Magic: The Gathering Moves Universes Beyond Magic: The Gathering 

Please do me a solid (do young people still say "do me a solid?") and watch Why Magic: The Gathering's Most Broken Cards Are Some Of The Game's Most Loved: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jjgUuaslZeo.html

WotC makes more money than Hasbros toy business. Hasbro: Let's treat WotC like our toy business!

“We didn’t want to imply that we’re leaving the local game store behind. We really wanted to keep that part quiet.”

"Does that mean Sci Fi Kawigama?" Wow that was spot on real fast.

The 40k cards will all come grey and the player will have to paint the artwork on.

Everybody gangsta until someone busts out a tier 1 Ronald McDonald EDH deck

"Less Magic, less Gathering", hits the nail on the head in a pretty sober and sad way. Well spoken Professor.

WOTC: "Don't worry, Strixhaven isn't just a reskinned Harry Potter. That would interfere with our Harry Potter set coming out next year."

I think the best representation to me is: "Magic isn't dying, but it's dying to me"

"This is Magic now." Such a. . . melancholic way to end a video.

I'm old enough to see my heros become villains...

Imagine an ultra marine dying in combat to a typhoid rat...

The crossover becomes funnier in the context of cards being collectibles rather than game pieces given that games workshops CEO said that about Warhammer 40k and it massively blew up in their faces

I was having a conversation with friends about this Universes Beyond thing and the phrase "Cardboard Funko Pops" was brought up. I do believe this is how Hasbro is looking at MtG: as a way to make collectibles.

Secret lair: actual magic cards (reskins of the crossover cards to be actual magic cards)

Now people will alter their Shrek to look like Garruk.

This is why I like this channel. Encourages a friendly and civil discourse between fans while being honest.

Magic the Gathering is not dead, but Magic the Gathering as we knew it absolutely is.

"Gandalf equips captain america's shield to block lego batman"😭😭

Remember when the players of magic represented omnipotent wizards dueling to prove who was the best wizard by bending mana and summoning beasts from other planes and binding them to their will? We were the planeswalkers, Carl.

Time to make a new format: MTG Pre 2020

The idea of space marines needing Jace is both hilarious and disturbing 😂

15:56 "This is magic now." I felt a chill run down my spine on that line. Like we are about to enter a dystopian future for magic.

Oh God. The Magic Card memes are going to become real. How many lands do I tap for Optimus Prime?

Imagine having 25 years of worldbuilding, story, characters; being THE standout icon in card gaming and one of the world's most iconic fantasy franchises in the world and having so little faith in yourself that you need to beg other franchises to loan you their characters because you're just that creatively bankrupt and greedy.

I think Pleasant Kenobi said it when they announced UB: We‘re Baseball Cards now.

I actually love the idea of IP crossovers, I just wish it wouldn’t interfere with the feel/lore of the game. If they could release some white-border mini-sets or something else along those lines that wouldn’t interfere with eternal formats, or even create a SEPARATE eternal format that allow these cards, I might be on board. But I don’t want to play against Spongebob Shrek-Tribal Voltron while playing a normal, MtG flavored deck, especially when I’m not going to be able to afford the cards to play, regardless of which formats they’re allowed in

"Less Magic... Less Gathering." - Prof worded that so well. I, too, want to avoid saying Magic is dying, but at times Hasbro reminds me of Aesop's fable of the goose that laid the golden eggs. Its owner prospered as it laid a golden egg everyday, but then the owner grew greedy and impatient. Why collect only one egg a day, when surely all he had to do was kill it and cut it open to get all the eggs now. But when the goose was dead and gutted, no more eggs were to be found, then or forever after.

I've consistently held the opinion that reaching out to other franchises displays a product manufacturer's lack of confidence in their ability to create/continue their own story. One aspect of MTG that attracted me to the game was the rich lore of the cards I'm playing with and the ongoing stories they fit into. To me, Universes Beyond communicates a lack of confidence in MTG's story and perhaps a lack of committment to continue to support the ongoing stories in the game. This begs the question, then, that if WOTC doesn't care about their own stories, why should I?

