Foiled Again and Overwhelmed

Incite Insight card art

The release of Double Masters 2022 features a new kind of foil for select cards: the textured foil (here are all 5 of those). This joins etched foils (which debuted with 86 cards in the previous set, Battle for Baldur's Gate, and is featured on 160 cards in Double Masters 2022) and 'regular' or traditional foils, which have been around (in booster packs) since 1999. When will it end? But foils aren't the only problem.

Between the explosion in number of releases per year and the new variations (both in foil types and card frames) within a given release, I have to ask . . . what is the goal? 

- We used to have 3-4 major releases per year. We had seven in 2021, and already have four in 2022- on pace for seven again this year. 

- Within a given release, it used to be simple to collect the cards: buy booster packs (there was only one kind) and maybe get a foil now and then. Almost all cards were 'normal' in frame and non-foil. Now, there are three types of boosters (draft, set, collector's)- sometimes more- and several types of frames, and (now) three types of foils. For some cards in a given set, you may be able to get the following versions:

- 'normal' (foil or non-foil)

- extended art (foil or non-foil) 

- borderless (foil or non-foil)

- showcase (foil or non-foil)

- an etched foil (featuring different frame)

- a textured foil (featuring different frame)

Not all of these are available in all sets- but the majority can be. Looking at these recent releases and counting foils, you could potentially have seven versions of a given card in one set. 

This explosion of releases and versions is accompanied, sadly, by a decrease in quality. I've had several problems in recent years- cards dirty or damaged in the package, cards of slightly different sizes or finishes, and the like.

I have to ask: is Wizards trying to glut the market? Testing the boundaries? Seeing how much people will buy or endure? On the one hand, I find this annoying. On the other, that is capitalism. So my advice (to myself and you) is simple: if it's too much for you (and it should be), don't buy. That is the clearest signal you can send to any business that is going too far. Send a message, either by not buying any of it or buying low numbers of those single cards you seek. As this point, there are 20,000+ unique Magic cards on the market. We have more than enough to build fun decks and have satisfying interactions for the rest of our lives. We don't need more. We want more- and that is okay, in moderation. But it isn't a need, so let's send a message. 

Framing the Future

As I said in a previous post, Magic has had three main card frames in its lifetime:

Frame 1 (1993-2003)            Frame 2 (2003-2014)            Frame 3 (2014-present)

Note that each has a run of about 10 years. We're coming up to that time again . . . so what does the future hold? The 2007 set, Future Sight, produced a futuristic frame that (mercifully) we haven't seen since (example below), so I don't think it is that. The answer, instead, may be in recent variants.

As I said in the aforementioned post, in 2019, Wizards made a major announcement about new frame treatments- more variants would be coming. And come they have! Each set since has featured a variety of variants- too many, in my opinion- but I'll focus on the two mainstays: extended art and borderless cards.

Extended art and borderless frames are the two treatments that have consistently been seen as variants in new releases. In Double Masters 2022, the borderless cards have swelled in number (78!) and feature astounding alternate art. I hope this is a sign of things to come.

Part of Magic's draw is the card art. These extended/borderless options bring the art to the fore without sacrificing readability of the card attributes and mechanics. I'm rooting for borderless to be the next primary frame, but that may be an unwise business decision (as these are chase cards today), so perhaps a more realistic hope is for extended art to take over. We shall see.

Deck Sculpting

Browse card art

Though there are several formats in Magic, you can be assured of one thing: in any given contest, you will see and cast only a small percentage of your deck's cards. From personal observation, my typical games last six or seven turns, meaning I will see 13-14 cards (the seven in my opening hand plus one drawn per turn), or ~25% of my 60-card deck. Following recommended deck building strategies, about 40% of your cards should be lands, meaning you will see only 8-9 of your deck's 36 spell cards and 5-6 of your lands. That's fine- if you have what you need. But how can you increase your odds of getting what you need, when you need it? Enter deck sculpting, the subject of today's post.

'Deck sculpting' means including spells or abilities that increase your odds of having the cards you need. Some ways to do this:

- Card draw spells or abilities. That's intuitive- the more cards you can access during the game, the greater the chance of hitting something you need. Cards like the below:

- Variations on card draw. Some spells or abilities allow you to draw and discard a card, or vice-versa. Though your hand remains the same quantitatively, you get more freedom to choose what is in that hand. See these examples:

- Selective filtering. There must be better terminology to use here, but whatever. There are a number of cards that allow you to look at the top [x] cards of your library, and choose a subset to keep (in your hand or put back on top of your library). Sometimes you must exile or put into the graveyard cards you do not choose, per the below examples.

