It's something I started noticing only in the last two year or so. Cards like Dreamshaper Shaman and Ominous Seas always felt like they would have been rares if they had been printed during earlier eras of Magic.
I’m glad you’re opening Draft boosters instead of Set boosters because it helps give us a better idea of what packs might look like while we’re playing limited. Thank you!!
Gavin says: You just put all their lands on top of their library, they never draw a card again. Anyway, that's not here. What I hear: It's coming in Streets of New Capenna.
How could anyone possibly sleep on the long unboxing videos. I love how many stories and how much knowledge you have of magic and design. Absolutely keep spending as much time as you want opening packs and talking. Don't sleep on this video.
@@haeffound pulling a gainland would feel really bad if you had a 66% chance of getting a ukiyo-e. (The gameplay benefits of color fixing being accessible in limited are more important than pretty cards)
@@MC-x2 it's 33%, not 66. OK, maybe for draft booster. But it's also 33% of the set boosters that are only ukiyo-e land. Why? No need for fixing, gainland there are just cardboard for the stove. It's the first set where there is not full art land in every pack (when a set with full art land, of course).
I’m a big fan of the longer video, Gavin. I’m really interested in game design, so hearing all these game design stories and the reasons behind why cards are the way they are is super cool.
10:04 you know it's confusing when even Gavin doesn't realize that's a set booster and collector booster exclusive... This set does look amazing though
@@williamsimkulet7832 for a while now people have complained about cards obviously aimed at commander in standard sets, so now that they have a place to put them that is neither standard nor a specific commander deck, why shouldn’t they?
@@williamsimkulet7832 warped? No. Sucked more than jank rares? Yes. There's literally no reason to put commander exclusives in draft boosters considering they're borderline outdated aside from draft and limited.
@@anthonyzevallos8926I was going to do a quick list of (R)s or (M)s from this set I'd cut for a legendary shrine creature, but then I remembered - 100% of the sagas are complete garbage designs. Maybe 5 of them are competitive (like not-Kiki-Jiki who makes a token, so he's a bad History of Benalia), but I would 100% cut every single one of these double faced design mistakes to add a (R) Shrine Commander. What else would I add in their place? Probably cool legendary creatures that enabled the tribes and themes of the set. Frankly I wouldn't mind a monocolored (R) Legendary Ninja for each color, and a monocolored (R) Channel Spirit Lord for each color [Probably spirit tribal cards that reward you for discarding spirits.] Of course if I really wanted the set to succeed, I'd print typed Legendary ETBT duals with activated abilities like those of the original kamigawa lands (IE, targeting legendary creatures only). Typed legendary lands help to avoid the legendary problem in constructed, at the "cost" of not needing a playset in standard. But then again, given how commander players build decks, they'd surely want multiples. Heck, I'd probably aim for a cycle of God-like (IE, "This isn't a creature unless it's been crewed) legendary creature artifact - vehicle God, as these could serve as your commanders while being vehicles. But hey, I've just been thinking about this for 2 weeks. Not like I had 2+ years of development time to catch problems like "Are shrine & equipment creature types now?" and Boseiju 2.0 warping every constructed format.
@@poiri because if you aren't keep a very close eye on magic new you'll have no clue they exist, and less of them are in circulation than there should be
Gavin truely sounds exicted for this set while it sounded like he had a gun to his head for the double feature vid. I've ordered so much of this new kamagawa set lol
@@Thavleifrim Why? Apart from the lands and a few legends, the set is mostly incompetent. DFC sagas are the worst, having failed to grasp why Suspend grants haste.
@@Thavleifrim I'm serious; I look at this set and I see word salad. Some of these are standard playable, some (accidentally?) commander playable, and Boseiju is too good. But most of the cards feel like a wasted opportunity, choosing not to explore concepts people want to see, and choosing not to reprint cards people want reprinted. I don't mean to come across as rude; the set's just that disappointing I think.
Amazing vision and set design put together. The ukiyo-e lands are "out of this world". Love the vehicles and all the other amazing designs that ended up in the set. Virtual high-fives to the whole team who worked on this memorable plane! Can't wait to draft this
Wow, the nostalgia is so real! I remember drafting Kamigawa with my friends at a 24h Burger King bc the LGS closed too early. This set has sparked so many forgotten memories that I actually teared up watching the video.
When I clicked on this video, I thought the time was 20 minutes. When you said this vid is already at 22 minutes I realized how long it was. I actually enjoy openings like this where you explain the cards and how they came about, especially talking about the history of Kamigawa. Really enjoy this video.
With all due respect to them -- Do not worry ever about anyone who says these videos are too long. They can play them at a faster speed, or watch them in parts. There's no benefit at all to making these shorter. As may be obvious, I love them, keep it up, Gavin!
Yep! As WotC often acknowledge, not everything they make (e.g. VIP Boosters) is for every player - that includes this video. To have viewers engaged for 2+ hours is a statement to the quality of the content. Thanks Gavin!
I love how this set looks and feels so far. I do have one question I want to ask; if you are privy to the info, why was there not an Abzan and Temur legend to go with Isshin, Hinata and Natsunari?
Hope reconfigure sticks around. Like the idea. Helps out those equipment decks for sure. Never a good time to have too many creatures or too many equipment. (Something you “don’t want to sleep on”)
I’m bored on a 3 hour bus ride home, so this being long gave me something to do on the ride. I’m watching at 2x speed so it doesn’t feel drawn out at all, I liked the length
This pace is great, IMO. Your excitement for the set is definitely making me more excited for it! And the slower pace gave me a chance to read the cards and see what's going on.
