What would you rather spend $1,000 on instead? Let me know! ... ... And remember! My Discord has a 100% free "Looking For Game" section, with games of everything from Commander to Modern (and even Pauper) firing off. So if you want to get some webcam Magic, just check out discord.gg/tolariancommunitycollege
It's already not for me...I've been away from the game for 20 years and i'm back for about 3 months, only playing commander. I am on shocked how it was and how it become over time. If it wasn't for commander, i would not be playing magic again.
Hey Prof., you haven't been "Too negative" recently. You've only been correct in what you were saying, a much heavier crime. Thanks for making a video about this.
Yeah, I once said that the Prof was dwelling too much in the negative, but it looks like I just had my head buried in the sand. Midnight Hunt gave me so much of what I’d hoped for in Magic, and now I’m wondering if I’ll even care when Innistrad 4 happens. If it even will, with this approach. And if it will be recognizable as such next visit if we make it.
"just how big did we go?" "so, so big, that's how big" I can never get over how fake and soulless that line is. It is an incredible achievement. It's like they were trying to capture the very essence of being dead inside and forcing yourself to try and sell something you know perfectly well to be a steaming pile of trash. They nailed it in the most spectacular fashion imaginable. She might as well be screaming into a megaphone "ignore absolutely everything we are going to say and stay the F away from this absolute garbage".
The disconnect between what they're saying, and the audience response... it is amazing to compare the two. What is wrong with these people? What world are they living in? What makes them think this is what people want?
Everytime I see a product reveal from HasLab or the MTG crew I my jaw drops at their genuine disconnect from reality and their customer base. Couldn't agree more with your assessment 👍
Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a universe where this was a typo, the packs costed $9.99, and we all had a good laugh about how ridiculous it would be to sell four packs for $999.
@@okgut2033 Only way wotc gets better is if they get bought by a single entity and is not publicly shared. As long as there are shareholders, the only incentive is profit. And if it does not profit, it getz shitbinned. We need it to fail SO bad that it gets shitbinned and bought by someone small who cares.
I started playing in 1995, and loved MtG for decades-easily my favorite game of all time. But I left it for good last year, when it was clear WotC no longer actually values their players, or even their own game-they’re happy to burn it all down to the ground in the quest to maximize profits.
Yugioh player checking in, I know nothing about Magic the Gathering but wanted to know what all the buzz is with the new 30th Anniversary packs. A thousand dollars for four random packs of non tournament legal cards?! And they only give ONE to local game stores?! That sounds absolutely insane. Complete robbery. I thank you for making such a comprehensive, well spoken breakdown of this product. Even I could understand it and I don't know the first thing about the game.
YGO is a better game flat out, MTG cards also look terrible and i have yet to see any card art that actually interests me. It doesnt have to be that way, just print a few Trickstar Reincarnation or Witchcrafter Madame Verre type artworks into magic WOTC and i might deign to play more of your game
@@ExtraVictory as Ygo player, I think their actual art is better than our bad anime imitations. Ygo just makes generic anime girls and calls them monsters: Striker, Live twin, Marincess, trickstar, Labyrinth, Dragonmaid, traptrix, Tearlament etc. It is in a tier 0 format with Tears, its art declined from old stuff like dark jeroid or Il Blud. Even those are nothing to Elesh Norn, Dusk Legion or Endless Ranks imo.
A quote from the actual article "So few people had the experience of opening a Black Lotus or Mox Sapphire when Magic was originally released" so they end up releasing a product so egregiously overpriced that even fewer people will get the opportunity!
Not on WotC side but if you think well, at least the “few” part of the experience they quite nailed it? 😂 It was hard to pull those back then and on the way they did this crap product it will be again this time around, likely harder as you said.
Im still wondering how no one has a case that this is a form of gambling. Its price point is so rediculous compared to other products there is no real reasonable explanation besides getting the most money possible
Reminder that Pokemon TCG printed "Evolutions", which was essentially a reprint of their Alpha - Base Set. It was priced like any other set and booster. It wasn't just printed "to demand", it was overprinted and included in every bundle, pack and other product. Despite that, the moment it was out of print, it skyrocketed in price, because it was so beloved and fun to open.
Yeah the pokemon company has done a pretty good job keeping play staples reasonably priced while also keeping collectibles (alt arts, secret rares, etc) in their sets retain decent price/collection value.
Except Pokemon doesn't have Reserve Lists or regular reprints of the same card, they just slap a different foil pattern and cool graphics for it's juvenile audience and sell them like they're new cards. Don't compare Apples to Oranges or adult card games with child's card games. Nobody actually plays with Pokemon cards anyway, they either drop them in a pile on the floor for their toddler to chew on or they put them in a top loader to sell to some other neck beard.
@@brianp6859 To be fair, Pokemon TCG has gone the way of the Wizards recently, drastically power-creeping the game in a short amount of time and introducing a special form of cards that only appear in the rare slot, but are impossible to make a deck without. Still not as bad as duals or fetches, but it's no longer affordable or approachable for new players.
I'm glad that wizards of the coast decided to go in this direction for the 30th anniversary. It made it easy to decide not to buy anymore of their products retail.
Sold my collection and everytime I check to see what's new in the Magic World, makes me feel happy I did. My friends thought I was over reacting to all the shit they were doing and that things would slow down and go back to normal but it truely doesn't seem that way. Man I miss the days that they cared about players, local game stores... Very sad.
I’m 41 years old and I’m by no means an expert of magic. What I am is a fan remembering when I was 14-15 years (1995-1996) old and being introduced to this new world of game play. Such a fun time remembering how everyone gathered to play this game, either played in the back of an old comic store or on the floor (where ever) to play. The point that I’m trying to make is that the innocence of a youth being able to afford a pack and share it with friends is long gone. I grew up poor but for my father to be able to purchase a single pack was huge for me let alone two. Just scrolling YT and to see that this product is being sold at these prices is ridiculous, especially for cards that can’t be used is silly. And in that pack I opened an “Icy Manipulator”, not a rare card but something I was happy for. Sad to see these companies try to squeeze the pockets of potential future players and leave the core fans out (exclusivity). Side note, surprisingly I was able to find my original decks from the 90’s in my garage. What great memories and that is something you can’t put a price on.
There IS the 30th anniversary secret lair that actually does seem like a pretty good product. It's been completely overshadowed by this greedy mess of an announcement (and it's also a limited printing and pretty overpriced), but it's 1000x better than the Proxies.
I personally really liked both Commande Legends sets, if those are what you mean with "commander" masters. But I fully agree that this is the worst thing WotC did so far.
Since we (and mostly speculators) will continue to purchase overpriced products, they'll continue, the only way to going back is to boycott mtg for few years, but nobody will, or not enough
Prof. Thank you for putting the community's voice in a megaphone. This is pure money grabbing at it's peak. And it's a shame because this could have been an amazing product for EVERYONE to enjoy, instead of just people with insane amounts of money.
What's messed up is that there are people actually saying anyone complaining about this are just acting entitled and should accept this crap as the new way things are done now.
@@Wolfcone as an adult $1000 is an insane amount for proxy cards just like how $200 is an insane amount for an apple. If you feel throwing $1000 at a bad product is what makes you an adult you need to reevaluate.
Man, everytime I get the itch to play MTG again and get back into the scene, something like this always rears itself into view. Just utterly kills any inspiration.
They think if they say it we will believe. It’s called spin. Their only concern is profit and every statement issued from a Hasbro employ should be viewed through that lens.
I've met Gavin when he was touring LGSs (I judged at one at the time) and I think HE does appreciate the LGS. Unfortunately his opinion doesn't go to the board room. Sadly for him, he's the guy they put on camera for these things.
While I won't give links or names of some of these places since I'm pro-proxies but anti-forgeries, I'll just say that it's VERY easy to find places that you can order printed proxies of various quality levels... Some shops will not print obvious forgeries, but there are some Chinese print shops that don't care and actually specialize in making bootleg cards that can pass as real unless placed under exceptional scrutiny. If you just want some good proxy cards that wouldn't pass for real, but would be good enough for casual play with friends, Make Playing Cards has been well known for years and has good prices.
I'd gladly slide a few dollarydoos to a good proxy artist for a nice looking (not just copying the OG art) proxy of cards I'm looking for. Paying artists fair prices for their work is worth it imo. Even if they're only "copying" an existing card, it's still takes effort and talent to make original and unique proxies.
@@redt7935 I like the idea of creating alternative art, unless wizards pay their artists a commission based on packs sold, though I'd wager they pay them a lump sum. I'd also like to add that they're releasing these cards at a time where proxies are becoming a very popular alternative. Seems a little suspicious, like they're trying to cash in on the speculative value of these cards; while they still can.
OMG that would be a great statement. Proxy artist making a proxy Lotus and selling it for $998,-. Not with the expectation that someone would buy it, but simply out of defiance.
I have no words for this. Not even Yu-Gi-Oh, lead by Konami of all companies has done things this scummy (in fact I feel most of the time there are fair with it's consumers). I can't believe the direction of magic in these last years.
I hate Konami as a long time ygo player, but I have got to say - this is hilariously unbelievably greedy. I can't fathom how MTG's developers thought it was okay to do this lmaaao
Oh Konami is not fair at all. They secretly short print sought after cards so that even cards with same rarity have different pull ratios. This is probably done just to make it appear that you have better chances of getting higher value cards in a set. I never thought I'd see a gaming company overshadow Konami with their greediness.
While I do think their "Balancing" decisions for stuff is questionable (such as making the legal Egyptian God Cards weaker, then power-creeping them fairly quickly anyways), at the least, some "Sought-After" stuff at least tries to get regularly reprinted. And with the fact they added Egyptian God support, it at least shows they recognize the "Casual" players who just want to have fun.
I find hilarious that Konami's idea for a $1000 anniversary limited run is to stamp and print a 0.2kg ingot of real silver into its poster child monster with original art and a certificate of authenticity, and WotC's is to sell random proxy packs.
WotC is officially worse at making business decisions than the company that made it impossible to get PT legitimately, made Kojima a persona non grata, and thought Contra Rogue Corps was an acceptable product to release to the public. Truly unreal.
As someone who is a contemporary of thr Prof, I started playing around the time Arabian nights came out... I really started getting serious playing/collecting when revised came out... when I saw that they were going to be releasing proxy cards for thr 30th anniversary I was so pumped I was almost shaking... who cares if they had different backs!? My playgroup (2 out of 3 other players ive known since those days) could draft our hearts out and have a nostalgia high... but as I read on I saw thr price and literally thought it was a typo until I texted my buddy and he confirmed... honestly one of the biggest let downs/missed opportunities I've ever seen.... what a joke. Literally would have been better to not release anything
I'm not just bummed like a lot of things they release for too much money. Maybe it's just the way they went about announcing it but I'm actually offended.
Something tells me that there are some Chinese print shops that are going to be getting a lot more business... It's already really easy to get counterfeit cards that look legit, especially with the quality control issues WotC has, so I am betting this product's massive backlash is going to just send them more people.
It'd sure be cool if they did reprints with different backs so we could play like how we did in the past. They could have done a cool block to play with this.
when you said "imagine beta draft" my heart immediately broke for what could have been. yes, i can always just proxy these cards myself, but a whole lgs of people drafting beta isnt a power i have. what could have been.
I really wonder if they did a cost analysis between releasing this at 1000 bucks to a handful of people, or maybe 10 bucks a pack to most people, or 4 bucks a pack to everyone. Can you imagine if they printed this like a regular set? It would sell huge.
yes but speculators would not like it + im 100% sure that people connected to higher ups at wizards actually ARE speculators so they are doing things on their own interest.
I attended Magic Celebration for the 20th anniversary at my lgs. Wizards gave everyone 30 card decks of the core set in the color they wanted to play. There were at least 30 of us there. WotC provided boosters to give out in between rounds, three rounds of play. Then we got promos at the end, albeit old promos from the LGS. It was all free to the Magic community, and one of the most enjoyable events I've ever attended. This offering for the 30th anniversary is anti player.
Thank you for adding the video of the announcement…. It was horrifying. I hated the announcement video and how they just announced $999 with straight faces. Such an insult. Anyway. Thank you prof. This video was so important. Thank you for standing up for us.
How long do you think their spokespeople had to rehearse that before they could say the whole thing without vomiting? Or maybe at this point the people who WotC pays to announce this crap are so used to spouting obvious nonsense that they're just numb to it now.
@@Radiodragonofdoom and MaRo is on record on his blog as saying they would never reprint the RL in any way. Not in different size, gold border etc. We can plainly see that comment aged well.....
@@HSSG7 During the clips of the video, I couldn't help but focus on MaRo's face. He looks like he's barely managing to hold in a grimace (at least) as they're talking.
Collectable, commemorative, mind-blowing, amazing new product... That many adjectives you know its gotta be good! Reminds me of George Carlin's "advertising lullaby".
This is going to lead to a weird situation where the sealed versions of these packs may be worth more than anything they could contain because unopened ones are more rare than the circulating supply of their contents.
The worst part is on their site and also in the video they try to spin it as a big celebration for the whole community. It is sickening. Doesn't anyone in a position of leadership at WoTC has any moral compass or is it all greed? Don't answer as I know the answer: $999/4 boosters of proxies says it all after all.
@@Morrodin182 Corporates are often detached from reality due to all the massive amount of money they already have, so they live like gods, while common people die everyday due to inequality.
@@Brainles5 In the short term, yes. But in the long term, if players leave, then investors and collectors are going to see prices drop and then they'll exit too.
