Barigord Gaming – 09/30/24 – Magic the Gathering
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Hey Magic people! Last week, the banhammer came down in Commander. I think a lot of people, including myself, figured this would be the biggest Magic news of the year.
But of course, a week later, and we know better.
In another surprise announcement, the Commander Rules Committee has been dissolved.
You can read about the announcement here.
WotC has finally, formally, taken over its biggest and most popular asset: Commander.
I say finally because it’s no secret they’ve wanted to for years. And of course they’re a subsidiary of Hasbro, and answer to corporate profitmongering above all else. So the biggest asset needed to be under control.
I say formally because at least one WotC employee has been on the RC for a while. Conspiracies will abound, but my personal view is that the RC have answered to WotC for a long time. But they at least gave the appearance of a separate entity, unswayed by the corporate mandates.
Now we have no such entity, and WotC can implement some wholesale changes, which they’ve already talked about. I’ll get to that in a moment. But first:
Community Misbehavior
There’s a lot of talk of people making threats. People getting angry beyond reason. People putting undue importance on a card game, and treating gamepieces like regulated financial trading assets.
Needless to say, reactions like this are unacceptable. Even if they didn’t occur as reported, the entire notion that they did harms the community.
Last week I wrote:
If the RC wanted to get back into the Commander conversation in a big way, this is how to do it. It also could give players the impression that the RC and WotC are totally separate entities and nobody’s secretly telling the RC what to do. Think what you want on that subject. Regardless, this was a big swing for PR, and it should pay off.
I was partially right. The RC has been the conversation since. But it was not a PR payoff at all, for anyone.
In the 1990s, Magic and lot of other Fantasy content was in the news. I can sum up exactly what was going on in two versions of the same card, Unholy Strength. The first is 3rd edition revised, which was the entry point to the game for many, and the second is 4th edition, the following core set.
Magic survived, but spent some time in the headlines for reasons other than being a great game. Recently we made headlines for Post Malone and The One Ring. The game can be big news.
We do not need to have the Commander/Magic community make big news in 2024 (or ever) for being a toxic wasteland of entitled crapheads.
This has real world effects, from Hasbro’s stock price and investor confidence, to the confidence of the bar owner who is considering having a Commander night on Mondays. Maybe the possibility of toxic crapheads means Trivia instead. Do we want our Gathering to all dry up?
We can all do better. WotC can make the rules, but it’s up to us to play the games and treat the people that surround them with integrity, fairness, and human decency.
The 4 Tier Idea
So in the realm of doing better, WotC has immediately floated a Tiered system for Commander. Four Tiers, with 1 being the most casual, and 4 being the most competitive.
Cards would be given a Tier ranking, and decks would be assigned a Tier based on the cards in them. At present, the highest Tier card in your deck defines your deck’s ranking. Your deck is a 4 if it has 99 4th Tier cards, or just one.
It’s ambitious, and could solve problems, but in my opinion, this is not a good solution.
For starters, we have the makings of a tiered system already, with cEDH providing the competitive tier. I think two Tiers are plenty.
The system we have even sort of works, the problem is that nobody’s obligated to say their deck is a cEDH deck, even if it is. In theory, formal Tiers would stop this. But will they in practice?
I’m not so sure. I think four Tiers is cumbersome and complicated. And that’s not all. I did a whole Top 10 list.
Top 10 Issues with a 4-Tiered Commander Format
10. Card Ratings
Let’s start with the obvious: every card will need a tier rating, as will every future card. That’s tens of thousands of evaluations, that will need constant updating. As much as we’d like to assume it would be 99% of cards in Tier 1, and a succinct list of 20 or so cards for 2, 3 and 4, I don’t think that’s how it’s going to be.
This will require players to make changes. To decks, to their metas, to their purchasing habits. Search engines like Scryfall, and sites like edhrec.com will need to make changes too. These changes are accomplishable, but will require real world effort. Not everybody can make that. Not everybody wants to.
There’s also a lack of clarity around format staples. Where does Sol Ring fit in? How about Swords to Plowshares? Counterspell? Dark Ritual? Fetchlands? Original Dual Lands? Shocklands?
Are all staples going to be Tier 1, because some of them are very high power. Will people get angry if Sol Ring is Tier 1? What happens to precons if Sol Ring is Tier 4?
9. WotC is Bad at Card Evaluation
Last week’s banned cards speak for themselves. Ever since the dawn of FIRE design, WotC has had constant design problems. Lots of cards have needed banning. Some emergency banning. Many in the format they were specifically designed for. Some, like the Initiative cards, in multiple unintended formats. Nadu, Winged Wisdom was not tested.
Proper card evaluation and ranking may require active community participation, and being vocal on the poor evaluations. But it might also require a lot of patience and acceptance from a community that is not famous for those things.
