I pre-ordered my box of Modern Masters 2017 for a steep discount…(information respectfully withheld.  Thanks!  You know who you are!)  Put it this way, I got a serious good deal.

Like the other “Masters” sets, this box only came with 24 packs.  But every pack contains a foil.  AND this time the set was loaded up with re-prints people have been asking for!

How did I fare?

This time I only have one picture, which will tell most of the story.

I already put my rares away…sorry guys.  These are the commons and uncommons.  The story is “Return to Ravnica/Innistraad” srandard.  You could even draft deck archetypes with this set.

Maybe you can’t tell from the picture, but the stack of “gold” cards is about 1/3 taller than the traditional cards.  This is a set that wants you to build multi-color decks.

So what rares did I pull?

The notable ones were.

Marsh Flats

Gifts Ungiven

Linvala, Keeper of Silence

Griselbrand

Cavern of Souls

Goblin Guide

Abrupt Decay

Zur the Enchanter

Notably, I didn’t pull Snapcaster Mage, Liliana of the Veil, or Damnation.  I didn’t pull a Serum Visions or a Path to Exile either. But two awesome lands, Griselbrand, and the angel were all great pulls.

I decided to build a “cube commander” deck for Zur the Enchanter.  Basically a singleton deck with Esper colors.  I haven’t played it yet, but I know it will be janky when I do because there are only two valid enchantments!  (Seal of Doom and Gift of Orzova)

So did I draft?  Both me and the SpartanKid did so at the Tangled Web…$35 per entry fee…that’s steep!  But at $10 a pack, that’s why.

I think we both drafted traditional draft style decks.  Mine was based on “bloodrush”  Which was incredible Green Red strategy back in RtR block.  The SpartanKid drafted mono-white.  Probably not a great choice…but he crafted a successfully annoying Soul Sisters deck.  In fact, mine was annoying too if you were lucky!  Giantbaiting + Dragon Fodder+ Revive = YOU WIN.  But most of the time the opponent just had an early flier that I could only hold off for so long before I was ran over.

I did manage to draft Terminus, Obzedat, Goblin Guide, and Misty Rainforest.  But since I was in red green only the latter two made the cut…This set is so good that Misty Rainforest was actually passed to me!  I don’t know what they pulled….???

I wound up trading for a foil Damnation, and so I am all around happy with my investment.  If you read my blog, you know I have been burned a few times buying MTG boxes.  I felt confident that it would work out, and it did reasonably.

However, I did see “Rudy,” some You-Tube guy open a totally wack box, and follow that up with a box that contained all five fetch lands, Liliana, and Blood Moon.  So the potential for this to have gone either way in the other direction was there.

I was encouraged as one of my regular opponents sat beside me while I opened the packs from my box.  I was unaware of some of what I had.  I have a foil Grafdiggers Cage now.  Somehow that is a card that hasn’t been on my radar.  But I see incredible play value there now.  That guy also proclaimed jealousy when I opened Goblin Guide, and then drafted him as well!

I don’t know that I will get to draft this set anymore.  Opportunity dries up as the supply will.  If you read my previous post, you know I was looking forward to drafting Gifts Ungiven, or possibly pulling a foil Liliana of the Veil.  But I also realistically knew those were long shots.

I am going to refrain from rating this set based on my experience.  I have opened 27 packs and played with 24 of the cards, rather unsuccessfully.  I was fighting against myself as well, as I was really sick and started to get tired at around 10:00 PM.  I was making bonehead mistakes, like Traitorous Instinct on Ogre Jailbreaker, when I didn’t own a gate, for instance.  That really doesn’t say much for me and my skills on that day, and so I can’t rate it.  I do think the draft environment really wants you to aim for three colors.  At the Tangled Web, there are a few “fixer hogs.”  They take all of the fixers, and then they get to pick the best stuff on the last pack.  I can’t draft that way.  Maybe I should try it out.  But it seems I would rather know my strategy from the first twenty cards I draft.