Konami: Celebrates Yu-Gi-Oh's anniversary with a $1000 Blue Eyes White Dragon Card made of 99.9% silver in a display case and official certificate, technically tournament legal. Also re-releases the first 5 booster packs ever released and an exclusive anniversary card in a collector's box for $30 which are also tournament legal. WOTC: 60 cards you can't play for $1000
I remember when the collector's edition and the world tour decks came out. They were priced reasonably, and were so fun to play with since I couldn't ever afford those cards as a kid. Had they done something similar again, I would be all over it. This is just sad.
@@zelphermm Uh...no, they're not. Collector's/International Edition cards have square corners and gold-bordered backs with the name of the edition written underneath the Magic logo, and World Championship decks also have different backs and gold borders on the front. None of these cards are tournament legal.
@championchap they can price them however they want. The secondary market determines the aftermarket price based on supply and demand (aka capitalism). What Wizards is doing is trying to manipulate that price by setting a high bar for the base with a grossly inflated retail so that they get a cut. And its not like a new printing of Black Lotus is going to reduce the price of old ones. Old cards are valuable because they are rare and old and they are going to maintain that value as long as people care about the game. To use another example from the same company an original edition of Monopoly costs $140,000 despite the current version which is functionally identical being available right now on Amazon for 16.34 (15.99 with a coupon).
Hasbros greed destroyed the best game ever created. They actually managed to do it. Listening to those keynotes from Wizards/Hasbros management, feels like regular politicians trying to convince you the the worst possible idea is: “Good”. This makes me so, deeply sad. Thank you Prof for sharing!
wizards: 4 random rares and 56 commons for $999 (plus tax) konami: here's a box with cards so shiny you'll need sunglasses so you don't go blind from opening the box. $20 MSRB
Your framing around how this could be a celebration is everything. An anniversary should be a time where people are excited to be playing and part of the game, and usually get rewarded for that.
@championchap Nobody is going to give you that much for a glorified proxy. Also you are just as likely to get a Timber Wolf or Jade Monlith, etc etc, which will like have little value at all.
@@bobdragon6262 Collector's Edition Black Lotus is valued between $3999 and $6299 according to tcgplayer. There were 8500-9000 of them printed. Those are also "proxies". There is a big difference between a proxy and this set, and that's that a proxy you print has no value because it's an unofficial product. There will not be anywhere close to 8000 of the new 30th Edition version printed. I'd be shocked if the final total is over 100 tbh. Scarcity will drive the price through the roof. @Championchap is probably right, I would expect one of these new Lotus to trade for well over $5000.
@championchap That would mean WoTC is celebrating Magic's 30 year anniversary by having player's gamble with $250.00 entry fees. That's disgusting, and not what Magic is about. If you ask any player what Magic means to them gambling is damn sure not it. Not even the MTG finance groups are here to gamble.
@championchap You misinterpeted what I said. I said "having player's gamble with 250.00 dollar packs" and "gambling isn't what the game means to players" isn't what magic was about. You jumping the gun hard because these other commenters in their feelings. I know why a company sells cardboard in the manner they do. I know what Magic is about company wise, collector wise, and player wise so you need to calm down.
I can not believe how excited I was the first minute and 57 seconds, only to be unimaginably let down. I started playing at Revised Edition. This would have brought me so much joy. Happy 30th Anniversary MTG.
I hate the fact that my friend made me come to love magic a few years back, because I grew to love it just in time to watch what it be squeezed for every penny it was worth.
Get well made proxies of cards too expensive to buy, you and your friends can still enjoy the game and use the money saved to better support your LGS in other ways. Sleeves, cases, etc.
I feel for ya, man. As someone else who loves, I mean LOVES this game (bc as much as I hate Wizards as a company, I still just love Magic), this has all been truly heartbreaking to witness over the years. For me, unfortunately the downfall really began back in 2007-2008, and was actually more so like a bunch of "steps" the company took, rather quickly, than a singular "moment". It first began with Tarmogoyf in Future Sight, and it being the first NEW card to reach first $30, and then shortly thereafter $35, that I had ever seen up til' that point. Sure, OLDER cards commanded high prices. But prior to Goyf, it just seemed normal that the nuts cards in an upcoming or brand new set were around $18-20, and went down from there. Goyf was $30, and I just remember all my friends and I thinking like...what the HELL?! And it was like EVERY good deck ran 4 as well. That was step one. Step two came with Lorwyn, and a brand new card type in Planeswalkers. Which as soon as you played against them, you realized that yeaaaa...these things are here to stay lol. Not that there's anything at all wrong with growing the game and making new, exciting card types. But when they're made absurdly powerful (which we all knew they WOULD be, eventually) then it becomes mandatory to play them, and so if Goyf just hit $35, what does that mean for the Planeswalkers in the upcoming sets? $40? FIFTY DOLLARS?!?!?! Hahahaha...makes me chuckle how naieve we were back then. And the final new introduction was the adding of a new rarity level, the mythics. I don't think that one really merits any further elaboration haha.
Charlie said this was the best video to watch about MTG 30th anniversary and boy did he nail it. Amazing video, I didn’t think I would be standing here, bystander to the game at 8am completely invested. 😂
"Heart and soul of MTG"... I strongly disagree, and I think he might, as well. He seems like a decent guy, and I agree with him here. But let's not conflate his role. He's a passionate content creator, and that's okay.
Can I just comment on the fact that I've never even played Magic but simply the pure love and passion this man has for his craft, has me watching his videos on a regular basis for the past few years. Thank you for the content Professor! Truly an inspiring content creator
Beta draft actually kind of sucks except for the nostalgia. On average the power level of the cards is really low and there are some cards that so almost nothing.
It's stuff like this that helps me justify my recent decision to stop buying retail Magic products full-stop. At the same time, it's stuff like this that reminds me how freakin blessed we are to have the Prof on our side. Thank you, Prof, and I wish you many curved-out games.
It hurts listening to this. You can hear the heartbreak of someone who truly loves and cares about this game watch as it crumbles apart. I also never realized what I was missing until he talked about how amazing this should have been. Going to my game store to hear someone yell across the room they got the black lotus, to feel that excitement about this game again would have been amazing.
I actually cried during the beginning, the beginning was so heart felt and amazing, to be crushed by the price and and the negativity was absolutely wrecking
@@Dlxtrv9 I was about to say this lol. It's ok, games workshop has lost my business until they return to sanity, thank God for 3d printers. However for magic the gathering it is a little harder to create copies of cards that are essentially identical to the real deal.
I simulated opening 4,000 packs, and my results were: $1,183.65 spent per dual land $3,083.33 spent per piece of power A Revised Edition Volcanic Island can be bought for $455, and an Unlimited Edition Ancestral Recall can be bought for $2,899 at the time of writing on TCGPlayer.
I was introduced to MTG shortly after the release of Homelands, Ice Age, and 4th edition. I really got into it during Mirage and Alliances. I still own thousands of cards and have 75 decks ready to play, but I haven't purchased any new cards since, well, I can't even remember since when. Today's MTG makes me sick to my stomach is such a sad downward spiral for what was once a truly innovative idea and an incredibly fun and addictive game.
This video about the 30th Anniversary is probably the best I've seen on this topic. This game is dangerous teetering on the brink. And this comes from someone who loves Commander and is constantly wither buying sleeves or singles for a new brew. Even in these tough times. That may have to change however....I hear Flesh and Blood boxes are pretty easy to come by.
@@antoniohenderson6090 Im lazy and get them with regular art and print em at staples, sleeve them with a token. Works out to be about 8¢ a card. Hey for $1000 I could get 37 of every card in beta!
30th Anniversary. Perfect opportunity to re-live the experience of: "you're spending how much on a piece of cardboard?!!", which I remember so well from my youth.
You can tell his heart is breaking as he describes this 30th anniversary shit show. My heart was breaking with him. I can't believe how they are doing us fans so dirty.
This product, as an old school almost ptq grinder, makes me so happy ive changed my hobbies. back in lorwyn/morningtide to zendikar/worldwake i never thought id stop playing this game. Everytime I check in for nostalgia sake, I'm so happy I gave up the cardboard crack.
Man if they sold these at regular booster prices this would have been an absolute triumph and would have gotten me back in the game for so many events.
Or better, sold it as a complete cube set and, instead of just doing Beta with all its chaff, made it an _actual_ celebration of 30 years of Magic by making it a complete box set of the MTGO Vintage Cube. I'm talking all-time powerful cards from every set (well, most every set, lol), built to support various draft archetypes - you'd have your Black Lotus and OG duals next to your Liliana of the Veil and Dark Depths, your fetches and cradles/academies, your Eldrazi and yeah, even Oko, lol. As a complete set but _also_ in pseudo-random booster packs so you could take it out of the box to play immediately? Toss in some cool card treatments (and better art selection, come on - love the old art, but not in the new frames) (hey, what if the did tarot-style gold rimmed cards? That would be sweet) and yeah, I'd probably pay $1000 for it to draft with friends and keep as a Cube long after.
Then everyone Would have them, they are trying to get these valued high since it’s so hard to pay the insane price for a real lotus and some of these cards, not to mention the cards are so old they need a reprint bad, I’ve seen some took great care of with stained borders the white borders that is, either that or this really is a thing for the collector I love the game I play but anymore it’s the value of cards everyone wants, new players think the more expensive the card the better it is, I was the same way, they need to be expensive so when you do hit a lotus or something big you get killer value from it, whether that’s playing it if your friends don’t mind or using it for trade, whatever but there gonna hold high value!!
@@someguy3429 That's literally the problem. I appreciate that Prof engages with WotC and calls them out over things like this, but the bottom line is that it has nothing to do with them and everything to do with Hasbro and their bottom line.
There aren't many of us who've been playing since 93 (I'm one of them). But I was so disappointed in this product announcement. I thought for sure there were people at Wizards that understood the community. Clearly, if there are, they have no voice in the decision making process. Next year could have been an amazing celebratory year for us as a community. This is the first time in my 30 years of magic fandom that I am seriously considering not giving another dime to them. My logical mind says this is the trial balloon. If it sells out, it's the first, and least disgusting product we'll see in the coming years, and I don't know if I want to be a part of it anymore.
I don't even think you need to hear the voice of the community to not sell a mediocre product for such an insanely price, and only online. It's just common sense that it needs to be cheaper, more consumer-friendly, and more available. They did that on purpose. It's purposefully anti-community and anti-consumer, because it's pro-speculator. It's thought of as a product that collectors will fight for and pay a lot of money for. It was never designed for people to enjoy old-style magic. They know MTG is going to be successful no matter what, and they deliberately choose to be more greedy than necessary. They could be more than profitable and still sell community-friendly products, but they'd rather make even more money without having to care. And you know what's even worse? They probably didn't even listen to their own designers and creators. It's very likely just a marketing concept. Chances are that people in their very own company dislike that approach, and would rather sell more approachable products, because they enjoy people playing their game and discovering what made them love it too. Instead, that company sells a product for a few people who won't play it.
As someone who has been playing since a few years after you (95), my feelings are very close to yours. Before this product was announced I was very eager to get into a few drafts with Unfinity and was kinda hyped for the next set because of the Transformer cards; now I am questioning if I want to keep giving money to a corporation that no longer even tries to pretend they want to give us a good product/experience, they just want our money. The sad part is that this will be a major success, they will sell every single box, and you will see scalpers selling them back for 4000 or more and people will still buy them, just like it happened with Double Masters VIP...they will just create some other disgusting overpriced product for next time. My only hope is that this is a bubble and that eventually it will all come crashing down, forcing them to focus again on the game part, instead of exploiting their playerbase/fans.
I feel pretty similar, this has very much become an abusive relationship. The really, really funny part to me is that if players stop playing, these cards will very quickly be worth almost nothing, and none of the speculators will be holding onto value, just rubbish, yet WotC keep shoving it's head up the speculator's asses instead of concentrating on making a fun game. They've actively tried to obsolete almost every old card (if you're observant you'll note how often WotC 'weirdly' doesn't reprint the better cards and just keep printing the shit ones, or the 'budget picks', because they actively want 'expensive cards' for the speculators, even if the majority of the money the game actually makes comes from players). The company is being run by moronic children at this point, caricatures of 80s business greed parading around as humans, but they have a lot of very dumb consumers (ever wonder why the brass wanted the game 'dumbed down a lot' way back? That was because you can sell more/lazier products to less sophisticated consumers. They wanted people that think it's fun to play with Phyrexian Obliterator type cards, not people who like Stax and Pox decks that are hard to play/play against.
@@tiagomagalhaes7032 imagine giving up on a fun hobby ( which u can enjoy for the cheapest price ever in its history right now ) because of overpriced proxies xD
I learned about MTG when I bumped into Garfield back in the 90s and can't imagine (or hope) that the same guy would endorse the ungrateful pricks in corporate who are thanking those who supported the game all along and made it what it is (or was).
But that would have been actually giving something back to the players and collectors who have supported this game for so long. And that's not what they really want to do. Same thing they did with the legends crap in du collector boxes.
Asmongold did a reaction video to this. It makes me so happy the amount of reach this issue has which is going beyond MTG players and reaching more widespread larger communities. I truly hope WoTC here's this loud and clear that we will not stand for this type of betrayal.
as a 29 year player, I've been through so many iterations of "they are ruining magic". some of it was reactionary (Homelands). But they've kept me coming back. However, my old fogeys playgroup and I ( who, incidentally COULD decide to purchase some of this product ) will not be doing so. Hasbro's constant need to increase sales quarter over quarter and year over year have moved Wizards into territory that just isn't sustainable in regards to maintaining it's long term player base. Like many others, I'll be purchasing more proxies. The only way to voice our displeasure that will register is to STOP HANDING HASBRO YOUR MONEY.
