Was It Worth It To Buy A Modern Event Deck? | A Magic: The Gathering Reaction 

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You honestly got me. I was like "oh I missed these modern decks for MH3" and I was excited cuz I would really like an easy foot in to modern.

As a magic player that does not like commander, I am not mad that commander is the most popular format. I'm not even mad that its what wizards supports the most. I'm just mad that it is the ONLY thing that is accessible to new players. its so sad that magic had such enormous growth the past few years, but all of that went to commander, because wizards refuses to do good entry 60 card decks for their other formats. it just seems that doing a somewhat regular series of challenger decks would be so good for other formats is such a no brainer, that i can only assume its intentional that they don't. even if it was a cycle of every year they change what format they print challenger decks for (year1 standard, year 2 pionneer, year 3 modern) it would go a long way for just helping get new players into each of those formats...

I picked up the event deck back in the day as one of my first Modern decks. With a few upgrades it was good enough to make day two at a Grand Prix. Another issue is the lack of "events" to play the event decks.

I am exclusively a commander player and always cringe at how much we've infected other formats. We had out own (albeit crappy) modern horizons; we don't need to be catered to every set

"And I am old. So old." But not as old as Josh Lee Kwai!

Ah yes. Commander decks coming from a MODERN set. Makes so much sense mhm.

Mitch said it best: it doesn't cost WotC any more to print a Ragavan than it does to print a full-art Plains. Their attempt to gaslight us into believing otherwise it a ridiculous PR justification that no one actually believes, not even WotC. It would cost them LESS to make Modern precon decks than it does to make Commander precon decks because they are 75 cards vs 100 cards.

You had me !!! I was getting excited to pick up a MH Event deck 😂

It's funny to hear the old microphone again, it's like the prof hit puberty in his mid thirties.

Don't forget, never forget: Mark Rosewater has continually pretended he doesn't see a problem with this on his Blogatog. His responses to "why does a product with the modern name have commander decks" are mind numbing

There are times after playing game three of commander that I say to a friend "we should give another format a try" as they turn thier head to me like a horror movie "there is only commander"

The lack of support for non-commander formats is honestly ridiculous. When I started playing (Return to Ravnica), I bought a standard legal preconstructed deck that I played for several games and had fun with. After that I bought some booster packs, did some trading, and upgraded it a little bit. Super easy to get into and really fun. If I want to get into standard today, what do I do? No amount of money thrown at Wizards will get me a standard-legal precon. "Look up a decklist online and buy those cards" oh okay so in order to play this game that is currently in print, I need to turn to the secondary market, do my own research, buy cards as singles, and construct my own deck to even get started? Brilliant. Not an inconvenience at all.

I always (read: for the past couple years, never thought of this before then) thought that what Wizards ought to do was pair Challenger Decks with Secret Lairs. Release, say, a Pioneer Amalia Combo deck at a reasonable rate with a cut-rate mana base and, say, Duress as the discard spell, and then do Secret Lair: Amalia Upgrade with 1x Thoughtseize, 1x Mana Confluence, 1x Temple Garden, and 1x Godless Shrine in the SL drop shortly thereafter. Anyone who wants that immediate boost to their Amalia deck, they can grab a couple of the SLs, and that brings them a lot more in line with the standard deck build, but if they don't have the resources right away, the deck is still there for them to start from and build towards over time.

I don’t really understand modern commander decks, it just seems counterintuitive.

I would absolutely buy a 80USD or maybe even a 100USD modern challenger deck if it were playable, I genuinely would like to get into the format without needing to save up for the deck For the price of one of the decks I find interesting I can go and make my next few ideas for commander decks, or bling out one of my main ones, or buy draft boxes to play with friends, or buy the rest I need to make a cube

I was getting ready to order a Murktide precon - well played professor.

The idea of "modern" modern precons especially with a set of 4 would make getting into modern so much easier, but commander decks and **collector** commander decks are cool too i guess.. for the modern set.

Hey Prof :) I just want to let you know that you are so loved. Seeing this time warped me to the last ten years, and I realized I grew up with you. I was watching that video on release and it brought me to the conversations I had with friends, how I was playing in paper with my brothers, and then it brought me back to some of your most vulnerable moments like talking about depression, shooting videos with your dad, needing to get out of your moldy basement that was probably killing you, and alcoholism. But on the flipside you've had so many bright moments! So very many successes and great memories with folks like Josh, Jimmy, Melissa DeTora, Pleasant Kenobi, and so many more. Thank you.

I actually built that mono-red burn deck with the legacy flexibility. I didn't run fetches in it until Khans. I still have it sleeved minus the fetches and Eidolons I added. I remember getting bullied for running Swiftspear over Goblin Guide lol.