I really hope I dont see legolas in legacy elves...

If they released the sets as separate, art-oriented, and maybe a different format altogether, then it would be okay. I am excited for the LOTR cards, solely for collecting.

The credits felt like a "you loose" screen from a game.

“Help us [Richard Garfield]...you’re our only hope.”

That bit about Jace leading the space marines is the best analogy of why this doesn't make sense thematically. There's no way the reverse will happen.

But...but I'm finally a grownup now, I can afford to play standard. And now, I realize I missed it.

WotC: "Don't ask questions, just consume product."

Oh man I'm gonna be stoked if I can make a Honda Civic tribal deck

“Magic is moving beyond just being Magic.” Yes, it’s becoming Weiss Schwarz

"Are you guys playing Lord Of the Rings?" "No, we're playing Magic." "...what's Magic?"

I like the LOTR set, I think it makes sense since it was the biggest inspiration for the first MTG sets.

"Gandalf equips Captain America's shield to block Lego Batman"...this sentence filled me with an indescribable sadness that makes me want to sell off most of my cards except the most prized pieces that remind me of when MtG had integrity.

Might as well call the game "I'm selling my fucking collection in a years time".

Prof: In Theros, we didn't have Zeus or Athena or Poseiden WotC: *writes stuff down*

By stripping MtG into just its rules and mechanics with cut-and-paste themes, it turns into nothing special. Wasn't it Mark Rosewater in his GDC talk who said that "The details are where the players fall in love with your game"?

The comparison to other IPs decidedly not doing this is really telling.

Imagine if they did the unthinkable. “I’ll tap my lands and summon this! The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

"Less Magic. Less Gathering." I got into Magic during the pandemic, and looked forward to being able to participate in this awesome community. This is very sad.

I wish that I hadn't quit Magic years ago, just so that I could quit now.

Yeah, I'm out. "Moving beyond" local game stores is crossing a line that I won't continue supporting.

"What is there left to say? This is Magic now." - "Less Magic - Less gathering" - :(

I’m a very casual player and I’m so excited about War hammer commander decks and Lord of the rings . (My first experience getting into magic was getting a pre con Aesi deck) . I really love hearing a Magic the Gathering veteran give his opinion and concern . I totally see the issues you bring up. Especially the push “to buy products” because they may not be reprinted , and if you don’t get it now , it’ll be cost a disgusting amount of $$ later on. Also - bringing up the vibe and flavor/ essence change is totally a huge deal! I’m excited to see many new players join playing , but I’m very worried about the things you have mentioned too! Fantastic video .

On Netflix there’s a great documentary series called “The Toys that Made Us.” A reoccurring event, you can see this in the He-Man, GI Joe, Ninja Turtles and time a lesser extent the My Little Pony episode is that year after year of doubling growth and profits is NOT sustainable. It happened with every single one of those toy lines. Every. Single. One. Every year they just made double the products to make double the money and WITH OUT FAIL the products dropped off a cliff. They literally killed their brands. Now listen, I know what you’re thinking. “Kill magic?” I’ve been playing magic for something like 27 years. That’s over 60% of my life and I’ve laughed at every single “this is going to kill magic” that’s happened every year for at least the last 27 years. I’m not laughing at this. Magic had lasted because it was nourished and managed. That’s not the case anymore. Not only does it mirror these toy brands but this is EXACTLY. EXACTLY. Like the comic book crash. First it was just a comic book that had value. Then special covers. Then multiple special covers each with a hologram. You know what? It just devalued everything. It’s like foils now. We are in EXTREMELY DANGEROUS territory. I hope I am wrong but I don’t think Universes Beyond is a new era or whatever. I think it’s probably the final chapter.

Oh that ending left be feeling empty. “This is magic now”

"Magic is moving away from draft" makes me realize I'm very much nearing the end of my time with Magic the more that becomes true. Thankfully there's so many good tabletop games out there!

I've been playing for about 10 years. I'm legitimately heartbroken by this choice.

🙌 Preach....This is ridiculous... You make a tremendous amount of amazing points in this video THANK YOU♥️

I can not exaggerate how much this conversation needs to be had.

