There is no harm (Pithing vs Spyglass) in having functionally similar, but distinct, cards.
There is when talking about which card is going to see more play. A one mana increase in cost means a ton in formats like modern, and the tacked on effect doesn't really help much. When you cast something like Pithing Needle, you aren't interested in their hand: You already know what you are aiming to disable preemptively by using the card, so in terms of which one is better, the former is. However, in this case since the casting costs are both below 3 I'd say both are playable cards.
But in Legacy the Spyglass sees play in Chalice decks- the extra mana does not matter in the sol land decks which normally set Chalice to 1 counter. Some cards are Legacy playable but not Modern playable because of differences in the format.
Exactly.
Spyglass has been good in Legacy and has been an all star for Vintage Shops decks. The tacked on effect is key to the cards power.
Secondary market must influence the rarity, but I don't see it impacting reprints in isolation- other factors are equally prominent.
Goyf and FOW are not mythic for any reason at draft level, and it is only their widespread use and relative scarcity (of which price is a function) that got them purple status. Clearly if FOW was a 5 dollar common from m10 it would not be Mythic, but it is story and power level that impacted LOTV not being reprinted in standard, and a good many other things besides. Now for my money story can go and reproduce with itself in anyway it sees fit , and any player who tells me "I can't have another Elspeth/Urza's underpants/whatever because X happened in this book/story" can go with them and enjoy some roleplaying or a good novel, because I don't want to be playing Mtg and discussing story after with them- ever. Mtg Lore should be a servant, not a master. Similarly for me if LOTV is too powerful for Standard you need to make standard more powerful in terms of answers. Nonetheless, even though I do not agree with their reticence to reprint in Std, I fully believe that their reasons for not putting in older cards are more to do with these factors than simply price, because there are loads of really obvious and relatively cheap cards they avoid reprinting in Standard for power reasons, such as Path, Bolt, Counterspell. They have always tried to give players novel designs on established ideas or characters (*shudders* at the mention of characters)and that means Emrakul gets a Mk II makeover and not Emmy I, LOTV gets replaced by new Lilly etc. The whole idea of wishing to emphasise plot tends towards novelty in individual cards- even when a mechanic returns like Madness very few original cards came with it. Strangely this doesn't apply to Sailor of Means, but that is Wizards all over, and the fact that so many people commented on it shows how rare it is to reprint an existing card, even a common one. I will wager something odd went on in that process too.
There is no harm (Pithing vs Spyglass) in having functionally similar, but distinct, cards.
There is when talking about which card is going to see more play. A one mana increase in cost means a ton in formats like modern, and the tacked on effect doesn't really help much. When you cast something like Pithing Needle, you aren't interested in their hand: You already know what you are aiming to disable preemptively by using the card, so in terms of which one is better, the former is. However, in this case since the casting costs are both below 3 I'd say both are playable cards.
But in Legacy the Spyglass sees play in Chalice decks- the extra mana does not matter in the sol land decks which normally set Chalice to 1 counter. Some cards are Legacy playable but not Modern playable because of differences in the format.
Secondary market must influence the rarity, but I don't see it impacting reprints in isolation- other factors are equally prominent.
Goyf and FOW are not mythic for any reason at draft level, and it is only their widespread use and relative scarcity (of which price is a function) that got them purple status. Clearly if FOW was a 5 dollar common from m10 it would not be Mythic, but it is story and power level that impacted LOTV not being reprinted in standard, and a good many other things besides. Now for my money story can go and reproduce with itself in anyway it sees fit , and any player who tells me "I can't have another Elspeth/Urza's underpants/whatever because X happened in this book/story" can go with them and enjoy some roleplaying or a good novel, because I don't want to be playing Mtg and discussing story after with them- ever. Mtg Lore should be a servant, not a master. Similarly for me if LOTV is too powerful for Standard you need to make standard more powerful in terms of answers. Nonetheless, even though I do not agree with their reticence to reprint in Std, I fully believe that their reasons for not putting in older cards are more to do with these factors than simply price, because there are loads of really obvious and relatively cheap cards they avoid reprinting in Standard for power reasons, such as Path, Bolt, Counterspell. They have always tried to give players novel designs on established ideas or characters (*shudders* at the mention of characters)and that means Emrakul gets a Mk II makeover and not Emmy I, LOTV gets replaced by new Lilly etc. The whole idea of wishing to emphasise plot tends towards novelty in individual cards- even when a mechanic returns like Madness very few original cards came with it. Strangely this doesn't apply to Sailor of Means, but that is Wizards all over, and the fact that so many people commented on it shows how rare it is to reprint an existing card, even a common one. I will wager something odd went on in that process too.
