WOTC Desperately Defends Cash Grabs + MTG Commander Ban Drama Intensifies 

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We know for a fact that WOTC is lying by saying they gave up a big chunk of money, because if that were true, shareholders could literally take the CEO to court over it.

Only 3 levels of Commander Decks: Precons Jank 7

When they abandoned the 3 block story sets, that spelled the end for me.

Commander was Magic's biggest format explicitly because it wasn't managed by wizards of the Coast.

I used to like Mark Rosewater. But I lost all respect for him when he started lying. Now I actively hate him.

You know, I've been into magic... a very long time, I remember when they said the new borders were going to ruin magic (I mean the start of modern boarders back in Mirrodin/8th edition) I know corporations aren't my friend, they are a business and care about money and pleasing shareholders. They don't care about me, or the health of their own investment. But to me... Magic is like an old friend, one who has been there, pulled me out of some of the roughest times of my life, just kind of a gentle comfort. And whats going on, and has been going on since after War of the Spark, is like watching your old friend, meet someone new, a woman who is manipulative, cruel, shushes them, and your friend changes for the worse and pretends to be happy, says the sex is fantastic but can't say anything nice about this person, they start leaving you to be with her because she is dictating who can and can't be their friend. And when you try to help them they always have an excuse for the toxic relationship they are in, they make excuses for the other person, and you just watch things get worse. I'd really like my old friend back.

WOTC hates their players and think they're all just dumb ATMs. Stop giving WOTC your money.

Hasbro shareholders want to know, if Commander is Magic's largest format, why is an organization outside of WOTC in charge of it? Answer: Because the PLAYERS of Magic created and nurtured it on their own, and created something THEY like to play, unlike what Hasbro/WOTC, produces. They create things that sparkle and shimmer briefly, then wither and rot. Basically, Hasbro thinks the best thing to do is sell candy to a diabetic. Believe me, if Pauper were bigger, they'd find a way to make mythic commons... oh wait,... they sort of tried that already.

I don't see how instant gratification is profitable at all; I sold 8k worth of cards over a year ago. Best decision I've made in a while. I still play some, I just proxy everything. I was the type of player that bought packs/boxes consistently. Hundreds or thousands lost per year from me alone leaving the game.

WOTC really needs to relearn the concept of delayed gratification.

I sold my cards over a decade ago, and this all has the feeling of listening to news of a terrible train derailment just a few stops after I got off.

“Your deck is a 9 Billy! I’m sick of your cr*p!” 🤣

I can definitely feel a change. I started around og Theros. Left when og Ixalan started and took a break. Then I came back when Kaldheim was introduced, and even then I could feel a change from what mtg once was.

wotc did not promise that they would not unban dual lotus and mana crypt. they said they had no plans to ban anything, just wanted to clarify that.

I believe WOTC telling the CRC not to ban lotus & crypt was a combination of both

Money The Gathering

Ah, sure, they just do it "for the community". The only community WotC cares about is the shareholders of Hasbro as they need to answer to their bosses and their bosses!

You have a secret lair!?! CASH GRAB!! "It's a 9 Billy! I'm sick of your lies!" Lol

They quite literally said they wouldnt sell modern decks because they can sell commander decks for more money. They literally cant get it together. Wrong artwork on finalized cards, ai artwork, card errors, misprints in ALL kinds of places, bad skus, delivering the wrong product to distrubitors/ LGSs and then sending pinkertons to fix their mistake... WotC does not care about the game.

I wish we could get a "Universes Beyond: Magic: the Gathering" set. That'd be pretty cool. I hope they'll give Hurloon Minotaur a card!

I could actually see them not unbanning jeweled lotus and crypt but printing new versions that are just slightly different, saying "we fixed em!" Then even ppl who had lotus and crypt would need the new card

yup this is magic now. I summon iron man & I equip him with glimmer light & now I have him slap your blocker with a fish by casting Longstalk Brawl & u can keep the fish.

In these crazy times its great to see you still maintaining a positive vibe. I wish you & yours to have a good autumn.

8:23 Don't forget the Alchemy tie-in, a similar gallery of third-string ideas.

Remember all the hype around the MTG Movie..... Pepperidge Farm remembers. Anyone getting into the game now is like Where's my Negan, and who the F are Jace and Lilliana?

I LOST MONEY ON THIS PIECE OF CARD BOARD SO I WILL DESTROY IT TO LOSE ALL MY MONEY. What?

