The issue: Most cards have printing inconsistencies or uneven frame widths
Here are some guesses on how this even distribution came to be: Players wanted to play their favorite decks All of these decks are competitively viable The format is unsolved 3v3 Shared Banlist What if there was a 3v3 tournament where players need to get creative in their deckbuilding process

Here's the price evolution of the top 3 most expensive cards: Pikachu Illustrator Price History (PSA 10) Source: Goldin Auctions, eBay Sales Data Charizard 1st Edition Shadowless Price History (PSA 10) Source: PWCC Marketplace, Goldin Auctions Key Price Drivers (2019-2025) 2020-2021 Pandemic Boom : Prices increased 200-400% across vintage cards Celebrity Purchases : Logan Paul, Logic, Post Malone drove mainstream attention Social Media Influence : YouTube/TikTok opening videos viral exposure Investment Funds : Fractional ownership platforms (Rally, Collectable) entered market Grading Backlog : PSA submission delays created artificial scarcity The market as investment TL;DR: Pokmon cards returned +3,261% over 20 years vs S&P 500's ~300%
The front side by itself isn't good enough for Modern, so if you're playing it, your plan is to flip it
Is it better to have oversized Magic: The Gathering cards
#5 Yomiji, Who Bars the Way As I died, I rejoiced