Stickers: Magic The Gathering's New UN-Apeeling Mechanic | Tolarian Winds

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Did you miss the new episode of Shuffle Up & Play yesterday? Watch as we go toe to toe with Rionya, Hofri, Atraxa (but Merfolk), and Gishath here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4S1gnuartFmarc

[@Greg501-]

Silver border was done away with because ART VARIANTS. We need our borderless art crack

[@limputtaja]

No, I didn't miss it. It was good episode.

[@Nozdormu1982]

I feel this is thematic. WOTC is sticking it to the players.

[@zerorequiem42]

Just want to say this series of magic games you are doing might be my favorite content you've ever done... And I love your other content. It reminds me of the good old days of spellslingers with day9.... Omg, get day9 on there for a magic game! It would be awesome 😎

[@IceSki117]

Another change that was probably driven by money is the change from a preset box of cards to a booster pack system.

[@RhysticStudies]

definitely agree that the silver borders were a fundamental dividing line and a key part of the charm of these sets. i think stickers are a fun gimmick, but i also agree with you in hoping they don't show up in sanctioned play (honestly can't imagine they will).

[@GraemeGunn]

They will, but people will just use dice to count the stickers.

[@Walter-fc3uq]

Hahaha showing up to a tournament to play a card that allows you to rip an opponents card literally in half.

[@ButzPuff]

Does that mean there might be a chance of a Rhystic Studies Silver Bordered video in the future?

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

OMG it Rhystic Studies!

[@Alex_Gol]

If any individual stickers will be at least decent (in terms of effect (and possibly their ticket cost)), and there are indeed 48 individual sticker cards, the potential for variation, and by extension mistakes, will be far, far greater than we have with Partner mechanic currently. People will most likely find a way to break them even taking the fact that only 3 random sticker cards out of the pool of 10 are accessible at the start of each game.

[@CHEFPKR]

The sticker mechanic seems pretty fun... For unset. It's meant to play while drinking heavily.

[@matthewsanchez7953]

Ayyyyyy

[@vmcampos]

Proposal: include alcohol in sanctioned play. And make MtG 21+ 😅

[@GodwynDi]

@@vmcampos Best game shop near me is also a bar. Its great

[@jordanaraujo2579]

I think some heavy drinking and or crack cocaine was going on when this set was designed.

[@gusty7153]

@@GodwynDi almost had a similar situation, when i still lived in a big city, the game shop was next to a bar

[@Hildegardvonblingin]

I only play kitchen table commander, so this hopefully won’t affect my group too much, but I really feel for the more serious players who will have to suffer the added humiliation of getting killed by a Blightsteel Colossus in a beanie.

[@DoABarrelRol1l]

That sounds amazing I can't wait. My friends often make 'dank mlg' alt arts for my commanders as-is.

[@DackKija]

Holy crap it's angel voice herself.

[@Dairalir32]

Not a creator I expected to find in the comments. Awesome!

[@Elvalley]

I only play kitchen table commander with other people's decks, so I'm not even going to complain if they want to put beanies on their blightsteel colossus (es? colossuses?)

[@MJVelascoSalvador]

Hildegard! I love your work!

[@Reckl3ssGring0]

When you were explaining the sticker mechanic it felt like a fever dream

[@acbeaumo]

Everything about this game now feels like a fever dream. What the fuck happened? It's all so demented now.

[@Collisto2435]

This entire video feels like a fever dream

[@ACertainGuy0]

Fever dream? This felt like the prof consumed ALL THE DRUGS, then filmed that section, specifically.

[@Sestze]

i thought it was a joke. what the hell?

[@joeyberg5765]

@@Sestze This entire concept tastes like a stale april fool's joke and the fact that Wizards of the Coast genuinely expect people to try and engage with this system highlights how comically out of touch with their audience they are. The sticker system is equal parts convoluted, impractical AND tone deaf. The moment I lose to a Kozilek, Butcher of Truth because it had a little hot pink beanie sticker on it is the moment I drop the game for the foreseeable future. This is an abominable choice in direction; if I hadn't seen this video and somebody told me about the sticker system I would've thought they were trolling me.

[@HarrymanGR]

I foresee a big increase in house rules in any format saying "no stickers" for a while

[@Kodalith]

All ready in place for our group. This just seems bad... all around bad.

[@Deebofreebo]

Forever.

[@ryanteichmann3211]

we will try it first to see how it works before putting a rule in. it may not even affect us and nothing changes

[@TheDylls]

@@ryanteichmann3211 NGL, I WANT to agree with you here, and I suppose I'll likely start the same way, but I DO wanna hear back after the first game a Sticker cones up for you lmao Like, for the info... I'm gonna try and remember to do the same ;)

[@funnylaughingmexicanguy8746]

My entire group just created a group text to immediately all vote this down hard. Unanimous, nobody wants this garbage.

