I started playing Magic with Scourge in in 2003, primarily kitchen table Magic, never really got into organized play at the time. After Eventide in 2008, I took a break because of college and other stuff, and recently, I got back in summer of 2013 with Magic 2014. I am just wondering, what the heck happened with this game? A couple of things I noticed:
1. Every booster pack now have a basic land in them, what the heck? Back then, the only way basic land can show up in a booster pack is if it is a foil.
2. New Modern format, looks cool, hoping this will pick up
3. When trading, it is all about "value." For instance, "you want this card, which is $25 dollars, and I want this card, which is $8 dollars, and this card, which is $10 dollars. So I need $7 more dollars in cards." Back then, we just traded cards based on what we needed and how good we deem it to be, not based on what TCG mid says.
4. Planeswalkers are kind of a big deal now. Nearing the end of my run, the Lorwyn 5 were introduced. They were fun, but I didn't think planeswalkers would become staples or anything like that. Now, planeswalkers are insanely good, and expensive.
5. What is this Zendikar cliffhanger that everyone is talking about?
Anyways, these are a couple of things I noticed. Did I miss anything?
3. Now about that, I'm pretty sure that 5 years ago had value trading or at least I remember (I started at Revised) that occurred even without the interwebs. People would value trade using InQuest or whatever magazine that would show prices. I think at least today sharking is a bit harder. Value traders have to be smart to trade for things that will go up price instead of just ripping people off. Before people could just use the rarity system (like getting more than a valuable uncommon for a crappy common or using trade baits like Shivan Dragon) or use those magazines with outdated or downright wrong prices to shark others.
3. When trading, it is all about "value." For instance, "you want this card, which is $25 dollars, and I want this card, which is $8 dollars, and this card, which is $10 dollars. So I need $7 more dollars in cards." The heck? Back then, we just traded cards based on what we needed and how good we deem it to be, not based on what TCG mid says.
Anyways, these are a couple of things I noticed. Did I miss anything?
That was already the situation in the mid to late 90s.
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"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Anyways, these are a couple of things I noticed. Did I miss anything?
*New Rarity Tier* - Mythic Rarity. Approximately 1 in 8 packs will contain a mythic rare instead of a rare.
*Core rules changes* With the release of Magic 2010, many core rules were changed. Examples are:
Damage no-longer uses the stack.
Lifelink and deathtouch are no-longer triggered abilities, they are now static abilities.
Deathtouch now has an interaction with trample, where 1 point of deathtouch damage is considered 'lethal damage'.
Mana burn has been removed. Mana pools now empty at the end of each step and phase.
'In play' is now 'the battlefield', 'play a spell' is now 'cast a spell'.
'At the end of turn' is now 'at the beginning of the end step'.
Other rules changes:
The legend and planeswalker-uniqueness rules now only apply to each player individually, meaning I can have a Umezawa's Jitte, and you can have an Umezawa's Jitte, and they will both be fine.
Also, they no-longer remove all offending cards. Instead you pick one to keep, and the rest are sent to the graveyard.
'Put into the graveyard from play/the battlefield' is now 'dies'.
Really, value trading always existed, you probably just used to get ripped off and didn't know it. These days more people are scared of getting ripped off, so everyone uses their smart phone.
Really, I've had more 'casuals' try to rip me off than value traders in the past year, so who really knows who's who any more?
3. When trading, it is all about "value." For instance, "you want this card, which is $25 dollars, and I want this card, which is $8 dollars, and this card, which is $10 dollars. So I need $7 more dollars in cards." The heck? Back then, we just traded cards based on what we needed and how good we deem it to be, not based on what TCG mid says.
Anyways, these are a couple of things I noticed. Did I miss anything?
That was already the situation in the mid to late 90s.
I can confirm this. I was 13-15 years old when I played last and quit right around 2002 and I was certainly aware of values back then when trading. Your observations were either localized to your small play group or you were likely getting hosed on value by others if you were trading with random people at your LGS.
I see no difference to how it was 10 years ago. There have always been cards - especially standard staples - with stupid prices.
Yeah, it was like since always with Standard at least, but way before we didn't really have an idea of how the market would be in the future. We didn't know Legacy would be revitalized by SCG, for instance. So, it's not really the same with staples. People coming back to the game really jump in surprise and amazement when they discover some of their old cards are basically $50+. Today's price is certain a remarkable mark and makes me wonder where is the limit.
