Reprints, Alt-Art, and Collectability
Reprints, Alternate Arts, and the Collectability of the Alpha Clash Trading Card Game
By David DeBates
Alpha Clash has a lot to offer with its cards. From strong, impactful cards for gameplay to gorgeous art and impressive foiling treatments for collectors, each pack is bursting at the seams with cards worth opening. High rarity alt arts and the chance to pull powerful Legendary cards make it feel rewarding when you open the lucky pack. We truly believe that each pack and every card should feel enticing to open, whether you are an avid collector or dedicated player.
Unfortunately, even with all these impressive cards, not every card can be available forever, and some have a shorter lifespan than others. But we still have ways, both old and new, to get people the cards they need, within our Clash Kits and our brand-new Draft Box.
With Clash Kits, we can reprint thematically key cards, which will help keep things in circulation, while also creating fun, new cards that support the archetypes we represent within them. Draft Boxes are a new product that will introduce an exciting new way to play the game, and as of now, will exist solely as a reprint set following every two sets. While the primary focus will be a curated selection of cards from the sets to create a fun and functional game environment, the addition of Draft Boxes to our product lineup following every other set will allow us to reprint high demand or popular cards while bringing exciting new alternate arts to cards from the sets included in the box. We hope this will help maintain a fun game environment for constructed play while still introducing a new way to play the game.
But just like our main sets, Clash Kits and Draft Boxes are finite, and even those reprints can only do so much to increase the overall capacity of cards available. Accentuating the point even further, our first three sets and their accompanying Clash Kits, The Awakening, Clashgrounds, and Unrivaled, along with our first draft set, Year of the Dragon, will not be reprinted after their initial print runs, even if cards from these sets might appear again in the future. This is a multifaceted issue, stemming from multiple decision points, but was not something taken lightly by us here in the production and design team.
This might seem alarming, as cards become older and seem like they would be harder to find. We plan to keep an eye on cards as we make new products, trying to reprint things that seem necessary or make sense in the clash Kits, and reprinting what we can in a Draft Box while maintaining a healthy experience for that mode of play. However, if a card is ever reprinted in a future product using the original piece of artwork, there will be no foil treatments for that card. If an alternate art is used for a Draft Box, promotional cards for tournament entries or prizing, or foil-stamped cards given away at conventions, these new versions of the card can come foil, but there is no guarantee that they will. This means that even if the same art is used down the line, if you open a foil version of that card, you can rest assured that that specific version will always be unique and will have been worth opening.
Furthermore, specific high rarity versions of cards – Iconic Rares, Alpha Rares, Iconic Art case toppers, and alternate art promotional tournament prizing – will never see their art reused and reprinted in a future product. If you were lucky enough to open an Alpha Rare, or you purchased a full case of boosters for an Iconic Art case topper, those will always be exclusive to the original product they appeared in, even if standard versions of those cards happen to exist in the future. We want the game to be accessible, but also want to make sure people who worked towards their high rarity cards and alternate arts maintain the benefit of doing so without it affecting the gameplay for those newer to the game in the future.
The conversation of reprints is a tricky one. We are lucky enough to have an amazing number of people supporting the game, and some for different reasons or different end goals with the product they purchase. whether you are trying to grind the competitive circuit or are collecting some of the best artwork available in a TCG, we want to make sure everyone is represented the best they can when it comes to our policy and the way it will affect them. We want to handle this matter as best we can, while sustaining the longevity of this game for years to come, while also keeping our fans excited about each card they might find.
So go out, buy your cards with confidence, and try to find those exciting alternate arts, before they’re gone for good! But first, check out this first look from our Draft Box coming out next year!
I guess we’re not ready to show that off after all! Keep an eye out for the first looks at what is bound to be an amazing product and an amazing new way to play the game!
IT’S TIME TO CLASH!!
