Disclaimer: This article is meant to be conversational in tone, and the opinions, suggestions, and perspectives put forward are my own and likely
will not be shared by everyone. As I’m writing this, I’m well aware that many of the changes that would make me happy are unlikely, or even
impossible, to take place—but, nonetheless, all of these talking points are things that I personally would view as positive. So, enjoy the article,
and feel free to agree or disagree with me.
All things being said, Magic: The Gathering is a pretty excellent game; at the very least, it’s always something to do or think about when we’re bored,
and at its best, it’s something to look forward to after a hard week of school or work, a great way to make new friends who share our interests, or a
solid excuse to take a weekend road trip.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been going out to eat after the weekly Legacy tournament with some of the Ann Arbor guys at Applebee’s for half-off
appetizers and good conversation. One of the Magic related topics I enjoy discussing with people who know something about the game is “What things
would you like Wizards to change to make Magic a better game, and why?”
As we delved deeper into the topic, I took notice of a few things: firstly, the things that people would change are almost always specific to their own
individualized experiences with the game—and secondly, most people like to argue a lot. The thing about opinions is that apparently there are a lot of
different ones…
Obviously, the things that I’d like to see happen might be different from the things that would be appealing to you, just as the things that you, he,
or she might like may all be things that I would find unfavorable—but nonetheless, it’s always interesting to hear what other people think would make
Magic a better game.
Some of the things on my list are unlikely to ever be implemented, but these are all things that I’d love to see happen in the future. In this article,
I’m going to suggest some of the changes that I’d make if it were up to me, and I strongly encourage readers to share their suggestions in the forums.
Specifically, I’m interested to hear what people would like to see change, whereas I’m not so interested to hear what people think should stay the same
or what changes Wizards shouldn’t do. After all, the title of the article is”8 Things Wizards Could Change” and not “8 Things That Wizards
Should Change”; perhaps the latter is a topic for another article.
When the article and the forums are complete, I’m going to paste all of the readers’ suggestions on things that they’d like to see changed into a file
with the article and will be sending it to Wizards of the Coast. Keep in mind I won’t be sending any “don’t change this or that” comments or
trolling—but if you have an idea that you’d like to share that would make Magic better from your perspective, I’ll be sure to pass it along.
Obviously, I can’t stop readers from arguing why the changes I’m suggesting are bad—however, I’m hoping that the spirit of this article can be one of
talking and sharing ideas, even if they’re in direct opposition to our own.
Also, Wizards of the Coast, if you’re reading this, please feel free to use any or all of my ideas. In fact, please use them, take them, and in the
words of the band Chicago,”Make Me Smile.”
1. Full Art Lands With The Original Alpha/Beta Pictures
The next time that an expansion set returns to the plane of Dominaria, I think it would be completely awesome if the basic lands included in the
booster packs were full art, like the Zendikar lands (which I think was an awesome move by Wizards), but only with the original basic land pictures.
The most popular basic lands that people collect and use in their Constructed decks seem to be either lands that are full-art (Unglued, Unhinged, or
Zendikar) or Beta basics. So, with that in mind, why shouldn’t players have access to something awesome like full-art lands with the Beta artwork?
Now I know that it’s more expensive to use the older artwork because of the licensing, but there were several early Magic illustrations among the Time
Spiral Timeshifted cards: Lord of Atlantis, Dragon Whelp, Uthden Troll, and Psionic Blast, to name a few.
So, it is possible to bring back old cards and artwork—and so far as Magic is concerned,I’d much rather have reprints of old-art Island and Swamp than
Uthden Trolls and Squires.
The original basic land pictures are among the most recognizable and iconic pictures in all of Magic, and bringing them back in a new set would be a
move that I feel would be really popular among players and collectors alike.
What else could possibly say “Welcome back to Dominaria” better than the original basic land pictures?
2. Return To Using Literary Flavor Texts On New Magic Cards
When I started playing Magic as a thirteen-year-old in 1995, one of the most engaging things about the card was the vivid literary flavor text that
many of the original cards had. Literary texts attributed to great writers like Poe and Coleridge are not only more flavorful but also more
interesting because it creates a link between the fantasy world of Magic and the real world that we as gamers live in.