- 'Scry N,' where N is a whole number. This is a specific (and common) type of selective filtering. Per the official rules:

701.18a To “scry N” means to look at the top N cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library in any order and the rest on top of your library in any order.

- Search spells and abilities. The ultimate deck sculpting is going straight for what you need with spells or abilities like the below.

Any Magic veteran has had the agonizing experience of drawing a land when you needed a spell or vice-versa. "Top-decking" (drawing a needed card at the perfect time) is a great feeling but rare; increase your chances of success by adding deck sculpting cards to your mix.

Rarity Shifts

The next Magic set- Double Masters 2022- is soon upon us. This reprint set features an astonishing 69 cards whose rarity has shifted. This post looks at that concept. But first, some background.

In Magic, there are four rarity levels: common, uncommon, rare, and mythic rare. In most expansions, the rarity is indicated by color of the expansion symbol (black, silver, gold, or orange). These rarities indicate:

- prevalence of distribution

- power level (generally)

- legal cards for the pauper format

Prevalence of distribution used to be straightforward. A booster pack (back when there was just one kind) had 11 commons, 3 uncommons, and 1 rare or mythic rare, with mythic rares appearing in 12.5% of packs. (Today, set and collector booster packs have different distributions, with proportionally more uncommons and rares/mythic rares appearing, but I won't get into that here.)

Power level generally increases as rarity increases. So a mythic rare will probably be more powerful than a common, in terms of cost/benefit ratio. That said, power level is different than synergy and popularity- so there are many staple commons/uncommons that are featured in competitive decks, and some mythic rares never see play. Again, another topic for another time.

Legal cards for pauper is straightforward: pauper may include any cards that were ever printed at the common rarity.

That was all background; on to today's subject.

In Magic, a rarity shift is where a card is reprinted at a different rarity level than a previous iteration. It could go either direction- a rare may be reprinted as an uncommon, a common may be reprinted as an uncommon, etc. Take Serra Angel, for example. It was initially printed as a rare, but has since been reprinted as an uncommon:

Why would Wizards change the rarity of a card? I see four reasons:

- Power creep

- Correction based on power level

- Pauper legality

- Special releases

Power creep is the tendency of the game to produce comparably more powerful cards for the same rarity & cost. It's the opposite of inflation, in a way- the same mana cost will tend to buy you more capability over time. That needs a separate post to explore in more detail. For today's purposes, it suffices to say that this is one cause of rarity shift. No experienced Magic player today would look at a Serra Angel and say 'wow, that is so powerful.' Uncommon is a suitable rarity based on its power level in today's environment. But back when the game began, it was an amazing card. Rare was appropriate at that time. Power creep rarity shifts go one direction: from higher rarity to lower rarity. In most cases, shifts go down one level, but occasionally, you see a card jump two.

Correction based on power level is related to power creep but can accommodate cards going the other direction- from lower rarity to higher, e.g. from uncommon to rare. In this case, Wizards printed a card at one rarity that they since realized is just too powerful (or weak) for that level.  Consider Dockside Extortionist, who will see its rarity jump from rare to mythic in the new set:

Pauper legality is related to power creep, but has an additional nuance: changing a card's rarity to common means that a card can be included in the pauper format. In this forthcoming set, 26 cards are now printed at the common level what were previously printed as uncommons (or, in a few cases, rares). Pauper players are all over Monastery Swiftspear in particular, a card that will undoubtedly become a staple in that format:

The final reasons is special releases. Things like Secret Lair Drops, Commander Collections, or From the Vault releases routinely display cards as rare or mythic, even if their previous printings were much lower. In this case, the rarity shift is to denote the uniqueness of the version itself, and not the power level. Back to Serra Angel as an example, showing a mythic rarity in its From the Vault printing:

With over 20,000 unique cards printed to date, and 11,200 of those getting reprints, it doesn't surprise me that there would be rarity shifts. According to a search in Scryfall, over 1,400 cards have seen such shifts. But that includes Secret Lair Drops and From the Vault changes . .. omitting those still leaves 1,389 shifted cards. I'll have to verify my syntax is correct in each of these cases . . . I think there are other special releases I did not exclude. But it's significant enough to note.

