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

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Thanks to HelloFresh for sponsoring today's video. Go to strms.net/hellofresh_tolariancommunity, use my code TCC16FM, and receive 16 free meals + free dessert for life while subscription is active.

[@wadewilson5712]

green depending on the shade used is a relaxing color and a good choice for the bedroom

[@billberndtson]

Prof, I'd probably go in for a The Professor Reacts channel if you had one but, we'd probably pressure you eventually to watch Star Wars. 🙂

[@Aigis31]

Too bad Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar couldn't help with this ad read. I'd listen to the author of the Underworld Cookbook!

[@palemoogle3049]

Hello fresh is selling food precons

[@levirynearson5800]

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.

[@Eraxley]

Yeah I didn't realise until I saw one of the decks being named "Rakdos *Scam*", which WotC wouldn't call it. I was so hype for nearly a couple of minutes!

[@NameEntry]

You can if you buy four of each.

[@Delimeatl8i]

@@NameEntry which is still only a third of the cost of a modern deck lol

[@alonsoboulevard]

i was so excited even thinking to buy one for mi cousin to play, :/ i want to play modern so bad but i just can't afford a deck right now

[@EastToWestTCG]

I think he's intentionally trying to prove a point, while showing WotC that they missed the mark on this one.

[@LegenVD]

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.

[@donald422]

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...

[@SparkyUpstart]

Hit the nail on the head. I love commander but it's very premise means that it doesn't require the amount of support it's received.

[@michaelh.1484]

Yeah how they manage it is what's horrible. Like Standard it's healthy when it's only 4 sets, after that it's unbalanced to the point you might as well play an eternal format. And just cost alone is a reason for why Commander is so accessible. Not even getting into how casual it can be because of the group setting. Like where I live people only play Modern and Commander. And Modern is just crazy expensive. Pioneer is fun, it's just you got to have people to play with. Standard, the challenger decks were pretty good it's just they would release them literally within 6 months before they rotate out. And that's really insane poor management. Like Pokemon I bought the Palkia VStar league battle deck back when it first came out, and it wasn't until this month when it had cards rotate out. And by this point there were already better upgrades and tech options. Even the Mew Vmax league battle deck that came out before has been in standard until this month, and that was released back in November 2022.

[@Knights_Oath]

Commander is the reason I got back into Magic. I am frustrated that Commander is becoming more like other formats like Modern. I agree the complete lack of support for other formats from WOTC is maddening. I remember when they had precons for new sets for Type 1, now what they call Standard.

[@Xoulrath_]

​@@Knights_OathType 1 is Vintage. Type 2 is what Standard used to be called. Type 1.5 was what Legacy was back in the 90s. Extended evolved into Modern after going through numerous lengths of rotation cycles.

[@zaneghiskhan]

I learned how to play Magic with kitchen table 60 card decks, and it's how I believe every new player should learn the game... players being introduced to the game only in the context of 100 card singleton is bizarre to me. since deckbuilding with only copies of basic lands and 4 players at a table is a more complicated way to be thrown into learning an already highly complex game, AND, it is simply not the fundamental nature of TCGs. Commander as the default beginner format to Magic is not how Richard Garfield played and, perhaps, never intended. And I say this as an avid fan of singleton formats, including commander

[@Ghost26968]

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

[@peeporiot9948]

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

[@Sillimant_]

God it's so annoying, all these pushed cards clearly meant for commander that break every format they're in bug me to no end

[@thomasfleming8131]

And, personally, I don't want to be catered to every set. It's a casual format, but if every single product Wizards releases has stuff designed for commander, than you can't follow them casually.

[@Knights_Oath]

They really should exclude Expanded Universes and Commander cards from Standard and Modern. It would benefit all the formats in general. Lord knows I wish all the mega combo 10 min turn crap from other formats. That is now infecting Commander gets on my nerves.

[@timetuner]

But making healthy formats is hard. If players/pods are willing to do the work of keeping the game fun and fair themselves you can just print whatever sells cardboard.

[@Xoulrath_]

​@@timetunerbut they aren't. I've played at several different games stores since I got back into the game in 2019. Not ONE of those stores had a consensus of Commander players agreeing on anything.

[@failfurby]

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.

[@dilbert719]

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.

[@marekcallo8807]

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

[@hiddenleaf414]

It makes sense from a business perspective, which WOTC is a business.

[@uuu12343]

​@@hiddenleaf414sure, but Magic the Gathering is not, its a card game, which clearly has become a card game with more business logic than game logic

[@dawildbear]

Look forward to the Pioneer decks with the next Commander set!

