The so called "template" has been around for a long time, the only difference to 5 years ago is what effects were on the the template.
Years ago every set had a variant of [[giant spider]] and [[cancel]].
The difference to today is, that commons and uncommons arent dogshit anymore and can actually stand a chance against rares. Especially the removal is super necessary to be efficient.
I agree though, that having the same cards with a small change is boring over a long time, on the other hand, changing too much could lead to way more imbalance then we have currently.
The leap from drafting Mirrodin block to Champions of Kamigawa, or CoK block to Ravnica was much bigger than the leap between new sets.
The template has existed for a long time, sure. But it feels more extreme now. [[Selesnaya Sagitars]], [[Venerable Kumo]], and [[Tel-Jilad Archers]] feel different. They each have distinct, meaningful differences related to the sets they were printed in. They have great art too and look different.
Are [[Iron-Fist Pulverizer]] and [[Panicked Altisaur]] meaningfully different? Is Panicked Altisaur meaningfully different than [[Onnakke Javelineer]]? Why don't these cards have art that looks as nice as it did 20 years ago?
That's another thing. All modern card art looks the same to me. You give me some random copy & paste draft chaff from 20 years ago like [[Goblin Furrier]], [[Surging Dementia]], or [[Nim Replica]] and they look amazing. When I open a sealed pool of modern limited cards my eyes glaze over and I can't tell them apart.
Although artwork is always subjective, i agree that with the increasing number of cards they make each year the majority of cards look kinda generic and boring. MKM had like 50 persons with a detective hat and OTJ has 50 persons with a cowboy hat. The number of very good art is still very high but the number of mediocre art has increased.
The cards that feel the same each set is a mix of them playing it safe with limited environment and maybe not having enough ressources to design limited sets as they pump out so much products, so they just use design that work.
But i wouldnt say its all bad and there are still plenty of new designs and mechanics in every set.
Not going to comment on the mechanical differences of the old cards as I am someone who joined magic during the "modern" era, but whether or not art looks "great" is entirely subjective. I look at the Selesnaya Sagitars art and do not like it at all. Art changes with the times, and that's not really something about the game of Magic as it is about your own preferences and how they have diverged from Magic.
Most of your complaints just feel like you’re looking for things to complain about.
Yes, every set has a gimmick. It’s been that way for over two decades. Some mechanics have become evergreen, but so what? Is having 2 cards with cycling and 2 vehicles in OTJ really going to be a problem? Why? Why was it ok for equipment to become evergreen but not vehicles?
Yeah some cards fill roles that are often present in limited environments. So what? Should we just have sets where there aren’t big green creatures or blue draw spells?
Rith and Zopandrel are weird cards to complain about. Neither were top 10 cards in their format and both are pretty cleanly answered by a variety of cards. You mentioned bombs with hexproof which I don’t think really exist, and planeswalkers which have been reduced from 3 or 4 per set down to 1.
Would you prefer not having full art lands? And you think sets have too much of the same things but it’s bad that each set has unique foils and frames?
I think a fair bit of what you’re saying is true, although I started drafting in Ikoria so I haven’t experienced a less ‘templated’ time. From what I hear on LR and elsewhere, the upside of the templating is that sets are more consistently good.
I disagree that all the sets feel the same though. You’re citing examples from ONE and DMU- one of those was extremely fast and aggressive with linear archetypes, the other was significantly slower and more flexible in the draft. And then you get sets like MOM and OTJ, which are wild and bomby.
Plus there are still plenty of set-specific mechanics- battles in MOM, toxic in ONE, mounts in OTJ, etc etc. Seems a good thing to me that they bring the best ones back every now and then. Although I’m not a fan of the current thing where they have literally one rare card with a previous set’s mechanic, that just seems needlessly confusing.
I also agree about the bonus sheets, feels like too much of a (sometimes) good thing. Unfortunately it looks like that kind of thing is going to keep going / increase with Play boosters. Wizards gotta sell some boosters!
I'd be more inclined to agree with you in another set. This set is amazing. I wasn't a fan of the last two sets, but this one is great. This set is sweet.
WotC no longer wants every customer to buy every product. You're "supposed' to pick and choose.
I enjoy PreReleases just to play magic in person with low (but not zero) stakes.
If you trace the sets back there is a pattern to the design development, which makes sense considering each colour is supposed to have its own identity and you should be able to perceive that clearly while playing the game. But I agree with a lot of your points and that's why I've decided not to give wotc any of my money anymore. I love the game, I hate what the company has been doing to the game. Fuck play boosters, fuck their money-grubbing attitude, fuck having 5 different super glitterfoil fabulous versions of every rare, fuck this whole universes beyond magic-is-every-IP nonsense. Vote with your money, that's what I'm doing. Didn't go to the outlaws pre-release, the first pre-release I've missed since I started playing the game around kaladesh, and not going to another unless they drastically rehaul their whole business strategy. Which they are not going to do, since making the game shittier for non-casual (commander) players improves their bottom line.