To illustrate why I think it's remarkable. Let's see Underground Sea. I think I could trade those for 10 ~ 20 during their printing time and a bit after their rotation. When I stopped playing around Urza's Saga, I think you could buy these for 40ish cash (or even trade, as T1 wasn't that hot in my area). From 1994 to 1998 they roughly doubled/quadrupled in price depending on the area. I came back to MTG during New Phyrexia and I think I could find Underground Seas for 70 ~ 90 depending on their condition (doing some roughly estimation). From 1998 to 2011 they doubled again basically. However, from 2011 to today they more than doubled again. It's happening all across the other non-reprinted staples as well. This jump in price in such low period of time is remarkable.
The draft order is reversed now. Instead of first set - second set - third set, like Time Spiral - Planar Chaos - Future Sight, the most recent set is opened first. So, Dragon's Maze - Gatecrash - Return to Ravnica.
I played in the mid to late 90s and value was very much a thing then as well. Its just easier to pin an exact value down today with everyone carrying a smart phone.
New World Order (NWO) was implemented. Basically around 2007 WotC found their new player base stopped growing because the game had become too complicated over the past 15 years. They've been actively trying to make the entry level Magic easier to get into.
The core sets come out every year now in the summer. Tenth Edition was the last numbered core set. M10 came out in '09 and did away with mana burn and using the stack during combat.
The Titan cycle made it okay to play 6 mana creatures. Baneslayer Angel made it okay to have $50 staples in Standard.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor's pre-order price of $20 burned a lot of online retailers, now ANY planeswalker starts off around $30 and goes up or down from there.
EDH became mainstream, its called Commander after WotC started supporting it as a format and its super, super popular.
Duels of the Planeswalkers came out for console game systems, steam, ipad and has brought in a lot of new or 10 years off returning players.
Magic currently has the largest player base its ever had. All these new players have bought Legacy and Modern staples and the demand has drastically raised prices.
We've retuned to Mirrodin and Ravnica and everyone is wanting to go back to Zendikar next (mostly for fetchlands I assume, they're $40-$60 now).
I started playing Magic with Scourge in in 2003. After Eventide in 2008, I took a break because of college and other stuff, and recently, I got back in summer of 2013 with Magic 2014. I am just wondering, what the heck happened to this game? A couple of things I noticed:
1. Every booster pack now have a basic land in them, say what?
Because everyone needs land... or some excuse they made.
2. New Modern format, looks cool, hoping this will pick up
Not really going to cause anyone who didn't prepare before it went live is basicly locked out to due the costs of entry
3. When trading, it is all about "value." For instance, "you want this card, which is $25 dollars, and I want this card, which is $8 dollars, and this card, which is $10 dollars. So I need $7 more dollars in cards." The heck? Back then, we just traded cards based on what we needed and how good we deem it to be, not based on what TCG mid says.
This mentality started to majorly set in when the player base went from playing to play to Playing to invest. The game has shifted its focus in so many ways that it no longer feels like the game you left it around. Ex of when I left IF I held onto my legacy deck it would of 4x its price by now due to what I had in it. Most reasons I see is cause people pick up the cards and hold them ether as a "just in case I want to play" or "flip it"
4. Planeswalkers are kind of a big deal now. Nearing the end of my run, the Lorwyn 5 were introduced. They were fun, but I didn't think planeswalkers would become staples or anything like that. Now, planeswalkers are insanely good.
And have warped the game more so in bad ways then good. Both in actual play and mentality of how the game should be played.
Anyways, these are a couple of things I noticed. Did I miss anything?
The game has turned more into Turn creatures sideways. The rules have been simplified in ways to prevents tricks, Old styles of deck building are completely dead and frowned on, and less diverse events from larger venues.
To illustrate why I think it's remarkable. Let's see Underground Sea. I think I could trade those for 10 ~ 20 during their printing time and a bit after their rotation. When I stopped playing around Urza's Saga, I think you could buy these for 40ish cash
Underground seas were like 40$ in like 2007...
I hated being poor and in high school when I was into legacy. I would have loved to have all my duals when they were that low.
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Dear kbx41,
You have received a warning at MTG Salvation Forums.
