Announcement: Two Intro Decks Stapled Together
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Aug. 13, 2018, 8:29 p.m. by YaBoyScoot
Okay, past the sardonic title, Wizards announced the 'Spellslinger Starter Kit'. It's aimed at new players and teaching them to play. That's cool.
It's also just a watered down Duel Deck or Clash Pack.
Or two intro decks.
Eh.
Source: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/introducing-spellslinger-starter-kit-2018-08-13
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #3
Looking at the list, at least we know there'll soon be spoiled a new boros card and a new golgari card. The lists look fine for a starter kit.
August 14, 2018 4:45 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #4
Btw, as a non-native english speaker, learning the word "sardonic" is a great thing from this post ;D
August 14, 2018 4:47 a.m.
Is it just me or is it weird to have an intro deck come out days after a new set releases only to see 2-3 cards from the newest set in it?
August 14, 2018 5 a.m.
TypicalTimmy: Maybe because this product will probably be sleeping with the fishes.
Simply put, not going to sell well outside of Ghalta and whatever those new cards will be.
August 14, 2018 11:21 a.m.
I think the new intro kit looks great.
Magic has a big problem in the form of its barrier to entry. Not even getting into deckbuilding, the basic rules of the game can be daunting for some people. Magic: the Gathering is more complicated to play than other CCGs (Hearthstone and the Pokemon trading card game come to mind) and there are concepts that are omnipresent in Magic that are missing even from nerdy boardgames. Turn phases for instance, I know several games that are basically, "Start of turn stuff, then do anything you want in any order, end of turn stuff," as opposed to the structure of main phases and all the segments of the combat step.
The second problem is that Magic is going to require two players. You can read up on everything yourself, but you still need someone to play with. And it's also kind of unfortunate that a lot of the playing that we (myself included) do is not a good example for someone to get into Magic. I've had curious people watching my Commander group setting up to get into a four-player game and it breaks my heart when I can't think of anything to tell them except that this is going to be a complicated experience and it's not what I'd choose to get them into Magic or to help them learn.
Which is why I think that scripting the draws is a good move, especially if the how-to-play guide is set up well, so that you can build up the details and complexity and on-ramp new players.
So while it is true that there's really going to be nothing in here for me, the product's not for me, and that's okay. I get booster boxes and supplemental sets and to come up with weird house rules like Contraption Drafting for my commander group. I think it's great to have a product I could go to if I knew someone was interested in learning.
Although I would've chosen some other art for the center fold. Somehow a durfy looking picture of Gideon throwing a really awkward looking punch doesn't give me that feeling of wonder I got when I first got into Magic.
August 14, 2018 7:09 p.m.
YaBoyScoot says... #8
SpammyV I don't think the problem lies in the decks being designed for beginners, or with the scripted draws. In fact, I completely agree with you that this product is a great way for players to get into the game.
However, it is a lackluster product to keep players in the game. As Boza says, there is basically one card that isn't jank in these decks. How do players continue from here?
I understand the decks need to be easy to use, but come on. Lightning Bolt is easy to use, but still powerful. Same with Primeval Titan. I'm not saying they should fill the decks with Bolts and Prime Time, but simple cards can still be powerful. Hell, Ghalta, Primal Hunger is simple and powerful, so why is there only one copy of a card that can interest new players, as well as keep them invested in the game?
I hope to see an introductory product that has simple, easy to understand cards, but doesn't cheap out and fill it with vanillas and unplayables.
August 14, 2018 8:45 p.m.
WOTC would say that they cheap out with bad cards in these products because they do not want you, the enfranchized player to get them. If the product had 2 ghalta and 2 Jadelight Ranger, the product would be like twice its MSRP in value from these two cards alone, making this an attractive product for enfranchized players. However, there are problems with this logic:
1/ The other cards are essentially bulk - nobody really wants them and they command a price that reflects that. So why did Wizards just not include all-jank cards and gave that products to LGSs to give out for free?
2/ If you include a lot of high value cards in highly produced products like New Player Decks, those cards will not be high valued for long.
3/ This product eats at the sales of other Wizards products - why would would you spent 15 on something that has 7 bucks of value in it, instead of a Challeger deck that contains numerous mythics and rares and has more value than its MSRP?
Tl;dr:
All of this leads to one conclusion and it is blatantly stated in the article reveleaing the product:
"This product will be sold ... at mass market stores like target and walmart" or whatever it said. That is the whole point of this product.
August 15, 2018 2:47 a.m.
They aren't even Intro decks.
They are the same as the free decks you get at Open Day, with two spin downs and some instructions.
New players should avoid these and get the free decks.
Boza says... #2
Sardonic is a cool word, so anytime you could be, you should be.
But yeah - one player gets a ghalta and some chaff, the other player gets chaff. Weren't they giving these out for free at LGS?
August 14, 2018 2:32 a.m.