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Timber
05-14-2014, 09:41 AM
Here's the deck list. Lots of trash talking on Twitter because it lacks Marsh Flats, but you get over $200 worth of cards, 3 Path to Exile, 2 Inquisition, and 2 Dismember which are format staples for lots of decks along with an Elspeth and a Sword of Feast and Famine. Doesn't seem like too bad of a deal for someone that got into the game at Theros or will be getting into the game next year and is now looking to try Modern.

4 Caves of Koilos
2 City of Brass
4 Isolated Chapel
5 Plains
4 Swamp
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Windbrisk Heights

2 Soul Warden
3 Tidehollow Sculler

3 Honor of the Pure
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Lingering Souls
3 Path to Exile
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
4 Spectral Procession
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Zealous Persecution

1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Sideboard
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Dismember
3 Duress
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Kataki, War’s Wage
3 Relic of Progenitus

Here is a link to a cool experiment with the deck playing at a Modern FNM:

http://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2014/05/modern-hero-prologue/

Arsenal
05-14-2014, 10:00 AM
That looks like a completely reasonable deck to play if you want to get into Modern. I think it's only $75, and it'll tide you over until you're able to get something better.

Davran
05-14-2014, 10:20 AM
I think the deck is taking a lot of flak because the mana base is mostly a joke. City of Brass is a little questionable in a 2-color deck. Isolated Chapel and Caves of Koilos are fine, I guess...but good luck being even remotely competitive with your Windbrisk Heights and Isolated Chapel draw. I certainly didn't expect Marsh Flats or anything, but they could have at least gone with a couple Godless Shrines instead of the Cities of Brass since they make Isolated Chapel come in untapped more often and are much more valuable in terms of someone starting out in the format. They're laso much better in terms of not literally killing yourself to cast your spells. As it is most things are going to end up costing you at least 1 life to cast depending on your draw.

It just feels like they phoned in that part of the design pretty hard.

Arsenal
05-14-2014, 11:41 AM
It's really not that bad for $75. It's tier 2 competitive and definitely something that you can see going 2-2/3-1 at FNM. Could it be even better? Sure, but I don't think they were looking to release the optimal list, just looking to provide people a reasonably competitive deck that you could sleeve up out of the box and probably win a couple matches.

If I was a Standard player looking to jump into Modern, but didn't want to sink $700 in Affinity up to $1,500 for UWR/Pod, then this $75 deck is exactly what I'd want.

Phoenix Ignition
05-14-2014, 01:15 PM
There would be a bunch of people complaining regardless of what's in the deck, but from a playing perspective that deck looks pretty decent. Most decks they print are filled with downgrades and only really the manabase is for this one. Path to Exile, Lingering Souls, even a sword of Feast & Famine? That's pretty respectable. The sideboard even has Kataki, Dismember, BFTs, ghost quarter, it's like a real deck made to play against the formats other real decks.

It also allows people to easily upgrade the deck. Lands go to other lands, obviously, but Duress -> Thoughtseize, Shrine -> planeswalker/ Hero of bladehold/ Bob/ other trump card. It's a pretty well made deck for the money. I'd be really happy if they made more of this type so players could get into tokens/ UR storm/ Twin/ control/ etc.

Timber
05-14-2014, 02:57 PM
I agree with aforementioned comments. I think the Caves are meh, but if you're serious enough about the game to get into Modern, then I think you'd already have Godless Shrines or you'd be able to trade for them.

Most of the complaining I've seen so far has been:
1. No reprints of high-cost cards to increase supply - I think this is the weakest argument. If the deck had a Marsh Flats or Bitterblossom, the $75 MSRP would be a joke and then we're right back to the cost as a barrier to entry problem.
2. The deck is not tier - while I think there's something to say about taking the event deck to a local Modern event, getting killed by a tier 1 deck and feeling like you wasted $75, I don't think many people expect to take the Event Deck as is to a serious event and beat up on the top decks in the format. Event Decks have never been that way, why should the Modern one be any different?

I think they did a decent job with the deck to keep it at MSRP and increase access to some format staples...minus the manabase. I think 5 basics and a Fetid Heath would have been better than the Cities and Caves for a lot of reasons.