[@goblintechies4396]

Opponent: "First I play a werewolf card to make it Day." Me: "Okay." Opponent: "Then I phase out your vampire." My brain slowly starting to melt: "Uhuh." Opponent: "Then I take the initative with this card and enter the underdark city which allows me to explore the first room." Me: "..." Opponent: "Then I pay 7 tickets to give my creature shadow and infect with these two stickers" Me: "..." Opponent: "Then I cast this creature which allow me to claim the Monarch crown." Me: "..." Opponent: "Then because I have 10 permanents in play I ascend and gain the City's Blessing." Me: "..." Opponent: "Then I activate Sarkhan's ability to make him into a creature, so Ican then place this card on him to mutate him which then allows me to destroy a noncreature permanent you control." My brain that is basically soup now: "..." Gives opponent thumbs up.

[@DoABarrelRol1l]

8th Place Dave made a video skit like this recently. The good thing with Magic is you'll probably never have all of those mechanics in a game, let alone a single deck. So playing catch-up really isn't that hard assuming you only run into 1 new mechanic at a time. But looking at Yu-Gi-Oh I always despised it because reading the card does not tell you the full story. 'Summon a Dark Magician? What's that? I have to Google the card database to see what Fuses with my card?' and Magic is slooowwly getting to the point of absurdity like other card games. Like if i'm trying to get a friend or family member into magic my selling point is usually that it's very very simple to play assuming the Stack, Declare Attackers, etc doesn't come up for the first few games. But if they watched a game like you mentioned... pretty sure they'd call me a liar and run xD

[@Ahab2710]

@@DoABarrelRol1l about the Yu-Gi-Oh thing, it's really not that complex lmao

[@mrosskne]

was that supposed to be hard to follow? magic probably isn't for you. maybe snakes and ladders would be more your speed.

[@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena]

@@DoABarrelRol1l honestly i think i would rather play against a chaos deck than a deck with all of those mechanics

[@Potheadmcgee14]

@@DoABarrelRol1l I used to play Yugioh and Magic growing up and jts the opposite. Yugioh always explains the abilities in adequate detail I never had to look it up. Magic only does half the time so it was harder to get into as a kid. Vigilance, Trample, Haste, Flying, Coniving etc aren't always explained. Lot of unexplained mechanics in MTG.

[@TravisPilgrim]

honestly, stickers sound like a really fun silver border mechanic that pushes the customizability aspect of tcgs to its limit. However, to have them legal in regular magic is absolutely demented.

[@reidyo5404]

I don’t understand why they don’t keep unsets silverboarder. Isn’t that the whole point of them?

[@nexinex6049]

@@reidyo5404 makes them more money, much more people will buy this unset because some cards are legal for more games

[@haroldsandahl6408]

​@@reidyo5404 spice8rack has a video about it. they were meant to be fun things used in casual play but people don't do that because of the silver border. This is their solution

[@acbeaumo]

@@reidyo5404 Because money. They want to sell more Un-Set products to Commander players.

[@fernandobanda5734]

They're just counters.

[@PedroFigs]

A year from now: the new Legacy banlist includes sticker sheets 😂

[@BramLastname]

All this could've been avoided if they just made Silver Border an official format. Since that would've achieved the same thing in a much less annoying way.

[@feritperliare2890]

@@BramLastname but than how could they force the commander players to play their shity cards if the spike player can’t bring his deck everywhere with the reasonable expectation that it’s allowed cause the cards are legal?

[@BramLastname]

@@feritperliare2890 I wasn't the one who designed these formats, The silver border is as legit as you (the company) give them credit for, The fact that they were marketed as "too weird for standard" instead of "the zany new format" makes them much more unappealing to play with than necessary.

[@feritperliare2890]

@@BramLastname anyone who will be willing to play the cards knows what they are all about no reason to force people to accept them in game for wotc wallet

[@BramLastname]

@@feritperliare2890 oh yeah 100% agree, But if they wanted silver border to be legit, They made a lot of bad decisions. Granted I don't actually play the game, But I play D&D and Duel Masters (not to be confused with (YuGiOh) Master Duel) So it's interesting to see how they've influenced each other.

[@wohdinhel]

I honestly feel like the recent “convoluted” mechanics are their attempts to emulate mechanics from online games that can only reasonably be made to work on a computerized card game where forced RNG is possible)

[@andrejdamis7263]

they fucked up arena by making it a separate online game, now they are doing something similar to the original.

