Lets face facts. So far the Master Edition sets have not been all that fun to draft or play in sealed deck tournaments. Why is that? Because WotC has actually improved set quality a lot since Legends, Portal, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, and Homelands. The fact that Master's Edition sets are boring is a testament to the improvements that WotC has made in this game. Unfortunately, it also means that we're used to the good stuff. We're used to draft environments where there is a lot of strategy, synergy, and actual tactics involved in the game. We're also used to expert level sets where the game state can become incredibly complicated and it takes some skill to pilot a deck successfully. Yes, there is a place for nostalgia, and I like playing with older cards for that reason, but I don't really want to spend that much time drafting Kobolds and Pearled Unicorns while trying desperately to open a Mox or a Black Lotus. Nostalgia wears thin very quickly. And Nostalgia and card resale value don't push a limited environment for very long. Just look at Tempest Block.
I'm not advocating reprinting all of the valuable low supply rares in order to hype demand. I realize that is a short-sighted plan that is bound to anger many players that spent a lot of tickets already to buy the older cards. What I am suggesting is that Master Edition include some reprints in order to take a set that is doomed to be a poor limited tournament environment and turn it into a fun challenging best-of limited magic experience. Drafts and Sealed deck experiences sell a set just as much as chase rares. I'd rather spread out the Master's Editions to 5-6 sets and include reprints that make drafting those sets fun rather than just print all the remaining cards that aren't released online just to get those cards out there. So, without further ado, here is .....
The Top 10 Reasons why the next Master's Edition sets should include reprints of cards that are currently available online.
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| #10 |
Nostalgia only works for the players who were around when the sets were originally released. I'd bet that most of the players on Magic Online were not playing Magic when it was possible to open a Sinkhole, an original dual land, or a Mox in a booster pack. For these players, the only interest in playing limited games in master's edition is to see what it was like at the beginning of Magic's History. This is sort of like buying a Model T car. It is cool in theory, but sucks in practice when compared to modern cars. |
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| #9 |
Most people won't open a money card every time they draft or play a sealed deck tournament. I remember playing in several Master Edition drafts without opening a money rare. In this case, my thoughts became, "well, I guess I'm stuck trying to grind out wins by using my deck filled with gray ogres and craw wurms to beat my opponent's deck filled with gray ogres and craw wurms.
The main reason for Master's Edition is to make older cards available so that the online Magic environment can more closely resemble to paper Magic environment. However the limited environment for these Master's Edition sets is very poor when compared with modern sets. The older sets simple don't have the quantity of complex cards and modern deck technology such as equipment, planeswalkers, and complex abilities on every card. Therefore any draft that doesn't result in pulling a money card is going to be a disappointment because people will realize that they could have spent that time drafting a more exciting set.
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| #8 |
If you're going to name a series of sets "Master's Edition", it should require a reasonable amount of skill to draft. So far drafting the older sets is not very complex. It's like drafting fourth edition. |
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| #7 |
Fill holes in the limited environment. Fellwar Stone and Three Visits are good cards, but they are not good cards for limited. What's wrong with adding some decent color fixing limited cards like Terramorphic Expanse, Gruul Turf, or even Pilgrim's Eye. |
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| #6 |
It could make it possible to appeal to a wider range of players. The only players who want to collect the cards from master's edition are classic players, and to a lesser extent 100 classic singleton and classic tribal players. This small group of players will probably only be interest in around 20 cards of a set of 300+ cards. The rest of the cards are basically going to be worthless unless there is a missing pauper card I'm forgetting about. So we have a small group of players who are interested in roughly 20 cards out of 300+ cards and we have the rest of the community who are only interested in reselling those 20+ cards to the players who are interested in those cards. These seems like a huge waste to me. Why not at least appeal to some pauper players and reprint a reasonable number of classic pauper staples like Crypt Rats, Exclude, and Wild Mongrel. Adding pauper staples to a Master Edition set would help players to get started in playing constructed tournaments and improve the limited environment surrounding Master's Edition sets. |
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| #5 |
Allows for audience/fan participation. Who wouldn't like a "You pick the next card to be in Master Edition 4" contest or poll. Those were very popular with the base set, why not do them for Master's Edition? Maybe even something like pick the white tribe to be included in Master's Edition 4. Will it be Kithkin, Kor, Kitsune? Hmm, I never realized before how many white creature types begin with the letter "k". |
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| #4 |
Post Magic Online set rare reprints can create a "wow" factor for limited play without upsetting collectors. Not all rares are going to be bombs and not all rares are going to be valuable. However, do we really need the rares to go from the absolute best like the Moxen to the absolute worst like Sorrow's Path and Wolf Pack? I think there is room to reprint a lot of cards that speculators and collectors don't care that much about while making limited players and new players really happy. Many fan favorite cards aren't the most expensive cards in the world. |
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| #3 |
The Time Spiral Effect. Most magic online players probably weren't around for alpha and beta, but many of them have been around long enough to remember the sets from a couple of years ago. Bringing back some signature cards from Mirrodin block and Onslaught Block can have some powerful nostalgia value.
