Of course, black bordered Royal Assassins, Shivans, Clones, Might of Oaks, Elvish Piper, and Manabarbs are all 10-25 cents each. That makes Timmy happy.
Timmy can also get Underworld Dreams, Coat of Arms, and Traumatize two for a ticket, too.
Hey Timmy, how much would you pay for a Darksteel Colossus or Ball Lightning? 6 tickets? Maybe 7? How about 2! Oh boy!
Loxodon Warhammer is $1 with plenty in stock. Wrath is $5. MTGO 10E is cheaper than printing your own proxies.
I read the whole thing top to bottom. I prefer this format!
M10 has outsold 10E lifetime already? wooooooooooooooooooooow. But then again, I can see it. I mean, I can see the M10 in the marketplace. There are tons of M10 singles out there to buy and sell.
About casual decks becoming more powerful. The buying prices for Birds/Silence/Pithing Needle are around 1 ticket, +/- 1 ticket, and the dual lands are at ~3.5 depending on the dual. I've seen far more than usual casual buyers of M10 (including myself) trying to get the cards at those prices. As for Birds being 2 tix, don't forget that the exalted Noble is squeezing the Birds, too. So yeah, causal decks are now running BoP and Silence. But that's not all! For the first time ever a good set of good duals is affordable. It used to be true that the painlands were high because they were standard staples, and the shocklands were high because they were used universally. So the casual players had to play crappy duals like the uncommon CITP tapped lands from Invasion and Alara. But now the painlands have dropped to roflcopter levels and the Classic players are ditching their shocklands for real duals. River of Tears, Grove of the Burnwillows, and the other "future duals" are around one ticket, give or take. mtgotraders has Battlefield Forge at 80 cents! Black bordered!
Not too long ago anyone could pay 30 tix to crack some freshly printed IPA packs. I bet we'll see MED 1-2-3 drafts and 112233 sealed events. Worth may have promised not to reprint FoW, but that's the only "reserved list" we've ever had, and obviously he didn't promise us that we'd never see new MED1 packs. The MED sets are going to rotate around just like Mirage will someday.
I think we can easily have more MEDs, but only if they change the rules. I've checked the CQ list of "what's left" and I agree it's drying up. And the set-sellers that remain are mostly the ones that are destined to be restricted. (And restricted cards don't sell a set.) But if they start slipping in some promos or classic-but-not-new cards then they can go on indefinitely. For example, pretty soon Mirrodin will rotate out of Extended and it will become eternal-only. Therefore they can pull from it. So MED8 can have Scrubland (new card frame), Sword of Fire and Ice, Orim's Chant (new frame), and maybe one of the power nine. That's not how they built the first 3 MEDs, but if MED4-13 sell, then who cares? Although if I have to wait until MED13 to complete the power 9 I'll be in agony. It'll take years. They should release 2-3 per set.
Random speculation about From the Vault: Digital Power. It'll use the new card frames and the art commissioned for the Vintage trophies. (So they'll look exactly like the Vintage trophies.) Sol Ring has a judge promo. That's 10 cards. Maybe also Fastbond, Mana Vault, Regrowth, Wheel of Fortune, and Time Vault? That's 15 cards to complete the set. They could also call it From the Vault: 1993. As if they would. But maybe?
This is sad for Classic fans, but I agree with the author. I've seen the hordes of paper Legacy players with my own two eyes. They far outnumber the Classic community by more than an order of magnitude. I think Wizards would sacrifice Classic to make 20 times more Legacy players happy. That's business I guess. It's a good thing I like Legacy too.
Ah! ok I never had heard of the Bartle test. Thank you much for providing that. I assumed it was KOLcentric because its so widely discussed there to the point that people wear their suits on their sigs in the forums.
I am not really convinced that everyone fits on the scales of the test though your argument is persuasive. What troubles me is that it seems too generic still. Hence I added the colors. :p Well the extremist theory does explain some of the extra archetypes but now I am wondering if there is a purely magical solution to this. I mean the suits don't really cover philanthropy either which I didn't mention because it isn't very common in Magic. At least not in my experience and it almost falls under the "Dave" category (which would be high in diamonds and hearts?).
