The Absolute Worst Of Magic: The Gathering | 2022
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- Опубликовано: 29 дек 2022
- Don't forget about all the good that happened too! Watch "The Very Best Of Magic: The Gathering 2022" here: • The Very Best Of Magic...
Magic The Gathering's 30th Anniversary Edition Is Not For You: • Magic The Gathering's ...
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Игры
I know it is not Commander, but it would be "radical" if you watched my new Shuffle Up And Play where we play Modern: ruclips.net/video/obYus8qolWA/видео.html
I love the mix of both commander and non-commander formats! it’s great to see the mix IMO.
Radical!
I can confirm, it did radicalize me towards playing pauper
I have no problem with how Unfinity made some cards legal, however the acorn stamp being too subtle and prone to misprints *is* a problem, clearly next time around they should try to mix black and silver-bordered cards in packs
Waiting for pauper tolarian terror
Me: "This is the worst year of MTG ever..."
WOTC: "The worst year of MTG... so far!"
😂
🤪
sadly it's true
"we can always aim lower"
Dam you, Apolo! Don't do this to us!
That Richard Garfield quote at the beginning is a poetic assessment of the state of MTG.
Richard knows. It doesn't take a genius although some call Richard o e anyway.
so painful yet so true
I honestly don't. I honest to god do not feel as if the leaning into Magic as a collectable is being done at the expense of Magic as a game.
@@Blaze_1013 ye, Wizards is just incompetent. Pokemon TCG, which is a collectible first, has a better ban policy
his piece about Skinnerware was prophetic
Richard Garfield's quote is so brutal. I'm kinda shocked that the audience in the back didn't react like it's a WWE match
True, Phil. But we all though our screens certainly felt like it 🤟
Well, in a way it was a narrowed audience. Everyone seeing it live paid and traveled to be at the event.
@@shadogiant I mean, I was there for the event and the entire audience that was at that panel did cheer. Dr. Garfield couldn’t actually hear the audience however so he kept talking which is why most of us stopped quickly in order to hear what he had to say. Trust me, most people there were fed up with WotC’s bs
They did are you deaf
What's this?! Its Richard Garfield with a chair! OH MY GOD!
“The product fatigue will continue until player morale improves” - Wizards
Username checks out… ETH… 😬👍
Until quarterly reports improves
well, we're not out of the woods yet
In other words "we are idiots who are willing to let our product die because we are pompous dbags" - Wizards
When Konami looks more player friendly than wizards of the coast despite how isolated their own communication is and have plenty of sore spots with expensive staples, you know something is horribly wrong.
Might buy the Yu-Gi-Oh anniversary edition even though I don't play it, because it is such a cool looking product.
@@islarf5095 same, i love the art of the early YGO cards and it would be fun to make some decks to play with my cousin and my childhood friends, we played with proxies and pirate cards back then as kids, it would be cool to play again with the real deal.
As Steph Sterling used to say: Konami is Konami and Konami is the worst. So, when you're doing things worse than Konami, you royally screwed up.
As a yugioh player it's kinda wild to hear expensive staples and then look at MTG card prices.
@@TinPrince I was introduced to magic a few months ago coming from yugioh, and man, magic can be as rough on the wallet for decent cards as yugioh is for top tier meta cards.
The worst part is, you could've taken the 10 most cynical players, put them in a room, and even they couldn't have predicted 2022
If a year ago someone said that Wizards was going to sell proxies for $1000 for a 4-pack bundle, they'd have been laughed out of the room.
@@imaloony8once I saw NFTs I knew nerds would buy anything.
@@epiccollision scammers* not nerds
@@aqme909 Scammers aren't the ones buying NFTs. They're the ones selling them.
@@Chris-ey8zf They're both. The NFT bros are basically scammers who are also trying to scam each other and not be the last one holding the hot potato when the other shoe drops.
The moment that stands out in my mind that truly crystallizes how bad a year this was for Magic is that my most proud moment as a Magic player wasn't a tournament win, or a great homebrew commander deck, or a new friend I made playing the game; it was a 10 minute conversation at Target where I successfully helped a confused grandmother buy the Brother's War set boosters and Jumpstart 2022 packs her grandson had asked for, when she very nearly bought Brother's War Jumpstart boosters because it had both names he had mentioned on the pack.
Whoever at Hasbro of the Coast came up with the cynical idea to attempt to confuse the elderly into buying a terrible product by making it sound like two other, better products, be it on your head. May you never have a restful night's sleep for what you have done.
You're a hero
I hate to reply to cynicism with even more cynicism, but making money by confusing the elderly is a longstanding American tradition at this point.
