Heya,
If you could suggest one or two cards to come off the Vintage B/R list, what would they be? Why?
Peace,
-Troy
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Feeling Lost At the Moment...
Heya,
By now you've read the new Reserve List policy. I'm not even going to bother to link it. It nullifies my earlier post, so don't bother to read it if you haven't. The Mana Drain and SCG Forums aren't a good place to say what I'm about to say, so I'll blow off steam here.
At the moment, I'm a bit lost as to what to do. For years, the campaign against the Reserve List had been growing. Signals from MaRo and ArFo encouraged the player base by acknowledging that RnD didn't like it either. Its dissolution seemed inevitable. Now, it's entrenched even stronger.
So what now? Is Vintage doomed? Will we ever get back to the 2006-2008 Golden Age? I don't know the answer to that. I'll probably advocate for more unrestrictions this spring, but right now I'm feeling deflated. It's hard to imagine more unrestrictions, more new printings, more innovative deck designs will really have any kind of impact on the Vintage player base.
Prices for Vintage and Legacy staples will only climb. Especially now. Check out this graph for Underground Sea:
(Credit: FindMagicCards.com)
It has quadrupled in price over the last five years. This coincides with Type 1.5's split from Type 1 when Legacy and Vintage were reborn. If the graph continues its trajectory, in 5 years, Underground Sea will cost $278.60. Need four for a deck? Shell out $1114.40. That's more than a Black Lotus is now, and likely will be more than a Black Lotus in five years. Don't believe me?
(Credit: FindMagicCards.com)
In the same five year period, Lotus has been stagnant. With demand poised to drop even more, there's little chance Lotus will increase in price. What does that mean? Well, theoretically, it means that in five years Legacy will be more expensive to play than Vintage is right now. Legacy players, you want your format to look like ours in five years? Stephen was worried about ten or twenty years down the road. It's not going to take nearly that long.
So again, what now? I don't know. I'm not going to loby for the repeal of the Reserve List. It's obvious that won't get anywhere right now. Maybe in ten years we can bring it up again. I have no desire to switch to MTGO. Most Legacy and Vintage players use MWS or Cockatrice right now anyway. What's the incentive to switch? Guys who have the cards already aren't going to really get excited about buying them all over again. Guys without them are going to want to compete against those who do in order to test their mettle. So where does that leave us?
I really don't know. I hear people say, "if the demand drops, the price will drop!" We're talking about mana bases here. Not some combo piece like Academy Rector or some uber-creature-of-the-moment like Morphling (which, do you realize how bad this guys sucks now after M10?). We're talking about the essentials, the icons of the GAME. Not just the format, but of Magic: The Gathering itself. The Power 9, the Duals, the Tabernacle, Shop, Bazaar, Library, they're all trophy cards- not just deck pieces.
Anyway, I'm not advocating anything at the moment. Just pointing stuff out. I really don't feel it's fruitful to talk about the Reserve List anymore. Not for another decade. I'm just feeling kind of lost at the moment with regards to Vintage and its future. At the moment, it doesn't look all that promising.
Peace,
-Troy
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Reserve List
Heya,
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Reserve List following the visit of Ben and Steve to WotC headquarters. I figured I’d add my thoughts here on this blog. Before going any further, though, I want to say that if any Wizards employee is reading this, Wizards of the Coast is free to use any ideas I present without crediting me or this blog. I lay absolutely no claim to these suggestions as uniquely my own, and in fact, I suspect the Magic team has already considered them.
Now that that’s out of the way… reprinting cards on the Reserve List is an inevitable step in Magic’s development. First and foremost, from a business standpoint, it makes absolutely no sense at all to limit your business from using its own intellectual property. In fact, it’s a downright stupid idea. The concepts, design, appearance, mechanics, and every other aspect of those cards belong to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro. They don’t belong to me, you, or anyone else who’s been, “a loyal fan since ’93.”
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been playing Magic. You don’t have any right to demand that Wizards use its intellectual property one way or the other. Voicing your opinion, writing letters explaining your point of view, civilly participating in online forums is great and important to do. But this whole thing about filing lawsuits over implied warranties, filing complaints with the SEC or Justice Department, or seeking damages in civil court for the loss of resale value of one’s property is just nonsensical. WotC can change its corporate policies any time it pleases for any reason that makes sense to them. They’re entitled to run their business any way they see fit.
“But what about my kid’s college fund/retirement account/life savings I’ve invested in a full set of Beta Power and Dual Lands???” I’ve this seen all over the boards at the ManaDrain, SCG, and MTGSalvation. The irrationality of that aside, the real question these people are asking is, “I had to sacrifice to get these really rare cards, shouldn’t other people have to sacrifice too?” The answer is, of course, “no.” Just because I had to make certain sacrifices to acquire my cards doesn’t mean others should too. That’s silly, elitist, and honestly quite calloused. It’s no way to treat your fellow Magic players.