Also I have a dear friend who is mainly a drafter ("Pete") but he values his collection highly. He used to be concerned with get 4x every card in print and I was a massive trader at one point in helping him achieve that goal. I guess that would make him more of a Club/Diamond. He was on the PT a couple times but it wasn't really his thing as until lately hes had a full time professional job.
Thanks for your input. And the Seething Song. :D I look forward to seeing how other people expand on these ideas.
Wikipedia doesn't mention it, but in every mention I've seen of the 4 player psychographics they're always mapped to the suits. Killers = clubs, Achievers = diamonds, Socializers = hearts, Explorers = spades. You credited this to the KoL community but the idea isn't novel. (Also, I do know what KoL is!)
Everyone fits on this scale. Your drafter profile is probably someone who is 100% clubs, 0% diamonds, even to the point where they don't know/care that their collection has value. They just can't be bothered to trade, even for more free drafts. Your guru is probably someone high in spades, high in hearts, and zero in clubs. From observation it makes sense to call them unique psychographics (or personas) but they're not exceptions. What makes them appear different is that they are extreme. Most players have at least a little something in each of the four suits. And most people drift over time. But the extreme players have zero in one suit and/or 100% in another suit. And in my experience with other games, the extreme players are incapable of drifting or prolonging their enjoyment of the game. They just quit.
your analyzis sounds very close to the reality. We seem to have almost same interest in card types & profile. About the gold card, i think my favorite is probably Nicol Bolas, probably because i got it in my first Legend packs and because i always wanted to abuse of its crazy ability and because of its awesome art, even if the elder dragons remain almost unplayable. If the split card were allowed in the gold choice, i probably would have choosen Fire/Ice which is definitly a card i enjoy a lot. The definition of a handy card ? ask to fire/ice ;)
quote: "[digs for Cream, triggers Cream twice, allows you to draw something you just creamed into]"
I almost creamed my pants I laughed so hard...
and,
Who would want to draw something that they just creamed into?
I'm pretty sure we will not see a MED VI. It's doubtful there will even be an MED V. If you visit Classic Quarter and view the cards left available to print it is pretty clear that there are barely enough playable to fill another MED. If MED V was Mythic P9 plus crap it doesn't seem that it would sell that well and would lead to exorbitant prices on P9 since the value for the rest of the set would not be able to balance it out. I could possibly see it if they decided to do lots of reprints in MED V like all 10 duals or something like that. If P9 were regular rares it would work, but this just seems like it would devalue the P9 as you only need one and I don't think that bodes well for their mystique. My guess is that they are mythics in MED IV or they are in a special P9 boxed set.
The changing of the core set resulted in more packs being sold which has dropped the prices through the floor, this actually has me now spending less on my favorite (addiction) hobby.
I just love getting more for my money right now than ever before, now if only WOTC would institute a discount on bulk buys.
Despite M10 outselling 10th I believe 10th was quite popular not because of reprints but because it had black borders. Yes it is a ridiculous thing to care about the look of the cards played but I do and I think so do many players. The black bordered cards are more attractive and had people coming back for more.
Obviously WOTC being a capitalist venture owned by a huge game corp (Hasbro) has to look out for the bottom line. But I don't think that is best done by going straight for the money grab. No matter how many packs of m10 sell if it ends up crippling the game the company will fail. I don't think WOTC is in the money grab business. Now if they have a strategy for maximizing their profits while still intriguing and somewhat satisfying their customers (100% satisfaction can never be truly guaranteed as there are too many conflicting interests) that is all par for the course and is what in fact enables the game to continue in good health. A money making machine makes money for a reason. I agree that rebalancing the rarities and changing the core set have upset the apple cart for many players but I suggest this change has been a good thing even if you end up spending more on your favorite (addiction) hobby.