Reason:
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Flaming or Other Forms of Misbehavior
Saying that you sometimes wish people (in this case the implication is the staff) would fall down a well and get AIDS is hardly appropriate for the forum.
Huh? I started playing in '96 and have always used some sort of price valuation for trading. The only thing new is that we don't have to wait for next months' Scry to get an update.
Most of these changes people are citing aren't nearly as interesting or impactful as the hyperbole would have you believe. Things have always been more or less as they are now. The game is wildly more popular though, and thanks to the advent of the internet and forums, it's much easier to highlight the negative. This applies to everything, not just Magic.
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Currently playing:
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Also, what is this Zendikar cliffhanger ending that everyone is talking about? Everytime Zendikar is mentioned, someone would say how there be a Return to Zendikar because of the cliffhanger ending.
Also, what is this Zendikar cliffhanger ending that everyone is talking about? Everytime Zendikar is mentioned, someone would say how there be a Return to Zendikar because of the cliffhanger ending.
The storyline from Zendikar block ended with giant unkillable eldrich abominations consuming the place. Not exactly the kind of ending you find in most block stories.
Innistrad and Dark Ascension were released with double-faced cards that flip when met by certain conditions. I don't know if you noticed them yet, but they shook up the scene when they dropped.
I have a bunch of old Inquests and Scryes from back in 2003/2004, and we would always use them when trading back then. It's not any different than using tcgplayer mid. Trading card for card just seems like an excuse to rip someone off, yet be able to 'justify' it. As a side note, underground sea was $12 back then, and alpha version was $90 lol...
I don't really think much has changed in the last 5 years. There are always rules changes, and there's always an upheaval in the community about them, but that usually dies down.
Modern is just the replacement for Extended, except it's non-rotating (which could become a problem in 5 years when there's 15 years worth of sets in it...).
Oh, and we're getting a new card face in the next core set, to help fight against fakes.
Anyhow, the best I can come up with myself is a game in the top 8 of a PTQ back during Urza block in which we were starting game 3 with time already expired, so the tiebreaker rule was that whoever had more life after 3 turns would win. And I lost to... healing salve.
Also, I don't know if I clearly pointed this out but when I played Magic from Scourge to Eventide, it was only kitchen table Magic. I never got into organized play. I never played this "Standard" format until September of 2013, and I only play Modern casually on the side and in between rounds of Standard FNM because the Modern scene at our LGS is so competitive.
I've always seen trading by value. Nowadays, everyone is just more informed. I saw a girl trade off her Flooded Strand (rare) for a pile of jank rares and uncommons from Innistrad block (stuff like Archangel) just a few years ago. I tried to warn her, but she thought a pile of cards was better than one card. It disgusted me that people would prey on someone coming back or new to magic... at least now with smart phones, people are better protected from this kind of stuff.
Modern is a good format, but there are still issues with a lot of the problems legacy dealt with, mainly card values (though not as bad). They figured how to appease collectors and help the format via Modern Masters... though, the jury is out on how well it worked. In my area, it boosted interested in the modern format, but it also caused the prices to skyrocket.
You left right when they were in the midst of going to a new planes each block. Since Lorwyn, you missed Shards of Alara and the joys of jund aggro decks with cascade spells allowing that second spell. I would commonly throw down bloodbraid elf, followed by some sort of removal (Maelstrom Pulse, Lightning Bolt). That was followed by the "land matters" Zendikar block, which was a super aggressive draft format and included the infamous Jace, the Mindsculptor as well as the fetch land staples. They really pushed Jace the Mindsculptor and no one seemed to care. What good did a four-drop planeswalker do, when your opponent would be casting a plethora of aggressive creatures. The last part of the Zendikar block was Rise of the Eldrazi, a large set that was meant to be drafted by itself. Timmies everywhere rejoiced. These cthulhu-like monsters have affected magic so much, the Eldrazi are the go-to cards in Show and Tell decks among other tier 1 legacy decks. Sorin and others had a plan to save Zendikar, but a self-centered elf ruined it all and everyone else was like.. umm, buh-bye. Yes that elf is Nissa, and yes I hate that elf.