This 1K product made me actually go out and buy a ton of proxy (actual fake mtg) cards. In addition, our play group voted to use proxies whether you own the card or not...previously you had to own one copy to proxy it. My day of buying expensive cards has come to an end. Its just been too much lately.
Good for you. the only way I still play magic is with a friend who decided to buy all the old sets as proxies. So we just play old legacy (without all the BS power-creep of the last few years) and we'Re having a blast!
It would be interesting to hear a critic that discusses how valuable old magic is, what does it mean to have high end products, what people's relationship with a game should be and if it's good to want everything. But all there is seems to be unnuanced echo chamber crying 'too expensive, if not for me than terrible. This is only for stockholders (ignorung the people who want it and buy it, they cant exist), I can't get black lotus for cheep, i remeber when you could buy things ata good price (just ignore the other products like the warhammer commander decks, um they dont exist during this crying session) not fair, money is bad, magic is evil'
They're selling 60 pieces of random tournament illegal cardboard pieces for 1000$ my dude, as the only celebration for the 30th anniversary of a game millions play. Do you have shares of hasbro or something?
@@jayceh certain cards from older sets are significantly powerful and unbalanced to the point that trying to play the original vintage format pretty much required those specific cards for the deck to be competitively viable. thus the game became more a contest of who had the bigger wallet. starting with legacy, many formats have since been formed specifically to force people to play with cards that were more accessible in order to make the game fair for players who would otherwise be priced out of the game. no other game that i can think of has multiple identical and redundant formats dedicated to banning entire sets just to make it fair
@@seijhik doesn't answer my question, since these cards aren't tournament legal, how do they price players out of the game? It's a shitty product but 1) it doesn't price anyone out of the game 2) doesn't kill infants. Please just think more carefully
WotC has its own corporate structure and leadership. Sure maybe Hasbro sets the bar, but they're the ones figuring out how to get there. A fair price for this product printed to demand maybe? Such a disappointment.
@@mizzogames this is how Wotc did with me. I absolutely loved it, but left it. I still keep up with it and it makes me feel... happy honestly seeing it dying and feeling correct about my assumptions
I quit MTG in 2020 because I felt it was heading down a road I didn't want to follow. I came back in 2022 because it is a hard hobby to give up. It's my only real connection to getting out of the house, and being part of a local community. But I can see that the signs I saw back in 2020 were just the beginning.
You can love and enjoy Magic: The Gathering (the game) without taking part in Magic: The Gathering (the product). I have a pauper cube for just that, and will build other cubes from singles, curating my preferred corners of the overall game and not contributing to the nasty coffers of Hasbro WotC. take your cube to your LGS or wherever else your playgroup meets along with your modern or commander decks and have another option.
This one actually made me want to cry. I experienced Magic well before Pokémon by watching classmates have duels on the concrete during recess with cards like Chaos Orb and Juzam Djinn. My parents wouldn't allow me to have Magic cards due to the early art and criticism of the game so I grew up playing and collecting Pokémon. Once an adult with a job I was able to go back to Magic's art and multiple formats. The game of Magic is continually becoming more big business with Hasbro now making a product to directly sell to the secondary market with the biggest payouts they have had, not only blocking out the average/budget consumer, but limiting quantity to even block out whales. This isn't a player/fan celebration whatsoever, which really irks me the most. I've accepted not partaking of premium products or having the time to get to appreciate a set before the next release is upon us, but it really makes me want to wash my hands of Magic since the 'Gathering', casual gaming and collecting doesn't seem like it will be affordable much longer. Magic the Gathering is becoming the product not for me. 😟
This shameful product is the one I am saying goodbye to Magic over, too. It's a heartbreaking moment; Magic brought me into the world of card games, and I am forever grateful. For WotC's sake, I hope this 30th Edition bombs and forces them to reexamine things.
12:08 holy cow I was there, GP Vegas, making my first every Day 2, great memories. I quit MtG in 2014, and it's sad to see this is how things have evolved for the game.
Thanks to that simulator, I am now the proud owner of ancestral recall! And in only two packs! That's just a hair less than $2,000! Such a reasonable price!
I played Magic for 20 years of those 30. It was such a beauty of a thing. You saw someone play at school, the next week there's an entire playgroup, the next week after that we all find an LGS and hang out there. So many afternoons just having fun, making memories. Then it's the sad reality sinking in. You see the LGS (plural) in your area struggling, eventually close or change into a snack bar to pay the bills. You see the company pumping out product after product, you can't keep up anymore. You see all these shiny cool things, being limited, complicated to get and at abusive prices. You see no more PTs, no more GPs, no more exciting moments to talk about the next day with your homies. Entire formats being abandoned. Some being exploited for money like EDH. You see no flavour, no captivating stories, every set is just a bland "A to B" adventure. You even see out of place IPs being advertised within your once favorite card game. Steady increase in prices, even for older products. And now this...technically selling you 60 fake cards for 1000 dollars. A slam dunk of a product completely butchered by availability and price. And they even have the audacity to call this a celebration. I would call it murder. I discuss all of these events as they happen with my homies from way back then. We all laugh our asses off and keep saying "What he fuck happened to Magic, dude?? It USED to be so cool". But inside It literally pains my heart to see what the "game" became. It's not "Magic" anymore...just sleight of hand. A farce performed by a charlatan. What once was a fun game that could also be a cool collectible just turning into a mere «exclusive» collectible for rich people, gambling addicts, investors and shareholders. No game left to play. Fuck you, Hasbro. Fuck you, WotC. Fuck the state of this franchise.
No, fuck you. WOTC knows what's best for us! If they need to double there profits every year then we need to help them out! Even if that includes going bankrupt! WOTC we bow to you and will pay any price you desire. That includes all of us!
Wait I thought this was from the Prof. yes I remember getting into this game not too long ago and was captivated by the stories that I read about and followed from sets to sets or Planes as they call it. I watched vids about war of the spark, elder dragons, Capenna and so much more that made me switch from YGO to magic. I was of course a bit intimidated by the price but I just told myself there is not TCG thats cheap or atleast the cards aren't cheap. And now this... Welps I might have to dust my YGO cards cause atleast there I already know it's fun and they treat the community right for the most part. I wont hide the faults of Konami but damn atleast I know they wouldnt pull a WoTC "celebration"
@@patrickhenry4397 The problems I have with current Magic, as can be deduced by reading my previous comment, won't just be solved by a casual "getting proxies from somewhere else". Sure I could do that, but my main issue is with the company's managing of the brand. It disappoints and irritates me. And that puts me off of it. What made me fall in love with the game is no longer there to me, see? The proxies are a mere speck of the iceberg. I rather see the company that makes the game have (and consistently keep having) great ideas that solve known problems and make players band together so they want to support THEM (and henceforth the game itself), than just seeing the company herpaderp their brains out with decisions that are "$$$ first, player....not even last, not even in the metrics" and make consumers incredibly untrusting of them in the process. That's it.
At this point, if people are still in I would just abandon ship. They don't care about the game anymore. It's not what it was and probably never will be again. Just like how video games have gone down hill. Everything is nickle and dime you to death or isn't completed with loads of issues and bugs. We gave them too much and now they want more and more. They won't back down now unless everyone stops and it is very unlikely that will happen.
Yeah, I used to do prerelease events & sometimes FNM & game days. After covid wiped my LGS in person events, I haven't played MtG. I don't even play Arena.
Its amazing how many players who have quit along the way still stick around and watch these videos. Makes you wonder about how well the game would be doing right now if not for the decisions made since their acquisition by Hasbro.
Thank you Prof. for expressing my (and not only my) thoughts on this with the clearest and most polite words that only you are capable of. I am an Italian veteran collector, started at the very beginning, and I feel insulted by this product, and by WotC in general. I have always loved Magic since I was a kid, it has always been my n.1 passion. I have a very bitter taste in my mouth now that I see how they plan to "celebrate" this very important result. THIRTY YEARS! How many games have lasted so long? Do they even realize what they have? Of all the good there is in Magic, the only thing they can see is the money-making potential. Which of course, is fundamental part of Magic and its health and prosperity. But they have forgotten that this is the result of all the rest that is amazing in Magic. The game, the art, the lore, the characters... And most of all, the PLAYERS AND COLLECTORS BASE, and the STORES that make all of this possible! They are nothing without us, and still they treat us like we are nothing without them. How shabby! I don't want to write too much, but I want to conclude with this. I remember when during Lorwyn block one of the "commercial tip cards" you could find in boosters was one that simply said "15 years. Thank you." Maybe I am oversentitive, but that warmed my heart when I saw one. We didn't ask for that, but it was a simple message. It was for US, the players, the collectors, the store owners. It was free. It was sent for everyone out there. Maybe a commercial card with "30 years. Thank you." would have been better than all this scam. Sometimes less is more. When it comes to gifts and gratitude, really, what matters is the gesture itself, not the monetary value. Thanks to everyone who read this entire wall of text. A very disappointed Italian Magic lover
You can get startet in any format atm for under 50 dollars and win. EDH hosts more variety then it ever had, for the cheapest price it ever had. Single prices are on record lows because of the market being flooded by collector packs. Idk what more you want besides "gimme free shit" ?
Abusing secondary market prices and anchoring bias has never made it easier for Wizards to sell cards at increasingly ridiculous prices. Even without angering anyone sitting on reserved list cards. I never thought they'd manage to pull off a three digit price tag. At least not for cards that don't use the regular back for those interested in official tournaments. But here they are pushing, four digits even. It's genius from a marketing standpoint. They'll even get valuable data with how much they can get away with in the future.
Yeah this hurts. I just started playing in spring 2020 and your opening statement got me so pumped to learn about the game through real play. But now it feels like im watching The Onion cover mtg
When I discovered magic, it was during the Tempest block- and I was in love. I had a science teacher who kept his class open for kids to play during lunch break, and he even organized a trip to play the release tournament for stronghold. Back then, the thought of trading your cards to make the best possible deck wasn’t even a consideration. You just did it. The game was what mattered; not collecting- not financials. The community, the fun- all of it was possible because of an amazing game and a company that seemed to listen and care about the people that played with their products. I’m not sure they look at us as anything more than investors now.
This could have been the coolest product. Mass print it all year for the 30th anniversary, sell the packs for 3 or 4 bucks. Let people draft it, crack packs, have fun. Instead we got something for the finance and speculation crowd. I'm taking my money and investing in a nice printer and I'm just printing my cards out.
If I had 1000 usd to waste, I'd buy 3 draft boxes of the latest standard sets, pay my friends the trip to visit me, rent a place, order food and we would all spend a whole day playing chaos draft together. Way more fun than this shit.
As a former Magic player this actually hurts me. But I get my card game addiction covered by KeyForge. Thankfully we have plenty of various other card games out there so hopefully we'll see a thriving community with several different games!
It truly devastates me what seems to be happening with Magic. Wizards doesn’t see it as a game anymore and doesn’t have any respect or love for the players.
wait, the game is still the same? This literally doesnt hurt anyone. Its just WOTC offering you the worst deal in history. You can actually still play magic, the rules have not broken down :D Just chill xD
@@ich3730 Dude you do not get the fucking point do you? It is the message that Wizards is sending that is pissing everyone off not the product. If you can't understand the message then don't fucking talk on the matter
This was a really emotional video and I think you’ve put it in better words than most could muster. It’s weird watching something you love in the hands of a company that you hate. So many amazing games and IPs created by those who loved them dearly now in the hands of companies run by people who carry no love and care for the game or IP. Just profit. Squeezing every penny out possible. I will always love Magic, but it does hurt
And yet they make far far more with every set release by selling more cheap cardoard at a lower rate but higher quantities. What's actually the problem? Are you upset that they're "ripping off" a few people for a lot? Why not be as upset that they are "ripping off" millions for a little? I bet it costs even less for digital card packs on the whole.
I wasn't going to comment since this is so old but... Yugioh just had their 25th anniversary and not only have we gotten a wonderful reprint pack (has allowed me to buy some cards I thought I'd never own due to price for 1-2 dollars each! Usually less) but also some of the most iconic original sets reprinted with updated errata and are tournament legal (everything they release is always tournament legal till a card is banned) at regular price while also providing some expensive options for the collectors that I can't afford that are still cheaper than the Wilds of Eldraine booster box. It's so crazy to me. Blows my mind.
Feel the same way. Just about a year and put together a bunch of Commander decks I enjoy playing. Saw this product and the other 5 that were spoiled and I'm losing it quickly.
And when you think that in their press release they say their goal is "to put the players at the center" or in other words that their game and selling strategy be done wit the end user in mind. Well all their actions says the contrary. They clearly do not care about the players.
Ditto - new to magic and fell in love with the game but am now wondering if I'm being suckered into a cash grab money machine that will most assuredly topple should the current course continue. Sad, really.
As a guy whose primary TCG happens to be WotC's ex(Pokemon), I'm sorry you lot had to go through this. For the sake of comparison, last year we got the Celebrations set, which was an ETB that had 10 boosters which had 25 unique cards based on various legendary Pokemon + Pikachu variants and a special full art version of the original Pikachu card, and 25 reprinted cards throughout the history of the Pokemon TCG, be it collector faves lile Base Set Charizard or Umbreon Gold Star, to tournament staples like Neo Genesis Cleffa or Luxray GL Lv. X. ...and it was only 50 bucks.
This product and this company have become an embarrassment. Professor, I haven’t always agreed with you but I genuinely love that you made this video. Thank you sir.
@@joelmonteiro1419 it's always been gambling to some degree. We just have larger amounts of money at stake in this product - I mean this joke, this embarrassment.
