In Memoriam - A Bloomburrow Retrospective on ITS Beginner Friendliness

[@fishcati5620]

Okay so I got into Magic _because_ of this set and I have to say, it was WAY more beginner friendly than the commander precon I bought in anticipation. Something i think a lot of people overlook that really helped me get into it was that all of the animals had a very clear theme that helped me internalize the identity of the different colors of mana, something that I had a hard time understanding beforehand. Like, conceptually I knew that blue is good at control and that black likes to play with the graveyard, but I didn't really know what that _meant_ gameplay-wise until I started reading my rat cards and building my Vren deck. I think the themes are communicated well with the art too. There was a lot of: "Oh, all the otters are casting spells, red/blue seems like a spellslinger archetype" "all the mice, rabbits and birds I've seen are depicted in groups, I wonder if there's anything to that?" "Raccoons are scrappy and resourceful. I now intuitively understand this color combination." That stuff, along with the deck building advice I got in the draft box caused everything to click together as to _why_ I would want to build in any given color, rather than just like, the vibes.

[@RedBobcatGames]

This is fantastic feedback. I had it in my mind that Bloomburrow seemed beginner friendly, but was totally taking my understanding of the colour pie for granted. Thanks for sharing!

[@Demonskunk]

Same here. I built a bat deck and everything felt very logical and thematic. Looking at older sets it's not quite as clear to me in them.

[@RedBobcatGames]

That's why I always appriciate that little card include in sets that explains what the archetypes are and how to build around them. I've been playing a long time and that's still something I find useful going into a new set

[@amamam95]

​@@RedBobcatGamesi'm a seasoned limited player, placed first in the bloomburrow pre release. But the third place out of 18 players was taken by a 14 y.o. kid who was playing magic in a store for the first time. He basically opened the ral planeswalker and built an otter deck because it was on theme (he liked otters). He built a very sinergistic limited deck just because they were the same cute creature, i thought it was design genius by WoTC

[@RedBobcatGames]

@amamam95 That's awesome to hear. Stories like that make me appriciate Bloomburrow even more

[@Timbobs]

I’m glad I got to play bloomburrow for 2 full games before it was over!

[@RedBobcatGames]

That's more than most honestly!

[@Rain_lights]

my lgs had one draft of it lol

[@RedBobcatGames]

Is that because of stock do you think? Or because the marketing for Duskmourn has already robbed people's excitement for playing Bloomburrow?

[@helix7]

@@RedBobcatGamesMy lgs was unable to draft bloomburrow the last two fnms because of supply issues.

[@marcoottina654]

​@@RedBobcatGames the latter BUT WHAIT _there's already Fondation over the horizon!_ so forget about Bloomburrow ! ..... _did somebody said ...._ *HORIZON?*

[@MagicPaul-l2u]

I’ve really enjoyed playing Bloomburrow. Really do wish they wouldn’t move on so quickly.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Me too. I miss blocks, if only for the fact we got to stick with one plane, and enjoy the mechanics and narrative for longer

[@MagicPaul-l2u]

@@RedBobcatGames I’d even be happy with a two set block, if three set blocks are too much for today’s stunted concentrations.

[@Cassapphic]

Its such a shame duskmorn got pushed forwards to make room for foundations because a set like foundations existing is important for the game I would say, but it had the knock on effect of stomping on bloomburrow's space, wish we could've stayed here for one more set at least.

[@user-to9ge8ii9n]

​@@MagicPaul-l2uUnsure if I'd blame stunted concentrations or flailing capitalist greed spasms.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah, for me it's the "constant growth each quarter" attitude that I'd blame

[@diabeticmonkey]

I wish we could settle on a plane for at least two sets. Ditching the block system was such a bad idea.

[@yurisei6732]

This is what happens when you use "cannot be blocked" too often.

[@RedBobcatGames]

@yurisei6732 Wayyooo! Okay, yeah that was a solid joke. I've not heard that before and I liked it. Well done!

[@RedBobcatGames]

@diabeticmonkey I agree. Though I think back to our last trip to Innistrad, and I'd like to add that I don't just want 2 sets, but I want them to draft well together and actually have a well written story too

[@jamesnewport4752]

I'd like three standard sets plus foundations each year. The standard sets in the same plane. Even making the sets slightly larger to give more meta deck styles. I have zero connection to any set before we're onto the next. Even murders would've been cool if we could've stayed for a few sets. I liked the disguise mechanic and suspect but moved to the next thang too quickly. Those mechanics also weren't utilized well, more cards using them would've helped

[@SeisTavanel]

Absolutely! It would’ve so cool if Wizards went from MKM to a one based around the guilds’ espionage/heists. Both disguise and suspect would be perfect fits for it. Plus we would probably have seen some sneaky Rakdos spies and how Selesnya deal with double agents/traitors.

[@tarkus1113]

This set…..is quite possibly the best set in ages. And I’m being genuine when I say this. I absolutely despise WOTC rushed it in favor of 1980’s horror movies. This set felt like fresh air with a hint of originality, a bit of light hearted adventure. Now I know it has a Redwall influence. To me this was Magic’s own version of Middle Earth. I wish we continued to this setting. Maybe another set. But this…..this was a fun entry and possibly my favorite set of the year.

[@RedBobcatGames]

This is why I wish they'd bring back 3 set blocks. Give us time to actually enjoy a setting

[@tarkus1113]

And it’s hilarious that they made Standard a three year format. I say it’s fair game to bring back blocks in the process.

[@RedBobcatGames]

100%. Honestly, so many of their choices with standard feels like them trying to adjust to the number of sets they're pumping out. It's mad

[@filetXoXghoti]

I’ve “read” both the Bloomburrow & Duskmourn stories via the audio version that WotC’s been posting (which I highly recommend) and I enjoyed them both. As far as Ral being in Bloomburrow, he hardly takes over the story, but joins up with Mabel and pals to provide outsider context and amusing awkwardness.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay, that's good to know. I'm very much in the "Once bitten, twice shy" stage with Magic's narrative lately. And having flash backs to the Planeswalker Crossover Wedding Crashers on Innistrad...

[@guard13007]

How do I find the audio version?

[@KraZ7144]

@@guard13007 it's either on the magic the gathering youtube channel, or on spotify under the magic story podcast

[@terthna7186]

Meanwhile, while I kinda liked Bloomburrow's story (it's the best any Magic set has had in a while, but ultimately mediocre overall), Duskmourn's was infuriatingly bad.

[@RedBobcatGames]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kImsYXqohcqrbdU

[@loganusher591]

Bloom burrow was my first pre release and I loved it! Each of the color pairs being a creature type made it very easy to figure out what kind of deck to build based on what animal you had the most of/jived with best! It's not my first set, but since starting with commander around the time of the new Eldraine set, this was the first limited environment I had any interest in!

[@RedBobcatGames]

Prerelease is by far and away I think the best format outside of kitchen table. If I'm going to spend money on a set, it will almost always be a prerelease first

[@villageflippinidiot]

Interesting, it seems like a lot of people started commander when I did, with the new wilds of eldraine set.

[@dendostar5436]

Thank you, Mr. Hands.

[@RedBobcatGames]

No mistakes from him this time I think. Which makes a change!

[@parisulki729]

I see what you did there...

