The Overgrown Estate

Rhystic Studies rarely misses, and they are right on the money with this one. I’d recommend anyone giving it a read.

Sam compares what MtG is becoming to Funko Pop, a toy which exists only to let you express your enjoyment of other franchises. I think you might also compare Magic, in its Universes Beyond era, to Fortnite, which similarly has a strong mechanical identity, a nominal plot, and makes a lot of money by selling “hang out with your friends while ‘dressed’ as your favorite characters”.

I think a reasonable story you can tell about Universes Beyond is that someone there to five years ago pitched the WoTC execs on “what if we made Commander the next Fortnite” and at least so far it seems like they were right. The hardest part of getting people to play Magic is getting the cards into their hands, and Fortnite: Wizard Squares is the best way to do it. Besides everyone knows Vorthos doesn’t buy cards anyway.

That’s another lens to look at this, I guess, the cyclical embrace and rejection of the Vorthoses. @sam-keeper wrote the closest thing I’ve seen to the definitive history of this back in 2018, but that was six years ago and since then it seems like not only is the lore community not what it used to be, but there’s been a turn away from using lore and narrative to sell the game. Magic Story isn’t necessarily going anywhere, and it seems to have found a happy niche being written by outside professionals who also love the game, but it’s being outstripped by supplemental products that don’t get lore documents, either because they’re UB or they’re remaster sets, horizon sets, secret lairs, Jumpstart, Commander…remember when Conspiracy and Battlebond got stories? Remember when the Commander legends got a little blurb explaining their deal? There’s no need for that anymore, everyone knows who Legolas is, and if you don’t there’s ChatGPT Google.

…I got a bit carried away there, whoops

Pro player Ben Stark once claimed that the game would be just as engaging if there were no distinctive names or pictures on the cards, just rules text. As Universes Beyond become a bigger part of Magic, it feels like we’re taking one step closer towards testing his claim.

you know I almost made a catty reply about all this to mark rosewater the other day before reminding myself that this is not my circus nor my monkeys anymore but I just can't help but think about the last article I did, about WotC's repeated failed attempts to sell people on the storyline without having to actually spend any money on the storyline or promoting the storyline. like, what I wrote there is still true: the single best storyline resource remains Cary's website, and afaik they aren't even an active fan anymore. you have this entire game, Arena, with all sorts of functionality, but they couldn't be bothered to like, bundle the free stories with the game so you could click from a card in your collection to a narrative about that character? they've spent decades smothering their own IP and then turn around and go, well, what really resonates with people is uhhh transformers. they're more than meets the eye! :O

the thing that gets me though about WotC messaging and Rosewater in particular is this weird sleight of hand they do with accountability. they admit--sometimes, strategically, and always with their spin and framing--when they "make mistakes". but we're never supposed to look at the history of those mistakes and go, ok, wait, why should we trust that the decision you're making *right now* isn't a mistake in the exact same vein as all these others? whatever's happening in the present is always what the adults in the room know the silent player majority want, and the proof is in the economic pudding. doooon't ask too many questions about Hasbro's stock rating. definitely do not ask too many questions about how the current model of pumping out minor alternate collectable versions of bad cards parallels the insanely inflated value of alternate covers during the comics bubble of the 90s. there's no point in any case--wotc exists in a bubble of their own marketing data and metrics designed to reify, through feedback, their own premises, so everyone on the outside looking in and going hey, this does *not* seem sustainable, well they're just a bitter emotional minority.

it's deeply cynical, all the more so because it comes couched in conciliatory terms. the history is what it is, though, and I think it's worth asking whether WotC has done... really much of anything in actual concrete terms to earn the trust that in my experience most big name fans are all too willing to hand to them again and again. particularly if you identify as a Vorthos, a player type that, if you remember, was from the start decisively shut down by Mark Rosewater as not a "real" reason to play the game on par with the other player types, their own data prophecy that they have repeatedly fulfilled themselves.

Don't you know Magic articles have turned into marketing ploys? It's no longer about sharing info with the players. It's about getting you to click on a link to the pre-order page. Doesn't matter if they put the same link under every picture when only one would be enough. They want you to pre-order the next set, or at least click the link.