For the novice, these things can be daunting. Ultimately, this is something you can ignore most of the time. The main thing to note is in pauper: a player may include cards printed at whatever rarity so long as they had one printing at the common level. 

Magic Starter Kit

Many have (rightly) criticized Wizards of the Coast for the explosion of Magic products in recent years. The releases and prices are getting out of hand. While I join the criticism, I also realize that in a capitalist economy, companies will do what makes them profitable. If you don't like it (the product or the business model), don't buy cards. That is the strongest message you can send. But I digress; today's post is on the one Magic product that bucks the trend of costliness and craziness: the starter kit.

Wizards has been releasing starter kits for a few years now. Sometimes dubbed "Arena starter kits" or "spellslinger starter kits," they come with two 60-card decks, deck boxes, instructions, sometimes dice, and codes to put your decks on Arena. And with a MSRP of $10, they are by far the most reasonably-priced Magic product out there.

This year's release is especially good (see the decklists here). The decks contain cards from the last few sets (Streets of New Capenna, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Crimson Vow, and Midnight Hunt). Each deck features five rares, and they're decent ones. Even some of the commons and uncommons can be higher-tier cards. When you add up the value, it well exceeds $10. This has led (unfortunately) to some people scooping these up in bulk and re-selling for an upcharge. That's too bad, but if you see these at (say) your local Target or game store, I recommend picking up one. 

Though Magic has generally gone crazy in the last few years, it is nice to see products like this. You don't need to break the bank to enjoy this game.

Elf deck

Llanowar Elves card art

I love tribal decks. Today's post is about mono-green Elves.

I'm currently running a historic Elf deck on Arena that I like a lot. I call it "Elf Yourself":

1 Allosaurus Shepherd (JMP) 28

3 Llanowar Elves (DAR) 168

3 Wildborn Preserver (ELD) 182

4 Llanowar Visionary (M21) 193

3 Elvish Clancaller (M19) 179

3 Marwyn, the Nurturer (DAR) 172

2 Beast Whisperer (GRN) 123

2 Wildheart Invoker (JMP) 444

3 Elvish Visionary (ORI) 175

3 Elvish Archdruid (JMP) 391

4 Imperious Perfect (LRW) 220

2 Rabid Bite (M19) 195

2 Broken Wings (ZNR) 181

3 Elvish Warmaster (KHM) 167

22 Forest (SLD) 108

It's really fun and gets out of control quickly. The idea is to build up an army of elves fast through card draw (Llanowar Visionary, Elvish Visionary, Beast Whisperer), mana acceleration (Llanowar Elves, Marwyn, the Nurturer, Elvish Archdruid), token creation (Elvish Warmaster, Imperious Prefect), and pumping up power (Elvish Archdruid, Imperious Prefect, Elvish Warmaster, Allosaurus Shepherd, Wildheard Invoker, Elvish Clancaller).

Here's a second version, dropping Wildborn Preserver to add two copies of Allosaurus Shepherd and one of Elvish Warmaster:

3 Allosaurus Shepherd (JMP) 28

3 Llanowar Elves (DAR) 168

4 Llanowar Visionary (M21) 193

3 Elvish Clancaller (M19) 179

3 Marwyn, the Nurturer (DAR) 172

2 Beast Whisperer (GRN) 123

2 Wildheart Invoker (JMP) 444

3 Elvish Visionary (ORI) 175

3 Elvish Archdruid (JMP) 391

4 Imperious Perfect (LRW) 220

2 Rabid Bite (M19) 195

2 Broken Wings (ZNR) 181

4 Elvish Warmaster (KHM) 167

22 Forest (SLD) 108

In paper, this would be pretty cheap to buy outside of Allosaurus Shepherd. If you want to reproduce this on a budget, drop those three Shepherds and add an Elvish Archdruid, Beast Whisperer, or something fun like Elven Ambush. But have a higher mana value- if you want a one drop, try Essence Warden, Skyway Sniper, Taunting Elf, or Joraga Warcaller.

Give these a try if you're an elf fan.

Recent Decks in Standard

Catalog card art

Today's post are some decks I've been playing often on Arena in the current Standard. I mentioned my Angels deck in the previous post, so I won't repeat that here.

