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Modern Horizons spoiler season concluded on May 31. Yet, if you listen closely, the whistle of the next hype train about to pull into the station can be heard echoing in the distance. The first reveals from the upcoming Standard set Core 2020 are a three-stage planeswalker cycle featuring Chandra, dropped on June 11. That's two separate spoiler "seasons" with less than two weeks between them.
It has been quite some time since we've seen such a glut of products from Wizards release so close to each other. This short period of reprieve has me and many other players taking a step back to literally take inventory going into the next hype cycle. During this time, I think I'm starting to identify a potential problem.
2018 – A Recap
While the main period of releases I'm examining will be War of the Spark onward, it bears mentioning that 2018 had a ton of product releases too, setting a precedent for the year to follow. The spring release of Dominaria will go down as one of the most impactful Standard sets of all time, not only for player acquisition and retention but also marking a turning point in WotC's marketing style. Dominaria's release was incredibly significant to the health of the game today, and I believe we are still riding that wave.
Dominaria is a good starting point, but you must also consider that it was followed by Battlebond, Commander 2018, Commander Anthology: Volume II, Guilds of Ravnica, and finally the surprise release of Ultimate Masters to close out the year. That last one was something else, too. Printing extra full-art box toppers as apology promos for the Guilds of Ravnica: Mythic Edition ordering fiasco was an incredibly unique way to commence a spoiler season. Some may label Commander 2018 as a bit of a dud in terms of significant gains, sealed or otherwise. Despite that small hiccup, it is undeniable that 2018's release schedule was incredibly strong overall.
In fact, a lot of things went right for Magic in 2018, and it's not limited to just set releases. Magic Arena was a huge boon for the game, with its Open Beta launch doing wonders for getting new players into the game and creating opportunities for conversion into paper customers. More importantly, it put Magic in the spotlight on a wider scale than ever before.
These releases had strong hype cycles that felt very evenly doled out, but in my opinion, everything we saw last year has been far-eclipsed by what was offered during War of the Spark's spoiler season.
2019 – The Year of Rapid-Fire Spending
With such a strong previous year, it only makes sense for Wizards to stand firm on their tight release schedule and continue churning out products at a brisk clip. With a huge influx of players, both new and returning, it only makes sense to keep a steady stream of products for them to buy.
Ravnica Allegiance opened up the year strong, finishing the cycle of guilds and moving us toward the final chapter of Magic's latest story thread. Even here, it felt like there was not much time between the spoiler season of Ultimate Masters and Allegiance's release (about a month). Following that, the long, drawn-out hype cycle of War of the Spark began. This set was used as a vehicle for the game as a whole, even propelling MPL events like the Mythic Invitational to the front page of Twitch. We saw the release of a novel, War of the Spark: Ravnica by Greg Weisman, and one of the most hyped trailers of all time, helping propel Magic to heights previously unseen.
During War of the Spark's spoiler season, I took care to evaluate every spoiler and identify the relevant cards that would likely see some demand and got to witness (and even participate in) a lot of reactionary purchasing on a daily basis. Every day brought at least one card that created several opportunities to invest in spec cards that would quickly be on the rise, and it was easy to snap them up in time if you were active in the Insider Discord. If you were paying attention, you were probably spending resources.
So, back to that problem I mentioned earlier.
As the spoiler season was coming to a close, the announcement of the Japanese alternate-art planeswalkers came as a shocking finale. With a lot of funds tied up in specs, waiting to be sold or buylisted, it was difficult for many to justify spending even more money on Japanese War of the Spark boxes. The profits were there, either holding them sealed for a longer wait, or flipping them quickly for a nice margin. However, it simply came at an inopportune time. Right after a period of heavy spending, and before a point where most buylists and buyers were willing to catch up, it was rough keeping up.
Modern Horizons's spoiler season caused some of the deepest reactionary buying I have ever seen. Slight pressure was put on the price of most Modern staples across the board, but the introduction of new synergies in Modern, and more notably Commander was absolutely unprecedented. We're living in the timeline where people speculated on Bearscape. Let that sink in. As the days wore on, the lamentations grew louder and more frequent. Even today, several Insiders claim to be experiencing "hype fatigue and more importantly, wallet fatigue."
Once Core 2020's hype cycle starts up proper there will, of course, be plenty of cards to invest in. Hopefully, it comes at a time where buyers are ready to start purchasing again, for the sake of market health and more importantly, WotC's sales figures.
