I must make a confession: I am serious tournament Magic player. I am part of a weekly playtest group, and they are all very good players. We don't play Highlander or any other crazy format: We are all business. We play Extended during Extended season and Limited in Limited season. In short, if it ain't on the Pro Tour, we ain't playin' it.

But here is the second part of my confession: I have recently started reading up on Vintage - and to my surprise, it seems far more healthy than I ever would have imagined. In fact, I think that the Magic community has a number of irrational reasons for disliking Vintage - so much so that I am throwing down the gauntlet. I am calling Wizards and Mark Rosewater, as the game's most visible spokesperson, out - it is time to change the current policy regarding reprints and Vintage in general. Below are my reasons why this format deserves more support and how to make it more accessible. I will try to avoid the old pitfall arguments regarding cost and other similar dead end arguments. Instead, I am going to try to inject a wee bit of common sense to an argument that is full of passionate and irrational opinions on both sides.

First, I would suggest that you read Mark Rosewater's article on the problems with Vintage. Once you have read that, I think that it would be advisable, but not necessary to swing by www.themanadrain.com for some background. The articles and forums on this site are as good as you find anywhere on the net. Finally, it is probably a good idea to read The Ferrett's article on Vintage.

Once you have finished, keep reading.

Before I begin in earnest, I think I need to address why I am writing this now. The Rosewater and Ferrett articles are more than four months old. So I did I simply miss the boat? No. I honestly believed that Vintage was simply a broken format. I believed that the decks were mindlessly built and the games irreparably based on pure luck. I believed that Vintage was governed far too much by overly-powerful cards that swung the game into one player's favor, with little to no ability for the other player to recover. I believed that even though Extended had a similar feel, this was due to the fact that Wizards had not done any trimming or maintenance on the format since the bannings. I believed that as soon as they rotated out Ice Age block and the dual lands, the format would be fine: It would be playable and there would be fewer"required" cards.

Alas, this was completely incorrect. Duress has replaced Force of Will as the staple card, and combo has raised its demonically boring head again. The format may have a plethora of decks but all one of the competitive ones win by turn three or four. And many of the decks are built around similar principles (Reanimator, Reanimator U/B, Pattern of Rebirth and Sutured Ghoul all return creatures to play from the graveyard, while Enchantress and Aluren are combo decks that use permanents to draw tons of cards and usually kill with a Stroke of Genius).

Finally, the format is as"swingy" as it can be. In fact, I believe that Extended is not substantially less"swingy" than Vintage. Furthermore, the number of decks and the different strategies for winning among the decktypes are more numerous in Vintage than Extended. So with my faith in a reasonable Extended environment gone, I realized my reasons for not playing Vintage were gone as well. If Extended is ridiculously swingy and is still fun, then Vintage must also be fun - or so I reasoned. Then I began to do some research on why Vintage was not played. This research was the impetus for this article.

The Problem
The problem with Vintage is simple: It is too expensive. Let me be very clear what I mean. The costs of entering into Vintage - that is, making a competitive deck to play with starting from either scratch or from a pool of Standard/Extended cards - are extremely high. This cost is to be distinguished from the costs of maintaining a Vintage deck, which, are in fact relatively low. A Vintage player with a full set of power and a few key Legends cards can easily maintain a deck, cherrypicking the best of new sets, for very little money. The fully-powered Keeper players can easily trade for a Cunning Wish or two... But getting to this point is extremely expensive. Virtually every competitive deck in Vintage is at least $300 (and many cost more than $1,000) to build or improve.

Now, it is true that trading can reduce some of this cost, but the reality of the situation is that certain cards will likely require a purchase. People are just not willing to trade away a Black Lotus for Extended cards. Furthermore, even decks that don't"need" power can benefit from it. Does Suicide Black need a Lotus, which is effectively a fifth Dark Ritual? No, but it doesn't hurt. For more information on this point, see the Suicide Black primer by Legend on The Mana Drain.

Related to this issue of cost are two other issues: Availability of cards and popularity. First, as Mr. Rosewater points out in his article, Vintage cards can be very difficult to acquire even if you are willing to part with cash. Case in point: Sinkhole, a common from Unlimited, goes for no less than $10 dollars in playable condition. It was a common and it is $10. This points to the fact that these cards, because of their age and low print runs in comparison to today's mammoth volume, are very difficult to get a hold of; so much so that even Suicide Black is difficult to assemble. Assembling the more esoteric decks like Keeper and TnT could take years.

