Episode 314 - Holidays at the LGS (Strategies)

It's 2025 and we're back with our yearly tradition of discussing what we would do if we ran Hasbro. Secret Layers, Baulders Gate 3, and the finalization of the eOne sale. What a year it's been. Casting out lens, we look at the decisions we saw coming out of Hasbro and WotC and put together some notes and things we'd like to see them do better, things we'd change, things we'd improve. Even a few things we'd like to do away with. Join us on this rocky ride as we discuss what we would do in 2025 if we ran Hasbro.

This week we look back at Magic in 2024 and discuss what we encouraging and what was discouraging. What could be improved and what worked. How did the set release cadence, Secret Lair drops, and handling of constructed impact the game. Effectively grading Magic in 2024 across several, easy to understand metrics with a side of "what happened at the LGS this year?!"

As with anything great, change is to be expected. Throughout 2024 we had discussed changes we wanted to make both in our community and with the podcast and after months of discussion we finally settled on the changes we wanted to see. In this short episode, we breakdown, point by point the updates we'll be making to the podcast in the coming year and also what to expect of us moving forward.

As our sixth year as a podcast draws to a close, we continue our process of self reflection and growth. This episode we look back at two picks each, and discuss what they represent to us: winners and losers alike, there's always a lesson to be learned.

As we begin our yearly look back and take inventory of our processes and lessons learned, we are starting out on a personal level. Have the means by which we engage with the game changed? And if so, how? How have we navigated the financial landscape this year? Casting a critical lense as our processes, lessons learned, and heuristics is an important part of holding ourselves accountable and grow. So join us as we take a look back at a wild year of Magic.

With the 2025 release schedule announced at Worlds in Las Vegas, alongside an accompanying article and series of mothership posts, we have a good idea of what Magic is going to look like in 2025 and beyond. What sets will we see, the marketing copy, Universes Beyond, and the idea that Magic will now be 50% external IP. What a year it's going to be, and what an announcement it was. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/the-foundations-of-magics-next-era

We finally have the 2025 RCQ schedule and format information, answer a number of questions that we've had as players, LGS's, vendors, and the like. This week we break down the timing, format information, TOs, and hopeful future of the system. https://www.magic.gg/news/play-in-rcqs-earn-secret-lair-promos-and-qualify-for-pro-tour-3-in-2025

With a continuously shifting landscape, the removal of Pioneer as an RCQ format to Universes Beyond being standard legacy, LGS operations and MtG Finance on the whole have become rather difficult to manage. Anything can be reprinted at any time, so how do you handle an impending price crash on your foil Patrick Starfish while also worrying about the five Standard sets. So, this week we took at step back and began to discuss what it's like at the LGS level now. What are ways that people are insulating themselves from the whims of WotC and Hasbro profiteering. How can we, LGS's and financeers alike, survive and get ahead in the current environment that WotC has set in front of us.

We went to Collect-A-Con so you don't have to! But you should because it's awesome. https://collectaconusa.com/ This week we discuss what is was like at Collect-A-Con Chicago 2024 as a gaming vendor. What kind of a event was it, what expectations did we set. What had we learned in the past that we put into practice, what were some of the take aways. And, most importantly, is it worth it to add Collecet-A-Cons as part of your list of shows to vend as either an LGS or a vendor.

We've had the pleasure of experiencing cEDH from multiple points of view over almost a decades worth of play and thought, what better way to discuss the format than to try and bring together all of that. With the experience of judging one of the largest cEDH events on the East Coast barely in the rear view, we talk about what cEDH means to players, judges, the LGS, and vendors. What is the impact the format has on all the aforementioned people and where we see the format heading. This episode was planned out well in advance of initial cEDH RC issues, giving us an even more interesting insight into the format as we get to marry together player sentiment prior to those events, all the way through the recent bannings.