I recently finished my Master’s degree in Literature—so obviously, I’m going to be biased toward the “good stuff.” I’ll point out that the first actual
highbrow piece of literature I ever read was The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and the reason that I decided to check it out from my local
library was that it was referenced in several of the flavor texts on my Unlimited Edition Magic cards.
It’s my opinion that exposing youngsters to the arts, especially literature, through a game that they enjoy playing is always going to be a net
positive.
Secondly, from the perspective of making interesting and flavorful cards, the use of literary flavor text also makes sense. Game designers at Wizards
of the Coast are specialists at making card games, and they do a great job of it. However, they’re not necessarily specialists at being professional
literary writers. Geordie Tait has basically made a niche for himself in Magic by pointing out this simple fact. He also said that my picture makes me
look like General Crix Madine, and anybody who can make a reference that obscure knows some things.
Poe, Coleridge, and T. S. Eliot were professional writers—and pretty good ones at that—they got paid to say badass,smart things and turn clever
phrases—Wizards should take advantage of that fact and employ their quotes on Magic cards.
Honestly, I couldn’t possibly care less about what Glissa, Konda, or Jace have to say—because I don’t find them to be particularly interesting
characters once they open their mouths and spout a bunch of bad clichés that make them sound about as hollow as a dead tree. As I have just
demonstrated, bad clichés are horrible, even when they’re being used ironically and tactically to make a point, and they are certainly never believable
or likable.
Using literary flavor texts does two things, both of which I think improve the quality of the game:
1. It makes cards more flavorful and interesting; because by incorporating elements of other literatures or narratives, it creates added depth to the
imagined fantasy world of Magic: The Gathering.
2. It exposes younger players to aspects of the literary that they might not encounter otherwise. Both of these things I believe are a huge net
positive for creating a better gaming community and a higher quality of game in general.
3. Give Players The Option To Lock In Their DCI Ratings When They Want To
This one only applies to some people, but I feel that the current system for getting ratings invites to Pro Tours or ratings-based byes at Grand Prix
really, really sucks. For starters, imagine this situation, which actually happened to me last year. I had a pretty good streak going, and I ended up
qualified for the Pro Tour on rating two months before the actual event.
Pretty awesome, right?
Wrong. Basically, because I didn’t want to lose my rating invite, I literally couldn’t afford to play in any sanctioned Magic tournaments—for fear of
losing my rating invite—for two months. Basically, I had to sit out those two months from FNM, PTQs, Grand Prix, and even Prereleases.
My proposal would be that if a person got their rating up to a certain point, they should be able to lock it in for one event of their choosing, so
that once they’ve hit their goal rating amount—whether it be for some amount of byes at a GP or a qualification for a PT—that they could still continue
to play Magic without fear of losing what they had been working hard to achieve.
4. Unsanctioned Friday Night Magic And Prereleases
Unsanctioned Friday Night Magic seems like it would be a much more positive atmosphere for pretty much all players. Firstly, if it weren’t sanctioned,
tournament players would be much more likely to want to attend without fear of losing a bunch of points and without the potential to actually gain any
points. Secondly, for the tournament players who do care about their rating but play anyway—they would possibly be willing to approach the event as
more of a casual gaming experience, rather than a serious one where they risk the loss of points.
What I’m suggesting is that, for FNM or Prereleases, tournaments should be able to be run at essentially a 0K level for those organizers and attendants
who want to have a casual vibe and so that players don’t have to risk ratings points in order to play in a tournament.
Basically, I believe the involvement of ratings points creates an unnecessarily competitive atmosphere when the environment should be casual, and the
experience becomes much more competitive.
5. Explore Alternate Premium Card Options To Foils
I understand that many players love foils, so this one isn’t going to be appealing to everybody; so, for those of you who love foils and will not be
persuaded to not like them, please understand that this is my personal opinion and that I think that foils will ultimately be a part of Magic for as
long as Magic exists. Now, with that having been said,I personally dislikeeverything about foils.
Also, I think I have a fairly enlightened perspective on the topic of foils and foil collecting. For starters, there was a period in time, roughly four
or five years ago, when I was a huge fan and avid collector of foil Magic cards. When I used to play Vintage during this time period, every single card
in my deck was either foil Japanese, Beta, or, if neither of these options existed, just regular Japanese. Why? Because I enjoyed collecting Magic
cards that were difficult to track down—I understand that “blinging” out one’s deck can be a fun experience.