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| #2 |
Possible for dream situations and wacky combos.in limited. There are very few combos that are powerful enough to make it into classic or legacy decks, however there are a lot of fun combos that I would love to see played out in limited games with prizes on the line. Who wouldn't want to search out a Changeling with Higure, the still Wind or fetch a mox with a Trinket Mage. There are plenty of untapped combinations of cards out there that would be very cool to explore with a customized limited "Hall of Fame" set environment. |
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| #1 |
Pirates vs. Ninja!!! WotC has done an April fool's joke on the subject matter, so you know they've thought about it. However it is unlikely to happen anywhere other than a Master Edition set. WotC could even sell preconstructed Pirate and Ninja theme decks. |
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Zendikar Block |
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Here is the metagame a week ago.
And, here is the metagame now.
As you can see the Vampire deck and the Blue White Control deck are still fighting it out for the top spot in Zendikar block. However Valakut and Allies are making some progress to make this at least a somewhat interesting metagame. Unfortunately, other decks such as Mono-green slipped a bit since last week. Only time will tell whether there are more than 4 viable decks in Zendikar block.
| Deckname |
Count of Deck |
Percentage |
| Vampires |
61 |
29.19% |
| White Blue Control |
61 |
29.19% |
| Valakut Combo |
30 |
14.35% |
| Allies White |
26 |
12.44% |
| Kor Weenies |
7 |
3.35% |
| Burn |
7 |
3.35% |
| Allies Blue White |
5 |
2.39% |
| Boros Burn |
5 |
2.39% |
| Nissa Eldrazi |
2 |
0.96% |
| 4 color Landfall |
1 |
0.48% |
| Bant Jace |
1 |
0.48% |
| Allies Red White |
1 |
0.48% |
| Allies Bant |
1 |
0.48% |
| Red Green Aggro |
1 |
0.48% |
| Grand Total |
209 |
100.00% |
Now, let's take a look at some of the top decks in the metagame as played by players with the most appearances in last week's decklists.
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Valakut Combo |
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DarkestMage |
korno |
vv1nc3ntt |
xtheWaterdog |
| Appearances |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
| MD |
60 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
| Spell |
31 |
32 |
33 |
32 |
| Khalni Heart Expedition |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Explore |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Expedition Map |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Harrow |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Burst Lightning |
3 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
| Comet Storm |
4 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| Searing Blaze |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| Punishing Fire |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
| Lavaball Trap |
1 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
| Land |
27 |
27 |
27 |
28 |
| Mountain |
11 |
12 |
10 |
13 |
| Forest |
5 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
| Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Raging Ravine |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| Arid Mesa |
2 |
|
3 |
1 |
| Misty Rainforest |
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2 |
2 |
1 |
| Verdant Catacombs |
3 |
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| Scalding Tarn |
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2 |
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1 |
| Creature |
2 |
1 |
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| Avenger of Zendikar |
1 |
1 |
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| Pilgrim's Eye |
1 |
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| SB |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
| Creature |
13 |
11 |
5 |
11 |
| Goblin Ruinblaster |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Scute Mob |
2 |
3 |
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4 |
| Oracle of Mul Daya |
3 |
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3 |
| Grazing Gladehart |
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4 |
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| Rampaging Baloths |
2 |
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| Hellkite Charger |
1 |
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1 |
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| Pilgrim's Eye |
1 |
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| Spell |
1 |
4 |
9 |
4 |
| Roiling Terrain |
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3 |
4 |
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| Chain Reaction |
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4 |
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| Seer's Sundial |
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1 |
| Lavaball Trap |
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1 |
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| Searing Blaze |
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1 |
| Nature's Claim |
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1 |
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| Stone Idol Trap |
1 |
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| Punishing Fire |
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1 |
| Relic Crush |
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1 |
| Land |
1 |
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1 |
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| Tectonic Edge |
1 |
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| Bojuka Bog |
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1 |
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| Grand Total |
75 |
75 |
75 |
75 |
The top Valakut decks have gone nearly creatureless. However most have the creature "Bait and Switch" sideboard plan to combat all of the Tectonic Break sideboard plans.