Bring it on Home
So what am I saying here? If the successes of this year's product lineup are any indication, 2019 will be one of the best years in Magic's history. It's a great time to be a Magic player, but, it's probably the worst time to be a Magic player's wallet. If you're looking to park your money somewhere during spoiler season for speculations, keep in mind that there is always another opportunity around the corner with a new product release.
Actively participating in this type of buying is certainly profitable, but it comes at a cost. Investing in cards during spoiler season can tie up a lot of your resources, and if you're not careful, you risk leaving a lot of big opportunities on the table.
competent shell, failing to produce an even-publishable Temur list.
Marit Lage's Slumber is a very interesting finisher. Against control it is terrible, since they have Path to Exile and two types of Teferi to deal with the token before it attacks. It also doesn't provide the continuous card advantage of Search for Azcanta, so you'd never play Slumber in a control heavy meta. Scrying several times a turn isn't good enough in those cases. Against combo and creatures, Slumber is far better, since it threatens to win the game next turn with a massive blocker. It does take a while to fire, but in a more counter-heavy version, time would be less of an issue.
be better than the current 
As for Ranger-Captain, the tutoring ability is okay, but not amazing. Champion of the Parish off Militia Bugler is never great, and that's realistically all Ranger-Captain finds. Tutoring is usually best used for silver bullets, and the only one that Captain can find is Burrenton Forge-Tender. Playing Eos for its stats and tutoring is asking for disappointment.
Of course, Engineer isn't the only potential inclusion from Horizons. If artifact decks make a resurgence, Collector Ouphe would make the cut. Stony Silence is incredibly powerful, but can't really be played with Humans' manabase. I wouldn't rely on Ouphe against Tron, because Damping Sphere is so powerful and useful against Amulet Titan. However, if there's a shift towards artifact combo, then a swap could be warranted.
actually utilize all the extra cards can be tough in Modern, and my shell is not very good against creature decks. If you dredge away any removal spells, you tend to lose to Humans. This is a solvable problem if the deck is worthwhile enough to keep refining.
However, Modern Loam decks have to deal with graveyard hate on a scale impossible in Extended. Back then, there was only Yixlid Jailer, Leyline of the Void, and Tormod's Crypt to contend with, and only in quantity when players remembered that Dredge existed. Relic of Progenitus, Surgical Extraction, Rest in Peace, and Scavenging Ooze are everywhere in Modern in addition to Leyline. Without the graveyard, the engine can't run and the deck fails.
how much more it could be, I think a new shell 
The final thing my Loam testing suggested to me was that Wrenn and Six is overhyped. Wrenn 
In a Loam deck, Wrenn is playable because he's the closest substitute to Loam available, but even then he's mediocre. Again, without Loam, the deck isn't very good, and Wrenn can at least get things moving. However, he's only a third of a Loam. Also, a lot of the value of Loam is dredging every turn to find more lands, which Wrenn can't do. Loam decks will also already have a lot of retrace cards, so the emblem is slightly superfluous. Finally, he shares Loam's vulnerability to graveyard hate. Without a graveyard, Wrenn doesn't do anything.
From green, the deck cribs eight mana dorks and a set of Oath of Nissa to find its combo pieces. Oath is practically Ponder in this list, whiffing only on itself, Lightning Bolt, and Remand. Nissa, Steward of Elements is also hired as a creature-finder (I saw a lot of this walker in creature-based combo decks from May's published lists). Creature dorks get the nod over the more resilient Utopia Sprawl for their interaction with Oath and Steward, and push the combo to be a turn faster.
Replacing the chaff is a loaded acceleration package. Pentad Prism and Generator Servant join Simian Spirit Guide to give the deck plenty of ways to reach five mana a turn early. As permanents, these cards are more versatile than the Desperate Rituals of old, if also more disruptable via removal. On the plus side, they don't care so much about Damping Sphere and its ilk, which could previously shut down the Griselbrand decks.
Speaking of power, Walking Ballista appears here in maximum quantity, with a functional sixteen copies in the main—once this deck does achieve infinite mana via Vizier and Druid, which it's tailor-made to do as fast as possible, any of those cards ends the game on the spot. Besides, Ballista is just good in general for a ramping strategy, especially against the disruptive aggro decks that can otherwise pose hurdles for combo (i.e. Humans).
which would be put onto the stack at instant speed should they kill Queller, making the Spirit something of an undercosted, 2/3 counterspell.
requiring a re-tool and giving me the impression this deck could be improved.
