Thank you, Prof. We need to go back to the days of one type of booster box. Whales can buy more boxes to find what they need. Time Spiral Remastered was a huge success to me and many others because of the fairness of cracking packs. Everyone has the same chance at the big chase cards. This is why buying draft and even set boosters (they carry less rares now than when set boosters were first introduced) now feels like a scam. The List isn't a bad idea, but shouldn't be used to sell a product that no one asked for (set boosters).
Also, as a professional who works in marketing, their approach to branding is atrocious and as you pointed out, one of their primary problems. Constantly changing the definition of a product, or setting expectations through nomenclature and then being inconsistent on what that name means is a major issue. At this point, I can't tell if it's top to bottom negligence or intentional manipulation for sales. Either way, the continued price hike with each set release is the top factor for me. Hard pass on buying sealed at these ridiculous prices.
With this Lord of the Rings set on the horizon it has me thinking: Have you ever done a video comparing and contrasting the way WOTC used to create and maintain MTG lore versus the present day? I still have some of the old books when they brought in established authors to write and work on the story with WOTC. Now it feels like that work is reduced to a signature on a line to make crossover cards. Not sure if this is a good video idea (mostly because it might be hard to stay positive), but it seems interesting.
As a store owner, I hate the lack of MSRP. It means that by enlarged because of the globalized options for purchasing product, a player will purchase product at the best cost for themselves. While I can't disagree with that from a consumer perspective, from a shop owner perspective, it forces me to justify charging a fair market value for a product that will keep the lights on in the store, vs. selling at a few dollars over wholesale to turn and burn as much product as possible. It allows online retailers to bury FLGSs and big box retailers can charge whatever they want because they know that customers will impulse buy MtG packs when they see them there. That creates the secondary problem of FLGSs not being able to get stock from distributors because it's swallowed up by people selling pallets of booster boxes at almost nothing for profit per box (low dollars, high volume) or big box stores stocking heavy to make sure they don't repeat stocking issues they had in 2020 or 2021. It's a two-punch attack and FLGSs are caught in the middle.
@@gamestategames Very much agree. I worked at my FLGS over the last summer and last semester, it sucks. Especially when they kept rising prices, the only reason I could give to customers about our rising prices was that the distributors were raising our prices. My first Friday night working was the Baldur's gate pre-release. Not a good night to start working doing something you've never done before.
When the Professor ran through the entire teased and announced products, I just shook my head. There’s just so much, so many things, that nothing feels special at all.
Exactly. I’ve been feeling this way for a while now, often exclaiming, “the next set is being teased ALREADY?!” At first I thought it was just because I’m getting older so time feels like it’s going by faster, but that’s not the main reason. They actually have ramped up the number of unique product releases by like 10x per year since I started playing! Don’t gaslight me WoTC!
agreed, I remember my younger days when I could feel something very special opening a few booster packs, or when trying to figure out what cards from the new upcoming set would be interesting for my decks. Nowadays, I crack BOXES every month and half and do no feel the "magic" anymore
"it's not fair to say 'just pay attention to the magic products that are relevant to you' when i'm required to pay attention to and research into every product just to attempt to determine if indeed it is relevant to me" SO MUCH THIS. A feeling that has pushed me away for years from coming back to MTG, but that I had never been able to express before.
Plus either you look at a couple sites that aggregate informations on spoilers and releases or you have to navigate the hellish maze that is WotC web of social media accounts and their plain disfunctional website.
@@NecroAsphyxia Unless you are playing competitive commander you don't need to know every card that is printed the second it is for sale, you will be fine if your deck isn't tuned to 100% efficiency.
I’d also like to mention it’s incredibly difficult for returning players to get a grasp of everything. Right now, as my friends and I are getting back into Magic (after most of us being away for nearly 10 years) neither of us can understand what Masters is, what exactly all the crossover IP sets are for, what the heck Secret Lair is, and what all these variations mean… like… what the hell are those collectors booster sets? It’s already a collectible TCG, why do I need to double down on my collection? This just makes me honestly miss Core Set, because we would have all (as working adults 30+) bought booster boxes of Core Set to get back into it if that were available right now.
Last year, me and my playgroup searched like crazy for the newest core set - sorry, the newest reprint "edition", as my big bro was sure there had to be a 30th edition set with white borders out there - when we got the itch to play mtg last year lol. I still don't get why did they get away with the core sets.
As someone who was into magic back in like 08-12, and then was able to come back into it in 22, it was a lot to fucking learn and understand. My first event was for the Kamigawa release in July, and the next set came out what felt like so suddenly afterwards that I didn't even get the chance to explore some of the mechanics of the set, like vehicles. It wasn't until months after playing again, and building a few decks of my own, that I was looking at some of my cards from Kamigawa that I was realizing how cool of a concept just the vehicle mechanic was. And it sucks, because I want to build a black/white vehicle deck with Greasefang as my commander, but with how much shit comes out I feel like the most financially sound thing I can do to keep up and build new decks is to find precons I like that follow themes I either like or want to do and then slipping in some changes from what I own or buy a few cards to make the deck run how I'd like. Shit is crazy. And while I'm excited to hear about the increase in the number of commander decks, I cannot help but think of how much money it's going to be buying what I like while it's available. Hell, I didn't even know that certain cards are only obtainable in certain packs within the set, whereas I just figured you had a higher chance for better cards, plus more cards in general in some cases, with certain packs. Like holy hell is this a mess.
I am having the exact same problem, it is even harder for new players to get into it without some base knowledge. There is also too many formats they are trying to push
Mental fatigue is a great way to put it. I stepped back from MTG this year because keeping up with what I wanted from each product and what secret lairs to order was starting to feel like a chore. It seemed like every week, I had to look at something just to keep up.
I just bought Phyrexia, due to my subjective affinity to Metallic Worlds. bought booster box, constructed some decks, playing with colleague who also constructed decks from current set. And we are good. dont need some fucking Frodo ruins my Phyrexian horrors.
@Radek Martinek yeah why all the 3rd party characters adds lately. Like one is transformers and WH40k. Like why...keep it in the planes/lore/worlds of MTG. I am NOT excited for LOTR cards and I love LORT.
@@MR1337SKI i think this a boring take . magic has a great shareable style . these cards aren't legal in standard or your favourite casual format so u don't need to freak out . DND mtg cards were epic , so they could make another win this way . LOTR might fit in nicely with mtg styling .
@@iidoyila not freaking out. I actually like all the "families" (not sure what word is better) that these cards came from. I build 40k figures, love LOTR and so on. It just seems...wierd to me. Like building an Intel and Nvidia rig and slapping AMD stickers on it. It's bridging lore gaps and it doesn't make sense to me. The stories and backgrounds are completely stand alone and trying to pull them together feels like a move to suck in other fan bases and not genuine in its addition. Idk maby I'm just a grump bugger lol
You've said it before elsewhere, but I'll echo you sentiments: I miss set blocks. You were in a place for a year of real-time, with an evolving story centred around that location and complimentary mechanics that built upon one another. I would've loved to see the new Kamigawa over the course of more than just one set. I would've loved to be introduced to places like Eldraine, Strixhaven, Kaldheim, and New Capenna in a more thorough, fleshed out manner. Instead these new places come and go each in a flash. There's no time to focus on anything when the next new and usually completely different location.
Yup, miss the old blocks and lore and taking the time to tweak the mechanics or embathe in the story. After all it’s D&D in card format with a bit of chess or deck-building strategy rolled in. 2nd Kamigawa “there and gone” really missed the mark.
Yep this for sure. It is what I always come back too. The last block was the last time I was able to care about the story or the planes now it all feels a bit too rushed
I know that’s a recurring sentiment, but I still disagree. An entire year for Theros felt like it dragged. The third sets like Journey and Dragon’s Maze were not very appealing. Even in the 2 set era, Rivals of Ixalan and Aether Revolt felt more like stalling for time, IMO. I will admit that I love those block storylines, so they weren’t complete duds. But I would hate to go back to spending an entire year on 1 plane. It’s also worth noting that this year was telling a singular story. Sure, we hopped around a lot, but the narrative has been building since Dominaria and the focus on the sylex. And no, the mechanics for each set weren’t united, so there is still that difference.
Agreed. Maybe 3 sets + 1 core set was a hair too few for an entire year (I do remember people complaining they were bored of the existing sets near the end of that year), but that was certainly closer to optimal than the current releases are.
Ah, so thoughtful, Prof. If only WotC had access to your thoughts. If only there was some place that they could go to hear what you think, and see public reaction to it. Something like a video log, or public video platform...
Hasbro knows, the key difference is incentives, and Hasbro's one is doing as much money as possible as fast as possible, which typically means as close to burning out without doing so as possible.
Actions speak louder than words, and right now those words just sound like another empty acknowledgement that “They hear us.” They hear us alright, but they’re not actually listening.
@@Cynsham While true, we also have to give them time to react. There is probably not much they can do about 2023s release schedule anymore, but if 2024 is as packed with no actions taken the they should most certainly be called out on it.
WotC has never and probably never will take feedback to heart. What they probably have done is realize that player wallets are of limited size, which they have by now determined. Now all they can do is optimize their costs. Less product means less staff and generally smaller development costs. Too cynical? Maybe. But I just can't see Hasbro changing their attitude all of a sudden. Now that the stock market is onto them for their overproduction, they will epxlore other avenues of growing WotC's value to the corporation.
@@Volkbrecht i mean from what you say here, it does indeed sound like hasbro will make fewer mtg products of higher quality, and make money that way, which is exactly what i want them to do.
Good gods, hearing the Prof describe all the different product variations made my head hurt. I totally agree with his thesis. I wonder if the complexity of the product might also be a factor. Cards nowadays have paragraphs of text on them and each set is like a ton of new cards to learn so, hopefully, you don't spend half the game reading the cards and trying to determine their interactions. Sometimes I feel happier just playing an old deck that I know completely.
100% aggreed. If we wanted to read whole Tolkien books during a game, we could just play YGO. That's one of tbe reasons I dumped YGO entirely and I really hope MTG will stop moving in that direction...
I can only speak for myself, but I don't feel that wordy cards is a big issue. The language is usually clear and fully possible to parse without breaking your brain. Sure, it takes a bit longer to go through an entire set's worth of previews in order to find cards that you like and want to get, but if you didn't have the baseline mental fatigue as a factor, that wouldn't be an issue either, cause you'd gladly spend that time engaging with something you like/love. If you like a franchise, would you let yourself be intimidated into not partaking in it just because the book is 800 pages long, or the movie is 4 hours long? Fuck no, because you love that shit! But with fatigue added to the mix, people just lose interest in it, cause they don't have the energy to properly engage with the products, and this is true for smaller releases as well.
It's pretty ironic that they stated they're aware of fatigue then release 3 different sets with like 25 different sub sets per set. How incredibly tone-deaf. While also raising the price of most sets to outrageous prices.
First time I've looked at a new set (March of Machines) and went "wow I'm not even interested in buying singles, cause I just did that for ONE 2 weeks ago...
@@seasnek7024 Its not even out yet, barely any cards have even been spoiled, no one should be trying to look at what MoM cards they will be buying yet.
almost everyone at my lgs is incredibly unclear about which cards are even legal in what formats anymore. its very hard to explain why half the cards in their brothers war set boosters are legal in standard but the old border artifacts and list cards are
In March of the Machine prerelease kits there is an extra promo. This promo is not allowed to be in the sealed deck you construct, the other promo card is..
This video perfectly puts to words why I tried to get back into magic last year, spent close to a thousand dollars on sealed product, then stopped at the new year. I was feeling really burnt out on following releases and trying to understand what to even buy to have fun (either opening packs or playing). I couldn’t explain why I stopped, but this really hit the nail on the head.
Sorry to hear that. Sadly WOTC wouldn’t care even if they read your comment (which they won’t) because they actually succeeded in getting your money at some point.
Same. I got back with Innistrad and I'm already burned out. The constant barrage of information and the power spike in each set just don't make it worth it
Exactly. I've been playing since the beginning and I quit at some point when I felt I couldn't keep up. Got back in a few years later and then got back out again for the same reason
Your breakdown of the available products for upcoming sets in the prologue of this video was actually pretty helpful, you should consider doing that more often.
One aspect of all of this that I haven't seen mentioned is the stress these numerous products and card styles puts on retailers - specifically those who sell singles. Listing, buying, cataloging, and tracking what card can be found in what and when is an absolute nightmare and makes things difficult when there are 5 or 6 versions of one card. A video exploring those challenges may be interesting.
my LGS programmed their own singles inventory/sales/trading software years ago. These days, they are missing a TON of singles because they can't keep up with programming and cataloguing all the card variations and set releases.
then compress your card search system + algorithm . not everything needs to be perfect does it ? even so , i think you can do it pretty well while keeping lossless .
