Yes it’s dead because wizards as a company has killed interest in their game with product inflation, shitty business practices, and crappy handling of the game. TLDR; wizards is killing their game and that’s leading to the magic RU-vid community dying as well.
Who remembers when when youtubers would take time to go over every new card in a set days before the release? It was amazing cause back then there was only 3 sets a year.
Exactly, and now there's a new release every month to two weeks and it's too much. Like I haven't played any attention to the new set coming out next week.
It took a week for this video to appear in my recommend... I didn't know you were back on this channel. I watch a lot of MTGArena gameplay: MTG Jeff, Mono Black Magic, Badboy Gaming, Covert Go Blue.
It's dead bro, the SJWs made all the normal people dipset into the adult world. We no longer wanna play with cardboard, especially if socially awkward weirdos dictate the card art, game rules, what players can say, think, do, etc...
@@ToDDHeaDD His comment is literally about SJWs pumping thier social politics into it. He's also not wrong, there's a few cases you can point to where it affected the game in one matter or another.
I will say a decade or more ago The Magic community was the most social , welcoming community there was for gaming , fast forward to my last and final time playing magic at my local game store 5 yrs ago and its a niche crowd of cool kids that mock and ridicule frequently.
Tolarian: I watch because I like the financial breakdown of new product even though I have zero intention of buying, i like the product reviews. Alpha: I watch because hes a huge investor, i like his financial take, it's like stocks almost. I liked the card store opening series. And his character is different. Bad Boy Gaming: I watch for the Arena decks, and I like his fat pack battles.
What I would want from this channel is box openings and for you talk about the game itself (not WotC politics). It’s why I first subscribed to this channel, but unfortunately that was when you started mainly doing WotC rant videos. Not that don’t think those videos weren’t important, and wouldn’t have minded so much if you did them alongside videos on the actual game, but again, it wasn’t why I subscribed. So I’m hyped that you’re back and looking forward to finally getting the content I was hoping for! 😀 As for channel recommendations, a purely MtG Arena channel I enjoy is LegenVD. He’s a very smart dude who mostly does videos playing standard games using fun gimmicky decks, and gives good deck building tips. Nizzahon Magic does fun Top Ten videos.
I'm still learning how to edit and understand what is needed to do well on RU-vid. But I'm slowly gaining followers and I'm proud of that not trying to be someone I'm not. I have a great deal of respect for all that have come before and after me. This community is so awesome. I'm having fun communicating with the vast majority of MTG creators and viewers. Good luck sir on coming back.
Desolatormagic. Commander's quarters. Magic historian. Command zone is really only fun to watch because of the high production quality, and how lively they are. I've tried to watch other people play but it's boring to watch. Unless you make playing mtg fun to watch you'll have to invest time and energy into making effects or raising production value, that takes months. Jeremy, with magic there is only so much that you can talk about before you hit the bottom and start scrapping the bottom of the barrel. Substantial product on MTG is only put out several times throughout the year. Standard sets, reprints, commander decks, and side products such as jump start, and secret liar. There are only less than 700 cards released a year, and each only only takes about a 2-5 minutes to talk about and only about 1/3 are worth talking about. Arena is fun but because standard is a mess nobody really wants to slog through that. Standard and wizards card design has to change to bring the game back to where it was. Magic is dying. Standard is broken, and WotC is greedy.
So glad to have Commander's Quarters cause I can't stand the people from The Command Zone even though people I've played with have recommended them I'd rather just brew on my own than watch them.
Reasons for me: - Less Legacy content/Legacy more and more seems to fade away as a format (I am a legacy player and a limited player) - product inflation - Theros Beyond Death - Ikoria (but Throne of Eldraine was a really great expansion) - more and more content creators seem to shift to "Arena only"-channels - I am rather spending my time playing the game instead of watching content creators and Magic is not my only interest/hobby. - Watching grown men feud about a card game (aka "drama"). This is a toxic waste of time for me. I can't find anything entertaining about it. But I loved your wanderlust-videos.