[@LinkEX]

@@andrejdamis7263 It wasn't a bad idea to explore mechanics that could only work within the digital medium. So I don't mind them creating cards exclusive to Arena. But I agree that the way they are trying to carry these ideas over to the physical medium is ill-advised.

[@andrejdamis7263]

@@LinkEX for me it just made me stop playing. i thought of arena as a place to play magic that i could also on the table. basically what historic was before the fuck-you to the players. but in any case, i'm not their customer and i'm glad i never spednt any cash on arena. I feel like the whole making mtg more like other games is a very weak thing to do. mtg is the game that others emulate. watering it down with elements that don't build on the strengths that are there, is just...watering it down.

[@wohdinhel]

@@andrejdamis7263 MTG from like 1998 is the game that others emulate. it evolving into a convoluted mess was inevitable because no game that relies on constantly adding new features is sustainable forever. it’s a shame that it has happened, but frankly, i felt that it had gotten too convoluted before even planeswalkers were implemented, when mill-control basically became the permanent top tier meta, when you had to essentially give up on playing the actual game in favor of a stupid and unfun metagame. at least the all-digital format of games like Runeterra allows for fine tuned realtime balancing and mechanics that feel genuinely fresh and creative. physical card games have unfortunately hit a wall, and i think it’s just a matter of time before they all crumble, MTG included.

[@LinkEX]

@@wohdinhel Complexity creep definitely is a thing. That said, Wizards actually seems to have it under better control than other long-running TCGs. At least regarding the limited format, they do keep track of most aspects that make it harder to keep track of everything (or get started at all). Like having a limited number of evergreen mechanics, combined with the set mechanics, and finally the complexity of the average card based on rarity.

[@Sekshun789]

I was so excited when unfinity was announced, but after the stickers, removal of silver border, and eternal legal cards being just mixed in for money sake, I am so legitimately disappointed and don’t even want to buy into it anymore.

[@EmperorsTeeth]

I'm not alone, then. I was so excited but the loss of silver bordering really killed my excitement for the set. I hate the idea of having to peel stickers off cards (even off just the sleeves) after each game. I had 3 boxes in my sights but I'm doubtful I'll go ahead with the purchase.

[@RayearthIX]

Same with me. I was excited for some random sillyness, then disappointed by the removal of the silver border and eternal legal cards, then... well, disgusted really, by the stickers. I will not be purchasing any of this product now, but for perhaps some singles of the dual lands. It's a shame, cause this could have been a fun unset.

[@Turntwobounceland]

Yep. I was looking forward to another goofy un-set, but this blending of eternal-legal and illegal cards with the whole sticker nonsense is dumb. I'm not excited for this set anymore.

[@BouncingTribbles]

I won't even be looking at spoilers or buying anything. At the very least they could have kept the silver border for the uncards, the acorn and fully removing the silver border was my line

[@Bmacthesage]

yea its going to be so damn annoying with this stuff. personally if they still kept in stuff like the shock land reprints and basic land artworks (because they do look incredible), that would be fine by me if they kept the silver border for the non legal cards.

[@AutumnReel4444]

My son put it nicely, "So Magic is being run by Mr Krabs now?"

[@Radiodragonofdoom]

That's a burn so harsh only a kid could've come up with it.

[@zacharyenglish2904]

And then everybody clapped

[@daxillion]

My biggest concern with this stickers is that they can stop being sticky and they can tear off parts of cards.

[@KnakuanaRka]

Yeah. Especially since they only stay on in public zones; since you can't shuffle them into the deck, etc, they could have just been normal counters instead of fragile stickers.

[@sobertillnoon]

This feels like wizards is trying to intentionally torpedo every constructed format

[@inferno1217]

except for standard

[@polishhockeyfan]

100%. Formats like Modern, Legacy, and Commander are absolutely terribly for business. Theyre doing everything they can to mess with your cardboard so they can sell it to you all over again.

[@BurningLotuz]

Nailed it. I hate the path Magic is on and I am accepting, slowly, that the game will leave me behind. Never would've thought that could happen 5 years ago. Been playing for over 20 years.

[@Loki-]

Having been introduced to it early '00s as a young teenager and barely able to keep track then. It made it really hard coming back being overwhelmed by the countless mechanics introduced by 2015. I'm back again and seeing this continue is making it harder. My point being... I'm not even a brand new player and I'm overwhelmed by the number of sets and mechanics! How do they expect to bring in NEW players??

[@codymetz8689]

Same. You should try flesh and blood, ive had a great experience with it so far.

