We want it to be possible for a free player to be 100% competitive.

In sealed, they are.

In constructed, it is difficult, but it can be done. There are enough free tournaments you can win if you are good to gain the cards you need. Thor was competive without spending a dime before he got premium. Geral is very competive and is not premium. If you are good and put in time, you can win without spending a penny.

The premium cards themselves are good cards, but they are not required to be competitive. We would not want a premium card that was in every top deck. We just want it to be in some top decks some of the time.

I'm somewhat torn on this issue, but my gut feeling tells me that the plan Chris is describing is the right one - to eventually make them ultra rares, but to never again give them out for free in a co-op or some similar manner.

I have two strong beliefs which are in a bit of conflict because the designers of this game did such a damn good job of meshing different styles of games into one.

1) I completely agree with trying to give some competitive balance to players who play for free. I do not think players who spend money should have exclusive access to super sick cards (or items in an mmorpg). I am completely in favor of the premiums eventually becoming ultra-rares. Besides, some ultra-rares in the current card selection sell for many points. I would assume premiums which become ultra-rares would still sell for many points if the card is good enough to warrant it.

2) One of the coolest feature of collectible card games is when they mature and have had multiple expansion packs, early powerful cards become less common, more valuable, and even can take on a somewhat mysterious aura. Not sure what the long term plan is for the cards we get in packs now... if the packs will cost a lot more (this would get my vote) or if they would still be available at the same price or if they would simply disappear...?

These two competing beliefs can work together. Simply consider Premium cards as ultra-rares which we got early, and if the format allows for all ultra-rares to go up in value over time, then both premium cards and ultra-rares will go up in value over time, and there is no problem.

I'm more of a collector myself so I actually like premium cards that are harder to acquire that you don't get in packs. Thats what trading is for imo. I would keep them premium but instead give them a smaller chance to show up in a pack as premium. Like ultra rare is 10% chance and maybe premium is 2-5% or something.

Personally, I would love to see premium cards as coop rewards, but that is me, and not in the interest of the game indeed.

I would however suggest that premium subscribers can choose which premium card to get each month, be it a new one, or an out of print one. This way, old premiums do not become ultra rare once the game progresses more, but neither do they become like normal ultra rares.