Why does rarity matter?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Oct. 15, 2021, 1:34 a.m. by legendofa
This has been gnawing at the back of my mind for a while now. Why are Commander-exclusive cards given rarities at all? The point of rarity is to show how often that card will show up in a randomized pack, but most Commander products are completely predictable, down to the order that you see the cards. Loyal Subordinate, Crash of Rhino Beetles, and Tuvasa the Sunlit all show up with identical frequency in C18 products. Is there any functional reason to have them be different rarities, or is it just to show off the relative awesomeness of the cards?
TypicalTimmy says... #3
Perhaps it's their way to signify power? I believe there is an actual design philosophy behind them. From what I've read,
-
A common should do one thing decently, or two things subpar with relation to the costs.
-
A rare should feel powerful and game bending.
-
A mythic should push the boundaries of what the color(s) are traditionally capable of
-
And an uncommon, being the hardest to design, needs to feel like a powerful spell without being too powerful
So maybe in precons, they adhere to this idea and use it as a guide to help determine the overall power level of the set? If you go into a set with limitations already established, you'll have an easier time keeping it focused. For example, if you say you can have 3 mythics, 17 rares and 23 uncommons then you know the set will be less powerful than 5 mythics, 22 rares and 16 uncommons.
A credible way to test this theory is to start a project where precons are loaded here onto Tappedout to see their rarity breakdown, barring basic lands. Then, we can use objective data to see the power levels behind the decks.
For example, we all know that the Edgar Markov deck is an absolute tank. Does the level of rarity show this? And what of others? Is it a trend, or just anecdotal?
I would do it but I'm far too busy, so I'll leave it to others.
October 15, 2021 2:41 a.m. Edited.
sergiodelrio says... #4
For new cards, when multiple decks come out at the same time-
- Commanders are Mythic Rare
- Cards that only appear in exactly one of those decks are Rare
- Cards that appear in more than one deck, but not in all of them are Uncommon
- Cards that appear in each of those decks are common
That's the default, but they remain the right to enforce this inconsequentially, for various reasons listed by others above, especially for but not limited to reprints.
At the end of the day it's a feel thing
October 15, 2021 4:53 a.m.
griffstick says... #5
I totally get what you're saying legendofa because I also use to wonder the same. Until I saw them put commander only cards in other sets. Rarity should mean, that commons are easy to find and Mythic rares are hardest to find. That's not the case always because Loyal Unicorn is harder to find than Chainer, Nightmare Adept. So I think the rarity has to do with reprints and power levels. Also Chainer, Nightmare Adept was a Mythic rare and got reprinted as a rare so maybe I'm wrong about power level too
October 15, 2021 8:54 a.m. Edited.
Last_Laugh says... #6
sergiodelrio has the right of it. Mythic is for commanders only, rare is in 1 deck, uncommon is in 2 decks, but I'm not sure they do commander exclusive commons (shifted rarity, yes but not new cards). That is the actual reasoning behind rarity in commander precons.
The rarity in something like Commander Legends is a different story and I imagine is assigned its rarity just like any Masters etc. reprint set.
October 15, 2021 11:36 p.m. Edited.
FormOverFunction says... #7
I just wanted to comment because I really liked the question but couldn’t click “like” on it at the root. Good question, legendofa!!!!
October 16, 2021 9:10 a.m.
So overall, it seems to be a combination of intended Commanderness, frequency of appearance, and a little bit of gut feeling for the precons, and of course frequency of appearance for the draft sets.
Omniscience_is_life says... #2
It matters for pauper... that's the only reasoning I know of.
October 15, 2021 2:02 a.m.