Good promos don't even have to be produced once a month. Hell I'd take Fatal Pushes for 3 months. Its not like I make it in every week to get them.
The promo needs to rotate to ensure people are excited and want to show up. Promos last a month to ensure everyone has at least 1 week to get the promo they want (and those more dedicated can acquire a playset).
If I were WotC, I would leverage the new 3-and-1 model. In this model, they will be pumping out a new set once every 3 months. Here is how I would structure FNM Promos:
WotC selects 3 popular Rares from the previous set to be the Promos that people win if they do well at FNM.
WotC also selects 3 popular uncommons from the previous set to be promos that are handed out to every participant at FNM.
Each card selected will have variant art, be foiled and have a promo watermark/stamp.
This means that WotC simply needs to design 6 cards per set that they know will be both playable and popular.
At 249 Cards.... once you remove the 15 lands - its almost EXACTLY 3 cards per non-supplemental, non-reprint only, set. By my count, there's 88 sets with unique cards, and that averages to 2.95 cards per set.
Alpha
Arabian Nights
Antiquities
Legends
dark
Fallen Empires
Ice Age
Homelands
Alliances
Mirage
Visions
Portal
Weatherlight
Tempest
Stronghold
Exodus
Portal 2
Urza's Saga
Urza's Legacy
Urza's Destiny
20
Portal 3K
Mercadian Masques
Nemesis
Prophecy
Invasion
Planeshift
Apocalypse
Odyssey
Torment
Judgment
Onslaught
Legions
Scourge
Mirrodin
Darksteel
Fifth Dawn
Champions of Kamigawa
Betrayers of Kamigawa
Saviors of Kamigawa
Ravnica: City of Guilds
40
Guild Pact
Dissension
Coldsnap
Time Spiral
Planar Chaos
Future Sight
Lorwyn
Morningtide
Shadowmoor
Eventide
Shards of Alara
Conflux
Alara Reborn
Magic 2010
Zendikar
Worldwake
Rise of the Eldrazi
Magic 2011
Scars of Mirrodin
Mirrodin Besieged
60
New Phyrexia
Magic 2012
Innistrad
Dark Ascension
Avacyn Restored
Magic 2013
Return to Ravnica
Gatecrash
Dragon's Maze
Magic 2014
Theros
Born of the Gods
Journey into Nyx
Magic 2015
Kahns of Tarkir
Fate Reforged
Dragons of Tarkir
Magic Origins
Battle for Zendikar
Oath of the Gatewatch
80
Shadows over Innistrad
Eldritch Moon
Kaladesh
Aether Revolt
Amonkhet
Hour of Devastation
Ixalan
Explorers of Ixalan
It happened back in 2003, when 8th edition was released. WotC decided to more evenly distribute mechanics and keywords (because Blue and Black had too many, while White, Red and Green were (relatively) starved.
I imagine Pauper will be more heavily pushed by independent tournament organizers, rather than WotC. Which makes sense for Star City and Channel Fireball, since they are active in the secondary market and probably have a boatload of commons they are eager to offload.
There are already pauper decks over a hundred dollars, so who knows where the madness will end.
Yes, people can transition to cheaper decks, but, at a competitive level, that usually equals to a transition to weaker decks and consequently more losses, so that's not really an option.
You might think playing with commons would guarantee a cap on how high prices can go, but with some staples being old obscure cards, cards not many bothered to collect back then, today there aren't many of those around to satisfy demand, so don't be surprised to watch obscene prices in some common cards.
The nice thing is that WotC will have no qualms about re-printing expensive commons in their re-jiggered Masters sets (which can pull from any era now).
Pauper will not have one clearly dominant deck (as it would have already appeared on MTGO already). With so much card diversity, there are counters to just about every strategy. The format is wide open to experimentation. Just because Deck X is super popular does not mean it is unbeatable or the best the format can produce. People will brew decks that counter other decks or find whole new untapped strategies/combos. Even if certain cards become expensive, I seriously doubt they will be the only good cards in the format, or that they will stay pricey forever.
i see a pattern, because magic is expensive> people play a cheap format,format gets expensive, rinse repeat
sounds like pauper is a nice alternative to commander,"keep magic fun",hope it stays that way. how much can a common's price raise? (oh , 8$,10$? ) alright..
at least you wont see the ridiculous uncommon prices i guess
But commons are common, so there is a cap on how high prices can go. Adding to this is the fact that there are so many viable decks that, if one deck becomes super pricey, people will transition over to other, cheaper decks.
Regardless, Pauper decks will never be as expensive as Modern decks (some of which are over a thousand dollars to build).
If you want to sell, I would start thinking about it now. Probably wait to see if anything from Dominaria combos with your cards, which might spike the price.
The promo needs to rotate to ensure people are excited and want to show up. Promos last a month to ensure everyone has at least 1 week to get the promo they want (and those more dedicated can acquire a playset).
WotC selects 3 popular Rares from the previous set to be the Promos that people win if they do well at FNM.
WotC also selects 3 popular uncommons from the previous set to be promos that are handed out to every participant at FNM.
Each card selected will have variant art, be foiled and have a promo watermark/stamp.
This means that WotC simply needs to design 6 cards per set that they know will be both playable and popular.
Modern Masters 2017 had 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares. Let's assume WotC tries s to get as close to these numbers as possible.
1 Common from each set. Thats 88 Commons.
1 Uncommon from each set. Thats 88 Uncommons.
1 Rare/Mythic from every set that is not on the Reserved List (which has 19 sets). So that's 69 Rares/Mythics.
Splash in 4 more commons from the reserved list sets. Down grade 8 Uncommons to Commons.
You now have 100 Commons, 80 Uncommons and 69 Rares/Mythics.
Is the Magic symbol with 25 in front of it. Its not that bad!
The nice thing is that WotC will have no qualms about re-printing expensive commons in their re-jiggered Masters sets (which can pull from any era now).
Pauper will not have one clearly dominant deck (as it would have already appeared on MTGO already). With so much card diversity, there are counters to just about every strategy. The format is wide open to experimentation. Just because Deck X is super popular does not mean it is unbeatable or the best the format can produce. People will brew decks that counter other decks or find whole new untapped strategies/combos. Even if certain cards become expensive, I seriously doubt they will be the only good cards in the format, or that they will stay pricey forever.
But commons are common, so there is a cap on how high prices can go. Adding to this is the fact that there are so many viable decks that, if one deck becomes super pricey, people will transition over to other, cheaper decks.
Regardless, Pauper decks will never be as expensive as Modern decks (some of which are over a thousand dollars to build).
For all the naysayers, I remember when people scoffed at the idea of Commander becoming popular, and look at it now.