I don't feel like the power level plummeted. I just feel like certain cards didn't reach their full potential. I think it's a cost issue in most circumstances. The set overall is great from my perspective as an EDH player though. A lot of great, flavorful and very playable EDH gems. I love Devotion in Standard too.
EDH and Standard aren't how you can judge a set. EDH doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of the game and Standard has to use those cards as they are half of the cards in the format. If you look at it from the perspective of Modern or Legacy, the power-level plummeted.
Perhaps that's how you can judge the power level of a set - but judging it by one format is also inherently wrong. Sets are not designed with one format in mind but attempt to be all-encompassing. I enjoy the Theros block Standard compared to other Standards. It may not be Innistrad but it's still very fun. I think it's a great set to draft and a lot of its cards are finding their way into my EDH decks and collections. So to me it is a success.
There is a sense of entitlement from Modern players from what I can tell. I think some cards should have been more aggressively costed, yes. But at the same time, I don't feel like every set needs to churn out power creep. So what if Theros put out 10 cards max for that format? Is your argument then that sets that don't deliver enough to modern or have a threshold power level are bad regardless of their impact on the many other of MTG's formats?
No, I am saying that if every other Modern-legal block delivered at least X amount of cards, Theros shouldn't be so far behind.
Give it time. The block isn't even fully released yet and you're comparing it to blocks that have been out for years. I think it's nice to see a set having done so much and still managed to deliver some cards to Modern from the get go without the power creep crutch.
This
Remember Tarmogoyf started at $3(SCG pre-order price). And it took a while for the card to get discovered. Now it's selling for almost $200. Stoneforge Mystic was a completely innocent looking card meant to be an enabler for the upcoming Scars block but then the swords and Batterskull got released later which completely broke the card.
Not saying that any Theros Block card is in that ballpark but judging sets from the get-go is just foolish.
If one is a veteran of the game with more than 5 consecutive years of constructed Magic, I would presume he/she is able to judge a set from the get go decently. We've been through the goyf, jace, stoneforge mystic, heck even Geist of Saint Traft and Liliana of the Veil spike.
People are more connected than ever. We discuss new cards on a daily basis, such that topics can be beaten to death. We've speculators/hoarders; we've almost perfect information before the set releases.
Look at the tribute mechanic. Was it really that hard to dismiss it from the get go? Ditto Inspired. It's really not difficult to tell a bad set from a good one. Innistrad and RTR ONLY (to an extent) has set the bar for modern era magic. THS block has indeed gone down a few notches. Look at the rares from the the new set. Many are a bunch of combat tricks. They aren't gonna bring the house down. I for sure can't smell another goyf in JOU. Many of the chase cards are either clunky or too complicated to pull off.
1) It's common
2) It's competitively costed and instant
It's shocking because
Wizards don't do such effects at common going forward. They're clunky and expensive. Sure I may not kill a Hydra Broodmaster, but I'm definitely not meeting said card every other game. This card will win and lose me many games. It's so absurd; it's like Wizards brainfarted. The true Godsend for this limited environment.
I don't feel like the power level plummeted. I just feel like certain cards didn't reach their full potential. I think it's a cost issue in most circumstances. The set overall is great from my perspective as an EDH player though. A lot of great, flavorful and very playable EDH gems. I love Devotion in Standard too.
EDH and Standard aren't how you can judge a set. EDH doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of the game and Standard has to use those cards as they are half of the cards in the format. If you look at it from the perspective of Modern or Legacy, the power-level plummeted.
Perhaps that's how you can judge the power level of a set - but judging it by one format is also inherently wrong. Sets are not designed with one format in mind but attempt to be all-encompassing. I enjoy the Theros block Standard compared to other Standards. It may not be Innistrad but it's still very fun. I think it's a great set to draft and a lot of its cards are finding their way into my EDH decks and collections. So to me it is a success.
