If you ask most Magic players about their personal history with the game they'll usually reveal that they've left and returned at least once in their lifetime.  Unlike other games, Magic has a strong nostalgic pull due to it's unprecedented longevity and it's temporal proximity to our childhoods.  This tendency to return to a game you played sometimes ten years prior is very important to the health of MTG.  Wizards of the Coast realizes this and has always tried hard to protect that aspect of Magic.  Recently, MTG's past has been honored with releases such as From the Vault, Premium Decks and Dual Decks.  But when does that respect for tradition and the status-quo begin to hamper current and future generations of Magic players?

With such a diverse group of players today, Wizards often finds itself in these lose-lose situations.  How do they honor Magic's history while taking nothing away from what is ultimately keeping Wizards of the Coast in business: real, booster buying, tournament going, novel reading, players?

One attempt to do this was with the "Reserved List".  The reserved list is essentially a list of cards that Wizards of the Coast (for one reason or another) has decided will not be printed ever again.  It came about around the same time cards first started to be "reprinted".  When Chronicles saw reprints of the then $30 Elder Dragons, many players were outraged.  They had "invested" in something that was now being made less valuable with every pack of Chronicles sold.  Wizard's solution was to make a list, a promise to all players that they would never again print certain cards.  This pleased the then current generation of Magic fans who were able to buy and collect rare cards without worry.  Fifteen years later, newer Magic players might take a look at that list and wonder: what is the point?

A newcomer to the game of Magic has a lot on his or her plate.  From learning how to play, to memorizing banned/restricted lists, to figuring out the difference between Type II and 2-Headed-Giant-EDH-Cube; the learning curve is already daunting.    Some of these complexities are unavoidable.  The banned and restricted lists are rooted in the need for stability and "fairness" on the battlefield.  The various game-types give players options for their vast collections.  But what does the reserved list offer a new or current player?  Only unnecessary confusion.

The reserved list hasn't been updated since Urza's Destiny and will never be added to again.  The only explanation given for it's continued existence is a vague reference to a promise made fifteen years ago to players who are most likely no longer contributing to the game's future.  Many of the cards on the list are not too powerful for today's meta, they are simply on the list because they were collectibles.  But because a "promise" was made, they will never see reprint again.  But would it be so bad if Zhalfirin Crusader were reprinted?    The reserve list worked well when it was about rarity in a world where there are only 1000 different Magic cards.  But it doesn't serve a useful function today, in fact I contend that it is actually a detriment to the game.

My point isn't to plead for any particular card's reprinting, in fact, I could care less if most of these cards ceased to exist tomorrow.  But when this list gets in the way of fun and interesting cards making it into the Phyrexia vs. Coalition decks, I take issue with it.  It may have even played a role in keeping Sliver Queen out of the Premium Sliver deck.  All to benefit whom?  An imaginary "investor" with a basement full of Sliver Queens and Fungus Elementals?  Even if such a person did exist, I'd never give them priority over those pack-buying, money spending, contemporary players I mentioned earlier.

The reserve list is also an unnecessary confusion for all players.  Even I didn't really understand it's purpose until I appealed to our twitter followers for guidance.  It bears such a resemblance to the banned/restricted list that it's hardly necessary to keep both as current law.  Players and developers alike understand the need to ban particular "mistakes" over the years.  Why not combine the two lists and just call it "the banned list".  This would be a much cleaner solution that, in practice, wouldn't change anything except make it easier for players to understand the cards they own.  No one is asking for reprints of the P9.  And, much like the 3rd Amendment, everyone knows that if Wizards really needed to break their promise, they would.  So why confuse new (and old) players with an outdated, list of promises that few remember and even fewer care about?

The responses to my tweet about the reserve list were telling.  Almost 100% of the respondents referred to the list as an old relic that doesn't really apply today but is kept around because of the "promise" made to the (most likely) now retired masses a decade and a half ago.  To this MTG blogger, it would seem that Wizards is guilty of making a promise they couldn't keep.  Did they realize that fifteen years later the game would still be kicking?  Maybe not.  But Wizards of the Coast should do what all great businesses, governments and leaders do when they make a promise they cant keep-  Issue a press release, let the vocal minority hoot and howl about the price of their Elder Dragons for a short period of time and move on to the betterment of the game.  Times change, it is mandatory that you change with them.

To me, as a hybrid old-school/new-school player, the reserve list is at best confusing and at worst, a hindrance on the part of the game that actually matters- the Magic that is being played, bought and sold right now. In general, I think wizards pays too much attention to that mythic "legacy" collector.  The reserve list is just one example.  Wizards also considers the integrity of ten year old cards when designing today's cards.  A noble attempt to be sure, but how many cards have been left on the cutting room floor because they were too similar to another card printed long ago?  Power creep aside, to me, when faced with the option, it is always better to favor the present and the future rather than get bogged down in the past.  Anything that hinders the design team's options is bad for the game.  Design space in any game is finite so why limit the developers unnecessarily?

The bottom line (literally) for Wizards of the Coast is it's current revenue stream.  The secondary market is important, and we all want to feel like we're getting some "money back" each time we open a pack.  But old cards that are sitting in a glass case at your local card shop, overpriced, unplayed and unloved are not pleasing anyone and are certainly not making Wizards of the Coast any money. They therefore should not be a major factor in determining how awesome Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. The Coalition or Premium Deck Series: Slivers or even M11 is going to be.  Whatever money you think you're making by not angering the legacy collectors out there, you're losing from me, who most certainly would have bought a couple copies of that product if there were better, more nostalgia-packed cards in it.

Make no mistake- No matter how well Wizards says it's doing, there will always be "lean years".  And in those years, Magic is always in a fight for its life.  It is indeed possible that Magic cards will not be printed one day.  So if reprinting an Elder Dragon or two gives them the resources and design flexibility they need to save the game while simultaneously getting me excited enough to buy a new product, then that is what should be done.  A formal letter of regret will be sent to those of you hording said Elder Dragons.

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