MtG Cabal Cast

With the first quarter of 2025 in the books and a number of Collect-A-Cons across the United States behind him, Thursty breaks down and discusses the events and a number of notables from this time as a vendor on the circuit thus far.

In January of 2025, CGC Grading announced that they had received playtest cards for the first set release in Japan (October 1996). Discussed with a person close to the creation of the Japanese game, the cards were deemed "the real thing" and the grading process begin. As linked, and discussed in the episode CGC subjected these cards to a bevy of tests to assure their authenticity but it wasn't until they made it into public hands that they were found to be counterfeit. Is this episode we discuss what happened and what has happened to the reputation of CGC. How we view them currently. How we would handle their slabs. And most importantly, if we would trust them again. https://www.cgccards.com/news/article/13730/ https://www.elitefourum.com/t/many-of-the-pokemon-playtest-cards-were-likely-printed-in-2024/52421 https://web.archive.org/web/20250116144948/https://www.cgccards.com/news/article/11742/pokemon-prototype-cards/

Tarkir: Dragonstorm, the 104th Magic the Gathering expansion is on the horizon, which means it's time to reivew our "hype" assessments for Aetherdrift. How accurate were we? Were we off base or was it the children who were? https://edhrec.com/commanders/hashaton-scarabs-fist https://moxfield.com/decks/pdlVb5itR0OH1lBxug0zzA https://edhrec.com/cards/full-throttle https://edhrec.com/tags/extra-combats

The Hunter Burton Memorial is in its 11th year and shows no signs of stopping or slowing down; nor should it. Rooted in the knowledge that tragedy touches everyone, this even filled weekend brings people together in order to raise awareness, and funds, for the 988 Lifeline and charity. This year over 1500 people competed in over 300 events and we were lucky enough to be in attendance. If you haven't been, you should, and please enjoy hearing about the experience. If you have been, please share your experiences. https://988lifeline.org/ https://hunterburtonmemorialopen.com/

Having digested the information and ahead of the second announcement, we are taking a look at the Commander Brackets. We've had some time to discuss with our local players, from casual to cEDH stalwarts, and solicit their feedback and feelings, using them to distill down a few refined points. Join us this week as we give you our thoughts about the system, what we like about it, and what we don't like about it. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/introducing-commander-brackets-beta https://x.com/wachelreeks/status/1890851604867268713

With the start of the new year comes new shows, and this year, Thursty is not only attending a number of shows, more than in a number of prior years, but also shows that aren't just dedicated to Magic. Some aren't even related to Magic at all but different collectibles markets entirely. Spend time with us as we discuss the shows that Thursty has been to, his upcoming February shows, the details about why they chose to vend them. and their expectations.

Aetherdrift, the 103rd Magic the Gathering expansion is on the horizon, which means it's time to reivew our "hype" assessments for Duskmourn. How accurate were we? Were we off base or was it the children who were?

A few weeks ago, as proof we play Magic the Gathering, both Thursty and Halt took place in an off camera friends and family Vintage Rotisserie Draft. Split over two days, the in person draft took place the night before giving players several hours to build and test their lists before playing out the next days. Seven rounds brought us a top four that included our own Halt_I_m_Reptar, though he lost his first match to Thursty. Recorded and commentated on for your enjoyment! The draft document can be found below long with the moxfield link to Halt's list, the St Lotus YouTube and Twitch channels and as always, if you want to try your hand at rotisserie drafting, the Discord link can be found below as well. Halt's Decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/0Z7qGEuDeUKP9J4kZYN7ZQ Full VRD Draft list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13k_ngNdcZ3ZO3Up29-ZAtXhs9ss2t55E_whbZitmPtE/edit?usp=sharing Come Draft with us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/nxBPYXn St Lotus YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpwS9X2A-5pmo1txhyD7eoA Follow St Lotus on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/stlotusmtg

With the first Spotlight Series event firmly in the past and an entire year of RCs and Spotlights ahead of us, we discuss what each of us is looking forward to in the coming year. What at the LGS level is appealing with the OP roadmap laid out? As a vendor what are we excited to see with the coming sets and release schedule? https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-magic-spotlight-series https://magic.gg/news/play-in-rcqs-earn-secret-lair-promos-and-qualify-for-pro-tour-3-in-2025

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.

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.

