In the game Magic: The Gathering, there are different types of play, which can be simplified to “you can use (almost) any of the cards you own” vs. “you can use only the cards that have been recently released.” These are called Type I and Type II, respectively. (Yes, I’m simplifying things a bit.) Wizards of the Coast now appears to have completely stopped supporting Type I. It would be easy to see this as a money-grab scheme, and I have certainly thought of it as such before, but when one really, truly thinks about it, one sees that it’s the game’s great leveler. A short illustration of what would happen if you set out to construct decks by purchasing cards on eBay, before considering shipping charges:
The cost to assemble, today, using the cheapest editions of cards possible, the Type I deck used by former world champion Olle Rade to defeat me in 1997: $2,435.23.
The cost to assemble my non-tournament-worthy-but-lots-of-fun-to-play Type I deck: $571.49.
The cost to assemble the deck used to win the 2003 U.S. Type II Nationals: $71.89.
That being said, I still only play Type I. Why? Because I love the richness of the environment, giving you thousands of cards to choose from rather than hundreds. Also, I’ve spent a lot of years and a lot of money building up my collection, and it’s a terrible shame to see it all just sit in a closet.
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