Sorry about the lack of updates, y'all. The gambling addiction that menaced my youth has resurfaced to threaten the sanity and finances of my current self. I speak, of course, of Magic the Gathering (MtG). And I have my own flesh and blood to blame!
Let's back up a bit.
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| The first boosters I bought since Homelands. Photo taken back in February. |
"A planes walking wizard! Prepare to duel!"
"Stay thy hand! I wish only to parley."
"Okay. Sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"Where am I? I awakened to find myself in this strange, yet familiar place."
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"The Dark. The fall of empires. An age of ice. Homelands. I ended up frozen in a glacier."
"Wow. You've been out of the game for a long time. At least thirty years."
"WHAT?!"
I'm coming back to MtG after a thirty year gap. And processing the past three decades of the game's developments - it's a lot.
I lay the blame on two of my children and my wife. One of my sons expressed interest in the Final Fantasy expansion. My daughter bought him a Final Fantasy starter set for Christmas. I pulled my thirty year old collection out of storage to show it to him. Then I looked into what was out there for MtG and made the mistake of mentioning the existence of the Doctor Who expansion to my wife.
My wife is a lifelong Doctor Who fan.
And then the buying frenzy started. We've sent way too much money to Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and stores that sell their products.
Of course, I'm overstating things for comedic effect. I take full responsibility for my part in our family's MtG antics. I'm just not taking all the blame.
We've implemented a budget to keep the MtG spending under control. One thing I've done personally is curb the number of boosters I've been buying. Boosters are fine if the goal is to bulk out a collection, but they're a gamble if the goal is getting a specific card. Buying the particular card needed for a deck gets to the point much more efficiently. Something else I'm doing is looking for deals on booster bundles and pre-release packs. It's still a gamble, but it's cheaper than buying the boosters individually.
"Help me get my bearings. What's the latest expansion?"
"In universe, that would be Secrets of Strixhaven. The current one is a Universes Beyond product."
"Universes Beyond?"
"WotC started releasing products not set in Dominaria or any other in-setting plane awhile back."
"You mean like Arabian Nights?"
"More like licensed properties."
"Licenses carefully curated to fit into the existing Magic setting?"
"No."
"Can you give me an example?"
"The current Universes Beyond product is Marvel Superheroes."
"Like Marvel Comics?"
"Yes, although there are movies now."
"..."
"It's set in New York City."
"Okay. What about the one before that?
"Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles."
"Are you fucking serious?"
"Also set in New York City."
"TMNT's still around? They were overexposed thirty years ago!"
"What can I say? What goes around, comes around?"
I'm not a fan of every IP featured in Universe Beyond (UB). There are some I like and others I have no interest in, but I don't begrudge others the joy they feel when they see their favorites on cardboard. I feel the same joy when I see my favorites on MtG cards.
And, let's face it, UB isn't going anywhere as long as it makes Hasbro's investors money.
"Walk with me, my Commander pod is meeting up in the next town."
"Commander? Is that another game like Magic?"
"Oh, yeah. I should explain formats."
There's a bunch of different ways to play MtG these days. I'm not going through a complete list, because it's a long one. Let's focus on the ones I've actually played.
My main focus is Commander due to its social aspect. Basically it's casual multiplayer MtG with some modified rules. Commander started off as Elder Dragon Highlander, a game developed to kill time in between tournament rounds. WotC made it an official format awhile back and now it can't be put back in the bottle. The feel is similar to a board game. Perfect for a beer and pretzels night when a TTRPG session gets cancelled.
We've also played Draft as a way to justify all the boosters we've been buying. Everybody shows up with three booster packs, opens them, passes them around picking cards, tries to make a functioning deck with the resulting pile of cardboard (adding basic lands as necessary), pairs off, and plays. Dueling like this is closer to my old MtG days. My son is far better at it than I am.
Limited is also fun. It uses Jumpstart booster packs made for purpose. Each player buys two Jumpstart packs, opens them, shuffles them together, pairs off, and plays. Quick and easy. All it takes is money, but Jumpstart boosters offer more cardboard for fewer dollars.
"What happened to all the flavor text on the cards?"
"Officially, the Magic's increasing complexity demands that explaining what the card does gets priority over presenting lore."