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Allies |
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Goldenvinze |
im506 |
sydli |
TwiceUponTwoTimes |
| Appearances |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
| MD |
60 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
| Creature |
28 |
24 |
24 |
26 |
| Kazandu Blademaster |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Hada Freeblade |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Talus Paladin |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Kabira Evangel |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Ondu Cleric |
3 |
4 |
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4 |
| Kor Skyfisher |
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4 |
4 |
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| Steppe Lynx |
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4 |
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| Halimar Excavator |
4 |
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| Jwari Shapeshifter |
4 |
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| Akoum Battlesinger |
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4 |
| Umara Raptor |
3 |
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| Highland Berserker |
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2 |
| Land |
23 |
24 |
24 |
24 |
| Plains |
7 |
10 |
10 |
12 |
| Arid Mesa |
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4 |
4 |
4 |
| Mountain |
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8 |
| Marsh Flats |
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4 |
4 |
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| Sejiri Steppe |
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2 |
4 |
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| Celestial Colonnade |
4 |
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| Dread Statuary |
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2 |
2 |
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| Island |
4 |
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| Halimar Depths |
3 |
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| Sejiri Refuge |
3 |
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| Tectonic Edge |
2 |
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| Emeria, the Sky Ruin |
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2 |
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| Spell |
9 |
12 |
12 |
10 |
| Join the Ranks |
4 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
| Journey to Nowhere |
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4 |
4 |
4 |
| Brave the Elements |
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4 |
4 |
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| Burst Lightning |
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4 |
| Vapor Snare |
3 |
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| Cancel |
2 |
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| SB |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
| Creature |
13 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
| Devout Lightcaster |
4 |
4 |
4 |
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| Kor Firewalker |
4 |
2 |
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| Kor Sanctifiers |
3 |
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3 |
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| Kazuul Warlord |
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3 |
| Tuktuk Scrapper |
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2 |
| Highland Berserker |
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2 |
| Kabira Evangel |
1 |
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| Ondu Cleric |
1 |
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| Spell |
1 |
6 |
4 |
8 |
| Luminarch Ascension |
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4 |
4 |
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| Refraction Trap |
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4 |
| Ricochet Trap |
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2 |
| Day of Judgment |
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2 |
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| Join the Ranks |
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2 |
| Cancel |
1 |
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| Land |
1 |
3 |
4 |
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| Tectonic Edge |
1 |
3 |
4 |
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| Grand Total |
75 |
75 |
75 |
75 |
All ally decks are at heart white weenie decks but some have chosen to splash other colors for more power or more versatility.
