It blows my mind to see people defending this card getting a rarity boost.
I think the point others are trying to make is that this was never printed in a set that had boosters (IE - randomization where rarities matter). To my knowledge it was only ever released in Plancechase 2012. If you bought the planechase deck it was in you were guaranteed a copy - much like precons. Wizards openly acknowledges that rarities in products where you know exactly what you are buying is as follows (going from memory so I could be slightly off) - For reprints, they would maintain their original rarity. For new cards, rarity would be dependent on the number of times a card appears in that series decklists (1x would be rare or Mythic. 2x or more would be uncommon)
In the 2012 Planechase Decks, Shardless Agentappeared as a 2x in Chaos Reigns - hence the uncommon rarity.
It blows my mind to see people defending this card getting a rarity boost.
I think the point others are trying to make is that this was never printed in a set that had boosters (IE - randomization where rarities matter). To my knowledge it was only ever released in Plancechase 2012. If you bought the planechase deck it was in you were guaranteed a copy - much like precons. Wizards openly acknowledges that rarities in products where you know exactly what you are buying is as follows (going from memory so I could be slightly off) - For reprints, they would maintain their original rarity. For new cards, rarity would be dependent on the number of times a card appears in that series decklists (1x would be rare or Mythic. 2x or more would be uncommon)
In the 2012 Planechase Decks, Shardless Agentappeared as a 2x in Chaos Reigns - hence the uncommon rarity.
But what is the purpose of making it a rare in this set? 3 mana cascade is hardly worthy of being rare, is it the 2/2 body that makes it rare these days?
I find it hard to believe that cards worthy $18 in their original printing needed a rarity boost for anything other than satiatiing certain groups who are more than likely the cause of card shortages and price hiking in the first place.
But hey, maybe enough of them will be opened to half it's price, after all there is only 1 format where it sees consistant play, maybe this is the shot in the arm it needs to tank below $10, probably less by the end of the year with anthologies.
I can't speak to why it was "upgraded" in rarity, only that it really never had a rarity to begin with. cascade cards in general are very powerful and can certainly.. ahem.. cascade limited games out of control. I certainly remember this mechanic doing amazing things in Shards block. Personally, I would have been happier seeing Bloodbraid Elf and rare as it tended to warp draft games around it. I don't know... Maybe the mechanic won't be so broken in EMA as compared to Shards. I just have nightmares of limited games where people were cascading into ridiculous strings to win games they shouldn't have.
From a pricing perspective, the card is going to get another influx in the Planechase Anthologies. So I doubt it is a rare in EMA for secondary market reasons.
A three mana Cascade creature is arguably more powerful in eternal formats than a four-mana one. Also, Shardless Agent is a 4-of staple in Shardless BUG Sultai, the deck that only exists because of the card. Sure, Bloodbraid is undoubtedly powerful, but it has yet to spawn its own eternal format deck archetype.
I know the card is great but i find it hard to beleive it having the same rarity as alot of powerhouses in this set.Also Bloodbraid Elf is Uncomon so why is this card a rare?
A three mana Cascade creature is arguably more powerful in eternal formats than a four-mana one. Also, Shardless Agent is a 4-of staple in Shardless BUG Sultai, the deck that only exists because of the card. Sure, Bloodbraid is undoubtedly powerful, but it has yet to spawn its own eternal format deck archetype.
Constructed has literally nothing to do with it's rarity in Limited.
I think being able to cascade into a Chain Lightning, Hymn to Tourach, Balance, Animate Dead, Baleful Strix, Cabal Therapy, or any of the other crazy 0-, 1-, or 2-drops that are in the set (thinking that Ancestral Vision might also be in the set, if it was designed and developed before plans to unban it in Modern were final) potentially on turn 1 or 2 is reason enough to bump it to rare.
I see the potential of the card, but those 0 to 2 cmc spells are mostly out of SA's colors. Without seeing the full set and the mana fixing, I can't really tell if a 3+ color deck is viable and justifying the rarity as of yet.
I think this card is very pretty without reminder text but- notice the Bloodbraid and Wanderer both have it?