They reprinted Sailor of Means for draft reasons along with a few other cards at the common level. I believe it was talked about on one of their pod casts at one point or possibly during an LRR interview.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
What does Wizards of the Coast need to do to improve magic the gathering?
Exactly what they are doing: Bring Richard Garfield back from retirement and ask for his help to mend all this mess.
That's just it though, Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro can't keep continuing to rely on Richard Garfield to help bail them out anytime MTG goes through a crisis that threatens to officially discontinue the game in it's entirety. If anything it shows just how incompetent the rest of the company's staff and employees are compared to the one's who got them there in the first place. People who are genuinely passionate about MTG like MaRo and Richard Garfield are only a minority at Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro compared to the majority of the company whose only in it for the money like Chris Cocks.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
What does Wizards of the Coast need to do to improve magic the gathering?
Exactly what they are doing: Bring Richard Garfield back from retirement and ask for his help to mend all this mess.
That's just it though, Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro can't keep continuing to rely on Richard Garfield to help bail them out anytime MTG goes through a crisis that threatens to officially discontinue the game in it's entirety. If anything it shows just how incompetent the rest of the company's staff and employees are compared to the one's who got them there in the first place. People who are genuinely passionate about MTG like MaRo and Richard Garfield are only a minority at Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro compared to the majority of the company whose only in it for the money like Chris Cocks.
There's a simple lesson one learns from backing one too many failed big name kickstarter gaming projects: the people who start the game are often the ones who end up sinking it. It's not like they are bad developers, just that the vision they are trying to deliver often isn't possible anymore given forces they are not in control of, or the times people are nostalgic for are not exactly what they seem. Do we want a return to Mercadian Masques? A return to Urza's Saga? Do we really want to relive the original Mirrodin? The point of moving onto a new set is to get past the short comings of the prior times, and sometimes that does require new blood.
What do I think is really hurting the game? The company cutting costs on foiling, card quality, and spending less time on each set than what they used to do before creating a ton of supplementary products and flooding the market. That and reprinting cards to keep prices down on cards that are legal in their most heavily played and pushed formats.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
What does Wizards of the Coast need to do to improve magic the gathering?
Exactly what they are doing: Bring Richard Garfield back from retirement and ask for his help to mend all this mess.
That's just it though, Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro can't keep continuing to rely on Richard Garfield to help bail them out anytime MTG goes through a crisis that threatens to officially discontinue the game in it's entirety. If anything it shows just how incompetent the rest of the company's staff and employees are compared to the one's who got them there in the first place. People who are genuinely passionate about MTG like MaRo and Richard Garfield are only a minority at Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro compared to the majority of the company whose only in it for the money like Chris Cocks.
There's a simple lesson one learns from backing one too many failed big name kickstarter gaming projects: the people who start the game are often the ones who end up sinking it. It's not like they are bad developers, just that the vision they are trying to deliver often isn't possible anymore given forces they are not in control of, or the times people are nostalgic for are not exactly what they seem. Do we want a return to Mercadian Masques? A return to Urza's Saga? Do we really want to relive the original Mirrodin? The point of moving onto a new set is to get past the short comings of the prior times, and sometimes that does require new blood.
This. Anyone who says the current people at Wizards do not have passion for the game does not know what they are talking about. I also suggest reading Generation Decks by Titus Chalk. It does a wonderful job of sketching the early struggles and lessons the company had to go through to sustain their early successes. It's also an informative and entertaining read for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about the company history behind it.
