Latest Developments: A Standard Power Level
General forum
Posted on Feb. 5, 2016, 11:28 a.m. by JWiley129
So Sam Stoddard wrote an article I'm sure a lot of us have been asking for. I put this in General b/c it discusses probably the number one thing most enfranchised players ask for: More Reprints.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #3
This just feels frustrating. I completely understand that there are problems with reprinting powerful cards in Standard. But the thing is, he's not offering a potential solution either. Yes, they can just make Standard generally more powerful (like Innistrad or Khans). But that really only solves half the problem, because the current staples like Lili will just get more and more expensive. And while there is Modern Masters, that's only every two years, and even then, most of the cards in the set are unplayable. I mean, I'm not asking for a Goyf in each set, but in that Your Format Sucks article about Modern, Mark made a very good point about most decks needing certain very expensive cards to be playable. Now add that to the fact that the ban hammer is currently going nuts...
February 5, 2016 1:37 p.m. Edited.
FAMOUSWATERMELON - The thing is, Sam Stoddard didn't write the article to offer a solution. He wrote it so people could understand what "Standard Power Level" meant. Sure, it means that certain cards won't see the light of day in Standard regardless of the environment (Liliana of the Veil) or will only be seen under certain circumstances (Lightning Bolt & Elvish Mystic). This article, at least a little bit, helps illuminate this topic from the side of R&D from a developer who is actively working on future sets.
To be fair, I think it is better than we could've hoped for. While he doesn't offer a solution to these reprints, he does at least give us some of the rationale why we aren't seeing the reprints we want.
February 5, 2016 1:41 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #6
I take issue with his excessive use of the word "interesting" when referencing decks because saying cards like Lightning Strike make decks less interesting comes off like "we don't want people to intetact as much"
Edit to quote: "Lightning Strike is the right power level for Standard, but it is pretty boring."
This is mtg, not hearthstone.
February 5, 2016 1:42 p.m. Edited.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #7
JWiley129 True, but the information is worthless unless we can use it. And currently, they're not.
TheDevicer That.
February 5, 2016 1:44 p.m.
VampireArmy - I think where he's coming from isn't the interactivity side of things. If you look at Standard right now, every deck has some level of interaction. The few decks who don't are the Atarka Red decks and the Rally the Ancestors, but even the Rally deck packs Sidisi's Faithful and Reflector Mage to get rid of problem creatures. I would agree that it is less interesting when I see a 
decklist that has 4 Lightning Strikes every Standard, because it becomes stale. If every Standard has Lightning Strike or a version thereof, then every deck that wants to play Red will all start in the same place: 4x Lightning Strike.
FAMOUSWATERMELON - Listen, I would like to see more Modern reprints as much as the next MtG player. However we have to recognize that they have to work within the restrictions that they set out. It's becoming more and more obvious that these reprints aren't going to be seen in Standard, so Wizards is likely working on a plan to reprint them in some other way. And when they're ready to tell us about it, we'll hear about it.
February 5, 2016 1:47 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #9
JWiley129 It's been about five years and a lot of bans, I'm all ears.
To me, it feels like they don't actually have a definitive solution, only shots in the dark and experiments. For example, he says "We are currently taking a break from one-mana accelerators in Standard", insinuating that they're testing something out and seeing whether it will work. Maybe they should (finally) ask the Magic Community for ideas. Maybe they should make Standard more powerful. Maybe they should make Modern Masters a yearly set. Whatever. But to me, this sounds an awful lot like awkward stalling, and that's definitely not what I want to hear from the creators of the game I love.
February 5, 2016 1:58 p.m. Edited.
FAMOUSWATERMELON - The obvious solution is just reprint them to oblivion, but then they have another Chronicles on their hands and players would be upset that their collections lost literally thousands of dollars in value. The next best solution that they came up with was Modern Masters, which does alleviate the problem somewhat. They can't print an MM product to the extent of a Standard legal set, but MMA and MM15 both were received well, even if they missed some key reprints.
Also, the Magic Community is the last person you want to ask for ideas. Players don't really know what they want. We know we want Standard reprints for Tarmogoyf, Inquisition of Kozilek, Goblin Guide, Eye of Ugin, etc. However in order to do that, Wizards has to compromise their main money-making-vehicle: Standard. Remember, Wizards is a company, and a damn good one at that. We aren't game designers, they are. So sure, you can be salty that X card didn't get reprinted. However don't think that Wizards doesn't know what they're doing.
February 5, 2016 2:04 p.m.
I'm kinda with FAMOUSWATERMELON here. I think JWiley129's response to VampireArmy is spot on, but I feel as though JWiley129 is too complacent.
There's a definite problem to be addressed. If WotC doesn't want to choke formats other than standard, it needs to find some viable way to let people partake in those formats. Since we're currently getting something like a handful of high-profile releases and reprints each year through standard, it's blatantly obvious that we're not on track to increased accessibility.
As is, WotC is missing out on a huge monetary grab. Think about how insanely successful both MM expansions have been. Even with all the shit that went down with MM2, the community clearly showcased that it craves the cards.
I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is, but I'm hopeful we're headed into some kind of better direction. Mind you, this is just concerning reprints. This barely scratches the surface on the problems that formats other than standard face at the moment.
