Power 9

Creature Power Creep

In respose to power creep. Power creep doesn't only exist at the top end of cards. Yes design hopefully will not print more powerful versions of the power 9 of Tinker, but power creep at common and uncommon cards is very real and has made a huge impact on limited and kitchen table magic games especially on creatures(there is no one who can say todays creatures do not outclass creatures from Alpa all the way through Odyssey). Now some of this power creep was needed and some pushed into dangerous areas but ultimately power creep is real.

Creatures have gotten better because creatures in the early days were very weak. So yes, the power curve for creatures has gone up over time.The thing you’re describing isn’t power creep. It’s the nature of how non-rotating formats work. In any group of cards, there’s a top tier. As you add more cards to the system, it becomes harder to make it into that top tier. Let’s say each set adds a few cards to it. With time those new cards will displace old cards.

Card Printing Casual Play Creatures Limited Odyssey Power 9 Power Level Tinker Uncommons

Reserved List Promise

Is there really no possible future for reprints of any of the cards on the reserved list? I get why some cards like the power nine shouldnt be reprinted, but cards that are not banned or restricted in Eternal formats such as metalworker seem to not have a good reason for not reprinting them.

Other than the promise to never reprint them.

Bannings Card Printing Eternal Format Legality Format Legality Metalworker Power 9 Reprints The Reserved List

Power 9 Implications

What do you think magic would look like now if it was decided early on that cards of a caliber of the power 9 were an acceptable to continue printing.

It would look like a high-end Vintage game.

Card Printing Power 9 Vintage

Un-cards Power Nine

Discounting Blacker Lotus and Gleemox, what would you consider the silver border/acorn 'power nine' to be?

The most powerful Un-card is Richard Garfield PhD, but I don’t know the whole top nine.

Blacker Lotus Gleemox Power 9 Richard Garfield Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets

Power 9 for Standard

What card of the "Power 9" is the closest to printable in a standard set?

Timetwister was the weakest of the nine, but that’s still not close to Standard power level.

Card Printing Power 9 Power Level Premier Sets Standard Timetwister

Status of Sol Ring

Why isn't Sol Ring considered one of the Power Nine (Ten)? It's on that level of power.

Maybe because it wasn’t rare. I don’t know. I agree it should have been.

Power 9 Rares Sol Ring

Trivia on Thopeters

Hi Mark, It's my birthday today and I wanted to ask some trivia on thopeters, if you have some. Also, these 6 next premier sets got me soooooo hyped, wizards did a really good job !

I’ll share one of R&D’s favorite stories. Richard Garfield is meeting with the head of a company that we were considering licensing from to make a trading card game. The person asks who would be working on it? Richard answers the same R&D team that works on the rest of our products including Magic. The person then wants assurances that we don’t make any broken cards like the one Magic made. Richard is curious what card he considers the “broken card”. Black Lotus? No. Another of the Power Nine? No. Library of Alexandria? No. Mishra’s Workshop? No. What card was he referring to? Ornithopter!The danger of Ornithopter became a running joke in R&D for years. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Black Black Lotus Humor Library of Alexandria Mishra's Workshop Ornithopter Power 9 Premier Sets Premier Sets Richard Garfield The Library

Spectral Chaos Playtest Cards

I recently discovered the playtest cards for Spectral Chaos. Some of them are very powerful cards, on par with the power 9 even. Do you know, did that set ever make it to "development" (or whatever passed for it at the time) or was it made with a different vision of the game?

Parts of Spectral Chaos were used in Invasion. The Domain mechanic, for example, comes from Spectral Chaos. What you’re seeing though is Barry Reich’s original design which had not been developed.

Domain Invasion Mechanics Playtesting Power 9

Historic Cards in Modern

Are there cards you would never print today that you're still glad exist within the game's history?

While I don’t think any format other than Vintage should use the “power nine”, I do think their existence was part of what helped Magic initially take off.

Card Printing Historic Modern Power 9 Vintage

Power 9 Experience

What would you say to relatively newer players like myself who feel underwhelmed by the power 9 in the arena event?

See question before.

Magic Arena Power 9

Lotus Topic Depth

Is there enough material to make a podcast episode about the Black Lotus, lotuses in general, the Power 9, or maybe power words like Lotus or Mox?

