Would Magic the Gathering be better off without mythic rares?
General forum
Posted on July 22, 2020, 6:24 p.m. by StopShot
In other words, would Magic the Gathering be better off if there was no mythic rarity? Limited Edition Alpha was released August 5th, 1993, however; the concept of mythic rares wasn't introduced until Alara block which was released October 3rd, 2008. While mythic rares seem like a staple in every MTG pack today, the majority of MTG's lifespan has largely gone by without ever having them.
My argument here is magic cards didn't suddenly become even more powerful in Alara block. Before then even planeswalkers could simply be opened up as rares. Ex: Jace Beleren. Mythic rares to me seem like a way of taking normal rares and artificially inflating the price and vlaue of them by increasing their scarcity or in other words lowering the supply of them.
Mythic rares also seem to be a way of tarnishing reprints in masters sets. When a valuable card hasn't been printed in a while the price tends to go up over time. In masters sets a mythic rare or a rare printing can mean the difference between the reprint being affordable and only causing a small dip in the overall price-line. Many times I read comments from people expressing grief when they see that much needed reprint they want spoiled at the mythic rare level. At what benefit is the mythic rarity serving the player in this instance?
Another argument against mythic rarity and reprints in masters sets is it limits the number of powerful reprints that can be included in a set. In the last masters set, Ultimate Masters, the set only had 20 different mythic rares in contrast to its 53 normal rares. If rare became the highest rarity in masters sets there would be more room to fit the most powerful of magic cards which would make it easier for more needed reprints to be released sooner rather than shafted to some later set due to a limited mythic pool of cards.
In fact if you look at older sets the number of rares they had would usually be greater than the combined number of rares + mythic rares in newer sets (so long as we compare sets with similar card totals of coarse.) For example, the old set Eveningtide is made up of 180 different cards, 60 of which are all rares. This was the last magic set not to have any mythic rares in it. If we look at a similarly sized set such as Aether Revolt being composed of 184 different cards, that set had only 42 rares and 12 mythic rares for a combined total of 54 value cards. Another similarly sized set is Fate Reforged with 165 different cards with only 35 rares and 10 mythics for a combined total of 45 value cards.
Because of the inclusion of mythic rares not only are there less rares but the total number of rare-or-higher cards have diminished over time. Back in the day you were always guaranteed a rare, the highest rarity in every booster pack. While you are still guaranteed to pull a rare or higher in every MTG booster pack today, you aren't guaranteed the highest rarity, mythic rare, in every pack. This in turn takes something that was originally guaranteed and instead leaves it to chance. This is not to argue that mythic rares should be guaranteed, but to illustrate they were originally designed to create this problem in the first place. Imagine if instead of coming up with mythic rares, WoTC decided to make rares no longer guaranteed in packs instead. As I see it that system would be no different from this one yet I can't help but feel there would be more player backlash over it. Some of you may be quick to point out that being guaranteed up to a rare and being guaranteed up to an uncommon are two completely different things and while in standard sets I'd agree, its the masters sets where you often see a lot rares that should be placed at the uncommon level where my point shines best. I believe so long as mythic rares as a concept exists, they will provide an excuse that its okay for low powered cards to exist in the rare slot, because rare isn't the highest rarity which ultimately diminishes the value of packs.
Thus I want to propose the question; would MTG be better off as a whole if it no longer used the concept of mythic rares anymore?
Chandra585 says... #3
I think that by removing mythics, there would not be more high-power reprints. There would be fewer. As Caerwyn said, mythic rare was created to ensure healthier limited environments, as are all rarities. By making all of the high-power mythics rare, it means that the top of the power curve is lower, so that limited is still fun and doesn't just end. Imaging Core 2021 with Ugin being in double the amount of decks. Or War of the Spark with double the Bolases. Bolasi. Whatever. All that it means is that the average card becomes less powerful. That might not be a bad thing, but that's a different discussion.
July 22, 2020 7:31 p.m.
defamagraphy1 says... #4
Even back in older sets some cards were harder to get than others in a booster pack.
If I'm not mistaken, even uncommon back in alpha had an uncommon one, two, or three, which made some more scarce than others.
Most of the problem I feel is not so much mythic rares, but net decking itself. Most players go online, search up "tier one" decks and then purchase those specific cards, pushing the value on cards that may already be harder to get. It's why some mythics have a very low price tag over others.
Even prior to Mythic printings the power level of some common cards and rare cards are more staggering than Mythics
Take Underworld Breach for example. It's a rare card, and its power level is so staggering that it broke ground in Vintage, Legacy and Modern. It got banned in Legacy, and yet is completely unplayable in Standard or Limited.
July 23, 2020 7:33 a.m.
TriusMalarky says... #5
Mythic is, for a handful of good reasons, reserved for absurd high-power bombs and really weird cards. Basically, the cards that aren't intended for Limited.
Now, the game could exist without them -- if the system had been different, and much more balanced, back in Alpha. One of Magic's big problems is their main product -- packs -- which are almost definitely going to be the downfall of the game. Gameplay is sound, and there are plenty of fun ways to play -- but it all gets overshadowed by the inherent randomness of abusability of packs.
I'm not saying random packs are bad -- they're a huge selling point for the game -- but they are inherently damaged. From the beginning, there've been draft chaff and draft unplayables. Those are the initial problem -- 90% of cards aren't anywhere near constructed playable. Then you get to the fact that the ones that are obviously good can be artificially raised in rarity so that people open more packs to get them. Desolator Magic claims he opened far fewer Fatal Pushes than other uncommons from Aether Revolt -- and since that's a thing I believe he backed up with a photo, it seems good enough as evidence to point towards it being a thing that might have happened.
July 23, 2020 10:33 a.m.
Last_Laugh says... #6
Mythic didn't have a name but for all intents and purposes still existed before it's introduction in Shards of Alara. Older magic sets had rares, uncommons, and commons that were rarer than other cards of the same rarity within the same sets.
July 23, 2020 10:45 a.m.
Last_Laugh is right, the rare sheets would have 2 of each rare on them but a few slots were reserved for the higher rare cards and have only one. Mythic just makes it clear what those cards are.
I do however regardless of my feelings on it think the Mahamoti Djinn is out of the bottle on this one.
July 23, 2020 11:51 a.m.
WolfWitcher518 says... #9
spacecoyote1313: theres nothing wrong with planeswalkers. its just a card type like any other card type. we had permanents with activated abilities since long before planeswalkers, but at least planeswalkers can be attacked.
as for the mythic rarity issue, why does it matter? why try to draw a line? should we not have rares or uncommons either? just make everything the same rarity right? no? that would ruin the fun of packs? same thing with taking away mythics. the idea that "we should be guaranteed a card of the highest rarity in every pack" seems super entitled to me. mythics are SUPPOSED to not be a guarantee. thats what makes them special.
Caerwyn says... #2
Mythic Rares exist for Limited formats. Most Mythics are devastating in an Limited environment, and give whoever pulls one a huge advantage over their opponents. By reducing the frequency of those cards, it makes it less likely someone is going to get a disproportionately powerful card (or worse, two copies of said card). So, while you will still have some games where a Mythic rare will have a big impact on the outcome of the game, those games are fewer than they would be if those same cards had been at Rare.
There is a reason the introduction of Mythic Rares coincided with the death of Tournament Packs, the old system of conducting limited events.
July 22, 2020 6:50 p.m.