There is a sense of entitlement from Modern players from what I can tell. I think some cards should have been more aggressively costed, yes. But at the same time, I don't feel like every set needs to churn out power creep. So what if Theros put out 10 cards max for that format? Is your argument then that sets that don't deliver enough to modern or have a threshold power level are bad regardless of their impact on the many other of MTG's formats?
No, I am saying that if every other Modern-legal block delivered at least X amount of cards, Theros shouldn't be so far behind.
Give it time. The block isn't even fully released yet and you're comparing it to blocks that have been out for years. I think it's nice to see a set having done so much and still managed to deliver some cards to Modern from the get go without the power creep crutch.
This
Remember Tarmogoyf started at $3(SCG pre-order price). And it took a while for the card to get discovered. Now it's selling for almost $200. Stoneforge Mystic was a completely innocent looking card meant to be an enabler for the upcoming Scars block but then the swords and Batterskull got released later which completely broke the card.
Not saying that any Theros Block card is in that ballpark but judging sets from the get-go is just foolish.
I have three problems with the block. First, everything is costed. By nature of the mechanics you are paying for the effect one way or another. This is fine for some effects, but not theros's +1/+1 counter nonsense that we've already been flooded with the past few blocks. Next, there aren't any really fun build arounds. Constellation looked really cool and required significant deck building sacrifice to make work, but then they decided that only one card could cmc of three so it killed the idea of an enchant tempo build that woulda been fun. I'm not asking for broken, kamigawa and masques had these so it's not a power level issue, it's just they had to neuter so many potential builds to push people toward bigger higher costed creatures. This makes for a miserable standard IMO. Lastly, the death of UB and UR. I understand not printing powerful UR cards out of fear of them slotting in modern. Fine. But esper and UB need help there anyway and the ONE THING I WANTED was to see UB give up the mill identity nonsense so it can get it's control on again!
So there seems to be quite the debate going on here about the competitive viability of Theros block. I’ve found it a fun read. If possible, I’m going to agree with both sides. As it stands now, Theros has very few cards that are seeing competitive play outside of Standard. Personally I feel like Theros will be looked back on as very weak. With that being said, the last set of the block isn’t even out yet, and it seems to be the best of the block, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a few cards from the block start showing up in the near future. I don’t think we’ll see much right away though because I don’t see much that slots into already existing decks (except the Hatebears in sideboards) . The cards from Theros block will most likely need a new build around me deck to shine, if any end up doing so. Anyway, I posted a bunch of stats earlier in this thread about how many cards from each block see play in Modern according to MTGTOP8.com, I’ve gone ahead and added Legacy and EDH to the list. The list shows how many times a block has a card show up in the top 300, and top 100 most played cards in a particular format according to MTGTop8.com. FYI….cards only count for their original printing (eg. Shocks count for OG Rav but not RTR), except for the Modern count, which gives credit to the first Modern set it was printed in (eg. Terminate counts towards Shards for the Modern # but Planeshift for Legacy and EDH). Here are the results Top 300(Top 100):
This list, while not perfect, clearly shows that, at the very least, Theros has its work cut out for it. I know the block is still new, but I can’t see Theros surpassing even Shards on this list, which shows as relatively weak. A few things I found interesting….cards printed during the Modern timeframe represented 164 of the top 300 for Legacy and 158 of 300 for EDH, this isn’t counting cards that were printed in Core Sets during the Modern timeframe such as the Titans, M10 Checklands, Fauna Shaman, etc, so “Modern” cards represent an even higher percentage of the total. Also, people (myself included) often talk about power level rising steadily since Kamigawa, then falling again starting with Dragon’s Maze, according to these numbers, it was fairly consistent from Ravnica to Scars (except for Shards) and then began to fall off from there. Again, this could be because the cards haven’t been around as long. Anyway, as if this post wasn’t long and dorky enough, I’ve included the graph below to show power level from block to block. The number assigned to each block in the graph is the block’s total top 300 number plus its total top 100 number. I’m calling this number the block’s awesomeness rating. Hopefully someone gets something out of this other than I’ve got too much time on my hands. Here’s the chart:
Edit: The formatting of the results didn't post as I hoped. I don't know how to fix it, hopefully they're discernible as is.