[@certanmike]

I hate art cards and this set needs so many tokens yet you don't get near enough

[@RedBobcatGames]

I don't hate art cards, but i do hate that they're included in play boosters. Especially as they reduced the number of playable cards down from Draft Boosters. And judging by the price for a complete set on the secondary market, it seems most people aren't keen on them either

[@deadPan-c]

skill issue

[@garethhughes4437]

@@deadPan-c What is the point in this comment? What's a skill issue? Not pulling enough tokens?

[@deadPan-c]

​@@garethhughes4437skill issue

[@deadPan-c]

@@garethhughes4437 skill issue

[@yurisei6732]

I think bloomburrow is very beginner-friendly, caveats being within its slim aesthetic niche and as a standalone set. The mechanics aren't, the mechanics are unfriendly enough that I as an experienced player can't be bothered caring about them, but Bloomburrow does something vitally important for new players - it gives them a reason to emotionally invest in the cards. That's why half the people you meet these days started playing magic when Return to Ravnica was in standard - Ravnica invites you to identify yourself with one of its guilds and play the game not just as "an MTG player", but as someone who plays that faction, and once a player is viewing the game in that way, they're hooked for life. Bloomburrow I assume does the same thing for people who are into animals - it attaches a distinct animal type to each colour pair and then tells you you want to play a 2-colour deck, so your UR deck isn't just "a UR deck" or "a Prowess deck" as it often would be, it's "an Otter deck"; a deck defined by its character before its mechanics or its colours. That makes people more willing to spend time thinking about wordy cards and unintuitive mechanics. If Bloomburrow had been a 3 set block, I think it would have gone down in history as at least as good as War of the Spark block simply for having strong faction identity. Although I would also have non-stop complained about going an entire year with no aesthetically interesting cards lol.

[@RedBobcatGames]

You make a really good point. I actually think that's why Innistrad is what got me into the game. I just really think Vampires and Werewolves are cool and seeing them got me invested

[@Metal_Maoist]

I recommend you do give the Bloomburrow story another shot, it's pretty decent. Ral basically just ends up helping out with the main quest instead of derailing the story in any significant way, Jace doesn't even show up

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay! Okay, that's actually really good to know. I can't promise I'll revisit as we've apparently already moved on, but knowing Jace isn't there and it's actually a Bloomburrow story has been the thing to tempt me to go back the most so far

[@tomhowell8398]

In case anybody cares, Ral does stick around for the rest of the story, but he gets dragged into the quest of the Bloomburrow characters, much to his frustration. He learns to treat the animals with respect and earns their respect in kind. In the end he gets a vague prophecy about how Jace will "bring the end" for his trouble, which gives him enough information to have some hope of working out where he's going. He completely misses him on Bloomburrow because he's too busy doing productive and interesting things, in spite of himself.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay, that's something then. I may have to revisit it afterall

[@tomhowell8398]

@@RedBobcatGames Honestly he could have been replaced with a cranky otter from bloomburrow and it would have all worked the same. I think they just wanted at least one familiar character, a token nod to the wider continuity, and an outsider who could learn about bloomburrow with the reader.

[@Dimitar_Tsanev]

​@@tomhowell8398No, he connects Bloomburrow to the wider narrative. It could have only been another established character in his place.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I guess my issue is, do we need Bloomburrow to connect to the wider narrative? Like, look at All Will Be One and War of the Spark. Feels like we've given up a lot for these cross over stories and I'm not sure they're worth it honestly

[@Dimitar_Tsanev]

@@RedBobcatGames I'm a fan of the more episodic approach they practiced years ago because it lends itself more to an extended stay on a given plain. But given the fact that we're obviously not gonna stick around any plain longer than a couple of weeks I think a larger narrative is a way of, at least making sense of it all. Instead of a rapid fire of disconnected episodes we receive one (relatively) big story in small portions.

[@GunLut]

Rest in Peace Bloomburrow. You were loved, would have loved to get to know you better, but alas there was no time. The constant capitalistic hype circle requires for me to get hyped for Foundations as Duskmourn is basically on its way out. Can't wait for our 2 week time frame of Return to Bloomburrow in 2028 in between Commander Masters 4 and UB Hot Weels Set.

[@RedBobcatGames]

DO NOT SAY THE WORDS UNIVERSES BEYOND HOT WHEELS!!!! YOU WILL GIVE THEM IDEAS!!!

[@laurentrobitaille2204]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@RedBobcatGames I think there will be a Hot Wheels. The Hot Wheels: AcceleRacers films have many similarities with the multiplanar race set. It’s a bunch of people death racing between worlds.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I think you're probably right. And Hot Wheels love a cross over as well

[@rosebelmahjoubi1932]

oh the sinister monolith means fuck all, and Ral stays until the end being Pissy about existing in the story

[@RedBobcatGames]

Awesome. Okay, well that'll teach me for noticing the references then haha

[@Ultimatelordkai]

@@RedBobcatGames afaik the monolith is a reference to the joke that 15 1/1 Squirells can block & destroy Emrakul the Aeons Torn. How I choose to read it Emrakul was lured to Bloomburrow /w cryptoliths and was vanquished by the squirrels before being thrown back into the Blind Eternities and winding up on Zendikar. Details might not check out but I'm willing to bet it's more thought than it deserves 🤣🤣

[@Law-gnome]

I liked Bloomburrow quite a bit. I would love to spend more time here. I love tribal sets, I love cohesive sets, and I love fun sets. Hey, look at that! We have all of that! I'm not looking forward to Duskmourn. The setting is a mess. How are there ghostbusters and people with advanced labs making equipment in a place where the whole plane has been subsumed by this house for a long period of time? If it was something where the house came into place in a small part of the plane and people were purposefully entering it to explore, or if the story treated it more like the backrooms where you can fall into it from your normal life, then I would be more forgiving of it. But as it currently stands, I am not anticipating caring much about this set as a result of this mess.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I'm with you. Forget "Jump Scare". Maybe there should have been a card called "Jump the Shark"?

[@tomhowell8398]

@@RedBobcatGames They did "Fear of Missing Out" and "Unwanted Remake" so I assume they're saving it. Maybe for Death Race, or for an unannounced Universes Beyond: Happy Days?

[@RedBobcatGames]

Have they actually made a card named "Unwanted Remake"....? Dear Lord. And that's with an A. I'm not saying "Deer Lord" like a "Holy Cow" reference

[@ENCHANTMEN_]

What sucks is the art looks really nice... Except for the 80s shit

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah, that's actually the line for me. Take out the "sneakers" and all that nerf looking weaponry and I'd be totally into this set

[@michaelturner2806]

Through my job dragging me in to overtime and feeling unwell, I haven't managed to attend a single Bloomburrow draft at my FLGS. And now with the Duskmourn prerelease, I never will. At least I've still got a bunch of design space for commander decks to explore, which is interesting to me. Bats, lizards, and of course bunnies, all begging for me to build them.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I am a big fan of bats. I wish I had a bit more time to enjoy them before being moved on. The kind of thing reinforces the notion that we shouldn't pay attention to the latest set and only focus on the cards we already have. Bizzare buisness choice

[@blue-eyesdepresseddragon3753]