It's odd that out of one side of WotC's mouth we hear things like "not every product is for you, only focus on what interests you" but out of the other side we get "Unfinity will be legal in some formats" so everyone who plays those formats must pay attention.
Good point. I also have been saying that it makes no sense. Unfinity is a very casual experience, so why doing a Collector product for that release? I'm a commander player and apparently not all product they make are for me? So why, every Commander pre-con with every release?, why Standard sets now heavily focus on commander?, why putting lot of Commander staples in Double Master and Dominaria Remastered? You see like me that they try to appeal to everyone with their products while at the same time telling us that they create products for different player segments and that not every products is for us. LOTR... Blake is saying that they made the set modern legal so that more people could experience the set and play with its cards. But, when I will complain that the set sell at 200$ for a draft booster box, they will tell me that it is because that product was not for me?
I was so pissed off when I went to a game store with my commander deck and lands from the Unglued series. Now mind you I didn’t pick the silly lands that did something. I put in what I thought was cool looking land that I wanted to show off. Stupid and disappointing
Imagine if Wizards had actually celebrated the 30th anniversary with the fans. Did a retro 90's theme release for those awful proxy packs. Imagine they were sold at $3 a pack, the community would have been in uproar of excitement. Instead of the greed that overtook such a memorable joyful event. Let the people who made Magic continue as long as it has get some kind of enjoyment. They went back on the reserve list and put the collectability of their product in question. Anyone even considering buying those proxies would likely look at the cost and opt to buy the REAL cards. Would I have like to crack some dual land proxies? Sure, but make no mistake I would never spend the cost of a real dual land on a card that is unplayable in tournaments. That is like the reason you are going after those expensive cards in the first place. If you want to play them in commander then just print them! Most cEDH tournaments allow some proxies now anyway. And I'm sure your playgroup wouldn't care, or find one that won't. What should have been the best year ever turned out to be a flop for MTG. Thank you professor for all of your teachings! Sorry for the rant..
I honestly think they would have raked in money too, someone did a horrible cost analysis
@@snarferyasmr3739 I would agree with that. I think stores would rather sell a ton of product and keep people coming back for more. And maybe even look at some of the other products and singles. Instead of trying to sell a pile of garbage for $1000.
@@CritProQuoh exactly, instead of pulling in new players and garnering goodwill they aimed at the whales and ended up in a bad spot.
The only part I disagree with is that you can't call them proxies and claim they violated the reserve list at the same time. (but yeah, they are definitely proxies)
@@tcsmagicbox I suppose so, but I know there's a post out there from Mark Rosewater stating that they would not reprint reserve list cards regardless of backs or borders. These printings are far too close for comfort for alot of player's, they may not be true reprints BUT it feels like they were trying to market these cards as just as valuable or very close to originals.
Even Richard Garfield himself knows that what Magic has become isn't right...... damn man 😞
Saddest Part is he cant do anything about it as it seems
I wonder if he likes what Flesh and Blood has been doing
I upvoted just for your profile pic and username 😂
@@Llnstead I don't like reprinting in white border, but it seems alright otherwise?
@@VinLyScratchton sure he can. He can speak out about it like he did in the video.
A thing you missed for the double feature was there was a massive printing issue where boxes would only have 1 rare in a pack instead of 2 missing out the whole double part.
This year of MtG was the absolute best thing that could have happened to my curiosity of Flesh and Blood.
The 30th anniversary set tripped something in my brain. I was obsessively following every release and spending hundreds on each set. I haven't bought a single card since 30A came out.
Recently decided to pick up another new-ish TCG. I would have never considered it if it wasn't for the bad taste 30A left in my mouth.
Yeah my lady and I were pretty strong in product buying but not now. It's too expensive and too much product to stay relevant.
Look up the trust thermocline. That is what happened to you.
Unfortunately
Same here. Honestly I kindof just realized how this hobby became a burdon to me since I have stopped to keep myself updated about every new release.
What game did you pick up?
When wizards managed to surpass konami's greed, you know they messed up
Right!? Who'd have thought they'd out greed the company whose most famous card is "Pot of Greed"!
master duel is pretty free to play tbh (which is really surprising given how gatcha duel links was, an inferior game imo), never had trouble getting cards i want, they give allot of currency, battle pass and cosmetics are cheep, they have events every month which which give 40-50 packs worth of gems.
@@robertlaidlaw4592 This has the same energy of "Yeah he's a serial killer but on even numbered Tuesdays you can actually have a nice talk with him". Sorry but Master Duel being somewhat not too bad is too little too late for that company.
@@pascalsimioli6777 im saying you can play an online competitive card game for free, not oh lets praise them they are a bit more generous. that is true of very few official card games.
