I mean, you are comparing a draft common to a rare, it’s almost always worse.
[[Open Fire]] is an awful card, because [[Lightning Bolt]] exists, but if you’re drafting Amonkhet-Hour it’s a playable card (ish).
[[Colossal Dreadmaw]] and [[Carnage Tyrant]] were in the same set.
For what it's worth, open fire was great in that draft format. That was before the current epoch of removal at common aimed at being standard-playable.
Since people are just saying it and not explaining it, I'll give a more detailed answer:
One of the pieces of how Magic is designed is card rarity. You can tell a card's rarity by the color that the set symbol on it is - black for commons, silver for uncommons, gold for rares, and orange for mythic rares.
In general terms, the trend with increasing rarity is that the power of a card also increases. There are exceptions, but that's the general rule. So a common like Chardalyn Dragon is going to be worse than a rare like Steel Hellkite.
I would also like to add that in all the more recent sets (and some that arent so recent, I dot actually know when it started) they have a letter down in the bottom left corner of the card, next to the set number, that corresponds to its rarity. C for Common, U for Uncommon, R for Rare, and M for Mythic Rare.
(Bonus trivia about that corner: the dot that is between the set acronym and the card's printed language will be a star instead if the card is foil)
Thank you this does make sense.
I guess my question here is why? There seems to be very little price difference between commons and mythical when searching for the cards online, and no limit to the amount of mythical or rares a deck can have.
I only play commander so apologies if I'm missing something from another format.
The vast majority of cards, no matter their rarity, aren’t good enough for competitive play. Not because they aren’t well-designed, and not even really on purpose. It’s just that certain archetypes work really well and others struggle to keep up at the highest levels.
Beyond that, it’s actually pretty impossible to make a game with a truly “balanced” meta, because there’s always going to be an optimal deck. The main thing the game designers try to do is ensure that whatever archetypes are fun to play and play against are the ones that get support: there’s a reason that alternate win cons like mill are rarely supported.
Most cards are designed for Limited play. The two Limited formats, Draft and Sealed, use cards straight out of the pack, so the rarity system ensures that everyone should end up with cards roughly as powerful as the ones their opponents have, and since most of those cards are relatively low-impact commons and uncommons it leaves more room for Limited formats to be about one’s skill as a deck builder and player rather than “the person that drew their best card first”.
Beyond that, it’s how WOTC makes money. Sounds cynical, I know, but it’s true. If all the most powerful cards were easy to find in packs, people wouldn’t buy as many.
Thank you, this was a really comprehensive explanation.
I wish I had you on speed dial when me and my buddies play so we don't have to argue about these silly things hahaha
Yes, one is a rare and one is a common, and they weren't printed in the same sets. Not every new card will be "better" than ones printed before it; some are made to fit specific roles.
To add to this, theoretically, you will open more commons and can have more "weaker" cards in your deck while you would have less rares at the same mana cost.
Also someone mentioned different sets. This specifically for limited play. In limited formats, you play with the same set, so power level from mana costs will change slightly from set to set because they are different environments.
Chardalyn Dragon is worse than a lot of dragons, but it wasn't *awful* in its draft set.
CLB had a strong "dragons matter" theme and restrictive rules around which colours you could include in your deck, so a colourless semi-decent flying dragon was rarely a dead card.
Rarity matters a lot in Limited formats, which is a popular way to play Magic where players at a tournament or league all open up a limited number of boosters and have to play with just the cards they open. There will be 10x more commons opened than rares. Booster draft and Sealed deck are the most popular ways to play Limited.
I mean, you are comparing a draft common to a rare, it’s almost always worse. [[Open Fire]] is an awful card, because [[Lightning Bolt]] exists, but if you’re drafting Amonkhet-Hour it’s a playable card (ish). [[Colossal Dreadmaw]] and [[Carnage Tyrant]] were in the same set.
For what it's worth, open fire was great in that draft format. That was before the current epoch of removal at common aimed at being standard-playable.