Professor you are totally right… it is a shame it won’t be possible to celebrate 30 years of magic with something that makes us all happy This will be another reason to take one step further from WoC
I saw something about this on twitter and assumed it was an absurd joke /'what if' It blows my mind that it's real, but the context that they've literally sold complete sets of beta before now for 50 is stunning. Thank you for commenting on the product itself, and especially for talking on the context it's happening within too.
yeah I was pretty hyped for that 30th anniversary box.... then I saw the price tag. I'm on disability and barely get that much in a month! so *no way* I'm ever getting my hands on one of those... I mean $99 I would've at least considered it but not for a whole grand that I can't afford!!
I have been playing Magic for 26 years now. It has been there through the good times and the bad times. I've been a god awful player the entire time, but winning and losing never mattered to me. I just enjoyed playing, brewing, reading articles and books, and especially making realistically balanced custom cards. I got into EDH around Torment when I pulled a foil Chainer and it easily became one of my favorite formats. I've made friends I never would have made because of my shyness. I've gone to prereleases and tournaments my anxiety would have kept me from. It helped get me out of my shell in a way nothing else ever did. I could go on and on about how much Magic means to me as a person and how much it has helped to shape my life, but I am starting to get choked up writing this. About eight years ago, I started to notice a shift in Magic. It was like I could see the writing on the walls, but I was still having fun so I stuck with it. I started playing less and less as the years went by, and as time went on I was slowing down my purchases. Until eventually I wasn't buying anything at all. I still played with my friends in person or online using Cockatrice or Untap.in, but no new paper cards were going into my paper decks. That is to say, no new OFFICIAL cards were. I started proxying, because I played casually anyway so why not? My play group quickly followed suit. We would even make proxies for custom cards, so long as the group agreed upon their balance to the official game. Proxies made Cube and EDH so much more fun; I felt like a kid again standing in my old LGS cracking open my first pack. It was the breath of fresh air I needed. I will ALWAYS be an advocate of proxying, either buying singles for $5 from a website like Proxy Queen or buying in bulk from MPCs. No one should have to spend an exorbitant amount of money to play a casual game with friends. When I look at other TCGs I've played over the years like the WoW TCG, Pokemon, and more recently Flesh and Blood, it is INSANE how reasonably priced a deck can go for compared to Magic. I am sickened and appalled by WotC and Hasbro's choice to print such an obvious cash grab as this 30th anniversary set. I can't keep having my heart broken like this, but I unfortunately know that that's exactly what WotC will continue to do. Just as I will continue to play this fantastic game how I want to play; with proxies in person, across free online platforms, and amongst the friends I've made along the way.
MTG was always similar to D&D, in that it was more about sitting around the table with like-minded people. They changed the game too drastically from it's original color-use-distinctions (Green - creatures & mana, Red - full damage, Blue - copy & counter, ...) for me to care about continuing. Eliminating mana burn was just the cherry on top.
I've heard similar things from a lot of people, and I think the issue is that people conflate WotC (a corprate entity) with the actual game of Magic. You don't love WotC, you love magic. Yes, they made the framework and the pieces but it was the game play with your friends that you fell in love with, not Wizards. In the very beginning, perhaps the two were one in the same, but it hasn't been that way for a long long time. Don't let your heart be broken because a company is doing what a company does (try to make money). You can still play casual magic however you like, just the way you have been. Now do I think this is this a good product? Depends - I think it will make them an insane amount of money and sell out immediately, but I'd never buy it because I'd rather spend money on real ABU cards, and i know a lot of investor types (people likely inthe target market for this product) feel the same. But just because they are making moves to make money doesn't mean the game is any better or worse than it was the day before the announcement. I for one will continue to play casual tabletop decks and pauper, just as I have for the duration of my interest in the game. Magic is and always will be what you and your friends make of it and it sounds like you and your friends make a lot of it (custom cards, etc) which is great. Don't let economics tarnish that. Wizards can't detract from what you guys do at the game table, they can only add to it. This 30th anniversary thing doesn't change any of that. Hope this doesn't come off as argumentative or anything - I'm not trying to diminish or invalidate your feelings and experiences. But I also don't want people to lose their love for something for no reason, or for the wrong reason.
I've been playing Magic since 98, taught my (now) wife to play when we were in college, and we play casually with friends. Heard about this and thought it would be an awesome opportunity to get some cards we'd otherwise never be able to afford. Had no idea it was going to be that limited, or THAT expensive. Really too bad.
@@tyranustrey Can you imagine there's a good chance to spent less money buying Black Lotus outright (in acceptable condition, not necessarily the highly graded one) and actually have a tournament legal card than opening the boosters until you find proxies only one?
@@sonicslv6132 Here in the bizzaro timeline we don't even have to imagine unfortunately. Wotc these days make me feel like I'm a parent. I'm not mad wotc I'm just so disappointed.
@championchap Ah, I did not realize you already had conducted a professional diagnosis. Clearly I was wrong in my guess that was based on little to no information about the person.
Never watched one of your videos. But I must say well done sir. 100% correct. Now I have not played magic since probably when Ice Age came out. I started playing Magic in 1995 and fell in love with it. I am still a collector of many things. Some are high end comic statues. But I'm wanted to get back some of my magic cards I had when I was a kid. I had 3 power nines when I played. Time twister time walk and ancestral recall. But I went online and found a amazing proxy company and bought all power 9 cards for around $30 and they look amazing! It is a shame what this company did to celebrate 30 years. Thanks for your time.
Hasbro you're excluding almost everybody from the 30th anniversary. The price point is just a slap in the face to all the loyal customers for 30 years. Great way to celebrate! 🎉
I want to see the Community come together under some Hashtag, The Other MTG 30th or some such, but not whatever the official Hashtag is, & have the Unofficial one be EXPONENTIALLY larger & more active on the same weekend. It wcould just be tons of people playing in casual spaces & LGS's for free/reasonable having fun.
This “product” makes my heart hurt. I’m not as veteran as many, I really got into magic during 2016. The origins of magic and the most powerful relics have always been too expensive for me despite my wanting. Sadly Hasbro has decided to keep it that way, prohibitively expensive.
Heck, I got into Magic in 2019 via Commander and that's the only format I play. I've been a budget player ever since and all these more pricer products getting released is just disheartening.
What would you rather spend $1,000 on instead? Let me know! ... ... And remember! My Discord has a 100% free "Looking For Game" section, with games of everything from Commander to Modern (and even Pauper) firing off. So if you want to get some webcam Magic, just check out discord.gg/tolariancommunitycollege
A gaeas cradle I can actually play !
As much as this product scares me for the future of Magic, places like your Discord will exist and I'm extremely grateful for that.
If I knew more indie games, I would make a list that would cost $1000.
Etsy and Ebay has cheaper PROXIES. Guess What it isn't their 30th Birthday!!!
I can buy a LOT of custard for $1000.
When the majority of what wizards sells becomes “not for me” it means that the game as a whole starts becoming “not for me”
#fleshandbloodtcg we would love to have you! 3 years 💪
It's already not for me...I've been away from the game for 20 years and i'm back for about 3 months, only playing commander. I am on shocked how it was and how it become over time. If it wasn't for commander, i would not be playing magic again.
I already hit that a while back.
I keep watching videos like this in hopes that WOTC become a better company. But, it's just not for me anymore.
bump
@@codymetz8689 I second that, FaB is a great game and it has an awesome community.
Hey Prof., you haven't been "Too negative" recently. You've only been correct in what you were saying, a much heavier crime. Thanks for making a video about this.
I've had a negative experience with magic releases lately if profs videos didn't reflect that in some way I probably wouldn't trust his reviews.
Yeah, I once said that the Prof was dwelling too much in the negative, but it looks like I just had my head buried in the sand.
Midnight Hunt gave me so much of what I’d hoped for in Magic, and now I’m wondering if I’ll even care when Innistrad 4 happens.
If it even will, with this approach. And if it will be recognizable as such next visit if we make it.
Also there's Shuffle up and play for a positivity boost if needed.
It's the classic shill defense; rather than a counterpoint to a legitimate criticism, they object to being criticized at all.
100%
We did something so special we'll make sure 99.999% of our playerbase can't have it.
And even if they do want it it will make them bankrupt, wow thanks how thoughtful of you ❤❤❤
"just how big did we go?"
"so, so big, that's how big"
I can never get over how fake and soulless that line is. It is an incredible achievement. It's like they were trying to capture the very essence of being dead inside and forcing yourself to try and sell something you know perfectly well to be a steaming pile of trash. They nailed it in the most spectacular fashion imaginable. She might as well be screaming into a megaphone "ignore absolutely everything we are going to say and stay the F away from this absolute garbage".
The disconnect between what they're saying, and the audience response... it is amazing to compare the two. What is wrong with these people? What world are they living in? What makes them think this is what people want?
Everytime I see a product reveal from HasLab or the MTG crew I my jaw drops at their genuine disconnect from reality and their customer base. Couldn't agree more with your assessment 👍
Cringe af.
@@wolfumz They get paid a lot to say it. Simple as. They don’t actually care about the game.
Capital C Cringe
Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a universe where this was a typo, the packs costed $9.99, and we all had a good laugh about how ridiculous it would be to sell four packs for $999.
funny that joke is already played out on youtube.
I still have this dream
finally a universes beyond that is „for us“
4 packs of proxies for 9,99 would be a decent deal actually
Unfinity universe
We really went from "this product is not for you" to "most of these products are not for you" to "this company is not for you" huh.
Lol "this company is not for you" is so so true.
This is what is happening to 40k players as well. Been on this road for a while over there.
Thats why its nessesary to proxy cards to a point wizzards get theyr brains back
@@okgut2033 Only way wotc gets better is if they get bought by a single entity and is not publicly shared. As long as there are shareholders, the only incentive is profit. And if it does not profit, it getz shitbinned.
We need it to fail SO bad that it gets shitbinned and bought by someone small who cares.
I started playing in 1995, and loved MtG for decades-easily my favorite game of all time. But I left it for good last year, when it was clear WotC no longer actually values their players, or even their own game-they’re happy to burn it all down to the ground in the quest to maximize profits.
Yugioh player checking in, I know nothing about Magic the Gathering but wanted to know what all the buzz is with the new 30th Anniversary packs. A thousand dollars for four random packs of non tournament legal cards?! And they only give ONE to local game stores?! That sounds absolutely insane. Complete robbery.
I thank you for making such a comprehensive, well spoken breakdown of this product. Even I could understand it and I don't know the first thing about the game.
Yeah WoTC is trash.
YGO is a better game flat out, MTG cards also look terrible and i have yet to see any card art that actually interests me. It doesnt have to be that way, just print a few Trickstar Reincarnation or Witchcrafter Madame Verre type artworks into magic WOTC and i might deign to play more of your game
MTG is honestly a shell of what it used to be.
@@ExtraVictory as Ygo player, I think their actual art is better than our bad anime imitations. Ygo just makes generic anime girls and calls them monsters: Striker, Live twin, Marincess, trickstar, Labyrinth, Dragonmaid, traptrix, Tearlament etc. It is in a tier 0 format with Tears, its art declined from old stuff like dark jeroid or Il Blud. Even those are nothing to Elesh Norn, Dusk Legion or Endless Ranks imo.
When you’re making worse business decisions than Konami, it’s time to look in the mirror and wonder where the fuck things went wrong
This should be 4$ a pack and include a "Sorry we've screwed y'all over for 30 years" special apology card in every pack.
Maybe magic's 40th anniversary.
@@thecontrollerfreak7075 There will be no 40th anniversary...
And commander legal.
You mean all the cards in the pack would just be apology letter?
I still wouldn't buy it for $4, but I'd feel a lot better about being able to buy it if I wanted to.
A quote from the actual article
"So few people had the experience of opening a Black Lotus or Mox Sapphire when Magic was originally released"
so they end up releasing a product so egregiously overpriced that even fewer people will get the opportunity!
Not on WotC side but if you think well, at least the “few” part of the experience they quite nailed it? 😂
It was hard to pull those back then and on the way they did this crap product it will be again this time around, likely harder as you said.
And we are happy to announce that we will keep it that way :D
The people who opened lotuses back then paid 4 dollars per pack.
@@MomirsLabTech probably more like $3 probably.
Im still wondering how no one has a case that this is a form of gambling. Its price point is so rediculous compared to other products there is no real reasonable explanation besides getting the most money possible
Reminder that Pokemon TCG printed "Evolutions", which was essentially a reprint of their Alpha - Base Set. It was priced like any other set and booster. It wasn't just printed "to demand", it was overprinted and included in every bundle, pack and other product. Despite that, the moment it was out of print, it skyrocketed in price, because it was so beloved and fun to open.
Yeah the pokemon company has done a pretty good job keeping play staples reasonably priced while also keeping collectibles (alt arts, secret rares, etc) in their sets retain decent price/collection value.
Except Pokemon doesn't have Reserve Lists or regular reprints of the same card, they just slap a different foil pattern and cool graphics for it's juvenile audience and sell them like they're new cards. Don't compare Apples to Oranges or adult card games with child's card games. Nobody actually plays with Pokemon cards anyway, they either drop them in a pile on the floor for their toddler to chew on or they put them in a top loader to sell to some other neck beard.
@@brianp6859 To be fair, Pokemon TCG has gone the way of the Wizards recently, drastically power-creeping the game in a short amount of time and introducing a special form of cards that only appear in the rare slot, but are impossible to make a deck without. Still not as bad as duals or fetches, but it's no longer affordable or approachable for new players.
@@Wolfie-gj9ch Calling the Pokemon TCG a child's game that nobody plays is objectively wrong, but ok
@@Wolfie-gj9ch "adult card game"
*My guy*
I'm glad that wizards of the coast decided to go in this direction for the 30th anniversary. It made it easy to decide not to buy anymore of their products retail.