Edit 2: Formatting better?
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
I don't feel like the power level plummeted. I just feel like certain cards didn't reach their full potential. I think it's a cost issue in most circumstances. The set overall is great from my perspective as an EDH player though. A lot of great, flavorful and very playable EDH gems. I love Devotion in Standard too.
EDH and Standard aren't how you can judge a set. EDH doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of the game and Standard has to use those cards as they are half of the cards in the format. If you look at it from the perspective of Modern or Legacy, the power-level plummeted.
Perhaps that's how you can judge the power level of a set - but judging it by one format is also inherently wrong. Sets are not designed with one format in mind but attempt to be all-encompassing. I enjoy the Theros block Standard compared to other Standards. It may not be Innistrad but it's still very fun. I think it's a great set to draft and a lot of its cards are finding their way into my EDH decks and collections. So to me it is a success.
There is a sense of entitlement from Modern players from what I can tell. I think some cards should have been more aggressively costed, yes. But at the same time, I don't feel like every set needs to churn out power creep. So what if Theros put out 10 cards max for that format? Is your argument then that sets that don't deliver enough to modern or have a threshold power level are bad regardless of their impact on the many other of MTG's formats?
No, I am saying that if every other Modern-legal block delivered at least X amount of cards, Theros shouldn't be so far behind.
Give it time. The block isn't even fully released yet and you're comparing it to blocks that have been out for years. I think it's nice to see a set having done so much and still managed to deliver some cards to Modern from the get go without the power creep crutch.
This
Remember Tarmogoyf started at $3(SCG pre-order price). And it took a while for the card to get discovered. Now it's selling for almost $200. Stoneforge Mystic was a completely innocent looking card meant to be an enabler for the upcoming Scars block but then the swords and Batterskull got released later which completely broke the card.
Not saying that any Theros Block card is in that ballpark but judging sets from the get-go is just foolish.
I have three problems with the block. First, everything is costed. By nature of the mechanics you are paying for the effect one way or another. This is fine for some effects, but not theros's +1/+1 counter nonsense that we've already been flooded with the past few blocks. Next, there aren't any really fun build arounds. Constellation looked really cool and required significant deck building sacrifice to make work, but then they decided that only one card could cmc of three so it killed the idea of an enchant tempo build that woulda been fun. I'm not asking for broken, kamigawa and masques had these so it's not a power level issue, it's just they had to neuter so many potential builds to push people toward bigger higher costed creatures. This makes for a miserable standard IMO. Lastly, the death of UB and UR. I understand not printing powerful UR cards out of fear of them slotting in modern. Fine. But esper and UB need help there anyway and the ONE THING I WANTED was to see UB give up the mill identity nonsense so it can get it's control on again!
Wait last time i checked ub got a inspired that is a transmute any card on a stick and is not really a mill card...
I don't feel like the power level plummeted. I just feel like certain cards didn't reach their full potential. I think it's a cost issue in most circumstances. The set overall is great from my perspective as an EDH player though. A lot of great, flavorful and very playable EDH gems. I love Devotion in Standard too.
EDH and Standard aren't how you can judge a set. EDH doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of the game and Standard has to use those cards as they are half of the cards in the format. If you look at it from the perspective of Modern or Legacy, the power-level plummeted.
Perhaps that's how you can judge the power level of a set - but judging it by one format is also inherently wrong. Sets are not designed with one format in mind but attempt to be all-encompassing. I enjoy the Theros block Standard compared to other Standards. It may not be Innistrad but it's still very fun. I think it's a great set to draft and a lot of its cards are finding their way into my EDH decks and collections. So to me it is a success.
