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We all remember the Modern Event Deck fondly. At least, we remember anticipating it fondly. Even once we found out it was going to be Black/White Tokens, we were all very excited that surely there would be some Marsh Flats or Bitterblossom.
We all know how that turned out (disappointingly). But that doesn't mean the Event Deck itself was a failure. And who would know better than the lead designer on the product?
Enter Ben Hayes. He definitely sheds some good light on the subject in an interview with Hipsters of the Coast.
"We tried our best to make sure that this product would get to the people who wanted to use it to play Modern, so a lot of the restrictions I had were related to the MSRP we chose. I do believe I had to get fairly creative to find a deck that I could make competitive with my restrictions."
This makes a lot of sense. After all, it's not exactly getting new people into Modern if we all just buy the deck to break it apart for a few cards. Anyway, you can read the entire interview here if you're interested, and it's well worth your time.
The problem I have found (in selling the product) is that most people interested in Modern are not willing to spend $75 for THIS deck. They feel they need too many additional parts and if they are going to spend more might as well build what they want and start with $75 towards that. Many stores are selling these discounted already and I completely understand. He says they considered the MSRP, the reality is while these cards might add up to $75 the deck isn’t worth $75. City of Brass is literally the worst design choice in the whole deck as NOBODY plays the card in Modern. Even putting shocks in those spots would have been an upgrade.