What bad about Theros Beyond Dead set? Theros Beyond Death Don't know about that as I love how the set are to be made from Japan. Those set are the best quality card maker of all time, better than American made card, a Mystery Box set compare to that set is such a joke. Watching grown man making a fuss over a card game? That any game....
@@MrEscanaba I am from Germany and our cards are from Belgium. We don't have issues with cardstock quality. Theros is not my favorite plane. I skipped original Theros and Theros beyond Death doesn't appeal to me either. From a limited perspective it was okay but very bomby. Printing Dream Trawler at rare was a main mistake.
I watch you, Rudy, Tolarian and LRR. as my magic content on youtube/twitch. Rhystic studies whenever a vid eventually drops too. I aggree the mtg community is not really making big waves atm
I don't usually leave a comment on youtube but you asked some great questions and I feel I want to answer them as a Magic player for a couple of years now. I believe the single greatest problem mtg always had as a game is that it is too darn expensive. A lot of my friends and people at my LGS are just tired at spending so much money at this game, especially when a lot of key cards are not getting reprinted (we play mostly commander and modern as standard is a rotating format and nobody cares for those). I think the mtg greatest advantage is how fun it is for a new player to come to a store and try a draft of a new set or buying a commander precon and joining a table with nice people that teach him the game, sadly, this game is kinda rough to play when you are a kid, a teen, a student or a soldier (at least where I come from). It saddens me deeply to see the game I love so much and my awesome community just kinda stagnate and die because it feels as though Wotc lost it's touch to a bunch of guys with suits at Hasbro, look what happened to the Diablo community as an example of greedy greedy managers ruining a great game and community for short term profit. I hope the right people seize control of Wotc, as I know there are still a ton of awesome employees there, but when we get stuff like the stupid 160$+++ for fetch lands or commander cards costing 20$++ no one is going to stay at this hobby. For your second question: the content me and my friends are mostly looking for is commander deck techs, modern deck techs, guides for beginners (not for us but always relevant for mtg if you want to bring new people), also, arena is boring as hell and kind of a cash grab as well.
Also with regards the price this is precisely why for online play I tell them to go on Xmage as you can play the game with all the cards avaliable to you. Then for live play I actively encourage people to proxy and when playing at a local LGS just to buy some food and drinks and a like a booster a week to support them but that you do not have to force yourself into debt for getting the core cards you need jn order to play. As I want their to be a space where people to play games but I also do not want people to go into debt due the exploitative practices WOTC and the secondary market is for players in general. It's also why I disrespect channels like the command zone who go on and say buy the real cards, do not proxy and respect Tolarian and the cEDH community in general that encourage proxies if you cannot afford it and have no interest in being part of the secondary market or the WOTC market.
The command Zone is also anti-player in general consider they say stuff like proxy bad. No proxy not bad proxy good it makes an very expensive hobby much more affordable and allow the player base to things other play magic and lets them go out and do more things or save up for something that matters more like a mortgage or your week's shop even Tolarian Academy is like dude if you cannot afford to play the game just proxy your decks.
I love you, Jeremy, you're not one of these channels that just sucks Wizards toes just to get spoilers, you speak your mind and its amazing. I want to see deck techs and new product openings.
I'm glad your doing MTG content again Jeremy! I found you because of the Q1/4 channel but I just picked up MtG 6months ago. Thanks for the content! EDIT:RUDY, PleasantKenobi, Desolator
People will subscribe for the topic, but watch for the person. The channels I watch consistently are those that introduce me to interesting perspectives. What I really enjoyed about your channel is you have a genuinely fun opening format. You're personable and that comes through when you open products. You have to grow your content, and as you did that with your investigative looks at Magic, I stayed with you. You ask good questions. I can't find it now, but you did an awesome conversation with Derium back in the day, and that format was awesome. You would be an amazing interviewer for the community. Well, for those in the community that are comfortable asking Wizard's for their balls back.