One other thing: it’s obvious Nadu, Winged Wisdom is a mistake. But the RC was the one that banned it, not WotC. We don’t know if WotC considers any of last week’s bans to have been worthy. We don’t know if they would have banned Nadu.
We have to trust that the same people who designed Nadu have a surgical-level understanding of card interactions in a 25,000+ card format. Or else accept what they give us with as much grace as we can muster.
8. WotC is Not Good at Going After Problems that Sell Well
At present, The One Ring occupies a ‘problematic’ amount of play in Modern. Anecdotally, it’s around 50% of decks, and more played than many former staples, including fetchlands. But it also has a $100+ secondary market price tag and still drives sales of MtGLotR product.
And it’s one of the most famous Magic cards ever, and tied to a big moment in time and Post Malone. And not banned with no sign that it will be any time soon. It’s not the only example, but if I can only choose one….
It is expected that Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt, and Dockside Extortionist will eventually be unbanned for Tier 4. Maybe Nadu also. Cynical people might say they’ll be unbanned just in time for their inclusion in a premium product, or as Special Guests to sell Standard packs.
If known offender cards persist without banning or proper Tier placement, players may be required to make the decision to pay big bucks and play those cards themselves, or else choose a different Tier/Format/Game. Too bad for you if the Tier your friends play is unaffordable.
7. Tierbreakers
Tier-breakers, not tie-breakers.
WotC moves slow. The internet does not. Expect a lot of new content about which cards are Tierbreakers – allowable cards that Wizards missed that will break open the lower Tiers. What’s the most egregious card in each Tier? We’ll soon find out.
Maybe WotC will be very reactive, but as soon as they change something, expect a brand new wave of videos highlighting whatever Tierbreaker is next. Can WotC move fast enough? What’s the criteria for an emergency move? Is one video showing how a card can be broken enough to change perspective on the card? 100 videos?
Players will have to decide whether to be salty at someone finding a Tierbreaker, or reward their ingenuity for figuring out the strongest card in the meta. Will those cards stick around? Move up? What if something is clearly breaking Tier 4? What do we do then? Back to banning? What if it’s a big seller, high value, major-backlash-if-banned card?
6. Tierfudgers
I’ve seen the arguments on Reddit already:
It’s a Tier 1 Demon deck, so I should be allowed this Tier 4 Demonic Tutor card without it changing my deck’s rating.
It’s a Tomb-themed deck, Tier 2, and I should be allowed to play my Ancient Tomb in it without having to be Tier 4. I should be Tier 3 at most.
It’s a casual format, right? Just let someone break the rules a little. But where does that stop? How much of a mishmash are the Tiers going to be? How much are we going to be playing by Rule 0 anyway?
Plenty of people have misguided notions about their own intentions. Sure that Demonic Tutor fits the theme, but it found a game-winning card 5 of the last 6 times it was cast. Oops! I promise this is still a totally casual Tier 1 Demon deck!
Players have to decide how much the Tiers will impact their play. How hard and fast are these new constraints? Is there wiggle room? Will someone turn wiggle room into rampant pubstomping? Do Tiers change anything?
5. That ‘I only brought a Tier 4 deck’ person
Some people have misguided notions about their intentions, and some know exactly what kind of trolling they’re planning.
This isn’t an issue online, but if you and a couple others sit down for a game with your Tier 3 decks, and fourth person sits down but only has a Tier 4, are you going to turn them away? What if you’re the only 4 people in there?
This will hinge pretty heavily on how much of gap there is between Tiers, but if a Tier 4 deck is always going to win against lesser Tiers, then maybe it’s a bad idea to mix them.
The problem is that social logistics don’t always match up. Some people are very accommodating and will welcome a fourth player, even with a higher Tier deck.
Unfortunately, some other people are out to take advantage of accommodating people, and will knowingly sit down with a pod of lower Tier decks and crush them without remorse. They only brought broken decks. Oops! Who could have known?
This was always a problem, but previously a casual deck might have a few powerful tools to deal with the Pubstompers. Now they’re capped at their Tier level unless they basically brought a sideboard.
4. Planning for Going Out to Play – Do I Need a Sideboard? Do I need 4 Decks?
Not everybody is a Pubstomper. Far from it. There are loads of conscientious players who want to contribute positively to every game they play in.
So what do those players take when going out? What’s socially acceptable? Is it a specific Tier, or do those players have to bring a deck that can be modified for multiple Tiers to cover their bases? Do they need 4 decks, one for each possible play Tier? How much cardboard are players expected to lug around?
Of course you can check with your friends first, but if you like to go to the LGS and sit down for whatever’s available, it’s tough. Some people don’t need a lot of excuses to stay in. Having to make too many plans for too many possibilities and having to carry too much crap are great reasons to do something else.
