Why Not Return to an Unpopular Plane in a Supplemental Set?
General forum
Posted on Dec. 3, 2019, 10:10 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
Mark Rosewater has stated that unpopular planes (i.e., Kamigawa, Mercadia, Ulgrotha, and Lorwyn/Shadowmoor) rank high on his "Rabiah Scale," meaning that it is unlikely that WotC shall revisit those planes in a standard-legal set, so that raises the question of why WotC does not return to those planes in a supplemental set. They have done that, before: thus far, Fiora has been seen only in the Conspiracy sets and Kylem has been seen only in Battlebond, none of which are standard legal, so it would make perfect sense to revisit an unpopular plane in a supplemental set, in my mind.
What does everyone else say about this? Why does WotC not revisit unpopular planes in a supplemental set?
Last_Laugh says... #3
Most supplemental sets aren't focused enough to contain more than a few cards from any given plane. The good news is they're already doing what you're suggesting in supplemental sets... see Modern Horizons/Commander 2018 and Kamigawa/Ninjutsu as a prime example.
I also like the way they've brought back broken mechanics like affinity for artifacts via buy a box promos. I wish we could get some of the Future Sight abilities this way that're only featured on one card like Transfigure (3 cmc please!) and Gravestorm ( Fleshwrither / Bitter Ordeal ).
December 3, 2019 11:42 p.m.
We have been returning to Kamigawa in a few cards from a commander set eg Kaseto, Orochi Archmage in C15; when (not if) we get conspiracy 3, it will be set on fiora for sure; literally no-one knows anything from Mercadia other than Rishadan Port ; cards like The Great Aurora reference Lorwyn directly.
I started in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, so I am nostalgic for this set and honestly, Eldraine is possibly the closest we will get to a new full set in Lorwyn.
December 4, 2019 6:44 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
Last_Laugh, has WotC ever stated why those two mechanics have not yet been re-used? I think that they are both very interesting mechanics with great amounts of untapped potential.
December 4, 2019 8:32 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #7
It's like Bushido in the sense that the keyword is too specific to Asian culture and wouldn't fit on just about every Plane. Maro actually touches on this in the article that triproberts12 posted in post #2.
December 4, 2019 8:57 p.m. Edited.
Last_Laugh says... #8
Lol now that I re-read that... I realized you were talking about Transfigure and Gravestorm.
I've never seen a reason given as to why but I imagine both those abilities don't translate to commons (abilities nowadays are required to have enough variance to work at all rarities) and/or too many cards with those abilities could get out of hand (especially Gravestorm). Future Sight was also weird in the sense that it 'tested' single cards with abilities like these for future use... not all have returned.
I feel like just a 2nd option for those 2 abilities is sufficient (and more realistic), thus the buy a box promo route.
December 4, 2019 9:42 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #9
Also, Gravestorm is an 8 and Transfigure is a 9 on the Storm Scale making it very very unlikely we'll ever see those mechanics in a normal set.
I'll still hold out hope for a buy a box single new Transfigure creature that looks up 3 drops... I'm even happy to pay just like I would with Fleshwrither for a 4 drop. Gravestorm they'd be too careful with (for good reason). It only took 10 years begging for enemy colored Talismans...
triproberts12 says... #2
He's pretty much answered that question in his general dismissal of "doing it right this time." Not the answer I was hoping to hear, being a big Lorwyn/Shadowmoor/Kamigawa fan, but makes sense, I guess.
December 3, 2019 10:32 p.m.