Quote from DirkGently »I think you've completely missed the point. This is not a question about me personally, and it's not really about these products specifically either. It's about the direction this game is headed as a whole, and how WotC is treating its customers.
I don't think I missed the point at all. People are clamoring about making a new RC and canceling Commander and the RC in favor of Captain...
I asked WHY, and your response seems to either have nothing to do with the situation as it pertains to Commander, or they are naive points. I think it is as cringe as the next guy, but this discussion of canceling the RC and Commander is pretty rediculous.
WotC's predatory model here isn't bad because I personally might miss out, or worry about missing out. It's bad because it's simply morally wrong. There are many people out there - and while do I have these tendencies, personally I can keep them in check in this instance - who are going to see a product that's only available for a short time and decide they have to buy it, not because they actually want it, but because they're worried they might want it later. And in particular the structure of MtG makes they predatory practice really powerful, because unlike a limited edition figurine or whatever, not just the value but also the function of these cards could change with the release of future cards. Maybe Rick doesn't look legacy viable now, but maybe WotC makes some really pushed human tribal cards in the future and suddenly he's an in-demand 3-of for a top-tier legacy deck. There's also such a short window between the announcement and the "gotta buy it right now" window that there's not much time to test these cards with proxies, for players who might want to do some research for buying, or who just might want more time to think it over. Most cards are easily available for years before supplies start to dry up, which gives plenty of time for those cards to be tested and proven in various formats - whether that's a competitive format or casual commander. With these, you've gotta buy 'em RIGHT NOW BUY THEM RIGHT NOW OR YOU'LL NEVER HAVE THEM. And who knows what the next set will look like, or the next, or the next? It took WotC TWO unique BaB promos to screw up and make one standard-competitive. We're just going to hope that doesn't happen again, except potentially much worse, this time? They're playing with fire here, fire they've proven they cannot control, and they're doing it out of greed, pure and simple. It's wrong and they know it's wrong.
Yet this isn't new. People have been dealing with card availability in MTG since... forever. People will meet this situation as they always have in the format... just proxy them. Exclusivity is nothing new to the game, the only difference is that now it isn't driven by the secondary market. Plenty of companies market on this axis without being called predatory, so why is MTG unable to do the same without receiving backlash?
I don't necessarily mind IP bleed as much as most - I love seeing pop culture alters for the most part (I've got an genie transforming abu alter of [[pongify]] for example), I'm happy to play against silver-bordered cards, and I love P3k - in fact I wish they did more similar things, because I really don't give a crap about the MtG story or characters and everything I read from it makes me cringe. But The Walking Dead is, imo, a very very poor choice of crossover IP for a couple reasons:
1) It takes place in a near-real-world, and the cards depict real human actors. This is way more jarring to me than any Kaiju.
2) More importantly, TWD is a currently running commercial product, and WotC partnering with them is essentially selling us advertisements for that show. That is a huge difference between, say, P3K which afaik isn't shilling for any Chinese history books. Luckily I'm not super interested in the design of any of these cards, but if I were, I'd be very bothered by being forced to run one themed around another commercial property like TWD. Sure, Godzilla technically is too, but I sure haven't seen any movies advertised for Spacegodzilla or Mechagodzilla or whatever. They're old enough to feel like general cultural consciousness, and not something trying to sell itself right now. And more importantly they're available in normal "magic" versions so I'm not forced to play with them, and I don't (except death corona because that's too gold to pass up).
3) Less importantly, The Walking Dead is just the worst show. It blows my mind that people still watch that dreck and think it's actually good. Season 1 was mediocre and then season 2 was already unforgivably bad in so many ways - boring, contrived, nonsensical, boring, poorly-written, under-budgeted, boring, and with few, if any, redeeming characters. If this was a crossover with a property I had even a modicum of respect for, I'd be a lot more conflicted, but there are few shows I have less respect for than TWD. Thirteen Reasons Why, there we go, I found one. If they partner with 13RW I will throw my magic collection off a bridge.
The product is limited to the point where I think these complaints are just kind of ridiculous to draw the conclusion that they are ruining the game. You are talking about the exclusiveness of the product while simultaneously advocating that it is going to heavily permeate MTG to the point where it is shoved in everyone's face. Talk about speaking in hyperbole.