I have a theory that MaRo is under a gag-order from hasbro as to not speak too ill of certain aspects of magic, since he has enough influence that if he were to say something polarizing, then players would acknowledge the stupid choices made in the past few years, and choose to opt out on more products. I take everything he says with a HUGE grain of salt because I feel like he has a corporate executive breathing down his neck and forcing the most profitable human resource reply to the questions on his blog.

Damn. I was expecting "I know it's karlov, and I don't care "

I’d love to see a deal with the community. Make fast mana and fetchlands accessible and unban dockside and other expensive creatures. Will allow everybody to play while still selling more expensive cards to get certain synergies.🤷🏻‍♂️

Serious question: how do we know WotC isn't responsible for the threats to the Rules Committee members in order to engineer the very situation that unfolded? They hired the effing Pinkertons, I wouldn't put *anything* beyond them.

In order to keep from fatiguing the playerbase, WOTC should spend a few months on testing the upcoming and prospective sets. I don't care what anyone says; This is how it should be done.

I filed a compliant with the FTC, i suggest everyone else does so it gets attention.

I don't care what WotC says about any of this, commander has gotten its final rules update.

Kellan's story was such mess from start to finish, the story was better with the planeswalker focus.

Actually, in the US WOTC didn't own Commander format, yes, they created the game, but you can make your own rules and make it your own you just don't own any of the IP complicated and frustrating on how IP law works. It's how the NFL can't copy right football but if they injected something awesome and new into the game and made it wonderful, they could patent that part of the game so no college, XFL, Arena football could not use unless they pay up. In America they have commercials for people stating if you can improve a current patented item contact them, because if you can make it something better you can stop the owner of said item from doing it also if they haven't patent it. Video game controllers are an example the simple D-pad was patented Nintendo actually owned it a slice of money was paid to them for making controllers with that and it just came on to the free market about 10 years ago. I don't mind UB but Magic needs to Magic. High fantasy art is what got everyone interested in the Magic going to different plains may change up the art style a bit, but it started losing the fantasy part to it. It feels more Sci-Fi-Ish then High Fantasy which is how I felt about original magic. I think magic should go back to High Fantasy setting for all sets maybe once a year go to a more technical world were things looks out the norm more artifacts people relying on science more than magic. That should be on its own schedule for the year. Universe Beyond could be its own thing and for commander's sake some cards could cross over for the fun of it, but UB would be on its own release schedule. Standard magic has its own release dates and UB has there maybe they crisscross on the dates, but stories don't combine, and people can pick and choose what they want to follow one or the other or both. They would still make money but separate the types and stick to stories make sense and keep in coherent instead of the mess it is now. Since All will be one it feels like they have been just dumping out things hoping they stick and adding Jace somewhere doing something seems like a place holder why they try to get their ducks in a row.

Problem is if wizards do unban mana crypt and jeweled lotus, they'll be opening themselves up to future death threats from people who would then think it's OK to do that when they disagree with a ban

Really love what you're saying about identity. The whole flavor and feel of the game has been abandoned. And now that it's piggybacking on all this pre-existing IP, I think the game has clearly peaked. They just squeezed to hard to try to extract ever more money from the property and have really lost the way.

You know how you know when Mark Rosewater is lying? He opens his mouth or post something in writing to the players.

If they honestly cared about world building, they would release books and articles. The fact they always involve cards tells you they're lying

I don't follow the people who put magic on the map, but if they are still alive. They need to be in charge of everything and fire the current fucking trash.

People don't seem to understand the IPs have inertia, that big IPs have A LOT of inertia, it's why Start Wars is only now really starting to slow down massively. That's what everyone is doing now, cashing in all their IP's inertia. I wonder what will be left when it all finaly crash and burns.

I could care less about commander because I don't play it much. I only play eternal formats that don't change much like premodern, old school 93/94 , legacy and vintage. I do feel bad for commander players and understand the frustration. For now this could go two ways , it could stay the way it is or go completely down hill even more. As far as the game having only two decades left I find it hard to believe. There will always be a generation that will discover the game and therefore the need for more product will always be in demand. I started playing in 1998 and it's 2024 so I think we have to a bit naive to think that way.

