Start of May sees the next set of MtG released called War of the Spark. Which means the last weekend of April is Prerelease weekend.

That last weekend of April is a busy weekend. We already know it’s Prerelease but in London MtG players are fighting for over priced accommodation with participants in the London Marathon, so they can attend the London MagicFest (more on that in a mo).

Plus two other collectible card games (Pokemon being one) also have releases/events planned that weekend for stores also.

So what is usually a busy weekend for your FLGS on the MtG front, may just not be as busy as usual. Having a Prerelease clash with the MagicFest means the competitive players with dreams of becoming pro will be in London. Plus those that like to go to the big events. So attendance at the Prerelease could be down for the stores.

But WotC heard the complaints of the LGS and the UK stores can now sell the whole product range a week early to compensate them in some way. So Prerelease weekend players can pick up not only booster boxes, but bundles, deck builder kits, (if they are doing one) and Planeswalker decks and whatever else. But the more cynical out there might think this was not done to benefit the LGS in the UK, but to allow Channel Fireball and the other retailers at the London MagicFest to sell everything to those attending the event. Everyone at the MagicFest is basically lost business for the LGS. You can be sure those attending will be buying their War of the Spark product at the MagicFest instead of their LGS.

The LGS hate from WotC doesn’t stop there. In a shake up of the rewards program I can’t see it being anything but negative. But I’m open to be convinced otherwise.

At the moment Standard Showdown on Saturday at my FLGS sees 6 or 7 Showdown packs up for grabs. We get 8-10 players each week. Hey it’s a small store in the middle of nowhere, so that’s pretty good. But it means currently you stand a good chance of getting s Showdown pack. Under the new scheme, Standard Showdown is dead. The promos for FNM are dead. The FLGS will get a weekly allocation of these new promo packs to use as the prize support. Based on current attendances and the new stats that WotC are using, we the players lose out. The reality is the prize support has been drastically cut back. It means the “not standard Showdown” event that my FLGS would run on a Saturday would have less prizes, and a smaller chance to get a prize. I’d assume also that it’s the same for FNM.

What I think this means is that less prize support, and a decreased chance to get a prize will drive down attendance. Who wants to see the same top players week in, week out taking the spoils? Currently at least you stand a chance of getting something extra as a prize. Under the new system that’s gone.

If I was a conspiracy theory fan I’d be suspicious that WotC are trying to drive everyone to Arena. They are definitely trying to make paper MtG more like Arena. They have already tried best of one as a store format with some lucky LGS lab rats. The recent Mythic Invitational was basically a best of one format. No side boards players took two Standard decks and played those. Even WotC have admitted just about it wasn’t a great success as a format. The upcoming London MagicFest will see a new mulligan being tested called the London Mulligan. There is only one reason they want to try this, it’s probably easier to implement in Arena, and more Arena like. They are errata-ing physical cards so they can implement them easier in Arena.

There are other things WotC have done in the past few months that could be interrupted as attacks on the LGS, especially in the US. Such as selling direct via Amazon, no MSRP, special premium edition booster boxes only available direct from WotC/Hasbro and Channel Fireball at MagicFests.

I don’t know how I’m going to finish this rant. It started off with little intention going in the direction it did. It seems to me that the LGS is under attack from a company that should be supporting it more. The changes are presented as being positive and helping to grow the player base. But on closer examination they seem more like a company cutting back and trying to transition into a new future where they don’t have to worry about secondary markets, card quality, poor selling sets, etc.