Magic is a success story in the adventure gaming industry- an industry littered with the corpses of dead companies and games everywhere. It’s a brutal industry to survive in. We should be grateful any time new people want to join in or try new formats. We should lower the bar as much as possible to keep people invested in the game’s success. The last three years have seen explosive growth in Magic tournament attendance and card sales. As a result prices are higher, cards are scarcer, and the needs of the game are changing.
But let me assuage the fears of all my friends who own four sets of Beta Power or whatever. I firmly believe that eventually, the Power 9 will be reprinted in a tournament legal format, BUT I don’t believe for a second they will be reprinted in any large quantity at all. In fact, I only see two possible, viable, and likely methods of reprinting: Judge Foils and Tournament Prizes. The first is the less likely, but possible. It would have to be for high level events for high level judges and would shatter the value of any judge foil printed to date. I’m not sure how comfortable WotC would be with that, but it is a viable and fair solution. It would be a terrific reward and eventually, get multiple sets of new Power into circulation.
The second way, I feel is much more likely. The best place to hand out Power 9 reprints would be at the Vintage Champs at GenCon and/or the annual World Championships. Personally, I’d like to see it at both, but if it had to be one, I’d love to see them given out at Vintage Champs. Imagine if the top 16 at GenCon got this:
Vintage Prize Structure:
1. Black Lotus
2. Ancestral Recall
3. Mox Sapphire
4. Mox Jet
5. Mox Ruby
6. Mox Emerald
7. Mox Pearl
8. Time Walk
9. Timetwister
10. Library of Alexandria
11. Mishra’s Workshop
12. Bazaar of Baghdad
13. Time Vault
14. Mana Drain
15. Force of Will
16. Mana Crypt
This would reward those players with real prizes (instead of the utterly useless oversized card that hits eBay almost as fast as it’s handed out) and it would put a new set of Power (or two) into circulation each year. To cut down on counterfeiting, they could even have their own logo that would change each year like this:
For the heck of it, here’s what a similar prize structure for the Legacy top 16 could maybe look like:
Legacy Prize Structure
1. Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
2. Tarmogoyf
3. Underground Sea
4. Tropical Island
5. Volcanic Island
6. Tundra
7. Bayou
8. Taiga
9. Plateau
10. Badlands
11. Scrubland
12. Savannah
13. Force of Will
14. Lion’s Eye Diamond
15. Mox Diamond
16. Entomb
Here’s the mockup logo:
Keep in mind, these are just off the top of my head.
Now, I honestly believe that the dual lands will be reprinted in Duel Decks, Premium Decks, and maybe somehow in a From The Vault series. It makes good sense to put them in there. But there’s no doubt the tournament prizes would be highly sought after, valuable to Eternal players. This prize structure would not harm the value of the Alpha/Beta/Unlimited/Revised/Promo versions of all the cards listed above. However, they would allow the players who win them- especially the Vintage players- to sell or share their Power and thus allow new players into the formats. It would be a slow trickle (which is why I would support handing out two sets of the prize structure per year rather than just one). However, it would be better than nothing.
And I hope that Wizards would adopt this prize structure or something similar sooner rather than later. Each year, the staples for Vintage and Legacy will get older. Each year, they will become harder to acquire. Each year, they will become more expensive, and thus closing the door to more and more new participants in Magic’s two most venerable formats. The popularity of Legacy has been demonstrated with tournament attendance. Just look at all the GP events that have set attendance records. You’ll find Legacy has set several.
However, that will stop if something is not done soon. The dual lands are approaching $80 to $100 each just for Revised. Tarmogoyf is nearing $90 to $100 itself. And other staples in both formats from Lion’s Eye Diamond to Grindstone to Force of Will to Wasteland to Mana Drain are hitting between $30 and $60 dollars a pop. And FoW, Waste, and MD aren’t even on the Reserve List! In five to six years, all these prices could be doubled if no action is taken.
I implore the Magic team at Wizards to consider the suggestions I have made along with what Ben and Stephen have mentioned in their articles. We all love this game. We love our formats and we want Magic to succeed at every level. But if prices continue to rise for Vintage and Legacy staples, at some point, the tournament participation will level off and begin to decline. And unfortunately for Vintage, it already has.
Peace,
-Troy
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Reserve List following the visit of Ben and Steve to WotC headquarters. I figured I’d add my thoughts here on this blog. Before going any further, though, I want to say that if any Wizards employee is reading this, Wizards of the Coast is free to use any ideas I present without crediting me or this blog. I lay absolutely no claim to these suggestions as uniquely my own, and in fact, I suspect the Magic team has already considered them.
Now that that’s out of the way… reprinting cards on the Reserve List is an inevitable step in Magic’s development. First and foremost, from a business standpoint, it makes absolutely no sense at all to limit your business from using its own intellectual property. In fact, it’s a downright stupid idea. The concepts, design, appearance, mechanics, and every other aspect of those cards belong to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro. They don’t belong to me, you, or anyone else who’s been, “a loyal fan since ’93.”
