I've entitled this article "Magic the Gathering News" but to be
perfectly honest, this may not come as news to too many people unless
they're relatively new to the game. Just the same, maybe some of the old
timers, especially the ones on the north end of the street, don't
realize that this game is being played where there can be no winners...
not unless something gives.
I'm referring to the oldest eternal formats and the reserved list.
That sound you heard was about 100,000 Magic players breathing a sigh of "Oh God, not this again. Please kill me now!"
Well, yeah, this again. But maybe not so much in a way that you're used to hearing it because you see, unlike many people who are clearly either liberal or conservative (yes, a lot of politics here) I am dead stuck in the middle and can see both sides of the argument, which is why ultimately this game of chicken, which is what it is, has to end with somebody losing.
The question is, who will be the loser and how long will it take before the tragic day and all we're left with is Standard, Modern and a bunch of casual stuff that, quite honestly, doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. If the eternal formats completely die, the game of Magic will die as well and there won't be anything left.
Okay, so why do I feel this way?
For those of you who have NO clue what I'm talking about, it goes back to a set by the name of Chronicles.
Wizards of the Coast released this set in July of 1995. The set contained all reprints of older cards. Some of these cards were selling in the $20 to $50 range. Chronicles, because it was printed in such a great quantity, caused prices of these cards to tumble to $3 or less. This really ticked off investors. Yes, there are people in this game who view these cards as an investment.
But it did something more than that. Those in the game who actually PLAYED the game, were also upset because they were concerned that they would go out and purchase some of the more powerful rare cards and then someday, those cards would be reprinted in mass quantities and also become close to worthless.
Needless to say, this created quite a panic. So, to stop the bleeding, WotC made what is today known as the Reserved List. This is a list of cards that would NEVER be reprinted and would NEVER have a functionally identical card printed as well.
This made everybody happy... for a while.
And then one day, somebody looked up and said, "Hey, wait a minute. Remember all those people we used to have playing Legacy? We don't have so many anymore."
Why, you ask?
Well, a lot of the cards that are Legacy staples (in almost every deck) are no longer in print and are on the reserved list. So they will NEVER be reprinted. With the destruction of old cards or some players just throwing theirs away or losing them, the number of cards available to play has diminished. What this then caused was prices to skyrocket.
As a result, if somebody wanted to play Legacy or Vintage (ha ha) they would have to shell out an ungodly amount of money to do so. So even if there are cards available, many people simply can't afford them.
As a result, Vintage is as good as dead and Legacy is on life support.
Even WotC has said it regrets the reserved list but also adds that there is nothing that they can do about it and can't even talk about it. This leads me to believe that there has to be some legal reason such as a possible class action lawsuit. But let's not speculate here. The point is, the reserved list isn't going anywhere.
Or is it?
This is where the game of chicken comes in and it's a very interesting one. On the one end of the road, you have WotC hanging onto that reserved list for dear life. On the other end of the road, you have Vintage and Legacy players falling like flies and threatening to leave two dead formats in their wake.
Who is going to blink first?
Will WotC, fearing that the death of Vintage and Legacy will lead to dropped card prices on the secondary market and thus cause the very panic they're trying to avoid, finally drop the reserved list OR...
Will the players agree that this is what's best for the game overall and swing over from Legacy to Standard, still keeping their cards in the hope that maybe one day... yeah, very doubtful.
That's why this game of chicken can't end well no matter who gives in. If the reserved list stays, the eternal formats WILL die and that WILL have an effect on the game and the company overall, whether we like it, and want to admit it, or not.
If the reserved list goes, prices will drop and many of the players who collect this game because they know their cards retain value will leave the game and sell their cards. This will create kind of a stock market crash of the 30s kind of thing.
However the eternal formats die, if and when they DO die, this WILL drop card prices because nobody will NEED an Underground Sea anymore to play Legacy. This will cause the prices of Underground Seas to drop because the demand has gone down.
Supply and Demand... it's a wonderful concept.
I don't have a crystal ball. I have no idea how this is going to end. But I don't see it ending anything other than badly. To save the eternal formats, you have to destroy the reserved list and devalue cards. To preserve the integrity of the collectible portion of the game, and WotC's reputation, you have to keep the reserved list and ultimately destroy the eternal formats.
A lot of people think that the latter will never happen. They give their reasons as being if one person drops out of the game, he'll sell his cards to another person or persons and they'll start playing. Maybe. Or maybe they just drop out and keep their cards, hoping to cash them in someday. After all, they are, in the eyes of many people, an investment.
Truth is, we don't know which way the wind is going to blow. But with no new cards coming into circulation, nobody new can play unless somebody already playing quits.
There is no way around that fact.
Ultimately, something has to give.
I'm not sure I want to be around when it does.