From 1997 to 2012, I bought pretty much everything that came out for MTG. A case or two of each set, and at least one of every special release, plus packs bought for tournaments and drafts. From 2013 to 2016, I slowed down a lot as stuff was already getting to be crazy, and I have barely bought anything since 2016. Most recently, I have not bought a single MTG product for over a year and a half now. I went from being a $2000 - $3000 a year (easily) with secondary market player to a $0 a year player. Thank you WOTC, you have saved me a ton of money.
I started just before the new Kamigawa last year and stopped buying stuff sometime in New Capenna… two sets. I'm still playing, but it's mostly pauper cube. Wizards isn't making any money off me directly, and the commons I buy off the secondary market aren't encouraging others to crack packs for stuff to sell, so they're not making any money off me indirectly either. They did a really good job on their product & monetization strategy there! XD
Thank you prof for using your platform for good and providing constructive criticism that hopefully Hasbro and WOTC will have access to if desired. It is well thought out and well spoken. We appreciate you. And even more, THANK YOU for reminding everyone to support their LGS! I don’t doubt that has cost you some precious dollars over time to not totally sell out. Just shows how much you really care about this game and community. We are lucky to have you as the voice of the people!
I played MTG when it was new, and haven't touched it for a very long time. Just lately, it's become a thing again for my friends and I - and I have to say it's absolutely mind-boggling to me how much stuff HAS come out, sure.. but KEEPS coming out, constantly. It's been a struggle to re-learn how to enjoy MTG and I haven't even tried Commander yet but for real, a new giant set every month or two? And figuring out which 'kinds' of cards to get between the drafts, sets, collectors, etc. - I am the kitchen-table player you mention around the 11:40 mark in your video. It's off-putting how rapidly sets seems to come out, all I can figure it it's designed to milk the bank accounts of longtime players. We're still having fun but it's crazy.
I think that a large part of the issue with product fatigue is the abandonment of the three set blocks. With Blocks, there's just the one overarching story, while with individual sets, each one comes with a new announcement, and new build up. Even if it isn't more (and it's absolutely more than it was back when RTR or Theros came out), it feels like more, because there's new announcements, rather than just a continuation of the yearly story.
I started playing around OG Innistrad arc and cardboard crack had me take a hiatus. Got back into it during Neon Dynasty and you're right that individual sets make fatigue all the more relevant. I was already starting to feel product fatigue a couple sets after I got back into MTG
What i learned from buying a early cd-burner: Having anything you want makes everything worthless; operating with in set boundaries is how humans find value. The block format formed a foundation with clear boundaries that sparked the imagination - I honestly would have prefered 2 years per block & would have spent more money on more longer lasting cards. Highlander + limited card pool made EDH inspiring. Now we have too many choices & clever work arounds are a thing of the past. No more pride in my EDH decks... no understanding on who to play 60 card decks with (unless i spend $1000+ to add to my $300,000 collection to buy into modern)
Honestly I'd be happy with just the two-set block structure. Battle for Zendikar, Shadows over Innistrad, Kaladesh, Amonkhet, Ixalan...I thought those had a relatively good balance of setting up the plane and premise the first set, and spend another full set on the high points of action and resolution.
There is still an overarching story, now it's over more sets, generally, but each story could be self contained, the amount of sets coming into standard has not changed. If all you cared about was standard, the only thing that has really changed is going from Foil and not foil cards to 5-8 different styles of art for mythics, 3-5 styles for rares, 2-3 for certain uncommons, and a select amount of commons get 1-2 as well in addition to also have foils and non foils of EACH style. Also, going from 1 type of booster pack, with once a year getting starter commander decks to go with the fall or spring set for example and now we get 2-3 types of booster packs with varying degrees of product or styles contained within those packs. I really do not know what your point is and what you are being critical of.
We want product. However, we also want time to actually enjoy the products we buy. I honestly don’t remember a lot about the last few sets simply because there was ZERO time to actually shuffle up and play before the next set was being spoiled
Yes, good point here too. My playgroup's ideal has been to get prerelease kits and play our sealed decks for a number of gatherings. Now that there are so many releases, usually we only have time to organize for 1 gathering per set now. Quite unfortunate, and will eventually lead to us either completely ignoring sets that dont do prerelease kits, or picking and choosing which sets we as a group are going to target. Spoiler alert, it won't be all of them.
This is like when Ubisoft releases a new game and has 3-5 different bundles so you need to carefully read what comes with each bundle to make sure you buy what you wanted to buy.
Amen. As a new player, I’m already overwhelmed. I’m super excited for all of the sets but I don’t know what half of the marketing means. I don’t know what I should get or was actually even worth buying and it’s a little discouraging because it makes me feel like I jumped into a big cash grab.
The prices drop significantly on 95% of the cards in a given set after the next 2-3 sequential sets are released. If I were you I’d look at the Kamigawa and New Capenna sets. Some really cool stuff there that is now SO affordable. Don’t literally buy into the hype of the latest sets.
I fell out from fatigue after Kaldheim came out, and after a long break, I came back for brother war as I love the story. I have already fallen back out because of the massive wave of products thrown out at me. I don't know how anyone can afford to keep up and even if you are using proxies it's just too much to deal with when working full-time and have more than one hobby.
Are you having any other hobbies besides M:tG? NO You are supposed to be the ATM-slave that feeds the narcissistic Hasbro! What do you think you are? .... A regular, free human???
This is why I am very much enjoying Flesh and Blood. They currently have a rotation of a Main Set and and a Supplemental every 4 months at about $85-$90. It allows players to really break apart the meta and try various playstyles as well as several decks and doesn't break the bank and there's no FOMO. We get a lot of MtG players locally who have jumped in and then feel better about just buying Magic singles and only the MtG sets that really appeal to them and allows them to just play Commander or jump into drafts. Feels good man.
As someone who used to collect various magic pieces, like the dice from the bundles, or the cover cards for the commander decks, I've literally been forced out of doing so because I cannot afford the like bi-monthly $200 deck purchases, and it emphasices the stress of having to chose what is the best option. I physically cannot just "Get a little bit of everything" because everything is too expensive. I *have* to pick and choose and that adds to the fatigue
If the goal was to give me anxiety Prof you certainly succeeded. It's hard to grow attached to any given set when the FOMO of two other sets are hanging over you.
Spoilers exist for this reason. Wait see if it's worth it and buy proxy if need be don't spend money to keep up with Kyle and his 7 grand cedh deck or grinding standard pro tour buy what you like
commander isnt affected by fatigue. you don't need cards for a causal format just buy the odd single u need. for those of us who play 60 cards formats its much mor painful
🎯💯 Thanks for being a voice, Prof. Got back into MtG this year after having been away since Weatherlight. The situation is brain breaking if you just want to play casual paper magic with a childhood friend again.
I literally JUST used "how do I know if a product is for me if I don't know what's in it?" as a response to "you know you don't have to buy everything right?" 10 minutes before watching this video. Spooky how in tune you are with us Prof!
@@joeferreti9442 I really, really want to hate Universes Beyond... but I know I'll be called a hypocrite next year when I am genuinely excited for the Final Fantasy crossover. But I 100% already get it with just the Warhammer product when it comes to how the cards don't feel like they belong in the game, and the frustration from the commander point of view about how impossible it will be to reprint most of the good cards later as they reference creature types that they might have a hard time creating later. Like how do you make Astartes tokens without getting the permission of Games Workshop.
I’m new to MTG and really got interested when I heard about the LOTR cross over. Been enjoying arena and wanted a fun way to get into the card game, so LOTR peaked my interest enough to take the leap to cards. So… coming from a new card player… I think the Universe Beyond sets are a great idea
YES! this is 100% the main problem M:tg is suffering from. Hasbro is killing it just like how Activision killed the plastic guitar genre: product bloat!
I've definitely disengaged from Magic due to product fatigue. So much of the way I engaged with the hobby was being up to date on new cards and strategies and updates for my commander decks. I now have to reorient my (decade long) relationship with Magic to exclude product releases or risk dropping the hobby all together.
As a fairly new player the only source for cards is scryfall and then cardmarket. I really can't be bothered to understand all these weird product lines, especially since they all seem overpriced for my purpose (commander) anyway.
I feel you here. I used to look at sets during preview season to try to decipher which cards I needed to update my various decks. At this point it's too cumbersome to keep up. Now I buy my prerelease kit, see what I get, then maybe put in a singles order a few weeks later after prices settle and I'm able to get a full read on the viability of the cards that might fit.
Remember when there were only starter packs and booster packs? Even then, at the "beginning" it seemed like a lot when there were maybe three sets a year. This is ultimately why my small player group just plays (our own version) of Legacy. We make forays into sets here and there, but we largely ignore the steady pace of releases. I've been playing for a long time (Ice Age) and I guess this makes me a casual player. I'm happy with that I guess. Thanks Prof - good analysis!
Wow this made me realize there is even more product than I initially thought. What you said about researching if a product is relevant for me really is what I feel like. It is so much work to look up if there are some cool new cads for my commander decks.
A friend convinced me to return to magic with a forgotten realms, and now, just several sets after, I honestly feel exhausted. The announcement of MOM, LOTR and Commander Masters just affirms my decision to stay away from sealed products and pick up the singles I want. The professor really hit the nail on the head with too many subsets within a set.
@@iidoyila I totally agree but with so many single variant of the card, opening packs to find the variant you want is going to be a losing battle. For example, I really wanted the Elesh Norn concept SAC version. Didn't even see her in a case of CE. Could have bought so many copies of that particular variant with what I had spent instead. So yea, open packs if you enjoy everything, if you want something specific just go directly for it.
@@iidoyila And it would be fine if there was a SINGLE type of booster pack. Maybe two at most. But having Draft boosters, set boosters, collector boosters and jumpstart boosters is simply too much. And then, you remember that this still doesn't include all the cards in the set because there's also commander decks and whatnot with exclusive stuff in them. I love buying boosters. And not only boosters, even entire booster boxes to play Draft and Sealed with my friends. But Hasbro got stupidly obsessed with the idea that most MTG players are fervent collectors that will do anything and everything to get their hands on all the 50 different versions of a card. Guess what? Most of us aren't. And when I'm building my commander decks, I'll only get ONE card, not ten of the same. I just want my booster packs to always be the same, to always contain the same amount of commons, uncommons and rares/mythics. I don't want to need a bloody flowchart to understand what the hell am I buying.
as a limited player and event host , draft boosters seem like a great idea to me . and they match the " old " experience of getting a booster -- still feels great . you're askin for stuff to be all the same and i get it , but how are jumpstarts and collector packs not absolutely sick on some level ? they can be a lovely touch as a gift or a prize or used in an alternate draft format . having your own rare thing feels awesome . and draft packs are plentiful , because set boosters are so neat
@@iidoyila It's not that it's "nice". And I like Jumpstart in itself, it's a very cool idea, and it should be kept AS ITS OWN THING, instead of getting an extra product in every set that ends up failing miserably. The issue here is that it's just too much. With cards you can get only in X type of booster and not in any other, with different rarity proportions depending on the type of booster and the set... The problem is that we've reached a point where you NEED a flowchart to keep track of everything, and that's simply retarded. It's convoluted and unnecessary. And when "everything is cool and special, nothing is". From all the people I personally know that play MTG, none of them are excited by the idea of having so many different product types. In fact, they're annoyed by that concept. Most of the time, we end up confused, simply getting draft boosters and ignoring everything else, because it's easier that way. We want to PLAY, and the game should be focused on players, not collectors. And it kinda seems that WotC and Hasbro are taking notes, but only time will tell.