Man, I haven't even managed ONE Bloomborrow game which is a shame. I will say though, on Duskmourn, I think the horror is distinct enough. Innistrad is explicitly Vampires and Werewolves, classical monsters older than anyone playing MtG, horror VIBES without being explicitly horror the Genre. Phyrexia is closer to that true horror, showing corruptions and alien domination. They're played straight as what they are - this is a plane of bloodsuckers and this is a plane of aliens. Duskmourn takes a more...campy approach. It's explicitly trying to be Horror /films./ Psychological horrors to be exact. Very SAW, Allen wake sort of vibes from it, while also having some slasher film tropes. ...but that then means this is just another pile onto the throne that Karlov and Thunder Junction sits of being a set not taken seriously, of being mostly a joke, of characters being in a situation instead of a real world.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Your last line summed up my exact thoughts as you were describing it. I honestly think all these meme references are there because only a single set doesn't give the world enough time to be fleshed out. If we went back to either longer gaps between releases, or 3 set blocks I think the world would have a little more staying power and slightly deeper flavour cards could be designed

[@cherry9787]

I'm still torn on Duskmourn. I hate the 80s aesthetic they're going for (possibly even making 80s technology "canon") but some of the horror stuff is nice.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I wish this whole set was just a Dead by Daylight secret lair honestly. And save the Demon House idea for a setting that doesn't have the 80's twist or movie references

[@cherry9787]

@@blue-eyesdepresseddragon3753 As someone who has played Dead by Daylight for 5 years with over 600 hours, that would be the bane of my existence lmfao. But yeah, all this nonsense should've been in that ghostbusters secret lair or something

[@RedBobcatGames]

Agreed

[@jokerlover300]

Weird thing I wondered is whether characters from Bloomburrow would turn into people if they went to different planes, like how Ral changed into an otter

[@RedBobcatGames]

I did a whole section on that in my Bloomburrow predictions video a ways back. I wonder that exact same thing too

[@christopherb501]

Given what we know of Bello and Flubs going off-plane, probably not.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Ral got scaled down to Otter size. Do the animals from BB scale up when they leave, or remain animal size?

[@yurisei6732]

Same as Segovian Angel physics I assume, the transformation is one-way.

[@tomhowell8398]

They canonically stay the same. Some of the raccoons are omenpath travelers and we have art of that in their commander deck.

[@triggerman7]

I haven't bought any Bloomburrow yet, but I'd love for them to actually revisit a new plane for once, and this once actually seems to have legs - there's so much you can do with anthropomorphic animals!

[@triggerman7]

Also, I'm very excited to see what the first Red Bobcat Halloween looks like...

[@RedBobcatGames]

Oh deer lord. I hadn't even considered that. Depressing I imagine, and like Christmas something it won't occur to me to plan for till the week it's happening

[@GrimSoulBanisher]

Once Duskmourn releases, i will continue to buy Bloomburrow. Duskmourn is wildly inconsistent in tone. Bloomburrow is the only standard set this year to maintain the identity of Magic.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah, I agree totally. Even with it being animals, it's an actual fantasty setting that isn't wrapped up in multiversal nonsense

[@Cookiedive]

I like all the Red Bobcat's videos

[@RedBobcatGames]

Thank you!

[@tedpengu1n]

Magic needs to slow down in terms of releases. 1 a month is not sustainable and you can see the creep extra products into sets as well. The commander set was only 2 decks and a couple of extra cards a year ago but now its a full on realease with 4 decks each time. I like commander but the amount if deck i bought from them as they have cool ideas and concepts is backing up. I bought all the dr who decks and have not played any of them, the faerie deck and not played it, the merfolk deck and not played it, the gonti deck which i have played once and the offspring deck which i have not played. Im looking at the simic one in duskmorn but i just think i have bought loads and not played them why is this deck different? I think maybe doing 4 standard sets a year with smaller commander products associated with them (i like they are giving the new mechanics some legs to stand on in commander as otherwise they can be forgotten and never used again), 1 reprint set ( like a masters or foundations [i know there are some new cards but it is about helping new players so it should have reprints]), 1 wildcard set designed for experienced players (an MH, battlebond, conspiracy etc.) And 1 universes beyond (as its not going anywhere and is designed to literally grab new target audiences) would be a better collection of products than all the overstuffed content they are doing

[@RedBobcatGames]

AND with fewer sets, it would mean each set we did buy would feel more special. Meaning we'd be more likely to buy the next one. As you say, currently players are being put off from buying the new sets because they haven't had time to play the old ones yet. It's mad!

[@awrixeldohoda2857]

To be honest, Bloomburrow's story was alright, but it ended quite abruptly. I think the last episode should've been at least two with all that happened there, but I would recommend you to finish reading it, at least I enjoyed it. And also, I strongly recommend both Duskmourn's main story and side story (Children of the Carnival) that I think were very well written.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I've heard Duskmourn is good. My issue is I really dislike the aesthetic of the plane from the cards. But I also hear we have some Ikoria levels of disconnect between the cards and narrative again, so maybe I'll give it a chance (once I'm feeling a bit less burnt out by the constant releases)

[@laurentrobitaille2204]

@@RedBobcatGames The main difference is that Valgavoth, the big demon who controls the house is shown to be this very intimidating and powerful being on the cards, but in the main story he only appears at the end, only to kinda stand there menacingly and not do much. He even gets wounded by the emperor. However, I wouldn’t recommend reading the main story. The characters are flanderized for the sake of tropes. The side stories are better. Especially the one on the beasties’ origins.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Ugggh, okay. That all sounds kind of exhusting honestly, but if I work up the energy I will try

[@lukejohnson29]

I actually got into magic because of this set. I found that after I got the various mechanics explained once or twice, it wasn’t very difficult to understand. I’m just sad that it’s already old hat. I don’t have the want to get something new.

[@RedBobcatGames]

We used to get three sets in a row all themed around the one plane like Bloomburrow. I do miss those days

[@victormai5182]

I learned how much we seasoned players take for granted by teaching my family to play using this set. A lot of the triggers you called simple like “when this creature attacks” are still not simple to noobs. It is simple compared to how complex magic can be, but it just made me realize how complex magic is.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Oh yeah, 100%. It's why I highlighted on that one card even concepts like being "Tapped" for instance. It's a lot to take in for someone new

[@JimFaindel]

Magic narrative has its ups and downs. I've cared little for Kellan's antics through the multiverse, but Jace's and Vraska's recovery from phyresis was just masterful, on par with the Ixalan story that first made them into realized characters, and penned by the same author to boot!

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay, that I actually would be interested in. Was their recovery written about in Thunder Junction? I dropped off that stroy VERY quickly, but if it explains how they recovered I'd like to give it a read

[@JimFaindel]

​ @RedBobcatGames Yes, and you can easily skip the rest of the Thunder Junction story and jump straight there. It was a 2-parter epilogue called "Bring the End", written by Alison Luhrs.

[@RedBobcatGames]

THANK YOU! I shall check that out

[@TheInfamousCloaker]

As someone that did have this as their first set it did feel rather simple to get into, however I did have prior TCG experience from other games.

[@RedBobcatGames]

That's fair. Was it fun though? Are you likely to come back do you think?

[@TheInfamousCloaker]

@@RedBobcatGames Well, if me having played commander regularly up to 3 times a week for the last month is anything to go by as well as already having secured a spot for my local game stores pre-release for duskmourn. Then I would say yes.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Haha! Well then welcome! I hope you enjoy

[@kawaiiLorenz1995]

Forgotten buy singles would still be freaking expensive. The less than a dollar talents surged by 300%. And expect it to be more expensive later.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Oh boy, oof

[@redbulllizzard]

You can pull the gitrog monster as a special guest in play packs Bonus sheets...