When Shards cycled out, and Scars of Mirrodin came in... Jace finally had a chance to shine. By the second block of Scars of Mirrodin, the second of the "Enemy swords" came out... Sword of Feast and Famine. By this time, there was a perfect card advantage card in a core set called Squadron Hawk. This combined with Jace and the improved sword rampaged the format. Most of the top standard decks were using Jace and Stoneforge Mystic so much that they banned them just months before they would have been cycled out anyway. People fell on two sides of the issue. One, being... we're all playing the same deck, so it's a better test of skill. Also (now that Jace was skyrocketing to 50-60 a piece), people didn't want to see their jaces leave the format. Others complained that the format had gone stale. In my local shop, people were starting to play legacy instead (happy times for me, at least).
People were a little bitter about this Jace-fiasco, but whereas Zendikar left us in ruins, Innistrad gave us hope (at least storywise). It was a gothic-inspired block with vampires, werewolves, and ummm, mutants? To this day, you will hear Delver of Secrets in both modern and legacy. Other gems like Liliana of the Veil and Geist of Saint Traft began their upbringing here. Before the new legendary rule, the only way to get rid of a geist was with Phantasmal Image and mass removal. The draft format was highly praised and regarded as the best draft format in years. Mill, self-mill, aggressive, and yes, even a combo deck (Lost in the Woods) were some of the archtypes you could draft in the format. Then came Avacyn Restored, the "As Good As It Gets" set... so mushy and sweet, full of angels and spice and everything nice. Because of this, black was often underdrafted. Oh yea, also... having a draft set with very little removal was pretty bad.. but at least Archangel got reprinted. Like Rise of Eldrazi, it was a standalone draft set, but unlike the cthulhu counterpart, it didn't get as much praise.
That was it.. oh, and Return to Ravnica. Shocklands are affordable now (huzzah)... and people were like fighting and stuff. And then Niz, the dracogenius that he is, had all the champions of the guilds run a race. The winner would get to rule Ravnica and that guy was... well you can read the online book. Oh yea, I didn't tell you? From ravnica forward you get a digital version of the book, which is really nice since they've sort of taken them out because "they just weren't selling" or something like that. Also around this time, EDH/Commander was really taking off and wotc has started making cards specifically for this format. Which brings us to Theros and the legendary rule.... which now states that you and your opponent(s) can keep one of the same type of legendary permanent. Also, if you have a legendary permanent and cast another one, you can choose which to keep and which to sacrifice. This made cards like Mox Opal and Jace the Mindsculptor a tad better since you could ditch the one you just used and get a "second use".
I know you probably only asked for a few things that have changed.. but now that I look at it, a lot of stuff has happened.
I scanned the other responses and I believe the below items have not been mentioned yet.
* Not sure if this happened before or after you left, but WotC put a stop to the Magic player rewards system.
* WotC removed support from independent tournament organizers. All of their support now goes to tournament organizers affiliated with brick-and-mortar game stores.
* To promote Zendikar, WotC acquired many old and valuable cards and repackaged them into packs of Zendikar. This is known as the "Priceless Treasures" promotion. During the promotion, it was possible (though incredibly rare) to open desirable out of print cards such as those among the Power 9.
* Many suspect Star City Games cornered the market on Misty Rainforests shortly after the Modern format was announced, causing the price to spike dramatically. Magic "market manipulation" conspiracy theories have become increasingly popular since then.
* About half-way through a big tournament in Texas, someone was caught with six copies of Elvish Archdruid in his deck. He went on to win the tournament.
* A rise in reports of theft and robbery of Magic cards began appearing on this and other forums sometime in 2009/2010. Examples include: bags stolen while playing, binders snatched while trading, car break-ins, and physical assaults in convention center restrooms.
* After printing several cards from the reserved list as foils, WotC reviewed it's policy and reaffirmed its commitment to not reprinting those cards. From the Vault Relics was the last set to contain any cards from the Reserved List.
* In 2012, someone in Florida was murdered in his own home for his cards. The suspects were guests he had invited to his house to play.
"A rich man thinks all other people are rich, and an intelligent man thinks all other people are similarly gifted. Both are always terribly shocked when they discover the truth of the world. You, my dear brother, are a pious man." - Strahd von Zarovich
* The DCI dropped the ELO rating system in favor of "Planeswalker Points". The new system was widely criticized for rewarding frequency of play rather than quality of play.