The actual card will have reminder text; the Japanese version shown in the preview has it. I took a small amount of Æsthetic License with the mockup because of the positive reaction to Counterspell having the centered one-liner in this set.
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This shouldn't be rare, and we have every right to complain. The players are the ones who fund the game by continuing to play. If Wizards does something we disagree with, there's nothing wrong with articulating that dissatisfaction. We are not slaves, beholden to the infallible decisions of Wizards of the Coast. We have no reason to sycophantically agree with everything they say and do, if we think it could have been done better. This is a two-way street. WotC makes products we like, we purchase them, they make a ludicrous amount of money, and they make more products we want
It blows my mind to see people defending this card getting a rarity boost.
I think the point others are trying to make is that this was never printed in a set that had boosters (IE - randomization where rarities matter). To my knowledge it was only ever released in Plancechase 2012. If you bought the planechase deck it was in you were guaranteed a copy - much like precons. Wizards openly acknowledges that rarities in products where you know exactly what you are buying is as follows (going from memory so I could be slightly off) - For reprints, they would maintain their original rarity. For new cards, rarity would be dependent on the number of times a card appears in that series decklists (1x would be rare or Mythic. 2x or more would be uncommon)
In the 2012 Planechase Decks, Shardless Agentappeared as a 2x in Chaos Reigns - hence the uncommon rarity.
But what is the purpose of making it a rare in this set? 3 mana cascade is hardly worthy of being rare, is it the 2/2 body that makes it rare these days?
I find it hard to believe that cards worthy $18 in their original printing needed a rarity boost for anything other than satiatiing certain groups who are more than likely the cause of card shortages and price hiking in the first place.
But hey, maybe enough of them will be opened to half it's price, after all there is only 1 format where it sees consistant play, maybe this is the shot in the arm it needs to tank below $10, probably less by the end of the year with anthologies.
Two copies in Planechase Anthology will harm the price even more than the EMA print will.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hey all... I'm retired, not dead. Check out what I'm doing these days (and beg me to come back if you want):
I think the point others are trying to make is that this was never printed in a set that had boosters (IE - randomization where rarities matter). To my knowledge it was only ever released in Plancechase 2012. If you bought the planechase deck it was in you were guaranteed a copy - much like precons. Wizards openly acknowledges that rarities in products where you know exactly what you are buying is as follows (going from memory so I could be slightly off) - For reprints, they would maintain their original rarity. For new cards, rarity would be dependent on the number of times a card appears in that series decklists (1x would be rare or Mythic. 2x or more would be uncommon)
In the 2012 Planechase Decks, Shardless Agentappeared as a 2x in Chaos Reigns - hence the uncommon rarity.
I can't speak to why it was "upgraded" in rarity, only that it really never had a rarity to begin with. cascade cards in general are very powerful and can certainly.. ahem.. cascade limited games out of control. I certainly remember this mechanic doing amazing things in Shards block. Personally, I would have been happier seeing Bloodbraid Elf and rare as it tended to warp draft games around it. I don't know... Maybe the mechanic won't be so broken in EMA as compared to Shards. I just have nightmares of limited games where people were cascading into ridiculous strings to win games they shouldn't have.
From a pricing perspective, the card is going to get another influx in the Planechase Anthologies. So I doubt it is a rare in EMA for secondary market reasons.
BUGSultai, the deck that only exists because of the card. Sure, Bloodbraid is undoubtedly powerful, but it has yet to spawn its own eternal format deck archetype.Constructed has literally nothing to do with it's rarity in Limited.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
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The actual card will have reminder text; the Japanese version shown in the preview has it. I took a small amount of Æsthetic License with the mockup because of the positive reaction to Counterspell having the centered one-liner in this set.
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Two copies in Planechase Anthology will harm the price even more than the EMA print will.
https://twitch.tv/annorax10 (classic retro speedruns & occasional MTGO/MTGA screwaround streams)
https://twitch.tv/SwiftorCasino (yes, my team and I run live dealer games for the baldman using his channel points as chips)
Legacy: RUG Delver