Glad to recommend your article as it really inspired me to write when I was stumped. Our conversation about it helped lots too. The combination of redgreenblue and gold surprised me. Aaron I can see. Your articles tend towards the teaching philosophy. Which is important imho. Yeah I don't know if adding more systems of player persona dilutes the effects of the initial systems. I mean those clearly have meaning to us. I think these just help fill in ??s in the puzzle like a jig saw. The Johnny Spike Timmy pieces are the corners and framework and sometimes the big picture pieces that are easily recognized. The rest are the harder to recognize and fit pieces.
Hmmm you know you match very closely with my picks for colors in spirit if not in detail
I am currently a fan of the following cards:
Blue Ancestral Visions
Red Wheel of Fate
Green Deranged Hermit (As long as that card has been in print it has had my heart)
White Armageddon
Black Thrashing Wumpas
Land Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale (what a funky land card!)
Artifact Sensei's Divining Top
I will note that all the cards you mentioned rate highly with me even if they weren't my exact top picks. And there is one more category:
Gold Horde of Notions.
Nothing is more fun imho than repeatedly recurring Mulldrifter or Shriekmaw or Reveillark or any number of other great elementals from your graveyard.
My analysis of your picks: You love massive card draw (ancestral and wheel) and cards that break the normal mechanics of the game (Time Vault) abd me you desire total board control Not with counterspells but by correctly set up strategies. Id say you are a firmly Golden Johnny Spike Heart (as I am), with tendencies in alot of other categories.
Aside from the explicit promise Worth made during MEDI's release that Force was Never getting reprinted, but this guarantee was not made for much anything else.
I'm not surprised M10 outsold 10E so fast. Core sets used to be all-reprints, which mean any experienced player had no value in buying and playing it. The unfortunate effect the M10 sales will have is that it's almost certain blue pin-stripped suit wearing guys at Wizards will put pressure to repeat that feat, which mean that future core sets will also be 50% new cards, full of functional reprints and the 1-year churn will stay. No way Hasbro will spit on such nice, easy money. I just hope that they won't ruin the magic soup by making everyone tired of having to rebuy core cards every year.
To me, mythics, new core set strategy and the never-ending stream of rare must-have lands all point in a single direction: the perfection of the magic money machine.
Friday is already one of my favorite days of the week, but you writing this article makes it even better. I think this format is great (contrasting my critical review last week). It is a blend of the traditional and the new, encompassing what you were hoping to get out of last week without making it difficult for those of us who read from beginning to end.
Allied Fetches are not in Zendikar; pretty easily verified with the Orb of Insight thing. I've seen some speculation that they might be in the next set, but it's all been completely unfounded.
one minor thing, when i have the price table "show spoilers" open, and then click into a card, and then hit back to come back to the article, it brings me to the very bottom of the article with the price table collapsed again. i have to scroll back up to find where i was and open the price table again. not sure if theres anything that can be done, but figured i'd just give the feedback, its very minor. overall the new format is great, i luv it, very easy to read and follow and click into, great work thanks!!
and the content is excellent too, thanks!
They've stated the older sets are considered a 'resuable' resource. That means we can look forward to a re-release of Mirage block about three years down the line, immediately after Prophecy.
As for IPA cards being hard to find, they've made paper promos of the big ticket item already. Season 7 of MOCS is Foil Vindicate. I imagine a similarly profile event will eventually do the same for Deed and Chant.
This brings us to the MED cards, which are not re-releasable. The Master's Editions were specifically billed as limited collectible releases. There is however, nothing to stop them from reprinting cards from an earlier MED in a later MED. So if dual lands get really scarce, we might get MED 'Greatest Hits' with all ten duals again.
I love reading speculation articles like this! One reason is because it gives a lot of ideas for everyone (including WoTC) to think about. I don't know if the split makes the most sense after Exodus, though. It is hard to tell if the fracture in a small player base is sustainable. Plus, Urza's block provides a lot of the cards that distinguishes the power level difference in paper. Couple this to no online access to the P9, Workshop, etc., and I personally just don't see the need for separate formats. Depending on how aggressive Wizards decides to be with old sets, special releases, MED IV, etc., I could see a format split after Urza's Destiny and the release of the P9 (either as MED IV mythics or an online only release). To me, though, I think the key will be in how Force of Will will be re-released. Force showed up in 1/2 of the Vintage Top 8 at the Championship and 3/4 of the Legacy Top 8. It's been called the 'glue that holds Vintage together.' In paper, you see poor condition copies selling easily at ~$20 and it's an uncommon. Online, it's a rare and hovers in the $50 neighborhood. To me, this card, more than any other will determine the long-term sustainability of online eternal formats.
