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[uncredited male]

Ante in Magic is basically each player having a random card from their deck removed and put into a pool before a match. Whoever won got all the ante cards.

A lot of the Magic ante cards were so unpredictable. I could see people getting in fights over those. Of course, why would you play ante anyway?

 

[ferr]

Regarding Amulet of Quoz, I don't know how seriously they took tournaments during Ice Age, but that must have been banned immediately. I would have just put 4 in my deck to make it 56 cards instead of 60 to get to the juicy bits faster.

edit: oh i guess you could add all of those in and get a 44 card deck..

 

[bigkrev]

Oh if Ante cards count, how can you forget the most ridiculous one?

 

[Toxi]

The most overpowered card in the entire game is an ante card. You know how Ancestral Recall draws you three cards for 1 mana? Contract from Below draws you seven.

EDIT: beaten

 

[Fj0823]

So after ten pages,

Is Yata-Garasu the winner?

That Vanguard The X was also pretty cray

 

[ZeronosVega]

For the record, this was most often combined with this card:

So with Stoneforge, you can search for Batterskull on turn 2, put it on the battlefield on turn 3.

I always focused on the swords (Feast and Famine, War and Peace) myself, though Batterskull would definitely have been an option! Kor were so fun, especially once Stoneforge came to be a thing, although it's understandable why she was banned.

That Vanguard The X was also pretty cray

I'm surprised to see one of my choices get a nomination. The End/The X are an annoying deck, although you could say that most of the work of the deck is actually in the support which allows for a near endless deck cycling and retiring engine. Definitely powerful, but although it hasn't been topping like it used to due to the appearance of Aqua Force's Marine General of Heavenly Silk, Lambros, the affectionately dubbed "Cancer Cat", and my previously mentioned Phantom Blaster "Diablo" holding strong in the meta-game. The two former allow for rushing like crazy while the latter is both a case of easy bandwagoning due to easy access and that the effect is pretty strong.

 

[DrArchon]

I'm pretty sure all of the ante cards were banned not because they were too good/dumb or anything, but because of state gambling laws. WotC didn't want to deal with any of that shit and I can't say I blame them.

 

[TAJ]

Speaking of infuriating, overpowered cards for control/lockdown decks:

Unfortunately, my only copy of this card is heavily, heavily played. There's a reason for that, I guess.

I never played a game without sleeves. I only met a couple people who didn't use them. (but I haven't played since 1995) I have three or four copies of that card somewhere.

 

[Fj0823]

I never played a game without sleeves. I only met a couple people who didn't use them. (but I haven't played since 1995) I have three or four copies of that card somewhere.

God I hate "Non destroyable" control cards, which reminds me of this bitches.

Can't say they're Broken, but its really really anoying since the Shadoll Deck can fuse VERY easily with this.

The abilty to limit the special summons per turn is why they are a top tier deck now.

 

[Toxi]

I'm pretty sure all of the ante cards were banned not because they were too good/dumb or anything, but because of state gambling laws. WotC didn't want to deal with any of that shit and I can't say I blame them.

IIRC, it wasn't because of that, but because most players didn't like ante and didn't play it. Gambling away your favorite cards isn't fun for a trading card game.

One of the reasons the prismatic format never became very popular was because of playing for ante.

 

[shoplifter]

^^^ Yep, as soon as people realized cards were worth money people quit playing ante.

Regarding Amulet of Quoz, I don't know how seriously they took tournaments during Ice Age, but that must have been banned immediately. I would have just put 4 in my deck to make it 56 cards instead of 60 to get to the juicy bits faster.

edit: oh i guess you could add all of those in and get a 44 card deck..

Ante cards have always been banned from tournaments as long as I can remember, which goes back to 1994.

 

[HK-47]

I had forgotten that Stoneforge Mystic was a banned card in Modern. Back when I still played Magic, I made great use of this card with my Kor deck as it allowed me to abuse some higher cost equipment (though it probably had better applications in other decks). Man, I love my Kor...

I really like that they made a Kor stoneforger a planeswalker.

 

[ZeronosVega]

I really like that they made a Kor stoneforger a planeswalker.

I honestly considered buying that Commander set when I saw it. I haven't played Magic for a few years now, but Samurai and Kor are my two favorite kinds of cards in the game (the former was my first deck, the latter was the last deck I really, really enjoyed playing).

 

[SigmasonicX]

I really like that they made a Kor stoneforger a planeswalker.

I honestly considered buying that Commander set when I saw it. I haven't played Magic for a few years now, but Samurai and Kor are my two favorite kinds of cards in the game (the former was my first deck, the latter was the last deck I really, really enjoyed playing).

The card they are talking about, BTW:

 

[Anteo]

This thing, "Nilo en sangre".

Myths and legends jumped the shark.