As we head into the holiday season, we take a look at strategies employed at the LGS level to ensure a successful transition into the new year. What factors are in play in 2024 Q4 that might impact not just what we are looking to sell, but also how we market it and sell it. Are we looking to bring in more foot traffic just to increase product exposure, do we want to focus on growing our customer base permanently, are we able to host events? Each years Q4 provides an interesting look into how an LGS works and this year is no different, so join us as we break down holiday strategies for 2024.

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.

From the Judges to the LGS, from the players to the formats we discuss what it's been like operating in the new RCQ system. What changes have felt impactful to each of the aforementioned elements? What are we seeing now that we haven't seen before? Do these changes to the system even feel good?

This week, wes set off to discuss Duskmour: House of Horror and the hype cycle surrounding it. What cards shone bright during spoiler season, what seemed to fall through the cracks? What references did we pick up and like the best? Join us on our review of the Spoop-tacular set, with your hosts with the mosts.

With each set, we look at cards that we think are underrated or overrated during the prerelease period. Taking into account what we've seen from these cards over the SEVEN WEEK period between set releases, we cut through what happened in order to hold ourselves accountable. Utilizing the notes we took from that episode we reflect on where we went wrong, where we went right, and evaluate why that was the case to help improve our abilities in making correct picks during prerelease.

Prior to the Spotlight Series announcement, there was a light push for standard play at the LGS level and though meaningless as there were no competitive reasons to play, it did pave the way for the return of Standard at the LGS. Now, with buying from WotC, from large TOs, and, hopefully, a least one RCQ season a year, there are a multitude of reasons to engage with the Standard format. So. Are we seeing a return of Standard at the LGS in any meaningful capacity?

The Spotlight Series announcement was one that was received rather well. The return of a WotC sponsored competitive event series with a clear path to the Pro Tour, a clear prize structure, and a clear tournament structure is what players have been clamoring for, for years dating back to the GP era. But, as with everything, we take a look at some of the good things and some of the bad things within this announcement and what it means for various players around the world. https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-magic-spotlight-series https://x.com/raff_sputin/status/1827748727844434320 https://commandersherald.com/organized-play-cant-exist-without-judges/

The long awaited August 26th Banned and Restricted announcement was delivered and touched a number of formats, as players expected. We gave it about a week, for MODO and paper results to roll in before diving in and discussing what we've seen, what people are saying, and how we feel about this particular announcement. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/august-26-2024-banned-and-restricted-announcement https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wxR3iYna86qrdViwHjUPzHuw6bCNeMLb72M25hpUHYk/edit?gid=1611466830#gid=1611466830 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PxNYGMXaVrRqI0uyMQF46K7nDEG16WnDoKrFyI_qrvE/edit?gid=1611466830#gid=1611466830 https://twitter.com/karsten_frank/status/1829178288893505574

With a change in the Ban & Restricted announcement timings, WotC created a problem of their own design: A B&R shortly after a set release yields few, if any changes. This lead to two, lame duck, announcements in back to back months, allowing most contructed formats to start to fester. We discuss what the timing changes mean for players, for WotC, for the health of the game, and, importantly, for the trust that plays have in WotC to do right by them.

Our annual look at GenCon has us taking a look at what happened at the event. In the main halls, the gaming room, even in Lucas Oil Stadium. What we heard about the auction, the play spaces, panels, and tournaments. What did players in the Legacy Showcase events experience. How did it feel to be part of the panel announcing Mystery Booster 2 and subsequent draft events. What was the floor and general atmosphere like?

With Halt attending SCGCon Baltimore all weekend, taking notes, engaging with players and vendors alike, we'll be discussing what the current look and feel of an SCGCon is in the current era of the circuit. Join us as Thursty live fires a bunch of questions to help build a better understanding of what attending an SCGCon is like. Discussing everything from room layout, to the streaming area, to side events.

Bloomburrow release has come and gone. We're late to the party but, this week we look at and breakdown our hype review for Bloomburrow. What cards do we think are over hyped? Which are under hyped? Are mice and otters cute enough to push sales on a set that looks pretty medium in terms of power level?

With Bloomburrow set to release shortly, we look back at our Outlaws of Thunder Junction card assessment to see how discerning an eye we cast at the set. Where did we go right? Where did we go wrong? Join us for this analysis and accountability effort.

