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Very well-written article, as always. I appreciate the history lesson introduction, as it was quite helpful given that I only started Vintage in 2002. I'm sure other newer players appreciate that as well.
Thank you for your comments. I thought the first thing I should do was contextualize these restrictions by basically looking at restrictions over the last 10 years. The closest thing we saw to these restrictions was the wave of 18 restrictions in 1999.
One of the key points to see is that when you restrict that many cards, you sweep too broadly.
As I said in the article:
I think the danger of mass restrictions is illustrated quite vividly by the 1999 wave. In 1999, 18 cards were restricted. It has taken a decade, but more than a few of them are now unrestricted: Voltaic Key, Doomsday, Mind Over Matter, and Hurkyl’s Recall. A few more don’t deserve to be there: Mox Diamond and Dream Halls stand out, among others. When you sweep with a broad brush, you are likely to sweep out the good (or irrelevant) with the bad. In this wave of restrictions, I think that Gush and Ponder were safe and undeserving. Restricting Scroll and Brainstorm means that Gush-bond as an engine is dead and buried.
My reference to Mox Diamond and Dream Halls appears prescient now.
But, if you look at the 18 restrictions in 1999. I would say that almost half of them were unnecessary. A full third of them are now unrestricted or on their way to being unrestricted.
I competely agree that Scroll should have been the only card restricted. It is an absolute shock that the DCI chose to completely ignore the most obvious solution and swat the format with a warhammer when a knife was needed.
I like your metaphor.
History has proven you very correct that Vintage will become more expensive. DeMars and McCarthy have found our BS replacement in Strategic Planning, and it's now $125 a copy, compared to the 25 cent BS (alongside similarly cheap Gushes).
I argued in the wake of the restrictions that the decision was financially motivated on the part of WotC. I stand by that argument now. They're a company that I have always held in high regard, and are responsible for overseeing not one but two of my hobbies (D&D being the other), but recent events dealing with both reek with the taint of Hasbro policymaking. The only rationale I can see for the DCI's ridiculously heavy-handed policy shift is that the recent "Golden Age of Vintage" was composed of cheap, older staples that are not likely to have an impact on sales of newer sets. Better for WotC to take those cards out of the picture, so we can have more people tearing open packs for rare staples like Tarmogoyf and Thoughtseize. I would not be surprised if we see a rare Brainstorm replacement in coming sets along those lines. I wonder if they'll restrict Duress too, or if that would be too obvious?
The price barrier to entry is a truly unfortunate consequence. Flash and GAT and Tyrant Oath were all incredibly cheap to build.
I would be cautious about ascribing an shadowy motive here. I think Wizards actually believed that they were doing what was best for the format. I think Wizards, in all things, is motivated to do what will make them money. But I believe that they think that if they manage Vintage well, then the magic brand thrives and they make money that way. I don’t think they’d intentionally hurt Vintage.