3. Tiered Content, with Tier 1 as the Current Price Base
We pay a lot of money for cards. Even those of us who buy sparingly, cheaply and infrequently. But we pay it anyway. If we want to play, we have to get the cards.
If WotC only makes some cards available in specific Tiered products, we’ll have to get them there. And that makes sense. A Tier 4 precon will have different contents than a Tier 2 precon. And pricing…?
This is a very cynical thing to write, but I think we might have to get used to what we pay now as being the floor for Tiered cards. That means the current rate will only buy Tier 1 cards in future. The current precon price will be for Tier 1, the lowest Tier.
More will cost more. We aren’t going to pay less unless the cards are barely worth it. We probably also should get ready for ‘Value Precons.’
You want better cards in your precon? There’s a Tier 2 option at twice the price, a Tier 3 at 4x, and Tier 4 at 8x. Plus an enhanced foil version of Tier 4.
They can do this for boosters of the next Commander Legends set, too, or make the Tier 4 stuff Collector booster exclusives. This may go beyond paywall to payramparts. I’m not optimistic on how affordable the game will be, even in Tiers 2-3.
2. Players Who Only Have/Want One Deck
Decks cost upwards of $100, which is a ridiculous understatement, but bear with me. Some players can afford to play Magic, but not run multiple $100+ decks. Some only want to spend $60 on a precon. Or less, if possible.
Some don’t want more than a single deck’s worth of investment in a game. Maybe they only play enough to justify one deck. All fine and good if you know what Tier you’re going to play your games in. A close-knit meta is great for you.
But like knowing what deck to bring, knowing what single deck to own is complicated in a Tiered meta. This is very bad for the kind of player who is only into Magic enough to have one deck and doesn’t have that great meta. You can legitimately run into a situation where your deck is unplayable. Or unwanted. And you don’t have another.
An option is to have a deck that can be modified for different levels of play, but that requires effort, accessories, further investment.
Compare that to other casual hobbies. How much prep do other games need? The casual gamer’s time has competition from all sorts of other options, many of which are built on ease of entry. Some casual players may simply drift away.
1. Getting Into the Format is More Complicated
So how much is each Tier played? If a new player buys a Tiered precon, say Tier 1, what’s the likelihood of them finding a venue to play it? How do they know? Sure they can ask the clerk if there’s a clerk, but maybe it’s a Walmart, or online. Maybe it’s somebody buying for someone else. How unplayable can you afford your gaming gift to be?
If a new player gets into Tier 1, then finds out the format is too slow and laid back for them, what’s the cost of moving up? Similarly, if the new player sinks a ton of cash into a Tier 4 deck, then finds out it’s too fast and hard to follow for them, is the deck constructed in a way that it can be scaled back? What’s the new-player-friendly Tier?
It’s my guess that most games will happen in Tiers 2-3, with 1 being almost unplayed, and 4 considered to be either toxic or the only Tier that matters. But I wouldn’t want to make a big cash investment with limited information like that.
Bonus Issue: WotC Suddenly Changes Direction.
What do block formats, set boosters, draft boosters, core sets, duel decks, from-the-vault, extended format, and The List have in common? All WotC mainstays that are now gone. There are plenty of other examples, plus stuff they said they’d never do again but then went and did anyway.
Sure we might get a Tier system. But for how long? What if players hate it? What if players love it, but it negatively impacts sales? Does WotC commit or pivot?
If the Tiered system is implemented, is not good for either the players or WotC, and is then upended, what does that do to the format? Back to Rule 0 and whatever? I really don’t know, but I won’t be surprised if it happens.
Wrap-Up
Personally, I love Magic. But my consumer confidence is low. I rarely buy cards, and when I do, it’s singles. Almost all for under a dollar. Almost all paid for by trading cards into my LGS. I doubt I’ll stop playing any time soon, however. Even if Commander becomes unplayable, there are other options.
But I’m not everyone. Other people have different investments in this game. Some have a lot of money invested, and take that very seriously. Some have a social circle that revolves around the game, and take that very seriously. Some have a business, or a side hustle, or an online following.
Commander took over the Magic scene as the dominant format, and is now going through unprecedented change. It’s going to change things for a lot of people. Time will tell if the playerbase survives this volatility to be the same sales juggernaut we were. And if we still have friendly ways to play our cards with each other. Y’know, the Gathering?
I’m hoping Commander is still playable, accessible, and friendly after this. Not just because I love it, but because so many people have much more at stake in the game than I do, and I’m afraid they’re going to be tested to the limits of what they’ll tolerate out of what’s supposed to be a hobby.
Maybe another format will arise, with another RC, because if the popularity of Commander has taught us anything, it’s that we can’t rely on WotC and their formats alone to make the game fun.
Thanks for reading!