"A rich man thinks all other people are rich, and an intelligent man thinks all other people are similarly gifted. Both are always terribly shocked when they discover the truth of the world. You, my dear brother, are a pious man." - Strahd von Zarovich
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1. Every booster pack now have a basic land in them, what the heck? Back then, the only way basic land can show up in a booster pack is if it is a foil.
2. New Modern format, looks cool, hoping this will pick up
3. When trading, it is all about "value." For instance, "you want this card, which is $25 dollars, and I want this card, which is $8 dollars, and this card, which is $10 dollars. So I need $7 more dollars in cards." Back then, we just traded cards based on what we needed and how good we deem it to be, not based on what TCG mid says.
4. Planeswalkers are kind of a big deal now. Nearing the end of my run, the Lorwyn 5 were introduced. They were fun, but I didn't think planeswalkers would become staples or anything like that. Now, planeswalkers are insanely good, and expensive.
5. What is this Zendikar cliffhanger that everyone is talking about?
Anyways, these are a couple of things I noticed. Did I miss anything?
2. Modern is ok, hopefully they unban more stuff.
3. Now about that, I'm pretty sure that 5 years ago had value trading or at least I remember (I started at Revised) that occurred even without the interwebs. People would value trade using InQuest or whatever magazine that would show prices. I think at least today sharking is a bit harder. Value traders have to be smart to trade for things that will go up price instead of just ripping people off. Before people could just use the rarity system (like getting more than a valuable uncommon for a crappy common or using trade baits like Shivan Dragon) or use those magazines with outdated or downright wrong prices to shark others.
That was already the situation in the mid to late 90s.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Lifelink and deathtouch are no-longer triggered abilities, they are now static abilities.
Deathtouch now has an interaction with trample, where 1 point of deathtouch damage is considered 'lethal damage'.
Mana burn has been removed. Mana pools now empty at the end of each step and phase.
'In play' is now 'the battlefield', 'play a spell' is now 'cast a spell'.
'At the end of turn' is now 'at the beginning of the end step'.
Also, they no-longer remove all offending cards. Instead you pick one to keep, and the rest are sent to the graveyard.
'Put into the graveyard from play/the battlefield' is now 'dies'.
I loathe creatures! Praise Prison and Land Destruction!
My Peasant Cube (looking for feedback)
Really, I've had more 'casuals' try to rip me off than value traders in the past year, so who really knows who's who any more?
I see no difference to how it was 10 years ago. There have always been cards - especially standard staples - with stupid prices.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
I can confirm this. I was 13-15 years old when I played last and quit right around 2002 and I was certainly aware of values back then when trading. Your observations were either localized to your small play group or you were likely getting hosed on value by others if you were trading with random people at your LGS.
Yeah, it was like since always with Standard at least, but way before we didn't really have an idea of how the market would be in the future. We didn't know Legacy would be revitalized by SCG, for instance. So, it's not really the same with staples. People coming back to the game really jump in surprise and amazement when they discover some of their old cards are basically $50+. Today's price is certain a remarkable mark and makes me wonder where is the limit.
To illustrate why I think it's remarkable. Let's see Underground Sea. I think I could trade those for 10 ~ 20 during their printing time and a bit after their rotation. When I stopped playing around Urza's Saga, I think you could buy these for 40ish cash (or even trade, as T1 wasn't that hot in my area). From 1994 to 1998 they roughly doubled/quadrupled in price depending on the area. I came back to MTG during New Phyrexia and I think I could find Underground Seas for 70 ~ 90 depending on their condition (doing some roughly estimation). From 1998 to 2011 they doubled again basically. However, from 2011 to today they more than doubled again. It's happening all across the other non-reprinted staples as well. This jump in price in such low period of time is remarkable.
I don't always post about Rafiq of the Many, but when I do, I cardlink to the original artwork, and not the supplementary product version.
"I trust myself to do my duty, even unto death. It's what comes after that I'm afraid of."
"Just fight without fear. Your soul is protected by the hand of Avacyn and will never submit to evil."
Maybe you did, but I seem to remember that most people traded cards based on their value in scrye magazine or some other publication
The core sets come out every year now in the summer. Tenth Edition was the last numbered core set. M10 came out in '09 and did away with mana burn and using the stack during combat.