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been playing Magic. You don’t have any right to demand that Wizards use its intellectual property one way or the other. Voicing your opinion, writing letters explaining your point of view, civilly participating in online forums is great and important to do. But this whole thing about filing lawsuits over implied warranties, filing complaints with the SEC or Justice Department, or seeking damages in civil court for the loss of resale value of one’s property is just nonsensical. WotC can change its corporate policies any time it pleases for any reason that makes sense to them. They’re entitled to run their business any way they see fit.
“But what about my kid’s college fund/retirement account/life savings I’ve invested in a full set of Beta Power and Dual Lands???” I’ve this seen all over the boards at the ManaDrain, SCG, and MTGSalvation. The irrationality of that aside, the real question these people are asking is, “I had to sacrifice to get these really rare cards, shouldn’t other people have to sacrifice too?” The answer is, of course, “no.” Just because I had to make certain sacrifices to acquire my cards doesn’t mean others should too. That’s silly, elitist, and honestly quite calloused. It’s no way to treat your fellow Magic players.
Magic is a success story in the adventure gaming industry- an industry littered with the corpses of dead companies and games everywhere. It’s a brutal industry to survive in. We should be grateful any time new people want to join in or try new formats. We should lower the bar as much as possible to keep people invested in the game’s success. The last three years have seen explosive growth in Magic tournament attendance and card sales. As a result prices are higher, cards are scarcer, and the needs of the game are changing.
But let me assuage the fears of all my friends who own four sets of Beta Power or whatever. I firmly believe that eventually, the Power 9 will be reprinted in a tournament legal format, BUT I don’t believe for a second they will be reprinted in any large quantity at all. In fact, I only see two possible, viable, and likely methods of reprinting: Judge Foils and Tournament Prizes. The first is the less likely, but possible. It would have to be for high level events for high level judges and would shatter the value of any judge foil printed to date. I’m not sure how comfortable WotC would be with that, but it is a viable and fair solution. It would be a terrific reward and eventually, get multiple sets of new Power into circulation.
The second way, I feel is much more likely. The best place to hand out Power 9 reprints would be at the Vintage Champs at GenCon and/or the annual World Championships. Personally, I’d like to see it at both, but if it had to be one, I’d love to see them given out at Vintage Champs. Imagine if the top 16 at GenCon got this:
Vintage Prize Structure:
1. Black Lotus
2. Ancestral Recall
3. Mox Sapphire
4. Mox Jet
5. Mox Ruby
6. Mox Emerald
7. Mox Pearl
8. Time Walk
9. Timetwister
10. Library of Alexandria
11. Mishra’s Workshop
12. Bazaar of Baghdad
13. Time Vault
14. Mana Drain
15. Force of Will
16. Mana Crypt
This would reward those players with real prizes (instead of the utterly useless oversized card that hits eBay almost as fast as it’s handed out) and it would put a new set of Power (or two) into circulation each year. To cut down on counterfeiting, they could even have their own logo that would change each year like this:
For the heck of it, here’s what a similar prize structure for the Legacy top 16 could maybe look like:
Legacy Prize Structure
1. Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
2. Tarmogoyf
3. Underground Sea
4. Tropical Island
5. Volcanic Island
6. Tundra
7. Bayou
8. Taiga
9. Plateau
10. Badlands
11. Scrubland
12. Savannah
13. Force of Will
14. Lion’s Eye Diamond
15. Mox Diamond
16. Entomb
Here’s the mockup logo:
Keep in mind, these are just off the top of my head.
Now, I honestly believe that the dual lands will be reprinted in Duel Decks, Premium Decks, and maybe somehow in a From The Vault series. It makes good sense to put them in there. But there’s no doubt the tournament prizes would be highly sought after, valuable to Eternal players. This prize structure would not harm the value of the Alpha/Beta/Unlimited/Revised/Promo versions of all the cards listed above. However, they would allow the players who win them- especially the Vintage players- to sell or share their Power and thus allow new players into the formats. It would be a slow trickle (which is why I would support handing out two sets of the prize structure per year rather than just one). However, it would be better than nothing.
And I hope that Wizards would adopt this prize structure or something similar sooner rather than later. Each year, the staples for Vintage and Legacy will get older. Each year, they will become harder to acquire. Each year, they will become more expensive, and thus closing the door to more and more new participants in Magic’s two most venerable formats. The popularity of Legacy has been demonstrated with tournament attendance. Just look at all the GP events that have set attendance records. You’ll find Legacy has set several.
However, that will stop if something is not done soon. The dual lands are approaching $80 to $100 each just for Revised. Tarmogoyf is nearing $90 to $100 itself. And other staples in both formats from Lion’s Eye Diamond to Grindstone to Force of Will to Wasteland to Mana Drain are hitting between $30 and $60 dollars a pop. And FoW, Waste, and MD aren’t even on the Reserve List! In five to six years, all these prices could be doubled if no action is taken.
I implore the Magic team at Wizards to consider the suggestions I have made along with what Ben and Stephen have mentioned in their articles. We all love this game. We love our formats and we want Magic to succeed at every level. But if prices continue to rise for Vintage and Legacy staples, at some point, the tournament participation will level off and begin to decline. And unfortunately for Vintage, it already has.
Peace,
-Troy
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