By making these cards TWD, they're saying that if I want to play these cards, I have to support the walking dead and play with cards that have their names and images on them. That is a massive barf from me. As mentioned, none of these hugely appeal (I guess I might want to try Negan out? But it's certainly not a pressing need) but who knows what the future might hold with future lairs that might have more interesting mechanics with flavor I dislike? I also don't relish the idea of getting my ass kicked by Ronald McDonald because they pushed their mcdonalds crossover to hell and back. Silver border lets me say "no", black border does not.
You know what else lets you say "no"? Curating a playgroup like people did when EDH first got off the ground. I am unsure why so many people seem to think that you have to play the format in an open table setting as opposed to a kitchen table style setting in which the format was birthed. It is rather comical whilst being very confusing.
All that said, I'm certainly not calling for deposing the RC. I wish they had banned them, and I think they should have, but I do understand their reasoning - a banlist really isn't the "proper" way to prevent these things from happening. I happen to think it's still an effective way, and that when faced with the potential ruination of the format, efficacy is more important that decorum, but I don't think they should get removed for their opinion, definitely not.
I still have not seen a single justifiable reason for banning them. Being cringe isn't really a valid reason. Ruining the format is a pretty bold claim.
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-These cards will be legal.
-Everyone will have access to them.
-No player has the right to force another player to play the game their way.
-Any player may immediately leave any game they choose.
If you're butthurt about someone playing one of the thousands of cards legal in format (XYZ) you're absolutely within your rights to get up and leave. You are in no way allowed to force other people to do jack *****, and chances are that all of the reasonable people at your table are just going to stick around and enjoy a fun game of EDH with the cool new cards while you sulk off on your own. Then you're stuck in the position where you need to insert yourself into another table and repeat the process of trying to force them to play the game your way and potentially failing.
And for what gain? Ask yourself what you even hope to accomplish by gatekeeping certain cards out of the games you're in. Are you the RC now? Are these cards really hurting you? Is your mild annoyance more important than the joy of others, or even your own ability to play the game with the average person?
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You're absolutely correct here.
WotC isn't doing anything wrong with products like this; it'll make many TONS of people happy, and bring a bunch more players into the fold. It will also make a for-profit company money, so they can keep making the game we love, just like every set ever printed. These are good things. If people want to be petulant, gatekeeping brats about a children's card game then they won't be missed from the tables adults are playing at and having a blast with the new cards
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This product is great so far. Excellent art, solid (if not particularly highly desirable) card picks, and a good cause. They'd have to include a bunch of serious duds from here on to scuttle the box.
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Really bruh? All of the proceeds are going to charity and the art so far is pretty damn slick. This is what the last charity box should've been, why you hating?
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If your deck is completely unplayable unless your opener wins a ~26% chance lottery, your opponent can end you with a counterspell, and even if you're not interrupted you have a ~20% chance of spending two cards to do absolutely nothing, you're not winning a tournament any time soon unless you've got the luck of Seth Manfield.
Again, is it backbreaking when it works? Yeah. Does it usually work? No, no it does not. Without calculating for whether an opponent has interaction, you're looking at roughly a 20.8% chance of going off.
And that's for the standard version. The modern numbers are even worse, since you're hard-locked into drawing outburst or bust. The deck is baaaaaad.
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White: Please sir, something, anything!
WotC: Our hands are tied.
Blue: *laughs in Ascendant Spirit*
Red: *laughs in Tibalt's Trickery*
Black: *laughs in Feed the Swarm*
Green: *laughs in literally every green card printed these days*
White: But sir... *points to other colors*
WotC: OUR. HANDS. ARE. TIED.
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I had a super-tuned $10k planeswalker deck for a long time and while it was fun, it always fell apart when aggression happened.
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What you're feeling is frustration at being outplayed, and there's only two real courses of action available to you. Do you...
A) Get angry and allow it to make you bitter, or...
B) Strive to improve so that you can compete with him.
My advice to you is to spend more time watching him when you're playing, and if something seems peculiar or deliberate and you don't understand why he's doing it, just ask. Most good players are more than happy to explain their thought process and play patterns. Chances are, he's just better at sequencing to maximize his mana, or has better threat assessment and as such doesn't waste cards when he doesn't need to, or hell maybe he's just subtly politicking his way through games and you're not catching it.
Whatever the case, the best thing you can do is figure out why you're losing and attack it instead of worrying about how it makes you feel. Don't address the symptoms, address the cause.
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Trust me, I know from experience, you're better off not interacting with people like that. For your own sanity.
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