[Editor's Note: StarCityGames.com has not been able to verify these print runs, so do what you can to verify them yourself before taking what you read here as gospel.]
Note: any time card order in a pack is referenced, including the orders given in the print runs, I am assuming that the rare is the last card in a pack, with the top, face-up common being the first card in the pack.
Impatient people can find the print runs at the end of the article. People with patience can skip the rest of this paragraph. Impatient people who haven't dismissed us as idiots: welcome back. Read on to find out why the print runs look absolutely nothing like what you might have expected.
When we analyzed the print runs in Champions of Kamigawa, we began with three assumptions based on past print runs: we would find three print runs, each of the 110 commons would appear on each print run once, and each booster would have eleven commons that formed one section of one print run. What we found destroyed two of those assumptions (which, of course, is why I'm writing this). .333 is pretty good in Baseball, but it certainly caused us problems here!
Where were we wrong? Our analysis suggests that each Booster Pack of ChK contains commons from three different print runs. Each of those print runs is associated with a discrete subset of the commons in Champions, which means that we were wrong about both the nature of the print runs and the nature of the booster packs. We believe we were correct about the number of print runs; each group of cards appears to have a single print run. Before I get to the print runs themselves, it is interesting to look at the three groups of cards.
The first of these groups contains 25 of the most powerful Limited cards in the set, cards like Befoul and Kitsune Blademaster. I will refer to these cards as the "Scissors" group (because they're powerful precision tools that let you cut through your opposition). The second group contains 30 of the most situational, conditional, and flat out bad cards in the set, such as Lifted by Clouds and Jukai Messenger. I'll call these the "Paper" group (they're only good with ingenuity and the right tools...). The final group contains the remaining 55 commons, most of which are playable but unexciting like Hearth Kami or Counsel of the Soratami. These cards comprise the "Rock" group (it's a large group of solid cards).
(As usual with general categorizations, there are a few exceptions. Most striking to me is Kitsune Riftwalker in Scissors vs. Kabuto Moth in Rock. I suggest checking out the lists below when preparing for your next Limited event.)
Why is this relevant? Because each pack (barring foils) contains exactly five or six Rock cards, three Paper cards, and two or three Scissors cards, in that order (remember, start from the first card you see upon opening the pack). Because the card groups represent different tiers of power levels, this means that every pack has some really good cards, some pretty bad cards, and a lot of playable cards. While this has some intriguing implications for Lplay in general, it's important to us because adding this information to some facts about the structure of the print runs allows us to derive information during a draft even if we don't have the print runs memorized.
Each print run is arranged by color in the "counter-clockwise enemy" cycle WRUGB. This means you can often be certain which colors have been taken from a pack. For example, if second pick first pack you see two Scissors cards that are GW, three Paper cards UGB, and five Rock cards BWRUG, you can be near certain that a Black Scissors card was drafted from the pack*. Similarly, if your 14 cards are missing a White Rock card, a White Rock card was probably drafted (Kabuto Moth seems likely).
Skeptics are invited to examine the next few Booster Packs they open. The power level (in Limited terms) between the print runs is obvious and striking once you know to look for it. In fact, a similar power tier structure may exist in the Uncommon print runs. From our initial examination of very insufficient data, we believe that two tiers of Uncommons exist, with one tier represented in the first uncommon slot, the other in the third, and both possible in the middle. For example, we had three Gutwrencher Oni, two in the first slot and one in the second, whereas one of our three Numai Outcasts was in the middle slot with the other two in slot three.
