It was almost fifteen years ago that Kelzam and a few friends first launched a small forum in a random corner of the web named MTG Salvation. It was nondescript and started only with an idea. But in early 2005, that idea caught fire and spread, leading to a massive influx of users, and MTG Salvation has never looked back.
In the past decade and a half, we have come a long way and grown exponentially - both in size and in concept. We have expanded well past being a forum, and even walked away from our days of spoiler leaks. We've gone from Wizard's black sheep that shouldn't be mentioned to even being celebrated with our own preview card.
I have been here to see all of it, having joined the site and staff only shortly after inception. In the past decade and a half, I have been constantly inspired by the dedication and effort the staff and members have put into this community. For every late night I've ever put to the grindstone, there's been a hundred others doing the same, motivating me to do more. I can never express the level of gratitude I have for all of you out there who have made this site and community what it is.
It is therefore with the heaviest of hearts that I announce the following:
MTG Salvation will be closing on July 8th, 2019.
Because of the rich history and great many resources our community has created over the years, the site will not be taken completely offline. Instead, it will be archived and enter a "read only" mode, where all of our past content can continue to be read and linked to. Threads, articles, decks, and posts will continue to all be available, but nothing new will be able to be posted or created.
The answer to the inevitable question of why is complex, but deserves a response. Our owners have expanded on to other projects, launching such epic endeavors as D&D Beyond. As these have taken off, the development team has shifted focus and simply does not have the time and resources for us that we require. They can simply no longer justify the development, infrastructure, and maintenance costs of the site compared to their other projects.
So thank you to everyone who has made this place what it is.
For those of you who wish to continue on with our community here, the staff and I have begun building a new home. We'll announce and discuss the prospect when it is more concrete and closer to completion.
Please rest assured that the staff will be here to the end. We still have another preview season to go through, and we wouldn't miss it for the world.
This is simply the only place I come for any sort of Magic information, so I'm not quite sure I'll even be paying attention to Magic as much anymore after close.
Truly sorry to see this go. It is, indeed, the end of an era.
It's been one heck of a ride, and I can't wait to see what's in store for us in the future.
Sad news, not sure where to go now once MTGS closes down for good.
See you there.
I mean, didn’t look the same, but it wasn’t just that.
Anyway, including my old account on the old site, I’ve been on here for years. It’s been great (especially earlier).
Will miss it.
Thank you to the creators/owners/mods/community for making MTGSalvation an enjoyable spoiler/idea hub for us lurkers!
I came with the mass exodus from 'News. I started as a lurker. Slowly began posting. Became a mod. Then back into obscurity I went. Sally will be missed. 14 years of me are here. Sad to see it go.
sites like this should be profitable
if they lose money on it, they should sell it
if they cant part with engine or something else, copy forum database to a new site with free engine, make some banners and be profitable
MTGS' monetization is largely an older model based on ads. Other revenue streams were considered but rejected, and when you factor in server costs and other operating costs for a forum this size, you're looking at probably about five digits a month. But it's not really as simple as being big. Money has to come from somewhere, and banner ads just don't pay the bills anymore.
Amazon sold Curse to Fandom, and as an accountant and longtime Magic market analyst (including analyzing businesses that have Magic-based operations), my suspicion is Fandom is getting a nice little tax writeoff or other loss carryover as a result of it.