The problem with foils is that they’re slightly thicker and tend to bend more prominently than other Magic cards. Once I figured that out and accepted
that, I was basically spending an arm and a leg to handicap myself in tournaments (foil decks also are more difficult to shuffle quickly…). I sold my
foils and stopped collecting them.
Basically, from my perspective, foils are defective product. Firstly, they’re slightly thicker than normal cards, and secondly, they have a tendency to
curve from humidity more than normal cards. They’re often distinguishable in sleeves if players aren’t careful to take perfect care of their cards.
Foil cards, because of the problems they cause, are not very enticing premium cards to me. I’d also contend that I’m not the only person who doesn’t
enjoy foil cards but does enjoy collecting cards. Based upon the fact that there are people out there who enjoy collecting premium versions of Magic
cards that simply aren’t foil, inventing new ways to make premium cards that aren’t foil seems like a big upside.
Extended art cards, such as the promotional Electrolyze, that Wizards has already done are all examples of desirable, attractive-looking promotional
cards that would appeal to collectors and players alike. They’re not foil, so they would appeal to a wider percentage of players—which I believe makes
them a better style of premium card than foils.
The other style of printing premium cards that I think would be even cooler than full-art cards, or foil cards, is old-card-face, non-foil cards as
premium inserts to packs or as tournament promos.
Back when I collected foil cards, I never cared for Friday Night Magic foils because of the FNM stamp in the text box. If it were up to me to design
the formatting for the Friday Night Magic promo cards, I would instead give out old-card-face versions of cards that have only been printed thus far
with the new card face. For example, Spellstutter Sprite would be an old-card-face Spellstutter Sprite with the original Lorwyn artwork, and instead of
having FNM printed largely on the text box, I’d mark the FNM on the side of the card where the expansion symbol would be.
I feel as though alternate, old-card-face, non-foil versions of cards would be particularly popular (as would be extended-art promos) as Grand Prix
promotional cards—since the majority of the players competing are tournament players who might not be interested in playing with foil cards.
Also my opinion: The old-style card face is much more aesthetically pleasing than the new-style card face—which I think is designed to appeal to a
younger demographic.
Also my opinion: The huge block FNM in the text box—while I’m sure this is a nice little advertisement for Wizards to attract players to FNM, these
cards look hideous, tawdry, and cheap.
Also my opinion: I dislike advertisements in the text boxes of my Magic cards. DCI, FNM, or PRO TOUR stamped in the textbox of my Magic cards is only
one step away from Pepsi, Doritos, or Exxon being stamped on my card.
The old-card-face Sword of Fire and Ice, although it’s foil, and I disapprove of foils, actually looks much nicer than if it had the new card face.
It’s also a more desirable card because of the fact that it has the old card face. The one big problem with this promo, in spite of the fact that
Wizards has done some things right, is that it still has ugly DCI underlay in the text box.
Also, Wizards could do a better job of knowing their audience with regard to the promos that they give out at events. Why in the world would I, or
anybody else who is playing at a Pro Tour, ever possibly want a foil, new-card-faced, alternate-art, Pro-Tour-stamped Avatar of Woe or Eternal Dragon?
Full-art Mutavault, sure. Old-card-face Mutavault, even better.
6. Abolish The Mythic Rarity
Is there literally anybody who actually enjoys $100 tournament staples or the cards that they need for a deck being so scarce that they simply cannot
be found locally for an event?
Everybody who isn’t exploiting the fact that mythic rare cards exist for monetary profit hates the fact that they exist. Mythic rare cards are a
shameless means to force players to buy more packs in order to get the cards they need to play. Unfortunately for us players, it seems to be working.
7. Fix The Commander Banned List
Now that Wizards has taken over the Commander format and is going to support it with decks, promos, and unique commanders, it is my opinion that it is
high time they actually fix the banned list. There are multiple cards allowed in the format that are way too powerful, uninteresting, and most
importantly not fun. Off the top of my head:
(In order of most egregious offenders to super egregious but not as bad offenders)
Sol Ring
Mana Crypt
Necropotence
Yawgmoth’s Will
Mindslaver
Land Equilibrium
These cards are so powerful that they dramatically skew how games play out when they are drawn and cast. By having a Sol Ring or a Mana Crypt in
the opening hand, a player is so far ahead from a player who doesn’t. Basically, Commander is a format that should play out like a slower Legacy, and
cards like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Yawgmoth’s Will, and Necro are cards that are specifically much too broken for Legacy (they are at the pinnacle of
good Type I cards), and all of these cards get even better because players start with an extra 20 life.