Arsenal
05-14-2014, 03:05 PM
This Event Deck looks perfect for the introductory FNM level of Modern. Sure, you have your tier 1 Melira Pod masters at FNM, but you also see Boggles, Infect, brews, etc. This is really no different than those tier 2 decks and it only costs $75, so if someone doesn't like Modern, they didn't spend a ton of money to come to that conclusion. This is obviously meant to incentivize players to join Modern, not to gild seasoned Modern players' pockets with trade bait.

JDK
05-15-2014, 03:39 AM
It's tier 2 competitive
The full-fledged version is. This is not.

Despite that, for the MSRP it's totally okay and perfectly reasonable for FNM.

Technics
05-15-2014, 08:46 PM
This is obviously meant to incentivize players to join Modern, not to gild seasoned Modern players' pockets with trade bait.

Everybody that has been knocking the deck seems to forget this. 90% of the arguments I am seeing that it is "bad" is because of this reason. If you are a forum poster, chances are you are not the target customer. If you want to get your buddies into Modern, and want to be able to spend <$100 to give them a deck to borrow, then THIS is the product for you. Like everyone said, swap a few lands, maybe drop an extra 3-6 cards you have in your binder in, and you have a full Tier 2 deck. Then you can go crush with Pod, and not feel bad since your buddy can still 3-2 and event.

Lord Seth
05-17-2014, 02:10 AM
I wish they had done two Event Decks, which I think would have been more interesting for prospective players, as they would've had more of a choice on what to enter the format with. One of the things I liked about the old Preconstructed Decks or even the current Standard Event Decks is that they give you several options to choose from so you can pick one that's to your liking, whereas with just one it doesn't give you the choice.

As for the deck itself, it's decent enough; the manabase could've been a little better, but it's still okay. The sideboard, while not the best possible, is actually assembled with a surprising degree of competency.

I do wish they had used the opportunity to bring back Bitterblossom, though. It would've fit pretty well into the deck.

Jamaican Zombie Legend
05-21-2014, 01:25 PM
I really dislike this product. It's a tacit admission that, yes, the secondary market factors highly into Wizard's design and development process. And, more despairingly, the secondary market seems to have control over what Wizards does and doesn't do. They're afraid to print things because of the insane amounts of monetary value attributed to certain pieces of colored cardboard; something that's not conducive to the health of the game.

Plus, ~$70 for a product that likely costs no more to produce than the typical ~$10 precons simply smacks the sensibilities harshly.

It's rather lamentable that Wizards didn't create/design some decks chock full o' expensive cards. Print them to high heaven and flood the market. Crash the value of a tier deck (or two) and introduce actual risk to speculating on Magical Cards. Take the game back and give it to the players, not the hedge fund wizards.

Oh well.

auspiciousTactician
05-21-2014, 02:07 PM
Buy 1, sell all the cards to double your money. Buy 2, sell all the cards to double your money. Buy 4, sell 3 decks to (x-1)*2 your money. Take your money and buy everything else you need to make the deck tier 1.

Lord Seth
05-21-2014, 08:37 PM
I really dislike this product. It's a tacit admission that, yes, the secondary market factors highly into Wizard's design and development process. And, more despairingly, the secondary market seems to have control over what Wizards does and doesn't do. They're afraid to print things because of the insane amounts of monetary value attributed to certain pieces of colored cardboard; something that's not conducive to the health of the game.

Plus, ~$70 for a product that likely costs no more to produce than the typical ~$10 precons simply smacks the sensibilities harshly.According to TCG Player, the total value of the cards in the deck are about $125 (I'm using the Low price). If anything, $75 might be a bit low, so there's a good chance we'll see markups.

Here's a question: What did you expect them to price it at? If they MSRP'd it at $10, then it would still be sold for much higher prices than that. $75 is an amount people might actually sell it for.


It's rather lamentable that Wizards didn't create/design some decks chock full o' expensive cards. Print them to high heaven and flood the market. Crash the value of a tier deck (or two) and introduce actual risk to speculating on Magical Cards. Take the game back and give it to the players, not the hedge fund wizards.I'm not fond of how reluctant Wizards of the Coast has been to reprint things and think they need to do more in that area (such as, say, not giving Modern Masters such a ridiculously small print run), but going full steam in the other direction is probably an even bigger mistake.

