Should rarer cards be more powerful?

Firinmahlazer

In light of the new set. 

James13

I'd posit something different.

Rare cards should provide unique mechanics.  Not necessarily "power" level based differentiation.

In my mind they are the key pieces that shape a deck theme or push a deck theme to a higher level.

DBJones

James13 said:

I'd posit something different.

Rare cards should provide unique mechanics.  Not necessarily "power" level based differentiation.

In my mind they are the key pieces that shape a deck theme or push a deck theme to a higher level.

This is exactly what I think. Rarer cards should give you more options or boost the ones you already have, and be costed accordingly.

wereotter

Rarer cards shouldn't always be more powerful, nor should they on average be more powerful. They should work in one of two ways: either they're identical to a lower rarity card but maybe have another key word like haste, lifelink, or trample, or they should be identical to a similar lower rarity card, but maybe have slightly lower cost for the same effect, or they should be a key card that brings together a combo of other cards, but doesn't nesicarily win games on its own. Or for spells more specifically, offer more options, like Disallow is exactly the same mana cost as Cancel, but you can use it in more ways for its higher rarity.

If you look at what's being played in standard, in paper magic, you don't just see decks crammed full of rare and mythic rare cards. Yes you'll see rares and mythics there, but right now the top played cards are Duress (a common), Fatal Push (an uncommon), and Abrade (another uncommon) with Negate, Lightning Strike, and Magma Spray, all commons, being in the top 10 spells.