Is that from a recent expansion? I played that game from the egyptian to one before the last set of that era.

 

[Princess Viola]

this thread makes me want to play yugioh again lol

 

[Fj0823]

this thread makes me want to play yugioh again lol

http://www.duelingnetwork.com/

Beware dem noobs tho

Edit: Site should look like this

And yes....that guy had no chance ):

 

[Seigyoku]

Came here looking for that damn academy card or whatever from the Urza's block.

Brother and I had already quit playing MtG by the time it came out and we still took one look at it and went "how the FUCK did that get out of playtesting???"

Weird seeing all those old broken black cards. No wonder that was my only effective deck lol.

 

[Toxi]

Came here looking for that damn academy card or whatever from the Urza's block.

Brother and I had already quit playing MtG by the time it came out and we still took one look at it and went "how the FUCK did that get out of playtesting???"

Weird seeing all those old broken black cards. No wonder that was my only effective deck lol.

The best part is that all these years later, Tolarian Academy is still considered one of the most broken cards in the history of the game, and has gotten more powerful thanks to how many more artifacts have been released.

 

[NobleGundam]

If an online card game counts:

Fuck this card

That card is pretty decent. Although I've seen A Lot more complaints about Dr. Boom than anything else.

 

[deim0s]

I'd like to add a collectible miniatures game to this thread: MageKnights.

Here's the idea: you have figures with 1-inch diameter bases. Most figures can move about 8 inches in one turn; you literally use a tape measure to determine how far they could move. Some of the very fastest ones can move 14 inches, but there are very few. You cannot move and attack with a figure in the same turn in most cases, but some figures had separate abilities (Charge or Bound) that would let you either move twice or move once and then attack. For Charge or Bound figures, most could move 4-6 inches and then attack at melee range, but some figures could use their ranged attack which was usually between 4-8 inches in range.

So, to summarize, the absolute maximum distance a figure could move and attack in one turn was around 14 inches, but that kind of range was a huge exception and usually was 10-12 inches. As an aside, every figure had a "point cost" and you could only build your army (the equivalent to a deck in a traditional TCG) up to the maximum agreed upon point total (usually 200-300 points).

Well, remember how I said the maximum a figure could move and attack in one turn was around 14 inches? That only held true until this bad boy came along.

That, my friends, is Corpheus. This sick fool totally broke the standards of a Mage Knight figure. He was one of the few characters with Bound, meaning he could move and attack in the same turn. Not just that, but his stats were crazy for a Bounding character - he could either move 10 inches twice in a turn OR move 10 inches and then use his above-average damaging ranged attack from 12 inches away. Effectively, in a game where most figures couldn't even move 12 inches, Corpheus could move 10 and then shoot you from 12 inches away. To make matters worse, he could attack 3 targets at the same time and his other abilities allowed that damage to splash onto other adjacent enemy figures.

To put the cherry on top, the point cost for Corpheus wasn't very high. He singlehandedly ruined all melee-focused armies in my local tournament scene. Mage Knight as a game died quickly around this time locally, and I honestly think Corpheus was a big factor in that - it was the beginning of massive rules changes and other shenanigans brought on by WizKids, the company behind MageKnights.

Pretty easy to nullify. But you did have to take into consideration that you'd face someone with it.

If i remember correctly, the catapult and some chariots came out of their boxes to pacify the figure.

 

[HK-47]

The best part is that all these years later, Tolarian Academy is still considered one of the most broken cards in the history of the game, and has gotten more powerful thanks to how many more artifacts have been released.

I have a casual 0 cost artifact deck that used Academy to normal play Blightsteel Colossuses as a fun way to side win (normally the deck wins with a massive Brain Freeze)

 

[Fj0823]

One more before I go to sleep.

These were printed as a collector card, illegal for use in any game, but their effects are still pretty crazy

A match are 3 duels. In tournaments best of 3 wins the match and advances.

 

[Valentus]

Came here looking for that damn academy card or whatever from the Urza's block.

Brother and I had already quit playing MtG by the time it came out and we still took one look at it and went "how the FUCK did that get out of playtesting???"

Weird seeing all those old broken black cards. No wonder that was my only effective deck lol.

Urza's Block was by far one of the most broken blocks in magic history.

I remember 2 cards that weren't broken but my god they were so meta in the time. Every deck has them except mono blue lol.

I get a premium rishadan port and some people offered me $200 for it.

 

[Siegcram]

I get a premium rishadan port and some people offered me $200 for it.

That's very low. I've seen that thing go for more than double.

 

[uncredited male]

Oh wow card prices spiked again.

My most expensive Magic is probably a revised Volcanic Island. I also have a revised Birds of Paradise with a printing error. It has a stripe of gloss across the back so it is effectively marked.

