Product Overload
March 2, 2023
March 2, 2023
I saw a video from the Tolarian Community College YouTube channel, and this is basically just me fervently agreeing.
I played Magic for 15 years from 1993 to 2008. I spent thousands of dollars on cards and played thousands of games.
I restarted playing Magic a few months ago and it's SO confusing. There's just SO MANY product variations and so many products.Â
Trying to figure out what even the hell is supposed to be in a booster pack is basically impossible. Trying to figure out if I'm missing anything by not buying collector boosters is basically impossible. Trying to figure out if some store on Amazon is ripping me off on the cost of sealed magic products is basically impossible.
Hell, just figuring out what cards I can play in what formats is excruciatingly difficult. It used to be that new sets were part of Standard for 2 years (more or less). Period. Now there are a million sets and whether or not they're legal in any specific format is something you have to go look up, card by card. Oh and you might get cards from other sets in your booster packs of this set.
WoTC desperately needs to cut down on product variations and label everything WAY more clearly. I'm fine with basic boosters and fancy boosters, but don't have THREE variations. And make it WAY more clear what you actually get. None of this "a chance of that and a chance of this". Just make it the same in every pack. Guaranteed two rares, one foil rare, one foil uncommon, etc. There's still variation in the fact that some rares are garbage and others aren't.... but don't make it so I get a different number of rares in the same type of booster. That's just makes me feel like a chump.
Don't also have "Jumpstart" versions of each set. That's what the core set is for. Make jumpstarts from the core sets and/or the last block, but don't label them confusingly the same as the set.
And for God's sake LABEL THE SETS CLEARLY. Oh, Lord of the Rings isn't Legal in Standard? How the hell is some 13 year old in an LGS going to know that? Hell, how am I supposed to know that? It's a set, it's new, so that means it's legal in Standrd, right? I really have to wonder how often kids (or even adults) come to Friday Night Magic and get disqualified because they're using cards they just bought from sets that are new this year, but aren't actually legal in standard?
Label the packs and boxes with what formats the cards are legal in. It's not that hard. Really, just like Commander, Standard, and Modern/Pioneer is probably sufficient.
Finally, please give your products an MSRP so consumers know if they're getting ripped off. Is $185 for a Set Booster box of All Will Be One a good price, or am I getting ripped off? There's literally no way to know. At best, I have to call around to every nearby LGS, check Amazon and TCGPlayer, and then hope that the price isn't just artificially inflated at the beginning of release, and that it wont' drop by $40 in a month.