Post by gabochido on Apr 23, 2012 14:56:17 GMT -5
I was just browsing through the Avacyn Restored spoiler and then had a look at the forums in MTG Salvation and there was a big thread where someone was dissapointed by the new set. It made me wonder what makes a set good in general and specifically for individual groups.
I imagine that the casual people that keep quiet are easily pleased just by getting new cards that they can put into their decks, but what about those who always say, "this set sucks because the cards aren't playable!"? They're obviously don't means that the cards are too complex to be played or that the mechanics don't work with the rules, they're just speaking in hyperboles about the obvious perceived strength of the cards they see in the new set in relation to the other cards they play with.
I encourage those people to think about the following:
- In the case of standard, it rotates, which means that the strength of the cards in the new expansion will fluctuate over the course of two years. A set may be weak at the beginning but new and and exciting interactions are always discovered as new sets come out, rotation happens, bannings happen and there are even hidden strengths that players discover slowly.
- In the case of eternal formats like modern, pauper or legacy, you can't expect more than a handful of cards to be relevant. Its possible, but very, very difficult to create cards that affect any format that already has thousands of cards from which to choose from without generating nasty power creep. You can tell that they clearly make cards for all these formats, but they have to be very careful and sometimes they don't do it quite right (and an infect deck can come out of it).
- Limited formats and casual players HAVE to be the focus for most of the cards. Many competitive players will buy a box when a set come out, but the way in which the majority of competitive players consume boosters is through limited events so that has to be very attractive. Casual players usually only buy some boosters and build their decks from that. The commons and uncommons therefore have to be balanced and fun. Balance is the key word in these types of limited environments, not powerful, because an overpowerful card or interaction ruins the format.
I imagine that the casual people that keep quiet are easily pleased just by getting new cards that they can put into their decks, but what about those who always say, "this set sucks because the cards aren't playable!"? They're obviously don't means that the cards are too complex to be played or that the mechanics don't work with the rules, they're just speaking in hyperboles about the obvious perceived strength of the cards they see in the new set in relation to the other cards they play with.
I encourage those people to think about the following:
- In the case of standard, it rotates, which means that the strength of the cards in the new expansion will fluctuate over the course of two years. A set may be weak at the beginning but new and and exciting interactions are always discovered as new sets come out, rotation happens, bannings happen and there are even hidden strengths that players discover slowly.
- In the case of eternal formats like modern, pauper or legacy, you can't expect more than a handful of cards to be relevant. Its possible, but very, very difficult to create cards that affect any format that already has thousands of cards from which to choose from without generating nasty power creep. You can tell that they clearly make cards for all these formats, but they have to be very careful and sometimes they don't do it quite right (and an infect deck can come out of it).
- Limited formats and casual players HAVE to be the focus for most of the cards. Many competitive players will buy a box when a set come out, but the way in which the majority of competitive players consume boosters is through limited events so that has to be very attractive. Casual players usually only buy some boosters and build their decks from that. The commons and uncommons therefore have to be balanced and fun. Balance is the key word in these types of limited environments, not powerful, because an overpowerful card or interaction ruins the format.