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Standard |
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Here is the standard metagame. As you can see Jund is still the top deck but Boss Naya is seriously challenging Jund's supremacy.
| Decknames |
Count of Deck |
Percentages |
| Jund |
171 |
29.95% |
| Boss Naya |
115 |
20.14% |
| Red Deck Wins |
43 |
7.53% |
| White Weenie |
39 |
6.83% |
| Blue White Control |
32 |
5.60% |
| Boros |
27 |
4.73% |
| Vampires |
25 |
4.38% |
| Bant |
25 |
4.38% |
| Allies |
15 |
2.63% |
| Valakut |
13 |
2.28% |
| Open the Vaults - Cycling |
10 |
1.75% |
| WG Aggro |
8 |
1.40% |
| BWG Aggro |
6 |
1.05% |
| RWU Control |
6 |
1.05% |
| Spread Em |
5 |
0.88% |
| Summoning Trap |
4 |
0.70% |
| Grixis Control |
4 |
0.70% |
| Esper Control |
3 |
0.53% |
| 4 Color Cascade Aggro |
3 |
0.53% |
| Mill Crab |
3 |
0.53% |
| RB Shadow Naseam |
2 |
0.35% |
| Pyromancer's Ascension UR |
2 |
0.35% |
| Nissa Eldrazi |
1 |
0.18% |
| Turbofog |
1 |
0.18% |
| Blightning Ascension |
1 |
0.18% |
| GU Land Destruction |
1 |
0.18% |
| Naya |
1 |
0.18% |
| Emeria Angel White Control |
1 |
0.18% |
| Goblins |
1 |
0.18% |
| Polymorph |
1 |
0.18% |
| Thopter Vaults |
1 |
0.18% |
| Allies |
1 |
0.18% |
| Grand Total |
571 |
100.00% |
Here are the top players for Standard. As you can see there are successful players with all different kinds of decks.
Here are the example decklists for all of you who like to look at rogue decks.
Now let's take a look at the top deck. It's been at the top of the charts for a while now, so it's had a lot of time to grow and evolve. Let's see what the top players are doing with Jund.
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Jund |
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| Row Labels |
_NovA_ |
Ryujinx |
sMann |
topdeck_rebirth |
| Appearances |
5 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
| MD |
60 |
60 |
60 |
60 |
| Creature |
16 |
19 |
14 |
13 |
| Sprouting Thrinax |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Bloodbraid Elf |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Siege-Gang Commander |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| Broodmate Dragon |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
| Putrid Leech |
3 |
4 |
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| Master of the Wild Hunt |
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2 |
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| Land |
27 |
26 |
26 |
25 |
| Savage Lands |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Verdant Catacombs |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Raging Ravine |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Mountain |
4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
| Forest |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| Swamp |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| Dragonskull Summit |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| Lavaclaw Reaches |
2 |
|
1 |
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| Rootbound Crag |
|
2 |
|
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| Spell |
17 |
15 |
20 |
22 |
| Lightning Bolt |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Blightning |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Maelstrom Pulse |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
| Bituminous Blast |
2 |
|
3 |
3 |
| Terminate |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Rampant Growth |
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
| Explore |
2 |
|
2 |
1 |
| Garruk Wildspeaker |
|
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1 |
2 |
| Grim Discovery |
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|
1 |
| SB |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
| Creature |
7 |
3 |
4 |
9 |
| Goblin Ruinblaster |
4 |
|
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3 |
| Malakir Bloodwitch |
|
3 |
|
2 |
| Master of the Wild Hunt |
3 |
|
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2 |
| Putrid Leech |
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4 |
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| Vithian Renegades |
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|
|
2 |
| Spell |
8 |
12 |
11 |
6 |
| Deathmark |
3 |
4 |
4 |
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| Mind Rot |
2 |
4 |
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| Duress |
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3 |
| Dragon's Claw |
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3 |
| Grim Discovery |
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3 |
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| Pyroclasm |
2 |
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| Pithing Needle |
|
2 |
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| Chain Reaction |
|
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2 |
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| Shadowfeed |
|
|
2 |
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| Jund Charm |
|
2 |
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| Maelstrom Pulse |
1 |
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| Grand Total |
75 |
75 |
75 |
75 |
While there are quite a few differences in these lists, worldwake hasn't done a lot for Jund other than give it a few really nice lands. Although now that I think about it, that's probably enough.
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I would do a breakdown of the Boss Naya decklists but most of them are pretty much identical. There isn't a lot of tweaks being made to that deck. Although there are a lot of similarities between the Boss Naya deck and the Red/White Boros deck that has a reasonable turnout as well.