Fuck the game
From time to time I have an inkling to go back go the game. And time and time again Hasbro does shit like this and the inkling stops
Yep we can only vote with our wallets, it's high time everyone else jumps onboard and demand fair pricing for a fair product.
Sold my collection and everytime I check to see what's new in the Magic World, makes me feel happy I did.
My friends thought I was over reacting to all the shit they were doing and that things would slow down and go back to normal but it truely doesn't seem that way.
Man I miss the days that they cared about players, local game stores... Very sad.
Hasbro is squeezing the game dry. I'm glad I stopped playing when I did, the "content" just keeps coming and my wallet can't keep up.
I’m 41 years old and I’m by no means an expert of magic. What I am is a fan remembering when I was 14-15 years (1995-1996) old and being introduced to this new world of game play. Such a fun time remembering how everyone gathered to play this game, either played in the back of an old comic store or on the floor (where ever) to play. The point that I’m trying to make is that the innocence of a youth being able to afford a pack and share it with friends is long gone. I grew up poor but for my father to be able to purchase a single pack was huge for me let alone two. Just scrolling YT and to see that this product is being sold at these prices is ridiculous, especially for cards that can’t be used is silly. And in that pack I opened an “Icy Manipulator”, not a rare card but something I was happy for. Sad to see these companies try to squeeze the pockets of potential future players and leave the core fans out (exclusivity). Side note, surprisingly I was able to find my original decks from the 90’s in my garage. What great memories and that is something you can’t put a price on.
fucking heartbreaking that the ONLY thing wizards can see the 30th anniversary of their game as is a chance for more money
Even Pokemons anniversary was better than this
You dont care where she came from, only that the ho bringing in the bux.
There IS the 30th anniversary secret lair that actually does seem like a pretty good product. It's been completely overshadowed by this greedy mess of an announcement (and it's also a limited printing and pretty overpriced), but it's 1000x better than the Proxies.
@@K9affirmative i’m with the prof on secret lairs. also a product that’s “not for you”
I wonder if it's WOTC...or if Hasbro is pushing for it to be this expensive.
This really is the saddest thing wizards did. Secret lair was iffy at times, “commander” masters was pushing it and now this, this is going too far
I personally really liked both Commande Legends sets, if those are what you mean with "commander" masters. But I fully agree that this is the worst thing WotC did so far.
After this, what do they have left of the myth of "Ancient MtG Days" to capitalize on? They are wealthy beyond believe and yet totally bankrupt.
@@froschkenig Secret Lair: Power Nine. $9,000. Mark my words.
Since we (and mostly speculators) will continue to purchase overpriced products, they'll continue, the only way to going back is to boycott mtg for few years, but nobody will, or not enough
Let's face it, as much as everyone is saying it's wizard's doing, it really isn't it's Hasbro.
Prof. Thank you for putting the community's voice in a megaphone. This is pure money grabbing at it's peak. And it's a shame because this could have been an amazing product for EVERYONE to enjoy, instead of just people with insane amounts of money.
100% I feel the players, the game needed this.
What’s crazy is that some people who have money don’t want buy this either 😅 which is sad 🤣 this was a really bad decision.
What's messed up is that there are people actually saying anyone complaining about this are just acting entitled and should accept this crap as the new way things are done now.
@@Wolfcone as an adult $1000 is an insane amount for proxy cards just like how $200 is an insane amount for an apple.
If you feel throwing $1000 at a bad product is what makes you an adult you need to reevaluate.
tHe cOmMuNnItY
Man, everytime I get the itch to play MTG again and get back into the scene, something like this always rears itself into view. Just utterly kills any inspiration.
You are not the only one my good friend.
Thats why i stick to old school theme decks and dual decks. More fun with family snd friends.
I just got back. Proxies for me all the way since I am not entering any sanctioned events
The comedic timing of Gavin shortly after the reveal of the proxies making a video about how much they appreciate the LGS was truly amazing.
They think if they say it we will believe. It’s called spin. Their only concern is profit and every statement issued from a Hasbro employ should be viewed through that lens.
Gavins a goofy lil dude lol. He does not look trustworthy. Def revealed as the actual villain at the end of the movie.
I've met Gavin when he was touring LGSs (I judged at one at the time) and I think HE does appreciate the LGS. Unfortunately his opinion doesn't go to the board room.
Sadly for him, he's the guy they put on camera for these things.
salt on wound... like a bucket of salt. he be making pickled lgs...
Pretty certain the dude everyone is referring to in this thread is Blake Rasmussen, not Gavin Verhey.
Thank you professor for being the voice that many of us don't have this 30th anniversary was a slap in our face for the community
Proxy artists should release their own 30th anniversary packs for a fraction of the price
Proxy boosters for vintage drafts would be hype
While I won't give links or names of some of these places since I'm pro-proxies but anti-forgeries, I'll just say that it's VERY easy to find places that you can order printed proxies of various quality levels... Some shops will not print obvious forgeries, but there are some Chinese print shops that don't care and actually specialize in making bootleg cards that can pass as real unless placed under exceptional scrutiny. If you just want some good proxy cards that wouldn't pass for real, but would be good enough for casual play with friends, Make Playing Cards has been well known for years and has good prices.
I'd gladly slide a few dollarydoos to a good proxy artist for a nice looking (not just copying the OG art) proxy of cards I'm looking for.
Paying artists fair prices for their work is worth it imo. Even if they're only "copying" an existing card, it's still takes effort and talent to make original and unique proxies.
@@redt7935 I like the idea of creating alternative art, unless wizards pay their artists a commission based on packs sold, though I'd wager they pay them a lump sum. I'd also like to add that they're releasing these cards at a time where proxies are becoming a very popular alternative. Seems a little suspicious, like they're trying to cash in on the speculative value of these cards; while they still can.
OMG that would be a great statement. Proxy artist making a proxy Lotus and selling it for $998,-. Not with the expectation that someone would buy it, but simply out of defiance.
I have no words for this. Not even Yu-Gi-Oh, lead by Konami of all companies has done things this scummy (in fact I feel most of the time there are fair with it's consumers). I can't believe the direction of magic in these last years.
I hate Konami as a long time ygo player, but I have got to say - this is hilariously unbelievably greedy. I can't fathom how MTG's developers thought it was okay to do this lmaaao
They forgot the decimal point and were going to fix it but the guy in charge was like "No, wait... This can work."
Oh Konami is not fair at all. They secretly short print sought after cards so that even cards with same rarity have different pull ratios. This is probably done just to make it appear that you have better chances of getting higher value cards in a set. I never thought I'd see a gaming company overshadow Konami with their greediness.
While I do think their "Balancing" decisions for stuff is questionable (such as making the legal Egyptian God Cards weaker, then power-creeping them fairly quickly anyways), at the least, some "Sought-After" stuff at least tries to get regularly reprinted. And with the fact they added Egyptian God support, it at least shows they recognize the "Casual" players who just want to have fun.
I find hilarious that Konami's idea for a $1000 anniversary limited run is to stamp and print a 0.2kg ingot of real silver into its poster child monster with original art and a certificate of authenticity, and WotC's is to sell random proxy packs.
WotC is officially worse at making business decisions than the company that made it impossible to get PT legitimately, made Kojima a persona non grata, and thought Contra Rogue Corps was an acceptable product to release to the public. Truly unreal.
Imagine a a set of power 9 card cut in gems like a onyx black lotus or a lapis time walk
Uh maybe you missed the part where you get a basic land with a _retro_ border. So that's basically the same thing.
That's cool. What card game does Konami make?
@@pappysheart6710 yuhioh...
As someone who is a contemporary of thr Prof, I started playing around the time Arabian nights came out... I really started getting serious playing/collecting when revised came out... when I saw that they were going to be releasing proxy cards for thr 30th anniversary I was so pumped I was almost shaking... who cares if they had different backs!? My playgroup (2 out of 3 other players ive known since those days) could draft our hearts out and have a nostalgia high... but as I read on I saw thr price and literally thought it was a typo until I texted my buddy and he confirmed... honestly one of the biggest let downs/missed opportunities I've ever seen.... what a joke. Literally would have been better to not release anything
I'm not just bummed like a lot of things they release for too much money. Maybe it's just the way they went about announcing it but I'm actually offended.
Something tells me that there are some Chinese print shops that are going to be getting a lot more business... It's already really easy to get counterfeit cards that look legit, especially with the quality control issues WotC has, so I am betting this product's massive backlash is going to just send them more people.
It'd sure be cool if they did reprints with different backs so we could play like how we did in the past. They could have done a cool block to play with this.
when you said "imagine beta draft" my heart immediately broke for what could have been. yes, i can always just proxy these cards myself, but a whole lgs of people drafting beta isnt a power i have. what could have been.
Just shuffle the cards my dude
I really wonder if they did a cost analysis between releasing this at 1000 bucks to a handful of people, or maybe 10 bucks a pack to most people, or 4 bucks a pack to everyone. Can you imagine if they printed this like a regular set? It would sell huge.
Saved a lot of paper and printer juice tho 🤡
yes but speculators would not like it + im 100% sure that people connected to higher ups at wizards actually ARE speculators so they are doing things on their own interest.
My jaw *literally* dropped when you revealed the price. I was actually astonished.
I laughed so hard it escalated in crying. This game is so doomed. Sad, because I loved it for a long time.
this product is not for you
literally not even real cards hahahahahaha this game is a joke
Can't wait for Lorcana!
The price is a punch in the gut
I attended Magic Celebration for the 20th anniversary at my lgs. Wizards gave everyone 30 card decks of the core set in the color they wanted to play. There were at least 30 of us there. WotC provided boosters to give out in between rounds, three rounds of play. Then we got promos at the end, albeit old promos from the LGS. It was all free to the Magic community, and one of the most enjoyable events I've ever attended.
This offering for the 30th anniversary is anti player.
I attended 10th Anniversary at my LGS. WotC shipped random Booster Packs to the Stores to hold an Anniversary Chaos Draft. It was amazing.
Thank you for adding the video of the announcement…. It was horrifying. I hated the announcement video and how they just announced $999 with straight faces. Such an insult. Anyway. Thank you prof. This video was so important. Thank you for standing up for us.
How long do you think their spokespeople had to rehearse that before they could say the whole thing without vomiting? Or maybe at this point the people who WotC pays to announce this crap are so used to spouting obvious nonsense that they're just numb to it now.
@@Radiodragonofdoom and MaRo is on record on his blog as saying they would never reprint the RL in any way. Not in different size, gold border etc.
We can plainly see that comment aged well.....
@@HSSG7 During the clips of the video, I couldn't help but focus on MaRo's face. He looks like he's barely managing to hold in a grimace (at least) as they're talking.
"Its a gift to our partners.... who we try to put out of business with amazon" 🤣🤣🤣
Collectable, commemorative, mind-blowing, amazing new product...
That many adjectives you know its gotta be good!
Reminds me of George Carlin's "advertising lullaby".
This is going to lead to a weird situation where the sealed versions of these packs may be worth more than anything they could contain because unopened ones are more rare than the circulating supply of their contents.
Reminds me of the double masters packs
Golden tickets
You're right on the money, you can find unopened boxes being sold by scalpers for over $2k each.
When a game maker keeps making things that aren't for 90% of its community it is sending a very clear message.
The creator of Magic Abandoned the game wayyy too many years ago, this is run by headless chickens.
The worst part is on their site and also in the video they try to spin it as a big celebration for the whole community. It is sickening.
Doesn't anyone in a position of leadership at WoTC has any moral compass or is it all greed? Don't answer as I know the answer: $999/4 boosters of proxies says it all after all.
@@Morrodin182 Corporates are often detached from reality due to all the massive amount of money they already have, so they live like gods, while common people die everyday due to inequality.
90%? This is not for the top 10%. This is for the top 0.01%
@@Morrodin182 Bruh 1000 bucks for a proxy might as well buy an actual revised power. Like a played one is like what 3k?
I DEFINITELY feel like WotC has solidly decided we are no longer their Target Demographic and it's definitely a sad year.
They have realized they make more money selling to collectors and investors than people who actually play the game.
Please use their real name! Hasbro!
bro save that money and buy other products actually worth your money instead of missprinted pringles
The only target is the shareholders. I mean go ahead and make money, but damn this was just bad.
@@Brainles5 In the short term, yes. But in the long term, if players leave, then investors and collectors are going to see prices drop and then they'll exit too.
The worst part is that if I had an extra grand to use on cards I'd just buy a real Gaea's Cradle or 2-3 dual lands
Pretty much anyone would. Why would you spend $1000 on a chance to get a fancy proxy when you could get actual cards you can play with
I may as well just buy an original Wheel of Fortune for my Nekusar deck at this price. It’s really terrible what Hasbro has done.
Pretty much anyone with a brain would.
Or a pack of Legends
Konami: Celebrates Yu-Gi-Oh's anniversary with a $1000 Blue Eyes White Dragon Card made of 99.9% silver in a display case and official certificate, technically tournament legal. Also re-releases the first 5 booster packs ever released and an exclusive anniversary card in a collector's box for $30 which are also tournament legal.
WOTC: 60 cards you can't play for $1000
I remember when the collector's edition and the world tour decks came out. They were priced reasonably, and were so fun to play with since I couldn't ever afford those cards as a kid. Had they done something similar again, I would be all over it. This is just sad.
It would have been a far better idea to bring back those collectors editions instead of this absurd overpriced product
an dthey are tournament legal
Dude I wish they do a round of world tour decks again but probably wont ever happen or they be uper expensive
@@zelphermm Uh...no, they're not. Collector's/International Edition cards have square corners and gold-bordered backs with the name of the edition written underneath the Magic logo, and World Championship decks also have different backs and gold borders on the front. None of these cards are tournament legal.
