Yeah, the "removing DotS dumbed down the game" argument is laughable. It's obvious that removing it has lead to more choices players must make during combat, not fewer, and more choices = more chances for skill to affect the game by making correct/incorrect decisions.
It DOES remove an edge for experienced (not necessarily skilled) players, but that edge didn't make the game any smarter (though it may have made some people FEEL smarter). If you were too new/casual to know how DotS worked, you lost value relative to players who knew about it, but that's almost all it was... a simple, binary "Do you know how this works, yes/no?" (Yes, there were a few cases where DotS created meaningful decisions that the new system does not, but those are almost negligible compared to the frequency and importance of the added decisions and more powerful instant-speed effects that can now be printed)
That's the worst kind of rule... one that adds a barrier to entry/additional complexity for the new player, WITHOUT adding strategic decision-making for the established player. It should have gone years earlier.
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Finally, an expert chimes in...
I honestly don't agree with any of your specs, simply because there cannot be that much value in a set. Yes, new cards are cool, but for a random rare to be $5, it has to be highly played.
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There's a great article by Ben Bleiweiss about the 100 worst cards of all time, written in 2004. It'll be hard to top it, as creatures are generally a lot more balanced these days. Here's the link:
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/6699_18000_Words_The_100_Worst_Magic_Cards_of_All_Time_201.html
My favorite is Nameless Race, which is comparable to Wood Elemental, but perhaps even more useless, as it simply has no P/T if your opponent isn't playing white.