Determining Rarity

[asterr259]

This probably goes somewhere else, but I wanted to talk about card rarity. I am working on an idea for a card game, and as I'm coming up with mechanics and balancing, and I thought about rarity which I never really thought about in card games. What determines how rare a card is? How do I make a card worth more than another while keeping the game balanced? For sure Power Creep is something to keep in mind, as no one wants Common Sword +1 for 4 Mana to become outclassed by Rare Sword + 5 for 2 Mana, but what else?

[Simping For Hina]

Rarity has a bunch of precedents. I'll do a quick synopsis of some cards from MtG.

 

There are four different rares in MtG: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Mythic Rare

 

 

The rarities determine how likely it is to get a card in a pack, which there are 15 cards in a pack. There are 10 commons, 3 uncommons, and 1 rare for each pack. Every 1/8 pack rare is replaced with an mythic rare, making them ever so more unlikely to be open.

 

The factors that contribute to card rarity is: Complexity, power level, and uniqueness.

 

The common cards are meant to be simple and easier collect for newer players, as they are the ones to be opened more. Since newer players will have more of these cards, they are the easier cards to collect and understand or build a deck around. For a format like sealed and limited, these are also the more acknowledged cards due to the ability to obtain more and build a deck around. Common cards shouldn't be too complex or difficult to understand, should be the basis of a limited format, and the less unique among the rest of the set.

 

The uncommon cards are were things get interesting. Here, cards can get a little bit more experimental. The base level of uncommons is still relatively weak compared to cards of higher rarities. The effects aren't as straightforward or are more rewarding over time. These cards are stronger than commons, most of the time, as they make up less of a limited environment due to the amount people are going to be opening them.  They also have more thought involved for the player using them.

 

Rare cards are the ones that going to complex above uncommons and commons. The effects that rares usually include provide much more value and have more of an effect on the game state in some manner, if it is removal or advantage. Rares are the ones that set the precedent of power creep for the format. To determine a rare, it is usually going to be stronger than most of the set (even if Wizards doesn't think so) and have more ability to affect the game on average. This is where complexity of cards can get more adventurous, cards can be more complicated and still be powerful.

 

Mythic rares are the strongest that cards can be and the most unique. There isn't as much complexity to the cards as rares, but there is more openness to bending the baseline rules of Magic, pushing the boundaries of the game to places it should usually not go. The mythic rares are the most rare cards of the game (not meaning the most unfair, even if that can be the case).

 

Take a card like:
All it does is draw a card for 1 blue mana. It is simple and straightforward.

 

THen this card:

 

It is still a common, but it does more than Reach through Mists, as it changes the color of a creature and untaps that. This is a simple effect nonetheless, as the only thing that is needed to be remembered over time is the color of the card. Untapping and drawing a card happen as this card is resolving.

Compared to an uncommon:

 

This card does effectively the same thing, but there is more thought behind it. It can cost 1 blue mana or 1 black mana. It also draws more than one card at best, which makes it a stronger card than Reach Through Mist. It is more complex due to the specific number being mentioned, requiring the player to put in though to how many cards they will draw. This card acknowledges each card discarded this turn, and has to account for each of them. It isn't hard to remember that, it just requires more work to do so. 

 

Twisted image is also an uncommon because it was printed in an environment where it acted as removal or destruction as well. By switching the power and toughness of a creature, it affected combat math and could gain enough advantage to throw an opponent off of their game, even if it just drew a card at worse. The advantage that this offered was too good for limited and too complex as there was no way to indicate the change of P/T without remembering it. Counters or some other form of remembrance wouldn't have helped much.

 

Then there is a rare:

Quicken draws a card, too. But it changes the timing of the next Sorcery spell that would be cast. It changes a core element of the game, and keeps track of it for the future and the rest of the turn. This is rare because it forces players to keep focus on cards that are technically outside of the game state and don't affect the game state until it is cast.

 

There is also this rare:

It simply draws a card, but then it also draws into more cards depending on a number of cards in a zone. The ability to draw more than 2 cards is powerful enough, and for one mana is ridiculous. The power level of this card could be game breaking if it was consistently hitting the clause to draw into more cards. Plus, the amount of cards of graveyard is never something that is kept track of in a basic game of magic, already making this card complex and unique.

 

There are no mythics that I can compare to these other cards so I will just put a few together to compare them.

 

Voice of Resurgence is one of the most powerful cards in the game of magic. It is good in most scenarios that affect consistent gameplay. The value that is provides is: It causes players to completely change the pace and strategy of their play, making them play at different speeds and times within the game. It replaces itself when it leaves the battlefield with another body that can get stronger as the game goes longer. It forces the game state to either being uninteractive or requires an answer all its own.

 

 

This isn't a powerful card, but it is one of the most interesting cards to be printed. The Exile Zone is a zone in MtG that is the "End all, never come back" zone. This card can come back from Exile all its own, which has only been printed on two or so cards. The effect is one of the most unique cards to be printed, which is exactly why it is at Mythic. While not all powerful, it is something that is not done consistently.

 

 

 

 

 

[Poc]

Rarity  is mostly deterministic of a cards collector value or if the game is like magic and has some kind of limited format.  Then card power is usually balanced around its rarity. In a normal competitive, constructed format rarity has no real bearing on the gameplay and is something to consider when designing your game.