This is terrible. I know tons of Magic players in our community that were able to "make friends" through Magic, whereas they were very secluded and desolate. I get it that it's better to have an option, but this definitely seems like a net negative.ktkenshinx wrote: ↑4 years agoOh, we're still going to see a ton of MTG competitions, rankings, and rewards. It's just all going to be digital. That means you don't have to spend any money to go to a GP, hotel, restaurants, etc. and can just do everything from the comfort of your home. All profit goes to Wizards, anxious people (I feel like gamers tend to run anxious) don't have to put themselves in social situations, parties that face harassment and negative environments don't have to risk themselves in these predominantly nerdy/male spaces, and you can enjoy the entire experience either on your phone Arena client or watching it on your phone Twitch client.
Throughout this, Wizards will continue to put some minimal effort into supporting paper events, especially multi-format "experiences" like Magic fests. But the push will be overwhelmingly digital with a digital end goal.
Re: Modern and MTG's overall changes
All of this is obviously a lot bigger than Modern as a format. If you're looking to see where Modern goes from here given this direction, see if Modern aligns with these digital futures. Paper Modern gatherings would not. A hypothetical Arena Modern would. If Modern were to come to Arena, that would largely save the format. If not, Modern will go the way of all the non-digital offerings: a slow decline that ends with their abandonment.
After a long day of work on Friday, I could see many players just playing Arena at home in their underwear, rather than showering and making the trip to FNM.
Oh, I know it. And I'm okay with it. I feel like if you don't win your first 2 rounds of a GP, you're probably not top 8ing/top 16ing anyway. My friends tell me it's in April.True-Name Nemesis wrote: ↑4 years agoHate to break it to you but in case you haven't heard, byes are being removed sometime middle of this year. Planeswalker points serve no purpose anymore.
https://magic.gg/news/esports-update-20 ... s-and-more