Thoughts about how to spend Mana Orbs

Mainloop25

Shecky said:

Thanks everyone.  And yes, you can target each of the standard sets individually.

Although I understand there are certain cards that people love and other people don't use.  I am referring to the universally admired cards - Drake, Sandwurm, Olivia, Piggie, etc. etc.  I just wondered what the non-mythic/masterpiece cards might be.

If i didnt have drake Haven, New perspectives or shefet monitor yet, those would be my #1 targets.

I still need a few rares from Origins- Talent of the Telepath, Abbott of Keral Keep. Would still love DesoTwins and From Beyond.

And if I still didn't have Grip of Desolation or Inner Struggle I'd be happy to finally have a way to get them. 

hawkyh1

Shecky said:

Thanks everyone.  And yes, you can target each of the standard sets individually.

can someone point me to where it says this?

HH

majincob

hawkyh1 said:

Shecky said:

Thanks everyone.  And yes, you can target each of the standard sets individually.

can someone point me to where it says this?

HH

Brigby said:

Crafting Costs

Selecting a Set and Rarity determines the cost of the Booster that you would like to craft.

Sets will affect the crafting cost in 3 ways:

• Legacy Sets (all Sets that aren’t in the Standard Rotation) are treated as a Single Set, and will be the cheapest you can craft to complete your sets!
• All Standard Sets, except for the newest one, will have the same price.
• The Newest Standard Set (most recent set released) will cost slightly more than the rest of Standard.

Selecting a Rarity will also affect the Booster cost. You can craft from Commons to Mythics from any Set. Increasing the Rarity will increase the cost.

Check out the table below to find the Mana Orb costs for each Crafted Booster: *New Update*

Origins Set 

Since Origins is the basic set of the game and also a classic one, it will remain in Standard and craftable as an individual set. In light of this and its popularity, we decided to make Origins the cheapest Standard set: it is priced as a Legacy Set! Check out the updated price table above.

From the original announcement (with update on Origins).

1st argument: It says "All Standard Sets, except for the newest one, will have the same price." Notice they don't say they will be treated as a Single set like they did with Legacy sets.

2nd argument: "The Newest Standard Set (most recent set released) will cost slightly more than the rest of Standard" which I take to mean that the standard sets will be individually targetable, otherwise how could you differentiate price?

3rd argument: The new Origins section also points out that "it will remain in Standard and craftable as an individual set" indicating that the standard sets including Origins have always been designed to be individually craftable.

Gunmix25

If you don't Have much in the way of legacy mythics.... that's a HUGE pool to craft from.  May get a good one.  May get one you do not like.  Pure gamble there.  Standard is a better ROI due to targeting sets. But.... AKH individually or is it AKH/HOU ?

hawkyh1

won't being able to target just origins make it the obvious
choice? also won't everyone eventually use similar decks
which contain key origins cards in many pvp events?

HH

Volrak

majincob said:

1st argument: It says "All Standard Sets, except for the newest one, will have the same price." Notice they don't say they will be treated as a Single set like they did with Legacy sets.

I agree, if individual sets aren't targetable, then not stating it here is a strange omission.

2nd argument: "The Newest Standard Set (most recent set released) will cost slightly more than the rest of Standard" which I take to mean that the standard sets will be individually targetable, otherwise how could you differentiate price?

Price would be trivially differentiated if the intended player choices were "latest standard", "rest of standard", or "legacy".

3rd argument: The new Origins section also points out that "it will remain in Standard and craftable as an individual set" indicating that the standard sets including Origins have always been designed to be individually craftable.

This is ambiguous still.  It depends on their intended grouping of "remain" - it could apply to just the "in standard" part, with "[be] craftable as an individual set" being a separate clause.  Also, in that interpretation, the fact that they thought "craftable as an individual set" needed to be stated may indicate that Standard's targetability as an individual set is different or unique.

Bottom line: You may well be right, but the doorway to an alternative interpretation is at least Hibernum-sized, and remains open for now.

Gilesclone

But it would be odd if Origins was the only set that was individually craftable. I think the old days of lying thru careful wording may be behind us.

Volrak

Gilesclone said:

But it would be odd if Origins was the only set that was individually craftable. I think the old days of lying thru careful wording may be behind us.