[@jkwi8024]

@@codymetz8689 sadly the cards are boring and generic and the art is boring and ugly

[@profanemagic5671]

I left shortly after eldraine released. Back then, they started putting 2 cards onto 1 cardboard. At this point, they have to print on both sides of the cardboard because there's not enough space for all the words. Cards just do too much. Magic got boring af. (and no, it's not me getting older, I still enjoy the game if you remove all cards printed past 2018)

[@meeperator]

I started playing around 2012 with a deckbuilders kit that went back to m10. I was getting lost with new mechanics around the time Khans block dropped, so I feel your pain.

[@hauntedsunsets]

I haven't heard about any of this, so I clicked on this video expecting a funny parody skit about the idea of putting stickers on your cards to make fun of how difficult it can be to keep track of different types of counters and then I would've loved to see this feature in a new regular un set, just so goofy and fun to use but then I realized the reality of un sets being partially legal tournament... oh god

[@jessherselfable]

I’m a casual player who loves unsets. The stickers seem hilarious and amazing for unset play, but I hate it for regular play. I miss a lot of triggers in paper as it is.

[@Romulux]

After playing Arena for the last few years and seeing how insane the triggers have gotten, I refuse to touch paper magic anymore because I know I'd forget half of them and just lose to my own ineptitude.

[@michaelh.1484]

@@batsumoto This is magic the gathering not dark souls. Reading the card explains the card. The thing is when you introduce so many mechanics with sets over time it creates the crowding out effect. Simply git gud is not enough

[@BramLastname]

@@batsumoto sorry, but that's objectively wrong, No amount of reading cards is gonna explain a keyword without reminder text. So regardless of how you play, git gud, is not applicable to paper MtG.

[@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena]

@@BramLastname git gud in magic is learning how to play your deck

[@BramLastname]

@@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena again, Learning your deck is not gonna explain what other cards do, Because there's no correlation between the words Trample, Haste and Dash. You're just expected to memorise it, Instead of other card games, most notably Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon and Weiss Schwartz, Where the rules are printed on the cards, Which doesn't make them less complex (just look at Yu-Gi-Oh's Damage step rulings) Just makes it so you can actually play the game without needing a dictionary. The fact that I don't know how certain cards work isn't a skill issue It's because the cards don't do what they say, I'm not memorising 155 keywords for a game I have no interest in playing competitively. To give you an idea how much this hinders the quality of life in MtG, I've played a few games of the Japanese spin-off Duel Masters And I can now better explain a bunch of those cards than explain MtG cards, Since Duel Masters uses less than 50 keywords, Despite the fact that they have just as many different card types as MtG.

[@Joshua-no3vh]

The idea of Progenitus wearing a tophat is hilarious, or sticking Urza's on, urza, lord high artificer. Do i want this as a mechanic? No, god no.

[@Hhhhhh-sz9ud]

It’s the perfect mechanic for an unset, it’s just a shame that it’s legacy legal.

[@pacattack2586]

I'm pretty sure you can't make progenitus wear a tophat unfortunately (Prot everything)

[@MrNbkelly]

@@pacattack2586 Protection from Top Hats

[@Iris_Spring]

i feel like all of this could have been avoided if the sticker sheets just, HAD the acron on it. like i do love the idea of un sets having some legal cards in them, after all, there have always been SOME cards that were in silver border sets, that were banned simply because they were in those sets, dispite the fact that they would have been fine in regular play (Krarks Other Thumb is an example of this)

[@dondon4720]

yup, just put the acorn on the freaking stickers

[@sc149]

it would be so fun if they were silver bordered. then they can see how they work and maybe introduce something like token enchantments and infinite enchantments that last between zones. but this is an UN finished mechanic

[@mchillywinters]

I needed the Professor to say “Alexander Clamilton” at least 10 more times. As it is now, this video sadly gets a “D” for “Did not say Alexander Clamilton enough.”

[@daverapp]

Alexander Clamilton

[@katherinec4360]

Alexander Clamilton

[@collinbeal]

Alexander Clamilton

[@angelowentzler9961]

Alexander Clamilton

[@tiredtraveler4536]

At this rate, magic will turn from "this isn't a product for you" to "this isn't the game for you. Go away, we have some whales to please"

[@TheDreamingFlame]

Will? You're implying it hasn't already. In which case you'd be wrong.

[@4geGames]

This game hasn't been "for the players" for years now. You didn't notice how un-sets stopped being about fun and laughs, and instead became testing grounds for R&D to flaunt how "clever" they are?

[@Syfur-td1tw]

@Bruh shill? did you watch the video?

[@waddledoo2you13]

@Bruh your lol to me

[@playahsan]

@Bruh How many videos have you seen? Like half of the content is literally criticizing MTG and WotC for their choices.