Do you know what kind of decks really enjoy starting at 40 life? Decks that cast Necropotence and Yawgmoth’s Will!
Mindslaver and Land Equilibrium are on my list as well. Mindslaver is the best victory condition in the format, and it’s so easy to recur. Land
Equilibrium is perhaps the best multiplayer victory condition because it simply leads to game states where all of the other players combined cannot
play the game anymore.
Rather than the flawed standard of “let the players police themselves,” the format should have rules and guidelines that everybody agrees upon that
create a fair playing field for an experience that can actually be described as playing a game of Magic—not watching somebody play solitaire in a
five-player game.
Just fix it already—there isn’t a single competent Magic player I’ve talked to in the past two years who think that Sol Ring or Mana Crypt are even
remotely fair or balanced in this format. Ban them. If you want to play with Sol Ring, there’s always Vintage…
Sway the Stars, Coalition Victory, and Biorhythm are banned, and Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Yawgmoth’s Will are legal—it’s actually so stupid that it
makes my head hurt to write that sentence on my computer.
8. Abolish The Reserved List
In my entire time playing Magic, the most disappointed I’ve ever been by a decision that has been made by Wizards of the Coast is in regards to their
decision to uphold and honor the Reserved list. I hate the existence of the Reserved list more than I hate Bitterblossom, Bloodbraid Elf,
Counterbalance, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor combined.
As a Magic enthusiast, I see myself first and foremost as a fan of playing Eternal formats—particularly Vintage, but also Legacy. In order for players,
in particular new players, to partake in these formats and enjoy them as I do—something that is necessary to the long-term health and playability of
these formats is that the individuals who want to play need to be able to acquire the cards necessary to build their decks.
In particular, the scarcity and expensiveness of dual lands poses a tremendous threat to the health of Legacy as a format, both in the long- and
short-term future. The ceiling for the prices that Revised duals could reach is seemingly boundless—after all, these cards are necessary to play and
perhaps the most important cards in the format. What happens when players can no longer afford the asking price that these cards are likely to hold in
a year, or two, or three?
I’m going to write something and then ask a series of questions, which I hope you will answer honestly.
Tropical Island (Revised, EX), $215.00.
If somebody offered you a Beta at one-to-one odds that this would be true in two years, which side of the action would you take?
If this were to happen, could Legacy survive as a popular format?
If Legacy died as a format because it became too expensive for people to actually play, what would that mean for the long-term health of Magic? I.e.
when cards rotate out of Extended, what happens to them if they don’t become Legacy staples?
Being that this article is conversational in tone and that we are just chatting about Magic, I’d like to bring up one final point. People often ask me
questions such as: “how long will Magic last?” or “how could Magic potentially die?” I think that Magic has the ability, if it’s properly taken care
of, to continue on indefinitely. I think that thus far, Wizards has done an amazing job to make Magic better and to keep it relatively healthy as a
game. However, with that being said, the one possible chink in the armor—the possible Achilles heel of the franchise—is the existence of the Reserved
list.
Magic is a collectible card game (CCG), which is awkward because it’s a game, but it’s also collectible. Wizards wants collectors and gamers alike
enjoy their product. However, the gaming aspect should be most important—because without people caring about the product as a game that they would want
to play, the collectible aspect of the product loses its value.
If Magic dies, Wizards stops printing cards; the tournament scene dries up, and ten years pass. Then what is a Black Lotus or Underground Sea worth to
a collector? Who would even collect a dead game?
I’m certainly not saying Magic is doomed or anything—my point is that for all of the good things that Wizards has done to ensure the game stays healthy
and popular with gamers and collectors alike—it seems problematic that most of the cards that the Eternal formats depend upon to function cannot be
reprinted in order to be made readily available to the next generation of Magic players. I do think that this is a problem that Wizards will eventually
have to address, and short of abolishing the Reserved list, I cannot easily figure out a way to keep Eternal Magic viable.
I hope that you guys enjoyed the article, as it was pretty fun for me to write about my Magical wish list. Once again, I look forward to people posting
in the forum about some of the things Wizards could change to keep you happy and engaged with the game.
Cheers!
Brian DeMars