"Markdown Manor" Fing Savage

Ultimately the ones to blame are the playerbase. Hasbro can make unlimited bad calls and people will still buy enough of their dogs**t to warrant more of the same. If we had any ability to do the “rite” thing, players would band together and buy no product until hasbro was forced to sell back to wotc. We have more than enough cards in the format to keep busy and hold out for 6 months to a year.

My friends are going back to the 5-color format. With ante and scribs and proxies. 20 life 250 cards 25 each color singleton no bans. It remains the only format WotC can’t destroy lmao

I find it interesting that jeweled lotus is surging in price again.

The next investors meeting is gonna be so goddamn rewarding😂😂😂😂😂

They've been struggling to balance commander and now they think they can balance 4 separate tiers? These might as well be 4 different formats when you consider how vastly different the available cardpool will be, and you will probably need to carry 2-3 different tiers to get into pick up games. Also, if a table carefully built their decks to fit within the restrictions of tier 2, im not sure how cool they'll be with "my deck has ancient tomb/vamp tutor and all THESE but take them out and im ALSO a 2!"

I do not understand why everyone is upset with WOTC making and selling products just for money. Ultimately that is what every company is in business for. You may not like the products nor agree with them, but if WOTC is not making profits then what will happen to MTG? You can complain about the set design and pack composition, but to complain about WOTC and HASBRO wanting to make money is stupid. I am happy that they are making money so that the game can thrive.

I hate that I like playing this game. I hate that the community for the most part is so awesome and it’s such a great way to meet different people. I hate these things because of how rapacious wizards is.

Like I said before, Cocks is the Puppet Master pulling ALL of the strings for Hasbro / Wizards and DnD. The company lies to our face. I am not a fan of the 4 tier Commander deck system. Our group has cut back dramatically where we stopped buying sealed boxes. We will get the Pre-cons from our LGS. We play Commander and will still use Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt, and Dockside. We also use proxies. Thank you for the video Magic Historian.

Still waiting to see the Book Crypt become affordable so I can just get it back. It's only gotten pricier. Not valuable anymore, sure, sure.

I got 60 proxies for sale, 999$ though, hope you don't mind.

I still wouldn't be surprised if WOTC bought out the rules committee

With the introduction of the 4 tiers for decks, I can totally see WotC finally making cEDH a sanctioned format. Then they can finally unban the money makers. (Ironically typing this as the same concept is being discussed in the vid.) 😂

Cash grab? I don't understand why it's a surprise that wizards wants to make money? Cards have been broken from the majority of sets it's gonna keep happening. It's 2024 collabs are a smart business move and the biggest set ever is Lord of the rings, you can not like it but it's extremely successful and brought many new players in. And it made them tons of money. And yes this drama sucks but wizards is doing what they can like it or not they now have control but the success of the format is a direct correlation of their pockets.

It just makes me sad. I quit over ten years ago. I made an attempt to play about five years ago. I went down to the local card shop, then made a standard legal deck and just got demolished repeatedly. The rules hadn't changed that much, but the cards were so unreasonable. I hadn't realized that even the common cards have hidden rarities. "Technically, that is a common card, but you are only going to find two of them on average in a booster box." Lol what? Oh it's true. I just felt old and out of my depth. I just watch this channel out of morbid curiosity. The Historian is entertaining even if the game itself isn't.

The comite actually was taking every casual players complaint with the banned cards the ones screaming the loudest with the bannings? Was big investors. So it seems strange they are pinning the deaththreats on the players when most wanted those cards banned. So i would not be surprised that those who sent those threats come alittle close to wizards and its investors than the players who use rule 0 regardless of the bans.

“Hooray for me, Billy! Hooray for me!”

I'm being 100% honest here, I have the imagination needed, I built a free roam pen and paper, rpg from the ground up. Xp system. Combat system. Story board with infinite reset potential(should you ever be able to actually finish the game, we've been playing nearly 10 years, and only one person has played nearly 90% of a single campaign, most people are around 5-10%). I could build realities for them. New creatures. New worlds. Everything. They could match the cards to it. I would be ecstatic to do it, I just don't think they'd be willing to go back to this style... making something new up that's closer to their own content.

it seems WOTC told the rules comitee to NOT do the BAN. Might get reversed. I just saw Worldfire was unbanned 3 years ago and wasn't aware of it. I truly see Jeweled Lotus unbanned but don't care about the cards even if the crypt would be fair...

Reminds me of the old, type 1, and type 2 decks, from back in the day.