This lack of available cards, in turn, affects the popularity of the game. If the cards are unavailable, then fewer people will play - and the fewer people that play, the fewer old cards will be sold, until it reaches the point that there are no Vintage cards left in an area, effectively cutting off both cards and new players. This spiral results in the low numbers Mr. Rosewater references in his article. Without support, why run Vintage tournaments?

I would claim, however, that there is support for Vintage, but Mr. Rosewater is simply looking in the wrong place. First, I will examine the non-anecdotal proof. Looking at the tournament postings on Vintage sites you will see a number of tournaments with large prizes that are unsanctioned and allow proxies of the Power 9 (or 10, depending on how you categorize a few cards). The fact that store owners are willing to part with cards like Mox Sapphire for unsanctioned tournaments indicates that there is a committed following for Vintage. These players are so committed, in fact, that they eschew the DCI and the organization and ratings that it offers, just to play their format.

Another piece of evidence is the relatively stable prices on Vintage cards. I am not simply making reference to the Power 9, for their prices could alternatively be explained by the collecting value they have: One need only to look at the price of non-chase cards, like Sinkhole, Survival of the Fittest, Illusionary Mask, Mishra's Workshop (which is approaching power-like prices and status), and the Legend enchantments to see that these cards are remaining good sellers. If they weren't and Vintage was truly unpopular, then their prices would have plummeted.

Finally, as non-anecdotal proof, there have been a recent string of eBay listings for high-quality proxies for power cards. This is perhaps the best proof of the active Vintage support network. These cards have absolutely no collector's value, because they are being offered and sold as fakes. The only remaining purpose, aside from being a conversation piece, is for play. If people are so willing to flout copyright laws and sell a product that is a known fake, then there must be support out there for Vintage.

As for the anecdotal evidence, the number of people playing in my local 1.5 tournament grows with each passing week. The ability to use old cards that are no longer legal in any format is too appealing an opportunity for some people to pass up. I contend that there is grassroots support for Vintage, but that Mr. Rosewater was looking in the wrong place to find it. These players are rightfully fed up with the DCI's dismal support, so they went elsewhere.

Dead End Arguments Against Vintage
In addition to the three relevant arguments above, there are number of hollow argument raised against Vintage. Dealing with them right away will prevent these from clouding the subject. The first argument against Vintage that is a dead end, logically speaking, is the idea of"swinginess." The traditional justification, aside from cost and availability, for the DCI abandoning Vintage as a format was that it was too swingy, too luck-based to exercise the skill testing aspects of Magic. This is just erroneous.

The previous PT, PT Houston demonstrated the swinginess of Extended. If one player drew an Oath and the other player was playing creatures, the Oath player likely won the game on turn 3 or 4. If one player was playing Rock and the other Reanimator and the Reanimator deck got a Duress, Entomb, and Reanimate, and the Rock got anything less than a double-discard hand the game was likely over.

Extended, especially with the combo-happy environment, is a very swingy format - so the times in which games are decided too quickly for skill to be involved exists in other formats.

The only potential issue with swinginess and Vintage is that amount that the game swings. In Extended, even a great draw can be disrupted with a key Diabolic Edict. In Vintage, a clutch Balance likely ends the game.

However, this too is a logical dead end. If everyone has equal access to all the cards then the amount of luck that determines the winner of a game is minimized. In the same way that mana screw is a luck based factor that determines the winner of a game, the more people that have access to the swingy cards, and the more games that are played, it will be less likely that these swing cards win the game. Everyone has an equal chance to lose to mana screw - and if things are done right, everyone should have an equal chance to lose to swingy cards. Luck and the impact of swingy cards in Magic can always be limited, if everyone has an equal likelihood of losing or winning because of luck. If this was not true, then mana screw would be fatal flaw in the game and the difference between the pros and the rest of us would be pure luck... And we all know that is not that case.

The next dead end argument against Vintage is the homogeneity of the environment. Many claim that Vintage decks are nothing more than the restricted list plus a few cards, and that the decks are mindlessly constructed around these cards. This is the furthest thing from the truth.

There are actually two arguments here that are wrong: First is the argument that Vintage is overly defined by power cards. Second is that Vintage decks are mindlessly built because certain cards are too powerful to ignore. I will take each of these separately. First, the power card argument will be examined. Vintage does have power cards that are devastating, but the number of cards that are universally required is surprisingly limited. In fact, reading the primers on The Mana Drain, you will quickly notice that Lotus, the Moxen, and even a formerly banned card, Mind Twist, are not required for decks to work. Suicide Black eschews the overly expensive Mind Twist in favor of two common cards: Duress and Hymn to Tourach. Similarly, Sligh ignores the off-color Moxen. Stompy has no power cards whatsoever. So, the notion that power cards define environment is no more true in Vintage than it is in Extended. None of the decks mentioned even use blue, let alone Ancestral Recall.