Riku of Two Reflections - Copy, then copy again | Shattergang Brothers - Token Sac&Recur | Gahiji, Honored One - Multiple attack steps | Karametra, God of Harvests - Landfall, Creaturefall, Shroud | Ruhan of the Fomori - Stop hitting yourself | Zurgo Helmsmasher - Equipment&Wraths | Crosis, the Purger - Dragon Tribal Reanimator | Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - No stax, just tap and untap fun | Anafenza, the Foremost - Enduring Ideal Enchantress | Sharuum, the Hegemon - Sphinx Tribal Control | Noyan Dar - Spellslinger | The Mimeoplasm - Counterpalooza
Lists can be found here.
Still convinced the guy on Beseech the Queen is wearing a Mitra-type hat. Wake up sheeple!
For me the most important thing they could do to improve MTG is to support Legacy. This means addressing the RL, as well as changing Standard so new players are no longer coddled and protected from "unfun" interactions.
Also, make Pauper (Legacy-Lite) a sanctioned and supported format too.
They need to make sure they stop feeding into the creature power creep that's been going on, and returning some power to spells.
I wonder if the power creep existing was because of all the spoiled elitists preaching the whole "bad because dies to removal"? Just a random thought really?
Finally, something I think the players need to do to improve the game: stop thinking of boosters in terms of value. Stop buying just for money. That's the reason we can't get high priced reprints in precons. That's the reason Master's sets have become about the top three chase cards.
YES! Remember the ***** storm that happened when Khans had the reprinted Onslaught fetches? Player base greed, which possibly could also be contributing to WotC being hesitant on certain reprintings, leading to even more artificial inflation. Because you know, profits above all?
People act in their own self-interest. You can't force people to lose money because it helps someone else. I really want to avoid hyperbole, but that's still a selfish train of thought. It's just "how dare those people worry about their own wallets, they should actively sacrifice their own cash for the sake of others."
And yes, WOTC has to be focused on profits above all. There are plenty of free to play games that you can enjoy with a single penny.
The company cutting costs on foiling, card quality, and spending less time on each set than what they used to do before creating a ton of supplementary products and flooding the market.
I agree with almost everything you wrote, but, having supplementary products is also a way of expanding consumer base and getting extra sales and extra revenues, wotc wouldn’t earn if they focused in their many product line only.
Besides, there’s also all the other TCG competition they have to deal with, and if they don’t put a new product out at least once every month, the game can be perceived as stagnant and one dimensional, or the player base may feel tempted to try the competition in between product releases, and who knows if they will come back…
And yes, WOTC has to be focused on profits above all.
Long term profits, yes.
And short-term. They are beholden to shareholders. Sure, you could say "well we are sacrificing short term profit for long term gains," but if the short term is bad enough for long enough people lose their patience (especially in an absence of proof that those proposed sacrifices are actually contributing to long-term goals.
The company cutting costs on foiling, card quality, and spending less time on each set than what they used to do before creating a ton of supplementary products and flooding the market.
I agree with almost everything you wrote, but, having supplementary products is also a way of expanding consumer base and getting extra sales and extra revenues, wotc wouldn’t earn if they focused in their many product line only.
Besides, there’s also all the other TCG competition they have to deal with, and if they don’t put a new product out at least once every month, the game can be perceived as stagnant and one dimensional, or the player base may feel tempted to try the competition in between product releases, and who knows if they will come back…
That's not really true. What they need are products that just blow everyone else so far out of the water that you just go, "oh crap, that's coming this month."
Let the other companies flood the market with products. WoTC is the goliath that should just walk in every other month and clean house.
If they cut back, they can put higher dollar cards into supplementary products and people will have greater satisfaction opening those products. They have been flooding the market so much the only cards that survive the reprint deluge are modern and standard cards.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Continue doing what they've been doing the last five years. Magic has continued to improve and I'm happy with recent decisions. I've had more fun with a lot of the recent sets than I did with older sets, and I've been playing more as a result.
Continue doing what they've been doing the last five years. Magic has continued to improve and I'm happy with recent decisions. I've had more fun with a lot of the recent sets than I did with older sets, and I've been playing more as a result.
In before everyone starts attacking you. I actually agree. I feel the quality, originality and balance has overall been steadily improving. At least for all the cards that are relevant to me.