That "this is Magic now" hurts as much as the "less Magic, Less Gathering..."

I have to say I love your channel and perspective. Very wholesome and missed in our now very isolated realm.

14:17 - I can smell the AXE body spray from my laptop

I am not even a MTG player or fan really, but man do I wish there was a presence similar to the Professor in my chosen hobby. What a true fan of the heart of the game and ally to the players/fanbase.

"Does that mean sci-fi Kamigawa?" _He knows..._ What I hate most about Universes Beyond is that there's a way they could do it that I'd absolutely love and that I think the community would be super positive about, but I _know_ it's not what they're going to do. And it's such a clean change too - imagine the rules of MTG get rolled up into the "Deckmaster" brand, you know, the little blue box on the back of every Magic card since Alpha. Now MTG is "a Deckmaster game", and WotC is free to make _other_ "Deckmaster games" with any IP they want. Each "game" could get its own unique, but consistently styled, card back, and if successful, could get multiple sets of its own. I'd love to play a Lord of the Rings themed card game that happens to share the rules system with MTG so it can just be pick-up-and-play with minimal setup. Bonus, since the rules system between all the "Deckmaster" games is consistent, those who _wanted_ to _COULD_ mix and match between settings to build fun and interesting casual Commander decks - the difference of course being that these cards wouldn't be legal in Legacy or Vintage or what have you, they're technically different games, after all. I think the vast, vast majority of players would be absolutely on-board with this implementation. And as a Lord of the Rings fan who would love a Deckmaster LotR game, if I'm buying a Lord of the Rings card set, I want to see Lord of the Rings on the back. Give me Bilbo's red book embossed with the golden letters of the logo and the wreath of Tengwar in the middle where the 5 colors would normally be. If I'm playing Lord of the Rings, why do my cards say, Magic: The Gathering?

Damn professor, I think you just changed my mind on the subject. I admittedly haven't played much magic lately but I was excited for an MGT Warhammer Draft. The drafts will still be really fun, but outside of limited play this is a huge dilution of Magic's own unique lore. Despite all the different planes it all followed a style and continuity. While in the short term these sets are going to do well I can't help but feel like Magic is going to loose its identity in all this.

So as someone who plays both I was extremely excited. I then watched your video and realized how many issues I hadn't thought of. Definitely concerned, appreciate you bringing up some very valid points that need to be considered.

Big Bird of Paradise once the Sesame Street set comes out.

Magic players 10 years from now: "Wait.... that's why they call it Magic?"

I'll be happy so long as Abaddon's arms are separate pieces of equipment

"Cowboy Jace?" 😂 *laughs in Outlaws of Thunder Junction*

"Less Magic - Less Gathering". Uff, that really hurt the soul.

"Magic could be moving away from fantasy", well, after 21 years I could be moving away from Magic

How can I not respect the ideas and feelings of the prof? He’s the best!

This was the response I had when I learned that the Transformers cards were going to appear in Magic: The Gathering: "What happened? Did the Decepticons ' Space Bridge malfunction again?" I also started to fantasize a story about how the world of Cybertronians came to be which came from Dominaria !

I mean, are we surprised by this move from a corporation that is (in)famous for reskinning their flagship game Monopoly with almost every pop culture property in the last 20 years?

“Less magic, less gathering” sums it up well. It’s disappointing because i just started playing and spent the past 8 months and way too much money surrounding myself with the lore and playing with friends

"Does that mean sci-fi Kamigawa?" Damn! Nailed it, Prof! Lmao.

Two things: First, tonight i dreamt that i was in a Game store with the Professor and we discussed a new way of playing Planechase with some cool figurines to walk between the planes. It was awesome and i awoke very enthusiastic and i will build this thing, believe me. Second, in my opinion it should be an own format: "Beyond", where one can only play those franchise cards and nothing else. Ploblem solved: You want to play with your Aragorn deck? Okay lets do this, i choose you Pikachuuuu! But i want to emphasize that each Playgroup has its own table rules and ours for example would never play those cards in a common match. As a fun product, like unhinged, maybe but never mixed with the world we love. And i love that Prof is always polite and discusses many points of view. Keep the good work up and we will never stop to support your channel! Greetings from Germany!