Finally, a careful examination will reveal that a seemingly ridiculous card like Timetwister is often sideboard cards in decks that are blue based against discard. Clearly, then Vintage is not exclusively about the Restricted List and the famous power cards. The mindless deckbuilding argument will now be looked at. Looking at the forums on Vintage sites, particularly those dedicated to the deck Keeper, will reveal that Vintage players are fanatical about deck building. Every single card is carefully examined. Many Keeper players thought that adding two cards, Power Artifact and Grim Monolith, for an instant kill combo was not worth it because it would disrupt the deck.

Think about this: Vintage players, so meticulous in monitoring their decklists refuse to put in two cards, both in color, which provide an instant kill because they mess up the deck. This alone is proof that Vintage decks are not mindlessly built.

The Solution
The solution is not an easy one for dealers or Vintage players to swallow. In fact, even Wizards has been reticent to acknowledge the most logical solution: it is time to reprint the power cards and other crucial cards for the Vintage format.

Before you dismiss this out of hand as an impossibility, let's look at the facts. First, the"no reprint policy" was designed and implemented at a time when dealers were depending on expensive old cards to support their shops. Second, the"no reprint policy" was a direct response to a set of reprints that had angered these dealers. Third, the"no reprint policy" was also designed to protect"collectors." All three of these reasons for the policy have fallen by the wayside in recent years. Dealers that still exist do not receive the bulk of their income from selling big, expensive, and old rares. Most dealers nowadays make their money from selling a larger volume of lower-priced singles, from selling boxes of new expansions, and from selling packs for sealed deck tournaments or drafts. One only need look at the online sites or actual stores to see proof of this. (Well, we still sell them on a regular basis, in point of fact - and happily so! - The Ferrett, who will be returning in a bit)

The stock of old cards has diminished to the point that there are three or four Moxes as"novelty" items in a case full of $9 cards. One of my friends, who works at a store, told me they don't even pursue these cards anymore, because when they do get them they are rarely able to sell them for cash. Therefore, dealers no longer depend so heavily on the high-end secondary market. Those who do so are definitely in the minority and operate under a bad business model. Selling packs and boxes is far easier and far more profitable than selling one or two Moxes a month.

This explanation gives neat answers for the other two problems: With most dealers not even having shelf space for the old cards, their concerns over reprinting them have diminished greatly since the days of Chronicles. Furthermore, the role collectors play in the community has also greatly diminished. One only need look at the popularity of foils to see this borne out in facts: While still hot tickets, the foils that are worth anything are almost always tournament cards. Therefore, instead of being there for collectors, foils are almost exclusively traded for and sold to tournament players"tricking out" their decks. The few collectors that remain would be able to still pursue the original versions of the power cards that are reprinted. They would still retain their value to collector's despite the fact that they would likely take a hit in prices because players are no longer looking for them.

Look at baseball cards for an example of collectors and reprints. There are currently over fifty reprinted version of the famous Honus Wagner tobacco card, all of which are virtual worthless - because to the collector, reprints are a waste of time. This fact may be somewhat weaker in a game like Magic, where the cards have a primarily functional role, but it still holds some weight. The collector can still collect the hard to find originals if a new set of reprints was issued. Also bar in mind that collectors are a very small fraction of the audience for Magic. It is a game, after all.

I think that I have shown that the impetus in the beginning for the"no reprint policy" no longer exists. However, that is a far cry from proving why Wizards should reprint the key Vintage cards today. As Mr. Rosewater said in his article, proxies are not allowed because the company makes money selling cards. It is what they do. Then make us cards we want! Reprint the power cards and the cards crucial for Type 1.

It is mind-boggling that a company would have such a guaranteed moneymaker and yet refuse to do anything about it. No other rationally-run organization designed to make a profit would ever do this. Sega now makes games for Nintendo. Gap now sells on Amazon. Even Apple made a product for the PC. The I-Pod was one of the fastest selling consumer electronics products of all time: In fact, I think industry data has it ranked third behind the VCR (number two) and the DVD player (number one). The demand was so high that ardent PC users were buying mod programs and Firewire boards just to get an I-Pod. Finally, seeing the vast untapped potential, Apple made a Windows version. Wizards, by not reprinting Vintage cards and by not supporting the Vintage market, is essentially ignoring a lucrative area of expansion.