Someone could say that not printing Constructed fringe cards at ANY rarity would solve the problem.
This is true, but this solution is not viable in view of Limited and casual. Moreover, this is besides the point as the author specifically said he was against Sorrow's Path AS A RARE, and not Sorrow's Path itself. Hence, all my posts refer only to assigned rarities, not which cards are actual printed.
To re-iterate my main point, I think that people that want their Constructed staples to be easier to collect and have properly thought about this issue advocate MORE crap rares (and hence more staple commons\uncommons). For example, there are many people on the Wiz boards who frequently clamor for no rare dual lands.
I'd be very interested to hear what Pete thinks of this point of view.
Whenever I hear someone complain about Sorrow's Path (and similar cards) being rare, I feel that the analysis is somewhat short-sighted.
Suppose Wizards had a rare and an uncommon slot left, with two cards left to fit. One that will definitely be a Constructed staple, the other, something like Sorrow's path.
How would you prefer they assign the rarities?
Putting the staple at uncommon makes it EASIER for you (and anybody else) to collect all the staples they need and yet this is the choice that you are complaining about right now, because you end up with a "crap rare" instead of a "real rare".
Push this to the extreme. If all staples were uncommon at most and all the rares were fringe cards, it would be much easier to collect all the cards you need (would require less packs), yes, in a way this is exactly what you are arguing against! (Note that Wizards might not sell enough pack in this scenario to make it viable, but that's not the point here).
this is a good draft.
Of course, black bordered Royal Assassins, Shivans, Clones, Might of Oaks, Elvish Piper, and Manabarbs are all 10-25 cents each. That makes Timmy happy.
Timmy can also get Underworld Dreams, Coat of Arms, and Traumatize two for a ticket, too.
Hey Timmy, how much would you pay for a Darksteel Colossus or Ball Lightning? 6 tickets? Maybe 7? How about 2! Oh boy!
Loxodon Warhammer is $1 with plenty in stock. Wrath is $5. MTGO 10E is cheaper than printing your own proxies.
I read the whole thing top to bottom. I prefer this format!
M10 has outsold 10E lifetime already? wooooooooooooooooooooow. But then again, I can see it. I mean, I can see the M10 in the marketplace. There are tons of M10 singles out there to buy and sell.
About casual decks becoming more powerful. The buying prices for Birds/Silence/Pithing Needle are around 1 ticket, +/- 1 ticket, and the dual lands are at ~3.5 depending on the dual. I've seen far more than usual casual buyers of M10 (including myself) trying to get the cards at those prices. As for Birds being 2 tix, don't forget that the exalted Noble is squeezing the Birds, too. So yeah, causal decks are now running BoP and Silence. But that's not all! For the first time ever a good set of good duals is affordable. It used to be true that the painlands were high because they were standard staples, and the shocklands were high because they were used universally. So the casual players had to play crappy duals like the uncommon CITP tapped lands from Invasion and Alara. But now the painlands have dropped to roflcopter levels and the Classic players are ditching their shocklands for real duals. River of Tears, Grove of the Burnwillows, and the other "future duals" are around one ticket, give or take. mtgotraders has Battlefield Forge at 80 cents! Black bordered!
Not too long ago anyone could pay 30 tix to crack some freshly printed IPA packs. I bet we'll see MED 1-2-3 drafts and 112233 sealed events. Worth may have promised not to reprint FoW, but that's the only "reserved list" we've ever had, and obviously he didn't promise us that we'd never see new MED1 packs. The MED sets are going to rotate around just like Mirage will someday.