[@DiabolicTutor_]

No you sadly can't pull The Gitrog Monster from Play Boosters, because it is not part of the Special Guests bonus sheet. You can only pull it from Collector Boosters, because it is part of the Imagine: Courageous Critters bonus sheet and it is labled as a Commander card, which are not to be found in Play Boosters to begin with. tl;dr: Play Boosters are dogshit

[@RedBobcatGames]

This confusion about what is and isn't included I honestly feel is by design. Every release they seem to change up what you can get and where, and rename the places you can get them. It's mad

[@tomhowell8398]

No, it's not a Special Guest, it's an "Imagine Courageous Critters" card. Believe it or not, they're like a second set of special guests, but they're considered part of Bloomburrow Commander and have its set symbol. Four of them are exclusive to the precons, but the rest, including The Gitrog Monster, are exclusive to collector boosters. And yes, I did have to look all this up.

[@redbulllizzard]

I was wrong. Ah well, too many things to keep up on

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah, exactly the intention I suspect

[@whiffleball3939]

Neon Dynasty 🤝 Bloomburrow Being visually stunning Sets that had really fun Draft and Standard* environments undercut in 2 months by less interesting sets.

[@RedBobcatGames]

It's a pattern it seems

[@diabeticmonkey]

Neon Dynasty got done the dirtiest. I was hoping they’d listen to fan outcry, but I was hopelessly wrong yet again.

[@RedBobcatGames]

It's not about the fans, it's about the money. Gotta push that product no matter what

[@cherry9787]

So far, both of those are within my top 5 favourite sets

[@paulharrison8152]

I got the Gitrog monster in a collector booster.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay, but that's good you can get them outside of the Commander decks I suppose. Still not sure if you can get on in a regular Play Booster though

[@paulharrison8152]

@@RedBobcatGames I don’t think you can because he’s a special guest and they only come in the collectors pack, like Liliana, Ral and the other plainswalkers.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Uggghhhhh, okay. Thank you

[@the_devils_jester]

One problem for beginners and people who like aesthetics: shortening enters the battlefield to enters

[@Crushanator1]

I feel like so many of these would be improved if it had camel case like keywords do. seeing enters is confusing but Enters is less so, at least for me

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yes. I sort of hinted at my thoughts about that in this video, but I've moaned about it a few times and didn't want to repeat myself here. But... ugh

[@bartoffer]

It was certainly more beginner-friendly than most sets of the last half-decade, in that it had a 2/2 lifelink-first-strike that didn't also draw cards, reanimate, scry 5, and do your taxes. However, I suspect that this was because they knew the aesthetic would sell, so they just spent less time on designs. Duskmourne looks wholly unappealing, both from its vapid and uninspired aesthetic and from an overabundance of overdesigned cards. Classes, which function logically and intuitively, were just a solid cycle that no strategy really built around. Rooms, which are crowded, clunky, and unappealing, are a core component of several color-pairs, suggesting that a lot more time was spent designing a much worse card subtype.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Hmmm, that'll be interesting to see in action then. Really not sure how I feel about rooms yet. Need to see them in play I think

[@foderis8777]

Move over, dead rodents! It's time for Duskmourn! But in actuality, it is quite sad Bloomburrow is no more, I actually grew a liking to it thanks to the story and FUCKING OTTER RAL.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Now imagine we still had the 3 block sturcture? Imagine this was only the beginning and we still had a middle and end to go. Man, I wish we could go back

[@foderis8777]

@@RedBobcatGames but then we'd still be in cowboy hats! This approach at least ensures that people who don't like a certain setting don't have to schlep through it, but it also means that those who enjoy those settings can do so for a much shorter time

[@somederp8915]

@@foderis8777 The issue is as we need more settings and we don't explore any one fully, we can not get attached to any setting. Look, people wouldn't have such a hateboner for Phyrexia if there wouldn't have been the whole 3 set Mirrodin Block to build it up and 3 set Scars of Mirrodin Block to corrupt it. Same with Ravnica, we got the Ravnica Block to get to know the plane and then Return to Ravinica to explore it deeper, meaning we got 6 sets of lore for each of those planes instead of 1 (and that was before War of the Spark for Ravnica and the new Phyrexia Block with MoM for Mirrodin).

[@foderis8777]

@@somederp8915 I've seen nary a hate for phyrexia, actually, besides the aftermath booster situation! But I wasn't here back when blocks were a thing so perhaps I can't comment on it fully.

[@somederp8915]

@@foderis8777 I mean narrative hate for the villains, not player hating the set. Sorry I am unclear with it.

[@Reluxthelegend]

The bloomburrow starter kit is also significantly more complicated in terms of cards than the starter kit 2023 while not being stronger.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Huh, I didn't consider the starter kits actually. That would have made for an interesting comparison video. I'll add that to my idea list

[@unfrogettable9495]

I had an interest in Magic for some time earlier this year and bloomburrow is why I bought paper for the first time. I just wish Bloomburrow was around longer, I really like it.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Me too. We used to get 3 expansions in a row themed around one setting. 1 large and 2 smaller sets designed to work with it. I miss those days

[@Lynxan]

I'll still be playing this set for a long while, it is just a wonderful set.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I do really love the setting. I want to build a Bats deck!

[@OtterVonBiscuit-g7v]

The cute critters were enough to get me interested in magic again after dabbling with it as a kid. I've been playing Arena the last week and while I had the thought of buying cards, I think I'm going to sink my time and money into making proxies and customizing cards.

[@RedBobcatGames]

That is a FANTASTIC idea. If you like that sort of thing, check out my last video where I did exactly that with custom X-men cards. Good luck!

[@DeWillpower]

9:00 yes, that "(blue color) impulse" card draw effect is very long to explain and doesn't have a keyword, yet XD maybe one day we'll have it, but for now we have to deal with that soup of words weird that you don't like overprotect, but like galewind moose, probably because the moose is a creature, a permanent that stays on the battlefield

[@RedBobcatGames]

True, but to my brain the fact it sticks around and I can see it makes it easier to remember. Plus, we may just be running into some bias here because I think moose are cool

[@animeentranced1130]

Im not a new player but a returning player of 12 ish years and this set has been a really enjoyable experience for me.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I like it too. It's got some old school magic vibes

[@thatmtgnerd]

*Spoiler incoming* as a gigantic magic lore nerd being somone who binges the brother war and weatherlight stories yearly , I'm actually optimistic for magics story which i havent been in years. Jace is actually a intresting chatacter again after they put him back his box once we left ixalan. His idea of *spoilers* Destroying the multiverse and then rebrithing it into somthing new after he saw how his mother healed his phyresis is looking cool. Like he actually seems like a morally gray complex villan whic magic has been lacking for like a decade.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay, so I totally skipped Thunder Junction. Is it there that Jace gets healed? Because I would be interested to read that

[@TheWrestlingNerd]

I had a wonderful time with Bloomburrow. Limited was a lovely environment and has actually sparked my interest in making a standard deck. I personally like the look of Duskmourn. The main antagonist has been luring people and opening omenpaths to get them here, which is why there's a smorgasbord of tech on a plane that has been consumed. But from a design perspective, it was made for someone like me who enjoys good horror references. I'm excited for what's coming next but still pessimistic about what is coming. Lovely video as always.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Why thank you very much. A pleasure to read your comment too. Thank you