GREED? konami literally has kept staples of cards down by reprinting a fuckton, they're way less greedy with paper yugioh
I think the 30th anniversary set should've been proxies of Alpha cards, in an Alpha pack, priced at what an Alpha pack cost in 1993 ($2.45).
I think so too, and I'm saying that as a person who owns those original ABU cards.
I will never forget yue buzz at the game shop when white wolf celebrated the players by selling a swathe of titles discounted to 6 dollars 66cents to celebrate 'the year of hell' that was straight up half price and I saw friends grabbing long sought titles because... "At that price,i may as well!"
Or better all the cards come in a box and selling for high cost with with text on the page telling people it proxies and it not for everyone just for those who want it
I would say a dishonorable mention would go to the absolute glut of Secret Lairs this year.
Yes. Totally agree this should've made the list
Secret lairs aren’t hurting anybody; They are 99% reskins of existing cates
100%
I was going to say this as well. As they always do, they took what was a pretty neat product and went way way overboard with it.
I stopped buying products this year. Due to the increase in printings and product lines I got burn out, and then the way they treated the players on the 30th anniversary of all things, I decided that I no longer wanted to be a part of that business. I decided I was content with the cards I had and that I don’t care if WOTC goes bankrupt anymore.
Exactly! Same here.
I posted a similar comment and someone introduced me to the term "trust thermocline"
it happened to me with the announcement of tthe walking dead secret lair.
I proxy every single card since then
yeah I love MTG but god the product line release got 6x this year and feels overwhelming MTG got thin out
Which is why you buy counterfeits to play in tournaments ;)
Anybody else happy for the prof getting all that attention from the Magic 30 vid? Well deserved sir! Hope we made some new friends along the way!
the year I stopped caring about magic and using funds not on cards but on pursuing new meaningful hobbies like brazilian jiu jitsu, traveling, and going the extra mile to see friends I wouldn't usually be able to see. Thank you WOTC!
thats cap
Yup. Also stopped playing. Got into LCGs instead. Arkham horror and Marvel champions are amazing!
If you're still training BJJ and like traveling, making sure to look into the BJJ Globetrotters.
Professor: you and this channel are among the best things about the MTG community. You are among a small few RUclipsrs where I can consistently watch your videos from start to finish nearly every time. Great scripts, great editing, wonderful humor, and such obvious love you have for this game and the community. Happy New Year!
he hates the game and wants to see it burned to the ground and all cards to be worthless he is scum and among the worst parts of the mtg community (its not a community even, its just people with the same hobby)
I would ask why Double Masters wasn’t on the list, but then I remembered, “They still did so much worse.”
Yep, I got FOMO really bad with that set and spent a couple grand. Many regrets, as the value has not held on singles. They keep dropping.
Because Double Masters isn't a terrible product?
Double Masters was a great product at a bad price. It would have made the Best list at even $6 / pack, but 10 was way too high.
The bad this year outweighs the good by A LOT. We live in a small town, and our LGS survived through the lockdown. It's barely surviving now, we'd had an average of 6 players each FNM so we can't even play different formats, it's usually just modern or vintage cube. The owner is at a financial loss and doesn't know if the LGS will stay alive next year.
I also recommend encourage playing Magic formats that WoTC cannot alter, one being Premodern
When Double Feature was announced, but not explained, with the box art I really thought it would be something like a mix of Crimson Vow and Midnight Hunt (curated, of course) but with a frame and arts inspired by classical monster movies like the Universal and Hammer. Something like "Edgar Markov but inspired by Bela Lugosi" and so on...
Same and as someone who loves innistrad and werewolves I was excited til we saw what it actually was…
Fun fact: it WAS announced as a curated set. And they look like they could work as a single set (exploit with decayed, top werewolves and vampires from each, a more complex disturb deck, etc), but stapled together, it is just a mess. A cube made this way could work better than they did alone.
I almost forgot that double feature was also this year, lol. This truly was the worst year for MTG products. I do love how insanely radioactive 30th anniversary packs became, to the point that even people outside of the MTG community were getting hurt by just how toxic it was and the eventual downgrade of Hasbro stock by BoA. Which is crazy, considering how many good products there were also ( Dom U, Kami, and the Warhammer precons), but they just got overshadowed by the PR nightmares that kept coming too.
A missing moment from this list that I really hated this year was the C&D sent to Card Conjurer.
By far the most fully featured and easy to use site out there for creating Magic card templates, CC was a site that allowed fans of the game to make proxies of their favourite cards with uploaded custom artwork, create versions of existing cards that reflect later erratas and oracling of text, create custom cards to share their design ideas and print them to playtest them, or even just to create Universes Beyond style skins of popular cards using properties they love (with those Godzilla/Dracula style name boxes).