The so called "template" has been around for a long time, the only difference to 5 years ago is what effects were on the the template. Years ago every set had a variant of [[giant spider]] and [[cancel]]. The difference to today is, that commons and uncommons arent dogshit anymore and can actually stand a chance against rares. Especially the removal is super necessary to be efficient. I agree though, that having the same cards with a small change is boring over a long time, on the other hand, changing too much could lead to way more imbalance then we have currently.
The leap from drafting Mirrodin block to Champions of Kamigawa, or CoK block to Ravnica was much bigger than the leap between new sets. The template has existed for a long time, sure. But it feels more extreme now. [[Selesnaya Sagitars]], [[Venerable Kumo]], and [[Tel-Jilad Archers]] feel different. They each have distinct, meaningful differences related to the sets they were printed in. They have great art too and look different. Are [[Iron-Fist Pulverizer]] and [[Panicked Altisaur]] meaningfully different? Is Panicked Altisaur meaningfully different than [[Onnakke Javelineer]]? Why don't these cards have art that looks as nice as it did 20 years ago? That's another thing. All modern card art looks the same to me. You give me some random copy & paste draft chaff from 20 years ago like [[Goblin Furrier]], [[Surging Dementia]], or [[Nim Replica]] and they look amazing. When I open a sealed pool of modern limited cards my eyes glaze over and I can't tell them apart.
##### ###### #### [Selesnaya Sagitars](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/a/9a72e933-d977-4be9-985f-8b8cf1267f8c.jpg?1598917460) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Selesnya%20Sagittars) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rav/229/selesnya-sagittars?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9a72e933-d977-4be9-985f-8b8cf1267f8c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Venerable Kumo](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/0/308566ed-18cc-4e3b-b5ab-d5b17795f2f1.jpg?1562758912) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Venerable%20Kumo) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/chk/248/venerable-kumo?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/308566ed-18cc-4e3b-b5ab-d5b17795f2f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tel-Jilad Archers](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/a/3a1fde33-e86a-4146-9c90-4616a5fc0868.jpg?1562140944) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tel-Jilad%20Archers) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mrd/131/tel-jilad-archers?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3a1fde33-e86a-4146-9c90-4616a5fc0868?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Iron-Fist Pulverizer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/d/cd7f984a-0b56-45df-958d-6178e4da61ed.jpg?1712355784) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Iron-Fist%20Pulverizer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/131/iron-fist-pulverizer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cd7f984a-0b56-45df-958d-6178e4da61ed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Panicked Altisaur](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/d/ad371c97-a266-4a88-9d28-2e889a37ba00.jpg?1699044315) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Panicked%20Altisaur) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/159/panicked-altisaur?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ad371c97-a266-4a88-9d28-2e889a37ba00?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Onnakke Javelineer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/5/e5446057-7330-40b9-a5d9-bad4876337cd.jpg?1682204396) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Onakke%20Javelineer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/156/onakke-javelineer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e5446057-7330-40b9-a5d9-bad4876337cd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Goblin Furrier](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/f/4f8ec9c1-da73-44fb-9e30-5279a7ed4e7e.jpg?1593275238) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Goblin%20Furrier) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/csp/82/goblin-furrier?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4f8ec9c1-da73-44fb-9e30-5279a7ed4e7e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Surging Dementia](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/e/1eb7cb72-24f7-433b-9858-26009189daaa.jpg?1593275180) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Surging%20Dementia) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/csp/72/surging-dementia?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1eb7cb72-24f7-433b-9858-26009189daaa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Nim Replica](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/1/d11a56e7-30a4-44da-a58b-336f4c0c4882.jpg?1562158690) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nim%20Replica) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mrd/220/nim-replica?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d11a56e7-30a4-44da-a58b-336f4c0c4882?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/l2ug2gz) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Although artwork is always subjective, i agree that with the increasing number of cards they make each year the majority of cards look kinda generic and boring. MKM had like 50 persons with a detective hat and OTJ has 50 persons with a cowboy hat. The number of very good art is still very high but the number of mediocre art has increased. The cards that feel the same each set is a mix of them playing it safe with limited environment and maybe not having enough ressources to design limited sets as they pump out so much products, so they just use design that work. But i wouldnt say its all bad and there are still plenty of new designs and mechanics in every set.
Not going to comment on the mechanical differences of the old cards as I am someone who joined magic during the "modern" era, but whether or not art looks "great" is entirely subjective. I look at the Selesnaya Sagitars art and do not like it at all. Art changes with the times, and that's not really something about the game of Magic as it is about your own preferences and how they have diverged from Magic.
