You Make the Masters Set

[Thomas David Baker]

I loved Innistrad.  I believed Maro when he said New World Order made things better for experienced players too and used Innistrad as an example.

Then Modern Masters came out and despite having to include a bunch of rares and only being allowed cards from Mirrodin to Shards it was way better than anything we've seen since Innistrad, and most of what came before, too.

It will be minimum one year until the next Modern Masters.

So, my idea is, let's make our own Modern Masters.

Random ideas that are very much half formed:

* 6 of each of 60 commons, 3 of each of 60 uncommons, 2 of each of 50 rares, 1 of each of 10 mythics is 650 cards.

* Use old cards, pre-Mirrodin, for spell-based funtimes and novelty even for players that have been playing for a while.

* Invent cards where necessary to fill holes.

* Some possible seeded archetypes: free spell necro, ug madness, gro, draw-go, astral slide, reanimator, artifact control, mill, auras, tokens, birthing pod, pox, sacrifice, prison, wizard tribal.

* Possibly include a lot of Legacy playables and call it "Legacy Masters".  What wizards would print if they said fuck it to the secondary market and the reserve list and tried to support legacy via a "Masters" release.

What do you think?  Interested in being on the development team?  Could make for some cheap Tuesday nights during the long reign of M14* ...

* = Bit of a cheap shot.  I've actually really enjoyed 3 of the last 4 core set drafts.

[Louis Mackie]

I'm free tonight or Wednesday.

[Thomas David Baker]

OK I got a couple of sniffs of interest so I set up a Facebook Event. Anyone that wants an invite let me know.

[Paul Hodgson]

can't make it this week I'm afraid

[Thomas David Baker]

Moved to Thursday by popular demand (sorry Louis!) - Kieran is coming over here (near Pimlico tube) tonight at 6 if anyone wants to join. 

[Louis Mackie]

:(

[James Mills]

Damn it, I can only really do weekends.

[Russell Davies]

Sorry guys, can't make this week  ;(

[Thomas David Baker]

Pretty funny reading Brian Kibler's PT Chicago 2000 report and seeing him face at least two opponents with Rishadan Airship in their maindeck ... http://bmkgaming.com/dragons-and-deep-dish-pt-chicago-2000-report-w... ... (also Spiketail Hatchling).

[Simon O'Keeffe]

Skies was a real deck back then

[Paul Hodgson]

Skies was an ace deck, airship was such a beating.

On a slight tangent, I was thinking about rotisserie draft and how would be best to run one for a set such as modern or legacy masters, where there have been specific decks seeded in the pool and with a limited number of enablers you're likely to not get any of those decks being viable. Thinking storm, clerics, rebels etc. It may help to have more cards in the draft, so 3 of each common, 2 of each uncommon, 1 rare, 1 mythic in order to better support the archetypes.

Thoughts?

Would it actually be fun?

Would faerie tempo just crush everyone in MMA?

Is first picking Pyromancer's swath worth it?

[Thomas David Baker]

I'm pretty sure the presence of all the crazy rares (2 x Swords, Elspeth, Meloku, etc.) changes the nature of the draft considerably whether you have multiple non-rares or not.

Rathi Trapper is good and all but Adarkar Valkyrie, Arcbound Ravager, Cryptic Command, Death Cloud, Divinity of Pride, Figure of Destiny, Gargadon, Kira, Oona, Reveillark, Rude Awakening and Skeletal Vampire are all a lot better. Plus most of the Mythics (15) including Shackles, Swords, Planeswalkers and Dragons. So in an eight-man draft I would anticipate the first 3 entire rounds of picks being just about mono-rares.

Faerie Tempo can't beat ever beat Shackles nor Sword of Fire and Ice.

Although it's a shot in the arm to almost everything except 5 color mono bombs (and even that wants 3 kodama's reach) Storm is the one archetype that gets wayyyy better if you have multiples of commons and uncommons. It's probably unplayable singleton (?) and it's probably just about unbeatable if you have 3-2-1. 3 Glacial Ray, 3 Empty the Warrens, 3 Grapeshot, 3 Dampen Thought, 3 Peer Through Depths, 3 Reach Through Mists, 3 Lava Spike, 2 Desperate Ritual, 1 Pyromancer Swath, 16 lands. Which of those cards do other decks even want? The Glacial Rays? Not if you first pick them over Elspeth and Swords!

Legacy Masters is not quite so extreme as it has almost nothing as broken as Swords and Planeswalkers but I still think you are first picking Mother of Runes, Rotlung Reanimator and Form of the Dragon, etc. rather than the good Uncommons.

Personally I'd do at least one true singleton Rotisserie before I started messing with it just to see. But for replay value you don't want a Sword of Fire and Ice in every draft.

[Paul Hodgson]

I think you don't lose much by stripping out the mythics entirely