The set's rarity breakdown is: 55 commons (40@C2, 10@C3, 5@U6), 43 uncommon (40@U2, 3@R6), 46 rares (46@R2). It was perfectly possible to get an uncommon in your rare slot back then, since the sheets were laid out differently with commons on the uncommon sheet(U6) and Uncommons on the rare sheet(r6). Loose packs are a sign that the pack was searched, you could with those older packs slide the cards down from the top 1 at a time and know what was in the pack before opening since the package is slightly translucent.
Regardless of waht Wizards put in a set part of it would always be bad. For example, if we had a card that was (r) Instant do 3 damage and a card (1) (r) Instant do 3 damage it is obvious what one is better even though the higher cost one would be better if the 1 cost one didn't exist.
That is how magic works, people buy cards from a set and only so many cards can be good. That is what keeps people buying packs to get those few good cards from each set. Even if you are just buying singles from each set you need you are still paying to open the packs, it is just that you are skipping the other stuff you have to get to get the card you are buying. Wizards/Hasbro are in this to make money and that is it. If it makes them more money to make one product over another they are going to do so. We have a nonrotating format where every card you open in a draft can be used. They need formats like standard for them to keep making money by selling a new product, if they don't sell new products then they have no reason to keep printing anything and the game dies.
Cards will always lose value when better cards are available it's a fact of any trading card game. If you are in this for value and want to keep that value play Vintage or Legacy. Having different sealed product for different formats is a drain on both R&D resources as well as causes product fatigue. We are already seeing a sort of product fatigue with a new set every 3 months, plus half a dozen or so supplemental products per year. This is the main thing keeping set value low currently and the invention of a new rarity subclass at 1 per case of inventions etc. This causes more product to be opened dropping more rares and mythic into the market and causing, even more, price fatigue based on too much supply. Before in standard, a single set would contribute a dozen or so cards that valued between $5 and $20 and a few outliers at the top end. Now with an addition of a treasure hunt involved we end up with 2 maybe 3 cards over $10 and maybe 5 cards over $5 and the rest is pretty much dollar box chaff. This valuation is not being caused by rotation as much as it is being caused by too much product being opened and hitting the market. I buy 3 boxes every set and have since around Ice Age or so even though I started in Beta we didn't have boxes sitting on shelves to buy like we did by ice age. I am seeing a lot more people buying boxes at $90 or so on the chance they hit that $100 lottery ticket in an invocation.
Our store got their standard order, 8 of each unit. Here in NW Arkansas, every local Walmart has them like 4 or 5 of each. It is like the "limited" run of Nintendo Switches or amiibos. Everyone who is of the mind, I need it now because I may miss out on the next money card fro9m commander grabbed them now but just like last year more will get printed we still have all except 1 of last years sitting on the shelf in Walmart, and 2 or 3 of each of last years in Japanese.
But really if you want to do that, the only way to make it fair would be all basic lands restricted to 1. I could play blue without a basic land at all with the right amount of money. If you are going to have a store based league it is usually based on the standard 1v1 Commander rules, this makes it easier for new players etc that want to play in a store run format to play since it is a fixed set of rules across every store.
Only if you get lucky and someone is selling one on ebay, they weren't made to sell but were given to some people after the event. I have a giant mountain from years ago where they printed 2 giant decks to play at gencon.
The Ice age has returned to Dominaria, but this time it's colder even the underground seas have frozen, and the tropical islands have iced over. The elder dragon's awake to see what has befallen their lands. Alliances will be forged and new heroes will rise to help snap Dominaria out of this calamity.
I see this a lot, "wasting name space" There are billions of words in English and other languages as well as trillions of possible 2 word combos and Wizards could also just make up new names. Wasting name space is just a silly term that has no real word meaning. Sometimes wizards reprints a card for multiple reasons, Flavor, change of rarity, or as a gift to commander players.
