The Magic Librarities

Here are the articles!

MAGIC 2010
Core Set Changes for 2009

Highlights include ...

* From now on, core sets will have ~50% new cards.
* From now on, core sets will be Black Bordered
* Playing spells is going back to CASTING SPELLS
* We will get a new core set each year
* They will all be named like for the following year
* PLANESWALKERS
* Black Knight
* 8 of the 16 "evergreens" are being pruned

* We will get a new core set each year

This really bothers me, MtG used to be a game you had some time to get to know the new cards, create ideas etc.

Now they changed the speed of extended rotation, which allready makes it harder to keep up (especially if you don't plan to invest your whole time into MtG), then every year a core set with 50% new cards (which makes it pretty much like a big expansion set with lots of reprints) and the expansions. When are you supposed to get to know the new cards and test some ideas?

It also makes it harder for new players to get into the whole game, and last but not least the flavour has to suffer from this speed.

Man, I always was making jokes about how Yugi-Oh players must be on crack or sth. because they get new sets like every month. Now I'm afraid I'm going to lose some MtG friends to crack because otherwise they can't keep up with the new expansions...

The rest, well, I don't cae that much. It'll just be more work to get the new cards wb...

I like it.

I would like it, IF they stop producing so many real expansions each year. There's WAY too many new cards per year, I think.

me-and_we wrote:* We will get a new core set each year

This really bothers me, MtG used to be a game you had some time to get to know the new cards, create ideas etc.

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!
Chris

When they say ~50% new cards, do they mean 50% of the cards between Xth and (X-1)th edition will be different (but still the entire set will be reprints?

Brand new cards.

Yes, brand new cards. Core sets are not just for reprints any longer.

WOW... that sounds like a great way to sell a product like base set... add new cards! Why on Earth would WOTC want to sell more product?

ritnecrowin wrote:WOW... that sounds like a great way to sell a product like base set... add new cards! Why on Earth would WOTC want to sell more product?

Problem is, they won't for long. At some point they will fatigue their "core" followers. It may become a monetary thing, or it may simply be the increased complexity. And if they turn off the most fanatical players, then the casual players will follow. Its a cycle that has happened in a lot of collectibles, even dual use ones like MTG. The game and its followers won't disappear, but the overall amount of cards sold will decrease.

ritnecrowin wrote:WOW... that sounds like a great way to sell a product like base set... add new cards! Why on Earth would WOTC want to sell more product?

Well, I have long wondered when the "bottom line" would completly override the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" common sense test. Now I see it.

I think it's a good idea. I think maybe MTGO has shown that there's a healthy amount of interest in people who draft and play sealed with the Core sets. The rotation isn't as bad as a block set where you're lost if you start to draft or play sealed (in any competitive mode) just after being gone for a few months. I also think it allows them to make some cards that would be found in the discontinued sets like Portal and whatnot. I'm happy with the changes.

if it ain't broke, don't fix it

I don't agree with this. I think that the core set has become sort of redundant. I agree with the articles author in that a lot of the cool elements of the early core sets has been lost. I think the core sets have been "broke" since maybe 6th edition. 5th edition was so huge it felt like "other" than a set even.

All my opinion

mystical_tutor wrote:

ritnecrowin wrote:WOW... that sounds like a great way to sell a product like base set... add new cards! Why on Earth would WOTC want to sell more product?

Well, I have long wondered when the "bottom line" would completly override the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" common sense test. Now I see it.

Definitely about the bottom line, moreso now than ever before.

Thats why I only collect the older stuff nowadays.

random wrote:I don't agree with this. I think that the core set has become sort of redundant. I agree with the articles author in that a lot of the cool elements of the early core sets has been lost. I think the core sets have been "broke" since maybe 6th edition. 5th edition was so huge it felt like "other" than a set even.

These points are well taken about the details of the core set but where you see redundancy I see stability.

I agree about the deterioration of the contents of the core set but was speaking to the principle of having a foundation for Magic that carries on over several releases. This gives casual players and new players familiar ground that they can build on, specially when that core has fewer and less complicated mechanics than the expansions.

The underlying idea that the only way to improve the bottom line is to cater to the appetite of the "fast lane" players who "live" Magic has had a reverse impact on what used to be the larger segment of the Magic community--the part time player, full time job holder, comitted family member. The 15+ people that used to gather every week here and play Magic (and buy boxes of every new expansion) has dropped to 1 or 2 primarily because of the planned obsolescence of the cards they were familiar with. The only small island of refuge for them was the core set. Now it may no longer provide even that tiny but helpful continuity.

IMHO

The 15+ people that used to gather every week here and play Magic (and buy boxes of every new expansion) has dropped to 1 or 2 primarily because of the planned obsolescence of the cards they were familiar with. The only small island of refuge for them was the core set. Now it may no longer provide even that tiny but helpful continuity.

I think the damage with this group was already done though. I think it already hit rock bottom awhile ago, even you say 15 down to 1-2. That's pretty much rock bottom I don't think the core set was really serving anybody. I would always advise anyone new to get cards from that set off of the secondary market anyways.

Creating an environment (like MTGO does) where you can play core in limited and there's an actual reason to do so will move a lot of product. Having GP's support this set will be huge.