You guys all remember when wizards said they are trying a new coating and we got that one that feels a bit like sandpaper and makes the cards smell slightly burnt? Interestingly enough, I opened up a guild booster pack I bought from walmart along with a booster pack from the same place and realized upon feeling the cards that the guild booster uses the older smooth coating. The cards from the regular booster packs I've opened all use the dominaria -> m19 coating. Not sure what this is about, but it does appear that the cards from the guild boosters are from a different run than the ones that come in the booster boxes. It's possible they may be shifting back to the older coating, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm hoping they are trying to improve the cards and not just do a 180 on the whole "we're improving card quality" thing after the hell they went through with warping cards.
Albeit, my guilds cards are warping even with the new coating, so it's possible that they just realized a new coating is not what people are looking for and maybe are trying better cardboard? Has WoTC said anything about swapping to the old coating again?
Edit: Also celebratory self obligated "I won the lottery" post of managing to pull a Doom Whisperer. Go go Surveil combo spam!
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
It was the same way with the Theme Booster packs from Dominaria. Frankly the old slicker coating is better in my book. Smoother and gives the cards a slightly more glossy look and feel. On top of that the ink is darker on them as well. The booster box my son and I opened the ink on all the cards was lighter. Crap quality control if you ask me. The cards (from the booster box) don't slide over each other as you are looking through them and yes the smell isn't as pleasing either. QC is crap right now.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
My impression was that Dominaria was a slight improvement and M19 was okay. Battlebond was just godly compared to the other sets thanks to them using the Japanese printers, but the reason they did that was because the facility in Texas didn't have the technology to do the sorting the way they needed to. The partner cards had to come together in the same pack and the only place that had that kind of sorting tech was the Japanese print facilities. My force of will cards are insanely good compared to the MtG cards.
Going to say it right now: If they don't fix their card quality so that they don't start bending like the cards from last year, I'm not playing or collecting MtG anymore. The cost to keep the cards from bending is pretty substantial as it involves double sleeving and then pressing the air out completely, while maintaining the cards flat and in a box with packing salts. I wish I was joking, but that is what it took to keep my cards from bending. The foils were a completely lost cause and I really hope that those masterpieces are not printed on the same presses. If they are those are going to need extreme care from collectors to keep them from self destructing.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I'd say WotC always had problems with printings since the beginning. We are more forgiven of past bad batches because of nostalgia (they are charming now), but they are fooling around with the card stock and foiling quality for a long time.
I guess today's problem started around RTR as they had to ramp up card printing production and started to get noticeable with MM15 and other supplemental products, got bad during EMA, and finally hit rock bottom with Kaladesh/Amonkhet/Ixalan. Not just foils, card stock which probably affects foils as well.
Sadly WotC is very stingy with foil quality. My early 90s anime cards still look pack fresh while old foils starts to inevitably warp a bit or get foggy and new foils are just crap. Even Japanese printing won't help with WotC specifications. This is basically WotC trademark at this point although this low point is indeed too low even for WotC.
Also, I can see WotC reaches another rock bottom with this in the future. Planning ahead isn't WotC's forte. Another big growth of playerbase would cause a higher demand of printing. Lot of the bad batches released probably would be lessened if whoever was in charge of this planned ahead instead of cutting corners. Sadly, WotC will cut corners on various logistical aspects of MTG.
I noticed the same "faded" look in my GNR box as well that isn't present in even the pre-release kit. Some also seemed "out of focus" or smeary. It's the smeariness you get from low quality ink jets. It's so noticeable, just by itself, that I had this strong desire to reach for my loupe, despite pulling them from sealed packs from a sealed box straight from a very reputable LGS at pre-release.
The roughness doesn't bother me. I played through Mirage and it was never an issue then. What bothers me is some of the cards have printing quality that is just garbage.
I noticed the same "faded" look in my GNR box as well that isn't present in even the pre-release kit. Some also seemed "out of focus" or smeary. It's the smeariness you get from low quality ink jets. It's so noticeable, just by itself, that I had this strong desire to reach for my loupe, despite pulling them from sealed packs from a sealed box straight from a very reputable LGS at pre-release.
The roughness doesn't bother me. I played through Mirage and it was never an issue then. What bothers me is some of the cards have printing quality that is just garbage.
Yes they are more "blurry" out of focus as well. Not as crisp and defined. Yes this smacks of cheap, low quality printing materials, machines and inks. Crap like this turns me off more than a lot of the other junk the company pulls. Put out a great product, not a crap one Wizards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
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Albeit, my guilds cards are warping even with the new coating, so it's possible that they just realized a new coating is not what people are looking for and maybe are trying better cardboard? Has WoTC said anything about swapping to the old coating again?
Edit: Also celebratory self obligated "I won the lottery" post of managing to pull a Doom Whisperer. Go go Surveil combo spam!
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Going to say it right now: If they don't fix their card quality so that they don't start bending like the cards from last year, I'm not playing or collecting MtG anymore. The cost to keep the cards from bending is pretty substantial as it involves double sleeving and then pressing the air out completely, while maintaining the cards flat and in a box with packing salts. I wish I was joking, but that is what it took to keep my cards from bending. The foils were a completely lost cause and I really hope that those masterpieces are not printed on the same presses. If they are those are going to need extreme care from collectors to keep them from self destructing.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I guess today's problem started around RTR as they had to ramp up card printing production and started to get noticeable with MM15 and other supplemental products, got bad during EMA, and finally hit rock bottom with Kaladesh/Amonkhet/Ixalan. Not just foils, card stock which probably affects foils as well.
Sadly WotC is very stingy with foil quality. My early 90s anime cards still look pack fresh while old foils starts to inevitably warp a bit or get foggy and new foils are just crap. Even Japanese printing won't help with WotC specifications. This is basically WotC trademark at this point although this low point is indeed too low even for WotC.
Also, I can see WotC reaches another rock bottom with this in the future. Planning ahead isn't WotC's forte. Another big growth of playerbase would cause a higher demand of printing. Lot of the bad batches released probably would be lessened if whoever was in charge of this planned ahead instead of cutting corners. Sadly, WotC will cut corners on various logistical aspects of MTG.
The roughness doesn't bother me. I played through Mirage and it was never an issue then. What bothers me is some of the cards have printing quality that is just garbage.
Yes they are more "blurry" out of focus as well. Not as crisp and defined. Yes this smacks of cheap, low quality printing materials, machines and inks. Crap like this turns me off more than a lot of the other junk the company pulls. Put out a great product, not a crap one Wizards.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."