Championship decks instead of Vs decks?
Economics forum
Posted on Aug. 6, 2015, 1:44 p.m. by VampireArmy
I was watching This Video from the professor and he brought up a very interesting point. What if instead Vs decks we get every year that normally have little to no actual playable cards, we got two decks from the most common top 8 in standard? Something like currently RDW or Abzan control or whatever? I'd like to discuss the economic viability of this.
HolyFalcon says... #4
Vs? You mean Duel Decks?
The decks would have to be
A: Expensive, or
B: Released as the standard decks are about to rotate.
August 6, 2015 1:57 p.m.
lots of the cards in standard that are really kicking ass are at least 20-25 apiece. this duel deck would be a couple hundred bucks at least.
August 6, 2015 2:12 p.m.
Not at all economically viable. If you look at the Vs decks and the duel decks, most of the time they have at least 1-2 high priced cards, (ie $10+) Anything greater then that takes a massive value hit. Look at Jace, Architect of Thought, back in his hay day of standard he was a must have in the u/w control, and the $20 tag reflected that clearly. When we got a reprint in the Jace Vs Varaska Duel Deck, he along with the $20 Remand dropped 50% of their respective value over the course of the decks print. Now lets say this happened to more then one card, since after all, top 8 standard decks don't always play commons and uncommons for the majority of the deck. We are looking at potentially flooding the market with high value standard staples at an incredible rate, since traditionally Duel Decks only contain one of a high card, but standard decks contain 3-4. Cards like Thoughtseize and Courser of Kruphix that seemed like entry requirements to play their respective colors when they first hit would never have gotten to their $15-$20 price tags if they had been printed as 4 of's in the "Standard Top 8" decks, and I haven't even mentioned that the price tag on the product itself would have to go through the roof to compensate or risk devaluing those cards entirely. Someone who couldn't afford $50 in staples still can't buy this duel deck if the price tag on it is $75+.
In conclusion, this style of duel deck would in fact give players more playable cards. This style would also give players the tools they need to play certain decks without a lot and drawn out struggle to attain coveted staples. HOWEVER, these decks would drop the prices of these staples to little more then the price of the actual paper Wizards printed the ink on. This influx of staples makes those who already invested in the card less likely to continue supporting the game, and card shops may have a harder time now that a binder with $1000+ worth of standard staples is worth little more then $100. The decks them selves would need to also be sold at a higher price, and there for the original intention, (getting staples in the hands of more players,) is tarnished significantly.
August 6, 2015 2:12 p.m.
Quite apart from the economic consequences of reprinting the most powerful and highly sought after cards from standard, it would be wholly inappropriate to replace the duel decks with that kind of product. Duel decks have splashy signature cards like planeswalkers, high variance design with lots of 1- and 2-ofs and tie into the storyline of the block because the intended audience are casual players who don't necessarily care about what the top tournament decks of standard are. Swapping them out for something that would appeal to completely different audience would be a terrible idea.
August 6, 2015 2:31 p.m.
biggestmtgnerd says... #8
If the cards weren't tournament legal, similar to before, then it might work. Now that cube is more popular, signed gold border cards will be more in demand to bling out the cube. Add that to the fact that there are more casuals than before, and I think it might actually sell.
August 7, 2015 10:11 a.m.
It's actually an interesting concept... for Standard decks only though, and no more than once a year, at the end of a pro-tour season.
The reason for the cards in the decks being $10-$25 is because they are winning.
If you automatically take 'winning' decks and make them readily and cheaply available (relatively... say $75-$150), then the price of all those cards begin to equalize, and the cards would begin to drop and become $5-10 each (based on how often the see play in other formats, and other 'non-winning' decks).
It would also make the 'winning deck' more common, meaning that the meta will have to readily adapt... people will quickly make decks that beat this deck, and cause a shift in the Meta, along with more innovation. - Also meaning that picking up a cheap 'winning deck' does not mean you are going to win.
For the purposes of allowing a lower cost to Standard entry, this could be a good thing. - $100... get a good deck that plays well in the format, but one that everyone knows about and is expecting to see.
This works for Standard only, as the prices of standard cards are highly subject to fluctuation already... every new set greatly alters the meta any way. - In Modern, the cards will retain their value, so selling a winning deck for so much cheaper than it's value will cause automatic buy-outs of the decks, and will do little to nothing for adjusting prices to make the format more accessible.
August 7, 2015 11:07 a.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #10
Players would love it, investors would hate it.
Johnnys would have a field day brewing around the warped meta.
August 7, 2015 4:01 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #11
I think relinking Rasta_Viking29's post on a different thread is a good idea here ...
August 8, 2015 5 a.m.
VampireArmy says... #12
Femme_Fatale Sure but then You're missing the point that both Rayenous and Named_Tawyny hit spot on to be honest
August 8, 2015 7:23 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #13
I'm just pointing out why it would never be done from Wizard's perspective. Why waste those cards that have value to drive up the hype of a set, on a preconstructed deck? Rayenous mentioning for it to be only standard is a decent idea however.
August 8, 2015 9:33 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #14
Did people get the idea that i meant anything other than only standard?
August 8, 2015 9:36 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #15
Then the article I linked stands as another reason as to why it would never occur VampireArmy :p
I WOULD however, like to see a rogue's build corner for modern. Selling $300-$500 decks for $100 would be a wonderful deal. Cards like Basilisk Collar which have no right to be so pricey could easily be put into a rogue build (like say The Shocktroopers) and sold. This would also decrease the cost of the manabase, a significant portion of any deck's cost.
shuflw says... #2
they used to do this
of course the decks didn't have magic card backs so the cards couldn't be used elsewhere. obviously they discontinued these because they weren't selling enough, but i'm not sure if doing this with tourney legal cards would work or not. i assume they had some reason for using non-legal cards in the first place.
August 6, 2015 1:53 p.m.