>>58858529For me, that soulless feeling comes from how they're not taking advantage of adapting and expanding the source material into something that makes the TCG and its sets stand out on their own aside from their eras for over the past decade. The best sets had a specific theme and every card inside following it, whereas the modern sets seem to only do it for a fraction of their cards.
Another reason as to why I think that modern feels soulless is certain rarities. I'm not a fan of Ultra Rares outside of Supporters, Shiny Rares from Fates sets, Hyper Rares, and similar cards mainly because they look cheap or outdated with the advent of illustration rares. They really feel sloppy for lack of a better term and bloated when I'd rather have the regular print or the illustration rare.
On one hand, the hypebeasts eating up the modern sets means the vintage sets aren't ruined as much. On the other hand, that demand will lead to more sloppy sets until the demand dies or the TCG crashes.