It didn't even make straight reprinting of cards easier, the only reason I can think of why Wizards would take the site down. The site gave cards a clear watermark, you had to build the card from template pieces, and you'd need a high resolution image of the art anyway, something you'd only have if you had a high resolution image of the card anyway.
I know copyright law is fucked in its requirements for having to protect their claim on a work, but this felt like an overreach. Like a slap in the face of fans who just wanted to engage in the game in their own unique way.
THIS, %100
apparently it was thanks to the 30th anniversary scam that the word "proxy" got more popular and wizards wanted only their official proxies to be sold
Try mtg cardsmith.
Agreed. It's not like he was even directly making money from selling proxies.
Agree 100% with your assessment of CL: BG. I'm glad that you noted that it was still a good set, even if the value wasn't there. It was a great limited experience and there are lots of cool cards in there.
Overhyped? Yes. Overpriced? Yes. Bait-and-switch-y? Yes. But I still liked it.
I still cannot agree it was not Commander set - it was. A lot really great cards for commander, new designed and a lot fun in commander limited... I think the only think this set was lack of was reprints...
As someone who isn't able to play in person, I also took issue with the whole thing where they had an Alchemy version of this set on Arena with many of the same cards with different mechanics... Complete nightmare for anyone who pays attention to (not to mentions plays) both paper and digital.
I know the worst things video always does better than the positive, which can be pretty frustrating and cynical, but I also think it's a blessing in disguise. My favorite thing about your channel is that all of your criticism comes from a place of love for this game, so while highlighting negatives can feel bad and counter-productive it is also the only way magic will improve. My only hope is that the people at wizards of the coast are willing to listen to and acknowledge honest and fair criticism so the game we all love can continue to improve.
well in this year at least i think it is all on wotc, doom and gloom does get the click especially when it is an actual doom.
Thank you TCC team for making all those videos not only this video but also all the previous output. Kudos. Sending love and will continue to support this channel and the team behind this. Great content as always..
Merry christmas and a happy new year TCC..
Take care and God bless
To emphasize how they bungled 30th anniversary, you just have to look 2 years back at Mystery Boosters. Those sold like gangbusters and were an amazing product. Such that when they did the second release, the drafts at LGS's for them were just as full. If they would have literally just waited and released Mystery Boosters as their 30th Anniversary product or modeled it after those, everyone would have praised them for an amazing product.
That's a really good take. Imagine mystery Boosters but for just the first few years of magic sets and none of them a tournament legal. I would've bought ten of those boxes.
For me, 2022 was the year when I gave up on Magic until further notice, due to my personal top 5 below:
5) too much Commander: I don't hate the format (although I don't like its current direction of hyperoptimized staple-fest with very little social interaction left) but it feels like most of cards nowadays are designed with Commander in mind
4) too many variants, makes collecting cards a nightmare
3) Universes Beyond: I get that some people like having their favourite IPs as MtG card and I respect that, but to me it just kill off the flavour of the game that has always been an important component for me, and together with the variants it makes me pretty much unable to recognize a real Magic card from a well made fancy fake.
2) too many products, impossible to keep up with all new cards released for a casual player
1) WotC corporate greed: I fully understand that a public company like Hasbro must hit revenue and profit targets, but they are doing so by clearly squeezing players and collectors without any care for the long-term health of the brand.
I don't want to get too Spice8Rack on this, but the whole situation with public companies has really been bothering me lately. So many bad things happen in so much of the modern world because of the nature of public companies. Down with capitalism! Take WotC private! Vive la révolution!
I read a comment elsewhere and fully agreed with it. IT was saying that mayebe if Habro was not setting WOtC to double profit every 3 years, than probably we would not be where we are at. Instead of seeking huge short term profit like they are doing now, they could just have set more sustainable longterm growth and then WotC would have focused on growing the player base instead of focusing on making huge short term profit with products like 30th Edition.
The only thing i liked about this year for magic was getting new ips. Cuz imo, you should actively be going away from your core at all times to expand your pallete for when you go back to brush up on your core.
I will always respect and admire the balls it takes to break that standard, no matter the reason why it was made. ..but the reason it was made was still shit so, it's more a slight enjoyment then anything
3. I am a 40k player and I dabble in MTG every few releases when I see a mechanic I want to experiment with. I refused to buy the MTG 40k themed set because if I'm playing 40k, I want to play 40k. If I'm playing MTG I want to play MTG. I want to properly immerse myself in MTG's world while playing my game and if I'm summoning a terminator or chaos champion or the like then that's just going to rip me right out of that feeling.
Unfortunately it seems like the rubes don't feel the same way and bought out the set twice over.
