The Reserved List

Mystical Tutor card art

As you'd imagine, the Internet reacted to Elon Musk's Twitter takeover with a flurry of jokes. Here's one of them:

That list is the subject of today's post. 

The Reserved List was created in 1996 and updated twice (last in 2010). It features 572 cards from the Alpha (the first set) through Urza's Destiny (released in 1999) that will never be reprinted. (You can see the list on the official page.)

The Reserved List is different than banned or restricted cards- those cards that cannot be played at all (or include only one copy in a deck) depending on format. Though some Reserved List cards are also on the banned/restricted list, most are not, meaning one can have 4 copies in a deck (if the format in question permits that card's set). And they're not necessarily powerful or expensive- MTGStocks shows the value of Reserved List cards, and quite a few can be purchased for less than ten dollars.

So why the Reserved List? MTG Wiki says it best:

"The Reserved List is a list of Magic: The Gathering cards that will never be reprinted in order to preserve their value on the secondary market."

The official Wizards page talks the list on their reprint policy page. Basically, they're trying to strike a balance, for the same reason they rotate sets.

• Reprinting cards enables new players to obtain staples or favorites. It can encourage participation and growth. But it also drives the price of those cards down.
• Refusing to reprint [some] cards preserves value for the veteran players and collectors. It can encourage investment in the game. 

There is always a balance between including the new and honoring the old. Set rotation and The Reserved List are two ways to do that. Though I don't always agree with how Wizards produces Magic, I believe these two concepts are good ideas.

Creature Types and Prevalence

a fun card in any tribal deck

I've previously blogged about creature types and tribes in Magic. Today I look at the prevalence of types.

From the most recent (4/29/2022) comprehensive rules, the current creature types are:

205.3m Creatures and tribals share their lists of subtypes; these subtypes are called creature types. The creature types are Advisor, Aetherborn, Ally, Angel, Antelope, Ape, Archer, Archon, Army, Artificer, Assassin, Assembly-Worker, Atog, Aurochs, Avatar, Azra, Badger, Barbarian, Bard, Basilisk, Bat, Bear, Beast, Beeble, Beholder, Berserker, Bird, Blinkmoth, Boar, Bringer, Brushwagg, Camarid, Camel, Caribou, Carrier, Cat, Centaur, Cephalid, Chimera, Citizen, Cleric, Cockatrice, Construct, Coward, Crab, Crocodile, Cyclops, Dauthi, Demigod, Demon, Deserter, Devil, Dinosaur, Djinn, Dog, Dragon, Drake, Dreadnought, Drone, Druid, Dryad, Dwarf, Efreet, Egg, Elder, Eldrazi, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Elk, Eye, Faerie, Ferret, Fish, Flagbearer, Fox, Fractal, Frog, Fungus, Gargoyle, Germ, Giant, Gnoll, Gnome, Goat, Goblin, God, Golem, Gorgon, Graveborn, Gremlin, Griffin, Hag, Halfling, Hamster, Harpy, Hellion, Hippo, Hippogriff, Homarid, Homunculus, Horror, Horse, Human, Hydra, Hyena, Illusion, Imp, Incarnation, Inkling, Insect, Jackal, Jellyfish, Juggernaut, Kavu, Kirin, Kithkin, Knight, Kobold, Kor, Kraken, Lamia, Lammasu, Leech, Leviathan, Lhurgoyf, Licid, Lizard, Manticore, Masticore, Mercenary, Merfolk, Metathran, Minion, Minotaur, Mole, Monger, Mongoose, Monk, Monkey, Moonfolk, Mouse, Mutant, Myr, Mystic, Naga, Nautilus, Nephilim, Nightmare, Nightstalker, Ninja, Noble, Noggle, Nomad, Nymph, Octopus, Ogre, Ooze, Orb, Orc, Orgg, Otter, Ouphe, Ox, Oyster, Pangolin, Peasant, Pegasus, Pentavite, Pest, Phelddagrif, Phoenix, Phyrexian, Pilot, Pincher, Pirate, Plant, Praetor, Prism, Processor, Rabbit, Raccoon, Ranger, Rat, Rebel, Reflection, Rhino, Rigger, Rogue, Sable, Salamander, Samurai, Sand, Saproling, Satyr, Scarecrow, Scion, Scorpion, Scout, Sculpture, Serf, Serpent, Servo, Shade, Shaman, Shapeshifter, Shark, Sheep, Siren, Skeleton, Slith, Sliver, Slug, Snake, Soldier, Soltari, Spawn, Specter, Spellshaper, Sphinx, Spider, Spike, Spirit, Splinter, Sponge, Squid, Squirrel, Starfish, Surrakar, Survivor, Tentacle, Tetravite, Thalakos, Thopter, Thrull, Tiefling, Treefolk, Trilobite, Triskelavite, Troll, Turtle, Unicorn, Vampire, Vedalken, Viashino, Volver, Wall, Warlock, Warrior, Weird, Werewolf, Whale, Wizard, Wolf, Wolverine, Wombat, Worm, Wraith, Wurm, Yeti, Zombie, and Zubera.

