Very nice Mate. I started with 4ED in 1995 as well. Obviously opened alot of CHR packs as well. Ashnods Altar wasn't as a big hit back then as it is now, even City of Brass wasn't that big - it makes a difference you make yourself 3-5 damage if you have 20 life or 40 life, so apparently EDH/Commander made that card big. Biggest hit was - and still is - Concordant Crossroads, also Lands Edge (back then - in Combo with Land Tax). I always liked Cat Warriors (also the art) and Boomerang is an iconic card! Recall as well, as graveyard manipulation was very limited back then. Once again thanks for taking the journey!
Glad you enjoyed it. I’ve always had a fascination with Artifacts, so in the 90s the Tron lands was what I was hunting for, that and the gold/multi-color cards. Agree with you on City of Brass. I also loved the idea of Enchant World card
Loved Ashnod's Altar. Had a deck running it, ornithopters, and Ice Age's Enduring renewal for an infinite mana engine! "I murder my bird ten times and cast fireball!" And it's so funny how ANY drawback immediately made a card 'garbage" back then. "Take a point of damage for my mana?! Yikes, that's terrible!" - "Draw a card and discard two, gross, yuck, ew!" (I will always regret how many Bazaars of Baghdad I basically gave away for free, lol)
Okay so! Chronicles rarity! You have six rarities in this set. C4 - Appears on the commons sheet four times. These are the most common cards in the set. C3 - Appears on the commons sheet three times - your "standard" common rarity. C2 - Appears on the commons sheet twice. All of these are "uncommon" artifacts like Tormod's Crypt, Ashnod's Altar, and Feldon's Cane. C1 - Appears on the Commons Sheet once - effectively identical pack rarity to U3, just in a common slot. This is where all the "uncommon" Legends are - Tobias Andrion, Marhault Elsdragon, etc. U3 - Appears on the Uncommons Sheet three times - This is your basic "uncommon" rarity. U1 - Appears on the Uncommon sheet once; These are the "Rares" The Tron Lands are where it can get a little puzzling. Each of the three functional cards - Mine, Tower, Power Plant - are C4. You open a box of Chronicles and you're gonna get a lot of urza's Lands. *HOWEVER*, each art piece is itself C1; so basically you would get one of each Tower version per 121 commons printed. Each pack has three cards from the Uncommon sheet and nine from the Commons sheet; there is no discrimination between internal rarities (i.e., there's no guarantee of getting a U1 in there) So your first pack netted you two rares (Triassic Egg, Xira Arien), one "real" uncommon (Recall), three functional uncommons (Tormod's Crypt, the art versions of the Tron Lands) and six commons. In your second pack you got hosed, with eight C3's, one C1 (the Tower variant) and three U3's (Ivory Guardian, Fire Drake, Coccoon) Your third pack was confusing because it was probably packed at a different location than the first two; its uncommon slots are at the front for some reason! For your trouble you got a "Rare" U1 (Voodoo Doll), two U3's (Fire Drake and Ivory Guardian), two functional uncommons at C2 (Ashnod's Altar and Living Armor), and seven commons
This. In my video I tried to summarized the rarity for a more general audience but this explanation is perfect. You've got more detail than I've forgotten over the years lol. That third pack was wonky I agree, different packing location would make sense.
@@packingthegathering1260 It's actually the most second-most complex rarity scheme of any of the old sets. I imagine this is due to a large part of the set actually being made of cards that were "rare" in their original printing, without making the reprint set either huge or weirdly top-heavy and uncollectable (i.e., Feldon's Cane used to be U1 in Antiquities, and got downshifted to C2 for Chronicles) The pre-fouth core sets were about what you would expect, with Commons being C1, Uncommons being U1, rares being R1. The sole exception to this was basic lands, which were effectively C4 (with each art variant being C1) *AND ALSO* U4 (again each variant being U1). The only difference is Alpha, where they were C3 and U3 respectively, with like, I think one R1 island variant Some AN commons were printed on the Uncommons sheet; these are the ones that are referred to as "light" or "dark" depending on the card, because of variance in the shade of the colorless mana symbol. Otherwise it's C3 / U3 / U1 Antiquities had some variance on the Commons Sheet; most of the set's commons were C4, while the tron Lands were C2 or C1 depending on which art. The weirdest thing is that Mishra's Factory and Strip Mine each had four art versions; three of which were U1 rarity and the fourth being C1. This is why hteir 4th edition reprints were at uncommon instead of rare. The Dark is boring, with just C3, U3, U1 scheme. Fallen Empires is pretty tame too; All its commons are "effectively" C4, with each individual art variant (each Common had 4 variants) being C1, and then there's U3 and U1 rarities. One weird thing I've found, opening two boxes of Fallen Empires, is that apparently they printed commons sheets in "batches" for this set; Both boxes I opened would just be entirely missing half the art variants for commons. Super-annoying! Homelands does it backwards. Commons with one art version such as Jinx or Joven's Ferrets are C1, and so less common than commons with multiple art versions, such as Dry Spell or Labyrinth Minotaur. And then you've got your standard U1 - U3 rares scheme The WEIRDEST is probably Alliances. While Chronicles has a lot going on, it's pretty straightforward. Alliances... Oof. Okay so you've got your commons in C1 and C2. MOST commons and their art variants are C1 rarity. But some art variants are C2 rarity; not all! So like both versions of Lat-Nam's Legacy are C1, equal rarity. But one version of Taste of Paradise is C2, and more common than the C1 variant, for example. There are three U3 cards in the set - Deadly Insect, False Demise, and Reprisal, all three of which have two art versions. Every other Uncommon is U2. Alliances also has two Rare rarities - R2, which is most rares in the set... and R6, which is Whirling Catapult and Urza's Engine. I have to imagine this is because it's a 199-card set, which is an awkward size; too big for a "small expansion" print run but still way too small for a "C1/U1/R1" run like a large set would get. With Mirage and every set after, it's just been C1/U1/R1, even for smaller sets like Visions or Exodus. The only variance to this are Mythics (which replace rares) and "special" rarities (Timeshifted, Zendikar's "Priceless treasures" inserts, Special Guests, etc)
I do remember Alliances and the variants being a PITA to get. My brother and I opened two boxes, he was putting together a set. He also did a set of The Dark, but I just don’t remember the packs as well. Lots of great info, thank you for sharing.