I think we can easily have more MEDs, but only if they change the rules. I've checked the CQ list of "what's left" and I agree it's drying up. And the set-sellers that remain are mostly the ones that are destined to be restricted. (And restricted cards don't sell a set.) But if they start slipping in some promos or classic-but-not-new cards then they can go on indefinitely. For example, pretty soon Mirrodin will rotate out of Extended and it will become eternal-only. Therefore they can pull from it. So MED8 can have Scrubland (new card frame), Sword of Fire and Ice, Orim's Chant (new frame), and maybe one of the power nine. That's not how they built the first 3 MEDs, but if MED4-13 sell, then who cares? Although if I have to wait until MED13 to complete the power 9 I'll be in agony. It'll take years. They should release 2-3 per set.
Random speculation about From the Vault: Digital Power. It'll use the new card frames and the art commissioned for the Vintage trophies. (So they'll look exactly like the Vintage trophies.) Sol Ring has a judge promo. That's 10 cards. Maybe also Fastbond, Mana Vault, Regrowth, Wheel of Fortune, and Time Vault? That's 15 cards to complete the set. They could also call it From the Vault: 1993. As if they would. But maybe?
This is sad for Classic fans, but I agree with the author. I've seen the hordes of paper Legacy players with my own two eyes. They far outnumber the Classic community by more than an order of magnitude. I think Wizards would sacrifice Classic to make 20 times more Legacy players happy. That's business I guess. It's a good thing I like Legacy too.
Ah! ok I never had heard of the Bartle test. Thank you much for providing that. I assumed it was KOLcentric because its so widely discussed there to the point that people wear their suits on their sigs in the forums.
I am not really convinced that everyone fits on the scales of the test though your argument is persuasive. What troubles me is that it seems too generic still. Hence I added the colors. :p Well the extremist theory does explain some of the extra archetypes but now I am wondering if there is a purely magical solution to this. I mean the suits don't really cover philanthropy either which I didn't mention because it isn't very common in Magic. At least not in my experience and it almost falls under the "Dave" category (which would be high in diamonds and hearts?).
Also I have a dear friend who is mainly a drafter ("Pete") but he values his collection highly. He used to be concerned with get 4x every card in print and I was a massive trader at one point in helping him achieve that goal. I guess that would make him more of a Club/Diamond. He was on the PT a couple times but it wasn't really his thing as until lately hes had a full time professional job.
Thanks for your input. And the Seething Song. :D I look forward to seeing how other people expand on these ideas.
The Bartle Test is commonly applied to gamers, particularly online ones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test
Wikipedia doesn't mention it, but in every mention I've seen of the 4 player psychographics they're always mapped to the suits. Killers = clubs, Achievers = diamonds, Socializers = hearts, Explorers = spades. You credited this to the KoL community but the idea isn't novel. (Also, I do know what KoL is!)
Everyone fits on this scale. Your drafter profile is probably someone who is 100% clubs, 0% diamonds, even to the point where they don't know/care that their collection has value. They just can't be bothered to trade, even for more free drafts. Your guru is probably someone high in spades, high in hearts, and zero in clubs. From observation it makes sense to call them unique psychographics (or personas) but they're not exceptions. What makes them appear different is that they are extreme. Most players have at least a little something in each of the four suits. And most people drift over time. But the extreme players have zero in one suit and/or 100% in another suit. And in my experience with other games, the extreme players are incapable of drifting or prolonging their enjoyment of the game. They just quit.
*casts (Seething Song) on your article's rating*
your analyzis sounds very close to the reality. We seem to have almost same interest in card types & profile. About the gold card, i think my favorite is probably Nicol Bolas, probably because i got it in my first Legend packs and because i always wanted to abuse of its crazy ability and because of its awesome art, even if the elder dragons remain almost unplayable. If the split card were allowed in the gold choice, i probably would have choosen Fire/Ice which is definitly a card i enjoy a lot. The definition of a handy card ? ask to fire/ice ;)
quote: "[digs for Cream, triggers Cream twice, allows you to draw something you just creamed into]"
I almost creamed my pants I laughed so hard...
and,
Who would want to draw something that they just creamed into?
I read from beginning to end and this layout is far superior.
