanctioned magic since maybe 2015 or so (mostly just played cube or draft new sets once with friends) but a few colleagues have picked it up, so I preordered the UB and RB lists
@@Krypto84 Nice, I'm a UB player too! Unfortunately since Divide by Zero was banned from standard it crippled our Dimir Lier/Hullbreaker Horror shenanigans before they had an opportunity to dominate the meta.
Azorious artifact control seems like it's poised to be the next good control archetype on the horizon though and a few of the cards from this UB deck like memory deluge, Imyrith, Horror may mesh well with it.
Back in the day we used to buy preconstructed decks with a bunch of boosters to buff the deck up. They weren't terrible,made for a decent base to build on.
I only play arena now because paper is too freaking expensive where I live. It's cute seeing people complain about paying $200 for a booster box when the prices we get start at $300 on a good day
Why not just order online if local prices are way overboard? Shipping can be costly, but probably still cheaper if boxes are going for 300
Import taxes basically double the price of anything. It sucks so bad
I do love the awesome alt art lands they've included in the decks
The production value on this April fool's joke is absolutely off the charts. He even designed the packages! And "no code for digital" was a nice touch.
(I know this is real, but if every company gets to make lazy jokes, so do I)
I got the Gruul one for $20 from my LGS to put into a commander deck. They had a little event where you can play the decks against each other with the entry only being buying the deck.
After I heard that and then played the deck in the event, I kept the deck together and upgraded it a bit to play at FNM Standard at my LGS! I am primarily a Brawl/EDH player.
I just REALLY wish it came with Arena code like you said :( I play Arena with all my friends over the internet and having this deck would be fun to use against them.
Good job prof prod of ur editing decisions xd (always love the is it worth it videos as well)
This week - Midweek Magic on MTGA you can test play these decks!! I kinda like the Vampire one :)
Thanks for the review , Always great information
I would really have loved to know if they are fun to play against each other.
That's exactly what's happening right now in the Midweek Magic event in arena!
I’m also waiting for WoTC to add redemption codes to products. Pokémon has been doing it for years so idk why wizards is so adamant about it.
Honestly even the Rakdos one isn't that bad. A playset of Voldaren Epicure and Bloodtithe Harvester are present in both the Standard and Pioneer versions of the Anvil Rakdos decks, and Sokenzan Smelter is a pretty decent card in the format version of that deck too. All it needed was 2 more Anvils and a playset of Deadly Dispute, especially considering the latter is a 2-dollars Common.
You're pretty much better off buying singles but it's a shame that this one seemingly counts on the popularity of Vampires as a tribe rather than actually try to stick close to its Jund equivalent in the pre-Kamigawa meta.
Oh also Kamigawa being such a high-impact set preceded by lower-impact ones definitely ruined those decks' competitive chances.
thank you for leaving in the meltdown. it was a true comedic treat
XD That take, thank you for the smiles!
I'm looking forward to a nice influx of new Vamps from New Capenna. WotC might have been wary of putting too much powerful vampire support in such a short period, but I'm hoping that it will be more grixis fun!
The feeling when these have more reprint value than the recent commander decks
That is a top tier tie my friend!
I would actually buy these paper products if they had a code for digital as I only play digital. I do feel like they are leaving a lot of money on the table from people like me.
Same story bro =/