Some of it is driven by Commander as well. They change the name on it and now you can technically have 2 copies of the same card in the set. Just look at 1 casting cost elves that produce 1 mana of some type there are quit a few out there
my vintage and legacy decks run KMC perfect fits, reg KMC sleeves and then the over sleeves that ift over a standard sleeve. I put the sleeves on in opposite directs so by the time I'm done nothing gets to the card. Have to weight them down after putting in to get all the air out and they are hard to shuffle but it is the safest way to protect cards your playing with. anything that seals your card has a risk of damaging it when you try to open it. Had a friend who ironed pennie sleeves over his cards about 15 years ago. Never could get them back out of the sleeve and they were water tight too
If players are buying from other players look to get about 80% or so of TCGplayer price since realistically that is what you end up with selling it there after fees and shipping, the best place to look for a fair price is TCGtrader since you could set up to sell there yourself. Players are looking for a deal if they can get it online cheaper that is where they are going most of the time.
I can make them but your looking at a few hundred dollars. If you wanted one that was like cedar inside with this as a veneer I could probably do them for about $100 or so each just standard ultra pro size. Burl is extremely difficult to work with in pieces large than say a 50 mm dice. I make d20's from them and sell at our local store for $25 each. I had a client bring me pictures of them and wanted a counter top( I run a cabinetry shop) The look on her face when I gave her a quote that was more than the value of her home said it all. They are beautiful and I love working with it, since it takes skill but yea its not cheap in any way at all. If you want a nice deck box I make cedar ones and oak. Cedar is great because it protects from insects etc and smells really nice. Still not cheap Deck boxes run $50 or so depending if you want brass accents, laser engraving etc.
According to the number crunch there is still plenty of room for it and high tide
It is a non-reserve list card that is played in legacy and has never been reprinted
and it is not an astronomically expensive card
I want a reprint becasue I love playing solidarity and would love to make a fully modern border semi competitive legacy deck that is not manaless dredge
That is how magic works, people buy cards from a set and only so many cards can be good. That is what keeps people buying packs to get those few good cards from each set. Even if you are just buying singles from each set you need you are still paying to open the packs, it is just that you are skipping the other stuff you have to get to get the card you are buying. Wizards/Hasbro are in this to make money and that is it. If it makes them more money to make one product over another they are going to do so. We have a nonrotating format where every card you open in a draft can be used. They need formats like standard for them to keep making money by selling a new product, if they don't sell new products then they have no reason to keep printing anything and the game dies.
Cards will always lose value when better cards are available it's a fact of any trading card game. If you are in this for value and want to keep that value play Vintage or Legacy. Having different sealed product for different formats is a drain on both R&D resources as well as causes product fatigue. We are already seeing a sort of product fatigue with a new set every 3 months, plus half a dozen or so supplemental products per year. This is the main thing keeping set value low currently and the invention of a new rarity subclass at 1 per case of inventions etc. This causes more product to be opened dropping more rares and mythic into the market and causing, even more, price fatigue based on too much supply. Before in standard, a single set would contribute a dozen or so cards that valued between $5 and $20 and a few outliers at the top end. Now with an addition of a treasure hunt involved we end up with 2 maybe 3 cards over $10 and maybe 5 cards over $5 and the rest is pretty much dollar box chaff. This valuation is not being caused by rotation as much as it is being caused by too much product being opened and hitting the market. I buy 3 boxes every set and have since around Ice Age or so even though I started in Beta we didn't have boxes sitting on shelves to buy like we did by ice age. I am seeing a lot more people buying boxes at $90 or so on the chance they hit that $100 lottery ticket in an invocation.
But really if you want to do that, the only way to make it fair would be all basic lands restricted to 1. I could play blue without a basic land at all with the right amount of money. If you are going to have a store based league it is usually based on the standard 1v1 Commander rules, this makes it easier for new players etc that want to play in a store run format to play since it is a fixed set of rules across every store.
If you had every set completed what deck would you play.
I have everything unlocked and a little over 9000 coins and Im bored looking for new ideas.
According to the number crunch there is still plenty of room for it and high tide
It is a non-reserve list card that is played in legacy and has never been reprinted
and it is not an astronomically expensive card
I want a reprint becasue I love playing solidarity and would love to make a fully modern border semi competitive legacy deck that is not manaless dredge