I probably would have been one of the people this set was created for way back when. I came in too late to have much sense for the original black borders these were copies of, but I definitely picked up on the dislike of the set around the game store and as a result didn't buy much of it. Even though I have the original black bordered versions of most of these today I prefer the chronicles versions. Just more of a connection there.
I loved Chronicles in those days, I was purely chasing the "Gold Massive Dragons MAN!!". As I got older, and as they introduced to use more Legends, Gold/multicolor cards and discovering the OG 4 horsemen versions, my interest in the set wained. But I was right there with ya!
The real fun of Chronicles was that for my area, we relied on InQuest Magazine for our card lists and pricing. And InQuest magazine didn't actually have a "Chronicles" listing until like, Ice Age released. So we had NO IDEA what might be in a Chronicles pack, all us kids thought it was a FULL REPRINT set, so we were buying those packs looking for mana drains and juzam djinn and stuff. Imagine our disappointment when that list finally came out and the big hitter of the set was like, Gabriel Angelfire or something.
Very nice Mate. I started with 4ED in 1995 as well. Obviously opened alot of CHR packs as well. Ashnods Altar wasn't as a big hit back then as it is now, even City of Brass wasn't that big - it makes a difference you make yourself 3-5 damage if you have 20 life or 40 life, so apparently EDH/Commander made that card big. Biggest hit was - and still is - Concordant Crossroads, also Lands Edge (back then - in Combo with Land Tax). I always liked Cat Warriors (also the art) and Boomerang is an iconic card! Recall as well, as graveyard manipulation was very limited back then. Once again thanks for taking the journey!
Glad you enjoyed it. I’ve always had a fascination with Artifacts, so in the 90s the Tron lands was what I was hunting for, that and the gold/multi-color cards. Agree with you on City of Brass. I also loved the idea of Enchant World card
Loved Ashnod's Altar. Had a deck running it, ornithopters, and Ice Age's Enduring renewal for an infinite mana engine! "I murder my bird ten times and cast fireball!"
And it's so funny how ANY drawback immediately made a card 'garbage" back then. "Take a point of damage for my mana?! Yikes, that's terrible!" - "Draw a card and discard two, gross, yuck, ew!" (I will always regret how many Bazaars of Baghdad I basically gave away for free, lol)
Okay so! Chronicles rarity!
You have six rarities in this set.
C4 - Appears on the commons sheet four times. These are the most common cards in the set.
C3 - Appears on the commons sheet three times - your "standard" common rarity.
C2 - Appears on the commons sheet twice. All of these are "uncommon" artifacts like Tormod's Crypt, Ashnod's Altar, and Feldon's Cane.
C1 - Appears on the Commons Sheet once - effectively identical pack rarity to U3, just in a common slot. This is where all the "uncommon" Legends are - Tobias Andrion, Marhault Elsdragon, etc.
U3 - Appears on the Uncommons Sheet three times - This is your basic "uncommon" rarity.
U1 - Appears on the Uncommon sheet once; These are the "Rares"
The Tron Lands are where it can get a little puzzling. Each of the three functional cards - Mine, Tower, Power Plant - are C4. You open a box of Chronicles and you're gonna get a lot of urza's Lands. *HOWEVER*, each art piece is itself C1; so basically you would get one of each Tower version per 121 commons printed.
Each pack has three cards from the Uncommon sheet and nine from the Commons sheet; there is no discrimination between internal rarities (i.e., there's no guarantee of getting a U1 in there)
So your first pack netted you two rares (Triassic Egg, Xira Arien), one "real" uncommon (Recall), three functional uncommons (Tormod's Crypt, the art versions of the Tron Lands) and six commons.
