General (CMM) Commander Masters 2023 Previews
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
I strongly disagree with the notion that Horizons sets have been good for the game as a whole. They've pretty much killed non-rotating format interest in paper by introducing insane power creep and an artificial rotation cycle that only appeals to those deep into the hobby. Obviously can't speak for all stores, but we've had multiple big LGS in the area that used to be able to run Modern with full pods every FNM but nowadays are barren (aside from the grinders). Most everyone else has just gotten out of the format because Standard+ was not something they were keen to keep up with. Hell, MH3 announcement for 2024 was the last straw for me personally and I've gone ahead and buylisted most everything I had accumulated for Modern over the past decade.
Can't deny that it's been great for Cube as they've been willing to push the design envelope, but this has always been a format where you could pick and choose what you'd like to focus on. The same can't be said for formats that are updended by direct to format printings like the Evoke Elemental cycle or cards like The One Ring or Orcish Bowmasters which invalidate whole archetypes and staple cards overnight. It's a really shitty feeling when you realize that you just can't play this deck anymore unless you pump another $250+ into it and buy into the newest Horizons module of 8-12 cards just to keep up and avoid going 1-2 or 0-3 every Friday.
The game is still fun to play, that has always been Magic's saving grace despite horrid leadership, but keeping up with releases is absolutely not worth it in 2023. It just feels gross to see a company blatantly go whaling on their fans as they have the past 3-4 years by taking advantage (like they have with this CMM set jacked up prices screwing over most LGS) all while having PR dipshits pissing on us and tell us that it's raining. Ugh.
Can't deny that it's been great for Cube as they've been willing to push the design envelope, but this has always been a format where you could pick and choose what you'd like to focus on. The same can't be said for formats that are updended by direct to format printings like the Evoke Elemental cycle or cards like The One Ring or Orcish Bowmasters which invalidate whole archetypes and staple cards overnight. It's a really shitty feeling when you realize that you just can't play this deck anymore unless you pump another $250+ into it and buy into the newest Horizons module of 8-12 cards just to keep up and avoid going 1-2 or 0-3 every Friday.
The game is still fun to play, that has always been Magic's saving grace despite horrid leadership, but keeping up with releases is absolutely not worth it in 2023. It just feels gross to see a company blatantly go whaling on their fans as they have the past 3-4 years by taking advantage (like they have with this CMM set jacked up prices screwing over most LGS) all while having PR dipshits pissing on us and tell us that it's raining. Ugh.
I liked everyone selling their modern staples so I could pick them up affordably for my cube. Best part of MH2's aftermath as far as I'm concerned. I had already gotten out of modern before Horizons due to three consecutive bans killing the fringe deck I was playing at the time - every time by nuking incidental support and consistency pieces rather than core pieces of tiered decks (totally get why they do it that way but it sucked all the same). To double down on the lie of "Eternal format! Never lose a deck!" with blatant power creep was certainly a decision to make.
cube is the best formatYou may present your arguments
prioritizing for the best format is just the logical choice
"the health of the game"? "competitive magic"? "alienating people with OP cards and UB"??
ok sure those are cool but if everyone played cube more people would be happy
Premise: The rest of Magic exists as an extensive on-ramp to casual custom formats as far from Wizards ecosystems as possible.
Kitchen Table - > Casual custom formats -> Standard/Limited/FNM-tier -> Higher level competition -> Casual custom format.
You will note that more than half the graph merely exists to make Magic players better at Magic so they can retreat to comfort with added competence.
Competence is relative to the competence of others.
Half the nodes on graph is superfluous.
Magic is better off with those nodes excised.
Q.E.D
(Tongue firmly planted in cheek fwiw)
Kitchen Table - > Casual custom formats -> Standard/Limited/FNM-tier -> Higher level competition -> Casual custom format.
You will note that more than half the graph merely exists to make Magic players better at Magic so they can retreat to comfort with added competence.
Competence is relative to the competence of others.
Half the nodes on graph is superfluous.
Magic is better off with those nodes excised.
Q.E.D
(Tongue firmly planted in cheek fwiw)
I'm starting to think that the main reason why people are so upset about Horizons sets and Universes Beyond is because of the extra costs they can incur for players. I don't think anyone would have a problem with most of these cards and sets existing if it didn't cost them anything monetarily. However, it's annoying for the Tron player who spent $1000 building their deck back in 2013 "needing" to drop an extra $250 on a playset of The One Ring to keep their deck current. For newer players, it's not that big of a deal because decks are still roughly as expensive as they've always been since reprints have driven down the prices of old staples. But if you've been around for a while, you feel the impact of new cards financially because you need the new cards even after you invested in those other cards when they were still super scarce and expensive. I'm pretty sure that's where the "forced rotation" nonsense has come from: even though nothing has changed legality-wise, new options exist that have changed the optimized builds of some decks. Of course, this isn't a problem specific to Horizons sets. I used to play Infect in Modern, but between Fatal Push being printed and the banning of Gitaxian Probe, my deck completely fell off, rending all that time and money I had spent putting it together completely worthless. At least with Horizons, they make cards to upgrade existing decks and try to help fringe archetypes be competitively viable. I think this is why so many dedicated competitive players love these sets, especially Modern Horizons 2, so much: they've helped to make Modern a more interactive and dynamic format instead of a rock-paper-scissors match between a series of linear decks goldfishing at each other.
Well, it is more complicated.
Wizards could use rotation to have a few sets a tad more powered and a few sets focused on synergy (but less power on average). If chosen this path, then power creep would be almost non-existant. Alas, the higher powers chose differently (I.e. fun/quick-bucks) and hence the keep spending (aka pay to win) strategy was born. I still have to find a better game than what mtg can bring, but I am already a long time out of buying the new sets.
I bought both the brothers war commander decks after a long hiatus to pivot against each other. But man, the pattern is: I play a bomb. Opponent: I play an answer/bigger bomb. And back to square 1 until the other did not have a immediate bigger bomb or an answer. Bricking one turn meant death.
I like that one could get back out of nowhere, but I did really despise the do you trump me now or you lose play style that it would bring.
Kitchen table as I remember it was much more forgiving (but had the same fun get back out of nowhere as the brothers war commander decks) and therefore was so much more fun. Maybe it is that nowadays the bombs are so much stronger/(are answers and bombs in one) that bum me out.
You seem like the type of person who would really enjoy the game Papers, Please! I just bought the game the other day and I’m having fun with it!
Thank you for the recommendation! I will look at it
Papers, please! is excellent, but for me is more of a thought-provoking example of game-as-art than a fun activity.
The best distillation of MtG I have encountered is Mindbug which has similar gameplay but instead of having a resource system each player has two free Control Magic. This creates surprisingly deep gameplay, for example deciding to steal what looks like a powerful creature only to find my opponent was baiting me and has the perfect counter to it. I’ve got the two expansions on preorder and am playing the beta of the digital version. The only downside is that sometimes you are in a situation where you can’t win, but then you shuffle up and play again.
The best distillation of MtG I have encountered is Mindbug which has similar gameplay but instead of having a resource system each player has two free Control Magic. This creates surprisingly deep gameplay, for example deciding to steal what looks like a powerful creature only to find my opponent was baiting me and has the perfect counter to it. I’ve got the two expansions on preorder and am playing the beta of the digital version. The only downside is that sometimes you are in a situation where you can’t win, but then you shuffle up and play again.
I agree. I think the game is very fun, but mostly because the artistic portion is so good that the experience as a whole becomes enjoyable. The art style, the music, and the story are all well-done and make the gameplay feel very immersive.