@@endlessorbaggins8223 Yeah, they really chose the path for maximum short-term profits over a slower and steadier path to growing the game (like they had been doing for so long). I really don't understand why they felt like they needed to have WotC double their profits repeatedly and on such a small timescale. How many zillions of dollars do they think they need to make? Once all of your upper-level suits are all set with infinite money (since I'm sure plenty of the actual working staff aren't being paid nearly enough and never will be), what's the point of trying to increase that wealth even more?
Oh, right. It's capitalism. There's always money to be made and there's never enough of it no matter how much you already have.
Ya forgot secret lairs.
Also fun fact for anything sitting on double feature boxes, it was extremely common for packs to be faulty and not have the proper number rares from each of the two sets. Open now while you can still get a replacement
0:45 literally my playgroup. From buying dual lands to just proxy all and probably never buying cards nor sealed products again
Interest in magic in my play groups evaporated over the last few months since M30. We’re all looking for new harbors
Join us over playing Flesh and Blood and have a great time.
I've been playing Halo Infinite a lot and been spending hours with friends and new friends playing custom games. We play all sorts of crazy mini games and super fun maps like a literal board game in a kids room.
It really reminded me that fun and accessibility should always come first. I just tell my friends, "hey the multiplayer is free and anyone can join." And they download it and that's that.
It's really sad how 2022 was so inaccessible to so many people for MTG. I think that is the biggest lost, the sense of the only thing bringing people together is hatred not joy.
I had forgotten. I was sitting here watching the video thinking to myself, "It's a good thing Double Feature was last year, or it would be fighting with 30th anniversary for the top spot", and there it was!
Happy New Year, Professor! Have a good one.
As always, we love your candor and perspective, Prof. If not with WotC, we'll certainly be here with you in the new year.
Cheers!🎉
we dont and we never have he is a fraud
I thought that many people not getting “Head I Win, Tails You Lose” commander secret lair after a year of waiting was pretty bad.
Some people randomly getting full refunds without notice is an awful surprise.
yeah nobody cares for secret lair dude
30th was Wizards' "Do you guys not have phones?" moment.....
As this year has flown by it has become more and more apparent that WOTC is not going to spend any time or man hours speaking with its community about when they’ve crossed the line. But I know that any time I click on one of these videos, that Prof is going to be looking out for the hobbyist and the little guy. Thank you for everything you do Brian! I wish you a wonderful new year, and hope you had a lovely Christmas!
Even though it was born out of an unfortunate situation, I’m so glad that you and the channel got so much attention and traction this year. Very happy for you! You deserve it completely.
after hearing the teaser for #5 i was so sure he was going to talk about jumpstart for dominaria united and the brothers war, but then he talked about baldurs gate
how bad of a year for mtg can it be if this specific description of a beloved product with a terrible second iteration does not just refer to one product....
Same here :/
Yep, one more here who had the same thought. I had forgotten about HBG, but he's 100% right and I think he got the two in the right order as well...
Since I got back into Magic during the AFR set, I've been gradually warming to your suggestion of buying singles, but still cracked some packs for the fun of it and to randomize what I get, because sometimes I would draw a card I had never considered and start getting new ideas. 30th Anniversary has finally pushed me to singles only. I'll support the secondary market, but I have no desire to give money to a company that so blatantly doesn't care about me.
Handing out signed Greed cards is such a cool move :'D gotta love it
I wonder how Richard Garfield feels about Magic nowadays. I wonder how I would feel about it. Obviously it's not a major part of his life nowadays, but surely it must feel weird seeing your creation evolve so far beyond what you envisioned, but not in a way you would have necessarily liked.
Him and George Lucas should make a documentary on how it feels.
Honorable Mention: That the Squeeze Blood from the Stone mentality that Magic has been showing may well be moving to WotC's other big name product as we go into One D&D, the future of Dungeons and Dragons. (I know there is a lot of he said, she said going on right now and details are unclear but it's fair to say the D&D community is on edge as things remain unclear and discussion about the brand being 'undermonetized' and wanting repeatable spending patterns like a live service game just feels like a dark omen.)
Also love the inclusion of both the Richard Garfield quote and the reactions from other content creators on the magic 30 vids. Love the content as always, Prof.
Its been pretty wild for me as a person getting into Magic in the past few months. Feel like the community is really bummed out and every creator I've watched as I tried to learn about the hobby isn't excited about the game any more. I'm still excited to be here and to start playing the game, but I do hope things turn around soon.
Things have not been like this level of negative in past years. WotC really messed up lot of products and also their 30th anniverssary in 2022. I'm trying to figure out how I would feel being like you and entering the game at the current state. I would probably be wondering if I made a good decision to engage with the game. I woud say, this is still the best game I ever played. You are not obliged to engage with products, or you can just engage with products you consider good for you. And, also you are not obliged to follow and engage with the negativity. I've been really neagtive and following content that was negative didn't helped. But, somehow I share some of others feelings and opinions about the current state of the game. I think if there is no one to voice their insatisfaction and disapointment then WotC would not know or it would just give them the green light to do worse predatory cash grab nonsense.