"That seems reasonable."
"Personally, I think it's because worldbuilding doesn't make money."
Buckle up! It's rant time!
Not putting flavor text on cards does more damage to Magic's story than anything else, including UB. A player can easily go through an expansion with little idea of what happened in universe. Most of the story is told on the MtG site. Secrets of Strixhaven was the first set in years to be featured in a novel. Other than that, fans are left to hunt down the story.
Mark Rosewater's explanation that the space is needed for rules text is reasonable for mechanically complex pieces. But the nth reprint of a straightforward card? A quote, a short description, or tiny vignette sheds a ray of light into what's happening in a set.
The decades-long move away from flavor text puts much of the burden on the art. Returning characters are easily recognizable thanks to the work of the artists, but new ones need to be important enough to warrant their own cards for us to learn their names. The art alone can't provide the context needed to justify an Old West setting. The artists did a beautiful job with Aetherdrift, but players were left bewildered at the presence of car races in their fantasy setting. And players might not realize why the set symbol for Edge of Eternities is a black hole without knowing the lore.
With flavor text, reading the card explains the setting. It's not a substitute for longer texts that offer more detail, but it plays its own small role in conveying the story.
"Black Lotus still unbelievably expensive?"
"Oh, yeah."
It's somehow comforting to know that the Power Nine will always be out of reach of the vast majority of us.
"WotC spent awhile kicking itself in the tender bits and otherwise self-sabotaging the image it presents to its own customer base. Much of it involved D&D, but there have been plenty of mishaps involving Magic. More misprints. Delays in shipping exclusive products like Secret Lair."
"Secret Lair?"
"Limited availability cardboard. Exclusive to the MtG site. People get up early just to get a place in the virtual line. WotC typically runs out of stock while folks are still waiting to check out with one in their cart."
"Fucking late stage capitalism."
"Yeah. There was also the Pinkerton thing awhile back. That really stood out."
"The Pinkertons? Those union busting thugs who commit thuggery for corporate money and never meet a civil right they wouldn't trample? Those Pinkertons?"
"The very same. Oh, and speaking of union busting..."
"SON OF A..."
WotC can't seem to resist stepping on rakes. There seems to be a PR incident ranging from "black eye" to "disaster" once a quarter, at least.
I've spent years despising WotC over Dungeons & Dragons. Now I get to sneer with contempt at them for a completely different set of reasons.
"Oh, they have spacecraft now."
"Like in Star Trek?"
"Oh, that doesn't come out until November."
Edge of Eternities is one of my favorite sets and I'm looking forward to the Star Trek expansion. Yes, spacecraft don't fit the fantasy vibe. Don't care.
And then the buying frenzy started. We've sent way too much money to Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and stores that sell their products.
Of course, I'm overstating things for comedic effect. I take full responsibility for my part in our family's MtG antics. I'm just not taking all the blame.
We've implemented a budget to keep the MtG spending under control. One thing I've done personally is curb the number of boosters I've been buying. Boosters are fine if the goal is to bulk out a collection, but they're a gamble if the goal is getting a specific card. Buying the particular card needed for a deck gets to the point much more efficiently. Something else I'm doing is looking for deals on booster bundles and pre-release packs. It's still a gamble, but it's cheaper than buying the boosters individually.
"Help me get my bearings. What's the latest expansion?"
"In universe, that would be Secrets of Strixhaven. The current one is a Universes Beyond product."
"Universes Beyond?"
"WotC started releasing products not set in Dominaria or any other in-setting plane awhile back."
"You mean like Arabian Nights?"
"More like licensed properties."
"Licenses carefully curated to fit into the existing Magic setting?"
"No."
"Can you give me an example?"
"The current Universes Beyond product is Marvel Superheroes."
"Like Marvel Comics?"
"Yes, although there are movies now."
"..."
"It's set in New York City."
"Okay. What about the one before that?
"Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles."
"Are you fucking serious?"
"Also set in New York City."
"TMNT's still around? They were overexposed thirty years ago!"
"What can I say? What goes around, comes around?"