[@amysakalov6915]

I love how every time I think "you know, maybe I should go back to magic" Wizards pulls something again and I'm just like "you know what, I'll just stick to not trying to find ways to spend hundreds of dollars on really paper board art".

[@dassaprime5019]

I mean it's their April fools sets lol

[@mb2776]

my thoughts!

[@kza6648]

And thats why im printing my decks now :p

[@mrosskne]

you can just play arena for free

[@kza6648]

@@mrosskne Arena is neither free or solves any problem

[@SkellyPacks]

I hope we get scratch and sniff mechanics next! I'm not even sure if I'm being sarcastic or not...

[@AnimeManiacAndres]

I really do not want to know what an Eldrazi or Phyrexian smells like.

[@Hyperbuzz10]

I just joked about scratch and sniff foils yesterday 😂

[@justharry2190]

@@AnimeManiacAndres But i do wanna know what Garruk smells like ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@Bmacthesage]

honestly, id be morbidly curious as to how they'd implement that into a mechanic lmao

[@benjaminlehman3221]

@@Bmacthesage new keyword “sniff” Creatures without noses can’t block this creature. When this creatures becomes blocked. Blocking player must sniff the card

[@Nootlest]

It's kinda funny, I'm so used to feeling like I'll miss out on something. But I haven't played magic in a few months and I don't feel like I'm losing out on anything

[@benjaminmiddaugh2729]

Amazing how little you can miss something once you get a bit of distance from it, isn't it?

[@splatypus7142]

Same. The more news I happen to see about the game, the more it makes me glad I don't play anymore. I'll still do cubes when friends come over, but buying any of the new sets just feels like a joke at this point. It gives me a weird reverse FOMO. I'm glad I'm not worrying about updating an eternal deck with this kind of stuff

[@nyarlathotep3334]

Same here. I've collected every Un-set so far but this one I'm skipping out on. It feels more like just another product and less like a fun MtG set if that makes sense.

[@justinb2824]

can you say abusive relationship?

[@cethapplegate594]

You know I would love a commander deck tech that is built around having as many extra mechanics as possible just shove monarch, day night, dungeon, and all the other features that need to be tracked in one deck.

[@drakegrandx5914]

A deck whose win condition is to make your opponents concede? That's brilliant!

[@waltercardcollector]

You probably have seen this, but Prof made a video about that exact type of deck! The video was called "The Commander Deck Of The Future, Today!"

[@joeferreti9442]

Let's introduce another mechanic, I call it "adhesive tape". It will be so popular with MTG players and collectors that already triple-sleeve their cards to protect them.

[@killerwolfpack]

This is immediately what I thought. Like my $150 commander deck might not be a huge deal. Someone has like 900 bucks in that bitch. You can get bent with your stickers.

[@scooterthefrog]

@@killerwolfpack if anybody attempts to put a sticker on my cards they are coming back with less fingers. Use a bead or a die and we're cool but you try to put sticky goop on my sleeves you'll be getting called nine fingers for rest of your life.

[@michaelsorensen7567]

Surprised we're not going straight to super glue

[@Hyxtrem]

@@ilikepeople1795 That's exactly what i thought at first when they said "hey it's legal !". I just have 350-600€ decks but oh my god, theses stickers won't approach my cards AT ALL; I can't even imagine for you. Like HELL will you allow a stickers to be put on a timeswalk or something like this.

[@thepenguin9]

Gotta dunk it in flex glue after triple sleeving for that maximum protection

[@aceundead4750]

I wish they'd kept alchemy as an online only thing

[@user-et3xn2jm1u]

Online, we wish they'd kept alchemy, full stop. Plenty of players left when we got Alchemy and not Pioneer.

[@doemagic]

A lot of people at my LGS were saying they might start playing "Classic" EDH, which is every card pre-D&D Forgotten Realms. I definitely feel like stickers will call even more tension between them and casual players

[@otto2853]

B-but why exclude the best set ever specifically? Forgotten Realms? :(

[@doemagic]

@@otto2853 I think a lot of them don't like the dungeon mechanics and some of them definitely see dice rolling as an "un" mechanic

[@otto2853]

@@doemagic both mechanics were either too random (dice) or not fleshed out enough (dungeons) to be included in my playgroup on a serious level anyway- I was talking about great cards like Volo or Tiamat

[@XDezibellX]

@@otto2853 Some people don't like the power creep. The next DnD set will have "Dragon Queen: 6U, When this creature attacks, roll a d20. Win that many games. Ward 10"

[@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena]

Just rule 0 those mechanics out no need to call it a different name as it gets confusing

[@feltzdog]

I was excited to stickers until I realized that it was eternal and not just part of the Un-set exclusive(acorn) mechanic.

