Keeping the core MTG Studio card pool up-to-date has got to be a lot of work. Work that could otherwise be spent on developing lovely new features. So, a suggestion:

Why not crowd-source the updating of the card pool file?

It would mean having 100s of people all sending through corrections, updates etc. You could vet them and release a new card pool.

It would mean that the development of a new edition, i.e. Conflux, would begin at the spoiler stage (people already want to note which cards they are going to buy) and would be almost instantly available come the release.

The ideal is (1) a mechanism whereby people can freely submit content, (2) a pool of people who can approve content and (3) a mechanism to update the client, as you suggest.

You do comment though that there are a number of manual steps in the process which take time and effort. It is this kind of activity, e.g. entering the FAQ, that benefits from crowd-sourcing. This does not mean errors enter into the process as you control it through content approval. It does mean that some of the strain is distributed through willing contributors.

What would be interesting is the database understanding Draft and Approved content. People could then choose whether to see Draft content, e.g. cards entered pre-release. This allows for a mechanism by which people can already start to build, say, Conflux decks in anticipation of the release.

Ultimately I see it as it an upfront expenditure (submission, approval, download mechanisms) for a long term reduction in effort.