GoingMadlem

Nah, old formats need a little instability built in

That’s a lot of instability for you to call it “a little instability.” Modern, Legacy, and Vintage literally became different formats after WAR released and a month later they once again were turned on their head with MHO. Eldraine even has a high number of Eternal staples.

When you can’t buff/nerf cards after they’re printed (like what Hearthstone does) and you can only restrict cards in Vintage then there’s only one way to deal with them. WotC should either modernize, learn to face their mistakes, or actually get good at their job.

OR, they designed cards to match the power level of the format and they hit the nail on the head. They could spend the next 20 years making (metaphorical) 2 mana lightning bolts, or they can design lightning bolt power spells One sells new cards, one doesn't

For every complaint you have about the new cards, there's years of criticism about new cards being weak and older formats growing stale. For every Narset, there's a dozen Questing Beast that have absolutely pushed power levels that won't even be considered in eternal formats

Aren’t those both problems? Isn’t the best selling set of all time Battle For Zendikar which isn’t known for its power level but its promos? There are ways to balance this without printing 20-30 Eternal staples per set.

Battle for Zendikar was an absolute dumpster fire for Standard and the singles market... not a better alternative. Modern Horizons necessitated printing staple-level cards. War of the Spark was an anomaly, not the norm. Also, change is good