Honestly, product fatigue really being mental fatigue is a good observation. I still play physical paper MTG, though rarely. I play one single draft at a local store for any set that catches my interest. Last year it was Neon Dynasty, New Capenna, Unfinity, and Brother's War. But after that one draft, I feel so exhausted with Magic that it takes a couple months for me to want to play it again. I truly love the game's design, and I am shocked by how well the creative team has handled making so many new cards and not running out of ideas, but it really feels like novel cards are going to be harder and harder to come up with. Recently Standard decks have started to look like a bit like Commander decks, and the average game length really reflects this with mid-range absolutely dominating the format. But they have to realize that releasing so much product, especially when its prohibitively expensive, just wards people away. I can't imagine any scenario where I can recommend someone to play MTG because it feels like I would be trapping them in a swirling nightmare of products that fade from the memory a couple months later. Theres also the fact that LGS' are suffering due to Wizards circumventing them through Amazon. What am I going to do if local shops die off? Why would I ever consider playing the game as intended anymore when Cockatrice or Tabletop Simulator provide a better digital experience for Magic than MTG Arena can and all for an infinitesimally small fraction of the cost. You then have the issue with legality. You have March of the Machines, you have Aftermath, you have Lord of the Rings, and you have Commander Masters. Which sets are legal in what formats? LOTR is legal in modern, but what about Pioneer? What about Commander Masters? Is that only for formats for Legacy, or can it also be used in Modern. Is Aftermath a Standard legal set? I can't imagine being a player who doesn't regularly engage with the online MTG community having any idea what the fuck is going on.
i used to buy a booster box of each set just for fun, and I used to be excited for every set release. over the last year it's rare for me to buy any packs, and I don't even buy singles anymore because i can't keep up with all of the products coming out. hearing about a new set now makes me anxious and frustrated instead of excited. i still play commander with friends, but i use the cards i already have or print up a proxy if i somehow become aware of a new card
I wanted to do this exact same thing but then the cost got the wheels in my brain turning so I decided I'd just get bundles! But then... wtf 88 dollars for the MH2 bundle?! Nevermind I guess I'll just get them when they're maybe 35$ or less
I just blindly buy a common and an uncommon set for each release for like $10 and a handful of singles I think are interesting/ promising these days. There is no point in cracking boxes when you don't even hit stuff you want and the boxes are on sale 2 months after release anyways. I believe only NEO kept its price and ONE probably will. The rest will be on super sales for years to come.
I was a booster box a set buyer as well. Wanted to crack packs for the gambling aspect. The house always wins btw... I stopped doing this a year or two ago because it just became too much. Too many sets, too many variants, and too expensive with the price increases.
I'm working on a cube (based on the Card Kingdom Starter Cube) so I can have an ever-changing gameplay experience without having to continue investing. I have an unreasonable amount of cards as it is right now, so I can make changes with what I've got already--and if I see some singles that I really like on various gameplay videos like the PPR or Shuffle Up and Play, I might pick them up... but I won't have to, y'know?
I can pinpoint the exact moment the magic of Magic started to die from overload -- it was Eldraine, I was in my LGS, I cracked some rare card that I was excited for and I was told I shouldn't get that excited because I didn't get the special bordered version or whatever. When they started cramming the multiple card styles into every set more and more, I knew this game would never be the same.
The Shards of Alara block into Zendikar block were the most amazing times of mtg for me. It felt like you could really digest the meta, and the coverage of all of the pro tournaments was awesome. Who remembers watching deck techs between matches! So fun.
This was when I started to really get into Magic. It was my first time going to a pre release, my first time buying a booster box, and I watched a ton of mtg youtube content, especially Evan Erwin. Man I remember when Zendikar was announced and my friends and I drove all over creation hunting down fat packs for the full art lands. I've never had more fun!
@@chocomunky128 that’s awesome! It was a great time. You can still watch the old episodes of the Magic Show with Evan Irwin on RUclips! I’ve gone back and watched a lot of them from the late 2000s and early 2010s. You should go watch them they are very nostalgic!
This video sums up my thought perfectly. I had a break from MTG for around 11 years, and it took me hours of research, reading and watching to figure out what was the current products, what does each one contains, and what ware the right prices among the endlessly fluctuating price tags I saw online and in shops. I totally agree with this video conclusion : make it clear what each product contains, stop having so many useless unique variations among products, and publish recommended prices.
@@robertk1834 Well, I've not been playing Pokemon as an example, and there is no such problem. You're comment is quite arrogant, and I think very wrong.
13:39 "I didn't want to look this up... maybe I'll cut this." THANK YOU for not cutting it - that's exactly the mental gymnastics every player is subjected to these days.
One factor I think is worth at least mentioning is the role of The Pandemic in Product Fatigue. Many Magic: The Gathering players were more-or-less required to take a break from Magic over the Pandemic and then the moment they get back, the formats they used to play have changed dramatically (EG: Because of MH2) and with the rapid release of new product they're stuck in a cycle of constantly playing catch-up rather than having a chance to adjust to the new release cycle effectively.
I used to try to complete sets as well as deckbuilding and playing. I think when the number of variants made set collection much more costly or too time consuming to feel worthwhile, that was when the feeling of fatigue began to set in for me. Your take on the idea really resonated with me.
I'm a gotta catch 'em all collector, and WOTC wore out even my patience. Might even be fewer sales than they'd get with more attainable complete sets The sheer amount of Secret Lairs ... As for special versions within sets, I'll probably keep them if I open 'em or if i get a good deal trading for them, but no way am I going after them all Double Feature was the first set I deliberately skipped, just reprints of Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow rather than best of reprints, and priced too high even accounting for double the rares and more foils For Dominaria Remastered I only opened a few packs as part of draft
@@KingAlanI Agree 100%. No Double Feature because they mailed it in, no Secret Lairs because I didn't want to wait untold months for curled cards to arrive. I dread the day when all this saturation pushes the power creep to a level where you just can't justify playing creatures from pre-2019 anymore if you want an optimized deck. I'd give it 2-3 years.
This was what did me in. I started with the Onslaught Block and purchased pretty much everything that came out. I had a binder for each block and would actively pick up singles after opening boxes to complete sets. I picked up legacy staples, reserved cards and had multiple Modern decks. I enjoyed picking up each of the FTV sets that came out, could keep up with the duel decks and annual commander decks that came out for friends to play and never felt burnt out. The Amonkhet/Ixalan blocks were the start of the end for me. Commander sets became more than an annual release. Multiple Alt arts started being announced. Collector Packs became a thing. And finally Secret Lair was announced. There was just too much and I packed it all up and haven't touched it in 5 years. I dabble in wanting to sell it all, but my wife keeps reminding me that for 15 years I claimed that it was the greatest game ever made and if I was left with one game, it would have been MTG. I just can't bring myself to support WotC anymore.
@@hdraagnaj4552 I absolutely agree that it's one of the best games out there. I'm sure that I won't ever stop playing this game, but I'm also sure I can't keep up with new releases at the current pace. This leaves me in a spot where I'll maintain my existing decks, and prepare myself to have to read every single card in the opponents' decks in the years to come haha.
I know that this isn't the point of the video but I just really love the emphasis that you always put on supporting your local lgs and small businesses! These are the lifeblood of the mtg community and in a digital commerce age it is harder and harder to stay afloat as an lgs. You're fighting the good fight, professor!
THANK YOU I played Magic for 15 years from 1993 to 2008. I spent thousands of dollars on cards and played thousands of games. I restarted playing Magic a few months ago and it's SO confusing. There's just SO MANY product variations and so many products. Trying to figure out what even the hell is supposed to be in a booster pack is basically impossible. Trying to figure out if I'm missing anything by not buying collector boosters is basically impossible. Trying to figure out if some store on Amazon is ripping me off on the cost of sealed magic products is basically impossible. Hell, just figuring out what cards I can play in what formats is excruciatingly difficult. It used to be that new sets were part of Standard for 2 years (more or less). Period. Now there are a million sets and whether or not they're legal in any specific format is something you have to go look up, card by card. Oh and you might get cards from *other sets* in your booster packs of this set. WoTC desperately needs to cut down on product variations and label everything WAY more clearly. I'm fine with basic boosters and fancy boosters, but don't have THREE variations. And make it WAY more clear what you actually get. None of this "a chance of that and a chance of tis". Just make it *the same* in every pack. Guaranteed two rares, one foil rare, one foil uncommon, etc. There's still variation in the fact that some rares are garbage and others aren't.... but don't make it so I get a *different number of rares* in the same pack. Don't also have "Jumpstart" versions of each set. That's what the core set is for. Make jumpstarts from the core sets and/or the last block, but don't label them confusingly the same as the set. And for God's sake LABEL THE SETS CLEARLY. Oh, Lord of the Rings isn't Legal in Standard? How the hell is some 13 year old in an LGS going to know that? Hell, how am *I* supposed to know that? It's a set, it's new, so that means it's legal in Standrd, right? I really have to wonder how often kids (or even adults) come to Friday Night Magic and get disqualified because they're using cards they *just bought* from sets that are new this year, but aren't actually legal in standard? Label the packs and boxes with what formats the cards are legal in. It's not that hard. Really, just like Commander, Standard, and Modern/Pioneer is probably sufficient. And please give your products an MSRP so consumers know if they're getting ripped off. Is 185 for a Set Booster box of All Will Be One a good price, or am I getting ripped off? There's literally no way to know. At best, I have to call around to every nearby LGS, check Amazon and TCGPlayer, and then hope that the price isn't just artificially inflated at the beginning of release, and that it wont' drop by $40 in a month.
I 100% agree - I've felt increasingly alienated and overwhelmed. Have barely played recently bc it feels like a full time job trying to keep up with all the different cards coming our all the time
Thanks to the mad deluge of all the different things these past couple years, I literally tuned out while you were doing the March of the Machines intro.... I just can't anymore...
Exactly. Plus, with the new price point of the commander master being reported over 350 for a single box, it leaves me just wanting to purchase singles.
@@DylanHilliard1 and not even that works sometimes. I have several cards from the Commander 2021 set I'd love to get but they don't sell them sealed anymore and since not a lot of people bought it in my country I can't even find singles from it anymore. My choice is either shipping them from overseas from private consumers for incredibly high prizes, or proxying them, the two things Hasbro wants above else that I don't do
Definitely agree with your take on the matter. I especially like how you point out the several flaws the concept of "just ignore sets that just aren't for you" has..
Prof, you rock for taking the time to learn and understand all the sub products for this video, I can’t imagine it was easy. I can never explain my frustration since I can’t keep track of what I’m frustrated about. Amazing job of articulating a decently complex problem!
This is so completely spot on. I appreciate how he outlined this year’s planned releases. It made the unscripted bit so much better when he bumbled through trying to explain which type of boosters you might find commander masters cards.. (13:05) Like, yeah, that’s exactly how it friggin feels. I need to do research just to know what’s in a booster (or keep asking that one guy at my LGS lol)
This explains sooo much. I have been gone from Magic ever since Ikoria and while it took me time to adjust to the new booster types and set releases (playing for again for about a month) not much has actually changed for me. But I am an data analyst used to chaos and unordered mess of information. Making sense of it is my job and I love it. Never understood until now that a normal individual might be confused after just going into a store to buy a pack.
What the Prof is saying is exactly what got me to quit competitive Magic. I work a very stressful job, and I used to be able to keep in touch with the meta by going to draft in two evenings and playing Standard and Modern. It used to be: You pay attention to Standard-legal sets, you learn the cards by drafting these sets for months, and you could slowly improve. Nowadays, the Meta in all formats is so shifty and the sets last so much shorter that trying to keep in touch with formats on competitive levels would only be possible for me if I spent all of my free time with releases, and I just can't do that in the long run.
I am in the same boat. Used to love competitive Magic, now it's such a chore and takes too much time to make sure I am up to date. I like Commander, but my group isn't into it like a lot of people are and thus our group finds ourselves essentially not playing much anymore. A shame, b/c we all love the game, but life is busy and when a game becomes a chore, you are less likely to want to relax and play.
As someone who has just spent the last month getting back into Magic, this video couldn't have come at a better time. Topical, Relevant, I feel seen. :)
This is one of your best videos yet - no easy feat! You have succeeded in explaining my frustration with the direction of MtG with tremendous precision and detail!
I used to play MTG as a teen starting just as Scars of Mirrodin had been released. I played constantly, but I stopped playing as I entered college; I was simply lacking free time. Now graduated, I’ve recently decided to return to the game and simply buy packs and collect sets for fun; I just try to get a single of every card in a binder. It’s been very overwhelming! I was so shocked by the number of card variations now compared to when I stopped playing, which was around whenever Kahns of Tarkir released. I want to collect! I love the game! But the sheer number of cards now makes simply collecting a daunting task - for the wallet as well!
In the most recent Set Survey (for All Will Be One), there was a question that asked about what a booster pack that merged Draft & Set booster contents should be called. I'm hoping that this is an indicator that Wizards is planning on reducing the amount of boosters with set releases. (Also, the options, if I remember correctly, were either "Play Boosters" or "Game Boosters")
@@ArcanePhysics Wishful thinking, I wouldn't be surprised if the 'change magic forever' part of aftermath is that they're going to 5 card boosters and keeping the same price.
This sounds like a new additional product rather than a merger of the two. For example, a box of set boosters for you to just crack and 3 draft packs to play a game of draft.
While I appreciate the different cool versions of the cards, I miss the days when the cycle was something like "4 Standard sets a year with Draft Boosters, 'bundles,' and maybe some associated decks, one Masters set, one cycle of Commander decks, and *maybe* an additional supplemental product." I definitely appreciate Set Boosters, but I think that all the treatments, like you said, should be available in *all* Booster products.