Riku of Two Reflections - Copy, then copy again | Shattergang Brothers - Token Sac&Recur | Gahiji, Honored One - Multiple attack steps | Karametra, God of Harvests - Landfall, Creaturefall, Shroud | Ruhan of the Fomori - Stop hitting yourself | Zurgo Helmsmasher - Equipment&Wraths | Crosis, the Purger - Dragon Tribal Reanimator | Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - No stax, just tap and untap fun | Anafenza, the Foremost - Enduring Ideal Enchantress | Sharuum, the Hegemon - Sphinx Tribal Control | Noyan Dar - Spellslinger | The Mimeoplasm - Counterpalooza
Lists can be found here.
Still convinced the guy on Beseech the Queen is wearing a Mitra-type hat. Wake up sheeple!
I would like if they print a specific artwork for a card in just 1 set and never reprint the card with the same artwork again.
This way cards would have a value from a specific set, for having that artwork and it would increase variety to choose from.
I really really hate it when they print the same card in different sets with the same artwork , if you already have it, theres zero reason to get it again and this change would greatly change that (and give the cards more value overall for collector purposes).
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Also i would like to have more foil variations in boosters, again to just make some specific cards overall worth much more.
Doesnt need to be masterpieces that arent in the set, but every card in a special foil form would go a long way, so even a common in that special version might be as expensive as a mythic rare (as they would all have the same rarity, which is ultra rare anyway).
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For normal players all of these things shouldnt matter at all, but for long time players you really "really" dont want reprints of the same cards over and over again, you already have these cards and the problem just becomes more annoying with Commander decks and all the extras (at least they include new cards in these, which is the only reason i buy them).
Unstable did the thing to give cards multiple artworks in the same set, and i think thats a HUGE plus (i love the zombie in the snow with a christmas hat for example, its fantastic).
They could also include special versions of cards in specific languages, like the "anime" style Planeswalkers in Japanese. That again is a huge plus to add customization options to the players, they can pick a version they like, and they arent bound to the one artwork that exists, and it would even promote some boosters and languages for collectors to buy them up for these special cards (for the normal player, again, all of this doesnt really do anything, other than the option to trade cards for the artwork you like the most, embrace that Magic is trading card game).
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Another artwork related thing i really really like is when cards actually connect to a bigger picture.
Kamigawa lands did that and some other basic lands do it too.
The Constraptions in Unstable are also 1 big picture if you stick them all together , which is great for a collector to place all of them in a big frame , you can even put a "set" of them on the wall as a big picture.
If there is a chance to do that , i would highly appreciate it that they do that more often (they do it, but so rarely that players dont even notice it at all).
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So most of my points are about the artwork and to give more options and variety for customization for long term players.
Stop the reprint madness if you dont at the very least provide the cards new artwork, which should be absolutely mandatory.
The entire reason they keep doing so many of the reprints with the same artwork is due to cost. Whenever they print a secondary product to fill some opening in the releases they basically throw a bunch of cards in to fill it out after they choose the few chase cards they want to throw in. I think the issue is more the unlimited standard run than the secondary products, though. If they want to keep making a lot of secondary products they have to cut something to make sure they don't over print a lot of the lower rarity cards.
Totally with you on the artwork, though. Also, did you know there are eleven different printings of Vampire Nighthawk, and yet there's only two versions of the artwork and only one of those printings has the alternative art?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The entire reason they keep doing so many of the reprints with the same artwork is due to cost. Whenever they print a secondary product to fill some opening in the releases they basically throw a bunch of cards in to fill it out after they choose the few chase cards they want to throw in. I think the issue is more the unlimited standard run than the secondary products, though. If they want to keep making a lot of secondary products they have to cut something to make sure they don't over print a lot of the lower rarity cards.
Totally with you on the artwork, though. Also, did you know there are eleven different printings of Vampire Nighthawk, and yet there's only two versions of the artwork and only one of those printings has the alternative art?
I noticed that last week with Shivan Dragon when I was comparing the Giancola art with Benson art and realized there are something like 18 or so printings of the card and the FTV: Dragon art is the only printing with the only other art besides the two I mentioned.