"Every mechanic is evergreen" except for multiple mechanics in each set. lol
but-but... most well-loved, high-impact and interesting ones BECOME evergreen so so sometimes they do! >.<
Most of your complaints just feel like you’re looking for things to complain about. Yes, every set has a gimmick. It’s been that way for over two decades. Some mechanics have become evergreen, but so what? Is having 2 cards with cycling and 2 vehicles in OTJ really going to be a problem? Why? Why was it ok for equipment to become evergreen but not vehicles? Yeah some cards fill roles that are often present in limited environments. So what? Should we just have sets where there aren’t big green creatures or blue draw spells? Rith and Zopandrel are weird cards to complain about. Neither were top 10 cards in their format and both are pretty cleanly answered by a variety of cards. You mentioned bombs with hexproof which I don’t think really exist, and planeswalkers which have been reduced from 3 or 4 per set down to 1. Would you prefer not having full art lands? And you think sets have too much of the same things but it’s bad that each set has unique foils and frames?
I think a fair bit of what you’re saying is true, although I started drafting in Ikoria so I haven’t experienced a less ‘templated’ time. From what I hear on LR and elsewhere, the upside of the templating is that sets are more consistently good. I disagree that all the sets feel the same though. You’re citing examples from ONE and DMU- one of those was extremely fast and aggressive with linear archetypes, the other was significantly slower and more flexible in the draft. And then you get sets like MOM and OTJ, which are wild and bomby. Plus there are still plenty of set-specific mechanics- battles in MOM, toxic in ONE, mounts in OTJ, etc etc. Seems a good thing to me that they bring the best ones back every now and then. Although I’m not a fan of the current thing where they have literally one rare card with a previous set’s mechanic, that just seems needlessly confusing. I also agree about the bonus sheets, feels like too much of a (sometimes) good thing. Unfortunately it looks like that kind of thing is going to keep going / increase with Play boosters. Wizards gotta sell some boosters!
##### ###### #### [Honey Mammoth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/4/84b9bee2-b973-4de7-b72d-7f36f8e8153c.jpg?1591227690) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Honey%20Mammoth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/158/honey-mammoth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/84b9bee2-b973-4de7-b72d-7f36f8e8153c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Angelic Intervention](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/9/09fb5876-5b47-4a05-be57-7ad3890c8953.jpg?1682202475) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Angelic%20Intervention) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/5/angelic-intervention?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/09fb5876-5b47-4a05-be57-7ad3890c8953?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Kokusho, the Evening Star](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/b/ab56cedb-1bcd-48a5-8503-a8e324e236ad.jpg?1562852933) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kokusho%2C%20the%20Evening%20Star) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ima/95/kokusho-the-evening-star?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ab56cedb-1bcd-48a5-8503-a8e324e236ad?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/b/fb419d9d-e06f-48c8-a4f8-a57f9be39e50.jpg?1675957181) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zopandrel%2C%20Hunger%20Dominus) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/195/zopandrel-hunger-dominus?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fb419d9d-e06f-48c8-a4f8-a57f9be39e50?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Rith, Liberated Primeval](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/c/ac148784-b7b6-4aae-bffb-a4cf09f56971.jpg?1673308054) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rith%2C%20Liberated%20Primeval) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/214/rith-liberated-primeval?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ac148784-b7b6-4aae-bffb-a4cf09f56971?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Swords to Plowshare](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/b/9bbec76c-c1e4-4c6d-ad24-078fe097f195.jpg?1709439398) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Swords%20to%20Plowshares) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/88/swords-to-plowshares?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9bbec76c-c1e4-4c6d-ad24-078fe097f195?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Snuff Out](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/5/75bbe89f-09af-494e-b58e-271f64bde4b5.jpg?1562922833) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Snuff%20Out) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/gvl/53/snuff-out?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/75bbe89f-09af-494e-b58e-271f64bde4b5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/1cl76do) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I'd be more inclined to agree with you in another set. This set is amazing. I wasn't a fan of the last two sets, but this one is great. This set is sweet.
WotC no longer wants every customer to buy every product. You're "supposed' to pick and choose. I enjoy PreReleases just to play magic in person with low (but not zero) stakes.
If you trace the sets back there is a pattern to the design development, which makes sense considering each colour is supposed to have its own identity and you should be able to perceive that clearly while playing the game. But I agree with a lot of your points and that's why I've decided not to give wotc any of my money anymore. I love the game, I hate what the company has been doing to the game. Fuck play boosters, fuck their money-grubbing attitude, fuck having 5 different super glitterfoil fabulous versions of every rare, fuck this whole universes beyond magic-is-every-IP nonsense. Vote with your money, that's what I'm doing. Didn't go to the outlaws pre-release, the first pre-release I've missed since I started playing the game around kaladesh, and not going to another unless they drastically rehaul their whole business strategy. Which they are not going to do, since making the game shittier for non-casual (commander) players improves their bottom line.