It is an insane business model, one that perverts the very nature of capitalism (In Das Capital, Marx claimed that capitalism does not produce according to need, but for profit alone). (And, of course, Marx understood capitalism so well that he provided a workable alternative - The Ferrett, feeling extra-snarky today) A controlled and well-thought-out reprinting of the cards would serve Wizards in a number of ways.

First, it would be a guaranteed success. There is no danger in releasing cards that are (unfairly) broken because all the cards in the reprint set would have already been tested and proven to be balanced in the Vintage format.

Second, there would surely be massive market support. The ability to buy a pack and get a Black Lotus is enough to entice the most jaded Standard player to buy a pack or two.

Third, the dealers, whose survival now depends almost entirely on new sets and selling cheap singles at a high volume, would receive a massive boost. Boxes of the reprint set would fly off the shelf - and instead of selling one $300 Black Lotus in a year, they could sell thirty $10 reprint Lotuses a month. They would get a sure-fire blockbuster set and a huge cache of hot singles. Every card would be a commodity. There would be no Tahngarth's Glare in this set. It is possible that the old cards would not even lose that much value.

Looking back at cards that have been reprinted, like Icy Manipulator, which was a really pricey card at the time Ice Age came out, we see that reprinting cards does not hurt the value of the originals that much. Looking at the prices for black-bordered Swords to Plowshares, Birds of Paradise, and Lightning Bolts points to the fact that originals, even when cheaper reprints are available, can hold their value. In the end, there is no economic reason why they should not reprint important Vintage cards. If they refuse to do so in order to protect all those people who have spent tons of money on the secondary market, they are ignoring their own logic. The reason they claim not to support Vintage now is because there is no following: But they are not reprinting cards to avoid offending this very same group. That is a bit of reasoning as specious as you can find.

Now the next question is why reprint the cards now. Here I am specifically addressing Ferrett's claim that Wizards will eventually reprint the cards, but only when Magic is dying, as a last gasp to get some cash before they exist the stage. I must admit there is some appeal to this logic. Look at the Sega business model: Saturn had failed. Dreamcast had failed (unfortunately) and then in a last gasp they switched business models and went from being a hardware and software company to exclusively a software company. In essence, they did the unthinkable to save themselves, and it seems to be working.

However, this is not the only time when companies change business models or release blockbuster products. In fact, such drastic action or"hot rodding" the product line rarely happens in this kind of situation. Today companies prefer to release the blockbuster products when the"iron is hot." This is the concept of sweeps,"rush to home video" for big movies, or yearly sequels to blockbusters. To go by Ferrett's convincing, but currently outmoded logic, Independence Day should have been released in the movies, and then a year or two later, after priming the pump, it should have been released on DVD to maximize the impact. But this ignores the buying public's lack of patience. We want things now. We want to see the big blockbuster on DVD in two months instead of a year. We want to see the big show on TV this week, instead of next week. We want our sequels in a year (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.) not a decade. And the most powerful forces in Hollywood understand this. It has only been a year since Harry Potter's last movie and yet we get another one. And I don't think it did too badly, scoring the third-best opening weekend of all time.

Furthermore, we get yearly updates of the best selling video games for this same reason. Madden (perennially the best selling video game) and GTA (another favorite) look like they are set for yearly fall releases from now on. The reason for all this rush on blockbuster products is because the business people in Hollywood and Silicon Valley understand that priming the pump does not work like it used to. Only the rarest of franchises (Star Wars) can survive a long time between products.

(The danger of writing for StarCity and addressing the editor's articles directly is that occasionally, the editor doesn't feel like writing a rebuttal piece and just sticks his thoughts directly into the text. Yes, it's unfair. Sorry, Anthony - feel free to write a rebuttal to mine, and I'll butt out for part 2.

(Where Anthony's logic breaks down is the"Good businesses give everything at once!" That's completely untrue. Lord of the Rings had one great DVD release earlier in the year, and they made tons of money; now, they have the super-special DVD later, released just in time for Christmas; and rumors of a super-special DVD with even more features to be released after all three movies come out are legion. Likewise, The Matrix came out with a secondary DVD with even more special features, which also sold well... And Star Wars has made a career off of releasing periodic updates - I've bought the trilogy three times, and I know I'm not the only one.

(But by Anthony's logic, these business moves are foolish! They didn't get all the money up front! They should have released one big DVD right away and sucked all the profits to be mined out of it immediately!