The Titan cycle made it okay to play 6 mana creatures. Baneslayer Angel made it okay to have $50 staples in Standard.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor's pre-order price of $20 burned a lot of online retailers, now ANY planeswalker starts off around $30 and goes up or down from there.
EDH became mainstream, its called Commander after WotC started supporting it as a format and its super, super popular.
Duels of the Planeswalkers came out for console game systems, steam, ipad and has brought in a lot of new or 10 years off returning players.
Magic currently has the largest player base its ever had. All these new players have bought Legacy and Modern staples and the demand has drastically raised prices.
We've retuned to Mirrodin and Ravnica and everyone is wanting to go back to Zendikar next (mostly for fetchlands I assume, they're $40-$60 now).
B Lover Since '09 ~
Standard:
meh.
Modern:
Urzatron GR
Vintage:
Contol-Slaver UBR
EDH:
Drana B
Jhoira UR
Savra BG
Turned into:
Adun Oakenshield BGR
Sharuum BUW
Turned into:
Memnarch U
KiKi-Jiki R
Turned into:
Godo R
Turned into:
Aurelia RW
The Mimeoplasm UBG
Rasputin Dreamweaver UW
Turned into:
Geist of Saint Traft -French 1v1 UW
Nekusar UBR
Because everyone needs land... or some excuse they made.
Not really going to cause anyone who didn't prepare before it went live is basicly locked out to due the costs of entry
This mentality started to majorly set in when the player base went from playing to play to Playing to invest. The game has shifted its focus in so many ways that it no longer feels like the game you left it around. Ex of when I left IF I held onto my legacy deck it would of 4x its price by now due to what I had in it. Most reasons I see is cause people pick up the cards and hold them ether as a "just in case I want to play" or "flip it"
And have warped the game more so in bad ways then good. Both in actual play and mentality of how the game should be played.
The game has turned more into Turn creatures sideways. The rules have been simplified in ways to prevents tricks, Old styles of deck building are completely dead and frowned on, and less diverse events from larger venues.
Underground seas were like 40$ in like 2007...
I hated being poor and in high school when I was into legacy. I would have loved to have all my duals when they were that low.
Dear kbx41,
You have received a warning at MTG Salvation Forums.
Reason:
-------
Flaming or Other Forms of Misbehavior
Saying that you sometimes wish people (in this case the implication is the staff) would fall down a well and get AIDS is hardly appropriate for the forum.
I have 28 different EDH decks
Most of these changes people are citing aren't nearly as interesting or impactful as the hyperbole would have you believe. Things have always been more or less as they are now. The game is wildly more popular though, and thanks to the advent of the internet and forums, it's much easier to highlight the negative. This applies to everything, not just Magic.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
The storyline from Zendikar block ended with giant unkillable eldrich abominations consuming the place. Not exactly the kind of ending you find in most block stories.
I don't really think much has changed in the last 5 years. There are always rules changes, and there's always an upheaval in the community about them, but that usually dies down.
Modern is just the replacement for Extended, except it's non-rotating (which could become a problem in 5 years when there's 15 years worth of sets in it...).
Oh, and we're getting a new card face in the next core set, to help fight against fakes.
Modern is a good format, but there are still issues with a lot of the problems legacy dealt with, mainly card values (though not as bad). They figured how to appease collectors and help the format via Modern Masters... though, the jury is out on how well it worked. In my area, it boosted interested in the modern format, but it also caused the prices to skyrocket.
You left right when they were in the midst of going to a new planes each block. Since Lorwyn, you missed Shards of Alara and the joys of jund aggro decks with cascade spells allowing that second spell. I would commonly throw down bloodbraid elf, followed by some sort of removal (Maelstrom Pulse, Lightning Bolt). That was followed by the "land matters" Zendikar block, which was a super aggressive draft format and included the infamous Jace, the Mindsculptor as well as the fetch land staples. They really pushed Jace the Mindsculptor and no one seemed to care. What good did a four-drop planeswalker do, when your opponent would be casting a plethora of aggressive creatures. The last part of the Zendikar block was Rise of the Eldrazi, a large set that was meant to be drafted by itself. Timmies everywhere rejoiced. These cthulhu-like monsters have affected magic so much, the Eldrazi are the go-to cards in Show and Tell decks among other tier 1 legacy decks. Sorin and others had a plan to save Zendikar, but a self-centered elf ruined it all and everyone else was like.. umm, buh-bye. Yes that elf is Nissa, and yes I hate that elf.