There is a sense of entitlement from Modern players from what I can tell. I think some cards should have been more aggressively costed, yes. But at the same time, I don't feel like every set needs to churn out power creep. So what if Theros put out 10 cards max for that format? Is your argument then that sets that don't deliver enough to modern or have a threshold power level are bad regardless of their impact on the many other of MTG's formats?
No, I am saying that if every other Modern-legal block delivered at least X amount of cards, Theros shouldn't be so far behind.
Give it time. The block isn't even fully released yet and you're comparing it to blocks that have been out for years. I think it's nice to see a set having done so much and still managed to deliver some cards to Modern from the get go without the power creep crutch.
This
Remember Tarmogoyf started at $3(SCG pre-order price). And it took a while for the card to get discovered. Now it's selling for almost $200. Stoneforge Mystic was a completely innocent looking card meant to be an enabler for the upcoming Scars block but then the swords and Batterskull got released later which completely broke the card.
Not saying that any Theros Block card is in that ballpark but judging sets from the get-go is just foolish.
I have three problems with the block. First, everything is costed. By nature of the mechanics you are paying for the effect one way or another. This is fine for some effects, but not theros's +1/+1 counter nonsense that we've already been flooded with the past few blocks. Next, there aren't any really fun build arounds. Constellation looked really cool and required significant deck building sacrifice to make work, but then they decided that only one card could cmc of three so it killed the idea of an enchant tempo build that woulda been fun. I'm not asking for broken, kamigawa and masques had these so it's not a power level issue, it's just they had to neuter so many potential builds to push people toward bigger higher costed creatures. This makes for a miserable standard IMO. Lastly, the death of UB and UR. I understand not printing powerful UR cards out of fear of them slotting in modern. Fine. But esper and UB need help there anyway and the ONE THING I WANTED was to see UB give up the mill identity nonsense so it can get it's control on again!
Wait last time i checked ub got a inspired that is a transmute any card on a stick and is not really a mill card...
Like many players, I would like to pretend inspired never happened. I am for the moment ignoring the limited environment, which is I'll admit perfectly adequate for those into that sorta thing.
I don't feel like the power level plummeted. I just feel like certain cards didn't reach their full potential. I think it's a cost issue in most circumstances. The set overall is great from my perspective as an EDH player though. A lot of great, flavorful and very playable EDH gems. I love Devotion in Standard too.
EDH and Standard aren't how you can judge a set. EDH doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of the game and Standard has to use those cards as they are half of the cards in the format. If you look at it from the perspective of Modern or Legacy, the power-level plummeted.
I think the only way the power level of an eternal format could plummet is if they ban staple cards from multiple decks all at once. A set producing no new staples for these formats won't drop the power level of those formats... it might keep them stagnant, sure, but it would not make it plummet. Even in a non-eternal format such as Standard, the only time the power level could DROP is with card bannings (like what happened with Affinity and CawBlade) or at the time of a block rotation. JOU wouldn't qualify as dropping the power level in that respect either, as this set is not pushing a rotation into effect.
I'm quite happy to see Zendikar at the top of the block awesomeness rating
(I know the fetches are artificially inflating that value shush)
You know, I thought a lot about whether or not to count a card more than once. For example, each Zendikar fetchland shows up in the top 300 for Modern, EDH and Legacy, plus I think they all show up in the top 100 for each format as well. Since I added together the top 100 and top 300 to come up with the awesomeness rating, the 5 Zen fetches count towards 30 points of Zendikar's 111 point awesomeness rating ((2pts per format x 3 formats) x 5 fetches = 30 points) My thought behind this is, if a card shows up in the top 100, why shouldn't it get 2 points instead of the 1 point a card that only shows up between the top 100 to 300 cards gets. Along the same lines, if a card is good enough to show up in all 3 formats, shouldn't it be considered better than a card that only shows up in 1? Ultimately, what I was trying to achieve was a non-biased point system to give some cards more value when trying to rate them, otherwise, on paper, a Deadshot Minotaur is as good as a Snapcaster Mage. Long story short, I wouldn't call it artificial inflation. Does that make sense?