[@AutumnReel4444]

Exactly. If Wizards did it without greed no one would mind. Making them eternal legal is such a massive issue. As if the Secret Lair mechanically unique debacle just never happened!

[@fernandobanda5734]

@@AutumnReel4444 What does greed have to do with anything? Stickers will never ever be played competitively.

[@nolanpearson211]

@@fernandobanda5734 you say that until your opponent gives his Death’s Shadow an infect sticker 🤣

[@fernandobanda5734]

@@nolanpearson211 Tainted Strike already gives infect (and +1/+0) for one mana. That's a million times better than playing suboptimal ticket cards to have a 3/10 chance to even start the game with the infect sticker sheet.

[@vilecreature8640]

@@fernandobanda5734 you can bring UP TO ten, meaning you could bring only the three you want to use. And how can you know there won’t be a single ticket enabler that sees play, to say that means you not only know every card in this set (idk if full spoilers are out I don’t care about unsets till now I guess), but every single card that will ever be printed from here on out. All it takes is one card being too good to warp formats and with wizards track record it seems silly to give them the benefit of a doubt. To be honest the stickers are just one of the issues that comes from unsets having eternal legal cards, no one wanted this.

[@tarasoneill]

I would love to see a shuffle up and play episode where you play with silver boarderd cards

[@blazzin42]

Definitely agree with you on the silver border, it's nostalgic for myself and friends to see them and play with them even built commander decks with them so we can have a game outside of the box 😄 ... I Definitely hope we don't see stickers in sanctioned play 🤞🤞

[@0urher0nik0]

I'm excited to see how much this mechanic causes headaches

[@DefaultMii]

I am also excited

[@Hydrogen101]

Headache? I’ve got a hangover after learning about them

[@Grimmfairytail]

@@Hydrogen101 I don't even play but I can tell this is going to be a shitshow.

[@darkgaara787]

I'm willing to guess that most people will ignore stickers and players who do use them will be frown upon

[@eviloatmeal]

@@darkgaara787 Yes, but if they're tournament legal, then you can't ignore them if your opponent brings them to the tournament. And if a card that uses them happens to be useful in one of the eternal formats, where cards from the entirety of Magic's history are used, and they don't "rotate" out any card sets over time, then using the stickers could be a matter of winning or losing money when you participate.

[@SpartanOfLuxon]

Just the thought of a seasoned veteran mid life adult playing against a 12 year old who puts a beanie sticker on his 30 year old Sol Ring makes me laugh

[@blakemoody5866]

People need to calm down. Dualcaster mage already goes infinite with multiple spells, and if saw in half was printed in a regular set, you wouldnt be complaining. Stickers will just function like counters and likely wont be that big of a deal.

[@LucasTheDrgn]

Straight up did the padme meme when i first saw stickers like "Oh, these'll be fun since they'll only be legal in unfinity!" "... They'll only be legal in unfinity, right?"

[@bethpitblado1588]

What WOTC seems to have done to increase sales has had the opposite effect on me. I loved drafting Unstable. I don't mind a few silver-bordered cards appearing (with permission) at the commander table. But as soon as I found out that Unfinity wasn't going to have silver borders, I opted out. Decided I wasn't buying any acorn or other cards and that was before this sticker nonsense was announced. As for your arguments about mixing flavour and humour, we are long past that one. As soon as Rick equipped Lucille in a 5-colour humans deck, the world of magic was forever changed.

[@melek_the_weird]

Someone else mentioned Alchemy & I think that's where MtG is generally heading is Arena. I feel like there's no coincidence that at the same time Arena started to pick up steam, so did the complexity of mechanics because on there, since everything is automated, no rules confusion.

[@matatigre36]

Yeah, this is where MTG jumps the shark for me. I'll just happily continue to play with the collection I already have. No (further) purchase necessary.

[@josiahclarke3535]

Just play an eternal format and buy singles to support your LGS. Can play without giving WotC your money

[@Frostgiantbutsmall]

@@josiahclarke3535 That's still giving them money. Any singles purchase is a support of WOTC.

[@josiahclarke3535]

@@Frostgiantbutsmall If you say so. Guess we should all just quit then.

[@fomori2]

@@josiahclarke3535 "If you say so. Guess we should all just quit then."- I think you were being sarcastic, but the proper answer to your question is... YES.

[@mrosskne]

@@josiahclarke3535 Yes, obviously.