@championchap they can price them however they want. The secondary market determines the aftermarket price based on supply and demand (aka capitalism). What Wizards is doing is trying to manipulate that price by setting a high bar for the base with a grossly inflated retail so that they get a cut. And its not like a new printing of Black Lotus is going to reduce the price of old ones. Old cards are valuable because they are rare and old and they are going to maintain that value as long as people care about the game.
To use another example from the same company an original edition of Monopoly costs $140,000 despite the current version which is functionally identical being available right now on Amazon for 16.34 (15.99 with a coupon).
Hasbros greed destroyed the best game ever created. They actually managed to do it. Listening to those keynotes from Wizards/Hasbros management, feels like regular politicians trying to convince you the the worst possible idea is: “Good”.
This makes me so, deeply sad. Thank you Prof for sharing!
They sound so unenthusiastic in that video that they know it's a horrible idea but they're blinded by all the money they're going to make.
Man... $1000? I would commission a Proxy artist to proxy 5 full commander decks instead, maybe more.
I love your food videos. I also just got into Commander! My Commander is Millicent, restless revenant.
wizards: 4 random rares and 56 commons for $999 (plus tax)
konami: here's a box with cards so shiny you'll need sunglasses so you don't go blind from opening the box. $20 MSRB
MSRB... manufacturer's suggested retail brice?
Your framing around how this could be a celebration is everything. An anniversary should be a time where people are excited to be playing and part of the game, and usually get rewarded for that.
@championchap Nobody is going to give you that much for a glorified proxy. Also you are just as likely to get a Timber Wolf or Jade Monlith, etc etc, which will like have little value at all.
@championchap Ill sell you some proxys for half of that lol
@@bobdragon6262 Collector's Edition Black Lotus is valued between $3999 and $6299 according to tcgplayer. There were 8500-9000 of them printed. Those are also "proxies". There is a big difference between a proxy and this set, and that's that a proxy you print has no value because it's an unofficial product.
There will not be anywhere close to 8000 of the new 30th Edition version printed.
I'd be shocked if the final total is over 100 tbh. Scarcity will drive the price through the roof. @Championchap is probably right, I would expect one of these new Lotus to trade for well over $5000.
@championchap That would mean WoTC is celebrating Magic's 30 year anniversary by having player's gamble with $250.00 entry fees. That's disgusting, and not what Magic is about. If you ask any player what Magic means to them gambling is damn sure not it. Not even the MTG finance groups are here to gamble.
@championchap You misinterpeted what I said. I said "having player's gamble with 250.00 dollar packs" and "gambling isn't what the game means to players" isn't what magic was about. You jumping the gun hard because these other commenters in their feelings. I know why a company sells cardboard in the manner they do. I know what Magic is about company wise, collector wise, and player wise so you need to calm down.
I can not believe how excited I was the first minute and 57 seconds, only to be unimaginably let down. I started playing at Revised Edition. This would have brought me so much joy.
Happy 30th Anniversary MTG.
I hate the fact that my friend made me come to love magic a few years back, because I grew to love it just in time to watch what it be squeezed for every penny it was worth.
Yeah, that's awful. I'm sorry. Personally I'm glad that I quit a few years ago, so that I have happy untarnished memories of the golden days.
Get well made proxies of cards too expensive to buy, you and your friends can still enjoy the game and use the money saved to better support your LGS in other ways. Sleeves, cases, etc.
Yeah I feel the same, like I've just got into this amazing game right before the money grabbing started.
I feel for ya, man. As someone else who loves, I mean LOVES this game (bc as much as I hate Wizards as a company, I still just love Magic), this has all been truly heartbreaking to witness over the years.
For me, unfortunately the downfall really began back in 2007-2008, and was actually more so like a bunch of "steps" the company took, rather quickly, than a singular "moment".
It first began with Tarmogoyf in Future Sight, and it being the first NEW card to reach first $30, and then shortly thereafter $35, that I had ever seen up til' that point. Sure, OLDER cards commanded high prices. But prior to Goyf, it just seemed normal that the nuts cards in an upcoming or brand new set were around $18-20, and went down from there. Goyf was $30, and I just remember all my friends and I thinking like...what the HELL?! And it was like EVERY good deck ran 4 as well. That was step one.
Step two came with Lorwyn, and a brand new card type in Planeswalkers. Which as soon as you played against them, you realized that yeaaaa...these things are here to stay lol. Not that there's anything at all wrong with growing the game and making new, exciting card types. But when they're made absurdly powerful (which we all knew they WOULD be, eventually) then it becomes mandatory to play them, and so if Goyf just hit $35, what does that mean for the Planeswalkers in the upcoming sets? $40? FIFTY DOLLARS?!?!?! Hahahaha...makes me chuckle how naieve we were back then.
And the final new introduction was the adding of a new rarity level, the mythics. I don't think that one really merits any further elaboration haha.
Imaging playing this game since the 90's and watching it get turned out like a cheap, meth-addicted whore by the slimiest pimp you can imagine.
Charlie said this was the best video to watch about MTG 30th anniversary and boy did he nail it. Amazing video, I didn’t think I would be standing here, bystander to the game at 8am completely invested. 😂
The Prof is all of us. He is the heart and soul of MTG. It's really awful to see the direction continue down this path for WotC.
phyrexia is WOTC
the Walkers are the player base.
Nicol Bolas is Prof.
Late stage capitalism
@@SolomonRasputin lol this isn't late stage capitalism; this is jsut capitalism.
"Heart and soul of MTG"... I strongly disagree, and I think he might, as well. He seems like a decent guy, and I agree with him here. But let's not conflate his role. He's a passionate content creator, and that's okay.
@@SolomonRasputinIf capitalism is so bad maybe you would prefer North Korea or Venezuela?
Can I just comment on the fact that I've never even played Magic but simply the pure love and passion this man has for his craft, has me watching his videos on a regular basis for the past few years. Thank you for the content Professor! Truly an inspiring content creator
Jump on it it’s a great time
You hit the nail in the head. Beta drafts with this product would have been awesome and made everyone happy. But they had to ruin it with the pricing.
And the availability. This really feels like the nail in the coffin for reasonable products, because I have no doubt this will sell
I mean this product wouldve still been a worse investment for a beta draft set/cube than making your own
Beta draft actually kind of sucks except for the nostalgia. On average the power level of the cards is really low and there are some cards that so almost nothing.
hell, sell them for the price of a normal premium product and they'd sell out immediately.
Anybody else playing back this far (even into 4th edition) will confirm drafting back in this era was VERY underwhelming.
It's stuff like this that helps me justify my recent decision to stop buying retail Magic products full-stop. At the same time, it's stuff like this that reminds me how freakin blessed we are to have the Prof on our side. Thank you, Prof, and I wish you many curved-out games.
You could have just said, "it's not a celebration, it's an exploitation of the good will players have given to Wizards of the Coast"
There isn't much goodwill left from what I have seen. Its just there is no other game that can replace it.
How do you thumbs up 1000 times?
Thank you for standing up for the players and the people who keep the game alive.
It hurts listening to this. You can hear the heartbreak of someone who truly loves and cares about this game watch as it crumbles apart. I also never realized what I was missing until he talked about how amazing this should have been. Going to my game store to hear someone yell across the room they got the black lotus, to feel that excitement about this game again would have been amazing.
I actually cried during the beginning, the beginning was so heart felt and amazing, to be crushed by the price and and the negativity was absolutely wrecking
Why do men constantly type in youtube comments "Im crying"
Get some testosterone and stop whimpering like a child.
@@echoechoecho7142 L comment
@@EliPersonal l comment
@@0eazy4 U comment?
@@amberhernandez V comment
Wow, even the CEO of Games Workshop would see this reveal and probably think "well this is maybe pushing it too far"
Forgeworld…
GW probably gave wizards the idea in the first place.
@@Dlxtrv9 I was about to say this lol. It's ok, games workshop has lost my business until they return to sanity, thank God for 3d printers. However for magic the gathering it is a little harder to create copies of cards that are essentially identical to the real deal.
LOL you know you're in trouble when the Imperium thinks you're too extreme
It's pretty bad when you make GW prices look reasonable by comparison. And we're talking 50 bucks for 3 ounces of plastic there...
@@brianp6859 you can get essentially identical bootleg cards very easily, actually. just need to look in the right places.
I simulated opening 4,000 packs, and my results were:
$1,183.65 spent per dual land
$3,083.33 spent per piece of power
A Revised Edition Volcanic Island can be bought for $455, and an Unlimited Edition Ancestral Recall can be bought for $2,899 at the time of writing on TCGPlayer.
WotC: "We don't acknowledge the secondary card market. 🤡"
And a proxy Black Lots can be printed for $1 or less.
This is highway robbery at this point.
I am sure Wotc used the same simulator to find the correct price for the boosters hahaha
And how much spent if you want it in old border,……….? 😮
I was introduced to MTG shortly after the release of Homelands, Ice Age, and 4th edition. I really got into it during Mirage and Alliances. I still own thousands of cards and have 75 decks ready to play, but I haven't purchased any new cards since, well, I can't even remember since when. Today's MTG makes me sick to my stomach is such a sad downward spiral for what was once a truly innovative idea and an incredibly fun and addictive game.
This video about the 30th Anniversary is probably the best I've seen on this topic. This game is dangerous teetering on the brink. And this comes from someone who loves Commander and is constantly wither buying sleeves or singles for a new brew. Even in these tough times. That may have to change however....I hear Flesh and Blood boxes are pretty easy to come by.
Uprising, the newest set are 85$ a box. With at least 6 cards in the set worth 200+.
If you don't feel like learning a new game...proxy!
@@kendelia9609 That too! Just gotta finish sorting through all the waifu bait artwork lol
@@antoniohenderson6090 Im lazy and get them with regular art and print em at staples, sleeve them with a token. Works out to be about 8¢ a card.
Hey for $1000 I could get 37 of every card in beta!
30th Anniversary. Perfect opportunity to re-live the experience of: "you're spending how much on a piece of cardboard?!!", which I remember so well from my youth.
You can tell his heart is breaking as he describes this 30th anniversary shit show. My heart was breaking with him. I can't believe how they are doing us fans so dirty.
This product, as an old school almost ptq grinder, makes me so happy ive changed my hobbies. back in lorwyn/morningtide to zendikar/worldwake i never thought id stop playing this game.
Everytime I check in for nostalgia sake, I'm so happy I gave up the cardboard crack.
Man if they sold these at regular booster prices this would have been an absolute triumph and would have gotten me back in the game for so many events.
Instead, they’re going to actually lose players over this.
Honestly for proxies even that's a bit expensive.
Or better, sold it as a complete cube set and, instead of just doing Beta with all its chaff, made it an _actual_ celebration of 30 years of Magic by making it a complete box set of the MTGO Vintage Cube. I'm talking all-time powerful cards from every set (well, most every set, lol), built to support various draft archetypes - you'd have your Black Lotus and OG duals next to your Liliana of the Veil and Dark Depths, your fetches and cradles/academies, your Eldrazi and yeah, even Oko, lol. As a complete set but _also_ in pseudo-random booster packs so you could take it out of the box to play immediately? Toss in some cool card treatments (and better art selection, come on - love the old art, but not in the new frames) (hey, what if the did tarot-style gold rimmed cards? That would be sweet) and yeah, I'd probably pay $1000 for it to draft with friends and keep as a Cube long after.
Then everyone Would have them, they are trying to get these valued high since it’s so hard to pay the insane price for a real lotus and some of these cards, not to mention the cards are so old they need a reprint bad, I’ve seen some took great care of with stained borders the white borders that is, either that or this really is a thing for the collector I love the game I play but anymore it’s the value of cards everyone wants, new players think the more expensive the card the better it is, I was the same way, they need to be expensive so when you do hit a lotus or something big you get killer value from it, whether that’s playing it if your friends don’t mind or using it for trade, whatever but there gonna hold high value!!
who the fuck cares about overpriced proxies?
I appreciate so much, that someone so invested in mtg is willing to call wizards on being pirates. He’s the peoples Prof.
Is it WOTC or is it Hasbro?
@@someguy3429 That's literally the problem. I appreciate that Prof engages with WotC and calls them out over things like this, but the bottom line is that it has nothing to do with them and everything to do with Hasbro and their bottom line.
There aren't many of us who've been playing since 93 (I'm one of them). But I was so disappointed in this product announcement. I thought for sure there were people at Wizards that understood the community. Clearly, if there are, they have no voice in the decision making process. Next year could have been an amazing celebratory year for us as a community. This is the first time in my 30 years of magic fandom that I am seriously considering not giving another dime to them. My logical mind says this is the trial balloon. If it sells out, it's the first, and least disgusting product we'll see in the coming years, and I don't know if I want to be a part of it anymore.
I don't even think you need to hear the voice of the community to not sell a mediocre product for such an insanely price, and only online. It's just common sense that it needs to be cheaper, more consumer-friendly, and more available.
They did that on purpose. It's purposefully anti-community and anti-consumer, because it's pro-speculator. It's thought of as a product that collectors will fight for and pay a lot of money for. It was never designed for people to enjoy old-style magic.
They know MTG is going to be successful no matter what, and they deliberately choose to be more greedy than necessary. They could be more than profitable and still sell community-friendly products, but they'd rather make even more money without having to care.
And you know what's even worse? They probably didn't even listen to their own designers and creators. It's very likely just a marketing concept. Chances are that people in their very own company dislike that approach, and would rather sell more approachable products, because they enjoy people playing their game and discovering what made them love it too. Instead, that company sells a product for a few people who won't play it.