Here are breakdowns by color of the cards in each group:
Scissors group:
White:
Cage of Hands
Kami of Ancient Law
Kitsune Riftwalker
Kitsune Blademaster
Mothrider Samurai
Blue:
Consuming Vortex
Mystic Restraints
Soratami Mirror-Guard
Soratami Rainshaper
Teller of Tales
Black:
Befoul
Nezumi Cutthroat
Pull Under
Rend Flesh
Rend Spirit
Red:
Frostwielder
Glacial Ray
Kami of Fire's Roar
Ronin Houndmaster
Yamabushi's Flame
Green:
Feral Deceiver
Kodama's Might
Kodama's Reach
Moss Kami
Order of the Sacred Bell
Paper Group:
White:
Ethereal Haze
Pious Kitsune
Quiet Purity
Silent-Chant Zubera
Terashi's Cry
Vigilance
Blue:
Field of Reality
Kami of Twisted Reflection
Lifted by Clouds
Peer Through Depths
Psychic Puppetry
Wandering Ones
Black:
Ashen-Skin Zubera
Deathcurse Ogre
Midnight Covenant
Rag Dealer
Ragged Veins
Soulless Revival
Red:
Akki Rockspeaker
Battle-Mad Ronin
Crushing Pain
Desperate Ritual
Ember-Fist Zubera
Unnatural Speed
Green:
Dripping-Tongue Zubera
Joyous Respite
Jukai Messenger
Matsu-Tribe Decoy
Orochi Leafcaller
Wear Away
Rock group:
White:
Blessed Breath
Call to Glory
Devoted Retainer
Harsh Deceiver
Hundred-Talon Kami
Indomitable Will
Kabuto Moth
Kami of the Painted Road
Kitsune Diviner
Kitsune Healer
Lantern Kami
Blue:
Callous Deceiver
Counsel of the Soratami
Eye of Nowhere
Floating Dream Zubera
Hisoka's Defiance
Hisoka's Guard
Reach Through Mists
River Kami
Sift Through Sands
Soratami Cloudskater
Thoughtbind
Black:
Cruel Deceiver
Cursed Ronin
Devouring Greed
Distress
Gibbering Kami
Kami of the Waning Moon
Nezumi Ronin
Scuttling Death
Villainous Ogre
Waking Nightmare
Wicked Akuba
Red:
Akki Avalanchers
Brutal Deceiver
Devouring Rage
Hearth Kami
Lava Spike
Sokenzan Bruiser
Soul of Magma
Stone Rain
Uncontrollable Anger
Unearthly Blizzard
Yamabushi's Storm
Green:
Burr Grafter
Commune with Nature
Humble Budoka
Kami of the Hunt
Kashi-Tribe Warriors
Orochi Ranger
Orochi Sustainer
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Serpent Skin
Venerable Kumo
Vine Kami
We have the utmost confidence in the information just presented. We are also certain that the Rock print run given below is correct. However, we must acknowledge the slight possibility that more than one Rock print run exists, and that all of the packs we have examined (about two boxes worth, plus three Starter Packs) happen to come from the same one. We are slightly less certain about the Paper print run; if we are correct that the Paper group is printed like the Rock group (one print run which includes each card twice), then the given print run is correct. We are less certain about the Scissors run, since the useful data on that run is about 30-40% of the useful data on the Paper run. People who find discrepancies are welcome to post them in the forums**. (Please note that Magic Online uses the same print runs for its virtual packs.)
Print Run for Rock Group (110 cards):
Call to Glory - Devouring Rage - River Kami - Venerable Kumo - Cruel Deceiver - Kitsune Healer - Yamabushi's Storm - Sift Through Sands - Kashi-Tribe Warriors - Waking Nightmare - Harsh Deceiver - Unearthly Blizzard - River Kami - Commune with Nature - Devouring Greed - Kitsune Healer - Stone Rain - Floating-Dream Zubera - Vine Kami - Waking Nightmare - Devoted Retainer - Devouring Rage - Callous Deceiver - Orochi Ranger - Kami of the Waning Moon - Call to Glory - Lava Spike - Floating-Dream Zubera - Kashi-Tribe Warriors - Cursed Ronin - Lantern Kami - Unearthly Blizzard - Callous Deceiver - Commune with Nature - Kami of the Waning Moon - Devoted Retainer - Yamabushi's Storm - Eye of Nowhere - Venerable Kumo - Gibbering Kami - Kami of the Painted Road - Akki Avalanchers - Hisoka's Defiance - Sakura-Tribe Elder - Distress - Kitsune Diviner - Sokenzan Bruiser - Counsel of the Soratami - Kami of the Hunt - Scuttling Death - Blessed Breath - Hearth Kami - Soratami Cloudskater - Orochi Sustainer - Distress - Kami of the Painted Road - Soul of Magma - Hisoka's