[@another_loser6976]

The idea that stickers cost tickets might be what saves us from them, to play a sticker you need a way to produce tickets and so while the effects might be great you will end up having to add multiple ticket producers which hurt stickers chances

[@PhiKehr]

From what ive seen name stickers dont cost tickets. And maybe this can lead to a cheap way of ignoring the legendary rule or something like that? I don't know

[@TheLuckySpades]

@@PhiKehr I think you still need to play cards that let you attach stickers to stuff, which probably still costs tickets hopefully

[@PhiKehr]

@@TheLuckySpades I don't really know about Legacy or Vintage. But "Wicker Picker" may be strong? Paying one extra to have it enter with a name sticker on it could maaaaaybe be good? As i said, i don't really know.

[@another_loser6976]

@@PhiKehr Only name stickers and hat stickers dont cost tickets, ability and power/toughness stickers cost tickets.

[@WillisPtheone]

@@PhiKehr I run a names matter deck with spy kit and the like this is still dumb. I would have perhaps stuck a couple un-legal cards in the box incase people wanted to play silver border edh. Now I am skipping the set all togeather

[@sweatygamer8210]

Why do we accept this? Boycott Unfinity and other trashy future sets

[@OverTheShoulderGaming]

I’m a returning palyer to MtG and I was just overwhelmed by the sheer unnecessary complexity of new mechanics. I’m playing commander mostly but I’ve been compelled to move away from it again. Now, I play Pokémon TCG, with its own synegies and strategies plus online code with the physical products work really well for me. 😁

[@putonghua73]

I tried to briefly play Pokemon during lockdown due to a friend's influence, and even bought a trainer set and singles to construct my own deck. In terms of value - both online and offline - Pokemon is a better value proposition than Magic in every single conceivable way, and online play and production is so smooth, and the online codes with physical products provide so much value (no double-dipping). Except in the most important aspect: gameplay. I then sold my Pokemon physical products to my friend. The PL creep (looking at you MH2) and Wotc's desire to milk MtG until they suck lint from the wallets of their players, led me to sell out of Magic back in April.

[@alaraujo9825]

I think the end goal is to turn the game especially commander into some smash bros fortnight metaverse bullcrap. This and universes beyond will be the end of the game looking as it has for 30 years. Because that's what wizards thinks will sell to the younger generation...

[@Doombot2point0]

Exactly. Much like the realm of AAA FPS games has been forever tainted by Battle Royale game modes, and how AAA FPS games now put emphasis over "regular multiplayer" for some sort of BR mode, Wizards has learned that they can make more money milking other franchises and IPs (amongst other "dirty" tactics like TWD Secret Lair or insane pricing on SLs in general). It's sad that such a beloved card game is seemingly growing too big for it's own health. It seems to be collapsing because the audience is now so spread out that no one particular pillar can support it. I think the reality is, most players just want classic MtG. It's a small minority that is clamoring for UB cards or crap like this Unfinity Sticker blunder.

[@dracmanmage2864]

Except younger generation dont have that much interest to play mtg. Perhaps its a small sample but my local lgs have around 20 kids at age of 8-14 that play pokemon. When WOTC announce the fortnite crossover none of the kid seem excited and few adult in my lgs on their 30 and 40 just buy it because they think this is appeal to younger audience.

[@Szznt]

Holy crap, I've been out of magic for about 5 years now and every time I pop my head in to see what's happening it just makes me glad I'm out. At this point I just wish I'd managed to get out sooner than I did.

[@strelochk1n721]

It’s still great, by it’s hard to Deny the amount of new cancerous mechanics

[@shoopoop21]

This is precisely my issue. I feel my time, money, and sanity are better spent elsewhere, almost anywhere else, to be honest.

[@danringdahl6369]

WoTC must have really loved the Alchemy- "perpetual" mechanic so much they had to introduce something similar to paper with stickers.

[@tinyguy8326]

I've had a similar thought. Alchemy has been poorly received. Why try to replicate it in paper?

[@danringdahl6369]

@@tinyguy8326 Agreed. Also, for a casual Magic player, it is about suspending your belief and putting yourself into the fantasy. Ripping the player out of that and tossing them into a child's arts and crafts box feels terrible. Conversely, for a serious player who spends a lot of time and money, these stickers are insulting.

[@derrickpaulson3093]

I feel they are trying so many sublet ways to make players want to play online where such mechanics function better. Let’s see what else works better online and force paper players to adapt…

[@zbaschtian]

Stand by for paper version of Specialize. Grab your vomit bags now while they're cheaper than gas.

[@Weaver_Games]

It's time to admit that Mark Rosewater should no longer be considered a darling game designer. The last few years of this game have just been crazy.

[@michaelbloom8270]

My expectations keep getting lower and they still find ways to disappoint me. I can imagine some really cool stuff you could do with stickers in the realm of silver border, but with the way they function and their forced inclusion in black border I'd prefer they just not exist.