I'm pretty sure we will not see a MED VI. It's doubtful there will even be an MED V. If you visit Classic Quarter and view the cards left available to print it is pretty clear that there are barely enough playable to fill another MED. If MED V was Mythic P9 plus crap it doesn't seem that it would sell that well and would lead to exorbitant prices on P9 since the value for the rest of the set would not be able to balance it out. I could possibly see it if they decided to do lots of reprints in MED V like all 10 duals or something like that. If P9 were regular rares it would work, but this just seems like it would devalue the P9 as you only need one and I don't think that bodes well for their mystique. My guess is that they are mythics in MED IV or they are in a special P9 boxed set.
how is this verified by the orb[just curious as you didnt state any evidence]
The changing of the core set resulted in more packs being sold which has dropped the prices through the floor, this actually has me now spending less on my favorite (addiction) hobby.
I just love getting more for my money right now than ever before, now if only WOTC would institute a discount on bulk buys.
RagMan
Despite M10 outselling 10th I believe 10th was quite popular not because of reprints but because it had black borders. Yes it is a ridiculous thing to care about the look of the cards played but I do and I think so do many players. The black bordered cards are more attractive and had people coming back for more.
Obviously WOTC being a capitalist venture owned by a huge game corp (Hasbro) has to look out for the bottom line. But I don't think that is best done by going straight for the money grab. No matter how many packs of m10 sell if it ends up crippling the game the company will fail. I don't think WOTC is in the money grab business. Now if they have a strategy for maximizing their profits while still intriguing and somewhat satisfying their customers (100% satisfaction can never be truly guaranteed as there are too many conflicting interests) that is all par for the course and is what in fact enables the game to continue in good health. A money making machine makes money for a reason. I agree that rebalancing the rarities and changing the core set have upset the apple cart for many players but I suggest this change has been a good thing even if you end up spending more on your favorite (addiction) hobby.
Glad to recommend your article as it really inspired me to write when I was stumped. Our conversation about it helped lots too. The combination of redgreenblue and gold surprised me. Aaron I can see. Your articles tend towards the teaching philosophy. Which is important imho. Yeah I don't know if adding more systems of player persona dilutes the effects of the initial systems. I mean those clearly have meaning to us. I think these just help fill in ??s in the puzzle like a jig saw. The Johnny Spike Timmy pieces are the corners and framework and sometimes the big picture pieces that are easily recognized. The rest are the harder to recognize and fit pieces.
Hmmm you know you match very closely with my picks for colors in spirit if not in detail
I am currently a fan of the following cards:
Blue Ancestral Visions
Red Wheel of Fate
Green Deranged Hermit (As long as that card has been in print it has had my heart)
White Armageddon
Black Thrashing Wumpas
Land Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale (what a funky land card!)
Artifact Sensei's Divining Top
I will note that all the cards you mentioned rate highly with me even if they weren't my exact top picks. And there is one more category:
Gold Horde of Notions.
Nothing is more fun imho than repeatedly recurring Mulldrifter or Shriekmaw or Reveillark or any number of other great elementals from your graveyard.
My analysis of your picks: You love massive card draw (ancestral and wheel) and cards that break the normal mechanics of the game (Time Vault) abd me you desire total board control Not with counterspells but by correctly set up strategies. Id say you are a firmly Golden Johnny Spike Heart (as I am), with tendencies in alot of other categories.
Aside from the explicit promise Worth made during MEDI's release that Force was Never getting reprinted, but this guarantee was not made for much anything else.
I'm not surprised M10 outsold 10E so fast. Core sets used to be all-reprints, which mean any experienced player had no value in buying and playing it. The unfortunate effect the M10 sales will have is that it's almost certain blue pin-stripped suit wearing guys at Wizards will put pressure to repeat that feat, which mean that future core sets will also be 50% new cards, full of functional reprints and the 1-year churn will stay. No way Hasbro will spit on such nice, easy money. I just hope that they won't ruin the magic soup by making everyone tired of having to rebuy core cards every year.
To me, mythics, new core set strategy and the never-ending stream of rare must-have lands all point in a single direction: the perfection of the magic money machine.
