GoingMadlem

Wizard's of the Coast announced today that they are partnering with Amazon to sell Magic directly to consumers. What's this mean for players? 1/x

First, it means your FLGS is going to be looking for other ways to make money. Margins on Magic are already abysmal for sealed booster boxes and a recent cost increase (about $5 extra a box) isn't helping that situation. 2/x

Magic events are already loss leaders for most game stores because MTG players expect stores to make zero dollars on events. Combine that mentality with online buy listing and singles purchases and you have a recipe for - why bother? 3/x

The other axis of this equation is that Wizards would rather Magic be a digital game. There's been numerous reports and rumors that WotC's goal is to shift players to #MTGArena and their implementation of restricted redemption codes in packs shows this. 4/x

Wizards claims that most players don't play or buy their cards in FLGSs, but they underestimate the impact of the players that do. The strongest ambassadors for the game are those that are most engaged with the game (ie, events & community) 5/x

So you combine lower margins, lower retail sales, and a focus on digital game play and you gave a recipe for systemic collapse. As stores get squeezed out or opt out, cards become less useful for organized play... aka consumer confidence in Magic drops 6/x

Consumer confidence is a huge selling point for Magic... "you can spend $100s on this game and play all these places!" Is the very backbone of Magic's success. How many sets of golf clubs would people buy if there were no public golf courses? 7/x

The history of TCGs is paved with games that people loved fervently but couldn't find other players for. FLGS retailers talk and they've been beating the same drum for the last few years "DIVERSIFY AWAY FROM MAGIC" with many choosing to drop Magic events entirely. 8/x