In your second pack you got hosed, with eight C3's, one C1 (the Tower variant) and three U3's (Ivory Guardian, Fire Drake, Coccoon)
Your third pack was confusing because it was probably packed at a different location than the first two; its uncommon slots are at the front for some reason! For your trouble you got a "Rare" U1 (Voodoo Doll), two U3's (Fire Drake and Ivory Guardian), two functional uncommons at C2 (Ashnod's Altar and Living Armor), and seven commons
This. In my video I tried to summarized the rarity for a more general audience but this explanation is perfect. You've got more detail than I've forgotten over the years lol. That third pack was wonky I agree, different packing location would make sense.
@@packingthegathering1260 It's actually the most second-most complex rarity scheme of any of the old sets. I imagine this is due to a large part of the set actually being made of cards that were "rare" in their original printing, without making the reprint set either huge or weirdly top-heavy and uncollectable (i.e., Feldon's Cane used to be U1 in Antiquities, and got downshifted to C2 for Chronicles)
The pre-fouth core sets were about what you would expect, with Commons being C1, Uncommons being U1, rares being R1. The sole exception to this was basic lands, which were effectively C4 (with each art variant being C1) *AND ALSO* U4 (again each variant being U1). The only difference is Alpha, where they were C3 and U3 respectively, with like, I think one R1 island variant
Some AN commons were printed on the Uncommons sheet; these are the ones that are referred to as "light" or "dark" depending on the card, because of variance in the shade of the colorless mana symbol. Otherwise it's C3 / U3 / U1
Antiquities had some variance on the Commons Sheet; most of the set's commons were C4, while the tron Lands were C2 or C1 depending on which art. The weirdest thing is that Mishra's Factory and Strip Mine each had four art versions; three of which were U1 rarity and the fourth being C1. This is why hteir 4th edition reprints were at uncommon instead of rare.
The Dark is boring, with just C3, U3, U1 scheme.
Fallen Empires is pretty tame too; All its commons are "effectively" C4, with each individual art variant (each Common had 4 variants) being C1, and then there's U3 and U1 rarities. One weird thing I've found, opening two boxes of Fallen Empires, is that apparently they printed commons sheets in "batches" for this set; Both boxes I opened would just be entirely missing half the art variants for commons. Super-annoying!
Homelands does it backwards. Commons with one art version such as Jinx or Joven's Ferrets are C1, and so less common than commons with multiple art versions, such as Dry Spell or Labyrinth Minotaur. And then you've got your standard U1 - U3 rares scheme
The WEIRDEST is probably Alliances. While Chronicles has a lot going on, it's pretty straightforward. Alliances... Oof. Okay so you've got your commons in C1 and C2. MOST commons and their art variants are C1 rarity. But some art variants are C2 rarity; not all! So like both versions of Lat-Nam's Legacy are C1, equal rarity. But one version of Taste of Paradise is C2, and more common than the C1 variant, for example. There are three U3 cards in the set - Deadly Insect, False Demise, and Reprisal, all three of which have two art versions. Every other Uncommon is U2. Alliances also has two Rare rarities - R2, which is most rares in the set... and R6, which is Whirling Catapult and Urza's Engine. I have to imagine this is because it's a 199-card set, which is an awkward size; too big for a "small expansion" print run but still way too small for a "C1/U1/R1" run like a large set would get.
With Mirage and every set after, it's just been C1/U1/R1, even for smaller sets like Visions or Exodus. The only variance to this are Mythics (which replace rares) and "special" rarities (Timeshifted, Zendikar's "Priceless treasures" inserts, Special Guests, etc)
I do remember Alliances and the variants being a PITA to get. My brother and I opened two boxes, he was putting together a set. He also did a set of The Dark, but I just don’t remember the packs as well.
Lots of great info, thank you for sharing.
I probably would have been one of the people this set was created for way back when. I came in too late to have much sense for the original black borders these were copies of, but I definitely picked up on the dislike of the set around the game store and as a result didn't buy much of it. Even though I have the original black bordered versions of most of these today I prefer the chronicles versions. Just more of a connection there.
I loved Chronicles in those days, I was purely chasing the "Gold Massive Dragons MAN!!". As I got older, and as they introduced to use more Legends, Gold/multicolor cards and discovering the OG 4 horsemen versions, my interest in the set wained. But I was right there with ya!
The real fun of Chronicles was that for my area, we relied on InQuest Magazine for our card lists and pricing. And InQuest magazine didn't actually have a "Chronicles" listing until like, Ice Age released. So we had NO IDEA what might be in a Chronicles pack, all us kids thought it was a FULL REPRINT set, so we were buying those packs looking for mana drains and juzam djinn and stuff. Imagine our disappointment when that list finally came out and the big hitter of the set was like, Gabriel Angelfire or something.