History Analysis / JunkRare

(And sometimes you have lead designers who enjoy seeing how much they can get away with]], whose antics periodically break the game in manners that must be incredibly funny to those who are neither fiscally nor emotionally invested in it.)

(And sometimes you have [[http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/archive.aspx?tag=making%20magic&description=making%20magic lead designers who enjoy seeing how much they can get away with]], whose antics periodically break the game in manners that must be incredibly funny to those who are neither fiscally nor emotionally invested in it.)

For an in depth look at why this trope exists, at least in relation to ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', and probably most other {{Collectible Card Game}}s, please see [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr9 this article]].

For an in depth look at why this trope exists, at least in relation to ''MagicTheGathering'', and probably most other {{Collectible Card Game}}s, please see [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr9 this article]].

Another explanation is that the developers of a collectible game often can't say themselves what will turn out to be good or not good. This is especially the case early in the game's history, when no one -- including its creators -- really understands what makes the game work. The contrast between the cards from the first MagicTheGathering set that are considered powerful now, and those that were considered powerful then, is very instructive.

And sometimes people just make mistakes. MagicTheGathering provided the perfect example of this with the ''Urza's Saga'' block, which was created in order to slow down the game, but produced a Magic World Tour ("Combo Winter," Rome 1998) in which tournament matches were decided by the initial coin toss, because both players' decks could win on turn one.

Sometimes, too, a player shows up at a tournament with a deck built around a card that everyone else thought was worthless, and proceeds to mop the floor with his rivals and send the price and reputation of his key card into the stratosphere. In MagicTheGathering, Necropotence, from the ''Ice Age'' block, is the most famous of these.

(And sometimes you have [[http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/archive.aspx?tag=making%20magic&description=making%20magic lead designers who enjoy seeing how much they can get away with]], whose antics periodically break the game in manners that must be incredibly funny to those who are neither fiscally nor emotionally invested in it.)

Another explanation is that the developers of a collectible game often can't say themselves what will turn out to be good or not so good. This is especially the case early in the game's history, when no one -- including its creators -- really understands what makes the game work. The contrast between the cards from the first MagicTheGathering set that are considered powerful now, and those considered powerful then, is very instructive.

Once the set is completed, rarity is assigned, and for the reasons above, good cards are spread across all rarities as much as possible. Since the criteria for acceptance as a rare isn't just the card's usefulness, this will naturally lead to some rare cards being useless, or at least so specialized that they are difficult to use effectively.

For an in depth look at why this trope exists, at least in relation to ''MagicTheGathering'', and probably most other {{Collectable Card Game}}s, please see [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr9 this article]].

For an in depth look at why this trope exists, at least in relation to ''MagicTheGathering'', and probably most other CollectableCardGames, please see [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr9 this article]].