(That's tripe. They made more cash off of these"controlled" releases than they would have with one big splash. Furthermore, many franchises have gotten what is, in the industry, called"overexposed" - you flood the consumer with everything, and you kill the line prematurely because the demand weakens... As you can see with Marvel's recent reprinting ban. Suspense is a valid, and often profitable, marketing tool.

(Likewise, the series he lauds are good series... But Tomb Raider killed their own franchise by releasing regular annual updates, each one timely, but sucking... And many other videogame franchises have killed themselves with quick sequels, mining all the available cash then at the expense of the long-term. The lesson? Giving the customer everything they want right away now often means you have nothing left to give them later.

(If you make Vintage popular, you get one influx of cash - and then you risk turning everyone into die-hard Vintage players, buying perhaps one card from an entire block expansion if you're lucky. Compare that to what Anthony terms the"insane" move of, say, keeping everyone rooted in Standard, where they need several hot rares a year and buy sets continually - as opposed to just one big set, once, and then never again. - The Ferrett, who knows that Wizards is bilking us, but he'd do the same damn thing if he were in charge

(P.S. - The reason E.T. bombed is because Steven Spielberg played up the whole"Hey, don't you remember how good this movie was?" factor in the trailer, and failed to actually sell it as a good movie on its own. If you'd never seen E.T. before, you could care less after you saw the trailer. Whereas the rerelease of Star Wars was based on"Holy crap, you need to see the shiznit on the big screen - and check out these new scenes!" The lesson here is never to count on nostalgia for a rerelease; always assume they're seeing it for the first time.)

The reason for this change is simple: we are bombarded with the"next big thing" (not Brock Lesnar) on a weekly basis. We get new movies, new games, and new experiences claiming to be a new world of fun on a daily basis. So in order to hold our attention, in order to maximize profit, the most successful industries in the US (entertainment companies) give us what we want and release the"big ticket item" right away. The lesson was learned this summer with the disastrous re-release of ET-wait too long and no one will care. Even one of the most successful movies of all time, with a huge advertising budget, and backing from the King of Hollywood, Steven Spielberg, was a flop. Again, wait too long and no one will care.

The era of priming the pump is over. If Wizards waits until the end of Magic's lifespan to reprint the Vintage cards it will be too late. No one will care by that point. If people did still care the game wouldn't be dying. Each day that passes the number of people that know about and care about Vintage dwindles, and by the time the game is ready to collapse that number will be even smaller. If Wizards wants to maximize the profit they can make and re-energize an ignored segment of their target audience, they should reprint the key Vintage cards as soon as possible. Maybe for the 10^th Anniversary of the game. That would be a classy touch.

In the end, I think there are a few people out there who enjoy the elitism of Vintage right now, but most people, even the fully powered people, would rather to have opponents to play on a regular basis than expensive cards. This is a game, after all. Something we all enjoy playing.

It seems to me that Wizards is ignoring common sense by insisting on not supporting Vintage and not reprinting cards. Wizards ain't some jobs program for hobbyists-it is a money making business. It is run by profit. And there is profit to be had in reprinting cards. Personally, I think that the"no reprint policy" protects no one, limits the number of ways we can play the game, and it is taking away from the bottom line profit that Magic can make.

The Specifics
Reprinting the cards for the Vintage environment would be a great thing for Vintage. It would lower the costs of entry and allow more people to play. But what cards should be reprinted? How should they be issued? And how should they be sold to the public?

First, I think that cards that have been published in the last five years should be excluded from the reprint set. These cards are already readily available and would not need reprinting. The aim here is not to ruin collecting and the value of cards, but to lower the threshold of entry for Vintage. As a result, the Power 9 would be reprinted. As would the Legend enchantments (Moat, The Abyss, and Nether Void). Furthermore, Demonic Tutor, Balance, Strip Mine, and a few other cards would be reprinted because of their staple status in the format. Similarly, Force of Will and Mana Drain would be reprinted. As would all of the staple commons from ABU, Revised, and 4^th. By this, I mean cards like Lightning Bolt, Sinkhole, Swords to Plowshares, Ice Storm, and other crucial commons.

Similarly, the crucial cards from Arabian Nights through Ice Age would be reprinted (Library of Alexandria, Mishra's Workshop, Mirror Universe, and so on). Ice Age block functions as a good cut off because it is the last block rotated out of Extended, thus having the formats"meet up." It is also a good cut off point in terms of set design and power level. Aside from Urza's block, many of the cards that have been broken since Legends were printed in or before Ice Age block. With Saga still so readily available, there is no need to include it despite its importance to the format.