I'd agree with everything except set boosters. I think set boosters are a terrible product and should have never happened in the first place. It's a draft box that's overpriced that you can't even draft with...
@Protein Cannon I'd agree with that somewhat. If they included the ability to get the different types of frames/arts in regular Boosters, that'd be better. They aren't marketed towards drafters though. They're specifically designed for people interested in collecting rares or different arts/frames. I'm interested to see what the upcoming changes to Draft aboosters in MoM will do to the draft environment
I would postulate, that when you can get anything in any type of Boosterbox, there is no need of variations in Boosterboxes anyway. I dont mind having loaded Draft booster boxes, when they are the only ones.
As someone who is coming back into Magic’s after a 4-5 year hiatus it is so confusing just trying to figure out what I should buy from previous and upcoming sets. Draft vs set booster, universe beyond, the different levels and prices of commander decks, etc. it is too much and I never know if I’m getting ripped of on product value without the Professors video and him doing the back breaking work of assessing these products. Thank you professor, you have made picking this game up again so much easier despite the challenges of the deluge of products.
I started playing back in original Innistrad and slowly stopped after Kaladesh. I’ve wanted to get back in for a while now but the game seems so much more complicated, even all the new art is a bit overwhelming. I love the game and have watched the channel since it felt so niche to watch reviews or plastic designed to protect cardboard so this video really hit home and is really appreciated!
When Eldraine came out as a complicated, unclear mess, I excused it as bumps on the road of a big change. It's been clear for a while now that complicated, unclear, and messy is just the accepted state of affairs.
Whenever you make a video about topics like this I get nostalgic due to that box of homelands in your bookshelf. Back when "three releases a year" would just mean three different sets of cards, and no matter how many "subsets" or subproducts released it would always mean it's the same cardpool choosen from. I'm geniunly baffled that wotc is so detached from their own product they're unable to imagine that needing everchanging flowcharts to determine "what is where in our products" isn't customer friendly. And that making the same card in a dozen different styles is just stupid due to how inflated your sets end up - imagine homelands with like 8 different versions of didgeridoo. Nobody would've bought that back when the internet wasn't this prevalent.
Don't think for a second that WoTC is confused about their practices being customer friendly. The issue is that they don't care about being customer friendly, they care about making money, and so far this absurd release schedule is being extremely successful for them. So long as releasing mountains of different products with basically no breaks continues to sell, they'll keep doing it.
@@SuperDrocket until we find 100k (or more) of mtg luxury products in a landfill, and understand that maybe those sales are a bit inflated and not "real" (and by that I mean that nobody owns those cards).
Hey man, totally new player here( I'm 38 and played bakc in 93 when it started but sadly don't have any cards from back then. But I want to start playing again because I found some colleagues that play. Well, I've been watching your videos about all the different Sets/Boxes and whatnot and how to play, what play, why to play... and what my name is?!?!? It's insane! Your videos are great! And I am very thankful that they exist and that you keep it honest and always from the persepctive of the customer who just wants to have fun. I am old enough that I could buy a shitload of packs of anything, but I don't want to! And I shouldn't have to. If WOTC decluttered their productline I would be very, very happy! It is terribly hard to get into MTG - I finally just decided on a Phyrexia Bundle and a Phyrexia PreRelease box - I think I will get a decent deck out fo those boxes which allows me to play with my friends. And it cost me 55 Euros. But I was very tempted to dive full into LotR, because I'm a big fan of the books. But it is overwhelming and to be honest I don't understand why almost every product is super expensive. Will LotR get cheaper again in a few months? Or is it so darn special that the prices will only rise? Anyways, thank you a lot for your videos!
Totally agree with this! I am a relatively new player and one of my biggest battier to entry for years was confusion on the different formats, sets, and products. That's part of why I like commander is so good - use whatever you want (save a ban list of course). I think they should just stop selling set or collector boosters tbh draft ones are usually better anyway
As always speaking the truth! Another source of fatigue for me is how many variants cards can have now. The new Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines has like 8 variations or something like that. Can't even imagine running a game store and how much time that adds on inventory.
You just don’t bother with it. You just inventory and sell all the Elsh Norns as though they were the same card and feel really bad when customers come in looking for specific prints and tell them it’s too hard to keep up.
I remember when Battle for Zendikar came out. The set feature the super-rare Zendikar Expeditions, which to my recollection was the beginning of cards getting special treatment printings. It was really exciting, because everyone knew that each booster pack had a shot at getting one. Nowadays it is kind of a bummer to have to pay $20 for collector boosters or whatever to even have a chance at the cool and rare printings. Or do they come in set boosters? I honestly have no idea.
You hit the nail on the head when you say "product fatigue" to the consumer is not necessarily the amount of sets/cards, but the complexity of the whole product line. Ultimately it's the amount of time it takes for a person to find out the information that's relevant to them and currently that's too much time for a lot of people.
I’m new to this completely and this is describing everything I’m going through. It’s enough in itself to learn the varying differences in cards/types, game structure of it all…what is giving me more of a sensory overload is all of the many different sets and different lores that is releasing now and all of the past. Am I allowed to just hang on to my cards and use them even though they’re not part of the current set and lore? Idk. So far I copped 5 Planeswalker core ser decks 2021, phyrexia commanders and a phyrexia booster. It all seems fun just seems like a lot.
I'd like to set booters and collector boosters consolidated into a single premium tier. Other than that I'm fine with the bundles, precons, starter decks, etc but the timing in which information releases matters. The last two years it's felt like a new set drops then within a short time frame spoilers for the next set(s) is released. ONE has barely been out and Wizards had already shifted consumer focus to products that are months away. **EDIT: fixed a typo**
I'm longing for the days when I was hyped for every new set. Nowadays magic is just a blurry mess for me. I want to find new cards for my Commander decks, but keeping up with the release schedule feels like a second full time job... And who has time for that?
Thank you so much as a new player getting into Magic you hit the nail on the head. I buy booster boxes expecting to find certain cards only to find out oh that variation or treatment doesn’t come in this one. To the point where I’ve tried googling a list of what cards come in each product and that has been a nightmare as well. I was literally going to RUclips what is the difference between all the different booster after watching your video.
Instead of buying new MTG product I’m going back and organizing the giant mess I’ve made with the cards I already have. It’s saving me money and has turned out to be very fun because I’ve forgotten most of what I have already. Many great cards made before MTG sold its soul for the 15th time , again…
Thank you, this expresses well what I feel but haven't been able to put into words well (also an anecdote: my mum asked about what magic product I might like as a Christmas gift. I should not have needed to write an essay explaining the different options and price points available for packs from the most recent release)
I agree, it's not just too many sets, but also too many variations of products within each set. (By the way, we already have 7 sets announced for this year: 4 Standard sets, MOM Aftermath, LOTR, and Commander Masteres.)
As a lapsed player who is getting back into the game after 10 years, I want to know what the real main sets are, and how to get the cards I want. I agree that the flow chart was overwhelming to look at for Phyrexia: All Will Be One.
Well said! I used to love each set and the streamline contents, but now when a set comes out with 5 different booster pack types and 23 different super mega foil types etc etc, just to find out 3.5 days later theres all that and more in the next 6 sets due to release 2 weeks from now; ITS TOO MUCH I used to adore playing MTG and seeing what each set could offer me and my decks, but now its too complicated and too fast to even spend more than 2 seconds with anything. We stopped buying most magic products now, and are so fatigued by it. Also rather than having a set MSRP and buying the product in X location, we have to think are we being ripped off and go away and do research in 4+ other stores to guess a price range and just give up.
This was a great video. From a random guy on the internet… well done. I did love the part you left in. The ramble to try and define and explain is a great example of what’s wrong
Thank you for this. I followed the game really extensively from 2017 until 2020 or so when they got crazy with all the different variations in sets. It was literally becoming a full time job. Now I just do a pre-release or one booster draft and that's it. I went from spending probably 150 bucks a set to maybe 30-40. They've gotta be bleeding money from people burning out.
They absolutely are. I've stopped completely. It only took one year in 2015 for me to go from getting introduced to Magic, to becoming super into it, to then burning out. Just one year. My money goes to the Pokemon TCG now and I'm having a great time. Not only did the lose my money.... they lost my money to a competitor lmao.
I am a returning player who left after Urza destiny and I am so confused. I even went to my LGS and had to get the poor sales person to talk me through the options, which didn’t really clarify anything. It use to be so clear and the sets gave you enough time to understand new mechanics and to amass enough cards from the new set (I always just purchased singles or individual packs).
This is right on. I use to buy a lot of product. Now I don’t buy anything. I don’t even know half the time where I can even find the cards beside buying singles. So I just said forget it and moved on.
That fact that you (and people like you) exist is one of the things that keeps me from disengaging completely with the hobby. I consider myself a casual player and truth be told I've tuned out all the new releases. I stick to your advice of "buy singles" these days for my current commander decks and I'm increasingly uncertain about ever getting a new deck cause it feels like I wake up and everyday there is new commander product. I think I'm relatively at peace with just letting a lot of stuff fly past me though I do hope that Hasbro takes your advice and focuses on FEWER better product releases that people can spend time becoming acquainted with before something new comes along. Cheers, Prof!
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You never fail to explain, Prof!!
You we giving me anxiety listening to that intro, but you clearly hit it on the head of that tooth and nail.
I'm not even 5 minutes in and holy f... this is exhausting.
Thank you, Prof. We need to go back to the days of one type of booster box. Whales can buy more boxes to find what they need. Time Spiral Remastered was a huge success to me and many others because of the fairness of cracking packs. Everyone has the same chance at the big chase cards. This is why buying draft and even set boosters (they carry less rares now than when set boosters were first introduced) now feels like a scam. The List isn't a bad idea, but shouldn't be used to sell a product that no one asked for (set boosters).
Also, as a professional who works in marketing, their approach to branding is atrocious and as you pointed out, one of their primary problems. Constantly changing the definition of a product, or setting expectations through nomenclature and then being inconsistent on what that name means is a major issue.
At this point, I can't tell if it's top to bottom negligence or intentional manipulation for sales. Either way, the continued price hike with each set release is the top factor for me. Hard pass on buying sealed at these ridiculous prices.
With this Lord of the Rings set on the horizon it has me thinking: Have you ever done a video comparing and contrasting the way WOTC used to create and maintain MTG lore versus the present day? I still have some of the old books when they brought in established authors to write and work on the story with WOTC. Now it feels like that work is reduced to a signature on a line to make crossover cards. Not sure if this is a good video idea (mostly because it might be hard to stay positive), but it seems interesting.
The lack of MSRP is the single most frustrating thing. There is no reason that benefits the consumer for there to be no MSRP.
As a store owner, I hate the lack of MSRP. It means that by enlarged because of the globalized options for purchasing product, a player will purchase product at the best cost for themselves. While I can't disagree with that from a consumer perspective, from a shop owner perspective, it forces me to justify charging a fair market value for a product that will keep the lights on in the store, vs. selling at a few dollars over wholesale to turn and burn as much product as possible. It allows online retailers to bury FLGSs and big box retailers can charge whatever they want because they know that customers will impulse buy MtG packs when they see them there.
That creates the secondary problem of FLGSs not being able to get stock from distributors because it's swallowed up by people selling pallets of booster boxes at almost nothing for profit per box (low dollars, high volume) or big box stores stocking heavy to make sure they don't repeat stocking issues they had in 2020 or 2021.
It's a two-punch attack and FLGSs are caught in the middle.
@@gamestategames Very much agree. I worked at my FLGS over the last summer and last semester, it sucks. Especially when they kept rising prices, the only reason I could give to customers about our rising prices was that the distributors were raising our prices. My first Friday night working was the Baldur's gate pre-release. Not a good night to start working doing something you've never done before.
@@gamestategames sell singles online and you'll be fine
@@Thanks-ForLosing we do! It's still just so frustratingly, needlessly complicated when it comes to pricing sealed product.
I mean they did it strictly so they could sell through amazon at prices well below MSRP without taking as much heat.
When the Professor ran through the entire teased and announced products, I just shook my head. There’s just so much, so many things, that nothing feels special at all.
"When nothing is special ... everything is"
I guess Hasbro had this reasonning.
Fortunately, it doen't work.
@Awelbeckk like the special artworks, treatments, versions ... of A single card
So I guess now we need a PHD in analysis and a dedicated A.I. to decipher what is available & relevant in MTG ? 😞
Exactly. I’ve been feeling this way for a while now, often exclaiming, “the next set is being teased ALREADY?!”
At first I thought it was just because I’m getting older so time feels like it’s going by faster, but that’s not the main reason. They actually have ramped up the number of unique product releases by like 10x per year since I started playing!