I'm here not because I like or even play magic, but because I enjoy listening to the host. No matter the topic or focus, he always makes it an entertaining show.
What I like about Rudy too is he's not afraid to get loose and inject sexual innuendo into his content. Nowadays, MtG streamers are being overly cautious not to offend women, and it's blatantly obvious. If you watch Game Knights, for example, nearly 95% of their matches contain a woman, which is complete bullshit, because we know not that many women play MtG. One trip to anyone's local EDH scene will prove this. I strongly suspect WotC is pushing a hidden agenda onto RU-vid influencers, but Rudy isn't taking their crap, and I love it.
The people I watch are desolatiormagic and the magic historian, but yea, because of the games management and alienation of players its gotten pretty dead
monoblack gaming does arena deck videos and he is killing it. 40K+ subs and he consistently pulls down at least 20K views a video. There are still subsets of the creator community that are flourishing. It does seem like there is a fair bit of stagnation overall in mtg though
Maybe something with the D&D supplement "A Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica". Learning about it in the context of a D&D game might bring more people to the lore and world of MtG.
I did a few box opening videos, they didn't do to well and honestly it sort of took the fun away from cracking the box because i would constantly have to watch the camera to make sure everything was in focus. My commander deck tech video is the most popular of my videos so i'm going to be headed mostly in that direction. I enjoy making them but they take a long time to make for me, so its been a toss up of, "Should I play MTG or should I record MTG"
the commander's quarters has been the channel growing the fastest lately. People (myself included) are amazed at how Mitch can create actual decent playable commander decks for under 50$, given how expensive the game has become. Watching pleasantkenobi draft is always good times, and gameplay channels like mtgmuddstah are enjoyable for me to watch too. Honorable mention to quest for the janklord! Cool series they got there, just shows how FUN the game can still be when everyone isn't netdecking.
I’m a gamer but not a deck builder gamer. I appreciate your questions on hobby tubes. I think when ever personality overshadows hobby and play talk opportunities off-line open up for creative work. Creators age and grow, and their interests may change. Why not compare the Magic pages to similar gaming pages. Are sites about RPG’s stagnating? Is there a game or gaming hobby that is attracting gamers looking for gaming content? Are other sites replacing RU-vid? Are the monetizing policiies or sheer competition discouraging new creators? Are certain themes played-out? Great editorial, wish there were answers.
I've been doing daily (or more frequent) RU-vid content since July 2017, mostly MtG product openings, and the occasional MTG Arena livestream. The channel is growing slowly (8K), but I expect that considering it's essentially a niche within a niche. That said, there are a tonne of small channels like mine out there. I really like what Tragic MTG (Packbot ftw!) and Booster Therapy are doing, for instance. I think part of the problem is there is so much content out there, it's tough for any particular channel to break through🤷♂️
Recommend checking out Merchant and MTG aids. Noxious can be good but gets very negative when he burns out. Bad boy gaming has some good content but Moss can be an aquired taste.
After taking a several year break and returning to play EDH, I've formed the idea that the game's more invested players are mostly quitting or taking breaks, and the majority of the game's audience is casuals on Arena. Especially because most places aren't running paper magic with the pandemic. My LGS is like 8-10 new guys I've never seen before, all the old hardcore players moved on.
Well I'm enjoying the content from Desolator Magic, the magic historian, mono black magic & MTG original decks. PS Desolator said somthing about telling you he wants a white castle colab.
I think you hit the nail on the head inadvertently at the end of your video: "We got to get more creative. We got to get funny. We got to have good editing." The startup cost for a new MTG channel with that description is a lot, not just monetarily with quality audio and video investments, but mentally as well. They'd have to spend free time coming up with scripts and make a decent set. They'd have to know or be willing to learn the editing software of their choice (another money sink if they want Adobe, but there's free ones). Combining everything to push out a video EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. if you want to appease The Algorithm. All this for no guaranteed return on the investment because of the ever-changing RU-vid gods. Best of luck to anyone who can do it and make it, but I already have a full-time job I enjoy. Here's hoping there's someone out there.