Timber
05-22-2014, 03:18 PM
I'm not fond of how reluctant Wizards of the Coast has been to reprint things and think they need to do more in that area (such as, say, not giving Modern Masters such a ridiculously small print run), but going full steam in the other direction is probably an even bigger mistake.

I totally agree with this.

One of the things forgotten by those that criticize the product for its lack of reprints is that vendors will ignore the MSRP and mark it way up, see Modern Masters booster boxes. I'm a big proponent of WotC doing something to regulate the secondary market, its speculators, and #mtgfinance, but I don't think massive, knee-jerk reprints is part of the solution.

Jamaican Zombie Legend
05-23-2014, 07:23 PM
According to TCG Player, the total value of the cards in the deck are about $125 (I'm using the Low price). If anything, $75 might be a bit low, so there's a good chance we'll see markups.

Here's a question: What did you expect them to price it at? If they MSRP'd it at $10, then it would still be sold for much higher prices than that. $75 is an amount people might actually sell it for.

I think it could sell comfortably at a $20 MSRP given a high enough print run; Duel Decks and Commander Precons typically contain 200+% "value", but stay at the MSRP because the product isn't highly limited. The only counterexamples here are things like Mind Seize, which was more due to the way that Commander decks were distributed (retailers had to buy them in "sets" and couldn't just purchase more of the hot sellers) as well as the fact that one deck contained an absolute monstrosity of a Legacy staple and this was the only printing...ever. With only one deck, and all reprints, I don't think this product would skyrocket over a $20 MSRP given a print run similar to the Commander/Duel Decks.

Still, no matter the validity of my previous assertion it's still a damn shame that the secondary market factors so much into the design of products.


I'm not fond of how reluctant Wizards of the Coast has been to reprint things and think they need to do more in that area (such as, say, not giving Modern Masters such a ridiculously small print run), but going full steam in the other direction is probably an even bigger mistake.

At some point they need to lay the hammer down if they want the game to thrive down the road. Risk needs to be introduced into the market of Magical Cards, elsewise we're going to have ever-inflating bubbles and more panic buyouts at every spoiler season or top 8 announcement.

Timber
05-27-2014, 03:51 PM
It's not a pre-con though, it's an Event Deck with 8+ rares, 2 mythic rares and 7 uncommon format staples, not to mention card sleeves. You're just being silly that it would go for $20 MSRP.

This isn't Yu-Gi-O and the reprint policy shouldn't be treated as such. You're right that WotC needs to add more risk to MtG speculation, but what you're proposing is ridiculous and I think you know that.

EDIT: typo

Shump21
06-01-2014, 07:51 PM
I'm hoping that Wizards decides to continue releasing these. These decks are a fantastic starting point for newcomers to the format. Just think what $100-$200 could do for this deck in terms of making it more competitive.

Timber
06-02-2014, 08:34 AM
I've seen what this can do first hand. A guy at my LGS that's been playing Standard and casually for a year bought the event deck on Friday and played a couple games with it after the Standary FNM. He loved it. He's totally into Modern now.

Lord Seth
06-08-2014, 08:48 PM
I wanted to see how the deck would actually do, so on a whim I opted to buy it and play it in our weekly Modern event. The result was I went 2-2, which I think is fairly decent. Granted, one of my wins was against a deck that seemed like a suboptimal Standard deck so that may not count for much, but even the losses I think I could have won had I played more intelligently (I had literally never played the deck before so I feel I didn't play as well as I could have).

Funnily enough, someone else there was playing a modified version of the deck. I don't know exactly what changes they made other than them having Godless Shrines, Thoughtseizes, and a few fetchlands, though. They went 3-1.

So on the whole I think the deck actually is pretty decent. The lack of shocklands and Thoughtseizes is a bit conspicuous, but both cards are currently Standard legal so they're not terribly hard to find. I think it really does fulfill its job as a good gateway into the format. BW Tokens may not be the strongest deck in the format, but my personal view is that any deck that can Day 2 a Grand Prix is a worthwhile deck, and a few Tokens decks did make it in the last Modern GP to Day 2.

By the way, Hipsters of the Coast is doing a thing they're calling "Modern Hero" where someone buys the deck and keeps playing it in their store's weekly Modern tournament, each week spending no more than $10 to improve it. You can see their progress so far here (http://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/category/modern-hero/). It's pretty interesting.

