Hey everyone, and welcome to the last The Real Deal in a while. I’m going to be taking a temporary hiatus from the column until September, as life has gotten extremely hectic lately and I’m preparing to get married in August. Thank you to everyone for tuning in to The Real Deal since it became a weekly column, and I hope to see you all again in a few months.
… oh yeah, I still have an article to write for this week, no? By the time you read this column, I’ll be at Grand Prix: Columbus, set up as a dealer at the StarCityGames.com booth. If you’re in Columbus, stop on by and say hi! In the meanwhile, I’ve got four words to say to you about Grand Prix: Columbus:
Now, onto the marquee subject of this article – Magic Card Stock. No, I’m not talking about some esoteric stock market where people buy and sell Magic cards – I’m speaking of the physical cardboard from which Magic itself is made. In recent years, Wizards of the Coast has pretty much standardized the material used to make Magic cards, but this was not always the case.
Would you believe me if I told you that I could take a stack of 1000 random Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, Revised, 4th, 5th, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, Italian Legends, Fallen Empires, The Dark, Ice Age, Alliances, Mirage and Chronicles cards, and sort them by set from the backs of the cards? It’s true! Let me tell you some stories here.
As many of you may know, Alpha cards are physically cut differently from other Magic releases. The corners of Alpha cards are significantly rounder than every release since, so it is very easy to identify an Alpha card from the back. What many of you might not know is that two other sets have had Alpha cuts! There were a significant number of Beta starter decks that had Alpha-Cut rares (the cutting plates used for that rarity sheet must have been incorrect), so it’s entirely possible to open two “Alpha Cut” rares from a Beta starter deck (back then, Starters only had two rares). Also, some quantity of 4th Edition had been accidentally cut with alpha corners as well. We received a pretty sizable shipment of these from Neutral Ground back in the mid-90’s, and I understand that some were also sent to Texas. Most of the Alpha-Cut cards from 4th Edition were Uncommons, but a much smaller quantity of Commons exist. I’ve witnessed people put together entire sets of Alpha Cut 4th Commons and Uncommons, and they are a true rarity.
There’s a very famous story about how, once upon a time, one Pro figured out how easy it was to identify cards by print run, and would run as many different editions of cards in their deck as possible – four copies of one key enchantment was from Beta, four copies of one key Instant was from Legends, the basic lands were all from Ice Age – basically this person knew exactly what was coming from their deck with every draw – and it was solely because of the production differences between the card stock in the early sets! Back in the early days of Magic, not only were sleeves not widely used, but you were allowed to ask your opponent to de-sleeve their deck – and they were required to do so under the rules.
How were those early card stocks different from one another? It’s hard to describe without physically having a card in front of me, but I can say that both Arabian Nights and Antiquities card stock has a lot of problem with aging due to exposure to air – the borders on the cards start getting spotty and gray, and it’s from time more than play wear. Mirage is famous for becoming gummy and sticky. Pro Tour: Atlanta (a.k.a. Pro Tour 4) was Mirage Sealed Deck as the format. I remember that Steve OMS couldn’t shuffle his deck anymore after round 5. It wasn’t because he was incapable of the act of shuffling – it’s because Steve tended to get sweaty palms while playing, and his sweat had gummed up the back of the Mirage card stock, and the cards were literally sticking and melting together! This is a common problem with most of the Mirage print run.
Sometime around Weatherlight, the card stock on Magic cards became a lot more standardized. However, something else happened. I can’t exactly explain the problem, but the cardstock used from around Weatherlight through Planeshift was, shall we say, easily worn. If you check our inventory, you’ll see a disproportionate number of played to NM cards from these sets on many key cards, and it’s not just due to the sets being older / having been in circulation for longer. I can find, as a percentage, more NM cards from Ice Age, Alliances, and Mirage than I can from Tempest, Urza’s Saga, or Mercadian Masques. This is not so much the case for cards post-Apocalypse, though it applies to Sixth Edition.