[@Varillah]

Aren’t cards in modern legal in commander anyways 🤣

[@dawildbear]

@@Varillah Well yeah, but it'd be real weird if the next Commander set had Modern precons wouldn't it?

[@ericjackman1143]

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.

[@kurowasanabe]

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

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

I just realized NOW that this video is so old that I do not even appear on camera.

[@CSDragon]

@@TolarianCommunityCollegeexcept your hand!

[@MorosSilverwing]

Wow, you weren't kidding

[@timw9745]

Yeah the Prof sounds like a member of the Goldfish Podcast

[@LoveYouFor10000Years]

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

[@Shimo57]

Me too!

[@austinkrigbaum730]

Honestly with so many different products coming out I seriously thought I missed MH event decks being announced and I was STOKED

[@MagickP00dle]

The joy you felt should have given it away

[@nicholascabalbag9755]

Our joy and excitement seems to be as fleeting as the money in whales' wallets.

[@stratavosstuff7575]

that murktide deck was looking good.

[@hoodiegal]

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.

[@StickyBombLauncher]

There's no market for precons for competitive formats. They stopped selling that exact product (challenger decks). Casual players don't like competitive formats and competitive players don't want precons. Buying cards on the secondary market is how every tcg works. That's just how it is. It's really not that hard these days with massive storefronts like tcgplayer. Also crazy to say they don't support other formats when modern horizons has been incredible for making modern interesting again.

[@hoodiegal]

@@StickyBombLauncherthe big issue imo is that there is no entry point for new players. how is a new player supposed to know if they'd enjoy playing a competetive format to begin with, when there is no way for them to even try without buying a $100 deck from a secondary source?

[@StickyBombLauncher]

@@hoodiegal it's not really a problem. Every tcg is like that. If you are really interested you would just buy the cards, it's super easy to do so now than it ever has been.

[@hoodiegal]

@@StickyBombLauncherI'd like to direct you back to my original comment; "When I started playing (Return to Ravnica), I bought a standard legal preconstructed deck". These aren't some sort of newfangled innovation i'm trying to push, they're how things used to work. They're how Flesh and Blood works right now. If I go to my LGS website and check the pokemon or yugioh section, there are several "ready to play decks" i can pick up for $10-30. Yet if I want to get into magic, it's $50 commander decks or gtfo.

[@DarBowsong]

​@@StickyBombLauncher except it isn't. Most games have some sort of new player friendly, buy and build entry point. Depending on the game they might be very affordable, contain staple/exclusive cards, or be competitively viable with minimal upgrades.

[@Mattschafli]

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"

[@andresvelazquez5922]

I don't like other formats because they're usually 1v1 and having multiple copies of a card that is expensive is too much for me. I however like 2 headed giant, and pauper Commander

[@Mattschafli]

@@andresvelazquez5922 100% agreed, it just feels like wizards wants us to forget 1v1 exists.

[@travis_approved]

Should try out oathbreaker! But I also agree it’s a little disheartening that if you want to play magic these days you play commander or you save your money

[@nobodyimportant72]

One thing that I think WotC really misses out on is that 60 card multiplayer format. Is one on one Commander a really enjoyable experience? If the fun is playing against three of your friends why can't you do that using other formats as a guide and basic 60 card constructed rules?

[@mcpudd-20k]

Pauper is the answer! My playgroup has become a pauper pod that sometimes fires commander. It’s quick, fun and cheap!

[@daleboyce1170]

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.

[@cheapsofa6450]

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

[@THEpuy]

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

[@carterb6514]

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

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

What do you mean by counterintuitive?

[@alexandercastleberry480]

Because wizards probably wants to split the commander format. The original reasoning for several banned cards like the moxen was affordability. Now Lions eye Diamond, Gaea’s Cradle, the OG Duals, etc are more expensive than the mox were when they were banned.

[@guillermofischer1837]

Its easy, WotC just want money. Competitive formats arent as good to monetize than the casual market.

[@PapaBradford]

Because commander products keep selling and its profitable. It's just suits pushing products everywhere until line stops going up, nothing more to it than that.

[@dmitrifrancisco3912]

Monies

[@Mcfarad595]

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.

[@Igotjello]

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

[@asteros6387]

he tends to default to the excuse that these are the stand in for the yearly commander releases and tying it into mh3 helps with product fatigue

[@EastToWestTCG]

You need to keep in mind, he is speaking on behalf of a corporation. He no longer has a singular individual opinion. I'm sure he has many thoughts on the state of the game that he is not allowed to share, as it would be counter productive to Hasbro's vision and their future plans. I'm not justifying his statements, but can understand why he's "supportive" of these decisions.