Timber
06-09-2014, 08:42 AM
By the way, Hipsters of the Coast is doing a thing they're calling "Modern Hero" where someone buys the deck and keeps playing it in their store's weekly Modern tournament, each week spending no more than $10 to improve it. You can see their progress so far here (http://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/category/modern-hero/). It's pretty interesting.

I posted a link to this last week or two weeks ago, but the post was deleted. Strange. I liked the idea by Hipsters of the Coast.

dragonwisdom
07-01-2014, 09:46 PM
These modern event decks are dangerous to the game. Wotc only released one deck just to see what the players reaction would be. It should be negative. But some of you don't see that if they print too many of these the secondary market will die. They are testing you. Stores owners should complain because Wotc is stealing money from you.

With the release of Modern Masters and all these pumped up From the vault etc..., I have stopped playing standard, limited/FNM or any mtg event, not named legacy or modern for almost a year. I used to play every FNM for 4-5 years. But out of protest I am not playing anymore. Really, I can just pick up the cards that I want later at a much cheaper price with all these reprints. I used to be for reprints until I saw these decks/sets being printed. Now I am glad that the reserve list exists and would sue wizards if they tried to get rid of it. Wotc should have reprints, but NOT in sets like these. In other words, why bother paying good money for standard cards or even draft at FNM, when all the chase/good gards will be much cheaper later. All those chase rares in theros, born of gods etc.... will be reprinted in 60 card decks or 15-20 card from the vaults, guaranteed. Lingering souls was a 2-3 dollar uncommon and now it's 50 cents. I am not against reprints, but reprints should happen in base sets or expansions with other bad cards where you have to compete and buy lots of packs to get them. Printing many valuable cards in the same deck is nothing less than stealing from the secondary market. Modern is not for beginners. You have to pull your own weight and play standard for at least a couple of years and accumulate a collection. ie playing modern is earned. Wotc needs to do 2 things, Stop illegal copying in China and stop putting so many chase cards in the same set. To summarize, I am okay and happy with thought seize being reprinted in Theros, but I am not okay with this modern event deck. Many people will hate this post and disagree, but I just wanted people to think about how Wotc can steal from you.

Ace/Homebrew
07-02-2014, 10:17 AM
You're complaining about them flooding the market with Windbrisk Heights? :eyebrow:
What cards did WotC include in this Event Deck that ruined the value of your collection?

Hey, remember when WotC put two Stoneforge Mystics into an Event Deck and then their price dropped to nothing?
Wait a second... Starcity Games is selling SFM for $25... (http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=171669)

davelin
07-02-2014, 11:25 AM
These modern event decks are dangerous to the game. Wotc only released one deck just to see what the players reaction would be. It should be negative. But some of you don't see that if they print too many of these the secondary market will die. They are testing you. Stores owners should complain because Wotc is stealing money from you.

With the release of Modern Masters and all these pumped up From the vault etc..., I have stopped playing standard, limited/FNM or any mtg event, not named legacy or modern for almost a year. I used to play every FNM for 4-5 years. But out of protest I am not playing anymore. Really, I can just pick up the cards that I want later at a much cheaper price with all these reprints. I used to be for reprints until I saw these decks/sets being printed. Now I am glad that the reserve list exists and would sue wizards if they tried to get rid of it. Wotc should have reprints, but NOT in sets like these. In other words, why bother paying good money for standard cards or even draft at FNM, when all the chase/good gards will be much cheaper later. All those chase rares in theros, born of gods etc.... will be reprinted in 60 card decks or 15-20 card from the vaults, guaranteed. Lingering souls was a 2-3 dollar uncommon and now it's 50 cents. I am not against reprints, but reprints should happen in base sets or expansions with other bad cards where you have to compete and buy lots of packs to get them. Printing many valuable cards in the same deck is nothing less than stealing from the secondary market. Modern is not for beginners. You have to pull your own weight and play standard for at least a couple of years and accumulate a collection. ie playing modern is earned. Wotc needs to do 2 things, Stop illegal copying in China and stop putting so many chase cards in the same set. To summarize, I am okay and happy with thought seize being reprinted in Theros, but I am not okay with this modern event deck. Many people will hate this post and disagree, but I just wanted people to think about how Wotc can steal from you.