Cherrypicking the good cards from Vintage may seem like a way to stifle creativity and reinforce the idea that Vintage is all about the high priced cards... But I think this misses the point of reprints. The idea is to make Vintage accessible. By reprinting expensive and/or hard to find cards, Wizards would simply be giving new Vintage players the cards they need to begin to compete. Those cards that are in Vintage that would not be reprinted (narrow cards or sideboard cards like Magus of the Unseen against TnT) are currently so cheap that they do not represent a barrier to entry. It would be easy for new players to acquire them. In fact, it would be necessary for them to do so. Competing in any format is not simply a process of buying all the expensive cards and using them; it is a process of careful playtesting and practice. Reprinting the high priced and crucial cards would simply give everyone equal access to the foundational cards. Success and creativity would still go hand and hand.

Second, I think the cards should be reissued with new art. This would allow collectors to easily distinguish between the original and the reprint. In addition, I think that restricted cards should be printed with a notice stating that they are restricted. This would allow new players to know immediately what can and cannot be used in fours in a given deck (again, lowering the threshold - this time in terms of what new players have to know to play). Finally, and perhaps least important, the cards could have printed on them notices regarding their legality in Vintage. For example Lightning Bolt, a card that will likely never be printed again could read:"Legal in Vintage Only" at the bottom, while Black Vise could say:"Legal in Vintage Only. Restricted." This might seem like a lot of text, but it is no more burdensome than the"Walls cannot attack" and other such reminder text that is currently on cards.

Finally, I think the cards should sold as normal cards in booster packs. However, given the fact that the set is made primarily for Constructed play there would be little need for tournament packs. Another idea is to issue the cards with foil versions in the packs. Foils of the commons and uncommons would be cards for"tricking out" decks, while the foil versions of certain rares could be part of a plan to appease collectors and protect the value of old cards. Certain cards - namely, the Power 9, Library of Alexandria, Mishra's Workshop, and the Legend enchantments (all of which would be rare in the set) would be issued in extremely limited numbers as foils; something along the lines of the alternative art for Tahngarth and Ertai, but even rarer. The idea is that it would be virtually impossible for a person to pull a foil Lotus out of a pack - about the same odds as getting one in real life through trading. Instead, these foil cards would be part of a trade-in program. People that owned original copies of the cards listed above could exchange them for super rare foil versions of the same cards; thus, the"collecting value" of the high-end cards would be preserved. Even though this seems like a logistical nightmare it is no more cumbersome than the Magic Online trade in policy or the"ultra rare" alternative art cards.

Some of the specifics, like which cards should be reprinted, are really matters of opinion, but I think there are a number of very workable and very profitable ways to reprint the key Vintage cards.

Conclusions
I hope that I have made a good case for Vintage and why it needs to be supported more. This is a format that is just as deep and interesting as any other format - it has its flaws, but so does Extended and Standard. At the end of the day, if this letter merely sparks an interest in the format I will consider it a success. But I would really like to see some of the ideas here taken seriously. Also, even though many people believe reprinting the key cards is impossible, remember that something is impossible only until it happens.

Reprinting key Vintage cards is the only way to truly resuscitate the format. Without equal access to the important cards, Vintage faces an inevitable demise... And this is a shame. We all liked playing with these cards at one time or another. And having proxied up a few decks I can say that I still enjoy playing with these cards. Playing is the key here. Magic players all need one thing: Opponents. The elitism that sometimes accompanies the wealthier among us is a rarity. Having a fully-powered Keeper deck is only good if you can play it. How many times is it fun to clobber a Standard deck? Not many. Competition and equal access to cards is crucial for Magic. Participation is the lifeblood of this hobby and reprinting the cards is the only way to bring that back to Vintage on a large scale.

I have taken the liberty of sending out emails to various player groups in an effort to gain support for a) more support for Vintage Magic and b) reprinting old cards. If there is enough response maybe we can start a petition at www.petitiononline. If not, then thanks for reading.

Those of you offended or angered by these ideas should realize that I am just trying to get more people into the game - which, in the end, is better for all of us. The more people that play, the more money Wizards makes and the longer they make our favorite game.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. I hope it stimulated your mind and gave you some ideas. You can flame me or reach me at Anthony.Sculimbrene@suffolk.edu.

Sincerely,
Anthony Sculimbrene
Ric_Flair in most chatrooms and on IRC