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Anyway, Thanks for Reading, and let me know in the comments if there is any format or decklist you'd like me to cover in a future Snapshot.
Marcus, "Shuyin Knight of Zanarkand" on Magic Online
ArchGenius@aol.com
15 Comments
I disagree that MED drafts aren't skillful. Just because there aren't obvious synergies between cards in the pack doesn't mean that draft isn't skillful.
Top 2 reasons not to reprint cards we already have in MED4:
2. Why should anyone play Urza block drafts if we know the cards will just come out in the next MED?
1. We ALREADY have the cards! We want NEW cards!
MED, and MED2 were lame draft enviroments, but they put thought into MED3
I want to argue against the Masters Edition stuff. I really do. I don't think they should include post-Mirage cards, but the more I think about it, I can't come up with a good reason why not. There are over 1000 cards that still aren't online - enough for 3 more sets - and only about 20 of those cards are money rares. I like the nostalgia of Frankenstein's Monster or Crumble, but the money rares sell the sets. *IF* Masters Edition sets are the only way they are going to release these old cards, they'll have to reprint some of the chase cards to make the sets worthwhile. Probably these reprints should be classic/legacy/vintage cards to help the supply as new players come on board. But I don't know, a few more Null Rods wouldn't hurt. Anyway, I really think Masters Edition sets should only be pre-Mirage, I just can't put into words why. I'm sure DangerLinto will come along and give a really good reason as to why that I will agree with.
Personally, I think there should be one more ME set with all the chase rares we need, Power 9 at mythic, and selections from the leftover cards to make a balanced limited environment. Then they should promo out all the leftover cards at the lower tiers for the next like 40 years or however long it would take, ending with Aisling Leprechaun as your free St. Patrick's Day Promo on March 17, 2050.
Sure why not.
One thing I think maybe people too casually toss aside when thinking about MED design is that, while the cards are old, *they are new to MTGO*. The focus of MED is to bring those cards online which we don't have - much like a new set like Worldwake brings new cards - expect Master's Edition is for online eyes only.
Now imagine Worldwake had a bunch of Conflux cards in it. And some Ravnica. Hell throw in some Champions of Kamigawa cards. Not only would people would rage in the streets over such a decision, it would totally destroy any semblance of what WoTC was trying to accomplish with the set - including having a thematic template.
The same applies to MED sets. Not only are they setting out to accomplish putting all new cards out there, they are trying to have the set themed and viable in limited play. If the theme(s) are functional in nature, as MED4 surely will be (Hi, artifacts and Antiquities), dropping in random cards - even really good ones - will not mesh well with what the set seeks to accomplish. As a great example, *you* might want more Null Rods, but do you really think that's a great idea to put that card in a set that will, by design, consist of a lot of artifacts?
Now, I see the day when Master's Edition - should they continue beyond the 4th - will have to move away from that focus. The reason is simple - there simply isn't anything good left to release that would be new to sell the sets. Honestly, once we get Maze of Ith, Regrowth, Sinkhole (prob all moved to rare) and I guess something like Control Magic (maybe moved to rare) the Legacy cards are pretty much tapped out. At which point you are left with Mishra's Workshop and every remaining unprinted Vintage Restricted card, and restricted cards simply don't sell sets - especially to non-vintage players :) So really, they've got about one set left of cards to mash together before they are completely out of "Buy me! I've got XXX in me" cards to sell MEDs. That would be the perfect time to start turning MEDs into rehashes of old cards. I wouldn't want to be the person tasked with designing that set for limited play though.
The other 800 or so completely useless cards that exist unreleased online are such a minor point. Personally, once MED4 is done I would just slap them all into a FTV: The Rest set for online only and be done with it, as the vast majority of them are simply renamed Grizzly Bears and Hill Giants or cards with no value to anyone.
Edit: I should add that there is a way to cheat around the lack of good unreleased rares and get pretty much anything into an MED set, but I know WoTC reads these articles and comments and I don't want to give them any ideas - though they've probably thought of it anyway.
The one card I want to see put in MED4 is swamp mosquito in common. My pauper poison is begging for it.