[@Milligan857]

yeah, he can't give his real opinion because the board of directors told him "we want more money this quarter" so he has to give some sort of excuse, and "they're popular" is as good as any

[@RaunienTheFirst]

Woah, how did you make that into a link?

[@jjzwak]

I don't really get everyone's hate on this point. Every other set is made for standard.. and comes with commander decks so what's the difference?

[@OGNoNameNobody]

I recommend the one you did before; A Modern event deck "Mono-Green Infect". As long as they include 2/3 *Inkmoth Nexus* copies, they could EASY charge $75 for that product.

[@TheLuckySpades]

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

[@Xoulrath_]

In order to really make it "playable" out of the box, without putting a huge dent in their much cared about "reprint equity," we'd probably be looking at $250 for a deck. To simply make a playable version sans mana base, they could probably come in at $100. But even then, anyone serious about tournament play would need to spend the money on a usable mana base. I don't think that you get into Modern for less than a few hundred short of genuine budget lists. Even Burn is like $200-$300 now.

[@TheZeratulsan]

​@@Xoulrath_ I think with how the horizon sets artificially rotate the format that WotC absolutely could print $100 modern precons, but they'd have to look at decks that are already t2, or decks that would get upgraded by cards in the set. Imagine a slightly different build of amulet titan because flare of cultivation your grazer puts you to 4 mana on t2

[@Xoulrath_]

@@TheZeratulsan oh I believe that they could absolutely do $100 Modern Challenger decks. But as I already mentioned, we'd be looking at them without much in the way of a mama base. Maybe you get a single Fetch and Shock, but the rest are budget options that would eventually get upgraded, and would be a great reason to crack MH3 packs for Fetches. For the Prime Time example that you use, a single Cultivation would be cool, then one would crack more MH3 packs to get more. Or more likely buy singles unless the person in question just really wants to crack the packs lol. But it does at least push sales of the new product in some way.

[@danielolsen3514]

What you are saying is you would play the format if you could play the format for less. They can do that without event decks. They have tried pre-made decks. There's issues one way or another.. price or reprint or archtype (meta changes). Commander is casual by nature. A lackluster deck or archtype can still sell. Competitive formats have less room for "functional" decks.

[@KCknifecentipede]

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!

[@GzIiRm]

@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!

[@NicolaiBolas]

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!

[@a1919akelbo]

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

[@zigh352]

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.

[@cowman22ish]

Whose cards are not all legal in modern, mind you

[@JasonOshinko]

@@cowman22ish This criticism doesn't make sense to me. Standard sets have accompanying commander decks that come with cards that aren't legal in standard. It seems like some Magic players want to believe that the player base is smart enough to know the difference and others want to believe the player base is too stupid to know the difference.

[@danielolsen3514]

​@@JasonOshinko Because there's no real criticism. It's online people upset that they aren't being catered to. (And by catered to, they want cards they want for less money. Period). And so they rant and complain. Without actually thinking critically about things.

[@elephantofdoom]

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.

[@takecourage92]

I actually bought a Sealed modern event deck myself back in 2019 with the intention of genuinely building BW tokens for Modern. I even watched this video from Prof! By that time BW tokens was Tier 3 at best and I remember shelling out for 2 copies of bitterblossom. In the end I played it at a store literally once, got beaten by everyone, and never tried to get into Modern again 😂. The sword of feast and famine is in one of my commander decks, so I guess it wasn't a total waste of money?

[@gregallen5025]

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.

[@cnolan4117]

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"

[@bena3475]

I tried building a modern deck. Spent about $25 AUD and using some cards I picked up drafting in the last year. It was a pretty tight deck with awnsers and protection to everything I could have it for. Played a few games at my LGS and alot of them were fun. Finally get to the last game and just a guy happy to gutter stomp saying he was playing a very budget deck, running a playset of shocks and a playset of fetches saying how budget his deck was. It was a really big kick realising aaaa, my idea of budget does not fit what is actually budget at the moment, I dont have the spendable income budget to play constructed.

[@TheNotoriousJTS]

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

[@ivanvontempske5116]

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.

[@uuu12343]

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

[@The_Rampant_Lion]

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

[@NuminorTheFool]

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.

[@lordsauron8546]

I think that's totally why they'd do this. Gotta keep that "reprint equity" somehow...

[@Omnia0001]

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.

[@PureSolace]

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.)

[@mateastman1765]

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!

[@kytewritr]

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!

[@KamenRiderCorn]

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"

[@aquascenic5751]

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

[@StaleBranflakes]

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.

[@ric_man]

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.

[@NecroNathancon]

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!