To YOUR Magic Playing Enjoyment,
Steven "Land Boy" Wagenheim
I'm referring to the oldest eternal formats and the reserved list.
That sound you heard was about 100,000 Magic players breathing a sigh of "Oh God, not this again. Please kill me now!"
Well, yeah, this again. But maybe not so much in a way that you're used to hearing it because you see, unlike many people who are clearly either liberal or conservative (yes, a lot of politics here) I am dead stuck in the middle and can see both sides of the argument, which is why ultimately this game of chicken, which is what it is, has to end with somebody losing.
The question is, who will be the loser and how long will it take before the tragic day and all we're left with is Standard, Modern and a bunch of casual stuff that, quite honestly, doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. If the eternal formats completely die, the game of Magic will die as well and there won't be anything left.
Okay, so why do I feel this way?
For those of you who have NO clue what I'm talking about, it goes back to a set by the name of Chronicles.
Wizards of the Coast released this set in July of 1995. The set contained all reprints of older cards. Some of these cards were selling in the $20 to $50 range. Chronicles, because it was printed in such a great quantity, caused prices of these cards to tumble to $3 or less. This really ticked off investors. Yes, there are people in this game who view these cards as an investment.
But it did something more than that. Those in the game who actually PLAYED the game, were also upset because they were concerned that they would go out and purchase some of the more powerful rare cards and then someday, those cards would be reprinted in mass quantities and also become close to worthless.
Needless to say, this created quite a panic. So, to stop the bleeding, WotC made what is today known as the Reserved List. This is a list of cards that would NEVER be reprinted and would NEVER have a functionally identical card printed as well.
This made everybody happy... for a while.
And then one day, somebody looked up and said, "Hey, wait a minute. Remember all those people we used to have playing Legacy? We don't have so many anymore."
Why, you ask?
Well, a lot of the cards that are Legacy staples (in almost every deck) are no longer in print and are on the reserved list. So they will NEVER be reprinted. With the destruction of old cards or some players just throwing theirs away or losing them, the number of cards available to play has diminished. What this then caused was prices to skyrocket.
As a result, if somebody wanted to play Legacy or Vintage (ha ha) they would have to shell out an ungodly amount of money to do so. So even if there are cards available, many people simply can't afford them.
As a result, Vintage is as good as dead and Legacy is on life support.
Even WotC has said it regrets the reserved list but also adds that there is nothing that they can do about it and can't even talk about it. This leads me to believe that there has to be some legal reason such as a possible class action lawsuit. But let's not speculate here. The point is, the reserved list isn't going anywhere.
Or is it?
This is where the game of chicken comes in and it's a very interesting one. On the one end of the road, you have WotC hanging onto that reserved list for dear life. On the other end of the road, you have Vintage and Legacy players falling like flies and threatening to leave two dead formats in their wake.
Who is going to blink first?
Will WotC, fearing that the death of Vintage and Legacy will lead to dropped card prices on the secondary market and thus cause the very panic they're trying to avoid, finally drop the reserved list OR...
Will the players agree that this is what's best for the game overall and swing over from Legacy to Standard, still keeping their cards in the hope that maybe one day... yeah, very doubtful.
That's why this game of chicken can't end well no matter who gives in. If the reserved list stays, the eternal formats WILL die and that WILL have an effect on the game and the company overall, whether we like it, and want to admit it, or not.
If the reserved list goes, prices will drop and many of the players who collect this game because they know their cards retain value will leave the game and sell their cards. This will create kind of a stock market crash of the 30s kind of thing.
However the eternal formats die, if and when they DO die, this WILL drop card prices because nobody will NEED an Underground Sea anymore to play Legacy. This will cause the prices of Underground Seas to drop because the demand has gone down.
Supply and Demand... it's a wonderful concept.
I don't have a crystal ball. I have no idea how this is going to end. But I don't see it ending anything other than badly. To save the eternal formats, you have to destroy the reserved list and devalue cards. To preserve the integrity of the collectible portion of the game, and WotC's reputation, you have to keep the reserved list and ultimately destroy the eternal formats.
A lot of people think that the latter will never happen. They give their reasons as being if one person drops out of the game, he'll sell his cards to another person or persons and they'll start playing. Maybe. Or maybe they just drop out and keep their cards, hoping to cash them in someday. After all, they are, in the eyes of many people, an investment.
Truth is, we don't know which way the wind is going to blow. But with no new cards coming into circulation, nobody new can play unless somebody already playing quits.
There is no way around that fact.
Ultimately, something has to give.
I'm not sure I want to be around when it does.
To YOUR Magic Playing Enjoyment,
Steven "Land Boy" Wagenheim
Get my FREE report 7 Steps To Magic Success and become a better Magic player
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