Commander's Quarters seems to be doing well. It seems like the channels that are uploading different types of content like deck techs, openings, reviews are doing good.
I run a Heroclix RU-vid channel and I've noticed the same thing you're talking about here on my channel as well as others in the Heroclix space. I'm currently doing a video everyday in the month of April as opposed to my normal 2-3 videos per week. Normally when I do this I get 200% + views and around 10% subscriber growth. This time around I'm getting literally my normal numbers ever though content is coming out every day and it's my best performing content subjects.
Yes.. MTG RU-vid is dead.. just watched a video where professor told me that cyclonic rift and rhystic study were good EDH cards.. thanks prof, I’ll keep that in mind
Hey man. Old school sub that came back after i found out you were posting again. The main magic channels after i stopped watching you, wedg and TCC i stopped watching around the same time. But, i started watching Rudy. And after that, i got into Magic Aids, The Commander's Quarters and sometimes The Magic Historian.
I think theres a big space for people to make videos similar to Evan Erwins Forgotten Lore and Rhystic Studies video essays. I realized those types of videos take long and are costly to make but there's a big space for viewership (I think). Maybe for instance a 10 minute video about the Mirrodin block, talking about the most powerful cards, the community reaction at the time, the art and lore, how it was recieved, what the set did new, what it abandoned, etc.) Maybe a video about Portal 3 Kingdoms, schooling new players about this funny expensive set from the past. Different things like that, really fleshing out existing Magic Culture and creating more content about the real life lore of the game Thats what I want to see and hardly anybody makes it.
I like box openings. Love the sound of the booster packs being opened. it is why I watch Rudy now more than before. Also, Jeremy you need to understand that since you left a lot of people stopped following this channel. Give it more time and people will come back.
I found by coincidence Channel called "MTG Arena original decks" and I find that actually really entertaining. I watch it for the lols and giggles. Funny gameplay commentary.
The Commanders Quarters, Casually Competative, and the Spike Feeders are relatively new. EDH is the most popular thing for MtG right now, and as a mainly EDH player, I welcome it.
*In my personal opinion .* *It is not dead .* *It is stunted and stale .* *It's in serious need of new blood and some rebels .* *Thank you for coming back ( you are the rebel we really fucking need right now .* *I will start posting MTG videos .* *Edit : I'm excited for the next set Magic: The Gathering Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths .* *Edit 2 : Also one idea is to do spot light videos covering Old & new Magic the gathering channels / content creators .* *An get other magic the gathering content creators to do the same .*
Check out Quest for the Janklord. They do some pretty high quality content. Their only issue is they probably don't post often enough to satisfy RU-vid's algorithm.
IMO I think your niche is card pulls, openings, and unboxing. Add in your opinions and humor on the current magic industry and market and you’ll be growing for sure. Kept me watching for years now.
I am a newer MTG channel. I started just as a hobby and a way to give back to followers on my instagram page. It’s been pretty hard to generate interest especially during this pandemic. It’s also hard to find a niche for me, but i’m trying to make some good stuff!
IMHO there are a few factors. When I started my channel I just wanted a place to share my thoughts with everyone and even if no one watched I'd still be happy. After looking around at the MTG RU-vid community, even a couple years ago, it became apparent to me that outside of a few creators your growth is gonna be limited. MTG is a pretty niche hobby, it's often times not engaging to watch as a random person or even a dedicated player(you already mentioned this). The player base is also somewhat split up into different formats so not everything is appealing to every player. The things I've noticed that get the most attention is drama-esque or controversial videos. Stuff like bannings. Or the current state of the game. Speaking of which... Another important factor is MTG has been in a really bad place for the last year: poorly or untested cards ruining many formats, venturing into territory that's always caused problems i.e. free spells, power creep, 400$ suitcase of fetchlands, inconsistent and often bad storytelling, etc. etc. This could certainly cause many a player to tune out of Magic entirely. You have one advantage compared to other YTers because you are a controversial figure so you are likely to get more eyeballs that way. Which brings me to my last point. I think most of the Magic content on RU-vid is really boring. It's all same-y and most of them aren't saying anything interesting or novel. Outside of Rudy, are there any people that tune into the content creators to watch that particular person? I can't think of any. To me, that seems like the biggest limiting factor of growth for any channel on RU-vid; you have to be an interesting character to sustain long term growth. If MTG is in a bad state people will tune into you to watch you play LoL or whatever other kind of content you do.
Been only watching Rudy, Magic Historian and Desolator because they are entertaining. I enjoy product openings and their takes on cards or sets etc etc. I wouldnt mind seeing you do collabs with either of them but, what'll it be about is a big question. Keep on doing you though Jeremy.
I've been making content for like 1 to 2 years, and it's just hard anymore. The roles are basically already filled and the digital area is meh because standard.
What I personally want to see is "the professors" and "the magic show( before it was just set reviews)" if there was a quality draft and joke channel ( see generation d20) I would watch that as well.
Easiest way to keep the channel running is to look mainly at standard format, keep the community in the loop with new sets and make deck techs. The community can keep making new material as long as MTG does. It's getting more people to care about the game is the problem. I say there is huge potential for an app, but the ones they're releasing dont even follow the same game mechanics. They're MTG themed.
I don't play magic and i watch Rudy just because I find him entertaining. I bumped into the Quartering via this channel. I think just for the WotC news and stuff. I'm a minis gamer and play other boardgames/card games etc. Haven't played Magic since early university. (which is ages ago... am 36 now) But I do enjoy watching the market evolve, the way WoTC tackles stuff, the controversies, the economical side of it all etc.
Edh/cedh gameplay and deckbuilds is what I watch personally. Playingwithpower, scg commander versus, cedhtv, casually competitive, commanders quarters and so many great others. Random names I've forgotten: quest for the janklord, magicaids
My 2cents re: content creators: Monoblack Magic - a new and interesting deck ea day? - fugetaboutit! CGB MTGJeff Ali - doesnt have his own ch but puts out content via a co. site and streams.
Some others I like to see are: The Commander's Quarters for... nice fast decks to build Nizzahon magic for... ideas on new cards, + nice vido style Desolatormagic for... the rant
I'm just glad Mana sources RU-vid channel is dead. Biggest hypocrite/scammer ever and he was so fake. He only liked you for as long as you're paying him.
They are waiting for their breakout star. They need someone with a redemption story, a man who was cast aside by a broken system, a man who raised an army, and a man who ultimately forgave those who wronged them and led them to salvation.
the thing is, the subscribers TCC has is probably the biggest you can get in MTG. When we believe the numbers and there are about 12 million players, about half a million is about the number of players I would guess that are invested enough to actually subscribe to a youtube channel. the rest are kitchen table, casual or just dont watch youtube. i just dont think there is enough audience anymore, the only thing that would grow these subsricbers is a growth of magic in general. Also, many content creators prefer quality over quantity. Thats not how you grow, but if its the way they do their things, then its okay for them to show the integrity. But all of what you said is still true.
Magic Historian has a good personality, a good perspective on Magic as a whole and has interesting knowledge on old cards and lore. Rhystic Studies makes videos that are well-researched and have high production quality. Aether Hub and Magic Arcanum are good when I want to know the story of the latest set. Pleasant Kenobi is just funny. Limited Resources helps me to suck less at draft. From a viewer's perspective, Magic RU-vid is doing fine because I have an abundance of things to watch.
Commanders Quarters is a real up-and-comer, he does budget commander decks and group called casually competitive which does commander gameplay, I think commander is still doing well because they haven't implemented it on Arena yet, I really like LRR as well their Friday night paper fights
I just got back into MTG few months ago and iv been watching desolator magic I like his spoiler videos and how he talks about the current state of magic and improvements wotc could make, him ripping on them is also funny.
