Does Rarity Matter?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Oct. 25, 2021, 6:16 p.m. by Yorkapotamus
I am getting into magic for he first time and noticed that there are different rarities for cards. Just was wondering if there was nay benefits to having rarer cards?
Welcome to the club, Yorkapotamus! In general, rarer cards are more complicated and powerful than more common cards.
Quick breakdown:
Basic land--the most common card type. Simple, reliable, no frills.
Common--generally do one thing decently well, or a couple of things poorly. Straightforward, simple effects.
Uncommon--Still pretty simple, but do more things, or do them better, than commons. Good cards to build around when starting out.
Rare--powerful or complex. Generally able to change the course of a game, given a turn or two.
Mythic rare--the most dramatic cards, and virtually always going to immediately affect the game.
There are some other rarities, but those tend to be specialized, so don't worry too much about those right now.
October 25, 2021 6:38 p.m.
I have nothing relevant to add your question has already been well answered.
Just wanted to say hi, welcome to magic!
Side note: as previously discussed in another thread almost all the cards in a commander precon are rare. That must mean that putting any card into a commander deck makes it better!!!
October 25, 2021 7:51 p.m.
griffstick says... #5
I'd also like to add that Mythic rares aren't always good. Sometime Mythic rares are rule bending cards. Or some groundbreaking design. For instance Hellcarver Demon is a bad card, but breaks or bends the rules of magic. Omniscience is an example of a powerful card, so its Mythic rare. Then there's the cards that get a special treatment. With cards like Zuran Orb. It is an uncommon in every set except from the Vault relics. in That set its a Mythic rare.
October 25, 2021 10:11 p.m. Edited.
griffstick says... #6
One more thing. Rarity is supposed to represent the chances of opening it in a pack. There's tons of String of Disappearances but there not alot of Urza, Lord High Artificers
October 25, 2021 10:26 p.m. Edited.
JANKYARD_DOG says... #7
Pretty sure the relevance of rarity is mainly for drafting purposes. It effects the amount a certain card is printed thus limiting its appearance in packs. Each rarity also has it's own level of rarity... so you have Common 1(C1), C2, and C3. Same for U/R/M, 1 being more common. Thing I'm unsure of is on the design level if they decide rarity pre or post design or somewhere in between.
October 26, 2021 2:59 a.m.
Some of the best cards in commander are commons because in other formats they are not as strong and sometimes what is strong in one format is not always strong in commander. Rhystic Study is an example great in commander does not really see play in other formats.
In Modern izzet blitz/prowess type decks are really strong Sprite Dragon is an uncommon and was strong it has been replaced recently but in commander it is a ok 2 drop in some decks.
Dragon's Rage Channeler is an uncommon and it is a very good card in a lot of formats and is really good in commander because of strong graveyard decks it can help fuel Underworld Breach and other graveyard shenanigans in rakdos, jund etc etc
Consider is a common and seeing play in several formats once again powering graveyard stuff so making it stronger than opt at this point and I have already put it in one commander deck because it can put stuff in my graveyard to power my underworld breach. Heck it would be good in decks running commanders like Muldrotha, the Gravetide The Mimeoplasm Tasigur, the Golden Fang so yea sulti decks like this card a lot
Gitaxian Probe is a common banned in everything but commander it reads free card draw because you can 100% be tapped out pay 2 life draw a card and yes that is a good card even in commander.
I would say the recent push of fire it was trending that direction but it seems since the oko and omath mistakes that basically overshadowed cards at the uncommon and common level. Recently it seems more balanced because sometimes perception is reality.
That's just my view on the subject
TypicalTimmy says... #2
Generally speaking, power level. The more rare the card, the "better" it should be. This isn't always the case as bulk rares, even bulk mythics exist and sometimes uncommons are very powerful, such as Fatal Push and Arterial Flow
October 25, 2021 6:36 p.m.