I was not around for SCG's time with Vintage (the Power 9 series, I think it was called), so maybe someone can fill me in if I am wrong or off base.
From my understanding SCG pushed Vintage for a number of years and then dropped it and moved on to Legacy. Arguably, they had helped to inflate prices and once vintage became out of reach for average players because of price and scarcity, they moved on to Legacy. The trend repeated itself- push the format for a few years, make a lot of money, and then once card prices got out of reach for average players they drop the format and move on to the next thing (in this case Modern).
Am I correct here? I'm not saying it is right or wrong, just trying to establish if this is the actual trend. If so, we can expect the same with Modern and what comes next. Yes? No?
It should be noted, however, in the late 90's vintage was dead. Extended-as-a-format dead. What SCG and the community did was push for allowing proxies to be used in vintage tournaments. That revived vintage and it flourished for a bit of a time. No, I don't believe that was just because they wanted to make money. At the time, it was also genuine concern to keep the format alive. That the prices rose as a result was a happy bonus.
Eventually though, vintage as a format isn't really sustainable. Some cards simply don't re enter circulation once the vintage players retire.
When they moved to legacy, they didn't approach it in the same way. No more pushing proxies. Now, I believe, their approach is to raise the prices of cards, which is why proxies are no longer being pushedd. Proxies, after all, will just get in the way of raising prices.
Would they stop supporting legacy? Likely, for the same reasons as they did vintage (non reprinted card pool slowly dwindling).
Modern, too early to tell really.
Can't really call it a trend, because the time frame we're talking about here is in the decades. I doubt SCG is so prescient that they planned a business model of "promote tournaments to raise prices, then abandon it" since the late 90s.
Excellent reply, Mondu. I was unaware that SCG allowed proxies in their Vintage tourneys. How did that work? Some local shops were running proxy Vintage and Legacy tournaments until WOTC/DCI put out the hard statement on them a year or so ago. I am all in favor of proxies for Vintage. It seems pretty interesting as a format, actually. I think Jaco's unpowered Eldrazi deck has a lot of people taking a fresh look at the format.
Excellent reply, Mondu. I was unaware that SCG allowed proxies in their Vintage tourneys. How did that work?
10 proxies, take basic land and use sharpie to write down relevant info. Preferably art is something similar. Details shouild be somewhere in their site.
Made vintage flourish for another decade or so. As opposed to utterly-dead-once-year-during-gencon-then-cancelled-altogether. There were more vintage tournaments in the early 2000's than late 90s.
Some local shops were running proxy Vintage and Legacy tournaments until WOTC/DCI put out the hard statement on them a year or so ago.
This is untrue and wizards clarified their stance., and the proliferation of this rumor is another reason why proxy tournaments are dying out since some venues now outright disallow proxy tournaments.
What they said is that they will not allow proxies in SANCTIONED tournaments. But then, proxy tournaments arean't sanctioned since they began.
From my understanding SCG pushed Vintage for a number of years and then dropped it and moved on to Legacy. Arguably, they had helped to inflate prices and once vintage became out of reach for average players because of price and scarcity, they moved on to Legacy. The trend repeated itself- push the format for a few years, make a lot of money, and then once card prices got out of reach for average players they drop the format and move on to the next thing (in this case Modern).
Am I correct here? I'm not saying it is right or wrong, just trying to establish if this is the actual trend. If so, we can expect the same with Modern and what comes next. Yes? No?
Current decks:
Legacy: Zoo, Aggro Elves, The Gate, White Weenie, Red Deck Wins, and Merfolk. Currently building Solidarity.
Casual: Warp World Revolution and Old School Red-Green.
Standard: Ob-Nixilis Wave and Elves.
It should be noted, however, in the late 90's vintage was dead. Extended-as-a-format dead. What SCG and the community did was push for allowing proxies to be used in vintage tournaments. That revived vintage and it flourished for a bit of a time. No, I don't believe that was just because they wanted to make money. At the time, it was also genuine concern to keep the format alive. That the prices rose as a result was a happy bonus.
Eventually though, vintage as a format isn't really sustainable. Some cards simply don't re enter circulation once the vintage players retire.
When they moved to legacy, they didn't approach it in the same way. No more pushing proxies. Now, I believe, their approach is to raise the prices of cards, which is why proxies are no longer being pushedd. Proxies, after all, will just get in the way of raising prices.
Would they stop supporting legacy? Likely, for the same reasons as they did vintage (non reprinted card pool slowly dwindling).
Modern, too early to tell really.
Can't really call it a trend, because the time frame we're talking about here is in the decades. I doubt SCG is so prescient that they planned a business model of "promote tournaments to raise prices, then abandon it" since the 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
Current decks:
Legacy: Zoo, Aggro Elves, The Gate, White Weenie, Red Deck Wins, and Merfolk. Currently building Solidarity.
Casual: Warp World Revolution and Old School Red-Green.
Standard: Ob-Nixilis Wave and Elves.
10 proxies, take basic land and use sharpie to write down relevant info. Preferably art is something similar. Details shouild be somewhere in their site.
Made vintage flourish for another decade or so. As opposed to utterly-dead-once-year-during-gencon-then-cancelled-altogether. There were more vintage tournaments in the early 2000's than late 90s.
This is untrue and wizards clarified their stance., and the proliferation of this rumor is another reason why proxy tournaments are dying out since some venues now outright disallow proxy tournaments.
What they said is that they will not allow proxies in SANCTIONED tournaments. But then, proxy tournaments arean't sanctioned since they began.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn