Magic is So Hard to Get Into Now

I hate to start my rants off with what is essentially "Back in my day, sonny..." but I have to.

I started during 7th Edition and it was far easier to pick up the game then than it is now. I'm not really talking about how expensive it has gotten either. I am talking about the absolute bloat of card types, keywords, and overall wordiness of cards nowadays.

Back then, we just had lands, creatures, artifacts, enchantments, instants, and sorcery's. Keyword-wise, you really only needed to be familiar with trample, flying, haste, vigilance, first strike, protection, and shroud. There were a few others like banding and horsemanship that barely held relevance anymore.

That might still sound like a lot to some until you learn the sheer amount of card types and keywords introduced since then.

Since 7th Edition, we have gotten planeswalkers, vehicles, sagas, battles, MDFC's, tokens, adventures, dungeons, and now rooms. I probably forgot a few too. As far as keywords go, we now have a whopping ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR as of September 2024. That's 1, 9, 4...194 keywords.

If that wasn't bad enough, there is also a bloat of cards that one might think are predicated on a design approach of "Let's stuff as much functionality into this card as we can fit". I have a love/hate relationship with Questing Beast. While it is such a good card to use, I still hate sitting across from one and still thinking "Now what the hell does that do again?" despite my many years of being familiar with and engaging with it.

I am not at all opposed to new mechanics, card types, or wordy cards. It is more-so the pace of their introduction, the quantity of them, and the sheer bulk it has become now.

This also isn't really about my personal experience either, but rather how difficult it is to retain new players and compel them to learn all of this stuff.

By starting during a much simpler time, I've had the benefit of being able to assimilate these new things as they came. New players nowadays missed the boat on that one.

It reminds me a lot of how I felt when I started playing World of Warcraft during the Legion era in 2016. I felt absolutely hopelessly overwhelmed and overloaded by all of this content and information that I needed to ingest. I only played for about three months.

That said, I don't argue at all against new players who drop the game quickly because there is way too much to catch up on. I can't, because I get it. I wouldn't be into it either, honestly.

Wizards of the Coast is doing a good job of pulling new players in with Universes Beyond crossovers and enticing themes like Ninja's and Eldritch horrors, but I feel like it is more of a temporary thing. I am not convinced that the latest generation of new players will stick around long-term, by and large that is. I wonder if 22 year old Braidyn, who was pulled in by the D&D crossover, will keep playing once the flavor has worn off and the taxing learning-curve has set in.

The point being, that while they will certainly keep pulling new players with crossovers and alluring themes, I am fairly certain they will bleed the vast majority over time as well. It's a revolving door and I bet Wizards doesn't mind, because it still means continuous profits until the well of IP's and themes starts to dry up.

The really sad part is that, not only is this a "The damage is done and can't be fixed", but Wizards is showing no sign of slowing down on this design approach either. About a year ago, the lead designer, Mark Rosewater, made a statement that they planned on letting up on the wordiness of cards and new mechanics, but as of the latest set, Duskmourn, it doesn't seem like they are.

 Magic the Gathering is now and forever a difficult and intimidating game to get into for new players and that sucks.