According to MTG Wiki, this adds up to 262 types of creatures. Whoa. But it's not as crazy as it sounds.

First, a creature can have more than one type. A Human Wizard is both Human and Wizard. 

Second, as you'd expect, some tribes are far more prevalent (meaning far more creature cards of that type have been printed over the years). And many types (97, to be exact) are rarely seen, with 10 or fewer different ones of that type printed. In fact, 24 of that 97 had 0 cards printed- these are creature types that are tokens created by other creature types (example: see Nadir Kraken below. Its ability can create Tentacle creatures- a creature type that has yet to be printed as a stand-alone card).

Here are the top 20 creature types, also showing number printed and primary color (found using Scryfall "type:___" searches):

The top ten for each color:

For a person like me who loves tribal decks, this data gives some insight into the sheer amount of options you have when constructing a deck with a particular tribe in mind.

Collecting on Arena

Collector Protector card art

Arena is a great way to enjoy Magic, especially in the pandemic. There's a program called 'untapped.gg' that helps keep track of your records, decks, and collection. Today's post focuses on the last.

There are several ways to collect a set on Arena:

- use the gold you earn from daily wins & challenges to 'buy' digital packs. 

- acquire packs as you pass certain thresholds and 'level up' on the mastery track.

- convert wildcards (earned from opening packs and leveling up on the mastery track) to cards from the set.

- buy a mastery pass ($20 in real money or 3400 gems in the game) to level up on the mastery track much faster and earn more packs for a given set.

How much of a set can you collect using this method? I tried this for the Crimson Vow set, buying a mastery pass and using the other three methods described above, and tracked how much of my collection increased.

Example using Crimson Vow

In Crimson Vow, you can collect 1068 total cards (4 copies of 267 cards).* 

I opened 126 total packs: 120 packs (opening 10 at a time) plus 6 packs from two drafts. Here is how my collection increased by percentage:

7-7-7-7-7-5 (6 packs through two drafts)-5-5-3-4-3-3-2

To explain: the first 10 packs I opened gave me 7% of Crimson Vow (75 cards). The next 10 packs gave me an addition 7%. That trend continued through the first 50 packs, giving me 35% of the set. I then did two drafts, opening six packs and netting me another 5%. I then opened a sequence of 10 more packs, earning 5%, 5%, 3%, 4%, and so on as shown above. As you'd suspect, the percentages started to decrease as I collected more, as I started getting cards above the 4 maximum copies permitted in a collection. Those extra cards are either wasted or converted to wildcards. 

From the above, opening 126 packs gave me 65% (694/1068) of the set. But I acquired a lot of wildcards, and I converted a chunk of them to cards I wanted. The brought up my total. The end result: 126 packs plus wildcard conversion gave me 72.9% (779/1068 cards) of Crimson Vow.

By rarity:

Common: 98% (394/400)

Uncommon: 67% (224/332)

Rare: 50% (128/256)

Mythic: 41% (33/80)

Current Standard

The above example was for Crimson Vow. What about other sets in standard? I've purchased a mastery pass for many, but not all, sets in the current standard. As mentioned, doing so accelerates leveling and pack acquisition. And the results are obvious: in the current seven sets in standard, I have much less of Strixhaven and Kamigawa, the two sets for which I did not buy a mastery pass:

- Zendikar Rising: 87.9% (932/1060)

- Kaldheim: 80.9% (890/1100)

- Strixhaven: 58.4% (643/1100)

- Adventures in the Forgotten Realms: 76.2% (796/1044)

- Midnight Hunt: 75.5% (807/1068)

- Crimson Vow: 72.9% (779/1068)

- Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty: 26.3% (297/1128)

I did not gather statistics on how many packs I bought of each set above, but you can see the general trend: buying a mastery pass gives you 15-20% more of a set.

Concluding Thoughts

It is much cheaper to acquire cards on Arena. Spending $20 and ending up with 75% of a set is something you could never do for physical cards. Or spending nothing and getting 50%+ of a set is equally impressive. It's a great way to explore the game without paying top dollar.

*untapped.gg doesn't count the 10 basic lands. Wizards shows Crimson Vow as having 277 cards for this reason.

Magic Jargon

Flash of Insight card art

"Swinging for five." "I'd better topdeck or I'm scooping." "What's your favorite jank?" Magic has developed quite the list of jargon over the years. It can overwhelm new players (and veterans alike). While some terms are intuitive, others rely on knowledge of specific cards, and still others developed organically within the community over the years. 

How do you learn Magic slang? The best way is to hang around people who are in the know. But if that's not possible- or you're too shy to ask when you hear an unfamiliar term- there's always the Internet. Here are a few sites to get you started:

• A site from the official page. It is dated but has some good material.
• A more recent glossary from Dicebreaker. 
• An even more recent (but limited) reference from dotesports.
• A comprehensive list from MTG Wiki.