Don’t gaslight me WoTC!
agreed, I remember my younger days when I could feel something very special opening a few booster packs, or when trying to figure out what cards from the new upcoming set would be interesting for my decks. Nowadays, I crack BOXES every month and half and do no feel the "magic" anymore
"it's not fair to say 'just pay attention to the magic products that are relevant to you' when i'm required to pay attention to and research into every product just to attempt to determine if indeed it is relevant to me" SO MUCH THIS. A feeling that has pushed me away for years from coming back to MTG, but that I had never been able to express before.
not to mention, many/most of the other cards being printed will be encountered in games where you play against them.
Plus either you look at a couple sites that aggregate informations on spoilers and releases or you have to navigate the hellish maze that is WotC web of social media accounts and their plain disfunctional website.
Doesn't help that for commander players, ALL sets apply.
@@NecroAsphyxia Unless you are playing competitive commander you don't need to know every card that is printed the second it is for sale, you will be fine if your deck isn't tuned to 100% efficiency.
For me it is easy, highlight products for me are Bloomburrow and Final Fantasy.
I’d also like to mention it’s incredibly difficult for returning players to get a grasp of everything. Right now, as my friends and I are getting back into Magic (after most of us being away for nearly 10 years) neither of us can understand what Masters is, what exactly all the crossover IP sets are for, what the heck Secret Lair is, and what all these variations mean… like… what the hell are those collectors booster sets? It’s already a collectible TCG, why do I need to double down on my collection? This just makes me honestly miss Core Set, because we would have all (as working adults 30+) bought booster boxes of Core Set to get back into it if that were available right now.
its SO convoluted.
Last year, me and my playgroup searched like crazy for the newest core set - sorry, the newest reprint "edition", as my big bro was sure there had to be a 30th edition set with white borders out there - when we got the itch to play mtg last year lol.
I still don't get why did they get away with the core sets.
My dad was a player back in the anthology days and coming into commander he was struggling. It’s so bloody hard to keep up
As someone who was into magic back in like 08-12, and then was able to come back into it in 22, it was a lot to fucking learn and understand. My first event was for the Kamigawa release in July, and the next set came out what felt like so suddenly afterwards that I didn't even get the chance to explore some of the mechanics of the set, like vehicles. It wasn't until months after playing again, and building a few decks of my own, that I was looking at some of my cards from Kamigawa that I was realizing how cool of a concept just the vehicle mechanic was. And it sucks, because I want to build a black/white vehicle deck with Greasefang as my commander, but with how much shit comes out I feel like the most financially sound thing I can do to keep up and build new decks is to find precons I like that follow themes I either like or want to do and then slipping in some changes from what I own or buy a few cards to make the deck run how I'd like. Shit is crazy. And while I'm excited to hear about the increase in the number of commander decks, I cannot help but think of how much money it's going to be buying what I like while it's available. Hell, I didn't even know that certain cards are only obtainable in certain packs within the set, whereas I just figured you had a higher chance for better cards, plus more cards in general in some cases, with certain packs. Like holy hell is this a mess.
I am having the exact same problem, it is even harder for new players to get into it without some base knowledge. There is also too many formats they are trying to push
Mental fatigue is a great way to put it. I stepped back from MTG this year because keeping up with what I wanted from each product and what secret lairs to order was starting to feel like a chore. It seemed like every week, I had to look at something just to keep up.
" there's something for everyone now ! it sucks ! "
I just bought Phyrexia, due to my subjective affinity to Metallic Worlds. bought booster box, constructed some decks, playing with colleague who also constructed decks from current set. And we are good. dont need some fucking Frodo ruins my Phyrexian horrors.
@Radek Martinek yeah why all the 3rd party characters adds lately. Like one is transformers and WH40k. Like why...keep it in the planes/lore/worlds of MTG. I am NOT excited for LOTR cards and I love LORT.
@@MR1337SKI i think this a boring take . magic has a great shareable style . these cards aren't legal in standard or your favourite casual format so u don't need to freak out . DND mtg cards were epic , so they could make another win this way . LOTR might fit in nicely with mtg styling .
@@iidoyila not freaking out. I actually like all the "families" (not sure what word is better) that these cards came from. I build 40k figures, love LOTR and so on. It just seems...wierd to me. Like building an Intel and Nvidia rig and slapping AMD stickers on it. It's bridging lore gaps and it doesn't make sense to me. The stories and backgrounds are completely stand alone and trying to pull them together feels like a move to suck in other fan bases and not genuine in its addition. Idk maby I'm just a grump bugger lol
You've said it before elsewhere, but I'll echo you sentiments: I miss set blocks. You were in a place for a year of real-time, with an evolving story centred around that location and complimentary mechanics that built upon one another.
I would've loved to see the new Kamigawa over the course of more than just one set. I would've loved to be introduced to places like Eldraine, Strixhaven, Kaldheim, and New Capenna in a more thorough, fleshed out manner. Instead these new places come and go each in a flash. There's no time to focus on anything when the next new and usually completely different location.
Yup, miss the old blocks and lore and taking the time to tweak the mechanics or embathe in the story. After all it’s D&D in card format with a bit of chess or deck-building strategy rolled in. 2nd Kamigawa “there and gone” really missed the mark.
Yep this for sure. It is what I always come back too. The last block was the last time I was able to care about the story or the planes now it all feels a bit too rushed
I know that’s a recurring sentiment, but I still disagree. An entire year for Theros felt like it dragged. The third sets like Journey and Dragon’s Maze were not very appealing. Even in the 2 set era, Rivals of Ixalan and Aether Revolt felt more like stalling for time, IMO. I will admit that I love those block storylines, so they weren’t complete duds. But I would hate to go back to spending an entire year on 1 plane.
It’s also worth noting that this year was telling a singular story. Sure, we hopped around a lot, but the narrative has been building since Dominaria and the focus on the sylex. And no, the mechanics for each set weren’t united, so there is still that difference.
you nailed it. I want so much more time with kamigawa and new capenna.
Agreed. Maybe 3 sets + 1 core set was a hair too few for an entire year (I do remember people complaining they were bored of the existing sets near the end of that year), but that was certainly closer to optimal than the current releases are.
The Prof has his finger on the pulse of the average player so much better than wotc.
It's almost like he is a real person..
Ah, so thoughtful, Prof. If only WotC had access to your thoughts. If only there was some place that they could go to hear what you think, and see public reaction to it. Something like a video log, or public video platform...
Prof for President of WoTC.
The only pulse wotc/hasbro feels is the one from goldveins!
Hasbro knows, the key difference is incentives, and Hasbro's one is doing as much money as possible as fast as possible, which typically means as close to burning out without doing so as possible.
Taking feedback to heart to address product fatigue does indeed sound like a lovely thing
It is, and I very much don't want to immediately react with scorn to it. If they are listening, great! Then let us build upon that.
Actions speak louder than words, and right now those words just sound like another empty acknowledgement that “They hear us.” They hear us alright, but they’re not actually listening.
@@Cynsham While true, we also have to give them time to react. There is probably not much they can do about 2023s release schedule anymore, but if 2024 is as packed with no actions taken the they should most certainly be called out on it.
WotC has never and probably never will take feedback to heart. What they probably have done is realize that player wallets are of limited size, which they have by now determined. Now all they can do is optimize their costs. Less product means less staff and generally smaller development costs.
Too cynical? Maybe. But I just can't see Hasbro changing their attitude all of a sudden. Now that the stock market is onto them for their overproduction, they will epxlore other avenues of growing WotC's value to the corporation.
@@Volkbrecht i mean from what you say here, it does indeed sound like hasbro will make fewer mtg products of higher quality, and make money that way, which is exactly what i want them to do.
Good gods, hearing the Prof describe all the different product variations made my head hurt. I totally agree with his thesis. I wonder if the complexity of the product might also be a factor. Cards nowadays have paragraphs of text on them and each set is like a ton of new cards to learn so, hopefully, you don't spend half the game reading the cards and trying to determine their interactions. Sometimes I feel happier just playing an old deck that I know completely.
100% aggreed. If we wanted to read whole Tolkien books during a game, we could just play YGO. That's one of tbe reasons I dumped YGO entirely and I really hope MTG will stop moving in that direction...
I can only speak for myself, but I don't feel that wordy cards is a big issue. The language is usually clear and fully possible to parse without breaking your brain. Sure, it takes a bit longer to go through an entire set's worth of previews in order to find cards that you like and want to get, but if you didn't have the baseline mental fatigue as a factor, that wouldn't be an issue either, cause you'd gladly spend that time engaging with something you like/love. If you like a franchise, would you let yourself be intimidated into not partaking in it just because the book is 800 pages long, or the movie is 4 hours long? Fuck no, because you love that shit! But with fatigue added to the mix, people just lose interest in it, cause they don't have the energy to properly engage with the products, and this is true for smaller releases as well.
I collect cards for the artwork, I cannot imagine how aneurism-inducing it would be to try to keep up with all of these sets as an *actual player* .
This was a quite well articulated explanation for why I'm burnt out.
It's pretty ironic that they stated they're aware of fatigue then release 3 different sets with like 25 different sub sets per set. How incredibly tone-deaf. While also raising the price of most sets to outrageous prices.
So take a nap. Do something else. Nobody cares about what you don't like.
@@proteincannon I wonder if this has something to do with the long design and development cycles.
First time I've looked at a new set (March of Machines) and went "wow I'm not even interested in buying singles, cause I just did that for ONE 2 weeks ago...
@@seasnek7024 Its not even out yet, barely any cards have even been spoiled, no one should be trying to look at what MoM cards they will be buying yet.
For my playgroup the worst offender is when the previews have started for the next set although we haven't drafted the current set yet.
You know you don't have to look at previews right?
almost everyone at my lgs is incredibly unclear about which cards are even legal in what formats anymore. its very hard to explain why half the cards in their brothers war set boosters are legal in standard but the old border artifacts and list cards are
In March of the Machine prerelease kits there is an extra promo. This promo is not allowed to be in the sealed deck you construct, the other promo card is..
@@eilertdarklord702 uuugggghhhh
Thissssss
I couldn't even tell you what *sets* are currently standard legal without looking it up nowadays.
You know when there's fatigue when the Professor is explaining something and it gives you anxiety.
This video perfectly puts to words why I tried to get back into magic last year, spent close to a thousand dollars on sealed product, then stopped at the new year. I was feeling really burnt out on following releases and trying to understand what to even buy to have fun (either opening packs or playing). I couldn’t explain why I stopped, but this really hit the nail on the head.
Sorry to hear that. Sadly WOTC wouldn’t care even if they read your comment (which they won’t) because they actually succeeded in getting your money at some point.
Same. I got back with Innistrad and I'm already burned out.
The constant barrage of information and the power spike in each set just don't make it worth it
Exactly. I've been playing since the beginning and I quit at some point when I felt I couldn't keep up. Got back in a few years later and then got back out again for the same reason
Your breakdown of the available products for upcoming sets in the prologue of this video was actually pretty helpful, you should consider doing that more often.
I also found this helpful!
One aspect of all of this that I haven't seen mentioned is the stress these numerous products and card styles puts on retailers - specifically those who sell singles. Listing, buying, cataloging, and tracking what card can be found in what and when is an absolute nightmare and makes things difficult when there are 5 or 6 versions of one card. A video exploring those challenges may be interesting.
Whoa true imagine how difficult that must be for stores. Wizards really have no love for the LGS.
my LGS programmed their own singles inventory/sales/trading software years ago. These days, they are missing a TON of singles because they can't keep up with programming and cataloguing all the card variations and set releases.
and different versions could make it harder to keep track of in gameplay
then compress your card search system + algorithm . not everything needs to be perfect does it ? even so , i think you can do it pretty well while keeping lossless .
i'll work on a lossless compression system if it worries u
From 1997 to 2012, I bought pretty much everything that came out for MTG. A case or two of each set, and at least one of every special release, plus packs bought for tournaments and drafts. From 2013 to 2016, I slowed down a lot as stuff was already getting to be crazy, and I have barely bought anything since 2016. Most recently, I have not bought a single MTG product for over a year and a half now. I went from being a $2000 - $3000 a year (easily) with secondary market player to a $0 a year player. Thank you WOTC, you have saved me a ton of money.
same, I stopped about a year ago. Thats probably why prices will go up further to counter balance people leaving mtg
I started just before the new Kamigawa last year and stopped buying stuff sometime in New Capenna… two sets. I'm still playing, but it's mostly pauper cube. Wizards isn't making any money off me directly, and the commons I buy off the secondary market aren't encouraging others to crack packs for stuff to sell, so they're not making any money off me indirectly either. They did a really good job on their product & monetization strategy there! XD
Same, I stopped 2 years ago
Same deal for me. Now I play Keyforge and SolForge Fusion.