Edit: When I first started counting up the cards for Modern I was using different hash marks for lands knowing they would have a huge impact, but then I scrapped it figuring lands are the most important cards in Magic. I could potentially post those (non-land) results as well if anyone is interested.
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
Another set reveal, another one of Valanarch's fits about "nothing for Modern" Modern doesn't NEED a huge influx of new stuff. It just needs some key roleplayers that allow for diversity. Plus Modern should be about a living, breathing ban list.(as long as it keeps stoneforge OR jace banned at all times, they aren't allowed to be unbanned together)
I don't feel like the power level plummeted. I just feel like certain cards didn't reach their full potential. I think it's a cost issue in most circumstances. The set overall is great from my perspective as an EDH player though. A lot of great, flavorful and very playable EDH gems. I love Devotion in Standard too.
EDH and Standard aren't how you can judge a set. EDH doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of the game and Standard has to use those cards as they are half of the cards in the format. If you look at it from the perspective of Modern or Legacy, the power-level plummeted.
I think the only way the power level of an eternal format could plummet is if they ban staple cards from multiple decks all at once. A set producing no new staples for these formats won't drop the power level of those formats... it might keep them stagnant, sure, but it would not make it plummet. Even in a non-eternal format such as Standard, the only time the power level could DROP is with card bannings (like what happened with Affinity and CawBlade) or at the time of a block rotation. JOU wouldn't qualify as dropping the power level in that respect either, as this set is not pushing a rotation into effect.
That wasn't what I meant. The power-level of cards entering the format has plummeted.
This
Remember Tarmogoyf started at $3(SCG pre-order price). And it took a while for the card to get discovered. Now it's selling for almost $200. Stoneforge Mystic was a completely innocent looking card meant to be an enabler for the upcoming Scars block but then the swords and Batterskull got released later which completely broke the card.
Not saying that any Theros Block card is in that ballpark but judging sets from the get-go is just foolish.
People are more connected than ever. We discuss new cards on a daily basis, such that topics can be beaten to death. We've speculators/hoarders; we've almost perfect information before the set releases.
Look at the tribute mechanic. Was it really that hard to dismiss it from the get go? Ditto Inspired. It's really not difficult to tell a bad set from a good one. Innistrad and RTR ONLY (to an extent) has set the bar for modern era magic. THS block has indeed gone down a few notches. Look at the rares from the the new set. Many are a bunch of combat tricks. They aren't gonna bring the house down. I for sure can't smell another goyf in JOU. Many of the chase cards are either clunky or too complicated to pull off.
It's not rocket science, really.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
1) It's common
2) It's competitively costed and instant
It's shocking because
Wizards don't do such effects at common going forward. They're clunky and expensive. Sure I may not kill a Hydra Broodmaster, but I'm definitely not meeting said card every other game. This card will win and lose me many games. It's so absurd; it's like Wizards brainfarted. The true Godsend for this limited environment.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
I have three problems with the block. First, everything is costed. By nature of the mechanics you are paying for the effect one way or another. This is fine for some effects, but not theros's +1/+1 counter nonsense that we've already been flooded with the past few blocks. Next, there aren't any really fun build arounds. Constellation looked really cool and required significant deck building sacrifice to make work, but then they decided that only one card could cmc of three so it killed the idea of an enchant tempo build that woulda been fun. I'm not asking for broken, kamigawa and masques had these so it's not a power level issue, it's just they had to neuter so many potential builds to push people toward bigger higher costed creatures. This makes for a miserable standard IMO. Lastly, the death of UB and UR. I understand not printing powerful UR cards out of fear of them slotting in modern. Fine. But esper and UB need help there anyway and the ONE THING I WANTED was to see UB give up the mill identity nonsense so it can get it's control on again!