As collecing Magic continues to be a pillar of interaction for people, creating memorabilia along the way, we see it begin to follow the trends of other collectables and historical pieces before it. Things like grading the raw game pieces, general art, collectors only items, and signatures of various entities encircling the game. This means that it's time to upcycle a topic from the early days of the podcast: the maturity of the marketplace. With a more mature marketplace comes more unique ways to interact with the memorabilia, more ways to piece together collections, items you want, the signatures or art you enjoy. The devil truly is in the details and we are running, full bore into brand new territory. This week we break down what happened with an unfortunate PWCC buy, the details of the the item, and directly compare this to what we see in everything from sports to historical items and memorabilia.

Another year, another Modern Horizons set release and with it comes the fresh hell that is a Modern Mythic Championship in a format that is ripe for asbuse. As has been the case historically, this MC was one for the books as MH3 reshaped the entire Modern metagame, likes of which only Hogaak before it had. We discuss what these continued efforts by WotC mean to Modern speculation when it comes to a MC within such a tight proximity to the set release, how we handle them individually, and, most importantly, how LGSs can and do. Join us, so someone else has to listen to us yell at eachother.

Summer vacations are in full swing and univierties across the United States have been in summer break for some time now which means it's time to drum up seasonal attendance in one of the most difficult times to find foot traffic. So, what can we do and what have we seen our LGS's do that help improve summer attendace? What's worked the best to help make the season when even WotC has called out having issues with product sales and event attendance? Well, the answer is, plainly. A lot. There are a lot of great things that you can do and in this weeks episode we break down some of the most interesting, unique, and in one instance rather recent, events.

With the sheer quantity of leaks and WotC's shift in spoilers we decided to told off on our normal set evaluation for Modern Horizons 3 and break it into two parts. In the second part, we discuss a number of trends we saw. Starting with pre/release weekends we discuss what events looked and felt like. What was, and is, player sentiment across all formats; limited to Vintage. What impact and trends does this set for the LGS. And, finally, what do these trends mean for older constructed formats like Modern, Legacy, and Vintage.

With the sheer quantity of leaks and WotC's shift in spoilers we decided to told off on our normal set evaluation for Modern Horizons 3 and break it into two parts. This first part we will take a look at the cards people are currently interested in after having them in hand for a bit over two weeks and discuss what we are seeing in regards to player interest and whether or not we think cards are appropriately hyped or not.

With WotC expressing interest in entering the cEDH event sponsorship/TO/host space, we decided it was time to dedicate the time to discuss what this means through the lens of "cEDH Finance." In this series of episodes we discuss what cEDH finance looks like for cards designed for main set play. What are signals that cEDH is pushing a cards price. And what it means when a card becomes cEDH viable or a cEDH staple. In this third episode we take a look at the left over cEDH staples that represent a neat cross section of Commander and cEDH and what this overlap means for them financially. https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0DDiZV77lkSqfVAm8eCllg https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveEDH/comments/17xu4a3/cedh_staple_card_list_october_2023/ https://edhtop16.com/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/ https://x.com/cedhpt/status/1777678508803707032?t=SMQpSANmdjM7JNnViZxBjA

With WotC expressing interest in entering the cEDH event sponsorship/TO/host space, we decided it was time to dedicate the time to discuss what this means through the lens of "cEDH Finance." In this series of episodes we discuss what cEDH finance looks like for cards designed for main set play. What are signals that cEDH is pushing a cards price. And what it means when a card becomes cEDH viable or a cEDH staple. In this second episode we take a look at some instants, sorceries, artifacts, and enchantments that are cEDH staples and what the impact of this means for them financially. https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0DDiZV77lkSqfVAm8eCllg https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveEDH/comments/17xu4a3/cedh_staple_card_list_october_2023/ https://edhtop16.com/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/

With WotC expressing interest in entering the cEDH event sponsorship/TO/host space, we decided it was time to dedicate the time to discuss what this means through the lens of "cEDH Finance." In this series of episodes we discuss what cEDH finance looks like for cards designed for main set play. What are signals that cEDH is pushing a cards price. And what it means when a card becomes cEDH viable or a cEDH staple. In this first episode, we breakdown our criteria for a cards consideration and take a look at some of the creatures and lands that are cEDH staples and what the impact of this means for them financially. https://www.moxfield.com/decks/0DDiZV77lkSqfVAm8eCllg https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveEDH/comments/17xu4a3/cedh_staple_card_list_october_2023/ https://edhtop16.com/ https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/

With Modern Horizons Three spoilers in the books, the time between the release of Outlaws of Thunder Junction and said spoilers has been a pretty lowkey time for the game. In times like this, it's important, as an LGS, to make sure you are still serving your other communities as diligently as you are your Magic community. So this week, we discuss other games that are popular at the LGS level, why they are being focused on by the LGS, and how to best serve some of these communities.