Yup, same.
Thank you prof for using your platform for good and providing constructive criticism that hopefully Hasbro and WOTC will have access to if desired. It is well thought out and well spoken. We appreciate you.
And even more, THANK YOU for reminding everyone to support their LGS! I don’t doubt that has cost you some precious dollars over time to not totally sell out. Just shows how much you really care about this game and community. We are lucky to have you as the voice of the people!
I played MTG when it was new, and haven't touched it for a very long time. Just lately, it's become a thing again for my friends and I - and I have to say it's absolutely mind-boggling to me how much stuff HAS come out, sure.. but KEEPS coming out, constantly. It's been a struggle to re-learn how to enjoy MTG and I haven't even tried Commander yet but for real, a new giant set every month or two? And figuring out which 'kinds' of cards to get between the drafts, sets, collectors, etc. - I am the kitchen-table player you mention around the 11:40 mark in your video. It's off-putting how rapidly sets seems to come out, all I can figure it it's designed to milk the bank accounts of longtime players. We're still having fun but it's crazy.
I think that a large part of the issue with product fatigue is the abandonment of the three set blocks. With Blocks, there's just the one overarching story, while with individual sets, each one comes with a new announcement, and new build up.
Even if it isn't more (and it's absolutely more than it was back when RTR or Theros came out), it feels like more, because there's new announcements, rather than just a continuation of the yearly story.
I started playing around OG Innistrad arc and cardboard crack had me take a hiatus. Got back into it during Neon Dynasty and you're right that individual sets make fatigue all the more relevant. I was already starting to feel product fatigue a couple sets after I got back into MTG
I miss the 3 set block so bad lol
What i learned from buying a early cd-burner: Having anything you want makes everything worthless; operating with in set boundaries is how humans find value.
The block format formed a foundation with clear boundaries that sparked the imagination - I honestly would have prefered 2 years per block & would have spent more money on more longer lasting cards. Highlander + limited card pool made EDH inspiring. Now we have too many choices & clever work arounds are a thing of the past. No more pride in my EDH decks... no understanding on who to play 60 card decks with (unless i spend $1000+ to add to my $300,000 collection to buy into modern)
Honestly I'd be happy with just the two-set block structure. Battle for Zendikar, Shadows over Innistrad, Kaladesh, Amonkhet, Ixalan...I thought those had a relatively good balance of setting up the plane and premise the first set, and spend another full set on the high points of action and resolution.
There is still an overarching story, now it's over more sets, generally, but each story could be self contained, the amount of sets coming into standard has not changed. If all you cared about was standard, the only thing that has really changed is going from Foil and not foil cards to 5-8 different styles of art for mythics, 3-5 styles for rares, 2-3 for certain uncommons, and a select amount of commons get 1-2 as well in addition to also have foils and non foils of EACH style. Also, going from 1 type of booster pack, with once a year getting starter commander decks to go with the fall or spring set for example and now we get 2-3 types of booster packs with varying degrees of product or styles contained within those packs.
I really do not know what your point is and what you are being critical of.
We want product. However, we also want time to actually enjoy the products we buy. I honestly don’t remember a lot about the last few sets simply because there was ZERO time to actually shuffle up and play before the next set was being spoiled
So true. It takes time to absorb the content, read, understand and digest. 😮💨
The worst part is they're running spoiler for a new set a day or two before the currently planned set is even released...
Hell Phyrexia hadn't even officially released before we got spoilers for March of the Machine
@@whoissyx it’s crazy to think that ONE was released not even 3 weeks ago…
Yes, good point here too. My playgroup's ideal has been to get prerelease kits and play our sealed decks for a number of gatherings. Now that there are so many releases, usually we only have time to organize for 1 gathering per set now. Quite unfortunate, and will eventually lead to us either completely ignoring sets that dont do prerelease kits, or picking and choosing which sets we as a group are going to target. Spoiler alert, it won't be all of them.
Thanks Prof. The whole part about mental fatigue was spot on. Appreciate another great video!
This is like when Ubisoft releases a new game and has 3-5 different bundles so you need to carefully read what comes with each bundle to make sure you buy what you wanted to buy.
Amen. As a new player, I’m already overwhelmed. I’m super excited for all of the sets but I don’t know what half of the marketing means. I don’t know what I should get or was actually even worth buying and it’s a little discouraging because it makes me feel like I jumped into a big cash grab.
You did jump into a big cash grab. That's a fact
Start proxying cards and play with friends and people who are okay with them. Don't let money be the deciding factor in your fun
The prices drop significantly on 95% of the cards in a given set after the next 2-3 sequential sets are released. If I were you I’d look at the Kamigawa and New Capenna sets. Some really cool stuff there that is now SO affordable. Don’t literally buy into the hype of the latest sets.
@@Ian-to2vo good point I’ll do that thank you! I love the kamigawa stuff I’ve seen
I fell out from fatigue after Kaldheim came out, and after a long break, I came back for brother war as I love the story. I have already fallen back out because of the massive wave of products thrown out at me. I don't know how anyone can afford to keep up and even if you are using proxies it's just too much to deal with when working full-time and have more than one hobby.
Hey! I don't need to make my comment because you already did. Thank you lol
Imagine trying to collect everything! lol
Are you having any other hobbies besides M:tG?
NO
You are supposed to be the ATM-slave that feeds the narcissistic Hasbro!
What do you think you are? .... A regular, free human???
Rather than make my own post. Totally agree with you and feel the same. Time for another break unfortunately.
This is why I am very much enjoying Flesh and Blood. They currently have a rotation of a Main Set and and a Supplemental every 4 months at about $85-$90. It allows players to really break apart the meta and try various playstyles as well as several decks and doesn't break the bank and there's no FOMO. We get a lot of MtG players locally who have jumped in and then feel better about just buying Magic singles and only the MtG sets that really appeal to them and allows them to just play Commander or jump into drafts. Feels good man.
As someone who used to collect various magic pieces, like the dice from the bundles, or the cover cards for the commander decks, I've literally been forced out of doing so because I cannot afford the like bi-monthly $200 deck purchases, and it emphasices the stress of having to chose what is the best option. I physically cannot just "Get a little bit of everything" because everything is too expensive. I *have* to pick and choose and that adds to the fatigue
Im having the same problem
If the goal was to give me anxiety Prof you certainly succeeded. It's hard to grow attached to any given set when the FOMO of two other sets are hanging over you.
Spoilers exist for this reason. Wait see if it's worth it and buy proxy if need be don't spend money to keep up with Kyle and his 7 grand cedh deck or grinding standard pro tour buy what you like
commander isnt affected by fatigue. you don't need cards for a causal format just buy the odd single u need. for those of us who play 60 cards formats its much mor painful
@Soup it's almost like edh is a superior format no banlist eternal format with infinite creative potential huh
@@manniebradley3768 I dont like it its a poor boardgame. I own a lot of really great boardgames
And when you have to budget accordingly...
🎯💯 Thanks for being a voice, Prof. Got back into MtG this year after having been away since Weatherlight. The situation is brain breaking if you just want to play casual paper magic with a childhood friend again.
I literally JUST used "how do I know if a product is for me if I don't know what's in it?" as a response to "you know you don't have to buy everything right?" 10 minutes before watching this video. Spooky how in tune you are with us Prof!
"Masters sets, which I want, and remastered sets, which I love, and Universe Beyond......" is the best line in this.
Universes Beyond is what I hate.
@@joeferreti9442 thank god they have a different frame so I can easily tell whether i want to play the card or not
@@joeferreti9442 I really, really want to hate Universes Beyond... but I know I'll be called a hypocrite next year when I am genuinely excited for the Final Fantasy crossover.
But I 100% already get it with just the Warhammer product when it comes to how the cards don't feel like they belong in the game, and the frustration from the commander point of view about how impossible it will be to reprint most of the good cards later as they reference creature types that they might have a hard time creating later. Like how do you make Astartes tokens without getting the permission of Games Workshop.
I’m new to MTG and really got interested when I heard about the LOTR cross over. Been enjoying arena and wanted a fun way to get into the card game, so LOTR peaked my interest enough to take the leap to cards. So… coming from a new card player… I think the Universe Beyond sets are a great idea
That really made me laugh xD
YES! this is 100% the main problem M:tg is suffering from. Hasbro is killing it just like how Activision killed the plastic guitar genre: product bloat!
Same thing with what Capcom did with Mega Man; they overwork the golden goose until people just can't keep up anymore.
I've definitely disengaged from Magic due to product fatigue. So much of the way I engaged with the hobby was being up to date on new cards and strategies and updates for my commander decks.
I now have to reorient my (decade long) relationship with Magic to exclude product releases or risk dropping the hobby all together.
Same lol
As a fairly new player the only source for cards is scryfall and then cardmarket. I really can't be bothered to understand all these weird product lines, especially since they all seem overpriced for my purpose (commander) anyway.
I was hyped to get back in for phyrexia after I took a break before, but then I saw all the product lines and just said fuck it maybe next time
I feel you here. I used to look at sets during preview season to try to decipher which cards I needed to update my various decks. At this point it's too cumbersome to keep up. Now I buy my prerelease kit, see what I get, then maybe put in a singles order a few weeks later after prices settle and I'm able to get a full read on the viability of the cards that might fit.
Yeah I have told a few people not to get into magic the gathering at this time. One was a medical doctor so he could probably afford it.
Remember when there were only starter packs and booster packs? Even then, at the "beginning" it seemed like a lot when there were maybe three sets a year. This is ultimately why my small player group just plays (our own version) of Legacy. We make forays into sets here and there, but we largely ignore the steady pace of releases. I've been playing for a long time (Ice Age) and I guess this makes me a casual player. I'm happy with that I guess. Thanks Prof - good analysis!
Wow this made me realize there is even more product than I initially thought. What you said about researching if a product is relevant for me really is what I feel like. It is so much work to look up if there are some cool new cads for my commander decks.
A friend convinced me to return to magic with a forgotten realms, and now, just several sets after, I honestly feel exhausted.
The announcement of MOM, LOTR and Commander Masters just affirms my decision to stay away from sealed products and pick up the singles I want. The professor really hit the nail on the head with too many subsets within a set.
booster packs are how singles come to exist .. i find it all exciting . all these mtg cards , that exist with all their connectivity
@@iidoyila I totally agree but with so many single variant of the card, opening packs to find the variant you want is going to be a losing battle.
For example, I really wanted the Elesh Norn concept SAC version. Didn't even see her in a case of CE.
Could have bought so many copies of that particular variant with what I had spent instead.
So yea, open packs if you enjoy everything, if you want something specific just go directly for it.
@@iidoyila And it would be fine if there was a SINGLE type of booster pack. Maybe two at most. But having Draft boosters, set boosters, collector boosters and jumpstart boosters is simply too much. And then, you remember that this still doesn't include all the cards in the set because there's also commander decks and whatnot with exclusive stuff in them.
I love buying boosters. And not only boosters, even entire booster boxes to play Draft and Sealed with my friends. But Hasbro got stupidly obsessed with the idea that most MTG players are fervent collectors that will do anything and everything to get their hands on all the 50 different versions of a card. Guess what? Most of us aren't. And when I'm building my commander decks, I'll only get ONE card, not ten of the same.
I just want my booster packs to always be the same, to always contain the same amount of commons, uncommons and rares/mythics. I don't want to need a bloody flowchart to understand what the hell am I buying.
as a limited player and event host , draft boosters seem like a great idea to me . and they match the " old " experience of getting a booster -- still feels great . you're askin for stuff to be all the same and i get it , but how are jumpstarts and collector packs not absolutely sick on some level ? they can be a lovely touch as a gift or a prize or used in an alternate draft format . having your own rare thing feels awesome . and draft packs are plentiful , because set boosters are so neat
@@iidoyila It's not that it's "nice". And I like Jumpstart in itself, it's a very cool idea, and it should be kept AS ITS OWN THING, instead of getting an extra product in every set that ends up failing miserably.
The issue here is that it's just too much. With cards you can get only in X type of booster and not in any other, with different rarity proportions depending on the type of booster and the set... The problem is that we've reached a point where you NEED a flowchart to keep track of everything, and that's simply retarded. It's convoluted and unnecessary. And when "everything is cool and special, nothing is".
From all the people I personally know that play MTG, none of them are excited by the idea of having so many different product types. In fact, they're annoyed by that concept. Most of the time, we end up confused, simply getting draft boosters and ignoring everything else, because it's easier that way. We want to PLAY, and the game should be focused on players, not collectors.
And it kinda seems that WotC and Hasbro are taking notes, but only time will tell.
