Catch the wind
September 24th 2008 02:06
The premise of constructed Magic, especially at competitive levels, is that four of every card is available to be put into a deck (power-related bannings and restrictions notwithstanding). This conflicts with the other part of Magic’s identity as a collectible product. If the term “collectible” is to have any meaning, some cards have to be harder to find than others. This was originally intended to have a beneficial impact on gameplay as well; Richard Garfield’s original design principles assumed that rare cards could be more powerful because few people would ever see them, never anticipating that people would buy entire boxes of boosters. Not coincidentally, Research and Development stopped “rare-balancing” at about the same time as they introduced the rule that all cards other than basic lands were limited to four copies per deck.
There are nearly as many reasons Magic cards become expensive as there are Magic cards. Some are the centerpiece of tournament winning decks. Some were only ever printed in very small numbers, and you have to basically pay to enter the club of one thousand human beings who own one. Some have never been seen within a hundred miles of a Pro Tour, but fit perfectly in very popular (or very annoying) kitchen-table decks. There are even one or two $6,000 misprints running around.
Even to this day, there’s a group of people out there who’ve never played in a tournament and may not even have a DCI number, but have a bigger range of cards than a lot of hardcore Standard junkies. The most interesting thing about this collector demographic, though, is that no-one seems to know what it wants. Here on the internet we have plenty of vague and nebulous (and contradictory) ideas about what they expect, but no-one really seems to be seriously representing them in the online community. For instance, you might be in a thread speculating about the Eleventh Edition, and someone will comment that in their opinion “Reprinting Karplusan Forest would be a safe option. It’s been proven to be at a reasonable power level for Standard, and it wouldn’t upset collectors.”
But maybe collectors would see its name on the list, snort in annoyance, and say, “That’s lame! I already have the Tenth Edition version, and it has the same art! There’s no point!” Then they’d ignore the Eleventh Edition, Wizards of the Coast’s profit margin would collapse, and we’d all have to take up the Pokemon trading card game. Alternatively, their goal might be to own one of every edition of Karplusan Forest that will ever exist, and thus be happy at the opportunity to get another one, even if the only difference is the expansion symbol. But we simply don’t know for sure, because pure collectors generally don’t come onto our discussion forums.
If any of you are out there, I would be genuinely interested to hear from you. Some of our online communities have gotten stuck in somewhat of a rut, a routine of reading tournament decklists and listening to podcasts from people who already agree with them. The benefits of shaking up constructed formats once in a while are well-understood, but we’ve been somewhat remiss about applying the same principle to ourselves.
Dangerous in multiples. Also in single copies.
There are nearly as many reasons Magic cards become expensive as there are Magic cards. Some are the centerpiece of tournament winning decks. Some were only ever printed in very small numbers, and you have to basically pay to enter the club of one thousand human beings who own one. Some have never been seen within a hundred miles of a Pro Tour, but fit perfectly in very popular (or very annoying) kitchen-table decks. There are even one or two $6,000 misprints running around.
I guess if you think of a hurricane as a fast-moving spiral of air and water, it could be a blue card. But green needs it more.
Even to this day, there’s a group of people out there who’ve never played in a tournament and may not even have a DCI number, but have a bigger range of cards than a lot of hardcore Standard junkies. The most interesting thing about this collector demographic, though, is that no-one seems to know what it wants. Here on the internet we have plenty of vague and nebulous (and contradictory) ideas about what they expect, but no-one really seems to be seriously representing them in the online community. For instance, you might be in a thread speculating about the Eleventh Edition, and someone will comment that in their opinion “Reprinting Karplusan Forest would be a safe option. It’s been proven to be at a reasonable power level for Standard, and it wouldn’t upset collectors.”
I’d be happy with getting it back, especially if they keep that art.
But maybe collectors would see its name on the list, snort in annoyance, and say, “That’s lame! I already have the Tenth Edition version, and it has the same art! There’s no point!” Then they’d ignore the Eleventh Edition, Wizards of the Coast’s profit margin would collapse, and we’d all have to take up the Pokemon trading card game. Alternatively, their goal might be to own one of every edition of Karplusan Forest that will ever exist, and thus be happy at the opportunity to get another one, even if the only difference is the expansion symbol. But we simply don’t know for sure, because pure collectors generally don’t come onto our discussion forums.
If any of you are out there, I would be genuinely interested to hear from you. Some of our online communities have gotten stuck in somewhat of a rut, a routine of reading tournament decklists and listening to podcasts from people who already agree with them. The benefits of shaking up constructed formats once in a while are well-understood, but we’ve been somewhat remiss about applying the same principle to ourselves.
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