I'm not sure how I feel about multiple art for the same card. I do recall the stink about Fallen Empires art. That was a PITA back then. And I don't really want to see different art for the foil version in the same set. I also don't appreciate WotC dicking around with the card count with Unstable trying to be cute.
However, by the same token we're well past the Fallen Empires argument and I see no good reason that WotC can't change the art for most reprinted cards every so often. I'm not on board with every set utilizing a reprint with different art, but I'm reasonably certain that WotC can afford new art more often.
I actually have a bigger beef with the complete lack of stylistic variety. The rigorous guidelines on style is proving a little... boring. Compare Amy Weber's art To Mark Poole's in Alpha/Beta for instance. Now try to do the same between most of the artists in any recent set.
That's not really true. What they need are products that just blow everyone else so far out of the water that you just go, "oh crap, that's coming this month."
Let the other companies flood the market with products. WoTC is the goliath that should just walk in every other month and clean house.
If they cut back, they can put higher dollar cards into supplementary products and people will have greater satisfaction opening those products. They have been flooding the market so much the only cards that survive the reprint deluge are modern and standard cards.
Nowadays people have short attention spans, and they get fed up with things very quickly, no matter how good they are. It’s all about what’s new and what’s coming next.
On top of that, Magic lacks visibility. In gaming stores and big stores around here where I live, it has gotten to the point where you don’t even notice Magic products unless you’re specifically looking for them. It’s all filled with pokemons, yu-gi-oh!s and other stuff, and Magic gets a small corner in one shelve in the back of the shop. One of those shops doesn’t even sell Magic cards anymore.
I fear that cutting on supplementary products would further reduce Magic’s visibility on the shelves.
That's more so because of the packaging and marketing strategies of the other TCGs. Pokemon intentionally makes their packages larger to take up more space, which is why even their smaller collector tins are still rather gaudy. Magic had something like this back when they did the premium deck series.
When I'm saying less supplementary products, I'm more so saying less low impact ones and more that have impact and solve problems for players. If a set is doing poorly like HOU in standard and only one or two cards really shine, that's the time to release collector tins and such that have the card in them. That or a card just gets too high in cost in general.
The trouble is that Magic the Gathering secondary products right now are basically lacking a reason to exist from a practical stand point. The planeswalker decks don't really help make standard cheaper and are mostly of value to EDH players, the original duel decks were good reprint avenues, but that got shelved for just being used for random low cost cards and maybe collectors of the alternate art foils. Right now it feels like that if a product is going to stand on its own, the keynote centerpiece card has to at least be worth the MSRP of the box as stacking a bunch of B to C team cards and hoping players pick them up is basically dooming it to the bargain bins.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I would like if they print a specific artwork for a card in just 1 set and never reprint the card with the same artwork again.
This way cards would have a value from a specific set, for having that artwork and it would increase variety to choose from.
I really really hate it when they print the same card in different sets with the same artwork , if you already have it, theres zero reason to get it again and this change would greatly change that (and give the cards more value overall for collector purposes).
But they already do multiple artworks for several cards and most of the time an artist will send in several sketches anyway.
Reprinting a card with the very same artwork is indeed only done because it saves them money, but its also damaging for the game , as artwork in terms of collections loses a lot of value, if theres nothing prevent them from reprinting them.
If artwork would be unique per print of a card for each set, specific versions of cards would have a much higher value, while others are cheaper ; so people that just want the cards get it easy and others want specific artwork.
Thats already the case, as we have different artwork for a bunch of cards, but they could do MUCH better in that regard.
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Magic needs products to sink money into without hurting players that just want the cards.
And artwork might be the key to get that, while adding a lot of customization and diversity to it.
For example, cards could have a male / female artwork version, so nobody will ever critique again theres too much or not enough male/female artworks (it just gets strange for languages like German that include male/female in the name).
For a set like Innistrad lands could have a "day" and a "night" artwork , and full art lands are a HUGE success anyway, they can do much much more with artwork alone to push the collectable aspect of the game without printing any more cards or otherwise tweaking rarity.
And if they give new artworks for all reprints, people wouldnt even mind if an expensive card gets a reprint, as it has a new artwork then anyway, so the old card might not just lose value as its practically the same card (so reprints would be much less annoying to have around).