Speaking of base sets, have you seen the new precons for Tenth Edition? Go take a look-see at MtgSalvation.com. Why look! The Blue deck features Arcanis the Omnipotent; the Red deck features Kamahl, Pit Fighter; the Green deck has Molimo, Maro Sorcerer; and the Black deck contains Ascendant Evincar…
While the White deck pictures new artwork for an old friend. Who could it be? Smart money is on either Cho-Manno, Revolutionary or Orim, Samite Healer.
This reminded me of an article I wrote way back in 2005. At the beginning of the year, I predicted a bunch of trends that might or might not happen in Magic. At the end of the year, I scored how many of my predictions came true.
“Each color should have one legendary creature. Look, we were smack dab in the middle of Kamigawa Block when Ninth Edition was released, and Kamigawa Block was all about legendary creatures. Why not reprint a flagship Legendary creature from each color in Ninth? This way, players would have an identifiable icon for each color (all of which were popular cards in the past), and the Legends rule could be explained as reminder text: (If two or more copies of the same Legendary permanent are in play at the same time, place them both in the graveyard) – or somesuch. The wording isn’t precise, but you get the idea.”
At the time, I predicted that these creatures would be Ambassador Laquatus, Reya Dawnbringer, Ascendant Evincar, Silvos Rogue Elemental, and either Kamahl, Pit Fighter or Rorix Bladewing. Two out of five ain’t bad – especially when I was one base set too early.
That about wraps up this edition of The Real Deal. Thank you again to everyone who tuned in over the past few months, and I look forward to seeing you again come September. I’ll leave Craig to reveal my temporary replacement in his own sweet mystical time… but before I leave, here’s my list of the ten cards from Ninth Edition that might have made a splash in some constructed format, but didn’t live up to potential.
#10: Chastise
Formerly played middle-of-the-pack creature removal, Chastise ended up being overlooked as Exile-in-waiting not due necessarily to cost (compare to Tendrils of Corruption) but because Condemn and Lightning Helix made it virtually obsolete.
#9: Zur’s Weirding
There’s some lock somewhere that will abuse this card completely and utterly some day, but so far it’s mostly just been a one-of in weird decks like Enduring Ideal. The ability to completely lock down the game on turn 4 (with no acceleration) is just ripe for abuse, but in nearly a decade, that abuse hasn’t come.
#8: Silklash Spider
This might have been at home a few months earlier to battle against the Kamigawa Dragons, but by the time Silklash Spider came around, those Dragons were being fed for the Greater Good, not sticking around to swing.
#7: Biorhythm
Eight mana, win the game. It’s been done before in Green decks, but right now it’s just too slow to compete with the likes of Dragonstorm. This might have deserved a more serious look pre-Time Spiral, but that time never came.
#6: Blinding Angel
Char and Psionic Blast ended the hopes of Blinding Angel, along with a host of other higher-end four-toughness creatures that couldn’t at least semi-protect themselves (I’m look at you, Teferi!)
#5: Groundskeeper
One of Aaron Forsythe pet cards. Sorry Aaron, it didn’t work out this time around either.
#4: Seedborn Muse
When buyback came back, it looked like Seedborn Muse was the golden plant from the days of Capsize. Instead, it ended up being just another 2/4 that was popular with the casual kids.
#3: Thieving Magpie
Remember when Thieving Magpie used to be the heir apparent to Ophidian? Well, these days Ohran Viper and Shadowmage Infiltrator aren’t faring that well (at least, outside of block) so this guy doesn’t quite endear the tournament player who is long in the tooth for drawing cards.
#2: Battle of Wits
It says “You win the game” and with the critical mass of Transmute and tutoring spells in Standard, “You win the game” can consistently happen on turn 5 (thank you Signets!). Unfortunately, nobody wants to actually play this deck in real life (who wants to shuffle a 240-card deck every other spell?), so only sporadically has the Battle of Wits deck made an appearance in tournament-level Magic, despite power level.
#1: Hypnotic Specter
A poem:
First they came for Sengir Vampire, and I didn’t speak up,
Because I wasn’t a Sengir Vampire.
Then they came for Ernham Djinn, and I didn’t speak up,
Because I wasn’t an Ernham Djinn.
Then they came for the Serra Angel, and I didn’t speak up,
Because I wasn’t a Serra Angel.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left
To speak up for me.