In the event there's a Microless 2 what about seeding indie provinces with items using elmokki's Scavengenator program? So there are a finite number of magic items - rare artifacts of an earlier, more magically powerful, age and only given to the top mages and SCs as opposed to every two bit thug walking around with a frost brand.
Plus, early wars would be chaotic with commanders having random equipment to slug it out. And there's an additional incentive to focus your pretender build on early expansion to get as many items as possible.