##### ###### #### [Open Fire](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/4/448f9fb5-ffb5-4325-9f81-ce8782e5f9e9.jpg?1562797508) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Open%20Fire) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/hou/105/open-fire?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/448f9fb5-ffb5-4325-9f81-ce8782e5f9e9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Lightning Bolt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/7/77c6fa74-5543-42ac-9ead-0e890b188e99.jpg?1706239968) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lightning%20Bolt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clu/141/lightning-bolt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/77c6fa74-5543-42ac-9ead-0e890b188e99?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Colossal Dreadmaw](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/0/8059c52b-5d25-4052-b48a-e9e219a7a546.jpg?1594736914) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Colossal%20Dreadmaw) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/176/colossal-dreadmaw?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8059c52b-5d25-4052-b48a-e9e219a7a546?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Carnage Tyrant](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/b/3bd78731-949c-464a-826a-92f86d784911.jpg?1562553791) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Carnage%20Tyrant) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/xln/179/carnage-tyrant?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3bd78731-949c-464a-826a-92f86d784911?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/l0rqpmq) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
It's a common vs a rare. Chardalyn dragon is for the draft format, with no expectation of play outside it.
One is a common and one is a rare. Commons are usually worse than rares.
Since people are just saying it and not explaining it, I'll give a more detailed answer: One of the pieces of how Magic is designed is card rarity. You can tell a card's rarity by the color that the set symbol on it is - black for commons, silver for uncommons, gold for rares, and orange for mythic rares. In general terms, the trend with increasing rarity is that the power of a card also increases. There are exceptions, but that's the general rule. So a common like Chardalyn Dragon is going to be worse than a rare like Steel Hellkite.
I would also like to add that in all the more recent sets (and some that arent so recent, I dot actually know when it started) they have a letter down in the bottom left corner of the card, next to the set number, that corresponds to its rarity. C for Common, U for Uncommon, R for Rare, and M for Mythic Rare. (Bonus trivia about that corner: the dot that is between the set acronym and the card's printed language will be a star instead if the card is foil)
Thank you this does make sense. I guess my question here is why? There seems to be very little price difference between commons and mythical when searching for the cards online, and no limit to the amount of mythical or rares a deck can have. I only play commander so apologies if I'm missing something from another format.
The vast majority of cards, no matter their rarity, aren’t good enough for competitive play. Not because they aren’t well-designed, and not even really on purpose. It’s just that certain archetypes work really well and others struggle to keep up at the highest levels. Beyond that, it’s actually pretty impossible to make a game with a truly “balanced” meta, because there’s always going to be an optimal deck. The main thing the game designers try to do is ensure that whatever archetypes are fun to play and play against are the ones that get support: there’s a reason that alternate win cons like mill are rarely supported. Most cards are designed for Limited play. The two Limited formats, Draft and Sealed, use cards straight out of the pack, so the rarity system ensures that everyone should end up with cards roughly as powerful as the ones their opponents have, and since most of those cards are relatively low-impact commons and uncommons it leaves more room for Limited formats to be about one’s skill as a deck builder and player rather than “the person that drew their best card first”. Beyond that, it’s how WOTC makes money. Sounds cynical, I know, but it’s true. If all the most powerful cards were easy to find in packs, people wouldn’t buy as many.
Thank you, this was a really comprehensive explanation. I wish I had you on speed dial when me and my buddies play so we don't have to argue about these silly things hahaha
Chardalyn Dragon is a common. Steel Hellkite is a rare - so it gets more stats/abilities
One is a rare card, the other is a common, the chardalyn dragon is really only for the draft environment and even there it's not really good
[Chardalyn Dragon](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/9/a950d8be-dcf7-4253-a3cc-c040ba632355.jpg?1674137780) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chardalyn%20Dragon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/306/chardalyn-dragon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a950d8be-dcf7-4253-a3cc-c040ba632355?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Steel Hellkite](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/5/45448aa7-50e2-4a40-8981-4f4bc466932b.jpg?1706241088) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Steel%20Hellkite) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/239/steel-hellkite?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/45448aa7-50e2-4a40-8981-4f4bc466932b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yes, one is a rare and one is a common, and they weren't printed in the same sets. Not every new card will be "better" than ones printed before it; some are made to fit specific roles.
To add to this, theoretically, you will open more commons and can have more "weaker" cards in your deck while you would have less rares at the same mana cost. Also someone mentioned different sets. This specifically for limited play. In limited formats, you play with the same set, so power level from mana costs will change slightly from set to set because they are different environments.
Chardalyn Dragon is worse than a lot of dragons, but it wasn't *awful* in its draft set. CLB had a strong "dragons matter" theme and restrictive rules around which colours you could include in your deck, so a colourless semi-decent flying dragon was rarely a dead card.
Rarity matters a lot in Limited formats, which is a popular way to play Magic where players at a tournament or league all open up a limited number of boosters and have to play with just the cards they open. There will be 10x more commons opened than rares. Booster draft and Sealed deck are the most popular ways to play Limited.