[@ravenjoker254]

People say to vote with your wallet, and I took one look and Bloomburrow and took that seriously. This is definitely the magic set I spent the most money on ever, and the set I played the most of. I even played Standard recently, because I thought "hey, I have a bunch of squirrels, I can make a budget squirrel food deck!" Standard! In this day and age! Basically, Bloomburrow reinvigorated my interest in a lot of the game, and I'm thankful for it, even if the interest will likely not be as strong until Lorwyn, and even though it was so short. Thank goodness for little critters. Also as for the story, someone else mentioned it but it doesn't focus on Ral so much, he's rather tagging along and supporting Mabel and co.'s quest. Duskmourne though, I'm still trying to bite my way through that.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Lets hope the lesson WotC learn from these Bloomburrow sales is "Hey, people like it when we make a decent set with good world building" and not "We're doing nothing wrong! Lets keep making sets exactly as we are!" because Bloomburrow has been a shining light in a sea of Karlov Manors. And I will try to work up the energy to finish the Bloomburrow story. I suspect I'm more likely to do that than come anywhere near Duskmourn

[@annonlin7443]

As a non english native speaker player , gift card sometime so confuse me ... but Bloomburrow is more fun than i expect

[@RedBobcatGames]

Some of these mechanics do seem very wordy. I can understand how someone wouldn't find them easy to understand if English isn't their first language

[@HangerHangar]

Tribal is really fun for new players, you get your dudes on the board and your dudes do fun things in an organized and planned way. You also get hints for how your cards should be interacting. Even something like Ravnica will have each guild having sometimes three ways you can take them. ________ The narrative was fine, Ral pretty much shows up and gets to observe a tween-ager style cartoon of "be confident", "work together", and "morality shall win" style antics. Which makes sense given redwall/similar style writings it takes hints from.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I've seen that from some other comments. I may need to go back and finish the story then if Ral doesn't rail road it completely into yet another Gatewatch story

[@marcoottina654]

8:00 or so Next year: "Wait, this card is a Swiss knife powered by a nuclear reactor, doing cafè Java _with that monkey included_ if you start a Kickstart campaign for a new chemotherapy, otherwise the monkey will be created the next turn anyway. Ah for ONE white mana? Who would pay such a high cost? Having to use this artifact is not enough? Nah, that's not enough power, I skip it.".

[@RedBobcatGames]

The power creep is real

[@kozad86]

My favorite red cat!

[@RedBobcatGames]

My favourite comment!

[@ProfDragonite]

It's just nice to see WotC actually CARE about worldbuilding without falling into stereotypes. Even Duskmourne managed to not strangle itself out of the gate, despite the whole "modern horror" stigma it's stuck with. Now we just have to see about that "Space Opera" set...

[@RedBobcatGames]

And death race, and cow boys, and detetcives, and a wedding, and halloween and on and on. I too am sick of it

[@RedBobcatGames]

Oh, but I fully agree. I really liked Bloomburrow's world building. I just wish they gave us more time to enjoy it before throwing Duckmourn spoilers at us

[@ProfDragonite]

@@RedBobcatGames Too true. Slowing the pace down is the easiest thing they could do, but it would be such an improvement to the release schedule, burnout, etc.

[@YeorickGaming]

My draft group has done about 6 or 7 bloomburrow drafts and I'm going to miss it.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Wow, I'm jealous! My group can barely get through 1!

[@YeorickGaming]

@@RedBobcatGames I think the consistency has a lot to do with it, 8 people per box and we do it every Sunday morning at the same local pub. There's usually the same 5 every week with the 3 other spots being filled by folks dropping in and out

[@RedBobcatGames]

You do it in a pub too? Now I'm extra jelous, that sounds fun as hell

[@onlyonfox]

I don't think wotc wants vorthos to exist anymore, we are kind of a problem to the objective of "just consume more and more and never ask questions". That seems to be why the story is worse and worse with each passing set, it's always a nothing story with nothing characters, and when a old character shows up they are completely changed and I don't even recognize them anymore. Vorthos and "mega profitable product mtg" don't go well together it seems.

[@RedBobcatGames]

The Netflix show's been cancelled too. It's all Universes Beyond or meme sets apparently now. Yay?

[@monsterhunter834]

I couldn't even draft it that much because my lgs couldnt get their hands on booster boxes. It was a great set to get back into magic.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Well that's proof it's popular at least. Or, that WotC's distribution is bad maybe?

[@monsterhunter834]

@@RedBobcatGames Every FNM for bloomburrow was packed and had a lot of people new to magic. The store manager was complaining that they were struggling to get any booster boxes. I guess its a bit of both.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Eesssh, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign for the company honestly. Either way, not great for the people who wanted to play but can't

[@StudioRevoct]

MTG is just turning into Cardfight Vanguard in its release schedule, we're gonna get monthly boosters that don't sell clogging up shelves.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Well apparently they've cut the print run of Duskmourn short. So this is good for them in two ways because first it avoids that, and secondly it makes the packs rarer and so more expensive for resellers. Yay?

[@partyballoonsnorwich2122]

Another great video Redbobcat! Looking forward to next week already! 👍🏻

[@RedBobcatGames]

Haha, okay. Thank you!

[@Demonskunk]

I think Bloomburrow was designed to cater to be players in that the gift mechanic encourages friendly play which makes it easier for established players to bring their non-playing friends in and have a good time. Discounting that the otters are building unstable meth labs, I think the less adversarial tone of the deck makes it more approachable for casual players. At least that's how I feel as a returning player that quit because of sweaty win decks.

[@RedBobcatGames]

That's pretty much my thoughts too. But then I looked at how wordy some of the cards could be and... well then I made this video exploring that haha

[@JervisGermane]

I never even looked at the cards, but I'll listen to you talk about them.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Now THAT'S the biggest compliment I've been paid in a long time. Thank you!

[@hircenedaelen]

Sinister Monolith receives no reference in the story

[@RedBobcatGames]

The noise I made to reading this comment can best be described as "Bwahaha". The sort of laugh that says "I thought as much". Thank you for letting me know

[@aegisofhonor]

I'll be happy to move on from Bloomburrow; it's easily the most chaotic and difficult to consistently draft set I have ever had to draft. I have had the most number of 0-3 drafts on Arena of any draft set ever and only 2 5+ win drafts period of the set. I am pretty much done with the set and won't draft it ever again. The problem is how powerful the synergies are and how easy it is for opponents to set up a synergy that blows you out or they get a super strong top deck or just random bad luck at the wrong time screws you. I can't count the number of games the opponent was able to set up an almost unbeatable synergy while I fail to get hardly any strong synergy going; it's very frustrating for sure. Easily some of the worst win percentage in draft I have ever had to deal with. It feels like it should be a fun set, but when I RELY on those wins to get me the gems needed to push on, when I don't win hardly any games in draft, it really hurts.

[@SwedeRacerDC]

It amazes me that Wizards is starting to tell us what they're up to with tongue-in-cheek references and puns. Cache Grab is an actual card in the set, which much of their recent releases have been... Well not cache, but cash grabs. And if you're suffering from FOMO by continually buying into everything, well don't worry...Fear of Missing Out will be a card you can own in Duskmourne. Also, you referenced the Gitrog, who I believe is on the bonus sheet, so he's in the set in a way and that is the new art to make him fit into Bloomburrow. Finally... If Planeswalkers like Jace and Ral become animals in this plane, do a lot of these animals become other beings like elves, humans and goblins outside of Bloomburrow? Can they leave? Will it ever even matter or be revisited?

