One of the nagging problems this game has had is the scarcity of it's best cards. From promos that only had one day of release (Trade Your Passion for Glory, Penny Arcade, etc.), to those that you must travel to events for (AoPs, FoPs, PoTM), to ultra-rares that are nearly impossible to get (Feline Spike, Knight Breaker, etc.), this game has consistently made things hard on new players trying to compete.

My question is, should FFG reprint some of these cards, perhaps as special edition decks, or in sets themselves, in order to make it possible for new players to get into the game. FFG has no stake in the secondary market, and there are a lot of tournament cards that are from either sold out sets or long ago events so they won't be competing with themselves in any sense.

One of the things keeping players such as myself from traveling to any regionals or other events to compete is the trouble and expense of getting the cards I'd need. One thing I've seen other companies do is reprint World Champions decks (L5R and Magic do this, I'm sure others do too). How awesome would a dual deck featuring the finalists decks be? The decks could be all non-foil in order to help the secondary market maintain value and also to keep cost down, or it could be all foil in order to release new foil commons and uncommons in order to drive sales.

What would you think of such a product?

I think that would be an awesome idea to get more reprints and make everything easier to get . But I doubt they would reprint something like knight breaker. On the other side of the coin the people who got them trading or packs would be turned off for the work in getting them most likely if they were basically starter cards. But some form of more reprints especially of cards in realm of midknight which is out of print. We are getting the the first 2 reprints in prize support cursed blood and mark of the beast but I hope FFG keeps it coming.

i think they will have to just to keep cards in blocks due to the meta needing them

No. I don't like reprints of any kind, and if that rumor that Penny Arcade is being reprinted comes true, I will be quite angry.

i'd like to see some reprints, maybe a tin, battlepack type thing. something to help new players. things have got to start being done to grow the game.

Eventually some stuff will have to be reprinted somewhere down the line.

We're only 3 years into the game, so in another 3 years, probably then we can start looking at more serious reprinting.

Also due to the nature of some of the licences, certain cards cannot be reprinted.

Reprints are best done in small numbers. I'm not a fan of reprinting a card because of scarcity or rarity, it is a Collectable Card Game for all its worth. You cant get any card you need at any time in any other card game for the most part, why should this be any different.

Also the OP said that FFG has no stake in the secondary market, and to that I call BS. FFG wants the singles market to be as strong as humanly possible, because a strong secondary market shows the game is going well and the stronger the market the easier it is to find the cards needed for new players to be come tourney level players.

The problem is that the secondary market sucks. New players can't get cards so they can't compete (or at least feel they can't) on the same level as those who started the game at the beginning.

Also, every other game I can think of that's worth a ****: Magic, L5R, WoW, etc. all have all singles available at times.

I've got to agree, for the most part with, MarcoPulleaux on this one. For as many Spikes, Spintas, and Gerdenheim's as I own (um...zero), I still don't believe it's fair to people who have pulled, traded, and especially purchased these for the cards to suddenly change in rarity. Just as it wasn't fair for video game retailers to say MvC2 was rare and charge an arm and a leg for it. Adjusting rarity after an established market is a pretty low.

I know a certain player I loved playing against who spent a small fortune on some chase cards only to see them banned soon therafter. Obviously this was not an isolated incedent, it's happened to most of us in one way or another, be it Addess or Ryu's Ashura Senku, or whatever. What I DO think it fine is reprints in the form of league foils and such, commons and uncommons made shiny, and if need be, slap a 5-point shuriken on those badboys. The maker has to make money and rare und ultra-rares are the way for a reason...well, in most cases: I'm looking at you, Homerun!

^ That.

I like the idea of reprinting stuff as league foils.

HOWEVER

I would NOT be against the idea of reprinting certain cards with alternate art. However, I'm talking about things that are currently legal but not particularly chase - characters and things like that.

MegaGeese said:

My god i'd be happy about this, fixing the art on adon? yes please

are we talking like old school stuff?

Some of the really old, awesome, but still balanced URs would be cool. Like Reversal or crazy stuff like that.

None of this addresses the fact that the game is basically impossible for new players to get into on a competitive level. Sure, they can play rogue decks (read: crap) or the rare deck that doesn't use any one of the 4-6 all but impossible to get cards, but is that really an alternative? I know for a fact it keeps some people from playing the game. No matter how much money they're willing to spend the cards just aren't available. Also, the ones that are (CSI has a Knight Breaker right now for $45) are so expensive they make the game seem like a cash sinkhole instead of something to do for fun. Also as has been mentioned, a lot of the expensive cards from the past have been banned and a lot of people want the new ones banned too (anyone else sick of reading ban threads calling for FSpike, BRT, etc?). What's the point in spending $50 a card (that you are lucky just to have the option to buy) if there's a possibility of it getting banned?

I currently have a deck that very much stands toe to toe with any tourney deck and has done so at big local events. While it runs BRT it does not require it and almost didnt in favor of some other foundation that supports the main strategy. It does not run owlface. The most costly card in the deck is perhaps the flames of fame boxtopper which is completley available to most people for 5 dollars or less. I suspect I will at the least place at the upcoming Kings Games regional with it. The VAST majority of the deck is commons.