The old Microprose PC Magic game was awesome. All those broken cards.

 

[BigWeather]

I really, really need to sell my gold-bordered MtG CE cards -- last I checked a few months ago the set was worth about $1400 (keeping in mind that these are unplayable -- just used as proxies).

 

[acheron_xl]

Oh if Ante cards count, how can you forget the most ridiculous one?

Reminds me of ye olde Shandalar. My goal was always 'race to get all the Contracts I could'.

 

[espher]

Article about it

Eh, you get used to it.

Thanks for the link. Was a good read.

Sounds like a way to keep the meta driven (and the coffers fillin') by virtue of having faster rotations. I wish I could justify the cost and get back into it heh.

On the topic of prices, a friend asked me last night if I had any Aether Vials (b/c I stopped playing around Time Spiral block) and if I wanted to sell them to him. I have a bunch and I was legit curious why he was looking to buy an old uncommon.

mfw I did an eBay price check. Holy cow.

 

[El Topo]

Reminds me of ye olde Shandalar. My goal was always 'race to get all the Contracts I could'.

I wish Shandalar was still available somewhere (legally). Great game.

 

[Ryan242004]

So what causes this? Is it just a lack of play testing? Or is it a problem in the development process?

I really got into deciphers TCG's, specifically the lord of the rings and it was full of problem cards which was a huge turnoff and led me to just collect them and not play.

I noticed the lack of Pokemon cards in here as well lol

 

[SigmasonicX]

So what causes this? Is it just a lack of play testing? Or is it a problem in the development process?

Mostly a lack of playtesting and attempts to constantly "wow" the customer, though this Magic article about Skullclamp goes into what can cause this for companies that do devote a ton of time to playtesting and largely keep powercreep in check. (For the record, yes, Magic has been very good about keeping powercreep in check for the past 10 or so years).

 

[Artanisix]

Pokemon TCG in general is a hot fucking mess of RNG.

 

[Adaren]

This one in particular is so cruel!

 

[NEO0MJ]

Aren't these things tested? I mean some of them might not appear that broken at first but others...damn

 

[Toxi]

So what causes this? Is it just a lack of play testing? Or is it a problem in the development process?

I really got into deciphers TCG's, specifically the lord of the rings and it was full of problem cards which was a huge turnoff and led me to just collect them and not play.

I noticed the lack of Pokemon cards in here as well lol

Several things.

• In early sets for a game, the developers don't have a good idea of how the game will balance out beyond internal playtesting. Most early sets for card games contain some really broken cards because the game creators had no clue at the time what was broken and what wasn't.
• Somewhat related to the previous point, a new mechanic for a card game means the developers don't have previous experience with how powerful the mechanic is. The Dredge and Storm mechanics for Magic were like nothing else in the history of the game, so devs were unable to gauge just how powerful those effects were.
• Some games are designed with intentionally broken cards. The original Magic sets had some cards the developers knew were overpowered, but they considered the power level fine because most players wouldn't own those rare powerful cards.
• Power creep encourages players to buy new cards, so card games often push the limits of power level with every new set for profit.
• Last minute design changes leave little time for playtesting by the development team, so many broken cards come out of those changes. Magic the Gathering is full of those, with the most famous examples being Jace the Mind Sculptor and Skullclamp.
• Card games originally released in another language can have translation changes that break the card. The classic example of this is the card Slowking from the Pokemon set Neo Genesis; the Japanese version stopped your opponent from playing trainer cards when it was your active Pokemon, while the American version didn't have that restriction. Cue US tournaments getting swarmed by Slowking decks until the card was banned.
• Often effects that look fine on paper are overpowered in practice. The gut reaction to a card means a lot in how you consider it. The Buyback mechanic from Magic is a classic example of appearing a lot weaker than it actually is; most players will immediately dismiss Buyback cards as too costly for a "small" benefit, not realizing how powerful Buyback is when used again and again.
• New cards are often printed to counter old broken cards. When they go too far, they end up swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction. The card Rishadan Port in Magic the Gathering was made as a counter to the broken Urza block non-basic lands; it ended up breaking the format the other way by suffocating any deck using non-basic lands.
• Sometimes things just fuck up with playtesting. Urza block in Magic was an example of the playtesting team being undermanned and at the mercy of tons of new ridiculous card designs.

 

[Ozigizo]

Aren't these things tested? I mean some of them might not appear that broken at first but others...damn

Yes. For mtg, they have what's called the future future league. They test and change cards we won't see for years.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Several things.

• Some games are designed with intentionally broken cards. The original Magic sets had some cards the developers knew were overpowered, but they considered the power level fine because most players wouldn't own those rare powerful cards.