Your series of mono-color budget decks for modern was what introduced me to your channel and what made me fall in love with the format. It’s amazing to hear those came about and why

4:24 the nostalgia of those sleeves hit me like a freight truck when you pulled them out.

Oh man I was completely fooled by a good idea at the beginning

“How do you print a $1000 deck for 70 bucks?” Just do it. Doesn’t cost wizards anything, people buy them up, prices go down for cards, format becomes more accessible.

It was so satisfying watching Prof consistently nail his price estimates! "I'll bet the fetchland was $40." 40 exactly. "I'll bet the cheapest Modern deck in the top 4 is around $650." 646 is on the money. Just awesome!

It was great to see this retrospect on an old video. I remember buying this product as an entry point into Modern. Eventually shifted to Burn for several years. Thank you for the memories.

Watching the old video and comparing to now is really interesting, I love to see how the channel has developed over the years and all the little behind the scenes. Thanks for the mh3 review!

@Prof. I just wanted to say thank you for all of the wonderful content you create! I’ve been watching your videos the past couple of weeks and have found a new sense of joy by entering the world of MTG collecting thanks to your fun videos! I’m a little older myself, so I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to make these videos and spread the awesome vibes you do! Thank you so much and I look forward to watching more! I hope the week and month is wonderful to everyone who reads this!

Good luck on that 1million subs! You deserve it. I just got back into magic after a 4 year break. And your videos have been amazing ro get me caught up haha. Thanks!

As someone who started playing MtG around 2016, I just want to give you a major THANK YOU. You always give me knowledge that other channels lack and I feel like I always get the most bang for my buck when I get cards thanks to your "is it worth it" videos. keep doing what you're doing. thank you for caring about others and the magic community enough to put your time and energy into this

I remember I actually bought this as my first ever competitive deck primarily because of your review. I still have that deck, heavily heavily upgraded of course, and I even went back and bought a second event deck a year later because they were selling so cheap and I wanted another feast and famine.

I've been a sub for a long time, and I was able to meet you at magic con Chicago. Still think you are a treasure to this community and thanks again for all you do.

I feel like modern event decks might work out better as a 'Time Capsule' style; make 3~4 'event decks' that reflect the meta of a particular era of Modern. It would be nice to have combo/aggro/control options for stepping into a format.

Love this format! It would be really cool to look at some of your old awesome product reviews and offer new thoughts in real time

Honestly, my only thought on the transition from other format decks into just giving us commander decks comes simply from the fact that as a singleton format it means that they can keep card prices high and in demand. With other format decks they'd have to put in multiple of wanted cards, meaning a player only needs to buy a deck once to get a playset of cards that they can use. By switching to commander decks if you want that playset, you're either going to have to go to the secondary market where the price of your wanted card will likely be high or buy three more decks to get that playset. There's also the argument that commander decks mean they can give you a lot more chaff and still make the decks work but with other formats if you try and do that then the decks won't work, meaning again they have to put in actual wanted cards into those decks.

I love behind the scenes of youtubers, there's something that really adds to relatability

I love this type of content, Prof! I’m a late 90’s standard player who barely picked up the game again. Thanks!

The thing is that it costs the same to print a fetch land compared to a basic land. Wizards limits the reprint of certain cards to make people more interested in buying expensive products. Also, I hate how commander pretty much took the space of every other format with the flood of precons every year. I seriously wouldn't mind if WoTC took a 2 year break from commander and used that time to make precons for other formats like pauper/modern/pioneer

I picked up the Digimon TCG after your initial video on it. One thing I really like about it is how the "starter" preconstructed decks lead to new competitive archetypes for the game. The fakeout modern event decks in the thumbnail made me wish Wizards would do something similar. But with Commander being the main cash cow, that seems incredibly unlikely. When the barrier to entry is close to a rent payment I can't imagine trying Modern.

Watching the modern event deck video was crucial to me getting into magic when it came out. It got me so excited to pick up a deck and play the best game ever.

Been watching your vids since the early days, Prof, and man did I love this, just watching you react to one of your older vids and give some updates and behind the scenes info was a fun time. Personally, I'd love to see more content like this, maybe even some reacts/updates to old deck techs, if you felt so inclined. Your early pauper vids/deck techs back in the day are the biggest reason I got into and promptly fell in love with the pauper format. Anyway, thanks for all the great content!

I liked this, I liked the feedback on how opinions change over time. Good job Prof. I look forward to more "look backs" or more "look backs vs. new products"

Dang it, you got my hopes up, Prof! I was skeptical about WotC doing a good thing for any format that wasn't EDH... and it turned out to be a prank on us! Got us 5 days early!