Honestly, product fatigue really being mental fatigue is a good observation. I still play physical paper MTG, though rarely. I play one single draft at a local store for any set that catches my interest. Last year it was Neon Dynasty, New Capenna, Unfinity, and Brother's War. But after that one draft, I feel so exhausted with Magic that it takes a couple months for me to want to play it again.
I truly love the game's design, and I am shocked by how well the creative team has handled making so many new cards and not running out of ideas, but it really feels like novel cards are going to be harder and harder to come up with. Recently Standard decks have started to look like a bit like Commander decks, and the average game length really reflects this with mid-range absolutely dominating the format.
But they have to realize that releasing so much product, especially when its prohibitively expensive, just wards people away. I can't imagine any scenario where I can recommend someone to play MTG because it feels like I would be trapping them in a swirling nightmare of products that fade from the memory a couple months later. Theres also the fact that LGS' are suffering due to Wizards circumventing them through Amazon. What am I going to do if local shops die off? Why would I ever consider playing the game as intended anymore when Cockatrice or Tabletop Simulator provide a better digital experience for Magic than MTG Arena can and all for an infinitesimally small fraction of the cost.
You then have the issue with legality. You have March of the Machines, you have Aftermath, you have Lord of the Rings, and you have Commander Masters. Which sets are legal in what formats? LOTR is legal in modern, but what about Pioneer? What about Commander Masters? Is that only for formats for Legacy, or can it also be used in Modern. Is Aftermath a Standard legal set? I can't imagine being a player who doesn't regularly engage with the online MTG community having any idea what the fuck is going on.
i used to buy a booster box of each set just for fun, and I used to be excited for every set release. over the last year it's rare for me to buy any packs, and I don't even buy singles anymore because i can't keep up with all of the products coming out. hearing about a new set now makes me anxious and frustrated instead of excited. i still play commander with friends, but i use the cards i already have or print up a proxy if i somehow become aware of a new card
I wanted to do this exact same thing but then the cost got the wheels in my brain turning so I decided I'd just get bundles! But then... wtf 88 dollars for the MH2 bundle?! Nevermind I guess I'll just get them when they're maybe 35$ or less
I just blindly buy a common and an uncommon set for each release for like $10 and a handful of singles I think are interesting/ promising these days.
There is no point in cracking boxes when you don't even hit stuff you want and the boxes are on sale 2 months after release anyways.
I believe only NEO kept its price and ONE probably will. The rest will be on super sales for years to come.
I was a booster box a set buyer as well. Wanted to crack packs for the gambling aspect. The house always wins btw... I stopped doing this a year or two ago because it just became too much. Too many sets, too many variants, and too expensive with the price increases.
I'm working on a cube (based on the Card Kingdom Starter Cube) so I can have an ever-changing gameplay experience without having to continue investing. I have an unreasonable amount of cards as it is right now, so I can make changes with what I've got already--and if I see some singles that I really like on various gameplay videos like the PPR or Shuffle Up and Play, I might pick them up... but I won't have to, y'know?
100%
I can pinpoint the exact moment the magic of Magic started to die from overload -- it was Eldraine, I was in my LGS, I cracked some rare card that I was excited for and I was told I shouldn't get that excited because I didn't get the special bordered version or whatever. When they started cramming the multiple card styles into every set more and more, I knew this game would never be the same.
Well said prof. Product fatigue is one reason I've taken a big step back from MTG over the past few years.
There is so overwhelmingly much Magic that I can't remember the cards that excite me long enough to get them into my deck lists.
The Shards of Alara block into Zendikar block were the most amazing times of mtg for me. It felt like you could really digest the meta, and the coverage of all of the pro tournaments was awesome. Who remembers watching deck techs between matches! So fun.
This was when I started to really get into Magic. It was my first time going to a pre release, my first time buying a booster box, and I watched a ton of mtg youtube content, especially Evan Erwin. Man I remember when Zendikar was announced and my friends and I drove all over creation hunting down fat packs for the full art lands. I've never had more fun!
Same after those blocks I quit for so many years
@@chocomunky128 Ugh, I miss The Magic show by Evan Erwin
OG Zendikar was amazing. I jammed FNM standard every week with mono-black vampire tribal. Still have that deck sleeved up.
@@chocomunky128 that’s awesome! It was a great time. You can still watch the old episodes of the Magic Show with Evan Irwin on RUclips! I’ve gone back and watched a lot of them from the late 2000s and early 2010s. You should go watch them they are very nostalgic!
This video sums up my thought perfectly. I had a break from MTG for around 11 years, and it took me hours of research, reading and watching to figure out what was the current products, what does each one contains, and what ware the right prices among the endlessly fluctuating price tags I saw online and in shops.
I totally agree with this video conclusion : make it clear what each product contains, stop having so many useless unique variations among products, and publish recommended prices.
@@robertk1834 Well, I've not been playing Pokemon as an example, and there is no such problem.
You're comment is quite arrogant, and I think very wrong.
13:39 "I didn't want to look this up... maybe I'll cut this." THANK YOU for not cutting it - that's exactly the mental gymnastics every player is subjected to these days.
One factor I think is worth at least mentioning is the role of The Pandemic in Product Fatigue. Many Magic: The Gathering players were more-or-less required to take a break from Magic over the Pandemic and then the moment they get back, the formats they used to play have changed dramatically (EG: Because of MH2) and with the rapid release of new product they're stuck in a cycle of constantly playing catch-up rather than having a chance to adjust to the new release cycle effectively.
I used to try to complete sets as well as deckbuilding and playing. I think when the number of variants made set collection much more costly or too time consuming to feel worthwhile, that was when the feeling of fatigue began to set in for me. Your take on the idea really resonated with me.
I'm a gotta catch 'em all collector, and WOTC wore out even my patience. Might even be fewer sales than they'd get with more attainable complete sets
The sheer amount of Secret Lairs ...
As for special versions within sets, I'll probably keep them if I open 'em or if i get a good deal trading for them, but no way am I going after them all
Double Feature was the first set I deliberately skipped, just reprints of Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow rather than best of reprints, and priced too high even accounting for double the rares and more foils
For Dominaria Remastered I only opened a few packs as part of draft
@@KingAlanI Agree 100%. No Double Feature because they mailed it in, no Secret Lairs because I didn't want to wait untold months for curled cards to arrive.
I dread the day when all this saturation pushes the power creep to a level where you just can't justify playing creatures from pre-2019 anymore if you want an optimized deck. I'd give it 2-3 years.
This was what did me in. I started with the Onslaught Block and purchased pretty much everything that came out. I had a binder for each block and would actively pick up singles after opening boxes to complete sets. I picked up legacy staples, reserved cards and had multiple Modern decks. I enjoyed picking up each of the FTV sets that came out, could keep up with the duel decks and annual commander decks that came out for friends to play and never felt burnt out. The Amonkhet/Ixalan blocks were the start of the end for me. Commander sets became more than an annual release. Multiple Alt arts started being announced. Collector Packs became a thing. And finally Secret Lair was announced. There was just too much and I packed it all up and haven't touched it in 5 years. I dabble in wanting to sell it all, but my wife keeps reminding me that for 15 years I claimed that it was the greatest game ever made and if I was left with one game, it would have been MTG. I just can't bring myself to support WotC anymore.
@@hdraagnaj4552 I absolutely agree that it's one of the best games out there. I'm sure that I won't ever stop playing this game, but I'm also sure I can't keep up with new releases at the current pace. This leaves me in a spot where I'll maintain my existing decks, and prepare myself to have to read every single card in the opponents' decks in the years to come haha.
I know that this isn't the point of the video but I just really love the emphasis that you always put on supporting your local lgs and small businesses! These are the lifeblood of the mtg community and in a digital commerce age it is harder and harder to stay afloat as an lgs. You're fighting the good fight, professor!
Yes, love to support an LGS
THANK YOU
I played Magic for 15 years from 1993 to 2008. I spent thousands of dollars on cards and played thousands of games.
I restarted playing Magic a few months ago and it's SO confusing. There's just SO MANY product variations and so many products.
Trying to figure out what even the hell is supposed to be in a booster pack is basically impossible. Trying to figure out if I'm missing anything by not buying collector boosters is basically impossible. Trying to figure out if some store on Amazon is ripping me off on the cost of sealed magic products is basically impossible.
Hell, just figuring out what cards I can play in what formats is excruciatingly difficult. It used to be that new sets were part of Standard for 2 years (more or less). Period. Now there are a million sets and whether or not they're legal in any specific format is something you have to go look up, card by card. Oh and you might get cards from *other sets* in your booster packs of this set.
WoTC desperately needs to cut down on product variations and label everything WAY more clearly. I'm fine with basic boosters and fancy boosters, but don't have THREE variations. And make it WAY more clear what you actually get. None of this "a chance of that and a chance of tis". Just make it *the same* in every pack. Guaranteed two rares, one foil rare, one foil uncommon, etc. There's still variation in the fact that some rares are garbage and others aren't.... but don't make it so I get a *different number of rares* in the same pack.
Don't also have "Jumpstart" versions of each set. That's what the core set is for. Make jumpstarts from the core sets and/or the last block, but don't label them confusingly the same as the set.
And for God's sake LABEL THE SETS CLEARLY. Oh, Lord of the Rings isn't Legal in Standard? How the hell is some 13 year old in an LGS going to know that? Hell, how am *I* supposed to know that? It's a set, it's new, so that means it's legal in Standrd, right? I really have to wonder how often kids (or even adults) come to Friday Night Magic and get disqualified because they're using cards they *just bought* from sets that are new this year, but aren't actually legal in standard?
Label the packs and boxes with what formats the cards are legal in. It's not that hard. Really, just like Commander, Standard, and Modern/Pioneer is probably sufficient.
And please give your products an MSRP so consumers know if they're getting ripped off. Is 185 for a Set Booster box of All Will Be One a good price, or am I getting ripped off? There's literally no way to know. At best, I have to call around to every nearby LGS, check Amazon and TCGPlayer, and then hope that the price isn't just artificially inflated at the beginning of release, and that it wont' drop by $40 in a month.
I 100% agree - I've felt increasingly alienated and overwhelmed. Have barely played recently bc it feels like a full time job trying to keep up with all the different cards coming our all the time
Thanks to the mad deluge of all the different things these past couple years, I literally tuned out while you were doing the March of the Machines intro.... I just can't anymore...
Fatigue is absolutely the right word for all of this. The more complex and overstuffed each release gets, the more I only purchase singles.
Exactly. Plus, with the new price point of the commander master being reported over 350 for a single box, it leaves me just wanting to purchase singles.
@@DylanHilliard1 and not even that works sometimes. I have several cards from the Commander 2021 set I'd love to get but they don't sell them sealed anymore and since not a lot of people bought it in my country I can't even find singles from it anymore. My choice is either shipping them from overseas from private consumers for incredibly high prizes, or proxying them, the two things Hasbro wants above else that I don't do
Packs are for drafting anyway, so that doesn't seem like it should be considered a problem.
I've always loved the fact that "Set Boosters" contain cards from literally dozens of sets, thanks to The List.
@@donaldkwan1955 Yeah, sure buddy.
Definitely agree with your take on the matter. I especially like how you point out the several flaws the concept of "just ignore sets that just aren't for you" has..
Prof, you rock for taking the time to learn and understand all the sub products for this video, I can’t imagine it was easy. I can never explain my frustration since I can’t keep track of what I’m frustrated about. Amazing job of articulating a decently complex problem!
This is so completely spot on.
I appreciate how he outlined this year’s planned releases. It made the unscripted bit so much better when he bumbled through trying to explain which type of boosters you might find commander masters cards.. (13:05)
Like, yeah, that’s exactly how it friggin feels. I need to do research just to know what’s in a booster (or keep asking that one guy at my LGS lol)
This explains sooo much. I have been gone from Magic ever since Ikoria and while it took me time to adjust to the new booster types and set releases (playing for again for about a month) not much has actually changed for me. But I am an data analyst used to chaos and unordered mess of information. Making sense of it is my job and I love it. Never understood until now that a normal individual might be confused after just going into a store to buy a pack.
What the Prof is saying is exactly what got me to quit competitive Magic. I work a very stressful job, and I used to be able to keep in touch with the meta by going to draft in two evenings and playing Standard and Modern. It used to be: You pay attention to Standard-legal sets, you learn the cards by drafting these sets for months, and you could slowly improve. Nowadays, the Meta in all formats is so shifty and the sets last so much shorter that trying to keep in touch with formats on competitive levels would only be possible for me if I spent all of my free time with releases, and I just can't do that in the long run.
I am in the same boat. Used to love competitive Magic, now it's such a chore and takes too much time to make sure I am up to date. I like Commander, but my group isn't into it like a lot of people are and thus our group finds ourselves essentially not playing much anymore. A shame, b/c we all love the game, but life is busy and when a game becomes a chore, you are less likely to want to relax and play.