When Shards cycled out, and Scars of Mirrodin came in... Jace finally had a chance to shine. By the second block of Scars of Mirrodin, the second of the "Enemy swords" came out... Sword of Feast and Famine. By this time, there was a perfect card advantage card in a core set called Squadron Hawk. This combined with Jace and the improved sword rampaged the format. Most of the top standard decks were using Jace and Stoneforge Mystic so much that they banned them just months before they would have been cycled out anyway. People fell on two sides of the issue. One, being... we're all playing the same deck, so it's a better test of skill. Also (now that Jace was skyrocketing to 50-60 a piece), people didn't want to see their jaces leave the format. Others complained that the format had gone stale. In my local shop, people were starting to play legacy instead (happy times for me, at least).
People were a little bitter about this Jace-fiasco, but whereas Zendikar left us in ruins, Innistrad gave us hope (at least storywise). It was a gothic-inspired block with vampires, werewolves, and ummm, mutants? To this day, you will hear Delver of Secrets in both modern and legacy. Other gems like Liliana of the Veil and Geist of Saint Traft began their upbringing here. Before the new legendary rule, the only way to get rid of a geist was with Phantasmal Image and mass removal. The draft format was highly praised and regarded as the best draft format in years. Mill, self-mill, aggressive, and yes, even a combo deck (Lost in the Woods) were some of the archtypes you could draft in the format. Then came Avacyn Restored, the "As Good As It Gets" set... so mushy and sweet, full of angels and spice and everything nice. Because of this, black was often underdrafted. Oh yea, also... having a draft set with very little removal was pretty bad.. but at least Archangel got reprinted. Like Rise of Eldrazi, it was a standalone draft set, but unlike the cthulhu counterpart, it didn't get as much praise.
That was it.. oh, and Return to Ravnica. Shocklands are affordable now (huzzah)... and people were like fighting and stuff. And then Niz, the dracogenius that he is, had all the champions of the guilds run a race. The winner would get to rule Ravnica and that guy was... well you can read the online book. Oh yea, I didn't tell you? From ravnica forward you get a digital version of the book, which is really nice since they've sort of taken them out because "they just weren't selling" or something like that. Also around this time, EDH/Commander was really taking off and wotc has started making cards specifically for this format. Which brings us to Theros and the legendary rule.... which now states that you and your opponent(s) can keep one of the same type of legendary permanent. Also, if you have a legendary permanent and cast another one, you can choose which to keep and which to sacrifice. This made cards like Mox Opal and Jace the Mindsculptor a tad better since you could ditch the one you just used and get a "second use".
I know you probably only asked for a few things that have changed.. but now that I look at it, a lot of stuff has happened.
* Not sure if this happened before or after you left, but WotC put a stop to the Magic player rewards system.
* WotC removed support from independent tournament organizers. All of their support now goes to tournament organizers affiliated with brick-and-mortar game stores.
* To promote Zendikar, WotC acquired many old and valuable cards and repackaged them into packs of Zendikar. This is known as the "Priceless Treasures" promotion. During the promotion, it was possible (though incredibly rare) to open desirable out of print cards such as those among the Power 9.
* Many suspect Star City Games cornered the market on Misty Rainforests shortly after the Modern format was announced, causing the price to spike dramatically. Magic "market manipulation" conspiracy theories have become increasingly popular since then.
* About half-way through a big tournament in Texas, someone was caught with six copies of Elvish Archdruid in his deck. He went on to win the tournament.
* A rise in reports of theft and robbery of Magic cards began appearing on this and other forums sometime in 2009/2010. Examples include: bags stolen while playing, binders snatched while trading, car break-ins, and physical assaults in convention center restrooms.
* After printing several cards from the reserved list as foils, WotC reviewed it's policy and reaffirmed its commitment to not reprinting those cards. From the Vault Relics was the last set to contain any cards from the Reserved List.
* In 2012, someone in Florida was murdered in his own home for his cards. The suspects were guests he had invited to his house to play.
* The DCI dropped the ELO rating system in favor of "Planeswalker Points". The new system was widely criticized for rewarding frequency of play rather than quality of play.