As someone who has been playing since a few years after you (95), my feelings are very close to yours.
Before this product was announced I was very eager to get into a few drafts with Unfinity and was kinda hyped for the next set because of the Transformer cards; now I am questioning if I want to keep giving money to a corporation that no longer even tries to pretend they want to give us a good product/experience, they just want our money.
The sad part is that this will be a major success, they will sell every single box, and you will see scalpers selling them back for 4000 or more and people will still buy them, just like it happened with Double Masters VIP...they will just create some other disgusting overpriced product for next time.
My only hope is that this is a bubble and that eventually it will all come crashing down, forcing them to focus again on the game part, instead of exploiting their playerbase/fans.
I feel pretty similar, this has very much become an abusive relationship. The really, really funny part to me is that if players stop playing, these cards will very quickly be worth almost nothing, and none of the speculators will be holding onto value, just rubbish, yet WotC keep shoving it's head up the speculator's asses instead of concentrating on making a fun game. They've actively tried to obsolete almost every old card (if you're observant you'll note how often WotC 'weirdly' doesn't reprint the better cards and just keep printing the shit ones, or the 'budget picks', because they actively want 'expensive cards' for the speculators, even if the majority of the money the game actually makes comes from players). The company is being run by moronic children at this point, caricatures of 80s business greed parading around as humans, but they have a lot of very dumb consumers (ever wonder why the brass wanted the game 'dumbed down a lot' way back? That was because you can sell more/lazier products to less sophisticated consumers. They wanted people that think it's fun to play with Phyrexian Obliterator type cards, not people who like Stax and Pox decks that are hard to play/play against.
I felt the same way. It makes me feel like I don't want to play anymore.
@@tiagomagalhaes7032 imagine giving up on a fun hobby ( which u can enjoy for the cheapest price ever in its history right now ) because of overpriced proxies xD
I'd really love to hear Richard Garfield's take on this (as I eagerly anticipate the release of Solforge Fusion).
Good point... I'll ask him in the virtual q&a!
I learned about MTG when I bumped into Garfield back in the 90s and can't imagine (or hope) that the same guy would endorse the ungrateful pricks in corporate who are thanking those who supported the game all along and made it what it is (or was).
How cool would it have been to have a 30th edition box topper PACK inserted in all of the booster boxes being released this year.
Would have been amazing.
Making players happy has no value to shareholders though.
But that would have been actually giving something back to the players and collectors who have supported this game for so long. And that's not what they really want to do. Same thing they did with the legends crap in du collector boxes.
@@kildotgaming Golden goose analogy couldn't be more on point right here.
That would have been a fantastic idea.
but that would have been really cool and good for players, no hazbro needs money.
Funny thing is, if this had just be a regular product, I would have bought multiple boxes to play mtg from the 90s. Oh well
Yep. If it cost the same as a normal booster, or even a masters set, it could have essentially let you phantom draft a classic format IRL.
unless you spent >1000$, then wotc wouldn't care since they would make more selling to a speculator. wotc doesn't care about you
You can just print them if you actually want to do that. So many lazy people here
prof was about to go full "you have nothing to lose but your chains" mode at the end there and I'M LIVING FOR IT
Asmongold did a reaction video to this. It makes me so happy the amount of reach this issue has which is going beyond MTG players and reaching more widespread larger communities. I truly hope WoTC here's this loud and clear that we will not stand for this type of betrayal.
as a 29 year player, I've been through so many iterations of "they are ruining magic". some of it was reactionary (Homelands). But they've kept me coming back. However, my old fogeys playgroup and I ( who, incidentally COULD decide to purchase some of this product ) will not be doing so. Hasbro's constant need to increase sales quarter over quarter and year over year have moved Wizards into territory that just isn't sustainable in regards to maintaining it's long term player base. Like many others, I'll be purchasing more proxies. The only way to voice our displeasure that will register is to STOP HANDING HASBRO YOUR MONEY.
yep ive stop at the " they are ruining magic " when marcadian mask got out.
Your asking too much from Whales
This 1K product made me actually go out and buy a ton of proxy (actual fake mtg) cards. In addition, our play group voted to use proxies whether you own the card or not...previously you had to own one copy to proxy it. My day of buying expensive cards has come to an end. Its just been too much lately.
Good for you. the only way I still play magic is with a friend who decided to buy all the old sets as proxies. So we just play old legacy (without all the BS power-creep of the last few years) and we'Re having a blast!
@@profanemagic5671 that actually sounds pretty fun... hmm
I think this will be my way to go in the future. Why buy expensive cards if you could just get cheap proxy instead?
@@profanemagic5671 sounds fun!
This is The Way.
They really managed to nail the spirit of Magic, caving to speculators while simultaneously pricing players out of the game.
It would be interesting to hear a critic that discusses how valuable old magic is, what does it mean to have high end products, what people's relationship with a game should be and if it's good to want everything. But all there is seems to be unnuanced echo chamber crying 'too expensive, if not for me than terrible. This is only for stockholders (ignorung the people who want it and buy it, they cant exist), I can't get black lotus for cheep, i remeber when you could buy things ata good price (just ignore the other products like the warhammer commander decks, um they dont exist during this crying session) not fair, money is bad, magic is evil'
How does this product price players out of the game exactly?
They're selling 60 pieces of random tournament illegal cardboard pieces for 1000$ my dude, as the only celebration for the 30th anniversary of a game millions play. Do you have shares of hasbro or something?
@@jayceh certain cards from older sets are significantly powerful and unbalanced to the point that trying to play the original vintage format pretty much required those specific cards for the deck to be competitively viable. thus the game became more a contest of who had the bigger wallet. starting with legacy, many formats have since been formed specifically to force people to play with cards that were more accessible in order to make the game fair for players who would otherwise be priced out of the game.
no other game that i can think of has multiple identical and redundant formats dedicated to banning entire sets just to make it fair
@@seijhik doesn't answer my question, since these cards aren't tournament legal, how do they price players out of the game?
It's a shitty product but 1) it doesn't price anyone out of the game 2) doesn't kill infants.
Please just think more carefully
This is a straight money grab. Hasbro is shaking down Wizards like Activision extorted Blizzard.
I always use this as an example. Blizzard indeed died to me, years of following as a gamer and nowadays I do not play any franchise from them.
@@mizzogames Same Magic is head the same way. already have friends who are done with it.
damn man, you also thought of Activision!
WotC has its own corporate structure and leadership. Sure maybe Hasbro sets the bar, but they're the ones figuring out how to get there. A fair price for this product printed to demand maybe? Such a disappointment.
@@mizzogames this is how Wotc did with me. I absolutely loved it, but left it. I still keep up with it and it makes me feel... happy honestly seeing it dying and feeling correct about my assumptions
I quit MTG in 2020 because I felt it was heading down a road I didn't want to follow. I came back in 2022 because it is a hard hobby to give up. It's my only real connection to getting out of the house, and being part of a local community. But I can see that the signs I saw back in 2020 were just the beginning.
If you feel it time to let it go, let it go. It might be tough but there is no use of feeding the ghosts.
You can love and enjoy Magic: The Gathering (the game) without taking part in Magic: The Gathering (the product). I have a pauper cube for just that, and will build other cubes from singles, curating my preferred corners of the overall game and not contributing to the nasty coffers of Hasbro WotC. take your cube to your LGS or wherever else your playgroup meets along with your modern or commander decks and have another option.
I bowed out when I heard about Neon Cyberpunk Rat Ninjas on Motorcycles because I'm not paying for someone's stupid pet project.
I don't think Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is the problem here
Community formats.
This one actually made me want to cry. I experienced Magic well before Pokémon by watching classmates have duels on the concrete during recess with cards like Chaos Orb and Juzam Djinn. My parents wouldn't allow me to have Magic cards due to the early art and criticism of the game so I grew up playing and collecting Pokémon. Once an adult with a job I was able to go back to Magic's art and multiple formats. The game of Magic is continually becoming more big business with Hasbro now making a product to directly sell to the secondary market with the biggest payouts they have had, not only blocking out the average/budget consumer, but limiting quantity to even block out whales. This isn't a player/fan celebration whatsoever, which really irks me the most. I've accepted not partaking of premium products or having the time to get to appreciate a set before the next release is upon us, but it really makes me want to wash my hands of Magic since the 'Gathering', casual gaming and collecting doesn't seem like it will be affordable much longer. Magic the Gathering is becoming the product not for me. 😟
lol
This shameful product is the one I am saying goodbye to Magic over, too. It's a heartbreaking moment; Magic brought me into the world of card games, and I am forever grateful. For WotC's sake, I hope this 30th Edition bombs and forces them to reexamine things.
I feel for you. Your puritan parents robbed you from a house by not allowing you to go into magic younger.
12:08 holy cow I was there, GP Vegas, making my first every Day 2, great memories. I quit MtG in 2014, and it's sad to see this is how things have evolved for the game.
Thanks to that simulator, I am now the proud owner of ancestral recall! And in only two packs! That's just a hair less than $2,000! Such a reasonable price!
It took me „only“ around 4000$ to become the proud (virtual) owner of a (fake/proxy) mox ruby 😂.
I played Magic for 20 years of those 30. It was such a beauty of a thing. You saw someone play at school, the next week there's an entire playgroup, the next week after that we all find an LGS and hang out there. So many afternoons just having fun, making memories. Then it's the sad reality sinking in. You see the LGS (plural) in your area struggling, eventually close or change into a snack bar to pay the bills. You see the company pumping out product after product, you can't keep up anymore. You see all these shiny cool things, being limited, complicated to get and at abusive prices. You see no more PTs, no more GPs, no more exciting moments to talk about the next day with your homies. Entire formats being abandoned. Some being exploited for money like EDH. You see no flavour, no captivating stories, every set is just a bland "A to B" adventure. You even see out of place IPs being advertised within your once favorite card game. Steady increase in prices, even for older products. And now this...technically selling you 60 fake cards for 1000 dollars. A slam dunk of a product completely butchered by availability and price. And they even have the audacity to call this a celebration. I would call it murder.
I discuss all of these events as they happen with my homies from way back then. We all laugh our asses off and keep saying "What he fuck happened to Magic, dude?? It USED to be so cool". But inside It literally pains my heart to see what the "game" became. It's not "Magic" anymore...just sleight of hand. A farce performed by a charlatan. What once was a fun game that could also be a cool collectible just turning into a mere «exclusive» collectible for rich people, gambling addicts, investors and shareholders. No game left to play. Fuck you, Hasbro. Fuck you, WotC. Fuck the state of this franchise.
No, fuck you. WOTC knows what's best for us! If they need to double there profits every year then we need to help them out! Even if that includes going bankrupt! WOTC we bow to you and will pay any price you desire. That includes all of us!
Wait I thought this was from the Prof. yes I remember getting into this game not too long ago and was captivated by the stories that I read about and followed from sets to sets or Planes as they call it. I watched vids about war of the spark, elder dragons, Capenna and so much more that made me switch from YGO to magic. I was of course a bit intimidated by the price but I just told myself there is not TCG thats cheap or atleast the cards aren't cheap. And now this... Welps I might have to dust my YGO cards cause atleast there I already know it's fun and they treat the community right for the most part. I wont hide the faults of Konami but damn atleast I know they wouldnt pull a WoTC "celebration"
Geez dude just buy some proxy's
@@patrickhenry4397 The problems I have with current Magic, as can be deduced by reading my previous comment, won't just be solved by a casual "getting proxies from somewhere else". Sure I could do that, but my main issue is with the company's managing of the brand. It disappoints and irritates me. And that puts me off of it.
What made me fall in love with the game is no longer there to me, see? The proxies are a mere speck of the iceberg. I rather see the company that makes the game have (and consistently keep having) great ideas that solve known problems and make players band together so they want to support THEM (and henceforth the game itself), than just seeing the company herpaderp their brains out with decisions that are "$$$ first, player....not even last, not even in the metrics" and make consumers incredibly untrusting of them in the process. That's it.
@@S1NE4T3R lol your way to invested in this... Wizards dgaf about you or your feelings this game isn't for poor people anymore
I stopped playing a few years ago but this still hit hard. 😢
At this point, if people are still in I would just abandon ship. They don't care about the game anymore. It's not what it was and probably never will be again. Just like how video games have gone down hill. Everything is nickle and dime you to death or isn't completed with loads of issues and bugs. We gave them too much and now they want more and more. They won't back down now unless everyone stops and it is very unlikely that will happen.
Yeah, I used to do prerelease events & sometimes FNM & game days. After covid wiped my LGS in person events, I haven't played MtG. I don't even play Arena.
Its amazing how many players who have quit along the way still stick around and watch these videos. Makes you wonder about how well the game would be doing right now if not for the decisions made since their acquisition by Hasbro.
same
5:06 is shocking; our neoliberal hell is absolutley buckwild!
Thank you Prof. for expressing my (and not only my) thoughts on this with the clearest and most polite words that only you are capable of.
I am an Italian veteran collector, started at the very beginning, and I feel insulted by this product, and by WotC in general. I have always loved Magic since I was a kid, it has always been my n.1 passion. I have a very bitter taste in my mouth now that I see how they plan to "celebrate" this very important result. THIRTY YEARS! How many games have lasted so long? Do they even realize what they have? Of all the good there is in Magic, the only thing they can see is the money-making potential. Which of course, is fundamental part of Magic and its health and prosperity. But they have forgotten that this is the result of all the rest that is amazing in Magic. The game, the art, the lore, the characters... And most of all, the PLAYERS AND COLLECTORS BASE, and the STORES that make all of this possible! They are nothing without us, and still they treat us like we are nothing without them. How shabby!
