Spoilers for the eagerly anticipated set Eternal Masters began in earnest this week, promising widespread reprints of rare and/or valuable Eternal staples. Its somewhat interesting that WotC decided to shine light on Eternal formats with this release, considering they have traditionally been rather laissez-faire about supporting and endorsing such formats. But here we are, and this set could prove to generate a huge amount of new interest in Eternal Magic.
While the Reserved List remains as inscrutable and immovable as ever, the vast majority of the Eternal cardpool is non-RL and subject to reprint in this kind of supplemental product. If these reprints bring down the price of entry to Legacy, the format will certainly see growth**. Many players are interested what Legacy has to offer, but consider it "too expensive". If you read the Magic hivemind that is r/magicTCG on Reddit, you would get the impression that this perceived expense makes Legacy an ultra-exclusive format no one can afford to play. This impression is simply false.
Lots of people play Legacy, though in the United States this is somewhat regionally biased towards major metropolitan areas. While Legacy players are on average older and have higher income, many are still of modest means, and are no better off than Standard or Modern players. These players are simply willing to pay the premium of entry for the great experience that is Legacy Magic. Most Magic players simply can't justify spending potentially thousands of dollars on cardboard, which I can honestly sympathize with.
However, there are a few points worth making in regards to the "Legacy is too expensive" argument:
Honestly, I am cautious to treat the potential growth of Legacy heralded by Eternal Masters as a net positive for its community and play experience. An unpopular truth is that the relative exclusivity of Legacy does in fact make it a more enjoyable experience than other formats for myself and many others. Since most Legacy players have spent a lot of money on the format out of choice, no one gets salty or upset about others playing expensive decks, which I have observed in other formats. Legacy won't put you on the Pro Tour-you play it because you love it. No one is willing to spend that kind of money unless they are passionate about Magic and Legacy. Naturally, this excludes many low to mid-level grinders, who are often the most unpleasant category of player. I have played Standard, Modern, and Legacy from the local to GP level, and with this experience have concluded that Legacy players are the most mature, courteous, interesting, and enjoyable to play a card game with on average.
On the positive side, I will be very pleased if Eternal Masters turns out to be a great thing for Legacy and proves these fears baseless. Its entirely possible that some time from now, people will look at Legacy as the Pre-Eternal Masters era and the Post-Eternal Masters era. While I don't plan on buying any of the sealed product or even singles, its been very satisfying to see this set of Eternal all-stars come together, and I look forward to that continuing next week.
Update: A few hours after publishing this post the full spoiler was dropped. Guess I don't have to wait until next week, whooo!
While the Reserved List remains as inscrutable and immovable as ever, the vast majority of the Eternal cardpool is non-RL and subject to reprint in this kind of supplemental product. If these reprints bring down the price of entry to Legacy, the format will certainly see growth**. Many players are interested what Legacy has to offer, but consider it "too expensive". If you read the Magic hivemind that is r/magicTCG on Reddit, you would get the impression that this perceived expense makes Legacy an ultra-exclusive format no one can afford to play. This impression is simply false.
Lots of people play Legacy, though in the United States this is somewhat regionally biased towards major metropolitan areas. While Legacy players are on average older and have higher income, many are still of modest means, and are no better off than Standard or Modern players. These players are simply willing to pay the premium of entry for the great experience that is Legacy Magic. Most Magic players simply can't justify spending potentially thousands of dollars on cardboard, which I can honestly sympathize with.
However, there are a few points worth making in regards to the "Legacy is too expensive" argument:
- There are many Magic players who build multiple Tier 1-2 Modern decks or play a lot of Tier Standard over the course of several rotations. The investment put towards these efforts will often equal the cost of a Legacy deck. Players in this category could choose to make that investment in a Legacy deck instead. Legacy isn't too expensive for these players, they just choose to direct their Magic investment towards other formats and activities.
- There are several Legacy decks available that fit into many players' budgets, including Belcher, Burn, Dredge, Manaless Dredge, and Oops All Spells. These are all totally legitimate and competitive Legacy strategies. Of course, these strategies aren't appealing to everyone. But their existence means that its not Legacy as a format that is too expensive for many-its certain archetypes within the format that are.
- Perhaps most importantly, people need to realize that as great of an experience as Legacy is, no one is entitled to be able to play Legacy and WotC does not have a mandate to make Legacy more accessible. Legacy has been very healthy for years, and has actually become more popular over the last two years in particular, despite the persistence of the RL and general lack of reprints. If Eternal Masters hypothetically did not exist, I am confident that Legacy would continue to see gradual growth.
Honestly, I am cautious to treat the potential growth of Legacy heralded by Eternal Masters as a net positive for its community and play experience. An unpopular truth is that the relative exclusivity of Legacy does in fact make it a more enjoyable experience than other formats for myself and many others. Since most Legacy players have spent a lot of money on the format out of choice, no one gets salty or upset about others playing expensive decks, which I have observed in other formats. Legacy won't put you on the Pro Tour-you play it because you love it. No one is willing to spend that kind of money unless they are passionate about Magic and Legacy. Naturally, this excludes many low to mid-level grinders, who are often the most unpleasant category of player. I have played Standard, Modern, and Legacy from the local to GP level, and with this experience have concluded that Legacy players are the most mature, courteous, interesting, and enjoyable to play a card game with on average.
On the positive side, I will be very pleased if Eternal Masters turns out to be a great thing for Legacy and proves these fears baseless. Its entirely possible that some time from now, people will look at Legacy as the Pre-Eternal Masters era and the Post-Eternal Masters era. While I don't plan on buying any of the sealed product or even singles, its been very satisfying to see this set of Eternal all-stars come together, and I look forward to that continuing next week.
Update: A few hours after publishing this post the full spoiler was dropped. Guess I don't have to wait until next week, whooo!
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