February 5, 2016 2:14 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #12
I mean, it certainly feels that way to me. They print Splinter Twin in MM15, print a bunch of hate and support cards in the following sets (Rending Volley, Bounding Krasis, etc...) to potentially shake the deck around a bit, give it more options... and then ban the card. They print cards like Thoughtseize and Mutavault in Standard, and then end up completely bringing down the power level of the entire format because they're scared of what those things can do (no more Lightning Strike, Elvish Mystic, BFZ was generally a very weak set). Now I know that sets are planned multiple years in advance and whatnot, but maybe that's part of the problem then.
It feels like they don't know where they're going. Like they're going down a dark tunnel and bouncing off a wall every three seconds without realizing that if they just walk straight down, they won't hit anything. And I'm not saying that Wizards is completely inept, and that the company should have a major change in employees, but it would be nice to know where Wizards wants to go exactly. I mean, I would absolutely love to be wrong, but this article really feels like some kind of smoke screen.
February 5, 2016 2:18 p.m. Edited.
FAMOUSWATERMELON - I'm curious how the following two statements can both be correct: "Now I know that sets are planned multiple years in advance and whatnot, but maybe that's part of the problem then."; "It feels like they don't know where they're going.". How can Wizards both be planning in advance and not know where they are going? If there is a better example of contradictory statements, I can't think of one.
February 5, 2016 2:21 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #14
One is a factual statement, and the other is an impression I'm getting. You can't really compare them XD
February 5, 2016 2:24 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON - However can you see why I'm skeptical? Wizards can't be planning ahead and have no idea what they're doing. It'd be like me giving you a map to a restaurant and you saying "I don't know where it is." Wizards has a plan, and they can't tell us without spoiling the future for us. And after the leak fiasco with OGW, they will be quite guarded with this type of information.
TheDevicer - If I had my druthers, here's how I'd fix that problem. Wizards needs to hire 2-4 people whose sole job is to test future Modern. That number might be a bit low, but Wizards only employs 8 developers. However, that means that Wizards would need to allocate money from elsewhere to do so. Now I don't know what Wizard's earning figures are like, nor do I know how much they budget for the Magic R&D team. But Melissa De Tora was working for them last year, and they couldn't find a permanent position for her this year. That should be telling that such an endeavor is unlikely to happen.
February 5, 2016 2:33 p.m.
I could be planning a manned mission to mars scheduled to launch in 2020 and have fuck-all clue as to how I ought to go about it.
February 5, 2016 2:35 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #17
...except that one is still an impression. I realize that Wizards probably has some sort of plan. But so far, at least during the last couple months, it has certainly felt like they don't, culminating in the Twin ban, which, at least to me, felt like some panicked reflex.
Actually, why Twin was banned is a great example. The reasons they gave were about meta percentage and whatnot. But Twin has always been in the Top 3 in Modern. Its winnings haven't changed drastically for the last couple years, when I assume they planned MM15 and the sets in which the rest of the cards appear. So why ban it? For monetary value maybe? I mean, I can understand that Wizards needs to make money and that's they're principle objective, but there are plenty of other ways of doing it. Because they wanted to make the format more diverse? I mean, I'm no Pro Player, but it doesn't really seems more diverse, just more Tron and Burn than usual. Can you see why it feels like Wizards are a bit in the dark now?
February 5, 2016 2:41 p.m. Edited.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #18
And that's just talking about Modern cards and reprints. Standard hasn't been fantastically healthy recently. The last Standard tours were each won by the same Abzan deck, and the other finalist was the same Jeskai deck. Currently, Standard is mostly a mix of four-color decks (something that, as far as I can tell, barely ever happens in the format and makes it quite repetitive). Jace is occupying the same place as Bob in the old Ravnica standard: kill it or play it. BFZ was a pretty big flop. I could go on for a while.
February 5, 2016 2:48 p.m. Edited.
TheDevicer - Except for the fact that Wizards is designing multiple sets at a time. Shadows over Innistrad and it's sequel block are already out the door, and they're already working on the next few sets: "Lock", "Stock", "Barrel", "Laughs", "Ham", "Eggs", "Soup", and "Salad" should be the sets currently in house for Wizards (source). I know this because "Spaghetti", the 2018 Fall set, starts its design in May. To presume that Wizards does no planning is silly at best.
FAMOUSWATERMELON - Ok, I see where you're coming from now. You're talking mainly about the Splinter Twin ban. That is an entirely different discussion, and a thread that won't die. Also Sam Stoddard talks about that in the article. I'd quote it, but I'd rather you reread the article.
February 5, 2016 2:55 p.m.
I'm not saying they're not. I'm saying you could be doing all kinds of planning and still be poor at it. Besides, WotC doesn't lock in things the moment they hit development. Things evolve during that time. That means WotC could implement lessons they learned from Theros in BfZ
February 5, 2016 3:33 p.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #21
It was an example, not the actual subject of my discussion. I already highlighted the bad decision about reprints in Standard, the bad position of Standard, the seemingly "fall-back" plan of nerfing the format. It'd be nice if you were to respond to my comment itself and not cherry-picked snippets...
Arvail says... #2
The man's certainly got a point. I just wished there were a better way to distinguish modern (or any other format) from standard, introduce new things to the format, and reprint staples. Wizards has their standard fairly figured out. I just wish they got their shit together with the other formats.
February 5, 2016 12:50 p.m.