But they already do multiple artworks for several cards and most of the time an artist will send in several sketches anyway.
Reprinting a card with the very same artwork is indeed only done because it saves them money, but its also damaging for the game , as artwork in terms of collections loses a lot of value, if theres nothing prevent them from reprinting them.
If artwork would be unique per print of a card for each set, specific versions of cards would have a much higher value, while others are cheaper ; so people that just want the cards get it easy and others want specific artwork.
Thats already the case, as we have different artwork for a bunch of cards, but they could do MUCH better in that regard.
----
Magic needs products to sink money into without hurting players that just want the cards.
And artwork might be the key to get that, while adding a lot of customization and diversity to it.
For example, cards could have a male / female artwork version, so nobody will ever critique again theres too much or not enough male/female artworks (it just gets strange for languages like German that include male/female in the name).
For a set like Innistrad lands could have a "day" and a "night" artwork , and full art lands are a HUGE success anyway, they can do much much more with artwork alone to push the collectable aspect of the game without printing any more cards or otherwise tweaking rarity.
And if they give new artworks for all reprints, people wouldnt even mind if an expensive card gets a reprint, as it has a new artwork then anyway, so the old card might not just lose value as its practically the same card (so reprints would be much less annoying to have around).
I think you are massively underestimating the cost of new artwork. The burden of commissioning new art for every single card would blow the budgets for niche products like Duel Decks and Commander out of the water. Look at Commander. There are 4 decks of 100 cards each. Some cards are shared, so lets say there are 350 individual cards you need to commission new art for. That's more than is in a new set. The amount of money WotC earns from a Commander deck is massively less than the money earned from a new set.
Your idea has merit. It is one of the reason why reprint sets used to have white borders.
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Exactly.
Spyglass has been good in Legacy and has been an all star for Vintage Shops decks. The tacked on effect is key to the cards power.
Modern: Storm
Legacy: ANT
Exactly what they are doing: Bring Richard Garfield back from retirement and ask for his help to mend all this mess.
3BB
Sorcery
You lose the game.
Goyf and FOW are not mythic for any reason at draft level, and it is only their widespread use and relative scarcity (of which price is a function) that got them purple status. Clearly if FOW was a 5 dollar common from m10 it would not be Mythic, but it is story and power level that impacted LOTV not being reprinted in standard, and a good many other things besides. Now for my money story can go and reproduce with itself in anyway it sees fit , and any player who tells me "I can't have another Elspeth/Urza's underpants/whatever because X happened in this book/story" can go with them and enjoy some roleplaying or a good novel, because I don't want to be playing Mtg and discussing story after with them- ever. Mtg Lore should be a servant, not a master. Similarly for me if LOTV is too powerful for Standard you need to make standard more powerful in terms of answers. Nonetheless, even though I do not agree with their reticence to reprint in Std, I fully believe that their reasons for not putting in older cards are more to do with these factors than simply price, because there are loads of really obvious and relatively cheap cards they avoid reprinting in Standard for power reasons, such as Path, Bolt, Counterspell. They have always tried to give players novel designs on established ideas or characters (*shudders* at the mention of characters)and that means Emrakul gets a Mk II makeover and not Emmy I, LOTV gets replaced by new Lilly etc. The whole idea of wishing to emphasise plot tends towards novelty in individual cards- even when a mechanic returns like Madness very few original cards came with it. Strangely this doesn't apply to Sailor of Means, but that is Wizards all over, and the fact that so many people commented on it shows how rare it is to reprint an existing card, even a common one. I will wager something odd went on in that process too.
And there you go, my point proven. :]
Spirits
They reprinted Sailor of Means for draft reasons along with a few other cards at the common level. I believe it was talked about on one of their pod casts at one point or possibly during an LRR interview.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
There's a simple lesson one learns from backing one too many failed big name kickstarter gaming projects: the people who start the game are often the ones who end up sinking it. It's not like they are bad developers, just that the vision they are trying to deliver often isn't possible anymore given forces they are not in control of, or the times people are nostalgic for are not exactly what they seem. Do we want a return to Mercadian Masques? A return to Urza's Saga? Do we really want to relive the original Mirrodin? The point of moving onto a new set is to get past the short comings of the prior times, and sometimes that does require new blood.