I’m not sure I have 30 minutes.

Black Black Lotus Drive to Work Power 9

Reserve List Oversized Cards

Can cards on the reserve be printed as oversized cards? I'd love to just have a boxset of Power nine that I can't play with but can admire both the art and power, from the distance afforded by potentially attainable as a strictly collectable variant.

The Reserved List is only about normal-sized cards. We have in the past printed oversized cards from the Reserved List.

Art Card Printing Power 9 The Reserved List

Power 9 Design Fit

On the topic of cards like the power 9 being the norm, the Pokemon TCG has cards like Ancestral Recall and more played regularly that are just like it. The difference in its design is that there's no life total and instead it's entirely weighing two player's boards against one another. This plays well with the huge amounts of acceleration big card draw cards allow. I believe Magic would be a bad fit for cards that powerful, but there are certainly ways to make it work.

I’m not saying it couldn’t be made. I’m arguing it wouldn’t be fun for all but a niche subset of players.

Ancestral Recall Card Draw Power 9

Power 9 Game Impact

Why would Magic with the Power 9 as normal cards imply turn 1 wins? If players are expected to have those cards, wouldn't Magic then evolve in a way that mitigates the imbalances they can create? I'd imagine corresponding hate in the form of Leyline effects, uncounterable Black Vise and Ugin's Nexus variants, a more vicious version of Manabarbs that hits artifact mana, and so on.

Yes, Magic would evolve to a game that’s not about actually playing the cards but trying to get the card that shuts down the opponent’s strategy first. That game system would appeal to a tiny fraction of Magic’s audience and the game would die off because a trading card game needs a threshold of revenue to support the work needed to create and balance it.

Artifacts Black Black Vise Evolve Gates Gates Keyword Actions Mana Manabarbs Power 9 Threshold Ugin's Nexus

Power 9's Game Impact

In a parallel universe Ancestral Recall and the other Power 9 were not considered too powerful but instead the gold standard of how good a card should be. In that universe what do you think Magic would look like today? What do you think are the some pros and cons of this universe?

I think the game would have gone under if everything was of the power level of the Power 9. Games aren’t much fun when you’re opponent wins before you get to take a turn.

Ancestral Recall Power 9 Power Level Standard

Power 9 Standard Future

Can you imagine an alternate future for mtg in which instead of deciding the power 9 were mistakes, it was decided that they become the standard for "high power" cards? What does this future look like?

I can imagine it, but I don’t like what I see. We’ve had environments where the mana system can be circumvented and it’s problematic.

Mana Power 9 Standard

Cube-Friendly Un Card

I know you're a big fan of the Un sets. My question to you is - if you had to put any 1 Un card in a cube, which would it be? I gifted my friend a super secret tech for his birthday. We put it in his power 9 cube that's almost entirely premium (foil) cards. It was exhilarating to play it.

Booster Tutor is an awesome card for cubes.

Birthday Booster Tutor Boosters Cube Draft Foils Power 9 Super Secret Tech Tutoring Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets

Sol Ring Trivia

Mark, it was my birthday a week ago, but i'm still trying. can you give me any trivia about sol ring?

It is the consensus of much of R&D that Sol Ring is more powerful than many of the Power Nine. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Power 9 Sol Ring

Color Pie and Power Level

Could you give an example of an occasion where color pie and power level intersect? I'm guessing the blue power 9. Card draw and extra turns are inherently pretty powerful.

White is supposed to have creature removal but not too strong as to usurp black.

Black Blue Card Draw Color Pie Colors Creatures Power 9 Power Level White

Removal Cards Popularity

Hi Mark, are you following the mtg bracket progress? I note that, as it stands, all five of the most highly voted cards (so far) are highly efficient removal in one form or another. I know this is unscientific in that it's highly dependant on the individual match-ups etc, but as it is all 5, the message seems to be that very efficient removal is highly popular. Is this something that WOTC will listen to? Is this one of those cases where popular and better gameplay conflict somewhat?

What is popular and what leads to good gameplay does not necessarily overlap. I’m sure the “Power Nine” will do well. I think most would agree Standard is better off for not having the “Power Nine”.

Game Play Power 9 Standard Wizards of the Coast