Well played, I thought this was a serious post.

Lord Seth
07-02-2014, 05:06 PM
There's so much fail in this post I honestly wondered if it warranted any response more than a simple "What." Heck, maybe the whole thing is a joke like daveline suggested. If so, ignore the rest of this post. But in case you were actually being serious about it, allow me to dissect it down and demonstrate just how bad it is.


These modern event decks are dangerous to the game.Uh, no they aren't. They're helpful to the game because it makes people more interested and willing in entering formats. The worst thing about the Modern event deck (singular, not the plural you're using for whatever reason) is that it's BW Tokens, which is a Tier 2 deck. But it's also one of the cheaper decks, which is why I guess they went with it. Maybe Mono Blue Tron is next; the only really expensive thing in that deck is Wurmcoil Engine, and even that you can just have as a 1-of.


Wotc only released one deck just to see what the players reaction would be. It should be negative.And it wasn't, because it was a good idea, even if there were arguably some issues with the particular execution (e.g. some people thinking it's too weak a deck).


But some of you don't see that if they print too many of these the secondary market will die. They are testing you. Stores owners should complain because Wotc is stealing money from you.They're not stealing money. They're making a product that people seem interested in purchasing. Just like, you know, every company tends to try to do.

By the way, that bit about the secondary market dying? I kinda feel like pointing out that Yu-Gi-Oh does this sort of thing way, way more than Magic the Gathering, to the point it's kinda notorious for making a card some kind of ultra rare, seeing its price go to $80, then printing it in some $20 tin. Last I checked, Yu-Gi-Oh was extremely popular, and might actually (worldwide) be more popular than Magic. Now, one can say that Yu-Gi-Oh is not as good of a game as Magic so just because it does something doesn't mean Magic should, but the game obviously isn't being killed off by reprints. But I suppose logic would get in the way of your argument, so you're ignoring that.


With the release of Modern Masters and all these pumped up From the vault etc..., I have stopped playing standard, limited/FNM or any mtg event, not named legacy or modern for almost a year. I used to play every FNM for 4-5 years. But out of protest I am not playing anymore. Really, I can just pick up the cards that I want later at a much cheaper price with all these reprints. I used to be for reprints until I saw these decks/sets being printed. I'm guessing you don't buy much of anything then.

Want a computer? Enh, you can buy it later at a much cheaper price.

Want a cell phone? Enh, you can buy it later at a much cheaper price.

Want basically any consumer product? Enh, you can buy it later at a much cheaper price when some newer version of it comes along.

Oh, and by the way? It's not reprints that make it so Standard staples tank in price later on. It's a little thing called Standard rotation. Bonfire of the Damned has received no reprints and is currently 1/6 what it used to cost. Why? Standard rotation. So what you're whining about happens with or without reprints. But again, basic logic would get in the way of your nonsensical point, so you must ignore it.


Now I am glad that the reserve list exists and would sue wizards if they tried to get rid of it.Congratulations, you are one of the things killing Legacy. Give yourself a round of applause.


Wotc should have reprints, but NOT in sets like these. In other words, why bother paying good money for standard cards or even draft at FNM, when all the chase/good gards will be much cheaper later.This is indeed a reason some people avoid Standard, due to that they have to pay high prices for cards due to them being in demand, but once they rotate (and are no longer useful) are worth significantly less. But again, this has been true forever, even before reprints, because of Standard rotation. You are incorrectly ascribing the price drop from Standard rotation to reprints.

The funniest thing is that you seem okay with Standard reprints of a card, as evidenced by what you say later in your message. You're aware that a Standard reprint is what will crash a card's price the most? Tarmogoyf doubled in price after Modern Masters. Meanwhile, Thoughtseize went from $70 to $15. Mutavault's price actually went up a bit after its reprint, but expect that to crash hard after rotation because the reason for its high price is heavy Standard play. Meanwhile, From The Vaults reprints tend to have a much smaller effect on prices due to their small print runs. But, as I've said, logic gets in the way of your point, so you must ignore it.


All those chase rares in theros, born of gods etc.... will be reprinted in 60 card decks or 15-20 card from the vaults, guaranteed.So, you're aware that there's been a whole lot (i.e. most) of chase rares from the last few Standard blocks that have received no such reprints? But such a thing would require you to apply simple logic and common sense, which would get in the way of what you want to say, so you're clearly ignoring that.