"WOTC isn't interested in talking to me, but Philly D is" omfg I nearly spat out my water. TY for a great summary of the worst of the worst, but also thank you for making it honest but also funny and not dwelling too much in the negative. I have hope for the future, and it's comforting to see you do too!
You've probably been asked this often, but have you heard of the Trust Thermocline terminology ?
Do you think we're past the point of no return, but not feeling its effects just yet ?
Yep! Very relevant to MtG these days.
This year was the year I finally went over to fully proxied decks. I used to be proud of the fact that all my EDH decks were "legit" cards, but the repeated PR disasters and insane prices were too much. Add on top of that the fact that they're selling proxies as an *official product* and seem to be pandering to collectors and investors instead of players, I caved and started proxying decks I've always wanted to play. Now that I'm not priced out of the majority of the game, I find that I'm having a lot more fun with it.
I end up paying roughly $40 CAD for 100 high-quality proxies and that's on par with any of my tightly budgeted EDH decks. It's opened up a lot of new styles of play for me and I've started getting into cEDH which is a lot of fun.
I love that you give the good and bad. I think if people watch enough of your videos they should be able to tell that your opinions come from a deep love of the game and an understanding of what the community wants/needs. I can tell you put so much thought and passion in to your content because its obvious you love the game and the players. I appreciate how even if you don't like something you can acknowledge that a product might be worth it for some and you will say it. You really try to give an informed and well rounded opinion on the products and the company. As a returning player I was very impressed with your channel about two or three years ago. I watched a lot of the older content and I always watch the new videos (well maybe not the un-magic ones, however sometimes I do). You put out good content that I feel is trustworthy, of course people should take what they hear and form their own opinions, I think you're channel is perfect assisting in that. Also being that we're similar in age, you kinda remind me of the friends I played Magic with back in Highschool. Anyway Happy New Year to you and your family, and those who help produce your channel and to all of the community!
The biggest let down for me in 2022 was Wizards lack of effort in trying to encourage in store play. Covid destroyed in store play, especially in my area due to mandatory lockdowns. 2022 was essentially the first year back to in store play, but events were empty. Not many people kept up with physical formats like Standard since they couldn't play it, and a ton of people just switched to eternal formats like Commander. I invested in a mono black standard deck just to have it waste away after weeks of FNM not having enough players to start the event.
As a not-so-frequent paper player, I didn't really feel product fatigue.
That is, until I decided to plan for a Dominaria Remastered draft at my LGS, and found out that they won't be hosting one, due to DMR coming out within three weeks of All will be One prerelease.
This year reminds me of 2012 Yu-Gi-Oh where everyone gave up on the game. Obviously the reasons are very different, but the feeling is the same.
On the bright side, the 2012 ORCS format was so bad it gave birth to the retro format community.
I just realized that is when I gave up on the game. I don’t remember what was happening at the time, but I just got tired of it and switched to Magic. Wild how things change and yet stay the same.
I think another problem with CL2: Baldur's Gate was the Arena release. The Alchemy versions of those cards were not liked by many players. If those versions were your first exposure to "the cards" and they left a bad taste in your mouth, why would you want any of the paper versions?
Thanks for another great year of content Prof, even if Wizards doesn't care about the community its great to have content creators like you who will be a champion for the players. All the best to you and yours in the next year.
I've played magic for over half of my life. I love playing edh with friends even now. But I haven't bought any product for a few years. This year I've been getting more into Yu-Gi-Oh . Master Duel has been insanely generous and easy to get into compared to arena which felt greedy.
Love seeing the professor get all the coverage from other channels, truly deserved.
greetings fellow yugioh player :)
The reaction of Asmongold to the 1000 $ price tag is hilarious.
From a guy who dropped a couple thousand on Diablo Immortal of all things, that face is a dire indictment
"As much as some people pay rent"
Prof, here in eastern EU 1000 bucks would pay for 8 months of my rent
Earlier this year I decided to make my largest MTG purchase ever with a Sliver Queen for my deck. Then 30th Anniversary happened. I haven’t spent a cent on magic since and I’m pretty sure a print shop will be getting my money from now on.
Sit tight... you will likely look back at that purchase of a RL card as the best money you spent on MTG.
Watching you appear on SxePhil really blew my mind a while back.
It was like playing super smash brothers and seeing a new character you weren't expecting but made you really hyped.