Defiance - Humble Budoka - Wicked Akuba - Blessed Breath - Sokenzan Bruiser - Hisoka's Guard - Serpent Skin - Nezumi Ronin - Hundred-Talon Kami - Brutal Deceiver - Reach Through Mists - Kami of the Hunt - Gibbering Kami - Kabuto Moth - Soul of Magma - Counsel of the Soratami - Burr Grafter - Scuttling Death - Indomitable Will - Uncontrollable Anger - Soratami Cloudskater - Humble Budoka - Nezumi Ronin - Kabuto Moth - Hearth Kami - Reach Through Mists - Serpent Skin - Villainous Ogre - Kitsune Diviner - Akki Avalanchers - Thoughtbind - Sakura-Tribe Elder - Wicked Akuba - Indomitable Will - Brutal Deceiver - Hisoka's Guard - Orochi Sustainer - Villainous Ogre - Hundred-Talon Kami - Uncontrollable Anger - Thoughtbind - Burr Grafter - Cursed Ronin - Harsh Deceiver - Stone Rain - Sift Through Sands - Vine Kami - Cruel Deceiver - Lantern Kami - Lava Spike - Eye of Nowhere - Orochi Ranger - Devouring Greed
Print Run for Paper Group:
Terashi's Cry - Unnatural Speed - Peer Through Depths - Jukai Messenger - Deathcurse Ogre - Silent-Chant Zubera - Battle-Mad Ronin - Psychic Puppetry - Joyous Respite - Ashen-Skin Zubera - Pious Kitsune - Unnatural Speed - Kami of Twisted Reflection - Wear Away - Rag Dealer - Ethereal Haze - Akki Rockspeaker - Field of Reality - Matsu-Tribe Decoy - Ashen-Skin Zubera - Quiet Purity - Crushing Pain - Kami of Twisted Reflection - Orochi Leafcaller - Ragged Veins - Terashi's Cry - Battle-Mad Ronin - Peer Through Depths - Dripping-Tongue Zubera - Deathcurse Ogre - Vigilance - Akki Rockspeaker - Psychic Puppetry - Orochi Leafcaller - Rag Dealer - Pious Kitsune - Desperate Ritual - Lifted by Clouds - Matsu-Tribe Decoy - Soulless Revival - Silent-Chant Zubera - Ember-Fist Zubera - Field of Reality - Jukai Messenger - Midnight Covenant - Ethereal Haze - Crushing Pain - Wandering Ones - Wear Away - Ragged Veins - Quiet Purity - Ember-Fist Zubera - Lifted by Clouds - Dripping-Tongue Zubera - Soulless Revival - Vigilance - Desperate Ritual - Wandering Ones - Joyous Respite - Midnight Covenant
Print Run for Scissors Group:
Mothrider Samurai - Yamabushi's Flame - Soratami Mirror-Guard - Feral Deceiver - Rend Flesh - Mothrider Samurai - Glacial Ray - Soratami Mirror-Guard - Order of the Sacred Bell - Pull Under - Cage of Hands - Kami of Fire's Roar - Teller of Tales - Kodama's Might - Rend Spirit - Kitsune Riftwalker - Ronin Houndmaster - Mystic Restraints - Feral Deceiver - Befoul - Kitsune Blademaster - Ronin Houndmaster - Consuming Vortex - Moss Kami - Rend Flesh - Kami of Ancient Law - Frostwielder - Teller of Tales - Kodama's Reach - Rend Spirit - Kitsune Blademaster - Kami of Fire's Roar - Consuming Vortex - Order of the Sacred Bell - Nezumi Cutthroat - Cage of Hands - Yamabushi's Flame - Soratami Rainshaper - Kodama's Reach - Befoul - Kitsune Riftwalker - Frostwielder - Mystic Restraints - Moss Kami - Pull Under - Kami of Ancient Law - Glacial Ray - Soratami Rainshaper - Kodama's Might - Nezumi Cutthroat
Scott Mayer (tio dot magic @ gmail dot com)
w/ Luke Hagerling (sayron dot magic @ gmail dot com)
and Ian Nuber (abisashi @ gmail dot com)
* Only near certain because the third Scissors card of three and the sixth Rock card of six are sometimes random cards instead of following the print run. This is a statistical necessity-ambitious math people might have fun working out the slight variation in the probabilities of getting a given card from Scissors vs. Paper vs. Rock if the cards always match the print runs-but very annoying when trying to determine the print runs.
** Relevant information like the presence of a foil or as much of the pack, in order, as possible will help us correct any errors. Don't forget: foils can mess up print run orders and miscollated packs do happen. Calling us idiots because you found two cards that don't match the print run might make you feel better, but it does nothing to help the community.
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