Did People Like the Mystical Archives?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on May 10, 2021, 8:45 a.m. by Sultai_Sir
Personally? I thought it was one of the best, if not the best, way I've seen to reprint cards ever. Putting a desirable card with beautiful new art into 3.50 dollar packs, and there's japanese variants for the collectors? Teferi's Protection is 25 bucks now! Natural Order is 13 dollars! Not only is this a great way to reprint cards, it also helps newer people getting into magic by giving them notable cards from all time periods. So what do you think?
Sultai_Sir says... #3
Well, to each their own, I guess. I thought that the English mystical archives looked pretty good, and the Japanese Archives looked absolutely stunning.
May 10, 2021 10:12 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #5
I think (most) of the MA art brings us back to what helped make magic popular: the weirder more conceptual art, less of the digitally-polished photo-realistic stuff. An example of that difference is Dramatic Reversal and Pentagram of the Ages . That squad-photo is almost identical to what you would expect to see on an Avengers-themed tissue box; “Hey kids! You recognize these characters! Tell your parents to buy these Kleenex(tm) brand facial tissues!” The artifact is weird; no one knows who it is in the picture and there’s no discernible way to see how the item would even work. And the painting itself looks like a relic you might have dug up out of the sands of an encroaching waste ;p I’m not the target market for these new cards, and I’m unhappy about how they are (to some extent or another) cutting the local nerd shops out of the loop, but I love getting back to those artistic basics.
May 10, 2021 10:52 a.m.
TriusMalarky says... #6
Honestly my personal graphics hardware and engine are trash, so I really don't have the ability to judge art(nerd with glasses mode activate). That said, I just assume fancy art versions of cards are cooler because it says 'fancy art' on the title. So these are cool because they're fancy.
Also I like the colors. I think.
May 10, 2021 11:38 a.m.
Sultai_Sir says... #7
Trust me, the cards are gorgeous. I pulled a Japanese Teferi's Protection , and it looks beautiful
May 10, 2021 11:55 a.m.
ZendikariWol says... #8
I love love the mystical archive. Absolutely spectacular.
May 10, 2021 4:18 p.m.
I enjoy that they are reprinting expensive cards for edh/modern in standard packs. It not only makes the drafting experience more exciting, but it also makes the game much more playable for people who are new to the game. A card like Teferi's Protection is a must-have in almost every white edh deck, so making it more affordable evens the playing field. I have always hated the gatekeeping around high-level magic play, and I think this is a step in the right direction.
May 10, 2021 4:18 p.m.
Mtg_Mega_Nerds says... #10
The reprints are fine and the art is cool. I don't think I will spend an extra $2 or more on some cards just for the art. As for cards like Agonizing Remorse or Eliminate , I will get the Mystical Archive art because it costs the same. Also, Strixhaven, Mystical Archive has had a large impact on historic, which I like. (Cards like Time Warp , Mind's Desire and Tainted Pact )
May 10, 2021 4:26 p.m.
I think they're great, especially since they are all easily available and I've been a fan of the majority of the art. I will also spend more money are cards simply because I like the art, so this has been fun.
May 10, 2021 4:41 p.m.
I'm ok with them. They still look like magic cards for the most part. I am a functional guy/utility So I would not spend more for alt art. I dislike more of the arts that don't even look like you are playing mtg... but I feel like most of these did not cross that line. I believe alt art is a poor substitute for creativity of deck building, which some players seem to be confused on... but at the same time it is nice to see some of these staples, that would otherwise get used in only the most cEDH high $$ settings, actually get put into some kooky pet-deck situations - this only happens when the pricing allows for it to happen. Or in my situation where I have duals & such from when they were $4 - then you get shade thrown at you for having them in low-mid tier decks.
May 10, 2021 7:24 p.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #13
Mtg_Mega_Nerds the great thing about Mystical Archive is that, for most cards, you're actually going to be spending LESS on them than you would have if MA never existed.
It's a win for players and a win for collectors.
May 10, 2021 10:20 p.m.
I liked "Strixhaven" very much but it is really 4-5 sets all released under the umbrella of Strixhaven:
- Strixhaven
- Mystical archive Normal
- Mystical archive Japanese
- The List
- Strixhaven commander
A very small portion of those cards are new game piece designs. Most are cosmetic upgrades and plain old reprints. Im glad it's happening since I love cheaper cards because of reprints. However I think they still need to try much harder to make good mana bases cheap. It's not good for the game for the most basic resources to be a barrier to entry for a quality play experience. Im ok with expensive cards (not the reserve list, that needs to go) but good mana bases should not be expensive. Cool interesting fun cards should be expensive! Not boring lands that just make mana a tiny bit more efficiently than the ones that are worthless.
Mystic archive cards are fantastic in person, both English and Japanese. Im happy with the way they put them in every pack like the time shifted slot in time spiral instead of the invocation/masterpiece/expedition method. It really makes each pack far more interesting to open. After all a booster box is basically reduced to just a small stack of rares once it's opened. Having this slot in each pack 100% feels like double rares per pack. Mostly junk rares, but still rares.
May 12, 2021 2:24 a.m.
Rzepkanut A person after my own heart on that first mini-rant :) Laissez faire Magic is the best. Cosmetic upgrades are good & all as long as they bring the price down. This is all coming from someone who has a bunch of Reserve list cards from when they were not cardboard gold (I also think the RL is a dino-relic formed off opinions from a bygone age..& it should be gone). Back to this product though, since it helps prices...unlike the other whale-product out there: SL & Collector's Packs - I find it to be a good thing... even from a functional & deck diversity standpoint. Though I would still say alternative art does not = deck diversity
May 12, 2021 9:09 a.m.
Gleeock Yeah I have a bunch of reserve list cards too since I started playing Magic back in Fallen Empires...even many expensive ones...but I still wish the reserve list would go away no matter what it does to prices.
Just imagine if they did an all reserve list version of "the list" or a mystical archive or timeshifted style subset in a set release some day...it would be so insane. They would sell so many packs it would break the internet.
May 12, 2021 10:52 p.m.
It would cause so much buzz, likely a whole bunch of new entrants to the game due to feeling that there is no longer a synthetic barrier to entry. I think the pure quantity & pull of imbittered old dinosaur collectors out there is overestimated. I just want to see my people dive into the game headlong without learning about things that will never allow them to make decks with the same singles I have if they so choose. It would be nice to see more diversity in the game sitting across the table from me as well.
May 13, 2021 9:07 a.m.
I bought a Wheel of Fortune for $170 two weeks later it was going for $340 and now over $400. That is just plain bad I be all for them crashing the price on the cards and a lot of the originals will still have value because it was first print run we see this in Birds of paradise now.
hejtmane says... #2
I am fine they do things like that in packs. From personal taste I think everyone of them are hideous and every pull i have is in my trade binders.
May 10, 2021 10:09 a.m.