I just had an interesting thought... why aren't there Masterpieces in the Master Sets?
I have an idea about how they would look that is not only simple, but very iconic & would be a throwback:
Why not have the Masterpieces be in the old, original borders, but as foils? I think it would be sicks to see Modern Staples in the old border, but all shiny with a mixture of new art and iconic old art. Just think about it, cards like Stoneforge Mystic or Fatal Push or Coalition Relic in the classic borders (btw, those are just Modern cards pulled out of thin air, any example would do).
My next thought/question is:
Would you be excited for this idea? And what if the exuberant price per pack did not increase? Would it be a great selling point? With the small print run that Master Sets already take on, these would be extreme chase cards. I'm talking only about 1,000 copies of each one circulating around the world. That's it.
I'm a big fan of the old borders so I actually like the idea.
I'm not a fan of the new art direction and frame style that Magic has taken. Especially the shape and sizing of art in the new frame. Compare the Ice Age version of a card to the same card for Coldsnap. Hint: look for the artist signature in both.
I would absolutely love a foil Mark Tedin Winter Orb in the original border. It's just begging to get a proper reprint. *
However....
I imagine the fanbase for old art/old frame is very small. Much much smaller than the fanbase that actually like the Amonkhet garbage. So while I actually like the idea and would absolutely love to see it come to fruition, I think the only people willing to buy them would be people like me and single sellers cracking boxes.
* nevermind the black elephant standing in the room.
Edit: Surprisingly, we don't list the Coldsnap version so I changed it to a link on Scryfall. Sorry....
I just had an interesting thought... why aren't there Masterpieces in the Master Sets?
I have an idea about how they would look that is not only simple, but very iconic & would be a throwback:
Why not have the Masterpieces be in the old, original borders, but as foils? I think it would be sicks to see Modern Staples in the old border, but all shiny with a mixture of new art and iconic old art. Just think about it, cards like Stoneforge Mystic or Fatal Push or Coalition Relic in the classic borders (btw, those are just Modern cards pulled out of thin air, any example would do).
My next thought/question is:
Would you be excited for this idea? And what if the exuberant price per pack did not increase? Would it be a great selling point? With the small print run that Master Sets already take on, these would be extreme chase cards. I'm talking only about 1,000 copies of each one circulating around the world. That's it.
Thoughts? Ideas? Complications?
The big problem with bringing back the masterpieces in anything, even masters sets, is that wizards is already on dicey ground with packs as it stands. It won't work for the same reason they can't talk about the reserved list - doing so would acknowledge the secondary market, which in turn would acknowledge that wizards prints some cards with more value than others, which makes cracking packs no different from opening lootboxes that many states and countries are cracking down on for promoting underage gambling.
I imagine we won't see masterpieces back anytime soon, or likely ever until there's a massive change in the legality of such things.
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The big problem with bringing back the masterpieces in anything, even masters sets, is that wizards is already on dicey ground with packs as it stands. It won't work for the same reason they can't talk about the reserved list - doing so would acknowledge the secondary market, which in turn would acknowledge that wizards prints some cards with more value than others, which makes cracking packs no different from opening lootboxes that many states and countries are cracking down on for promoting underage gambling.
I imagine we won't see masterpieces back anytime soon, or likely ever until there's a massive change in the legality of such things.
I'm starting to think this is why Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro is going all in on Magic Arena because it helps them avoid any legal ramifications that come their way in regards to Paper Magic as they're hoping that the people who've been playing Magic for a long period of time will reluctantly join them even though they can already see that it's a scam to get players and collectors to sell their Paper Magic collections so that they won't have to pay for Magic Arena being a free to play download with a prize pool.
I personally don't think that either company is crazy enough to pull something like that off but it does make you wonder what could be going on behind the scenes. I'd much rather not try to stir up a conspiracy theory regarding Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro's business decisions involving Paper Magic so I'll just leave it at that. To answer ed06288's question I don't think the Box Toppers in Ultimate Masters are Masterpieces since they would've been completely different cards compared to the ones you pull out of the booster packs.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
The classic border is never coming back; "We couldn’t do an old frame because we need the bottom part for collation. I was saying we wouldn’t do a top old frame and the bottom new frame which is the only way to do an old frame card (in a collated product)." - Mark Rosewater LINK.
Honestly, Wizards should bite the bullet and print almost fetch lands at uncommon (look at the top 10 cards, to be Arena friendly / avoid shuffling) or the actual fetch lands. The cost to entry for modern is mostly the land. Just let everyone have good mana...
Masterpieces were overplayed, used sparingly they wouldn't have received as much negative feedback. Then again Masters sets were overdone too and won't be coming back for a while.
well... there's also the royalties aspect of the old frame
then there's the fact that masters sets sell, yes even the bad ones, so do they really need masterpieces to sell better?
and as for fetches at uncommon... no. just no. look i get it. your land base can be expensive in modern, but thats the cost of playing modern. fetches sell packs so they're more likely to put them in sets that they aren't sure about or where it fits thematically. you do actually need some cards worth money as long as you're producing physical product or theres no reason for anyone to actually open anything. not sure about you guys, but i like being able to play the game long term.
that's something I would have never thought of on my own but it would actually be really cool.
It would provide people who love old borders but can't get the original in foil, to get them in foil. Plus it still adds a sort of unique qualities of masterpieces to justify having a masterpiece.
stoneforge mystic in old border would be especially cool since I know they've done a few of the swords in old frame
Not gonna lie, I've put a priority into getting old-border foils of new cards that came out in judge foils. Love 'em love 'em love 'em. I'm sure they could do a box topper series akin to the Ultimate ones doing it. It's a lot less about collating at that point. I agree that Winter Orb foiled would be SOOOOOO awesome. I'd like to see some of the Legends foiled out (I'm looking at you Dakkon Blackblade).