Loved the modern event deck when it first came out. It was the reason I got into the modern format and still play to this day. I still even have the og box and sleeves that came with it.

You had me so excited about new event decks... And then crushed my soul when you said "more commander decks"

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS FORMAT, KEE UP THE GOOD WORK !!!

I love this video! Very informative and interesting gaze to history ❤ Thank you so much prof! ❤

It was so weird seeing people ask Maro about this on his blog and his answers boil down to "Yeah, that's a weird choice we made. Oh well"

You keep that optimism in your heart! Absolutely killed me

Charity Idea: 1. gather charity money 2. use them to acquire cards for custom precons 3. sell precons in affordable price and take loss 4. donate profit away 5. mail the sales figures to WotC, CC Hasbro and tell them: "This could have been your profit provided your lower manufacture costs"

aaaww i really got excited for that Yawghmoth deck

I love the commentary on the old videos. very cool to hear

I still have those modern event deck sleeves in my trade binder, and I use them for storing cards in the binder as well as trades.

"Have you ever thought about how building a magic the gathering deck is a lot like making a meal?" Me - "no"

This was a really interesting and relevant retrospective. If similarly relevant re-reviews are possible, I'd love to see them.

33:33 seeing those prices makes me glad I don't take any tcg that seriously. Think of all the things you could buy with $1000 instead of ~60 pieces of cardboard.

I bought 2 of these back in the day because of your video. Been watching for a long time, thanks Prof

hi prof!! more power to you! and continue what you're doing! i still have that box... God bless you for bringing the memories back! thank you very much!!! 😁

Such a throwback video. That video actually made me buy a modern event deck from a far away LGS in our community since they're all sold out. I wasn't able to upgrade the deck or even play it in an FNM but heck I still think it was a good value back then.

Subscribed! I’ve been watching for weeks now. Thank you!!

March of the Multitude was my first event deck and ironically was a jumping point into commander.

Love that old music you used in the older videos ! It’s a jam!

Love you Prof, been playing since M14 and have always valued your Magic opinion.

Wow, I have been watching you for damn near 10 years.... Hard to believe! I cannot believe you are almost at 1million subscribers!

New Shuffle Up & Play alert! I teach Crim to love playing Green Commander Decks? Watch here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ClrU-0T7tOU.html

10 years already since I've been watching your channel

This was a cool idea for a video. Hope you do more like this in the futurr.

Hey Prof 😊 I really liked the "behind the scenes" video you did with the command zone. And you tell a little bit behind-the-scenes as well. I would really like a real behind the scenes video from you 🙂

Thanks for making me feel old prof! I'm 35 and my son is turning 3 in November!

This is like a neat little lore video, thanks prof

That old video may be bad… but it’s a nice and super chill video ❤️ it’s a good vibe

Nice concept for a video serie. I really liked the reactions of Brian throughout it. BUT... the reaction I would've want to see most is at 30:47. Please comment on these thumbnails :O

Modern history facts! The black/white tokens archetype evolved into mardu pyromancer, that did run a lot of the best cards from this deck, lingering souls, the hand disruption, the paths. But a lot of the fillers were removed for good red cards like pyromancer and bolt.

Love the content ❤ always a great watch

I remember watching that video 10 years ago. Man I'm old

I think, assuming they want them to stay close to retail price without just blowing up the secondary market completely, they could release £80-100 challenger decks for CERTAIN archetypes which would include all of the actually important pieces besides things like the one ring or chalice of the void, and if they did the classic of nerfing the mana base by leaving out fetches in particular.. They could definitely do Tron, Burn, mill ect. might need to repring some expensive cards like urza's saga but I think thats fine, noone should be buying these cards with the expectation that format stapples will completely retain their value and never see more accessible reprints. the comander precons show they are willing to drop products wtih double or even tripple the sticker price in cards inside, which seems like a fair target for these decks. £200-300 decks sold for less than £100 with room to upgrade into expensive pieces

Super-delightful (and synchronous)! I was just wondering what "Modern Event Deck" was after coming across it while looking at different versions of Elspeth on Scryfall. The video also had me checking my old MBS cards to double-check if I had the Sword. (I did have one!)

