Tag Guard
Well, I half agree with you. That's a perfect definition of casual play. And in a perfect world, that's exactly what the Lotus and Moxen would be used for... dropping big cool stuff earlier than it should be.
But let's join reality here for a second.
Who are the people who play with Moxen and Lotus? The people who put them into abusive combo decks to get speed it shouldn't have. I don't throw a Lotus in for fun. That's not right. To me, it is NOT fun to play with cards that give me a large advantage over my opponent. Now, admittably, the Lotus isn't that big of an advantage, WHEN USED PROPERLY. But what deck is gonna use a Lotus for a purpose like dropping early Serra Angels? A deck that loses a lot. I, again, am a casual player. I enjoy playing the game immensely. But you know what I don't enjoy? Losing. And guess what? If you turn your face to the "broken" side of a card, and say "well, if I only do THIS with it, it's not unbalanced", you are going to get beaten. NO one likes to get beaten. And everyone likes to win. So, in Happy Bunny Froo Froo land, Black Lotus and Moxen are not unbalancing, because they are used to play big, cool, fun spells, like Serra Angel, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Yeah, right.
"Casual" play is not sitting down and agreeing to make a deck slow and worse than it could be. People want to win. Even casual players. But what stops that from turning into "greedy, evil, I-Don't-Care-About-Anything-But-Winning?". The fact that they can't get broken stuff. And if the Power 9 were reintroduced into the market, anyone could take a grab at getting them. And, as Rishadan Port taught us, just because everyone plays with it doesn't balance it out. The game would turn into a coin flip. Now, there will always be the guy who uses them responsibly, and makes a very fun, and cool to play deck with the Power Nine. That person is gonna get schooled by people who DO play Academy/Trix/etc.
As to your play group balancing the Power Nine into decks, hurrah. I applaud them. Now, if you think the rest of the workd is going to sit down and play nice, it isn't. Your current group sounds great. But I've never met someone who can do that. I mean, there are decks you could slap a Mox or Ancestral in and they'd still be balanced and fun to play. But they'd lose more often than a deck designed to abuse those cards.
You know what? Scratch that entire post. I'm not a casual player. I care, mostly, about winning. Yes, that's quite sad.
But why don't I want the P9 to be reprinted, so I could dominate other people?
Because, while I do get enjoyment out of winning, I get mor enjoyment out if close games and big plays. I like skill, not what cards you own, to determine the outcome of a game. If the P9 were reprinted, in say, 7th Edition, I could not get them. I am VERY poor, not like living on the streets level, but the type where getting a box of cards, if even buying god singles, is out of my reach. Thus, I would lose games to players that can blow their money on the P9.
Isn't it ironic? I'm a tourney player who can't buy singles.
It's late at night, and I'm tired. If this post makes any sense, it won't be through any fault of mine. Best to ignore it.