Since they were revealed, the enemy-colored Horizon Canopy cycle has received 
Astral Drift is Slide with upsides, and with the unicyclers back there's potential for a resurrection. However, several problems need to be overcome. First and foremost, the speed problem must be solved. The old Slide deck was glacial, and a reborn version would still need to tap out for a three-mana enchantment that does nothing on its own. If you're still alive by then, you start cycling cards to dig you deeper and blink out attacking creatures.
Prior to Modern Horizons, Mutavault was the best changeling in Magic. 
Spot removal in Modern is meant to break up attacks and slow down creature rushes before the more powerful cards come down. It frequently takes several in a turn to survive a tribal onslaught, and Mariner makes that a difficult task. Midrange and control will struggle against this card, and I predict they go more sweeper-heavy to compensate.
trigger. It also forces UW to actually hit its sweepers on curve rather than banking on Path and Detention Sphere buying time.
But that clause may also be the Engineer's downfall. Another part of the Humans mirror is Phantasmal Image. Image copying opposing Lieutenants and Mages is incredibly good, and is a reason there's some fear about making the first move in the mirror. It is often necessary to play Mage or Lieutenant to get the deck moving. However, doing so provides a very tempting option for Image, and that card is a four-of. If your opponent is missing a critical card, it's often a good idea not to play yours so their Image can't get them back into the game. You want to do exactly enough to win, but not enough to let opposing Images wreck you.
From there, Engineer can do a decent Mystic impression. If you use Engineer to tutor for Sword of Fire and Ice or similar, you can then trade it for an artifact in play, which is functionally the same as Mystic (though easier to disrupt). I could see this working as a red splash in Death and Taxes that makes clue tokens to feed Engineer. Whether this is good I can't say, but it might see some play while Stoneforge Mystic remains banned.
I don't know how to break Engineer. A lengthy 
![Insider: QS Cast #125 – #EDHorizons [Unlocked]](https://www.quietspeculation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MTG-Morophon-the-Boundless-MH1.jpg)
ability to assume the role of its archetypical opposite when necessary." There's a lot to unpack there without the context of the linked article, but in essence, reversibility is a measure of the capacity tempo or midrange decks have to switch fluently between aggressive or disruptive roles.
Static ability: Domri significantly improves token-producers, notably Goblin Rabblemaster, who has been with the archetype since 
Enter the card that caused me to drop everything I was doing (um, playing Yu-Gi-Oh!) and double-down on tuning GR Moon: Seasoned Pyromancer. Like I said in the Domri article, "I don’t think [GR Moon] will upend Modern, or even close—[it has] fundamental issues that Domri doesn’t fix." But Pyromancer does fix those issues, and convincingly.
Pyromancer sifts through the hand just as fast as Looting, guaranteeing upon resolution that we'll access two new cards that turn—even when we're under two cards, something its effect has over the sorcery. But like Modern staple Snapcaster Mage, that card selection (or advantage) comes while affecting the board; any nonland card looted away becomes a 1/1 Elemental.
into turbo-charged Tarmogoyfs, TURBOGOYF has always had a problem establishing an adequate clock. I've looked to closers such as 
Taking stock of all the cards, that's:
With the new curve, we have enough significant follow-up plays that we don't really care if opponents disrupt us with powerful one-shot effects. Kill the dork? Chase with Goyf or Wrenn. Remove Goyf? Punish with Rabblemaster or Pyromancer. Strip our best card? We've got enough cantrip effects to loot into more business. But opponents do need to interact with our plays—let that dork breathe and get hit with Blood Moon a turn early, or meet a turn-three Hazoret post-disruption. Having impactful plays so often is relatively new to GR Moon, and helps it feel, power-level wise, closer to a tiered Modern deck.
after opponents let down their shields. Both interact with the board and enable a successful long-game. The difference is that Wrenn snowballs value and eventually wins us the game, while Liliana simply strips opponents of resources. And Wrenn is 33% cheaper.
It turns out coming down a turn earlier than we're accustomed to for planeswalkers does a world of good for the card type's final ability. Superficially, it's one more turn of ticking up; practically, though, the walker sticks before many decks have a way to pressure it, making it that much easier for us to defend through disruption or distract from it by presenting other threats. I've activated Wrenn's -7 ability multiple times as a result, and it's always game-winning.
![Insider: QS Cast #124 – Before the Horizon [Unlocked]](https://www.quietspeculation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Deep-Forest-Hermit-Modern-Horizons-MtG-Art.jpg)