I don't think anyone's lying.  I just think there's an unresolved ambiguity.  We'll find out how it works soon enough

Szamsziel

Take a look at provided screenshot (of course there can be changes). It looks like you are able to select set (hou on screenshot)  - not latest standard. 

fiirst

i think they will limited out crafting by timer...such as one craft per each 8 hr.......

khurram

fiirst said:

i think they will limited out crafting by timer...such as one craft per each 8 hr.......

What will be the point of that?
Don't give them terrible ideas 

hawkyh1

Szamsziel said:

Take a look at provided screenshot (of course there can be changes). It looks like you are able to select set (hou on screenshot)  - not latest standard. 

is hou not the latest standard?

HH

majincob

Volrak said:

majincob said:

1st argument: It says "All Standard Sets, except for the newest one, will have the same price." Notice they don't say they will be treated as a Single set like they did with Legacy sets.

I agree, if individual sets aren't targetable, then not stating it here is a strange omission.

2nd argument: "The Newest Standard Set (most recent set released) will cost slightly more than the rest of Standard" which I take to mean that the standard sets will be individually targetable, otherwise how could you differentiate price?

Price would be trivially differentiated if the intended player choices were "latest standard", "rest of standard", or "legacy".

3rd argument: The new Origins section also points out that "it will remain in Standard and craftable as an individual set" indicating that the standard sets including Origins have always been designed to be individually craftable.

This is ambiguous still.  It depends on their intended grouping of "remain" - it could apply to just the "in standard" part, with "[be] craftable as an individual set" being a separate clause.  Also, in that interpretation, the fact that they thought "craftable as an individual set" needed to be stated may indicate that Standard's targetability as an individual set is different or unique.

Bottom line: You may well be right, but the doorway to an alternative interpretation is at least Hibernum-sized, and remains open for now.

I agree that it is ambiguous. It has the feeling of them trying to be as clear as they can yet somehow still failing.

Marvaddin

Ok, so costs are updated, and now uncommons are more expensive, while rares and mythics are cheaper. Fine! Now, all legacy cards cost 60% of standard, while last standard costs 150%. Ok.

Talking about legacy, as It's where I will most probably spend my orbs, this is my situation:

Mythics: I miss 66, 198k orbs to get all
Rares: I miss 92, 55,2K to get all
Uncommon: I miss 91, 27,3k to get all
Common: I miss 23, 1380 to get all

Ok, those commons have only completion purposes, and I will probably buy myself one each month as a little celebration.

Those uncommons include probably 6-8 I would like to have, and I was even thinking about give them a shot, as they would cost 150, but at 300, I believe I will let them. Also they are easier to get from boosters.

Doubt is between rares or mythics. I should go for rares, but I still intend to get some from events. Well, maybe I will invest initial orbs in mythics, and after some time I will change to rares. Long before I'm even close to complete legacy, Kaladesh + AER will be moved to it, bringing (for now) 21 uncommons, 43 rares, 38 mythics.

Well, looks like I wont be able to complete legacy for several years

TheDragonHermit

majincob said:

Volrak said:

majincob said:

1st argument: It says "All Standard Sets, except for the newest one, will have the same price." Notice they don't say they will be treated as a Single set like they did with Legacy sets.

I agree, if individual sets aren't targetable, then not stating it here is a strange omission.

2nd argument: "The Newest Standard Set (most recent set released) will cost slightly more than the rest of Standard" which I take to mean that the standard sets will be individually targetable, otherwise how could you differentiate price?

Price would be trivially differentiated if the intended player choices were "latest standard", "rest of standard", or "legacy".

3rd argument: The new Origins section also points out that "it will remain in Standard and craftable as an individual set" indicating that the standard sets including Origins have always been designed to be individually craftable.

This is ambiguous still.  It depends on their intended grouping of "remain" - it could apply to just the "in standard" part, with "[be] craftable as an individual set" being a separate clause.  Also, in that interpretation, the fact that they thought "craftable as an individual set" needed to be stated may indicate that Standard's targetability as an individual set is different or unique.

Bottom line: You may well be right, but the doorway to an alternative interpretation is at least Hibernum-sized, and remains open for now.

I agree that it is ambiguous. It has the feeling of them trying to be as clear as they can yet somehow still failing.

Hibernum trained us well. We see ambiguity and interpret the worst of it. It says more about the old team than the new one. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt until they give me a reason not to.