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Old frames are legit, and the best foils. They just pop
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Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Whether its blue players countering your spells, red players burning you out, or combo, if you have a problem with an aspect of Magic's gameplay, you can fix it!
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
Masters sets will sellout regardless of anything else you do to it. Masterpieces are designed as incentive for people to buy lots of boxes for sets that otherwise would not as easily sell as many.
Old frames are legit, and the best foils. They just pop
I agree. There may be less space for the art on the old frames, and they can dominate some pictures, and the frames don't look equally good in foil (IMO black, blue, artifacts, lands are better than white, red, green and multicolor) but as foils they were the best looking ones and the best quality.
No modern card looks half as good as this does in hand.
I have an idea about how they would look that is not only simple, but very iconic & would be a throwback:
Why not have the Masterpieces be in the old, original borders, but as foils? I think it would be sicks to see Modern Staples in the old border, but all shiny with a mixture of new art and iconic old art. Just think about it, cards like Stoneforge Mystic or Fatal Push or Coalition Relic in the classic borders (btw, those are just Modern cards pulled out of thin air, any example would do).
My next thought/question is:
Would you be excited for this idea? And what if the exuberant price per pack did not increase? Would it be a great selling point? With the small print run that Master Sets already take on, these would be extreme chase cards. I'm talking only about 1,000 copies of each one circulating around the world. That's it.
Thoughts? Ideas? Complications?
I'm not a fan of the new art direction and frame style that Magic has taken. Especially the shape and sizing of art in the new frame. Compare the Ice Age version of a card to the same card for Coldsnap. Hint: look for the artist signature in both.
I would absolutely love a foil Mark Tedin Winter Orb in the original border. It's just begging to get a proper reprint. *
However....
I imagine the fanbase for old art/old frame is very small. Much much smaller than the fanbase that actually like the Amonkhet garbage. So while I actually like the idea and would absolutely love to see it come to fruition, I think the only people willing to buy them would be people like me and single sellers cracking boxes.
* nevermind the black elephant standing in the room.
Edit: Surprisingly, we don't list the Coldsnap version so I changed it to a link on Scryfall. Sorry....
The big problem with bringing back the masterpieces in anything, even masters sets, is that wizards is already on dicey ground with packs as it stands. It won't work for the same reason they can't talk about the reserved list - doing so would acknowledge the secondary market, which in turn would acknowledge that wizards prints some cards with more value than others, which makes cracking packs no different from opening lootboxes that many states and countries are cracking down on for promoting underage gambling.
I imagine we won't see masterpieces back anytime soon, or likely ever until there's a massive change in the legality of such things.
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
Unless you like the way we did it where the lottery cards were a bit more random, where you opened one in every 500 packs or so.
I personally don't think that either company is crazy enough to pull something like that off but it does make you wonder what could be going on behind the scenes. I'd much rather not try to stir up a conspiracy theory regarding Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro's business decisions involving Paper Magic so I'll just leave it at that. To answer ed06288's question I don't think the Box Toppers in Ultimate Masters are Masterpieces since they would've been completely different cards compared to the ones you pull out of the booster packs.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Honestly, Wizards should bite the bullet and print almost fetch lands at uncommon (look at the top 10 cards, to be Arena friendly / avoid shuffling) or the actual fetch lands. The cost to entry for modern is mostly the land. Just let everyone have good mana...
Masterpieces were overplayed, used sparingly they wouldn't have received as much negative feedback. Then again Masters sets were overdone too and won't be coming back for a while.
then there's the fact that masters sets sell, yes even the bad ones, so do they really need masterpieces to sell better?
and as for fetches at uncommon... no. just no. look i get it. your land base can be expensive in modern, but thats the cost of playing modern. fetches sell packs so they're more likely to put them in sets that they aren't sure about or where it fits thematically. you do actually need some cards worth money as long as you're producing physical product or theres no reason for anyone to actually open anything. not sure about you guys, but i like being able to play the game long term.
It would provide people who love old borders but can't get the original in foil, to get them in foil. Plus it still adds a sort of unique qualities of masterpieces to justify having a masterpiece.
stoneforge mystic in old border would be especially cool since I know they've done a few of the swords in old frame
Proud Owner of:
Extremeicon's Hamster-balled soul
Istanbul's Soul, Bidder of Myself
votan's Linux-loving Soul
grappler12's Poop-smithing Soul
Sir Blakely's Fencing Soul
CraZedMiKe's Soul Transferred Back at His Request
HAWKEYE 7's Calvin and Hobbes Loving Soul
Tanthalas' Greek Alliance Soul
Avatar of Kokusho's Island-Hating Soul
Salubrious' Rather-Belatedly Added Soul
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What...? You mean the old art. The old frame has nothing to do with royalties.
Onering's 4 simple steps that let you solve any problem with Magic's gameplay
Step 1: Identify the problem. What aspect of Magic don't you like? Step 2: Find out how others deal with the problem. How do players deal with this aspect of the game when they run into it? Step 3: Do what those players do. Step 4: No more problem. Bonus: You are now better at Magic. Enjoy those extra wins!
I agree. There may be less space for the art on the old frames, and they can dominate some pictures, and the frames don't look equally good in foil (IMO black, blue, artifacts, lands are better than white, red, green and multicolor) but as foils they were the best looking ones and the best quality.
No modern card looks half as good as this does in hand.