As someone who has just spent the last month getting back into Magic, this video couldn't have come at a better time. Topical, Relevant, I feel seen. :)
This is one of your best videos yet - no easy feat! You have succeeded in explaining my frustration with the direction of MtG with tremendous precision and detail!
I used to play MTG as a teen starting just as Scars of Mirrodin had been released. I played constantly, but I stopped playing as I entered college; I was simply lacking free time.
Now graduated, I’ve recently decided to return to the game and simply buy packs and collect sets for fun; I just try to get a single of every card in a binder.
It’s been very overwhelming!
I was so shocked by the number of card variations now compared to when I stopped playing, which was around whenever Kahns of Tarkir released.
I want to collect! I love the game! But the sheer number of cards now makes simply collecting a daunting task - for the wallet as well!
In the most recent Set Survey (for All Will Be One), there was a question that asked about what a booster pack that merged Draft & Set booster contents should be called.
I'm hoping that this is an indicator that Wizards is planning on reducing the amount of boosters with set releases.
(Also, the options, if I remember correctly, were either "Play Boosters" or "Game Boosters")
Hopefully, this unification does not come with a price increase
@@ArcanePhysics Wishful thinking, I wouldn't be surprised if the 'change magic forever' part of aftermath is that they're going to 5 card boosters and keeping the same price.
@@OmegaGrunt Oh, I expect a price bump on these new draft boosters, if they will exist. I hope the increase won’t happen though.
This sounds like a new additional product rather than a merger of the two. For example, a box of set boosters for you to just crack and 3 draft packs to play a game of draft.
Maybe this is just an old man yelling at clouds thing but... they're called Draft bosters and we've had them for about 25+ years.
While I appreciate the different cool versions of the cards, I miss the days when the cycle was something like "4 Standard sets a year with Draft Boosters, 'bundles,' and maybe some associated decks, one Masters set, one cycle of Commander decks, and *maybe* an additional supplemental product." I definitely appreciate Set Boosters, but I think that all the treatments, like you said, should be available in *all* Booster products.
I'd agree with everything except set boosters. I think set boosters are a terrible product and should have never happened in the first place. It's a draft box that's overpriced that you can't even draft with...
@Protein Cannon I'd agree with that somewhat. If they included the ability to get the different types of frames/arts in regular Boosters, that'd be better. They aren't marketed towards drafters though. They're specifically designed for people interested in collecting rares or different arts/frames. I'm interested to see what the upcoming changes to Draft aboosters in MoM will do to the draft environment
I would postulate, that when you can get anything in any type of Boosterbox, there is no need of variations in Boosterboxes anyway. I dont mind having loaded Draft booster boxes, when they are the only ones.
Draft boosters should be kept as close to a cheap no frills option as possible if you want the extras then that is what the other packs are for.
As someone who is coming back into Magic’s after a 4-5 year hiatus it is so confusing just trying to figure out what I should buy from previous and upcoming sets. Draft vs set booster, universe beyond, the different levels and prices of commander decks, etc. it is too much and I never know if I’m getting ripped of on product value without the Professors video and him doing the back breaking work of assessing these products. Thank you professor, you have made picking this game up again so much easier despite the challenges of the deluge of products.
I started playing back in original Innistrad and slowly stopped after Kaladesh. I’ve wanted to get back in for a while now but the game seems so much more complicated, even all the new art is a bit overwhelming. I love the game and have watched the channel since it felt so niche to watch reviews or plastic designed to protect cardboard so this video really hit home and is really appreciated!
Genuinely one of the most insightful videos you've done, prof. 10/10
Wow, thanks!
When Eldraine came out as a complicated, unclear mess, I excused it as bumps on the road of a big change. It's been clear for a while now that complicated, unclear, and messy is just the accepted state of affairs.
That was really the turning point. The first set that didn't really *feel* like Magic (to me) and the first to have a complicated product line.
Sigh, sadly that was my first set..
Whenever you make a video about topics like this I get nostalgic due to that box of homelands in your bookshelf. Back when "three releases a year" would just mean three different sets of cards, and no matter how many "subsets" or subproducts released it would always mean it's the same cardpool choosen from.
I'm geniunly baffled that wotc is so detached from their own product they're unable to imagine that needing everchanging flowcharts to determine "what is where in our products" isn't customer friendly. And that making the same card in a dozen different styles is just stupid due to how inflated your sets end up - imagine homelands with like 8 different versions of didgeridoo. Nobody would've bought that back when the internet wasn't this prevalent.
Don't think for a second that WoTC is confused about their practices being customer friendly. The issue is that they don't care about being customer friendly, they care about making money, and so far this absurd release schedule is being extremely successful for them. So long as releasing mountains of different products with basically no breaks continues to sell, they'll keep doing it.
@@SuperDrocket until we find 100k (or more) of mtg luxury products in a landfill, and understand that maybe those sales are a bit inflated and not "real" (and by that I mean that nobody owns those cards).
Hey man, totally new player here( I'm 38 and played bakc in 93 when it started but sadly don't have any cards from back then. But I want to start playing again because I found some colleagues that play. Well, I've been watching your videos about all the different Sets/Boxes and whatnot and how to play, what play, why to play... and what my name is?!?!? It's insane!
Your videos are great! And I am very thankful that they exist and that you keep it honest and always from the persepctive of the customer who just wants to have fun. I am old enough that I could buy a shitload of packs of anything, but I don't want to! And I shouldn't have to. If WOTC decluttered their productline I would be very, very happy! It is terribly hard to get into MTG - I finally just decided on a Phyrexia Bundle and a Phyrexia PreRelease box - I think I will get a decent deck out fo those boxes which allows me to play with my friends. And it cost me 55 Euros. But I was very tempted to dive full into LotR, because I'm a big fan of the books. But it is overwhelming and to be honest I don't understand why almost every product is super expensive. Will LotR get cheaper again in a few months? Or is it so darn special that the prices will only rise?
Anyways, thank you a lot for your videos!
This was some masterful writing:
"Masters sets, I want those!
Re-mastered sets, I love those!
Universes beyond sets (dead air)."
Totally agree with this! I am a relatively new player and one of my biggest battier to entry for years was confusion on the different formats, sets, and products. That's part of why I like commander is so good - use whatever you want (save a ban list of course). I think they should just stop selling set or collector boosters tbh draft ones are usually better anyway
The subscribe reminder appearing over the Play Button Award was a lovely touch.
As always speaking the truth! Another source of fatigue for me is how many variants cards can have now. The new Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines has like 8 variations or something like that. Can't even imagine running a game store and how much time that adds on inventory.
You just don’t bother with it. You just inventory and sell all the Elsh Norns as though they were the same card and feel really bad when customers come in looking for specific prints and tell them it’s too hard to keep up.
I remember when Battle for Zendikar came out. The set feature the super-rare Zendikar Expeditions, which to my recollection was the beginning of cards getting special treatment printings. It was really exciting, because everyone knew that each booster pack had a shot at getting one.
Nowadays it is kind of a bummer to have to pay $20 for collector boosters or whatever to even have a chance at the cool and rare printings. Or do they come in set boosters? I honestly have no idea.
You hit the nail on the head when you say "product fatigue" to the consumer is not necessarily the amount of sets/cards, but the complexity of the whole product line. Ultimately it's the amount of time it takes for a person to find out the information that's relevant to them and currently that's too much time for a lot of people.
I’m new to this completely and this is describing everything I’m going through. It’s enough in itself to learn the varying differences in cards/types, game structure of it all…what is giving me more of a sensory overload is all of the many different sets and different lores that is releasing now and all of the past. Am I allowed to just hang on to my cards and use them even though they’re not part of the current set and lore? Idk. So far I copped 5 Planeswalker core ser decks 2021, phyrexia commanders and a phyrexia booster. It all seems fun just seems like a lot.
I'd like to set booters and collector boosters consolidated into a single premium tier. Other than that I'm fine with the bundles, precons, starter decks, etc but the timing in which information releases matters. The last two years it's felt like a new set drops then within a short time frame spoilers for the next set(s) is released. ONE has barely been out and Wizards had already shifted consumer focus to products that are months away. **EDIT: fixed a typo**
I'm longing for the days when I was hyped for every new set. Nowadays magic is just a blurry mess for me. I want to find new cards for my Commander decks, but keeping up with the release schedule feels like a second full time job... And who has time for that?
Blurry Mess is a great descriptor
Thank you so much as a new player getting into Magic you hit the nail on the head. I buy booster boxes expecting to find certain cards only to find out oh that variation or treatment doesn’t come in this one. To the point where I’ve tried googling a list of what cards come in each product and that has been a nightmare as well. I was literally going to RUclips what is the difference between all the different booster after watching your video.
Right on professor. Tha k you!
The sections where you explained all of the coming products game me anxiety. I can't handle it.
I stopped playing for like a month, and I missed seventeen set releases 😮💨
True Story
Instead of buying new MTG product I’m going back and organizing the giant mess I’ve made with the cards I already have. It’s saving me money and has turned out to be very fun because I’ve forgotten most of what I have already. Many great cards made before MTG sold its soul for the 15th time , again…
Thank you, this expresses well what I feel but haven't been able to put into words well (also an anecdote: my mum asked about what magic product I might like as a Christmas gift. I should not have needed to write an essay explaining the different options and price points available for packs from the most recent release)
Thank you for this - extremely effective to show how much stuff is out there.
I agree, it's not just too many sets, but also too many variations of products within each set. (By the way, we already have 7 sets announced for this year: 4 Standard sets, MOM Aftermath, LOTR, and Commander Masteres.)
This has the ring of 80s baseball card vibes where too many were made and prices to this day have never recovered.
History always repeats
As a lapsed player who is getting back into the game after 10 years, I want to know what the real main sets are, and how to get the cards I want. I agree that the flow chart was overwhelming to look at for Phyrexia: All Will Be One.
Well said! I used to love each set and the streamline contents, but now when a set comes out with 5 different booster pack types and 23 different super mega foil types etc etc, just to find out 3.5 days later theres all that and more in the next 6 sets due to release 2 weeks from now;
ITS TOO MUCH
I used to adore playing MTG and seeing what each set could offer me and my decks, but now its too complicated and too fast to even spend more than 2 seconds with anything. We stopped buying most magic products now, and are so fatigued by it. Also rather than having a set MSRP and buying the product in X location, we have to think are we being ripped off and go away and do research in 4+ other stores to guess a price range and just give up.
This was a great video. From a random guy on the internet… well done. I did love the part you left in. The ramble to try and define and explain is a great example of what’s wrong
This is so true, the level of mental fatigue rising up unnecessarily high in this few years. I think I can't chasing anymore.😂
I have definitely felt product fatigue and I only started playing again last year. It is super frustrating.
There is also a planned "holiday re-release" for the LoTR set (whatever this means)
Wow. Listening to you really break things down shines a strong light on how exhausting it is to be a player, a collector or god forbid both.
Thank you for this. I followed the game really extensively from 2017 until 2020 or so when they got crazy with all the different variations in sets. It was literally becoming a full time job. Now I just do a pre-release or one booster draft and that's it. I went from spending probably 150 bucks a set to maybe 30-40. They've gotta be bleeding money from people burning out.
They absolutely are. I've stopped completely. It only took one year in 2015 for me to go from getting introduced to Magic, to becoming super into it, to then burning out. Just one year. My money goes to the Pokemon TCG now and I'm having a great time. Not only did the lose my money.... they lost my money to a competitor lmao.
I am a returning player who left after Urza destiny and I am so confused. I even went to my LGS and had to get the poor sales person to talk me through the options, which didn’t really clarify anything.
It use to be so clear and the sets gave you enough time to understand new mechanics and to amass enough cards from the new set (I always just purchased singles or individual packs).
This is right on. I use to buy a lot of product. Now I don’t buy anything. I don’t even know half the time where I can even find the cards beside buying singles. So I just said forget it and moved on.
This was so well articulated, I hope wizards and hasbro are listening.
Don't hold your breath
That fact that you (and people like you) exist is one of the things that keeps me from disengaging completely with the hobby.
I consider myself a casual player and truth be told I've tuned out all the new releases. I stick to your advice of "buy singles" these days for my current commander decks and I'm increasingly uncertain about ever getting a new deck cause it feels like I wake up and everyday there is new commander product.
I think I'm relatively at peace with just letting a lot of stuff fly past me though I do hope that Hasbro takes your advice and focuses on FEWER better product releases that people can spend time becoming acquainted with before something new comes along.
Cheers, Prof!
Holy crap!
Remember when it was fun to look forward to the next product release?