[@TheRedkeyboard]

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

[@timburke7959]

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

[@alchenerd]

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"

[@addambarcelos]

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

[@cowman22ish]

Or even products like the duel decks and stuff like that. Good entry products for people

[@EvolutionMeister]

You keep that optimism in your heart! Absolutely killed me

[@agentofashcroft]

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

[@GraemeGunn]

uh huh

[@ismael9914]

"Technically yeah, I have little to no idea and I end up copy pasting some guide on the internet "

[@SirPrizeMF]

The guy in that old video sounds nice, I wonder if he still makes content

[@foxokon94]

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.

[@nickraupp6104]

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

[@gabrielcliche]

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

[@ZasseG]

10 years already since I've been watching your channel

[@Robotoken-299]

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.

[@int3r4ct]

I think they could absolutely print Modern Event decks again, they'd just have to get a little creative with them. You could probably make a Mill deck worth about $100 on the secondary market in singles and sell it for $75 or whatever. A burn deck could certainly be made for a cheap price, since most of the cost comes from having Fetchlands or expensive sideboard cards. If they didn't want to do just Burn directly, they could make a RDW 8 Whack deck for cheap as well, and possibly even have some good dual lands in it. It isn't a matter of them being able to do it or not, its just that they won't bc the market doesn't really demand it and they're all about profits first it feels like.

[@zikegladion6848]

Yea the old pioneer decks were pretty decent, so if anyone wanted to try those and upgrade them to modern spec that’s something. But to have a top tier modern deck you’re definitely shucking out some coin

[@JonathanHecht]

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

[@xheezy]

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.

[@benghis_kaan]

Your recap of the current top 4 modern decks is basically why I dont play modern anymore. Super expensive...but not super fun to me anymore with the overpushed cards. I would have really liked modern challenger decks in 2014, but not even those could get me to play modern now

[@kal2489]

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.

[@stratavosstuff7575]

those standard event decks were generally worthwhile until the return to ravinica ones

[@kal2489]

@@stratavosstuff7575 Didnt the BG Rock one have a Verdant or something? Abzan rock?

[@_Max_Fan]

iirc this was the event deck that was basically only the 2 Guides and a few Mox Opals short of the PT list of Kuldotha red

[@gatchwar9069]

Would it have been the Magic Online Deck Series: Boltslinger? That was MODO only but it has a playset of Goblin Guide and is the only time GG has ever been printed into a deck according to Scryfall

[@_Max_Fan]

@@gatchwar9069 Found it, Mirrodin Besieged Event Deck - Into the Breach. While it was several cards different from the PT list, the only ones that were expensive were 2 more Goblin Guide and 3-4 Mox Opals

[@mdubCitizenInAction]

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

[@nicholasbower17]

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

[@Hyper88]

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

[@donnietreece5257]

When I was 15, I played at my local store all the time and I earned "top-8 players" in a points system they had so I was invited to a player of the year tournament on a Sunday and the format was 3 rounds of standard, 3 rounds of modern, and 3 draft rounds and I never played modern so I bought this deck off the shelf and played it and didn't do bad! It was a very convenient way for me to easily enter the format in a hurry, loved this product. The included sleeves were so garbage though, I will always remember the jank sleeves that were included.

[@Strizzlebop]

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

[@danalinchristania5163]

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

[@iamnill_real]

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

[@FPzero]

Just wanted to say that this format of looking back at older products through today's lens was really neat and I'd definitely enjoy seeing it done again. I know you dislike unscripted commentary but it's really fun to hear your thoughts presented this way. Not to mention it was entertaining seeing your reaction to price differences from 10 years ago. Fun fact, last year Marsh Flats's market price dipped below $10 for some months before climbing back up to where it is now!

[@SolarTitanSC]

Okay you got me! I was hooked I would of bought all four! I love modern! Ugh if only they would support it like they do commander.

[@tuongpham7609]

Thanks to the shock and fetch reprints, I manage dot complete my collection of each fetch and shocks. Working on the trilands now. For commander, fetches and shocks are probably the least impactful part of the decks, but if you plan on playing commander for a while with multiple decks, I’d say they’re worth it. If I ever need extra copies, I’m going to just proxy them.

[@ianunderwood1678]

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.

[@BlitzKreigur]

Past Prof's comment of "it's almost like getting a 30-40 dollar credit towards upgrading the deck" is exactly what I did at my LGS the same day I opened the deck. To the point where I had to double-take when I saw the Sword because I had forgotten about it! I think I wound up getting something like Stoney Silence and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar instead? Either way, I only played the BW tokens deck for a few months while building up other decks.

