Magic Gets a Facelift

[Mr. President]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/feature/121

Q: Why is Wizards changing the design of the Magic cards?

A: With Magic’s 10th anniversary, we felt there was an opportunity to refresh the look of Magic cards and enhance, if we could, the design from the standpoint of both aesthetics and the functionality of the cards.

After ten years of almost-continuity in card design (except for those weird split cards and all those hideous "foils"), Magic: the Gathering is getting a new look.



Call me crazy, but I think I like these!

Another change is that basic lands now say "basic land" on them. If they were still printing Volcanic Island, I'd be able to prove to my friends that it doesn't count as a basic land.



The new Eastern Paladin kicks ass!

(Technically it's the old Eastern Paladin's art, but he has, of course, the new scheme.)



I fell in love with the new layout once I saw an artifact creature in its new "steel chic" style.



And try and tell me this doesn't own.

[Mr. President]

Why don't my image tags work?

[Grumbold]

Yes! That's just what I needed to convince me to spend another £1,000 on bits of cardboard. Oh wait, no it isn't.

Changing the cards for the sake of clarity is to be applauded, if only because it might stop them releasing yet more incomprehensible and irrelevant expansion sets for a while

[Urban Ranger]

Mr Prez, use the ]img[ tag, or the <img> tag.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Grumbold
Yes! That's just what I needed to convince me to spend another £1,000 on bits of cardboard. Oh wait, no it isn't.

A grand? What, are they diamond encrusted cards or something?

[Urban Ranger]

I much prefer the Northern Paladin.

[FrustratedPoet]

I think the changes are very sensible.

[DrSpike]

So is this just expensive Top Trumps, or is there more to it?

[FrustratedPoet]

Originally posted by DrSpike
So is this just expensive Top Trumps, or is there more to it?

You've never heard of it?

It's a trading card game - actually the strategy and tactics are very deep and it's a good game. It's also addictive and - if you want to play 'seriously' very expensive because the better cards are rarer.

A booster pack containing 15 cards is about £3 I believe, but they can come in bigger bundles where you get more cards per penny, as it were.

It's actually possible for a few of the world's best players to be professionals - there's a Pro Tour for instance.

My g/f's brother paid his rent for a few months while he was out of a job by selling his rare Magic cards that he'd won in local tournaments.

[DrSpike]

A game where the guy with the most cash wins then.

[Mr. President]

Not always - a tactic known in the trade as "White Weenie" used to win tournaments a few years ago, using decks (with lots of now-out-of-print cards) worth the amount of money usually found in my wallet. In other words, not much.

[FrustratedPoet]

Green weenie decks are good too. Lots of simple small creatures and stat-boosting spells can be very effective if you play it right and the cards are everywhere.

Funnily enough I think that Magic is only an expensive game if you are a semi-expert player, if you knowwhat I mean.
The purely casual players (like I was) just buy a few cards whenver they fancy it and play without wondering whether they've got the latest uber-leet cards.
The professional Grandmaster players probably win so many cards in tournaments and acquire them through other means (store sponsorship, general freebies, preview copies etc.) that they don't spend all that much on the cards. Anyway, since it's their job to play Magic it's a good investment.

It's the people in the middle who get shafted by the cost.

[Grumbold]

Magic is like other hobbies - you can spend as little or as much as you want to on it. You can easily have a fun game for under £10. If you get the collecting bug then there are now well over 5,000 unique cards, some of which are extremely rare and valuable. In fact when each set comes out most of the price of a booster pack immediately transfers to the 1 rare card in that pack. You can throw the rest away and lose little in value. Some rares turn out to be far more powerful than others and they acquire greatest value. The oldest ones which were printed in the most limited numbers are the most valuable.

My rarest card is currently valued at around $300. All in all I had a great 4 years playing the game and I will be able to easily do more than recover my investment if I choose to sort, catalog and auction my cards. I just got a little addicted to it for a while there

[SnowFire]

Echo what Grumbold says. I play Magic somewhat, but I do so quite economically- the only card buying I do is for the occasional single, and entering drafts (where you draft cards out of booster packs, so everyone has access to the same amount of cards- money is a total non-factor, it's all about skill (and a little luck). You keep the cards you draft, too, so it helps build your collection while being economical). Besides, you are limited to 4 cards at most of a single card, so even the really chased after cards that go for 10 bucks you can't waste too much on.

I think the new look is pretty neat, although it does look a bit modern and sci-fish. I wish it looked a little more archaic.

[Urban Ranger]

Drafts and Seal Deck tournaments are great equalizers, though in general the more $ you wastespend the better off you are.