I don't think your comparison between Worldwake and the Master's Edition sets is all that valid.
Modern sets like Worldwake are designed limited play in mind. They are also designed with a storyline and envrionment behind them, and designed remarkably well to work both in drafts and sealed decks as well as constructed play. To a certain extent this is also true with older sets like Urza's Saga and I wouldn't even dream of making any kind of change to them in any way.
Master's Edition is a different story, it is already going to be a compilation set without an overall theme. (Yes I know subset themes are present like Portal 3 legends and Thallids, but it is nothing like the themes in Zendikar or Alara block) It is going to be composed of sets that were never meant for limited or sealed deck tournaments and yet it will be pushed heavily in both types of tournaments. The cards are going to have very limited appeal to most players. Especially if there are 5-6 chase rares for legacy/classic, and little to nothing of value for any other format. And of course it will not be redeamable.
I can see how one more Master's Edition could be successful if they reprinted the power 9, but I think using the "never before released online" concept for master's edition is a waste of potential. It should be a major reason for Master's Edition, but I don't think it should be the only reason for Master's Edition. Especially after we've exhausted quite a few of the chase "never before released online" cards already.
Doesn't mean you get to ignore the concept of designing for limited play. While the themes aren't as strong as current offerings, they are most certainly there. They are very definitely designed with limited play in in mind from the beginning. Even MED1 was designed with Limited play in mind - though it was assumed that MED1 would be played alongside 10th edition.
(don't believe me? Check out the link - http://www.classicquarter.com/articles/020_080116.asp)
What's important here, and what you seem to be missing, is that MED sets need to stay tightly focused in order to be as good as possible in the areas that drive sales, and avoid making mistake in areas that reduce sales. The drivers are Nostalgia and eternal constructed staples, and the reductors are poor limited play and poor frequency of the drivers (meaning too much crap). MED1 had almost no constructed playables and wasn't playable in it's own limited environment, MED2 had too much crap (including, might I add, far too many reprints from the Coldsnap precons) and MED3 finally got it right and sold the holy hell out of the set.
Your call here is asking essentially for more reductors.
I remember playing with MED 1 and 10th edition in a league, however it was far enough back that I'm not sure whether it was a league or sealed deck tourney. I remember thinking it was a bit worse straight 10th edition and overall I wasn't very impressed.
What I acknowledge is opening up the list of possible reprints to more sets, for example everything that is currently out of print, is a dangerous proposition and needs to be done carefully. Reprint too many cards and the set loses focus. Reprint too many valuable cards and you upset collectors as those cards fall in value. However, if done correctly, by sprinkling a few well chosen reprint cards into the set, mostly at common rarities, you can boost the drivers without much impact otherwise.
In my article I tried to accentuate the positive benefits of this kind of decision, but failed to adequately mention the dangers of taking it too far.
What I'm suggesting is adding cards that are better for limited play and adding a few chase cards for pauper and possibly extended. How is that considered a reductor of limited play or constructed playables?
They've already done this, and it's generally been accepted that adding non-preIPA cards for limited is a necessary part of making these sets - see Disenchant already appearing twice.
They already add lots of cards for pauper. If anything, pauper players have gotten more out of MEDs than Classic players did.
But adding cards for extended? Again - you are removing focus from the set I get what you are trying to do by adding audience to the set, but that merely removes audience from other areas. So you have to be very specific with your cards.
For example, if you said you wanted to add Birds of Paradise to the set, because you had a bird theme going with Soraya, the Falconer (and many other unreleased birds) and you were going to use the original art, I think that would be a great addition. A original art Wrath of God might appeal to a lot of people. But randomly throwing in, say, Doran the Siege Tower will not fit into the theme and limited play and/or cause people to think "that could have been [insert nostalgic rare I really wanted to see]".
Again, MEDs sets need the same kind of focus that regular sets do. More so, since they are really only selling to a particular crowd. If you want some extended reprints, there are plenty of chances to see them in Duel Decks, FTVs, or hell, even Standard sets (i.e. smother)
Later, When MED has run it's course on trying to get new cards into the system THEN you can focus on random reprints. For now, MED sets will have to appeal to the non-eternal crowd on it's own merits. And if it doesn't - oh well.
how bout this,
med 4 is coming soon, and regaurdless of what it has in it we can assume that it will have all of the missing legacy staples it could have. Maybe we get lucky and get us som p9 too.