[@joshua_lee732]

Elspeth knight errant was the best planeswalker option for bw tokens back when the event deck came out. It wasnt until Sorin Solemn Visitor was printed that she was dropped. You basically had to play her because there was no cnsistent token generator since at the time bitterblossom was still banned. Also BW tokens does have a Pro Tour top 8 to its name. I have so much nostalgia as the event deck was my introduction to modern and I jammed BW tokens from the day I bought it up until pre MH2 when I finally sold out of magic.

[@xJarlaxle]

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

[@jackmeldrum5329]

I have been playing mainly Commander for the last few years and only played modern at home with one other person but the decks we made were nothing compared to what these guys bring to modern night at the shop. I hadn't idea what I was trying to get into. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how can make a deck that wins in 4 or 5 turns. And that's not even as fast as a deck can be! Haha. I dunno if I'm going to stick with the format or not. But I did get a start on my tron deck and got all my urza lands. See how long it takes me to get all the cards I NEED to make an effective deck. Until then it's all commander.

[@Guest-sc8zv]

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.

[@marcsteinbruegge254]

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

[@refreshdaemon]

The event deck was also my entry point into Modern, a format I avoided because of the price because the price of the deck was $50 at one point and that was enough for me to try it against my legacy playing friend, who also decided to build a modern deck. He has a way larger cardpool and Magic budget, so he built Bloom Titan and proceeded to kick my butt every game. That didn't deter me and I eventually tried other budget decks and would very occasionally score a win. However, he decided that Modern was too limited a format for him and me too expensive, so we returned to only colliding when we were playing his power cubes. Anyway, I do think there is a way to built proper challenger decks for Modern and it's in a similar vein as the original event deck: Pick tier 2 decks that lie in the budget range. I'd be happy to grab some of those decks in challenger form and play those against other people who mostly play budget Modern as well. No, I'm not going to want to run into Bloom Titan or Tron too often, but if you create this kind of entry point where there are at least multiple decks around the same level, I'd be happy to jump in and brew on a budget or grab one of Saffron Olive's budget lists, build it, and try it out.

[@thedeegeesaga]

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

[@Drakshl]

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

[@amosreads]

Ah man - as a player who started in standard, left the game, and came back for commander, I was so excited for a Modern Precon! Why can't we have nice things. Great job as always, Professor.

[@Theorak]

Chase mythics for Commander in Modern event decks, was clearly a harbinger of times to come then. Nonetheless, access to modern viable decks on the cheap would be so appreciated.

[@thraxus6661]

Looking over yawgmoth specifically, I think they could easily make a budget yawg deck as an event deck. If it's released in a set where they're printing fetchlands anyway they could easily put 1-2 fetches in each deck as well. The weird thing is that a lot of the higher cost cards in modern are currently in standard as well, but I'm not sure how often that will be a thing

[@TheCrash100]

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

[@PatJamma]

You're right Prof, cooking a meal IS just like building a Magic deck: most people start by looking up a recipe online and still don't know what they are doing before, after, and everywhere in-between

[@skyking8533]

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!)

[@jaydub5515]

Your thumbnail was SOOOO brutal... I was like "wow, WotC finally made some competitive pre-cons... Like the top 4 decks in Modern..." Dream crushed...

[@dannyspooner5638]

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

[@bleistik821]

I was so excited for a second, now super bummed again that there won’t be Modern Challenger Decks.

[@starperro4441]

aaaww i really got excited for that Yawghmoth deck

[@AcePianoNoises]

I think the way to do Modern precons would be to make super budget versions of tier 3 or lower decks like The Rack, which can be built on a fairly low budget (given you don't include the Urza's Sagas and use Davriel instead of Liliana). Or they could make up their own deck archetypes for Modern, maybe tied in with the themes of the set.

[@JGAndrade88]

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

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@swampybwoy]

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

[@JackCross3]

Oh wow I remember this deck! It came out right when I first started. My friends and I liked the idea Modern because there was this huge card pool, so we could fish fun jank out of bargain binders and play at the kitchen table, but still technically have a format legal deck (this was before commander was well known). And I actually had a tokens deck, but even as someone right in the target demo for this, $80 was just too much. For a broke college student just getting into the game.

[@spacedoyster7686]

Semi unrelated comment, but way back in the middle of the Tarkir block, I got into Magic and one of my favorite things to do was to buy those preconstructed Standard decks and upgrade them. When I took a break right before War of the Spark and came back after a hot minute, with the revenge of the return to Innistrad, I was disappointed to see that Standard wasn't really a thing, and that they didn't really do precons anymore, outside of Commander.

[@Amishtroll]

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.