[@RedBobcatGames]

I had a lot of those same questions in the Bloomburrow predictions video I linked in this one. From what I'm hearing, when they leave they remain animals BUT they're scaled up to be human size. Which is kind of the worse combo in my opinion

[@SwedeRacerDC]

@@RedBobcatGames yeah, I kinda agree. I think they at least have to scale up to have their power and toughness match up, but then it presents a bit of a problem. Why did Jace and Ral transform and not just scale down? Did the Gitrog actually scale down since it's on the bonus sheet? It really just seems like fan service to do it one way and have a different rule going the other way. I did see that video, but your review brings these questions back to the surface and Wizards just doesn't have satisfactory answers for me these days. Keep up the good work!

[@Fufisik]

Well, as a begginer friendly set, bloomborrow kinda does it's job thematically, from the design perspective. I was always into tribal archetypes myself, and I think that is a good way to show new players what colours do and what's the dual colors combinations are about. Frogs jump, raccoons collect scrap, and so on. Like color combination? Ok, look for that creature type and try to build your own deck. But as a first set - hell no. I was just introducing my new friend to magic - and there is SO much going on there for her. Beginners clearly need a set with 1-2 sentence worded common cards, or they just getting lost in that word soup. I don't miss those M# standard sets, cause they were just boring and I wasn't invested in, but THEY were the best stop to any new player to get in, defore autumn sets release.

[@RedBobcatGames]

To be honest that's sort of why I liked the core sets. They were toned down a bit. This gives me hope for Foundations, but I guess time will tell

[@Ryan98391]

I'm still having fun with Flubs the Fool.

[@RedBobcatGames]

VERY strong, and not overly complicated. He's a good card!

[@Wiggins-]

honestly a little sad Red didn't make a deck this time considering how absolutely stacked his packs were for R/W Mice lol That would've been an insane pool for prerelease

[@RedBobcatGames]

Do you know what I didn't even register it, but yeah actually these were pretty decent pulls

[@FlosBlog]

Me and my gf started playing because of the beginners decks for 18€ they had with bloomburrow cards. I had a tcg hiatus of 16 years and she never played any. So, yeah, I think it’s pretty approachable.

[@RedBobcatGames]

That's awesome to hear. Did you both enjoy it?

[@FlosBlog]

@@RedBobcatGames Yes very much! We played dozens of games over the last two weeks. We are hooked.

[@gurumanlives4231]

I am a new player that just last week started playing Magic seriously after years of my friends trying to get me into it. Have exclusivley played on Arena so far, and started off by just putting as many Frogs as possible into a deck. A week later and I now have a really competent Commander/Brawl Bristly Bill deck that I have been having a lot of fun with. These last few days I have been looking into local gamestores and figuring out the best way of getting into tabletop Magic. I really want to get one of the Bloomburrow Commander or Bloomburrow Bundle boxes, but all the stores are already pushing Duskmourn and are mostly sold out of the relevant Bloomburrow stuff, and I honestly just don't care for Duskmourn at all. I think I have realised that I am into Bloomburrow, not really into Magic as a whole (so far), I just hope that future sets after Duskmourn will be of greater interest to me, but in the meantime I think I will stick to trying to get my hands on ANY Bloomburrow pack and optimising my Arena decks.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Local game stores are really the place to go honestly, which is why I'm so disappointed to see Duskmourn replace it's focus so quickly. Hence the video!

[@jayhall1234]

Probably one of my favorite sets so far, doing to be building many decks from it even into Duskmourn's release. Main thing me and my play group took issue with is the change in pull rates for rares in packs. Still didnt stop me buying a bunch, and yeah I did pull a gitrog from one of my many packs. And I really did enjoy the story, I just wish they would commit to doing more world building and expand on what feels to be a solid foundation for more narratives

[@RedBobcatGames]

Completely agree. Especially about the world building, and you know I'd almost forgotten they'd changed the rates too. These are just worse Draft Boosters now

[@Cassapphic]

As a fairly new player I agree a lot with the two key points made here abut things that would give trouble: 1) Overly wordy text. I've played card games most of my life, most of that being yugioh, I can read modern yugioh cards super easily and know what they do, but something about the overly verbose language that mtg uses for its effect text took a lot of getting used to and I often have to reread cards to understand them. I remember when I started on arena and found some karlov manor card that summoned 3 1/1 tokens that were different types and you picked one that was the murderer that got some bonus ability and it was worded so badly I took like 5 readings to understand it, maybe my perspective is baised as the most similar game I;ve played before is hearthstone where a lot of the dnd style exact rules clarifications aren't needed because the game takes care of that on the back end. 2) Magic's obsession with generating way too many tokens. This is a physical game I should not have to be prepping a second deck box full of tokens I might generate and have to sort through them every other card I play because the designers couldn't think of anything mroe interesting than to keep generating more tokens again, this sin't hearthstone I have to prepare and visually parse a board of 30 tokens in a physical space its a nightmare both in preparing for game night and actually in play, i want to spend money on a functional deck and then play the game, not aquiring a million tokens or putting pieces of paper in my sleeved spare pokemon energy cards (genuinely what I did for my first deck to make all the tokens I needed) it's a huge problem I think the game has in how many tokens it expects you to just, have on handa t any moment.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I honestly think this overreliance on different types of tokens is to disguise that the designers are running out of ways to introduce brand new mechanical ideas. So rather than have a card do a new thing, have it make another card that does an old thing which maybe makes it feel like a new thing. And I think in turn this is a result of how fast paced their releases are. If they slowed down and spent more time on development I think the whole game would be better off as a whole

[@Stuffiestriver]

I wish they still did three block sets. I think it hurts the storytelling too with the story for duskmourn just ending and who knows if and when we'll get a conclusion and if I'll even care when we do or remember anything of what happened after the story for the next ten sets they have to release before years end

[@rwed13]

lgs had bloomburrow draft 2 weeks ago, 3 players showed up

[@RedBobcatGames]

Ooof. I assume that's not normal numbers? Do you think it's because people didn't enjoy Bloomburrow, or because they're already being asked to get excited for the next product so the current one seems less interesting?

[@oliveJuice223]

This was my first magic set and the hardest part for me was the gift macanic and remembering what flash hast trampoline vigalice etc did

[@RedBobcatGames]

That's exactly what I was expecting. And reading through the cards there seems to be SO MANY of them that all have extra key words crammed in. Very wordy mechanics. But, was it fun for you at least?

[@oliveJuice223]

@RedBobcatGames Even though it was confusing I'm reeling enjoying magic now and I want to make/bye an offspring deck. amazing vid btw

[@robotradar]

New player here. This is the only set that seemed accessible and within theme of Magic that I know of. It all is clear and expansive wothout spiraling into niche mechanics or stories. It feels very contained an rich and I already hate that this will be an afterthought. Looking at the schedule of future sets I would say: This is it for me.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah that's totally understandable. It used to be that we'd get 3 sets in a row, with slightly different mechanics in each set but all designed to play together and themed around the one place. I think this new one and done model will lose of lot of players that would have returned otherwise

[@CountNikiko]

bring back blocks. I was on vacation when this set came out and I already have to play with shitty duskmourn. I wanted more time with my cute animal friends.