To expand on this point, Magic the Gathering was literally the first TCG ever. Richard Garfield expected people to spend maybe $50 on the game over their entire lifetime, similar to the advanced board games that were the only things they could be compared with. However, he also wanted there to be a way for decks to change a lot within a local metagame. It is for this reason that he included the ante system (taken from the game Marbles), forcing players to change their decks as they won and lost cards, and the overpowered cards to better encourage this kind of flow and get people excited. His view was that if these overpowered cards became prolific enough to cause problems, then the game was a success and it was a problem they could deal with.

Incidentally, as unthinkable as it seems now, Garfield originally had it planned so that each expansion would have a different card back! It was only through a last minute phone call that we continued to get the first card back instead of this:

 

[Kieli]

Because of this thread and MTG documentary, I decided to buy 2 MTC Core Set Deck Builder's Toolkits.

Did I make a huge mistake?

I know utterly nothing about MTG except Beta Black Lotus = $$$$.

 

[Toxi]

Because of this thread and MTG documentary, I decided to buy 2 MTC Core Set Deck Builder's Toolkits.

Did I make a huge mistake?

I know utterly nothing about MTG except Beta Black Lotus = $$$$.

It's a fun game. There's a Magic the Gathering community thread on GAF that is always happy to offer advice to new players, and includes a very good guide for getting into the game.

The biggest issue I can imagine with the Deckbuilder's toolkit is that building your first deck can be pretty daunting.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Because of this thread and MTG documentary, I decided to buy 2 MTC Core Set Deck Builder's Toolkits.

Did I make a huge mistake?

I know utterly nothing about MTG except Beta Black Lotus = $$$$.

Well, if you want to learn how to play, I recommend downloading Duels of the Planeswalkers and learning the rules through that. 2014 version is supposed to be better.

And you should know now that you aren't going to get a Black Lotus in a Deckbuilder's Toolkit.

 

[TheSeks]

Because of this thread and MTG documentary, I decided to buy 2 MTC Core Set Deck Builder's Toolkits.

Did I make a huge mistake?

I know utterly nothing about MTG except Beta Black Lotus = $$$$.

You chose...

Spoiler

a very costly mistake that'll make you poor

wisely.

Get Magic 2015 (or the earlier ones, preferably) under Duels of the Planeswalkers or wait for Magic: Origins to launch and then play the tutorial on that then go full hog on your deckbuilders.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

What games are these? Cards look pwetty!

 

[Booya_base]

What the hell were they thinking

This is our groups favourite card ever pretty much. Love to see it appear in a stack game I remember it being copied four times one game and someone rage quit. Ahhh the days of MTG

 

[Kieli]

It's a fun game. There's a Magic the Gathering community thread on GAF that is always happy to offer advice to new players, and includes a very good guide for getting into the game.

The biggest issue I can imagine with the Deckbuilder's toolkit is that building your first deck can be pretty daunting.

Well, if you want to learn how to play, I recommend downloading Duels of the Planeswalkers and learning the rules through that. 2014 version is supposed to be better.

And you should know now that you aren't going to get a Black Lotus in a Deckbuilder's Toolkit.

You chose...

Spoiler

a very costly mistake that'll make you poor

wisely.

Get Magic 2015 (or the earlier ones, preferably) under Duels of the Planeswalkers or wait for Magic: Origins to launch and then play the tutorial on that then go full hog on your deckbuilders.

What games are these? Cards look pwetty!

Yep, I'll check out Duels of the Planeswalker.

I almost bought the Core Set Starter Kit (which was 2x price of DB toolkit) + 1 toolkit.

But I noticed starter kit only comes with ~230 cards vs. 285 of toolkit.

I was also going to get a intro deck, but didn't know if those were any good.

 

[Dreavus]

This is our groups favourite card ever pretty much. Love to see it appear in a stack game I remember it being copied four times one game and someone rage quit. Ahhh the days of MTG

It's even more ridiculous because he would have to rage quit 5 separate times in a row to leave the game. Maximum humiliation.

 

[ZeronosVega]

What games are these? Cards look pwetty!

I don't know about the second one, but the first is from Cardfight!! Vanguard. There's even a GAF community for the game if you become interesting in the game or simply want to learn more about it.

 

[TheSeks]

I was also going to get a intro deck, but didn't know if those were any good.

The intro/starter deck(s) are meant to be an interactive tutorial for two players. They basically do the same thing Origin/Duels's tutorial does, but needs two players (or you to play both sides and see how it's done) and only have 40 cards. Unless I'm reading you wrong and you're thinking theme decks which are a step above that.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Oh if Ante cards count, how can you forget the most ridiculous one?

Fun fact: I asked a judge what happens if you play a Chaos Draft and an ante card happens. The answer is that in limited, you ignore anything on the card that refers to ante. Contract from Below simply draws you 8 cards for 1 black mana.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]