Obviously, the cards that are in development need to be proxied, but I was surprised to find out that R&D didn't get upcoming sets much sooner than the rest of the world did
This is an interesting figure, because while it still represents a drop of 17% from pre-reprint value, it also represents a gain of about 40% from the post-reprint lows a few months after the set dropped
That said, all of this is here to serve three major purposes: one, to get old timers up to speed on everything theyve missed out on since the good ol days two, to get fakers acclimatized to the rules in order to maintain a high level of authenticity (and therefore believability) three, to learn the rules to therefore know how to properly break them The latter is one of the driving forces of my own artistic career, which I first realized after reading about the concept from Calvin & Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson
Fun fact for collectors: Retreat cost has been the subject of niche collecting
Pokmon forums and dedicated marketplaces feel more community-driven, ideal for niche or high-value cards
It pairs especially well with cards like Krark-Clan Ironworks or Arcbound Ravager since it lets you cycle through threats or re-use key pieces again and again