[@RedBobcatGames]

That's pretty much becoming the motto of this channel. I should put "Bring back blocks" on a t-shirt honestly

[@juliangabriel]

I wish Magic had more horror, honestly - but that's because they haven't done it right since Scars block. The most recent Phyrexian stuff was godawful, Innistrad has been wrung dry of any bite or real interesting factors (it was already running dry by the time Eldritch Moon came out), and Duskmourn... well, can we all agree that Duskmourn is the obvious product of executive meddling? It has a clear, concise, beautiful core conceit that's original and cool. And then it has the 80s horror movie references. They don't make sense and don't jive with the written lore, which makes me think someone who has no concern for originality, or, well, good writing insisted it was included (one of the creatives also said something that got people wondering about that). Modern WotC literally cannot do a single product right without horribly maiming it in one way or another. Bloomburrow was way too derivative of Redwall for me to care about it at all. Even if it was original, I wouldn't be all that into its tone and concept, but I am *sick* of Magic doing its own take on specific works or popular culture. It's done to death by now. I keep wanting to get back into Magic (though I'm never giving WotC another cent), but I can't find the set to do it with because I just... can't stand any of them.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I think it may be a factor of trying to please too many different types of people. Not everyone likes horror, so they make it lighter but that kind of ruins it

[@gamerx112]

I was wondering what was going on hopping back into magic.

[@RedBobcatGames]

It's crazy times honestly

[@trappychan]

Bloomburrow is the best standard magic set since original Ravnica. Hands down, not even close. Everything from mechanics, to balance, to flavour, to appeal to people to START playing Magic... Wizards cutting it down so early is a huge mistake. It got so many new players excited about Magic at the LGSs near me. It brought *so much* to Standard as a competitive format. The draft experience was welcoming from experienced to brand new players. The colours were so closely balanced for limited. The commander precons and special cards are not only FUN but powerful and flavourful! The special promos on play and specially collector's boosters are incredible. What a homerun from WotC. Duskmourn looks boring as hell, oh well.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Shame they changed the pulls rates of rares and mythics in the packs honestly because otherwise Bloomburrow could have been one of the greatest sets of all times

[@Relinquished001]

i think that its redundant that they put the mechanic (gift) then reminder text that spans 4 lines after it. Like just have an ad card that explains the mechanics in the pack instead.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I dunno. I agree, but I feel like having a seperate reference card like "Tempted by the ring" comes with a whole bunch of its own problems

[@kroek]

Back when I was young all we had was ABC-soups, not word-soups!

[@RedBobcatGames]

Very good

[@MasouShizuka]

I got in proper during Neon Dynasty and it's still why I even have any interest in playing the game since then. Till this day I still have my 4 EDH decks, (2 precons, vehicles and modified, Satoru ninjas and my pet deck boros OHKO equip/enchantment deck). Might be underpowered to other newer sets since but still fun flavor wise.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I'm exactly the same. Basically every deck I play in any format reuses old Innistrad cards because I'm such a nerd for them. Apart from my kitchen table Eldrazi deck which I just run to upset people I suppose

[@Crushanator1]

Bloomburrow was a set I returned to do Limited from dabbling in Commander and its great. I ended up doing 5 prereleases that weekend bc I somehow miraculously had nothing going on that weekend, and the Friday one was so fun. I do wish it was a *bit* more beginner and kid friendly mechanically. Ive been brewing up options for Jumpstarts and a 360 Cube that can work as a Wizard's Tower or Party Box. Unfortunately because its focused on shared Kindred mechanics its tricky to get working for single color Jumpstarts (mechanically a mess) and single Kindred themes (even split of 2 colors, which makes shared cards and an inability to easily pull apart) But its a bummer so many of the cards have so much rules text and so little flavor text, bc whats there is great.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I am the biggest fan of flavour text on a card. It's where the majority of the world building comes from, and so to see it lost to overly wordy mechanics I agree is a shame

[@sethhat9620]

I really don't get why they didn't wait a month and release duskmourn around halloween. It would have been thematically perfect for duskmourn also would have given bloomburrow an extra month of breathing room. Like... its a horror themed set... halloween is a month away... come on.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I think that was the plan but then they announced Foundations and so had to push Duskmourn forward. It's great how they're willing to lessen the release of two different products because they're so desperate to put out a third. This game is doing just fine...

[@LordRydag]

I wanted to like bloomburrow but getting raped by mice every game, with basically every other animal deck being useless really ruined it.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Strong choice of words but i understand. I honestly haven't had the time to actually play enough to get an idea of the architypes. I think I've only actually seen like 5/6 of them drafted. This release cycle is mad

[@DrepaChorusTCG]

over all ready? all i did was 1 draft. but it was fun for my first magic set

[@RedBobcatGames]

They normally stick around longer, I really hope this pace isn't the new norm. How was it for your first set? And would you consider yourself a beginner?

[@DrepaChorusTCG]

@@RedBobcatGames I liked it, especially the lore tidbits with the elemental animals. Wanted to do a few more drafts but didn't have the time. I would consider myself a beginner, even though these weren't my first magic cards, as I never got the chance to play the game before due to no one at school playing it in 2015.

[@admiralcasperr]

1:25 Have you seen the new cotton & candy phyrexians from March of the Machine? You can't ruin the horror of something if its already ruined innit.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Like weirdly on the flip side, I thought the literal sweet monsters from Eldraine were actually on point for horror though

[@joshuaordonez1113]

The Gitrog Monster is actually a Collector Booster exclusive, not a Precon exclusive

[@RedBobcatGames]

See, but I've had a lot of people tell me it's in Play Boosters too. So I have no idea

[@joshuaordonez1113]

@@RedBobcatGames HONESTLY. It's all confusing 😕

[@anexistanthuman2435]

Before I watched the video: I really didn't enjoy Bloomburrow very much. Creature tribal themes don't really scratch my Johnny sensibilities and the story was fairly dull, with a somewhat disney-like twist villain at the end. I drafted it a couple times on Arena and left feeling disappointed both times. I had much more fun with Wilds of Eldraine, Phyrexia, and Dominaria United (The last three sets I drafted) than Bloomburrow.

[@RedBobcatGames]

I can't imagine watching the video changed your thoughts honestly

[@anexistanthuman2435]

@@RedBobcatGames It did not, I appreciate the content though.

[@RedBobcatGames]

No worries!

[@halcyonacoustic7366]

I got a full frame mythic in a BB play booster. I opened 11 packs btw.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Oh okay, so it is doable then. Good to know

[@clothandleather2838]

Here's my optomist attack. Solid Gear style. If there is just a short time period where a set is out, just because the official time period is over. Doesn't mean you need to move onto the next. "Ah man. They released this really nice truck. But thry also released this other truck 2 months ago. Guess the that one is just out dated." 😐

[@RedBobcatGames]

Ahh, sure. I completely agree. But Magic isn't a solo game, and (especially as you get older) it's hard to organise a night to get people to play. What helps is if people are interested and excited for the set. And that becomes harder if the marketing and advertising has already moved on and is telling people to get hyped for the next set. I want some hype for the current set for once, so people are actually interested and want to play it

[@enricomassignani]

Thanks for those concept arts at the beginning. I already hate those sets.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah, that was pretty much my take away too

[@thembosupremepizza1827]

bloomburrow complaints, i brought my friend to play draft for the first time 1 he didnt like how there was only one planeswalker but "too much counterplay" (in the removal spells) 2 the story was over too quick in my opinion, i was expecting a second set in the block called calamity of cinders and a third one called into the flood maw, not to go into spoilers but the ending with helga and glarb made no sense and had no effort put into it 3 the draft experience was very lopsided, blue felt near unplayable in limited, but i did like how it tried to handle it 4 the calamity beasts are too weak!!!