As a side note, many of those "chase rares" will no longer be chase rares when they rotate out because they were only good in Standard.


Lingering souls was a 2-3 dollar uncommon and now it's 50 cents.Yes, because of Standard rotation. Are you honestly so obtuse that you are ignoring the fact that a card that saw play primarily in Standard might be worth less after it leaves Standard? Even in nonrotating formats it's lost popularity for a variety of reasons. For example, Jund splashing White for it in Modern used to be a thing, but the banning of Deathrite Shaman made that much less popular to do, both because it reduced Jund's share of the metagame (one reason for Jund to play Lingering Souls is because it's good in the mirror) and the fact that without Deathrite Shaman's fixing, supporting that extra color is much harder. But actually thinking and realizing that would get in the way of your argument, so you must avoid doing so.

Yeah, I know I'm repeating myself a lot, but it's amusing how much you ignore logic because doing so would ruin your argument. Protip: If you must ignore logic as much as you have in order to make your argument, perhaps your argument is not worth making.


I am not against reprints, but reprints should happen in base sets or expansions with other bad cards where you have to compete and buy lots of packs to get them.So even by your own bad argument, why are you against Modern Masters, which requires you to buy a lot of packs to get something like a Tarmogoyf? Sure, Modern Masters has more value than your typical Standard set, but I don't think anyone was opening packs so they could get one of the Kamigawa dragons.


Printing many valuable cards in the same deck is nothing less than stealing from the secondary market.Uh, no it isn't. No more than releasing a newer and better computer is, or producing more copies of a product to fill demand. I remember times when demand for a particular video game console was so great that you legitimately couldn't buy them in stores (for example, that happened with the Wii for a while). Did you whine and complain when Nintendo (or the other companies for the other consoles) opted to make more copies because people were willing to buy them?

Oh, and don't pull that dumb "it's a collectible card game" argument either. Wizards of the Coast never refers to it as such, and even ignoring that, something is only collectible if it retains value despite mass production of a functionally equivalent version of it. Stamps have been mass produced, but some are still worth a lot because they're collectibles, such as Inverted Jennies. Something that would lose its value if a functionally equivalent version was mass produced is not a collectible. Alpha Birds of Paradise are a collectible, as shown by the constant reprints (which are functionally equivalent) not damaging its value. Thoughtseize is significantly less of a collectible, as shown by it dropping in price after the reprint.


Modern is not for beginners. You have to pull your own weight and play standard for at least a couple of years and accumulate a collection. ie playing modern is earned.See, the funny thing about this assertion is you back it up with absolutely nothing. You're literally making up things just because it supports your point. I can just as easily say "Modern should be as easy to enter as Standard" and I've just backed it up as much as you backed up your statement.


Wotc needs to do 2 things, Stop illegal copying in China and stop putting so many chase cards in the same set. To summarize, I am okay and happy with thought seize being reprinted in Theros, but I am not okay with this modern event deck. Many people will hate this post and disagree, but I just wanted people to think about how Wotc can steal from you.All this post has made me think about is how utterly awful your arguments are here. And I've already pointed out how absurd the fact that you're apparently okay with Standard reprints but despise From the Vaults reprints; the former crashes prices more than the latter.

By the way: One way to stop illegal copying in China would be to reprint cards. See, part of the reason people are counterfeiting cards is because they're worth so much. And they wouldn't be worth so ridiculously much if the cards were reprinted. If you have a demand and are refusing to fill it, don't be surprised when other people move in to fill it for you.

Ace/Homebrew
07-15-2014, 01:05 PM
By the way, Hipsters of the Coast is doing a thing they're calling "Modern Hero" where someone buys the deck and keeps playing it in their store's weekly Modern tournament, each week spending no more than $10 to improve it. You can see their progress so far here (http://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/category/modern-hero/). It's pretty interesting.
Has anyone else been following this? I do not play Modern, but admit I am hooked on the weekly reports. I wish the project did not have a pre-determined end date as it would be nice to see if the pilot can ever construct a build that consistently goes 3-1 (without game losses due to opponent negligence). I believe he can get there but I do not know if he allowed enough time given the budget restrictions.