Erik,
Friday is already one of my favorite days of the week, but you writing this article makes it even better. I think this format is great (contrasting my critical review last week). It is a blend of the traditional and the new, encompassing what you were hoping to get out of last week without making it difficult for those of us who read from beginning to end.
Keep up the good work man.
*Spoilers???*
Allied Fetches are not in Zendikar; pretty easily verified with the Orb of Insight thing. I've seen some speculation that they might be in the next set, but it's all been completely unfounded.
one minor thing, when i have the price table "show spoilers" open, and then click into a card, and then hit back to come back to the article, it brings me to the very bottom of the article with the price table collapsed again. i have to scroll back up to find where i was and open the price table again. not sure if theres anything that can be done, but figured i'd just give the feedback, its very minor. overall the new format is great, i luv it, very easy to read and follow and click into, great work thanks!!
and the content is excellent too, thanks!
They've stated the older sets are considered a 'resuable' resource. That means we can look forward to a re-release of Mirage block about three years down the line, immediately after Prophecy.
As for IPA cards being hard to find, they've made paper promos of the big ticket item already. Season 7 of MOCS is Foil Vindicate. I imagine a similarly profile event will eventually do the same for Deed and Chant.
This brings us to the MED cards, which are not re-releasable. The Master's Editions were specifically billed as limited collectible releases. There is however, nothing to stop them from reprinting cards from an earlier MED in a later MED. So if dual lands get really scarce, we might get MED 'Greatest Hits' with all ten duals again.
I love reading speculation articles like this! One reason is because it gives a lot of ideas for everyone (including WoTC) to think about. I don't know if the split makes the most sense after Exodus, though. It is hard to tell if the fracture in a small player base is sustainable. Plus, Urza's block provides a lot of the cards that distinguishes the power level difference in paper. Couple this to no online access to the P9, Workshop, etc., and I personally just don't see the need for separate formats. Depending on how aggressive Wizards decides to be with old sets, special releases, MED IV, etc., I could see a format split after Urza's Destiny and the release of the P9 (either as MED IV mythics or an online only release). To me, though, I think the key will be in how Force of Will will be re-released. Force showed up in 1/2 of the Vintage Top 8 at the Championship and 3/4 of the Legacy Top 8. It's been called the 'glue that holds Vintage together.' In paper, you see poor condition copies selling easily at ~$20 and it's an uncommon. Online, it's a rare and hovers in the $50 neighborhood. To me, this card, more than any other will determine the long-term sustainability of online eternal formats.
-Fred Bear...
Someone could say that not printing Constructed fringe cards at ANY rarity would solve the problem.
This is true, but this solution is not viable in view of Limited and casual. Moreover, this is besides the point as the author specifically said he was against Sorrow's Path AS A RARE, and not Sorrow's Path itself. Hence, all my posts refer only to assigned rarities, not which cards are actual printed.
To re-iterate my main point, I think that people that want their Constructed staples to be easier to collect and have properly thought about this issue advocate MORE crap rares (and hence more staple commons\uncommons). For example, there are many people on the Wiz boards who frequently clamor for no rare dual lands.
I'd be very interested to hear what Pete thinks of this point of view.
Whenever I hear someone complain about Sorrow's Path (and similar cards) being rare, I feel that the analysis is somewhat short-sighted.
Suppose Wizards had a rare and an uncommon slot left, with two cards left to fit. One that will definitely be a Constructed staple, the other, something like Sorrow's path.
How would you prefer they assign the rarities?
Putting the staple at uncommon makes it EASIER for you (and anybody else) to collect all the staples they need and yet this is the choice that you are complaining about right now, because you end up with a "crap rare" instead of a "real rare".
Push this to the extreme. If all staples were uncommon at most and all the rares were fringe cards, it would be much easier to collect all the cards you need (would require less packs), yes, in a way this is exactly what you are arguing against! (Note that Wizards might not sell enough pack in this scenario to make it viable, but that's not the point here).
well i guess the other thing is I would probably play your version I just am trying to keep with cards that won't be rotating in a month