Poll of the Day > It'd be cool in a TCG if rarity and power weren't intrinsically linked

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or rather, using MTG as an example, if you could find Legendaries of anything... even lands. They just have unique alt artwork.

Ya, I got 2 rare and a legendary Island, let's a go! MONO BLUE, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I remember actually trading Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards back in the day

Even then, the kids with the most money or lost generous parents always had the best shit

most games other than mtg do rare alt arts of normal cards actually lol

Yeah I can't speak for MTG for Pokemon TCG does shiny alt arts/rare arts/etc of super common cards including basic energies.

Yu-Gi-Oh is like that too but they reprint. Even if it's 10 years later

Lokarin posted...

Or rather, using MTG as an example, if you could find Legendaries of anything... even lands. They just have unique alt artwork.

Ya, I got 2 rare and a legendary Island, let's a go! MONO BLUE, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Pretty sure they have "rare" basic lands. I think you can get prismatic lands as promo cards. Though they're mechanically the same as any other land.

I know my one friend used to claim he could tap his one land for two mana because it was a land from the Beta set. But then we would throw things at him.

Beyond that, they definitely used to have alternate artwork for lands (there were like three different versions of each basic land back in 3rd edition), and they occasionally update the land art from time to time, so different editions will have different lands.

Then if you want to be really fancy, you can always track down some of the "Snow-Covered" lands from Ice Age, where it's essentially just a basic land with snow on it.

Aside from all that, I wouldn't say that power and rarity are intrinsically linked in Magic. Most of the time, sure - but there are certain cards that can be used in game-breaking combos that are just commons. Or cards like Lightning Bolt that were common and later seen as being too overpowered for their casting cost (part of why they phased half the "Cantrip" spells out of the game back in the 90s). And certain rare cards that are mostly worthless.



EDIT: I was right...

https://starcitygames.com/mtg-basic-lands-foil
https://draftsim.com/mtg-basic-lands