Instead of looking back at the picks we have made this year, we look back at all of our picks for some of our worst performers. We discuss why we picked them, what has changed regarding that context, the future of the card, and, most importantly, the lessons we have leaned from each pick. We need to be held accountable and it's about time.

From Magic to Pokemon from Lorcana to Flesh and Blood, organized play systems can be the backbone of competitive games. With the multitude of changes to the Magic Organized Play system we thought it was time to discuss where we are, where we were, and where the competition is. This allows us to take a step back and see, as an LGS or a vendor, where we want to spend our time, effort, and money. Should we be chasing one Organized Play system or another because that's where the money is for both us and players, and what elements make for a successful Organized Play system that would entice both players and vendors to show up and show out. Join us this week as we discuss the various Organized Play systems offered by a number of games and talk about their upsides, downsides, lessons to learn, and reasons to engage with them as an LGS and a vendor.

Obviously Magic as a game play system is complex and deep but between the game itself and the ecosystem it has created there exists a number of avenues for things to change or improve. We started with a the simple idea of "identify" a few things surrounding that game, within the control of WotC that would fix, or improve, Magic the Gathering. It could be as simple as "bring back From the Vaults" or as complex as "update an underlying core concept of the game engine", anything we thought needed to be identified, addressed, and discussed with thought and purpose.

In the past we've discussed the utility of "hot lists" and generic buy lists as backpackers, vendors, and at the LGS level; effectively all levels of the singles selling ecosystem. Their importance to the health and growth of any business cannot be understand. But what we have not discussed is the importance of making your buylist available and visible to people in an online fashion. Why would you want to maintain a digital footprint like this? What benefits does it afford you? This week, we remedy our errors and take a look at the importance of an online buylist.

Yeehaw... This week we look at Outlaws of Thunder Junction. So saddle on up and hear us spin yarns about tales from out yonder. What cards do we think are prices well? Which are priced poorly? What's a "case" and how do we solve it, or do they even matter? What's a mole god?

With Outlaws of Thunder Junction set to release shortly, we look back at our Murders at Karlov Manor card assessment to see how discerning an eye we cast at the set. It feels like we just did this...

Usually we discuss how to protect yourself while speccing and in the past have discussed protecting your physical assets but we have no talked about how we, personally, identify vendors we like working with. Until now. We breakdown not just some of the vendors that we continue to shop with or at, either on their dedicated sites or on various market places but the "why" behind that as well. If you've ever been curious about why we shop where we do, why we recommend the companies and people we do, or how to help identify these people yourself... this episode is for you.

That's a big question but an important one. An idea born out of an older Reddit thread (link below), we decided to take a look at what WotC has left in the tank for chase reprints in supplemental sets. What does the current reprint philosphy offer? What cards can even be reprinted to get people motivated to buy into supplemental packs? And seemingly, most importantly, how often can we expect to see these cards because they lose their luster. https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/14zpquw/current_list_of_mythicrare_cards_valued_over_20/

Stepping outside our normal procedure of, "skip the supplemental analysis" we found a desire to discuss the Fallout product. There were a number of interesting and likeable things we saw within the set as well as some details surrounding the product on the whole that we thought were worth the discussion. Grab a can of Nuka-a-cola and join us as we dive through Fallout (PIP).

We've covered the numbers, the jargon, and the delviered outlook but now it's time for us to give out actual reviews and thoughgs. Strap in as we discuss our thoughts on not only the earnings report but the future of HAS and WotC. The 2023Q4 earnings call is rough read. Full of business jargon about writedowns and "goodwill" Hasbro put on paper an over $1 billion dollar loss. Once you cut through that, there are number of important take away, especially surrounding eOne and various licenses. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56234/hasbro-loses-1-06-billion-q4 https://investor.hasbro.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hasbro-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2023-financial https://pocketsense.com/calculate-percentage-decrease-revenue-year-year-4087.html https://finance.zacks.com/diluted-vs-undiluted-shares-7866.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hasbro-buy-studio-entertainment-one-204840431.html https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/goodwill-impairment.asp