What do I think is really hurting the game? The company cutting costs on foiling, card quality, and spending less time on each set than what they used to do before creating a ton of supplementary products and flooding the market. That and reprinting cards to keep prices down on cards that are legal in their most heavily played and pushed formats.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Tamanoa - Welcome to the Jungle
Lists can be found here.
Also, make Pauper (Legacy-Lite) a sanctioned and supported format too.
https://fieldmarshalshandbook.wordpress.com/
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People act in their own self-interest. You can't force people to lose money because it helps someone else. I really want to avoid hyperbole, but that's still a selfish train of thought. It's just "how dare those people worry about their own wallets, they should actively sacrifice their own cash for the sake of others."
And yes, WOTC has to be focused on profits above all. There are plenty of free to play games that you can enjoy with a single penny.
I agree with almost everything you wrote, but, having supplementary products is also a way of expanding consumer base and getting extra sales and extra revenues, wotc wouldn’t earn if they focused in their many product line only.
Besides, there’s also all the other TCG competition they have to deal with, and if they don’t put a new product out at least once every month, the game can be perceived as stagnant and one dimensional, or the player base may feel tempted to try the competition in between product releases, and who knows if they will come back…
Long term profits, yes.
And short-term. They are beholden to shareholders. Sure, you could say "well we are sacrificing short term profit for long term gains," but if the short term is bad enough for long enough people lose their patience (especially in an absence of proof that those proposed sacrifices are actually contributing to long-term goals.
From a player perspective, let's just hope the short-term profits and vision don't hurt the game to the point of no return.
That's not really true. What they need are products that just blow everyone else so far out of the water that you just go, "oh crap, that's coming this month."
Let the other companies flood the market with products. WoTC is the goliath that should just walk in every other month and clean house.
If they cut back, they can put higher dollar cards into supplementary products and people will have greater satisfaction opening those products. They have been flooding the market so much the only cards that survive the reprint deluge are modern and standard cards.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Tamanoa - Welcome to the Jungle
Lists can be found here.
This way cards would have a value from a specific set, for having that artwork and it would increase variety to choose from.
I really really hate it when they print the same card in different sets with the same artwork , if you already have it, theres zero reason to get it again and this change would greatly change that (and give the cards more value overall for collector purposes).
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Also i would like to have more foil variations in boosters, again to just make some specific cards overall worth much more.
Doesnt need to be masterpieces that arent in the set, but every card in a special foil form would go a long way, so even a common in that special version might be as expensive as a mythic rare (as they would all have the same rarity, which is ultra rare anyway).
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For normal players all of these things shouldnt matter at all, but for long time players you really "really" dont want reprints of the same cards over and over again, you already have these cards and the problem just becomes more annoying with Commander decks and all the extras (at least they include new cards in these, which is the only reason i buy them).
Unstable did the thing to give cards multiple artworks in the same set, and i think thats a HUGE plus (i love the zombie in the snow with a christmas hat for example, its fantastic).
They could also include special versions of cards in specific languages, like the "anime" style Planeswalkers in Japanese. That again is a huge plus to add customization options to the players, they can pick a version they like, and they arent bound to the one artwork that exists, and it would even promote some boosters and languages for collectors to buy them up for these special cards (for the normal player, again, all of this doesnt really do anything, other than the option to trade cards for the artwork you like the most, embrace that Magic is trading card game).
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Another artwork related thing i really really like is when cards actually connect to a bigger picture.
Kamigawa lands did that and some other basic lands do it too.
The Constraptions in Unstable are also 1 big picture if you stick them all together , which is great for a collector to place all of them in a big frame , you can even put a "set" of them on the wall as a big picture.
If there is a chance to do that , i would highly appreciate it that they do that more often (they do it, but so rarely that players dont even notice it at all).
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So most of my points are about the artwork and to give more options and variety for customization for long term players.
Stop the reprint madness if you dont at the very least provide the cards new artwork, which should be absolutely mandatory.