Ok so goal 1 of med sets is now completed, we have every tourny style card online for vintage and legacy. hooray.
Now its a year later and the price of duals is rough due to legacys popularity.
enter med5 which has reprints of duals and a smattering of cards never released online before and a smattering of cards reprinted from both previous med sets and other sets.
Med5 becomes popular because it is a balance draft set due to the fact they had no stupid reprint policys tying their hands.
med6 comes out the next year and voila! we have yet another set that wotc can cram down our throats every year
how bout this,
med 4 is coming soon, and regaurdless of what it has in it we can assume that it will have all of the missing legacy staples it could have. Maybe we get lucky and get us som p9 too.
Ok so goal 1 of med sets is now completed, we have every tourny style card online for vintage and legacy. hooray.
Now its a year later and the price of duals is rough due to legacys popularity.
enter med5 which has reprints of duals and a smattering of cards never released online before and a smattering of cards reprinted from both previous med sets and other sets.
Med5 becomes popular because it is a balance draft set due to the fact they had no stupid reprint policys tying their hands.
med6 comes out the next year and voila! we have yet another set that wotc can cram down our throats every year
When I mentioned Extended, I was thinking about stuff like Path to Exile to fill a white removal spot instead of yet another Swords to Plowshares.
I don't think that random reprints like Doran would be good any more than you do.
in Principle, but to make my point, I think that if the toss up is between Path to Exile and Just Fate ( http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/details.aspx?name=Just%20Fate ) then Just Fate is the hands-down winner by virtue of it not being released yet.
That being said, if it wasn't for Just Fate, I highly agree that Path to Exile would be more acceptable than another StP in many ways. There are probably a number of spots where this is the case, but they are very minor. I even suggested putting Naturalize in MED4 because Disenchant was overused as the MEDs enchantment/artifact removal.
I don't think your article made your point very clear on the specifics though
That is fair critism.
The main point I wanted to make is that it's more important to get the draft and sealed environment right for Master's Edition 4,5, or 6 than strictly adhere to the policy of "we can't reprint it, it's already online."
I had secondary points that I wanted to make such as cards that could be included to generate interest in master's edition. However it was not entirely clear from the get-go what my primary end goal was. As much as I like the top ten format, it does have a tendancy to scatter intent.
Cards like Terramorphic Expanse, Naturalize, Terror, Path to Exile, and Prismatic Lens really are necessary for a limited environment to succeed, so why not use them to smooth things out limited.
Then there are other cards that help drive sales and increase interest in a set. These are probably best left to later sets after most of the relevant cards have been reprinted. However it is another selling point to including other reprints so I felt it was a valid point for the article.
I really didn't want to get into specifics because then the discussion largely boils down to what cards we'd like to see again. In my mind that kind of discussion is rather trivial. However I can see now that the devil is in the details with this kind of discussion.
I think the vast majority of what's needed to make MED sets fun enough for people to bother playing them is more commons from later sets. If they left the rares and uncommons totally, or mostly, consisting of "never before seen old cards" that'd be fine. I don't expect them to jam in enough modern commons to make it feel like drafting one of the sets from recent years, just keep it from being the kind of yawn-fest that MED drafting has been for most players so far.
I suppose maybe you guys are right and MED3 was a little less yawn-inducing than the first two? I was so burned out from them that I only tried MED3 maybe twice.
My experience to date has been that limited play in everything pre-Invasion they've released was pretty dull up until Tempest block, which surprised me by being fun even in sealed. My sealed pool for Mirage/Visions had all the good creatures at 4, where "good creature" was a 2/2 flying griffon for 4. My mana curve looked like a spike more than anything- only way to make it anything else would have been to swap out playables for amazing crap. I guess Tempest is where they learned how to make the game have a decent, non-yawn-inducing pace where tons of creature stalls weren't always the rule of the day.