I don't want to write too much, but I want to conclude with this.
I remember when during Lorwyn block one of the "commercial tip cards" you could find in boosters was one that simply said "15 years. Thank you." Maybe I am oversentitive, but that warmed my heart when I saw one. We didn't ask for that, but it was a simple message. It was for US, the players, the collectors, the store owners. It was free. It was sent for everyone out there.
Maybe a commercial card with "30 years. Thank you." would have been better than all this scam. Sometimes less is more. When it comes to gifts and gratitude, really, what matters is the gesture itself, not the monetary value.
Thanks to everyone who read this entire wall of text.
A very disappointed Italian Magic lover
I read it all and this was a great message!
What an amazing product. It's hard to capture everything mtg currently is in just one product but they truly managed to do it.
You can get startet in any format atm for under 50 dollars and win. EDH hosts more variety then it ever had, for the cheapest price it ever had. Single prices are on record lows because of the market being flooded by collector packs. Idk what more you want besides "gimme free shit" ?
Spot on man. The product illustrates the greed amazingly well.
Abusing secondary market prices and anchoring bias has never made it easier for Wizards to sell cards at increasingly ridiculous prices. Even without angering anyone sitting on reserved list cards.
I never thought they'd manage to pull off a three digit price tag. At least not for cards that don't use the regular back for those interested in official tournaments. But here they are pushing, four digits even.
It's genius from a marketing standpoint. They'll even get valuable data with how much they can get away with in the future.
@@ich3730 Where's the soul?
Yeah this hurts. I just started playing in spring 2020 and your opening statement got me so pumped to learn about the game
through real play. But now it feels like im watching The Onion cover mtg
When I discovered magic, it was during the Tempest block- and I was in love. I had a science teacher who kept his class open for kids to play during lunch break, and he even organized a trip to play the release tournament for stronghold. Back then, the thought of trading your cards to make the best possible deck wasn’t even a consideration. You just did it. The game was what mattered; not collecting- not financials. The community, the fun- all of it was possible because of an amazing game and a company that seemed to listen and care about the people that played with their products. I’m not sure they look at us as anything more than investors now.
This could have been the coolest product. Mass print it all year for the 30th anniversary, sell the packs for 3 or 4 bucks. Let people draft it, crack packs, have fun. Instead we got something for the finance and speculation crowd. I'm taking my money and investing in a nice printer and I'm just printing my cards out.
Even if they put it at the 10$/pack price they'd sell a lot of these.
If i had a 1000 to waste, i'd update my three favourite commander decks.
I'd play a completely different game.
If I had 1000 usd to waste, I'd buy 3 draft boxes of the latest standard sets, pay my friends the trip to visit me, rent a place, order food and we would all spend a whole day playing chaos draft together. Way more fun than this shit.
1000 in yugioh will get you an ungodly deck you could take to worlds. You wouldnt even have to spend that much either
Exactly
@@jackm725 It could get you 10 ungodly Digimon Decks you can take to world tours too.
As a former Magic player this actually hurts me. But I get my card game addiction covered by KeyForge. Thankfully we have plenty of various other card games out there so hopefully we'll see a thriving community with several different games!
It truly devastates me what seems to be happening with Magic. Wizards doesn’t see it as a game anymore and doesn’t have any respect or love for the players.
They went full on NFT on us, break out the proxies.
Blame Hasbro the ones who own Wizards as greedy corporate does this type of shit all the time
wait, the game is still the same? This literally doesnt hurt anyone. Its just WOTC offering you the worst deal in history. You can actually still play magic, the rules have not broken down :D Just chill xD
@@ich3730 Dude you do not get the fucking point do you? It is the message that Wizards is sending that is pissing everyone off not the product. If you can't understand the message then don't fucking talk on the matter
This was a really emotional video and I think you’ve put it in better words than most could muster. It’s weird watching something you love in the hands of a company that you hate. So many amazing games and IPs created by those who loved them dearly now in the hands of companies run by people who carry no love and care for the game or IP. Just profit. Squeezing every penny out possible. I will always love Magic, but it does hurt
Wizards prints a set that probably costs the .50 cents a pack to make and says we gonna sell for $1000 🤯
Sad part is that I guarantee you they sell out of what they print and those people will then try to sell this product for $2,000..
@@NewRetroGaming Scalpers go brrrrrrrrr
and they ain't even playable
And yet they make far far more with every set release by selling more cheap cardoard at a lower rate but higher quantities. What's actually the problem?
Are you upset that they're "ripping off" a few people for a lot? Why not be as upset that they are "ripping off" millions for a little?
I bet it costs even less for digital card packs on the whole.
@@shawnmichaud4484 by even less you mean literally free after putting out the code
I wasn't going to comment since this is so old but... Yugioh just had their 25th anniversary and not only have we gotten a wonderful reprint pack (has allowed me to buy some cards I thought I'd never own due to price for 1-2 dollars each! Usually less) but also some of the most iconic original sets reprinted with updated errata and are tournament legal (everything they release is always tournament legal till a card is banned) at regular price while also providing some expensive options for the collectors that I can't afford that are still cheaper than the Wilds of Eldraine booster box. It's so crazy to me. Blows my mind.
Thank you Hasbro, you have really showed your hand on this one. I have only played MTG for a year, and I already feel betrayed.
#fleshandbloodtcg
Feel the same way. Just about a year and put together a bunch of Commander decks I enjoy playing. Saw this product and the other 5 that were spoiled and I'm losing it quickly.
And when you think that in their press release they say their goal is "to put the players at the center" or in other words that their game and selling strategy be done wit the end user in mind. Well all their actions says the contrary. They clearly do not care about the players.
Ditto - new to magic and fell in love with the game but am now wondering if I'm being suckered into a cash grab money machine that will most assuredly topple should the current course continue. Sad, really.
Feels like I was invited to a party but someone failed to mention the $1000 fee at the door.
Me: This is the biggest cash grab in the history of Magic!
WOTC: The biggest cash grab so far…
As a guy whose primary TCG happens to be WotC's ex(Pokemon), I'm sorry you lot had to go through this. For the sake of comparison, last year we got the Celebrations set, which was an ETB that had 10 boosters which had 25 unique cards based on various legendary Pokemon + Pikachu variants and a special full art version of the original Pikachu card, and 25 reprinted cards throughout the history of the Pokemon TCG, be it collector faves lile Base Set Charizard or Umbreon Gold Star, to tournament staples like Neo Genesis Cleffa or Luxray GL Lv. X.
...and it was only 50 bucks.
This product and this company have become an embarrassment.
Professor, I haven’t always agreed with you but I genuinely love that you made this video. Thank you sir.
I honestly don't know how this doesn't fall under gambling. Wizards must be on the brink of crossing that line.
@@joelmonteiro1419 it's always been gambling to some degree. We just have larger amounts of money at stake in this product - I mean this joke, this embarrassment.
@@tylers2889 not legally and I don't know why. Lootboxes are gambling in a lot of coubtries.
Professor you are totally right… it is a shame it won’t be possible to celebrate 30 years of magic with something that makes us all happy
This will be another reason to take one step further from WoC
I saw something about this on twitter and assumed it was an absurd joke /'what if'
It blows my mind that it's real, but the context that they've literally sold complete sets of beta before now for 50 is stunning.
Thank you for commenting on the product itself, and especially for talking on the context it's happening within too.
yeah I was pretty hyped for that 30th anniversary box.... then I saw the price tag. I'm on disability and barely get that much in a month! so *no way* I'm ever getting my hands on one of those... I mean $99 I would've at least considered it but not for a whole grand that I can't afford!!
I have been playing Magic for 26 years now. It has been there through the good times and the bad times. I've been a god awful player the entire time, but winning and losing never mattered to me. I just enjoyed playing, brewing, reading articles and books, and especially making realistically balanced custom cards. I got into EDH around Torment when I pulled a foil Chainer and it easily became one of my favorite formats. I've made friends I never would have made because of my shyness. I've gone to prereleases and tournaments my anxiety would have kept me from. It helped get me out of my shell in a way nothing else ever did. I could go on and on about how much Magic means to me as a person and how much it has helped to shape my life, but I am starting to get choked up writing this. About eight years ago, I started to notice a shift in Magic. It was like I could see the writing on the walls, but I was still having fun so I stuck with it. I started playing less and less as the years went by, and as time went on I was slowing down my purchases. Until eventually I wasn't buying anything at all. I still played with my friends in person or online using Cockatrice or Untap.in, but no new paper cards were going into my paper decks. That is to say, no new OFFICIAL cards were. I started proxying, because I played casually anyway so why not? My play group quickly followed suit. We would even make proxies for custom cards, so long as the group agreed upon their balance to the official game. Proxies made Cube and EDH so much more fun; I felt like a kid again standing in my old LGS cracking open my first pack. It was the breath of fresh air I needed. I will ALWAYS be an advocate of proxying, either buying singles for $5 from a website like Proxy Queen or buying in bulk from MPCs. No one should have to spend an exorbitant amount of money to play a casual game with friends. When I look at other TCGs I've played over the years like the WoW TCG, Pokemon, and more recently Flesh and Blood, it is INSANE how reasonably priced a deck can go for compared to Magic. I am sickened and appalled by WotC and Hasbro's choice to print such an obvious cash grab as this 30th anniversary set. I can't keep having my heart broken like this, but I unfortunately know that that's exactly what WotC will continue to do. Just as I will continue to play this fantastic game how I want to play; with proxies in person, across free online platforms, and amongst the friends I've made along the way.
MTG was always similar to D&D, in that it was more about sitting around the table with like-minded people.
They changed the game too drastically from it's original color-use-distinctions (Green - creatures & mana, Red - full damage, Blue - copy & counter, ...) for me to care about continuing. Eliminating mana burn was just the cherry on top.
I've heard similar things from a lot of people, and I think the issue is that people conflate WotC (a corprate entity) with the actual game of Magic. You don't love WotC, you love magic. Yes, they made the framework and the pieces but it was the game play with your friends that you fell in love with, not Wizards. In the very beginning, perhaps the two were one in the same, but it hasn't been that way for a long long time.
Don't let your heart be broken because a company is doing what a company does (try to make money). You can still play casual magic however you like, just the way you have been. Now do I think this is this a good product? Depends - I think it will make them an insane amount of money and sell out immediately, but I'd never buy it because I'd rather spend money on real ABU cards, and i know a lot of investor types (people likely inthe target market for this product) feel the same. But just because they are making moves to make money doesn't mean the game is any better or worse than it was the day before the announcement.
I for one will continue to play casual tabletop decks and pauper, just as I have for the duration of my interest in the game. Magic is and always will be what you and your friends make of it and it sounds like you and your friends make a lot of it (custom cards, etc) which is great. Don't let economics tarnish that.
Wizards can't detract from what you guys do at the game table, they can only add to it. This 30th anniversary thing doesn't change any of that.
Hope this doesn't come off as argumentative or anything - I'm not trying to diminish or invalidate your feelings and experiences. But I also don't want people to lose their love for something for no reason, or for the wrong reason.
I've been playing Magic since 98, taught my (now) wife to play when we were in college, and we play casually with friends. Heard about this and thought it would be an awesome opportunity to get some cards we'd otherwise never be able to afford. Had no idea it was going to be that limited, or THAT expensive. Really too bad.
30th anniversary! Finally a time to get your hands on some cool old cards that are otherwise unaffordable... Wait they're still unaffordable...
@@tyranustrey Can you imagine there's a good chance to spent less money buying Black Lotus outright (in acceptable condition, not necessarily the highly graded one) and actually have a tournament legal card than opening the boosters until you find proxies only one?
@@sonicslv6132 Here in the bizzaro timeline we don't even have to imagine unfortunately. Wotc these days make me feel like I'm a parent. I'm not mad wotc I'm just so disappointed.
The last 30 seconds had me in tears. The passion behind his words for this game is amazing. And really shows how much he cares for the community
Really? You were in tears???
@@jivexero yeah man. It really hits home to see someone who cares so much about something you care about to. And to see him so disappointed hurts.
@@jivexero It's called empathy bro
@@Ubbah1 awwwwww. That's so sweet.
@championchap Ah, I did not realize you already had conducted a professional diagnosis. Clearly I was wrong in my guess that was based on little to no information about the person.
Never watched one of your videos. But I must say well done sir. 100% correct. Now I have not played magic since probably when Ice Age came out. I started playing Magic in 1995 and fell in love with it. I am still a collector of many things. Some are high end comic statues. But I'm wanted to get back some of my magic cards I had when I was a kid. I had 3 power nines when I played. Time twister time walk and ancestral recall. But I went online and found a amazing proxy company and bought all power 9 cards for around $30 and they look amazing! It is a shame what this company did to celebrate 30 years. Thanks for your time.
Hasbro you're excluding almost everybody from the 30th anniversary. The price point is just a slap in the face to all the loyal customers for 30 years. Great way to celebrate! 🎉
I want to see the Community come together under some Hashtag, The Other MTG 30th or some such, but not whatever the official Hashtag is, & have the Unofficial one be EXPONENTIALLY larger & more active on the same weekend. It wcould just be tons of people playing in casual spaces & LGS's for free/reasonable having fun.
This “product” makes my heart hurt. I’m not as veteran as many, I really got into magic during 2016. The origins of magic and the most powerful relics have always been too expensive for me despite my wanting. Sadly Hasbro has decided to keep it that way, prohibitively expensive.
Heck, I got into Magic in 2019 via Commander and that's the only format I play. I've been a budget player ever since and all these more pricer products getting released is just disheartening.
@@ProphecyPhrase May I interest you in pauper commander