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Totally with you on the artwork, though. Also, did you know there are eleven different printings of Vampire Nighthawk, and yet there's only two versions of the artwork and only one of those printings has the alternative art?
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I noticed that last week with Shivan Dragon when I was comparing the Giancola art with Benson art and realized there are something like 18 or so printings of the card and the FTV: Dragon art is the only printing with the only other art besides the two I mentioned.
I'm not sure how I feel about multiple art for the same card. I do recall the stink about Fallen Empires art. That was a PITA back then. And I don't really want to see different art for the foil version in the same set. I also don't appreciate WotC dicking around with the card count with Unstable trying to be cute.
However, by the same token we're well past the Fallen Empires argument and I see no good reason that WotC can't change the art for most reprinted cards every so often. I'm not on board with every set utilizing a reprint with different art, but I'm reasonably certain that WotC can afford new art more often.
I actually have a bigger beef with the complete lack of stylistic variety. The rigorous guidelines on style is proving a little... boring. Compare Amy Weber's art To Mark Poole's in Alpha/Beta for instance. Now try to do the same between most of the artists in any recent set.
Nowadays people have short attention spans, and they get fed up with things very quickly, no matter how good they are. It’s all about what’s new and what’s coming next.
On top of that, Magic lacks visibility. In gaming stores and big stores around here where I live, it has gotten to the point where you don’t even notice Magic products unless you’re specifically looking for them. It’s all filled with pokemons, yu-gi-oh!s and other stuff, and Magic gets a small corner in one shelve in the back of the shop. One of those shops doesn’t even sell Magic cards anymore.
I fear that cutting on supplementary products would further reduce Magic’s visibility on the shelves.
When I'm saying less supplementary products, I'm more so saying less low impact ones and more that have impact and solve problems for players. If a set is doing poorly like HOU in standard and only one or two cards really shine, that's the time to release collector tins and such that have the card in them. That or a card just gets too high in cost in general.
The trouble is that Magic the Gathering secondary products right now are basically lacking a reason to exist from a practical stand point. The planeswalker decks don't really help make standard cheaper and are mostly of value to EDH players, the original duel decks were good reprint avenues, but that got shelved for just being used for random low cost cards and maybe collectors of the alternate art foils. Right now it feels like that if a product is going to stand on its own, the keynote centerpiece card has to at least be worth the MSRP of the box as stacking a bunch of B to C team cards and hoping players pick them up is basically dooming it to the bargain bins.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Art is pricey, good art is downright expensive.
But they already do multiple artworks for several cards and most of the time an artist will send in several sketches anyway.
Reprinting a card with the very same artwork is indeed only done because it saves them money, but its also damaging for the game , as artwork in terms of collections loses a lot of value, if theres nothing prevent them from reprinting them.
If artwork would be unique per print of a card for each set, specific versions of cards would have a much higher value, while others are cheaper ; so people that just want the cards get it easy and others want specific artwork.
Thats already the case, as we have different artwork for a bunch of cards, but they could do MUCH better in that regard.
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Magic needs products to sink money into without hurting players that just want the cards.
And artwork might be the key to get that, while adding a lot of customization and diversity to it.
For example, cards could have a male / female artwork version, so nobody will ever critique again theres too much or not enough male/female artworks (it just gets strange for languages like German that include male/female in the name).
For a set like Innistrad lands could have a "day" and a "night" artwork , and full art lands are a HUGE success anyway, they can do much much more with artwork alone to push the collectable aspect of the game without printing any more cards or otherwise tweaking rarity.
And if they give new artworks for all reprints, people wouldnt even mind if an expensive card gets a reprint, as it has a new artwork then anyway, so the old card might not just lose value as its practically the same card (so reprints would be much less annoying to have around).
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I think you are massively underestimating the cost of new artwork. The burden of commissioning new art for every single card would blow the budgets for niche products like Duel Decks and Commander out of the water. Look at Commander. There are 4 decks of 100 cards each. Some cards are shared, so lets say there are 350 individual cards you need to commission new art for. That's more than is in a new set. The amount of money WotC earns from a Commander deck is massively less than the money earned from a new set.
Your idea has merit. It is one of the reason why reprint sets used to have white borders.