Introduction

Wizards seems to be at odds with the modern community in respect to the yearly Modern Pro Tour. Wizards wants to use the Pro Tour as a platform to showcase the corresponding set; openly stating that they are only focusing on limited and standard when designing a set. The modern community treats the modern pro tour like Christmas. We wait to see what new toys the Pros have dug up from the 50 legal sets. All we ask from Wizards is to manage the ban list in order to have a diverse format. Well, this weekend Wizards got their wish of showcasing the new set with 6 Eldrazi decks in the top 8. Even cards that have been considered low draft picks were there winning the Pro Tour. Yes, they got what they wanted. Although, it could be said it was the worst the format has ever looked for hardcore and casual modern players alike.

The Bannings and the Emergence of a Problem

Two weeks before the Pro Tour Wizards announced changes to the modern ban list. Both Summer Bloom and Splinter Twin were banned, while nothing was unbanned. Everyone agreed that Summer Bloom had to go as it was a key part to a deck that broke the rules of the format. Splinter Twin was banned under the pretense that doing so would create diversity in the format. Wizards felt that Twin decks were oppressive; that they were keeping too many cards from seeing play. The hammer falling on Twin remains a controversial decision. We’re not here to discuss that particular controversy though. What I want to bring up is what card should of been banned to create diversity at the Pro Tour, but wasn’t as Wizards knew it would keep their new cards from being in the spotlight. That card is, glaringly, Eye of Ugin.

Where was R&D?

Ian Duke, lead developer of the set, stated on stream that it had been brought to R&D’s attention that cheaper Eldrazi, backed by Eye of Ugin and ELdrazi Temple, in Modern might be an issue. He said that they decided to go ahead with mid-sized Eldrazi as they focused primarily on the Limited and Standard environment when designing a set. What I am concerned with is that it was clearly obvious that by making 2 to 5 mana creatures that can be cast off what is essentially a Mishra’s Workshop and Ancient Tomb in Modern is too powerful. The best deck in Vintage has those cards! With a minimal amount of play testing R&D would have known it was too strong and one of the two lands had to go. So did they even test it?

For those of you arguing “well R&D shouldn’t have to worry about Modern”, my question to you is why not? Modern is one of the most beloved formats. At one point the Pro Tour had over 45,000 viewers on day 2, jumping from 12,000 to 15,000 viewers after the draft portion ended and the Modern matches began. It was stated last year that the Modern Pro Tour was the most watched of them all. Wizards added another Modern WMCQ to the schedule this year and changed the constructed portion of the WMC from Standard to Modern! We’re seeing that players want more support for Modern. Listen, if stores had the choice of running Standard or Modern PPTQ’s they would be overwhelmingly Modern. So, when a new set is coming out, why wouldn’t they play test the format and ban cards that are bad for the format? Why let a Pro Tour and the following 3 months of that format be unenjoyable for most people? The answer is obvious: sales.

Business Before Pleasure: Moving Towards an Answer

Wizards wants all the new cards front and center for each pro tour. This increases visibility of the set and pushes sales. From a business perspective this makes sense. Wizards would likely prefer all Pro-Tours to be standard in order to push the new set. Standard is the format that showcases new cards the most after all. The issue is that most viewers, except the top 1%, pros, don’t want to watch only Standard. The 99%, you and I, want to see the 1% break open Modern once a year! Once again we are back to the pull of Wizards not wanting to do what is right for Modern because they want a Pro Tour that successfully sells their new product. The 99%, meanwhile, are yelling and screaming for more high level Modern. So what’s the solution? I think the solution is adding a 5th Pro Tour.

I know, it’s crazy. Wizards may never do it, but hear me out first. The Modern community wants two things; a Modern Pro Tour and access to more cards. Both of these wants can be solved by doing a yearly Modern Masters set. First, let’s talk about the benefits for having a Modern Masters Pro Tour. All the cards are reprints so any bannings leading up to the Pro Tour wouldn’t hurt sales of the product. Another benefit for having a set of all reprints is that it gives the 1% more time to test the format, which I think is a good thing. Not only will the deck specialists have finely tuned machines, which is always a treat to watch, but they will produce a deck played to perfection. You also have a known meta for the brewers to attack or prepare for. The biggest boon to a Modern Masters Pro Tour is the limited format, man have the first two sets been awesome to play and watch. It’s a fresh new format each time and the 1% will need to put effort into figuring it out.

Now to address the yearly reprints of modern cards. Most of you are worried that it will flood the market. I assure you this is not the case. What it will do is make chase uncommons and fringe rares affordable. For example, Tarmogoyf has been reprinted twice in the last 3 years and is still a $170 USD card, so anything of high value that SHOULD be high value will retain most of its value. The issues that we need to address are the $15 to $30 USD uncommons from sets printed a few years ago. Cursecatcher is an $18 USD uncommon, Simian Spirit Guide is a $12 USD common, Serum Visions is a $8 USD common, Path to Exile, which has seen 7 different printings, is a $10 uncommon. The list goes on and on, this doesn’t even include the fringe rares that are spiking daily. Can anyone explain why Worship spiked 1,000 percent? We are talking 50 sets here; there is no limit to what Wizards could reprint.

So for those of you that I have convinced that this isn’t a crazy idea, let’s try and make this happen. Modern Masters 2017 is just over a year away. That’s plenty of time to convince Wizards to turn it into a Pro Tour!

Monkey Mealing @monkeymealing on Twitter