[@RedBobcatGames]

This is all the sort of feedback I was interested in honestly. But like I say the conversation seems to have already moved on to Duskmourn and Foundations so interesting to hear people's thoughts on the actual current set. Thank you for sharing

[@laurentrobitaille2204]

The in-game version of the Calamity Beasts ranges from meh to ridiculous. However if you want to talk about them in the story, I guess it’s true we don’t really get to see their power besides Maha and the fish. That’s why I think having a second set “Beyond the Valley” could have given us an idea of how powerful the calamities truly are.

[@theunease5541]

I listened to the audio for the main duskmourn story and it is definitely worth a read/listen imo. The worldbuilding of duskmourn is really great and the writing was solid and engaging. It wasnt perfect, but I liked it and I think it is setting things in the right direction. I think my biggest problem with the story is that it doesn't match up with the cards as well as it can/should, which kinda lead to some slight mischaracterizations, but for once this wasn't a deal breaker because the story itself was actually good otherwise.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Ahh, so it's another Ikoria situation. Interesting. See, I'm not at all interested in Duskmourns story because I really dislike the way it's dipicted on the cards. Given time I might come around though

[@chris92S]

I got into MTG because of Bloomburrow. I wouldve liked more time before the next set release i love that whole setting. Even Duskmore sounds cool but i dont think im really interested in anything after Duskmore moves on.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Totally fair. I think this constant bombardment of new products makes each of them feel less special personally too

[@nicolastracz3793]

13:54 Not at all actually. Neither cryptoliths nor Nahiri are mentioned on the story. And about Ral: the story focuses more on the new characters and plane, rather than him and his quest to "kick Jace's ass"; so to speak. He deals with the Hawk-dragon the first time, then a bunch of lackeys and then leaves the plane.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah a few other comments have mentioned that. I may need to go back and finish it if that's the case. But no cryptolith clues at all? Like, not even any hints? What's that card about then?

[@nicolastracz3793]

@@RedBobcatGames I'm not sure either. I thought it would be a reference to Eldrazi, but no. There's only it's flavour text to go by. Which may indicate that there's a killer cult on Blumburrow..??? 🤷‍♂️

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay, well that would be cool honestly

[@nicolastracz3793]

@@RedBobcatGames Speaking of killing cults: do you have a video with your impressions for "Duskmourn"? I think I saw one of yours on the subject a couple weeks ago. But I was wondering if you have an updated version, now that the set is coming out.😁

[@RedBobcatGames]

Currently my opinions haven't changed much, I'm waiting to actually get my hands on some of the cards before I reevaluate. I'm planning on doing a video looking at some cards and seeing if the "horror" is translated well, but that's not been written yet and is still just an idea

[@eddomore3521]

I’m still getting cards from bloomburrow I don’t care about duskmourn I’ll stick to the small creatures

[@RedBobcatGames]

It's the best way to play honestly

[@SlongestKongest]

I really liked bloom burrow

[@RedBobcatGames]

I did too honestly

[@Ghost_of_spades]

Mate did u hear about the new secret layer? Yes the one where they messed up the abilities of koma

[@RedBobcatGames]

I did not! I'll look into it

[@RedBobcatGames]

Took me like 3 read throughs before I spotted it. Excellent stuff. I'm sure this isn't a result of the sheer amount of product they have to put out. There's no way slowing down would mean less mistakes make it pass QA. Fantastic

[@Sneedstein]

The set (at least the commander cards) were way too token focused. I’m sure offspring works fine in digital, but the Zinnia deck was kind of a pain to keep track of

[@RedBobcatGames]

Yeah, in just a few pack openings I was very much getting that vibe

[@MasterDecoy1W]

Is Foundations just a re-branded core set? Are we reaching a record pace for WotC gorging themselves on crow? We can't do old borders. Wait, it turns out we need the monetary support of enfranchised players and endlessly shitting on them is not how to get it? BAM! More old borders than you can shake a stick at. Ugh, managing this over-arching narrative does not have good return on investment, we need to have isolated adventures that create good entry points for new players. Nevermind! New players want to keep seeing the cool characters they've been introduced to (also we suck at our jobs and can't create new cool characters) so now here's a long-running narrative. Wow, I don't get it. When we print dozens of versions of the same characters and make the story exclusively about them, people complain. I guess it's time to throw the baby out with the bathwater (again) and reset everything. But not really because change is scary. -Eldrazi- -Energy- -Oko- -Omnath- -Creativity- -Uro- Nadu (really literally any Modern Horizons product) is fine. OOPS! Turns out Nadu was not fine.

[@chcc12]

It’s not weird to get art for a card if the art is new to the set and looks cool

[@RedBobcatGames]

But that's the thing, it's not in the set. It may be a special guest or bonus sheet but I think you can only get those in collector boosters. Which these aren't! I have no idea

[@chcc12]

its on the command reprints sheet so that’d be in play boosters

[@RedBobcatGames]

Oh okay, I've seen some other comments say otherwise but I'll take your word for it. Honestly, I think this confusion is by design. I'm sure it helps their sales if people never quite know exactly what it is they're buying

[@chcc12]

Yeah there’s a lot of confusion about what can appear in the play boosters, but I’ve definitely gotten commander cards in the rare+ slot, had the acorn gang for a pre-release event

[@RedBobcatGames]

Madness. Having all these different bonus sheets and packs reminds me of what you see in video games with all those different pre-release versions and tiers

[@spacepanda7111]

Gitrog was in the bloom Borough set though

[@RedBobcatGames]

Main set? You may well be right, but are you sure? I thought he was in the Commander sets and special guest slost of Collector Boosters?

[@dontblamepeopleblamethegov559]

13:00 no. Just no. Rares and Mythics shouldn't be about powerlevel. They should be about unique abilities. I would argue that the game would be healthier if commons & uncommons rivaled the rare powerlevel but instead be simple and non-unique.

[@RedBobcatGames]

Okay, yeah I can see that. It's just to me, when I do find a rare or mythic I want it to be a bomb. I feel like the interesting abilties and mechanics should come from combinations of different cards, rather than just a single build around. Apart from in Commander of course, but even then I'm not a fan of these "designed for commander" cards either

[@OvilerTheory]

Six packs would be perfect for some sealed decks

[@RedBobcatGames]

6 packs is enough to do a lot with honestly

[@matthewkuehne5480]

Magic IS overdoing it. It's why people are spending less--they're confused as to what this game has become. Can I just open packs and play a game? Do I understand how to play after? Was it fun? Is everything living in Commander's shadow? Do I need to purchase a precon? And how will that impact my experience going forward? Gift a treasure. Wtf These videos, along with 3/3 Elk and S. Snail's videos make me existential. WotC just wants money. Richard Garfield needs to reclaim some design control 🎯

[@RedBobcatGames]

Existential is pretty much my aim with these, so that's good