Just came home from a party, still drunk, thankfully I have this article I wrote a few weeks back and have been waiting for the right time. Hope you enjoy it,
- Rose Willis
The Death of Magic is a topic I find interesting and want to talk about today. Let me say straight up that Magic is not dying by any means or metrics and is, in fact, more popular and more successful than ever. So give me time to explain what I mean.
You'll occasionally hear things (especially from older players) like "Magic is dying" Universes beyond is Hasbro milking the last of the game for all it's worth" ", Secret lairs are ruining everything", "So much of the planes and sets no longer feel like the fantasy setting that magic is."
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, what these players are actually saying is "Magic, the game I fell in love with years (or decades) ago when I started playing, is 'dying'and this, I feel, is a much more accurate description. What magic was when I started playing is very, very different from how magic is now. Commander did not exist. The way new players got into the game was either through Standard or Draft. The game had a lot more focus on the competitive aspect. There were casual circles (I ran one in fact), but the biggest focus on the game and game design was to make an engaging and competitive game that people would enjoy playing as 1v1.
Pro Tour Qualifiers, Nationals, and Grand Prixs were what we were playing and practising for. These events that we watched coverage of and dreamt about the day we could be playing at that level. The social nature of the game was a lot of meeting friends at big events you hadn't properly caught up with for a long time, playing, judging, and enjoying the competitive aspect, even when just playing more for fun.
That time feels long gone, especially in smaller countries like New Zealand, where to qualify for the pro tour, you have to place well in an event, whereas for us, our local version of this event is always in Australia. Our national qualifier is in Australia, where we used to have 3 tournaments with flights and qualification directly to the Pro Tour in New Zealand each season, on top of things like GPs, Regionals, Nationals, and other events.
Let me give you some stats on magic now. If you started playing Magic before COVID, you are in the 20% minority of all current Magic Players. If Commander is not one of the primary formats you play, you are in the 15% minority of all current Magic players.
The most common way new players are introduced to the game is via commander.
A few years back, Mark Rosewater stated that not every set is for every player. I thought at the time that he was referring to formats; some sets are for commander, some sets are for standard players, some sets are for eternal players. Now I realise what he was actually saying. All sets are for Commander players, but not every set is for every type of Commander player.
More and more of the big events that show up (few that they are comparatively) put a lot of their marketing towards Commander players. Sure, there's sometimes a big 1v1 event going on, but more and more, that's feeling like a side event for those wanting something different.
So, in summary, magic is in the best place it's ever been. Card design (if not flavour) has been getting better and better, we have more and more regular players getting into the game and staying around (as much as the grumpy internet people would have you believe otherwise). Each set and the game as a whole are incredibly popular. The game is going nowhere and likely has decades more of longevity and enjoyment.
Magic is not dead. But when you hear someone complain that it is, just keep in mind that what they are actually saying is "The Magic Game I fell in love with and grew up playing is dead." And that, sadly, is a lot more true... :(
- Rose Willis