Rune for Improvement

Like the play on words in the name? This white/red/green combo deck plays off of Runeforge Champion and Jukai Naturalist. Get those both out, and the Rune cards are free to play. And as each of those draws a card in addition to its other effect, it can generate quite an engine. It's susceptible to targeted removal spells but can win quickly.

4 Runeforge Champion (KHM) 26

7 Plains (SLD) 359

4 Rune of Sustenance (KHM) 25

4 Rune of Speed (KHM) 148

1 Mountain (SLD) 362

4 Rune of Might (KHM) 191

3 Forest (SLD) 363

4 Jukai Naturalist (NEO) 225

2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping (NEO) 211

4 Hallowed Haunting (VOW) 17

2 Rockfall Vale (MID) 266

2 Borrowed Time (MID) 6

4 Cragcrown Pathway (ZNR) 261

4 Branchloft Pathway (ZNR) 258

1 Needleverge Pathway (ZNR) 263

1 Sundown Pass (VOW) 266

1 Showdown of the Skalds (KHM) 229

4 Michiko's Reign of Truth (NEO) 29

4 Generous Visitor (NEO) 185

Delver (Net Deck)

This mono-blue control deck is pretty annoying to play against. It's a net deck, meaning I found this online.

20 Snow-Covered Island (SLD) 326

2 Spell Pierce (NEO) 80

4 Delver of Secrets (MID) 47

2 Essence Capture (NEO) 52

2 Essence Capture (RNA) 37

1 Jwari Disruption (ZNR) 64

4 Ascendant Spirit (KHM) 43

4 Fading Hope (MID) 51

4 Spectral Adversary (MID) 77

4 Dreamshackle Geist (VOW) 58

4 Geistlight Snare (VOW) 60

4 Thirst for Discovery (VOW) 85

1 March of Swirling Mist (NEO) 61

1 Otawara, Soaring City (NEO) 271

3 Depart the Realm (KHM) 53

Green Aggro (Net Deck)

Another net deck, this mono-green aggressive deck is a lot of fun. It can hold its own against a variety of deck types with solid entries in each cost slot.

4 Ascendant Packleader (VOW) 186

23 Snow-Covered Forest (SLD) 329

2 Wrenn and Seven (MID) 208

1 Unnatural Growth (MID) 206

1 Ranger Class (AFR) 202

4 Esika's Chariot (KHM) 169

4 Blizzard Brawl (KHM) 162

4 Werewolf Pack Leader (AFR) 211

2 Ulvenwald Oddity (VOW) 225

4 Tangled Florahedron (ZNR) 211

4 Sculptor of Winter (KHM) 193

4 Old-Growth Troll (KHM) 185

3 Snakeskin Veil (KHM) 194

Zombie

This mono-black deck is my own creation, based on a combination of tribal zombies and sacrifice mechanics. It's . . . not great. But I enjoy playing it now and again.

2 Champion of the Perished (MID) 91

22 Swamp (MID) 382

2 Village Rites (KHM) 117

2 Shambling Ghast (AFR) 119

4 Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia (MID) 108

3 Tainted Adversary (MID) 124

3 Hobbling Zombie (MID) 106

2 Inscription of Ruin (ZNR) 108

4 Morbid Opportunist (MID) 113

4 Death-Priest of Myrkul (AFR) 95

2 No Way Out (MID) 116

4 The Meathook Massacre (MID) 112

4 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107

2 Bloodchief's Thirst (ZNR) 94

Goblins (Net Deck)

Another net deck, this mono-red aggro is your typical goblin tribal deck. The Battle Cry Goblin and Hobgoblin Bandit Lord are key.

21 Snow-Covered Mountain (KHM) 283

4 Fireblade Charger (ZNR) 139

4 Fissure Wizard (ZNR) 140

4 Grotag Bug-Catcher (ZNR) 142

4 Frost Bite (KHM) 138

4 Battle Cry Goblin (AFR) 132

4 Goblin Javelineer (AFR) 144

3 Goblin Morningstar (AFR) 145

4 Hobgoblin Bandit Lord (AFR) 147

4 Hulking Bugbear (AFR) 149

4 You See a Pair of Goblins (AFR) 170

I haven't been playing Arena as often recently, but when I do, the above are my go-to.