I'm not a fan of every IP featured in Universe Beyond (UB). There are some I like and others I have no interest in, but I don't begrudge others the joy they feel when they see their favorites on cardboard. I feel the same joy when I see my favorites on MtG cards.
And, let's face it, UB isn't going anywhere as long as it makes Hasbro's investors money.
"Walk with me, my Commander pod is meeting up in the next town."
"Commander? Is that another game like Magic?"
"Oh, yeah. I should explain formats."
There's a bunch of different ways to play MtG these days. I'm not going through a complete list, because it's a long one. Let's focus on the ones I've actually played.
My main focus is Commander due to its social aspect. Basically it's casual multiplayer MtG with some modified rules. Commander started off as Elder Dragon Highlander, a game developed to kill time in between tournament rounds. WotC made it an official format awhile back and now it can't be put back in the bottle. The feel is similar to a board game. Perfect for a beer and pretzels night when a TTRPG session gets cancelled.
We've also played Draft as a way to justify all the boosters we've been buying. Everybody shows up with three booster packs, opens them, passes them around picking cards, tries to make a functioning deck with the resulting pile of cardboard (adding basic lands as necessary), pairs off, and plays. Dueling like this is closer to my old MtG days. My son is far better at it than I am.
Limited is also fun. It uses Jumpstart booster packs made for purpose. Each player buys two Jumpstart packs, opens them, shuffles them together, pairs off, and plays. Quick and easy. All it takes is money, but Jumpstart boosters offer more cardboard for fewer dollars.
"What happened to all the flavor text on the cards?"
"Officially, the Magic's increasing complexity demands that explaining what the card does gets priority over presenting lore."
"That seems reasonable."
"Personally, I think it's because worldbuilding doesn't make money."
Buckle up! It's rant time!
Not putting flavor text on cards does more damage to Magic's story than anything else, including UB. A player can easily go through an expansion with little idea of what happened in universe. Most of the story is told on the MtG site. Secrets of Strixhaven was the first set in years to be featured in a novel. Other than that, fans are left to hunt down the story.
Mark Rosewater's explanation that the space is needed for rules text is reasonable for mechanically complex pieces. But the nth reprint of a straightforward card? A quote, a short description, or tiny vignette sheds a ray of light into what's happening in a set.
The decades-long move away from flavor text puts much of the burden on the art. Returning characters are easily recognizable thanks to the work of the artists, but new ones need to be important enough to warrant their own cards for us to learn their names. The art alone can't provide the context needed to justify an Old West setting. The artists did a beautiful job with Aetherdrift, but players were left bewildered at the presence of car races in their fantasy setting. And players might not realize why the set symbol for Edge of Eternities is a black hole without knowing the lore.
With flavor text, reading the card explains the setting. It's not a substitute for longer texts that offer more detail, but it plays its own small role in conveying the story.
"Black Lotus still unbelievably expensive?"
"Oh, yeah."
It's somehow comforting to know that the Power Nine will always be out of reach of the vast majority of us.
"WotC spent awhile kicking itself in the tender bits and otherwise self-sabotaging the image it presents to its own customer base. Much of it involved D&D, but there have been plenty of mishaps involving Magic. More misprints. Delays in shipping exclusive products like Secret Lair."
"Secret Lair?"
"Limited availability cardboard. Exclusive to the MtG site. People get up early just to get a place in the virtual line. WotC typically runs out of stock while folks are still waiting to check out with one in their cart."
"Fucking late stage capitalism."
"Yeah. There was also the Pinkerton thing awhile back. That really stood out."
"The Pinkertons? Those union busting thugs who commit thuggery for corporate money and never meet a civil right they wouldn't trample? Those Pinkertons?"
"The very same. Oh, and speaking of union busting..."
"SON OF A..."
WotC can't seem to resist stepping on rakes. There seems to be a PR incident ranging from "black eye" to "disaster" once a quarter, at least.
I've spent years despising WotC over Dungeons & Dragons. Now I get to sneer with contempt at them for a completely different set of reasons.
"Oh, they have spacecraft now."
"Like in Star Trek?"
"Oh, that doesn't come out until November."
Edge of Eternities is one of my favorite sets and I'm looking forward to the Star Trek expansion. Yes, spacecraft don't fit the fantasy vibe. Don't care.