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by Da Sarge MtG: Exodus PCD'S the Real Deal? I hate to say I told you so, but……I TOLD YOU SO!!!! Some months ago I wrote about Pre-Constructed Decks (PCD's). I also wrote about how WOTC was going to make the new decks. I wrote that I thought the way WOTC was going about it was a mistake, and that it would shortchange the players who have already bought earlier sets. The PCD's of Exodus would include cards from Stronghold and the Stronghold PCD's would include cards from Tempest. Some of you wrote back saying that it was a good idea, and that it would not hurt the game at all. So I said to myself "Just wait, see what happens with these new PCD's and then write your findings". I was confident that WOTC would not let me down. I knew that they would screw up. I was right, and even I would not have thought it would be like this. When the Arena league started in my area (about the time Mirage and Visions came out) I joined right away. The PCD's were great and you're guaranteed some great cards (some you might not get in box, but hey, that's another story) in the deck. Now look at the PCD's……….. The current PCD's are a joke. You don't get your money's worth. It's the truth and I will now prove it. The last two sets had a total of eight PCD's. From Stronghold they were "Call of the Kor", "The Spikes", "The Migraine", and "The Sparkler". From Exodus you had "White Heat, "Groundbreaker", "Widowmaker", and "Dominator". Each deck consists of 60 cards. But let's break it down further and see who the real loser is. If you take each set and break it down into percentages, on an average this is what you receive in each new PCD: Land New Cards Reprints Amount / Percent 24 / 39.9% 17 / 28.3% 19 / 31.6% Players, I am sad to say this is a rip-off . It's one thing for WOTC to make money. It is another thing entirely to just take money away from a player. In this case this is just what WOTC is doing. What amazes me is how WOTC thinks. A PCD costs around $9.00, That means $3.60 goes to land, $2.88 goes to cards you already have (unless you're a newbie), and $2.52 goes to the new cards in the pack. In essence you are buying a pack of cards. This really ticks me off. I love playing in the Arena leagues, but I refuse to buy a PCD under these conditions. The killer is that the PCD's are released around a week or two before the release of the sets. Which means that if you want to play in the Arena Leagues you have to buy the PCD, or you don't have the cards to put in your deck. It's an ugly circle. The only one who is making out is the newbie. I think that's great for the new guy, but once again WOTC is punishing the player who has been around for a while. Whatever ever happened to PCD's like Tempest? The whole PCD was made up of Tempest. Why not go back to those PCD's? At least those PCD's gave the player the sense that he was at least getting his money's worth. I guess WOTC figured "hey, we can't give the player Exodus cards in an Exodus PCD". Whatever happened to giving the player an even break? I mean think about it for a minute, you're paying $3.60 just for land. Where's the justice? If you have been playing the game for over six months you're paying another $2.88 for cards you already have from the earlier set. That means you just blew $6.48 of the $9.00 on cards you already have. You would get a better payoff betting on horses or buying a lottery ticket. I thought this game was for the players? Yet every time I turn around WOTC figures out a way to make more money and give the player less. I tell ya, I wish WOTC would put me charge for about a year or two. The players would make out and WOTC would make more money then they are now. You've seen what WOTC has done with PCD's, now see what I would do…. First off, make the PCD a true PCD. Let's use Exodus for example. Keep it a sixty card deck but dump the land. Make forty of the cards Exodus and the other twenty cards Stronghold. Why do this? Two reasons really. One, who needs 24 (on average) more land? Land cost about a penny a piece. Even a newbe would pay 20 cents for twenty land. There is nothing special about land. Granted that in each set there are lands made that are different from those before. If that's the case, just add one or two of the land to each PCD. Don't even think about telling me that's not fair. If you buy the PCD "White Heat" from Exodus you get a Paladin en-vec. A very rare card. So rare in fact that in the box I bought I only received one. So adding a special land to every PCD is no big deal. The other reason is where the other set comes in. In this case the Stronghold cards. If forty of the cards are from Exodus, then the other twenty cards would be considered sideboard cards. I'm not hot on having two different sets in one PCD, but if your going to do it then this is the way to go. If WOTC were to do this, they would still make (if not more) money then what they expected before they release the PCD's. The players would get more then what they expect. The new player would get a bunch of cards ready to play and all they have to add is land. As for the sideboard rules. The Arena leagues have crazy rules anyway. You could say that until the set is released the only cards you can use are those in the PCD's themselves plus any basic lands. After the set is released then you go by the rules laid out under that Arena league. There is absolutely no reason why WOTC can't do this. Not only is this a good business decision, it's great for the player. A PCD should include a good sideboard. To be honest I bet they would make more money on PCD's then they are now. You could even go a step farther with stand-alone sets. Since stand-alone sets are going to release so many damn reprints, just ensure that PCD's based on stand-alone sets would NOT INCLUDE a sideboard from any other set except the stand-alone set itself. I think it's a great idea, everybody is happy. It is only common sense, but hey, we are talking about WOTC. Who ever said they had common sense? Before I end this month I have a few things I would like to bring up. First off, last month I asked six questions here are the results: 1) Are Rare / Common / Uncommon cards really needed? Needed Not Needed Not Sure 18 % 55 % 17 % To me this was not a surprise 2) Which would be better, organize a ban or talk it thru? Organize a Ban Talk it Thru WOTC won't listen anyway 0 % 98% 2% This was interesting because I didn't list the third choice 3) Is the game changing from a player to collector Yes No 44% 66% This was a surprise because I did not really think that yes would be over 30% 4) Should another Protest list (Or should it be called list of concerns) be made Yes No 63% 27% When do I start???? 5) Are phasing / flanking etc. dead? Yes No 50% 50% This was the biggest surprise. Did I miss something??? 6) List in order which has the greatest impact on the game? Phasing, Flanking, Licids, Slivers, and Buybacks? 1. Buybacks 2. Phasing / Slivers (TIED) 3. Flanking 4. Licids It should be noted that I forgot to add Shadows, based on the people who added Shadows in there choices, Shadow would have come in second. Before I close I have one thing, Being in the Army I don't get a chance to get to qualifying tournaments in the Pro-Tour. It is just a matter of being to busy. But for those of you who have been there, could you tell me what you think of the players and the ref's. I had a letter saying that the conduct of some players and ref's would terrible. I only have had experience in local tournaments and Arena leagues. The biggest problem we have encountered is the ruling on what a card can or can't do. Is it really that bad or that good?       Dem'd My Views and I'm.......       DA’ SARGE       Email: n***s@r***p.com   All commentaries are the opinions of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Beyond Dominia [ Back to July 1998 Table of Contents ] [ Back to Beyond Dominia ] Magic: the Gathering is a Registered Trademark of Wizards of the Coast