Hello EchoMTG Friends,

With the Modern Masters 2017 #MM3 set now fully revealed, it's become very apparent the set will be a much-desired product upon release. While the reasons for the expected desirability are numerous, it is important to examine the cultural impacts of MM3 (and other short print sets) have on what drives Magic players to crack packs and continue the game we all love.

For me, Magic is an almost 23-year-old obsession. Many Saturday mornings were spent riding my bike with an assortment of friends and my brothers to the local card shop to open some packs. In those days, Fallen Empires and Ice Age were the most affordable and available, and therefore, the most frequently opened.

We didn't care about "spoilers," or net decks, or even the recent tournament results. Packs were opened simply because the game and cards captured our collective imaginations.

Putting expected value aside, it looks like Modern Masters 2017 is going to be a blast to open, draft, and put away into our collections. And not necessarily because all us play modern or even care about card value.

Wizards of the Coast has achieved what many people considered to be the impossible: they printed cards that people genuinely want to play and experience in a game of Magic.

Blood Moon and Damnation are not great cards because they win tournaments, they're great cards because people like playing with them. It's that simple.

I've had several ex-players inquire if I thought MM3 is a product worth acquiring to jump back into Magic. My answer is also simple: YES! For the first time in many years, you can now open some very much beloved cards.

So please, visit the shores of imagination one more time.

Cheers! themagicnugget