Hasbro: Magic is our most profitable IP, we should all be so proud to be a part of it Also Hasbro: Let's change everything and see what happens

Fuck.. that "What is there left to say.. this is Magic now" and cut to the outro hit me really hard

started magic at 2001 as a kid, came back at 2013 when theros released and in just 8 years magic seems to have taken a turn to something completly different. lets hope we survive this

This exactly expressed my frustrations with this new product line. Bravo Professor.

Card quality: foils are pringles Health of the game: multiple banned cards each new set Event coverage: almost inexistent Story and wordbuilding: books and cards have different events ... Wotc: ok let's ignore this and make new mechanically unique set of extremely controversial cards that will be bought by whales and if the player base complains we'll tell them they are gatekeeping the fun of others. Not cool Wotc

The body of Magic is well and kicking, but the soul has perished.

Professor looked like he was about to shed a tear in the end. Or is it just me...

Magic: the Gathering is not dying. Magic: the Gathering: the Trading Card Game, however, is.

TO mark rosewater: "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" -Harvey dent, soon to be in a magic the gathering set on amazon near you.

WotC (2013): "We like to preserve the world we built so won't be doing cross overs." WotC (2021): "Who cares about game integrity, sure do like more money."

I appreciate your attitude

The flavor, lore and art is the core of why I like it. Now its just going to dump a bunch of other crap in there.

Mark Rosewater's post gave an honest answer as to why crossovers within Magic's framework would compromise its world. Seeing his stance (on something he answered already) do a 180 like this is the most blatant example of the corporatist greed that is currently hiding under Magic's skin. It doesn't matter how much people who work on magic care about the game and it's world, because the only thing the controlling elements of the company who owns them care about is profits right now, long term integrity and sustainability be damned. The saddest thing is how much of his life and self Mark has poured into this world and game, only to be puppeteered by apathetic business psychopaths who have 0 love for something that means a lot to tons of people, and was enthralling enough to enchant brand new people.

Looking forward to Gandalf's LEGO Bionicle breaking the meta and being $45.

Prof in 2021: “Could that mean sci-fi Kamigawa? Cowboy Jace?” Us in 2023: “Both, yes.”

I completely agree with your perspective Professor

"Hiring talent from ubisoft ... and disney." Ooooooh goody, totally not companies that milk the shit out of their IPs with mediocre product after mediocre product.

Mate, I just wanna give you a hug. I applaud your tact in discussing the topic, encouraging everyone to respect differing opinions...but I can just feel the sadness and frustration at the direction this thing you love is going in, and to see that from such a passionate, jovial individual is kinda heart breaking. Keep doing what you do, and I hope you keep enjoying what you do!

This video is perfect in so many ways.

"Collector's Items With No Functional Use" the Game

I have lost the ability to get angry over this things, the only thing i feel is sadness

How can you be mad when you think of having piglet equip a sword of feast and famine and attack spongebob. Just sounds hilarious

For me, the outro music and screen hit harder on videos like this. It actually feels like sitting in the credits of a game that's ended. One that you'll never get to experience in quite the same way you did before. Personally, I don't like the introduction of other IP's into Magic. Hell, I get sad over the change in art direction from older sets I grew up with, to the newer sets now. (but that stems more from a personal preference towards things that don't emulate hyper-realism) While I'll still play with my friends, and cherish all the memories I've made, along with all of the amazingly fun cards and decks I've had over the years, I have a feeling I'm probably going to find a point soon where I simply say "I'm done collecting anything further. I wish the game well.". And, knowing that may be coming, honestly feels horrible. Thank you for all the wonderful videos you do, Professor. You bring a smile to my face with most of what you do. Keep being awesome.

Only about 4 minutes in, and I’ve already been reminded why I love this channel and respect the professor so much. He has made it clear he is unhappy with the upcoming changes(I am too btw) but has made it clear he doesn’t begrudge those that are happy. He respects their happiness and encourages it. You’re such a lovely human being Proff