IMO, Magic 30th anniversary was the best product of the year. Why is that ? Because they will maybe begin hearing from us now that we are all mad at their "$$$ first" management. Enough is enough. Their overall sales are going to drop BIG TIME and they will know why. The crowd is not happy. Period. (which is sad cause it totally spoiled the great Domiaria Block that is going on... really sad).
Love you prof for being our voice and support. You rock.
Like other have said: best thing to happen in MTG in a while in that it united the community like never before for good and all togheter voicing our disgust about WotC decisions and greed.
Four months of Streets of new Capenna draft before we finally got Dominaria United in September deserves spot #5 way more than Battle for Baldur's Gate, which was great!
That opening reminded me that I had the good fortune to hear Richard Garfield give a guest lecture when I (briefly) was going to college about 10 years ago. One of the main things I remembered about that was him talking about how he much preferred the term *trading* card game as opposed to *collectible* card game. "Trading" implied it was something you did with other people, that you communicated and interacted with your peers as part of the experience. On the flipside, "collectible" was very individual, a thing you did by yourself with little interaction with others. Even if he's too polite to say anything publicly (not to mention he probably doesn't want to burn any bridges), as The Professor mentions up top I can't imagine he's especially thrilled with some of the directions Magic has gone in the last couple of years.
I love this channel and I'm glad you're getting the recognition you deserve - it kinda sucks it's a result of such a monstrosity of a product (Magic 30). I do love the Best Of 2022 video as well
It was the Best of times, It was the worst of times..... 🙄 Happy New Years Professor and crew. 🤘🦁🤘
Prof is so right about the " "Jumpstart" " stuff. My brother gifted me a couple of the Dominaria Utd ones (which btw were being re-packaged and re-sold by some scammy company so he probably paid more than he should've) and I know he immediately saw on my face that I was not excited about the gift as I opened it.
You showing up on Phily D was a shock, though a very happy one. Nice to see how much traction it gained.
I'm in some ways perplexed that Secret Lairs didn't make a showing in this. Secret Lair alerts needed a snooze button.
Thing with secret lair is it is a product no one feels pressed to purchase since we know it's made as an artist show case. Which I find in itself great.
Artists have a small area of product that promotes them and not just the card itself.
If you are only seeing the cards in Secret Lair only you are using the product wrong.
@@joshshin6819 We are already inundated with products. Was there really a need to produce almost a Secret Lair for every week in the year?
@@joshshin6819
>secret lair is a product no one feels pressed to purchase
Secret Lairs are built on inducing fear of missing out in vulnerable customers, ESPECIALLY those with good cards
I sold my entire collection about half a year into the pandemic when they thought THAT was the best time to release secret lair and charge a premium price for cardboard. Everything since had just further reinforced that I will never buy this product again unless there are major changes made.
Great video prof, I think one of the things you missed for worst parts of magic this year was the double masters 2022. It was supposed to be a reprint set (which was good) but the price increase made it a lot less available for the people who were hoping to get important reprints that are otherwise usually really expensive.
I loved Asmon's reaction to that video, just watching the light in his eyes extinguish when he mentioned the price point, perfect metaphor for all of us.
I basically gave up on magic last year and have been playing the online version of Pokemon TCG. The contrast is so intense. I get codes for online boosters in my regular packs, I can trade those online packs for cards I really want/need and there are always tournaments to attend. I'm out of MTGs grasp, even if I miss it, a lot.
Nothing beats the old days of Chaotic. Long before Magic and Pokemon went for the online format, Chaotic already mastered it.
Unique codes on *every* card so you could have your real collection in the online game, and then still trade your online cards with other players, and then of course a full fledged and functioning digital version of the game to use that online collection in. All with 0 added cost beyond just buying the real cards.
I was surprised that Alchemy wasn't mentioned, then I remembered that it was introduced in December 2021. Time sure flies.
Hey professor, its been a while!- Hope you have a good new year, and I will see you when new classes drop in the Spring Semester!
Wow, it's really telling that with the intro to number 5 I was expecting 2 completely different products but it ended up being something else that had slipped my mind entirely.
Yeah, the 30A made me sell my entire collection and am keeping 4 edh decks just for that fun commander meet up once a blue moon. Looking to start with Wh40k.
Bruh, weird overreaction lol
The notion that Innistrad double feature could have been Innistrad remastered (similar to Dominaria remastered) is heartbreaking. Now THAT is a reprint set that would have flown off the shelves.
But that would take time and effort, to curate and ensure a fun and balanced product. We all know WotC isn't about that life anymore, so they took the lazy way out and just mashed both sets together, sent it off to be printed, and released one of the most milquetoast sets ASAP to try and fill their coffers even more at the expense of their reputation.
I *LOVE* that a section of this video is devoted to all the other famous RUclipsrs who gave a shout out to your vids & content. Couldnt be the Prof without a bit of preening.