Modern Challenger decks right now? I think it's doable if there was ever demand for that kind of product. UR Murktide: the only relevant rares are forces and subtlety which you can easily sub for something cheaper like ledger shredder, you can put a miser Murktide in there as the mythic for the Timmy (UR players rotate between 1 and 4 dragons all the time), and the core of the deck is uncommons. Deck works perfectly fine without Ragavan, and some people successfully pivot to a more controlling shell. The manabase could be a problem, having 8 fetchlands is important, but then again it's a clear upgrade avenue (and having more basics could be beneficial in any 8-field meta. Green Tron: can't put the One Ring in there for legal reasons, but it will work fine without. Leave one of each big hitters in (karn7, wurmcoil, ulamog have all significantly dropped in price), put some manarocks in for stability, then the rest of the deck is mostly cantrips that don't cost anything. Upgrades are clear: couple sagas (they don't even play the full 4), more big hitters. Burn: it's really weak at the moment, but outside of fetchlands and the 5 canopy lands I think each individual card is worth very little on the market. Goblin Guides and Eidolons have finally tanked in price. Could easily put a couple fetches in there for the Searing Blaze triggers. Upgrades are canopies or drawing less natural lands and more bolts. Merfolk: it's cavern, force and chalice, the rest can be creatively fit into a $100 price range. Don't even need upgrades, just turn'em sideways. U/Uw affinity: put a couple sagas in there, the rest is bulk and the deck works fine. Get more sagas and it gets pretty scary until your LGS all packs Stony Silences like the cowards they are.

Already subscribed but I hope you hit that million! Commenting because I know it helps your algorithm. Enjoyed the off the cuff reaction flashback, btw.

4:50 oh that's where those sleeves came from. I have like 3 and use them on commanders :v

On the comment for why there wasn't fetchlands because of price gouging I have to ask, why not just print more of the product if demand is so high? The scalping only happens because of a short print, WotC could just give the LGS more of the product if it's wanted just like its any other Standard box. The main thing coming to mind would be it'd be bad for WotC on not being able to capitalize on the secondary market since the valuable cards would be meaningfully reprinted then.

I remember watching this when it first came out. Love this!

This deck basically got me into modern and I loved it for a long time. As a 16yo kid without a great deal of disposable income this let me go to local events and GPs and not get wiped across the floor. It was very upgradable too outside of just adding fetches and shocks. Bitterblossom, Liliana of the Veil, Thoughtsieze and Sorin, Solemn Visitor all helped the deck massivley and could be added slowly over time which was huge for me at the time. Sure it never established itself in the top tier but it was fun and competitive

WotC can absolutely do event decks for every top tier modern deck for $80. They don't even need to change anything! If the decks fly off the shelves, they can just print more! Make base level game pieces cheap as dirt. Get people playing the game. Put value only in cosmetics. Make first edition art unable to be reprinted, make foiling super rare, things like that.

this was an interesting video, seeing the re-evaluation

i wish ya a million subs real soon Prof! keep up the great content!

Prof... I love the Sul Tie you're wearing for this video.

i actually got that event deck back then and i dont regret that. i enjoyed (and still enjoy) modern since back then and i still kept the sword of feast and famine

I know The Prof hates the no script vid, but I really liked this time capsule review. Would love to see more like this.

Three Color Domain Zoo Budget will probably get the deck into the $100 range (if you skimp a bit on the mana base, which WotC does already.)

Fun video. I wish this was what was released for mh3 instead of commander. This event deck was my first modern deck, and I was excited to put my copy of Brimaz in the deck to play at my lgs before switching to merfolk. Over the years I'd made swaps and upgrades but the core is still the same and I enjoy playing it with my friends still today.

My local store actually has one of these on the shelf, I didn't realize it was such an old product... I guess it's sat there unbought for a long time.

I've started playing modern with Modern Event Deck... Love the tokens idea and still got that deck!

The title and thumbnail aktually got me exited! I always waned to get a bit in to modern to play with my friends... would be to good to be true if they did that.

I was legit so excited about this, been looking for an on-ramp into Modern for years…. It would make way too much sense

Going off script was very refreshing. Would love to see more in the future.

There was a mono red event deck that was basically half of burn. It had like two goblin guides in it and you could buy two of them, smash them together and you'd basically have an almost built RDW list. I can't remember exactly what it was for though, it wasn't technically a modern event deck, it was a bit before the tokens one. I'm not talking about PDS:FL though.

I really wish the better dual lands would be reprinted more. Even trying to build budget decks, lands are always the most expensive. Just about any dual land that can enter untapped consistently in a 3 color deck costs at least $3-4, and the shock and fetch lands can cost $15-$40, and tap lands just make it feel like you're a turn behind the whole game

One of the biggest pickups I got from the event deck were Path to Exiles ($10 at the time) and Inquisitions ($15-$20 at the time), and that was actually my primary motivation

If they were made today, Tron can be quite cheap if you take out the rings, you also have dredge, burn, affinity… but not much else