Tilwin90

I don't really get the decision between making no discrete separation between the BFZ & SOI packs, especially since legacy is... well legacy. Perhaps they fear people will invest in SOI only and leave BFZ behind, seeing how powerful that set is. I get that... I'm probably also a bit salty about this decision because I lack many crucial mythics from SOI, while I find the "missing BFZ" pool (which is quite large might I add) quite irrelevant for me. But I will abide to this decision, better this than nothing. 

On the other hand I appreciate the fact that Origins is kept as the core set and prioritized for booster crafting. That's nice especially for newer players. I might give a shot at Thopter Spy Network. 

Now back to Standard, it's not THAT big of a deal if AMK is placed together with KLD seeing how the number of mythics from AMK is reduced, so it's probably more suitable for people who target KLD entries.

tfg76

I will personally craft 1) Inner struggle 2) AKH rares (missing one or two that I really need) 3) Origins rares (missing some key ones) 4) Origins mythics 5) AKH mythics. I believe I can complete both of those with my current set of dupes, given the announcement around cheaper Origins. 

Then I'll probably save the rest for HoU and Ixalan crafting.

KLD block is interesting since it's still in standard and can be crafted explicitly. Once it rotates out, those cards will have less value to me, but will also be harder to get, since it'll then be in the legacy pool (but cheaper). I'm leaning towards waiting until it's legacy and then rolling the dice on mythics in the larger pool now and then.

Tilwin90

tfg76 said:

I will personally craft 1) Inner struggle 2) AKH rares (missing one or two that I really need) 3) Origins rares (missing some key ones) 4) Origins mythics 5) AKH mythics. I believe I can complete both of those with my current set of dupes, given the announcement around cheaper Origins. 

Then I'll probably save the rest for HoU and Ixalan crafting.

KLD block is interesting since it's still in standard and can be crafted explicitly. Once it rotates out, those cards will have less value to me, but will also be harder to get, since it'll then be in the legacy pool (but cheaper). I'm leaning towards waiting until it's legacy and then rolling the dice on mythics in the larger pool now and then.

There is a handful of KLD mythics that are highly valuable even in legacy, namely (I put with (*) the ones I am still lacking so feel free to contradict me, I'm more theorycrafting on them):
- (*) Aether Gonti's Heart - infinite lock combo
- (*) Colossus - a colorless 12/12 for such a low cost is absurd. The fact that it destroys your own supports can be circumvented.
- (*) Rashmi - she is the basis of many combos so I wouldn't be surprised to find a way to break her.
- Baral - I don't need to say more, he is hands down the best blue creature in the game for me, I've used him in most of my blue decks.
- Dynavolt Tower - cute for lockdown (true) creatureless builds even in legacy. To be honest I don't really use it in legacy but it's still a good mythic and goes hand in hand with Aether Gonti.
- Rishksex - best ramp spell in the game when used properly (not very difficult to sequence it really)
- Boomship - extraordinary with Saheeli, I always include it for ultimate shenanigans.
- Heart of Kiran - I use it with Gideon 3. Exile it to boost army, army also benefits from supports boost furthermore. Quite a cute combo. It's also nice with Starfield of Nyx to boost army easily.
- (*) Angel of Invention - I still have to drop it but I've seen it used in legacy and seems nice in deploy decks (though admittedly Pig is slightly better?)
- Herald of Anguish - if you've faced it, you know what I mean. VERY annoying!
- Marionette Master - I've seen a nasty legacy build that featured it together with Liliana 3. First ability floods the board really fast with supports and boost it so anything you break deals MASSIVE damage. This is quite a killer combo.
- (*) Lightning Runner - annoying in Standard, remains one of the best aggro creatures in the game. I expect long-term more and more aggressive decks will arise as the card pool increases. This is more a long-term investment.

On AMK I have only three key mythics I actually use (I have almost a full collection there so not going to bother crafting):
- Cruel Reality - auto-include in most black decks. I even use it in events with Enraged with great success. NEVER unhappy to draw it!
- Angel of Sanctions - a real pain to play against, really powerful especially since it can kill on your own side too. Do I need to mention how good the embalm is? This is a chase card!
- Sandwurm Convergence - creatureless wincon, annoying to deal with when you are playing black/blue decks.
(funny how Glorious End is the only mythic spell in AMK)

FindingHeart8

hmmm I wonder if in a while after booster crafting is released, I'm going to be facing a lot of decks with the same staple cards

Gilesclone

Yeah, I’m a bit worried about facing the same 6 or 8 mythic decks over and over. Especially since I won’t get any mythics out of this.