Refuge Isle's collection of every Ultra Rare card (here) will likely be incomplete, as they estimate around 45 of these cards to have CTE'd with 0 owners. I'd love to get a copy of Wujotek, but that's unlikely given they've ceased to exist. Salaxalans' collection of S2 Spiritus cards can't be completed because of 15ish unobtainable cards, and even TNL's collection of every card from The North Pacific can't be completed due to two 0-owner common cards. Fundamentally, that means there will be cards that exist and we can never collect, making some collections impossible to complete.
The prevalence of these unobtainable cards is extremely annoying. And while I can see the value in ex-nation cards becoming rarer during the season, especially those with only one or two owners, I think something should be done to allow us to complete our collections.
My proposal to remedy this is that for a one-week period at the end of every season (or perhaps during the "snapshot" period for the next season), every 0-owner CTE'd card can be pullable. This keeps their rarity throughout the season, but provides collectors with the opportunity to finish their collections and get every card they need.
Some anticipated/already asked questions:
- How does this interact with the current system of CTE'd cards?
The current system stays. CTE'd cards are unpullable outside of Auctions or the one-week ex-nation frenzy. - What about nations who have the card, but then cease to exist, meaning that the card now has 0 owners?
Ideally they could be included in this "unobtainable card finding" period, because even if they had an owner they don't anymore, meaning they are unobtainable. - What about cards that have only one or two owners?
TG the owner(s) and beg. - What if they still don't reply?
In this scenario, the card is theoretically obtainable, but practically, given the single owner won't sell, it's still unobtainable. I'm torn on what to do here - it would be good to make these cards pullable, but 1-owner cards are often sold at a high price given their extreme rarity, and making these cards pullable would mean they have significantly less worth. So I'll err on the side of the already existing system and say "no, these cards shouldn't be pullable during this one-week event". However, I can see the case for making every CTE'd card pullable during this period, so let me know what you think.
TL;DR Cards are unobtainable, so people can't complete their collections. This should be fixed by making them obtainable for a short period of time right at the end of the season.