Its me! I am the guy who is always pushing a mill deck in limited. It's important to have dreams. That shrine's art is gonna make sure I don't sleep at my midnight prerelease too.
Loving the longer opening video styles, remember that on RU-vid folks can increase the play speed but there’s no function to add gems of design details the way that you can. Don’t sleep!
I normally don't like unboxings, but this one with all the commentary I love! Getting all the interesting tidbits makes this very enjoyable. Thanks, Gavin!
I think it is nice that the introducing of the cards take a while so that the thinking where it could fit and where it sees play comes more in mind. I made the experience that the talk about it gets there a better idea for the cards then go over it at the preview site
Thank you so much for explaining in detail and taking your time. I started playing as a kid in 04 with Kamigawa. This brings me full circle and I appreciate your discussion on why certain mechanics are here, or not here, and all of the little references to CoK that I missed when looking through the card list.
Let me help you with that.. they brought back ninjutsu because it sells. And Channel because it was the easiest to adapt due to it's broadness. Anything else would have required them to actually sit down and think creatively on how to bring back, adapt and improve things that didn't work the first time.. like Splice onto Arcane, which some people love and will never have support for in the future! Or Samurai, which are now diluted with Warriors and have their identity swapped to Bant's Exalted for some reason. They made a quick and easy set by bringing the expected cycles (Dragons), filling it with Theros-like Enchanted creatures, and Kaladesh's Vehicles. But as a Kamigawa set? It barely has 3 Legendary non-dragon Spirits (Myojins, now without Divinity Counters, are found as Commander Fodder on a specific product).. Barely 6 Rats, (which don't care about each other, even if there's a thematic reason for them to do so), etc. It's surprising how a product like this brings you "full circle", when it it is barely Kamigawa.
I love this, it makes me sad seeing people fly through a box opening not appreciating the cards! Like dang give that box to me instead and I’ll spend 3 hours opening it. 😂
Bro I’m loving this video! I love hearing the stories and hype for these cards!! I’m SO excited for this set! I’m new to Magic but Kamigawa has my favorite flavor and I’m a huge fan of Samurai and Kami!
I loved all of the insights and stories - this was such a fun video! My only disappointment was not seeing the Keimi token for Tatsunari, Toad Rider - still waiting for my boi to be revealed 😂
Love the video! There a a lot of pack opening videos on this platform, but none where a person with a deep inside on the development of the cards talks about them. It is very interesting! PS: I'm disappointed that I don't get a full art land in every pack -.-
I loved this. You had 2 hours worth of things to say so a 2 hour video was totally appropriate. That said, I do have a critique. The explanation for not making Yamazakis with partners with is hard to understand when there is a card with partner being printed. It would be nice to get a more full explanation of what's happening here.
I mean the "samurai or warrior" thing is a step in the right direction, but I really think we need a creature type crunch. Soldier, knight, warrior, samurai. If anything, shouldn't samurai be parallel to knights? It's a lot of different types to express the same idea.
How is blending Samurai and Warriors "a step in the right direction"? Making NEW Samurai that makes the older ones better was the right way to go.. not a 3 color Mardu Legend that doesn't even assist Bushido. Maybe one that allows for all color of Samurai to be played in Commander (looking at Isao). Mixing them with Bant's Exalted and now another group that is HEAVILY supported dilutes Samurai even further.
Have you ever thought about making Loot a keyword like what was done with Mill? It would be pleasing to see, but at the cost of a certain downside. Any guesses for what that would be?
I make my own cards for playing casual Magic, and Equipment creatures has always been something I thought was cool and needed to be done, though I didn't know how until I saw the first Reconfigure card.
No reprints. The closest you'll get to wasted design space, is with referential Sagas.. Oboro, continues to be a place where non-moonfolk CANNOT go in.. so at least you have that reason.
I'm super excited for the repeated "Whenever a samurai or warrior attacks alone, do X" text for my lower power Ardenn/Rograkh deck. Seems like a bunch of fun stuff, especially Raiyuu, Storm's Edge. Seems like a fun card.
Hi everyone reading this! I have a QUESTION for you all! If you loved the original Kamigawa and you think this set is great, could you please elaborate as to why? Really excited to play with these new cards!
so excited to get my products! We just revisited Kamigawa and I already want a 3rd visit! It's nice hearing your thoughts on each card, in terms of design, flavour and playability.
@@Big_Dai I don't like the universes beyond, I'm just saying that if we did Godzilla for ikoria this was clearly the perfect opportunity for Evangelion or maybe power rangers.
Now, you were throwing a bit of humor on the idea of an Enchantment Frog deck, but... my buddy has just built one. And is looking forward to putting the Toad Rider into it. Now, something about my buddy, is that he does themes, and focuses them into a terrible weapon. Every deck he has, people groan about it when he says he's playing it. And now, I don't sleep at night worrying about being dominated by frogs.
Gavin, I also have a short left thumb. I think your the third person I’ve seen with this, it must be some random gene or something. The set looks great can’t wait to draft it, cheers
Don't worry Gavin I will not be SLEEPING on anything in this set lol. Sometimes we just get a phrase in our heads and can't get it out. It's like the catchy song we don't talk about Bruno except it's we don't sleep on this set.
Green should be the one that's the worst with treasure. It already does everything a treasure can do, and it hates on artifacts. Blue being the color least aligned with treasures make no sense, especially since treasures were originally in Grixis.
Don't sleep I'm wondering. Why are there only three wedge colored legendaries in the set? Wasn't there room to finish the "cycle"? And why wasn't there a Legendary that cares about the channel mechanic?