Well done video. You really nailed it again. Catch y’all on the flippity !!
This was the year I sold my collection and bought a printer.
based
Prof saving the best (worst?) video for last. Happy 2023!
I got in during Streets of New Capenna. By the time we got to Brother’s War I felt I had no option to catch up or anything. Products were releasing so fast I didn’t have a moment to breathe or understand what I was doing tbh. I stopped playing. 😕
I’m glad we get this channel, it’s one of the things that kept me playing through these last 3-4 years.
Personally, I didn't buy any physical cards this year. Usually, I would buy a few packs here and there, or a commander deck. But not this year, and not sure I will next year either.
I totally agree with your unfinity point. I love silver borders. The acorn stamp and stickers were awful
2022 was so bad it made me want to quit Magic. And I did. I quit being a judge and I'm currently slowly selling my collection, keeping just my cube and a few commander decks (none of which I'll probably change going forward). With the money I make I started buying board games and Flesh and Blood decks.
My mental health got so much better after I made this decision. I just realized that every time I talked about Magic nowadays the conversation always ended up being a cynical one and always led to frustration. And I don't need this in my life. So I left it behind, as the game left me behind with so many products that were "not for me".
Well said and well done!
Long time listener, first time commenter :) Thanks for another great, honest breakdown. I was wondering if you had plans or would consider a Flesh & Blood Strategy Video for beginners? Your FAB content has got me into it but I was hoping for some Tolarian Tutor style stuff about Flesh & Blood sometime. Thanks for all you do Prof!
Seeing both Critikal and Asmon in a Professor video. It feels like a dream
WHOOOOO THAT'S WHAT WE'D BEEN WAITING FOR
critical is the worst just like the professor and philly d 3 annoying evil e celebs always with the safest take to pander to their audience of normie losers. i yawn. asmon is a good guy.
This year I really got into Premodern thanks Professor! This format is incredibly appealing not just because of the amazing card selection and environment, or purely nostalgia factor, but the fact that WoTC cannot alter this format anymore in any way, shape, or form. Hallelujah!
I hope they don't accept your challenge
@@danacoleman4007 Premodern is a closed format it runs from 4th edition to Scourge. So they literally cannot change it lol
@@MarylandBF I have two words for you as a new product title:
" Pre-modern Masters"
@@danacoleman4007 I would probably buy it🤣
Great video :) for me worst thing is that there is so many products that I can't just enjoy one before another is at pre release hype spoilers time.
I agree with you. But I understand Prof didn't talked about it in his video. That is something that is not a 2022 only thing. Players have complained about that since they started to ramp up the product release in 2018. I know that each year they push the bar even more and that 2022 felt bad on that level. Really wishing that WotC reconsider their relase schedule in the future.
@@endlessorbaggins8223 sure but i talked only about my point of view not about anything Prof. might missed.
Thanks for the video! I watched the best of 22 as well. As a 35yo that played in my teen years all if this advices are helping me gettin back in the game!
I really enjoy this channel! It is just the right level of informative, fun and wacky : )
Dzięki Ci Profesorze za Twoją pracę :)
You're the best, professor. Greetings from Mexico and happy new year!
I've been a MTG player for 6 years, so relatively new but I've enjoyed playing Commander with my friends over the years-- But what you're saying at 0:44 is very true.
After all the drama with the 30th year anniversary... I gave up on MTG altogether. I went back to an older card game I always loved: World of Warcraft TCG! I still have all my cards in binders and like 20 or so decks made. I started buying singles again for some of the cards I'm missing. It's been great to go back and play that game again.
I don't know if I'll ever get the spark to buy mtg products again but for now... It's on the back burner. With the way Hasbro/WotC has been treating the player base, why would I continue to support them? Things have to change at WotC.
For next year I'd like to have the worst-of before the best of, soo im leaving with a more optimistic outlook after taking it all in :/
Great work anyways, Prof! You love what you are doing!
Honestly there is not too much of an optimistic outlook if it comes to this franchise.
I wonder if wotc will eventually reach you to maybe try to fix all of these issues eventually. You're basically one of the best mtg creators and your honesty is golden
Doubt it
I am 35 now and no longer have anyone to play with in real life. I loved arena for that fact, bought the season pass everytime and was still buying physical packs and decks here and there (mostly out of noatalgia and not wanting to give up) but I have stopped playing arena and will not spend another dime on physical product since the 30 fiasco until changes are made. I know I'm not alone in this as a veteran almost og player either. They have alienated ALL of their player base except the whales and flippers, and soon they too will realize it's not worth it anymore.
MTG is F'd until big changes are made.
Edit: Thank you, Bryan. Happy new year