Mirrodin: Modern: 23(9) Legacy: 22(2) EDH: 13(3) Total: 58(14)
Kamigawa: Modern: 8(3) Legacy: 7(3) EDH: 6(1) Total: 21(7)
Ravnica: Modern: 27(17) Legacy: 12(2) EDH: 19(6) Total: 58(25)
Time Spiral: Modern: 26(5) Legacy: 28(6) EDH: 20(6) Total: 74(17)
Lorwyn: Modern: 28(10) Legacy: 17(6) EDH: 16(6) Total: 61(22)
Shards: Modern: 17(6) Legacy: 9(3) EDH: 6(2) Total: 32(11)
Zendikar: Modern: 29(11) Legacy: 21(11) EDH: 26(13) Total: 76(35)
Scars: Modern: 28(16) Legacy: 20(6) EDH: 19(8) Total: 67(30)
Innistrad: Modern: 19(8) Legacy: 16(9) EDH: 20(4) Total: 55(21)
RTR: Modern: 15(3) Legacy: 10(3) EDH: 8(3) Total: 33(9)
Theros: Modern: 8(2) Legacy: 2(0) EDH: 5(0) Total: 15(2)
This list, while not perfect, clearly shows that, at the very least, Theros has its work cut out for it. I know the block is still new, but I can’t see Theros surpassing even Shards on this list, which shows as relatively weak. A few things I found interesting….cards printed during the Modern timeframe represented 164 of the top 300 for Legacy and 158 of 300 for EDH, this isn’t counting cards that were printed in Core Sets during the Modern timeframe such as the Titans, M10 Checklands, Fauna Shaman, etc, so “Modern” cards represent an even higher percentage of the total. Also, people (myself included) often talk about power level rising steadily since Kamigawa, then falling again starting with Dragon’s Maze, according to these numbers, it was fairly consistent from Ravnica to Scars (except for Shards) and then began to fall off from there. Again, this could be because the cards haven’t been around as long. Anyway, as if this post wasn’t long and dorky enough, I’ve included the graph below to show power level from block to block. The number assigned to each block in the graph is the block’s total top 300 number plus its total top 100 number. I’m calling this number the block’s awesomeness rating. Hopefully someone gets something out of this other than I’ve got too much time on my hands. Here’s the chart:
Edit: The formatting of the results didn't post as I hoped. I don't know how to fix it, hopefully they're discernible as is.
Edit 2: Formatting better?
Wait last time i checked ub got a inspired that is a transmute any card on a stick and is not really a mill card...
Like many players, I would like to pretend inspired never happened. I am for the moment ignoring the limited environment, which is I'll admit perfectly adequate for those into that sorta thing.
(I know the fetches are artificially inflating that value shush)
You know, I thought a lot about whether or not to count a card more than once. For example, each Zendikar fetchland shows up in the top 300 for Modern, EDH and Legacy, plus I think they all show up in the top 100 for each format as well. Since I added together the top 100 and top 300 to come up with the awesomeness rating, the 5 Zen fetches count towards 30 points of Zendikar's 111 point awesomeness rating ((2pts per format x 3 formats) x 5 fetches = 30 points) My thought behind this is, if a card shows up in the top 100, why shouldn't it get 2 points instead of the 1 point a card that only shows up between the top 100 to 300 cards gets. Along the same lines, if a card is good enough to show up in all 3 formats, shouldn't it be considered better than a card that only shows up in 1? Ultimately, what I was trying to achieve was a non-biased point system to give some cards more value when trying to rate them, otherwise, on paper, a Deadshot Minotaur is as good as a Snapcaster Mage. Long story short, I wouldn't call it artificial inflation. Does that make sense?
Edit: When I first started counting up the cards for Modern I was using different hash marks for lands knowing they would have a huge impact, but then I scrapped it figuring lands are the most important cards in Magic. I could potentially post those (non-land) results as well if anyone is interested.
Many thanks to DNC at Heroes of the Plane Studios
That wasn't what I meant. The power-level of cards entering the format has plummeted.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.