I looked at the roadmap and recognized there were 9 releases this year incl. Foundations

Sheldon was old school WOTC and they trusted him and he never really made waves. Kept the money train moving.

MTG is just cardboard Fortnite now.

Commander continues to be the worst thing to happen to Magic since Mark Rosewater.

we said "not to ban those 2 cards" what they actually said was "not to ban those 2 cards YET"

I don't care for Commander myself....I go on Arena and play Historic and Timeless...

The views on this video, keep it up brother! Your doing a phenomenal job.

Another solid video. Always a pleasure to hear you talk about this stuff you so obviously care deeply about.

2025 releases Quad Commander including the Quadratic lotus, adds 2x2 mana

Oh indeed the day finds me well 😊

Pretty sure pauper commander and cube r gunna be the new popular formats for for creative play.

Just wait until WOTC use up all Ip’s for universes beyond! What then?

Grandma will still buy you Morgic: the Gimling, Billy!

We as the players should start our own new rules committee and follow that.

Strixhaven was supposed to be a harry potter tie in and there was supposed to be a Skyrim set but it fell through....wizards isn't even trying anymore

With the way WotC is trying to bury their IP's, you may have to change your name to The Magic Archeologist

Duskmourn is more of a set to improve standard, I think. Nice to draft.

So as an outside observer, if Commander was made by an outside group, can they not just make another?

The more days go by, the less insane this man seems.

if you are on a card the effect should say "my bones hurt"

I believe them when they say that they want MTG to be around for as long as it can be. At the end of the day, Rosewater is still a game designer. He used to be very passionate about magic, and somewhere buried under all the years of corporate shilling is still that guy who wants MTG to be great. The problem is, now MTG's future doesn't just depend on players liking the game, it depends on shareholders viewing the game as profitable. If profitability slumps, MTG gets its funding cut to keep the profitability looking good while shareholders dump their Hasbro stocks, and then MTG loses more staff and probably gets sold off to another company that is even more profit-minded. Universes beyond products probably are necessary to keep shareholders thinking that continuing to fund MTG products and events is worthwhile, it's just that the game that comes out the other end of a decade of universes beyond is no longer "Magic the Gathering".

10-20 years is very very generous

This has been one of the best years for mtg sales still 😅

As least fallen empires is still only $9 a pack in 2024 & has reserve list cards……. aftermath set was not draftable, no value outside the mythic slot /training grounds, and priced as a normal booster box for 24 pks of 5 cards.

Yay, i love ridiculous days in MtG. Played against someone with probably level 3 and level 4 stuff (yesterday).

Wow, who would’ve guess…

No such cash grabs from Fruit Monsters trading card game...

The playboosters were a mistake they suck im also not too big of a fan of how they are doing collector packs now either we dont need precon cards in collector packs its stupid, at least the amount you see in them

from day one i found the bans fishy with all the arguments about them that rc declared are also sound fishy. since they said they wantedto slow down the game by getting rid of explosive turns but leaving cards like gemstone mine, mana vault, any mox, lotus petal, dark ritual etc alone... and i thought that there is probably more bcs they cant be that stupid to not forsee global outrage since not everyone is has unlimited money and maybe they just wanted 1 powerfull deck and bought the most promoted and in your face cards by trusting rc and wizards. and they shoot their own leg like this? and wizards benefitting from it? and all those rc guys still have sponsors for their cahnnels from single card selling sites? yeah not fishy at all. and they bail out when things get heated that they definitely know they dont live under a rock.. i even think of bribery or payment behind the doors if wizards were desperate enough. since bans doesnt mean shit for wizards they can just print a new jeweled lotus and mana crypt like card.

The smarter move is to never unbanned the cards and just create powerful replacements that we have to repurchase. 9

So you're saying Iona and Golos can be unbanned?

It's funny that TONS of ppl say Wotc doing cash grabs is a tin foil hat theoryt

Mark rosewater is one of the few people anybody trusts in the company. Don't trust the CEO I don't trust people on the board I don't trust many of the people who make the products

The threats did not come from "the community"

Wow it doesn't feel like magic 30 was that long ago.

3:36 it was a stupid cash grab it showed their true intentions the other part of it is those cards are worthless to pretty much use unless you're playing with your friends the best thing to do is pretty much put a land in front of it and then stick it in a sleeve or in a case

I Said Blizzard wasnt happy they banned the cards...