A person can walk into any store that sells UFS and buy some Ken and Ivy starters and a cohesive collection of cards with the all symbol. Kaz reppa might be the best overall attack in the game right now and its a starter rare that anyone can get with a minimal investment.

It's not hard to get into this game. No one expects to start up any new CCG and be instantly competitive on a tournament level without some investment of time and money. What is more determental to the game more so than lack of availability is lack of competent players who are willign to demo games and store owners who do not know or care about they games they carry unless its magic or ygo. In NYC we recently have had a lot of new interests start the game because the new base set just came out and has what might be the best starter decks ever printed in terms of getting into the game. That being said they never would have gotten into the game without someone there to show them the ropes.

MegaGeese said:

Or foiling starters, like they did with Set 1 starters...

I wantz my holo Zi Mei and Nightmare.

NOW

WHO'S

WITH MEEEEEEEEEHHHHH?!

Foil Nightmare, Cervantes, and Astrid? YES PLEASE.

Secret ninja conspiracy theory? For those of you intersted in those crazy what-ifs. Magic:The Gathering back in the day used to employ a sub-rarity system. There would be multiple teirs of Rares, Unc, and Commons. For example if you remember a really good card called Force of Will, it was rarity Uncommon 1, which is much harder to get than Uncommon 2 or 3.

How could this translate to UFS? What if, theoretically, FFG employed a sub-rarity system when printing cards that made Knight Breaker a harder to obtain UR, and Midnight Launcher a harder rare. That might explain why everyone's playgroup opens 4-10 boxes with little breakers to show by ratio. Of course there will always be counter-points made by posters "Oh I opened 3 breakers in 4 boxes." While this is expected, naturally it is far, far outnumbered by the stories of a desert wasteland of breakers.

Your next question would be......why would FFG do this? The answer is the same reason any company makes any decision; money. If set 12 has ridiculously good UR's that will do very well on the secondary market, why not make them harder to obtain therefore making ppl buy more boxes to get these allustrious cards. Of course they could keep this a secret because of the NDA's (Non-Disclosure Agreement) employee's are most likely forced to sign. I also believe (just an assumption) they are under no legal liability to provide such information to the public.

Just an idea feel free to comment, flame, contribute and such. The opinions I most want to hear are MarcoP and Antigoth.

there is no sub rarity system. Look at any uncut sheet.

Eithinis said:

Fixed

Protoaddict said:

Uncut sheets are by no means a definition or standard. I could make an uncut sheet of a set comprised of compromising pictures of your mom, but that would just be mean

MarcoPulleaux said:

But Cervantes is a PRETTY card.

Eithinis said:

...

...agreed...

Tader Salad said:

System also employed in a number of other games as well.

Tader Salad said:

Yeah no. Fred already answered this. FFG/STG employ the same method. There are two different sheets for each booster expansion, and three for base sets. Sheet 1 is commons and uncommons. Sheet 2 is Rares and super rares. Sheet 3 is Starter Deck cards.

Sheet 1 - Non Foil
Sheet 2 - Foil

Each common appears on the sheet the same # of times as every other common.
Each uncommon appears on the sheet the same # of times as every other uncommon
Each rare appears on the sheet the same # of times as every other Rare
Each super rare appears on the sheet the same # of times as every other Super Rare.

So Knight Breaker is printed exactly the same # of times as Siggy's Earth Divide, as Twilight Embrace, As Storm Hammer, as...

Tader Salad said:

Actually - people are more likely to ***** and moan, then they are to rejoice "hey, lookie what I got!"
These forums frequently are a place where people ***** incessantly about stuff. The people who try to say good stuff are frequently shouted down by the people bitching, and the people who are positive about the game tend to avoid the forums.
<But I'm digressing into another conversation all together.>

Tader Salad said:

Or you could just email them directly through the "contact us" method on the website and get an answer that way. Have you tried asking FFG Directly?

Tader Salad said:

You are correct.

Tader Salad said:

I'd rather people not flame where possible. Additionally I'm really not certain how to state the following sentence without flaming, so I'll do my best.
While I'm flattered that you want to hear my opinion (and I've done my best to stick to fact as much as humanly possible when answering this), I'm not 100% certain I'm comfortable being lumped in with a pariah like Shinji. At which point, hey if my posts are classified as social pariah status, I really can better spend my time elsewhere rather then providing factual answers to questions people aren't willing to send to FFG directly.

P.S. - Protoaddict (Fred) Already gave you the same answer that I did, just in significantly less detail. He is correct.

If Magic the gathering has done ONE thing right in it's bagillion years of existance was that in printed the Time Shift set (whatever it was called). For those that don't know Magic (you lucky lucky people), basically they took a bunch of old moderatly powered cards from old old sets (like, the Legends block forward if I remember right)and reprinted them as Time Shifted cards, as well as printed a whole new set. It gave folks who were too young, not playing at all, or for those like me, came in just after Legends/Arabian Nights/The Dark went out of print a chance to actually use those cards, and they weren't mark up to high heavens as the set was relativly small, and the cards were easy to find (one per pack regardless).

Personally, I like the thematic reprints we get each set. It doesn't solve the problem of the older cards being hard to get, but it does give newer players some very similar tools that may be better suited (or worse - Calming the Mind, while a good card, is no Mortal Strike) for the meta in question.

Also, I don't think we'll have to worry about this until Legacy actually, y'know, matters.