Most likely have migrated to the numerous channels playing arena. I think it is possible people are more interested in watching how decks play. You could argue that Merchant is an MTG channel.
Desolatormagic is always honest about WotC good or bad. Dudes got some spicy takes sometimes too. It's always refreshing to hear down to earth real takes.
As someone who was interested in magic. It's hard to get into with so much to learn and no entry point. The commuity is toxic. Debacles have put me off in general. It's expensive to play a custom built commander deck.
There's been a huge spike in players in the edh community. Mtgo has gotten more edh players. Cedh is blowing up. Budget deck lists are really popular. I'd say the future of mtg is in edh.
Primal Hunt Cheeks is the best MTG channel imo. How many of the remaining channels aren't beholden to Wizards bullshit? There aren't many, Rudy, Desalator, Magic Historian, and this one. Almost all the Arena streamers are "Wizards Approved". And some of them like Todd Stevens and Mogwai switched to different games. I would like to see someone do an Arena tournament featuring people Wizards hates and their viewers. Take the game away from the loons.
The last time I bought cardboard was when I picked up a playset of Gideon of the Trials shortly after Ahmonket’s repressed. Since then I’ve seen Masters sets get incrementally more expensive, standard sets so pushed that they induce a soft rotation in every eternal format, cardboard quality hit the tank, the secondary market abuse with the release of Secret Lair fetches all culminating in a higher cost that requires more upkeep. When I no longer am willing to afford the price, so goes my interest in the game. The only gameplay I watch are from Magic Aids and Pleasant Kenobi, only for their personalities. And to be honest, that can only last so long in Magic’s current state. Other than them, I’ll watch the occasional Rudy, PK, and Tolarian rants. I’ll go to Goldfish for rough price checks but that’s only desperate, foolish hope that management will turn things around. Magic is the best card game out there but I’m not known for my grace. The people making the game now are NOT the people who made the game I once knew and loved. I understand they are a business and they need to make money. I’ve got no problem with that principle. But that principle also entails persuading customers to make giving money seem worth it. They have failed spectacularly at doing so. Once upon a time, Magic was the premium card game. But WOTC got high on their success to the point that Masters sets were being pushed in price for that reason alone. Once you hollow out your brand to nothing but a name, people will catch on. Count on WOTC for two things, never openly acknowledge the secondary market, and never lift the Reserved List. Lying and withholding product from potential customers seems a pretty lousy business strategy. Now I’m the yucky person who debates selling off their collection or holding it while WOTC’s current lack of reprint policy ensures I’ll get a nice return in 10 years. Hell, if they go up enough, I could probably sell them at half the future price and still make something off of it. Not that selling off my collection was ever my intent, only the direction I was shoved into. A win for me and the buyer. The question becomes: Will interest in Magic last that long?
I just watch Rudy for his hilarious personality and look for videos where he opens old boxes. Sometimes I watch TCC whenever Brian has something interesting to say or interviews someone. That's about it for Magic though. I don't really have a connection to any of the new Magic products that come out, and I don't care about any form of MTG online. I'm just here to be entertained and see some old cards.
Rogue Deckbuilder has a new channel called rogue market. His video may not be the most watched, but he has a loyal following and managed to build a successful patreon.
Truth be told, I watch you and Rudy. Rudy because of the old stuff I used to rip and his comedy. And you to see what your opinion is on stuff. But I haven't played MtG in 15-20yrs for the loss in the the simplicity of the game. Just my opinion and thank you. Also I believe you are a WI guy like me.
I think a lot of channels have tapped into the budget/ commander scene. Many players don't wanna spend the money and prices keep getting out of reach for many players.
I wanna make a channel and open packs and what not but idk what kinda gear a begginer would need. Any advice Jeremy? (Or anyone in the comments) I got big goals tbh
You'd need a good camera (obviously lol), some video editing skills since you want to avoid as much "dead air" as possible, and a decent microphone. An interesting personality also goes a long way.