[@jimmysmith2249]

WotC sets a low standard of decency, and then fail to meet it.

[@nathanwarzecha2943]

Makes me miss the days of Alara and how simple and beautiful that set was

[@mathewevans9706]

Prof, I feel you're dancing around the answer when it comes to the increasingly complex mechanics coming to the game: Wizards is moving towards designing for Arena first vs. designing for paper when it comes to making mechanics. Companion, Day and Night, Counters, and even Stickers are mechanics that are trivial to track in Arena, but are pains in paper.

[@gordon7700]

thats what i was thinking. annoy paper players with difficult to track mechanics and force them to arena. im curious how alchemy is working for them

[@goldcreeper7376]

This 100%. This garbage has little place in paper

[@Zaketh_]

What? Day/Night was literally in the game since Innistrad, just not keyworded. Even if Wizards was moving towards designing for Arena first (which, I argue, they aren’t), why wouldn’t they just put all this stuff in an Alchemy set or something? It’s hard to see the argument that “Wizards is designing for Arena over paper!” When this mechanic is literally ONLY going to be available in paper magic.

[@brandandixon3943]

@@Zaketh_ did you play with the dog werewolves? It was tracked on a card. When the card died. It didnt matter anymore, day/night is tracked for the entire game once its introduced. Its annoying

[@mathewevans9706]

You don't think they won't make an Unfinity Alchemy set for Arena when it's already got Perpetual-Esque mechanics and historic legal cards in it? Nah, they're gonna milk the cash machine for all it's worth. Only way to stop it is to not buy the product, but that's going to happen realistically. And the reason Day and Night feels 'designed for Arena' is specifically because of the perpetual tracking clause that prof calls out in this video, which the previous werewolf cards didn't do. keywords or not. Yes, you can do it in paper, but it's annoying to do when cards using those mechanics aren't on the field; but very easy for the Arena client to run in the background. Even if Wizards isn't deliberately designing mechanics for Arena, this is a trend towards mechanics that coincidentally work better/smoother on there vs. paper in the more recent sets.

[@Ericnorify]

Returning to magic after 4 years has me wondering if I've made a mistake.

[@NightOfCrystals]

Just play cube and only formats the company can’t ruin. Ignore what you don’t like. Historic standard and premodern are pretty cool.

[@danacoleman4007]

Yes, you have

[@BlitzkriegBryce]

Coming back after about 6 years, I've decided I'm going to sell my collection and just play with proxies. I didn't really play that much magic competitively in the first place (the constant rules arguing and overall negative attitude of players drove me away) so I don't see any reason as to why I should have real cards.

[@dddgaming885]

@@lunisinko7498 stay salty ROFL.

[@KnakuanaRka]

Altefore below put it perfectly. MtG already has a precedent of adapting some Un-set cards into normal cards, like The Cheese Stands Alone becoming Barren Glory; this did well at letting the freedom of design in Un-sets contribute to normal play without the Un-sets’ tone clashing with everything else. Plus the new card design isn’t that good; they could have just left non-legal cards with the silver border while legal cards could get a silver-and-black border design or something like that, to keep the iconic look and make them easier to see. However, the bigger issue seems not to be the design clash but the piling on of new mechanics. Something like Stickers are just fine in Un-sets, but not only do they have a huge tonal clash with standard MtG, they also have serious practical issues (imagine how long these stickers would last, or how easily you could damage your cards with them), and put yet another layer of complicated things to keep track of on top of an already complicated game that has already been saddled with layers of further complication, plus they set a precedent that makes them hard to avoid. In particular, if these were made similar to normal counters instead of stickers, it might reduce some of these issues, especially since the stickers only stay with the cards between public zones; however, as others have mentioned, it seems like MtG might be trying to implement something similar to the online game’s “perpetually” mechanics.

[@fleamarketkeanu]

Agreed silver boarder should've stayed. The thing I keep thinking of though is that Mark wanted the un-sets to playable in commander due to it being casual, as he had mentioned in an interview with Spice. No doubt money had something to do with their decision, but I'm left wondering if players who followed the RC too closely also attributed to this design decision.

[@kurowasanabe]

You have to love how Wizards claims people's issues with the acorn being confusing and easily missable are unfounded and how organic and easy it is, and then proceeding to show a wrong printing with acorns on two of the two times they spoiled cards from it.

[@StarkMaximum]

"The acorn is easy to spot! It's right there on the card, you'll see it when you finish reading the text box!" "Oh, yeah, that card will have an acorn. No one noticed the card had the wrong stamp because it's so easy to miss. We're human, we make mistakes!"

[@ExaltedWarrior]

Stickers don't stay sticky, this is just a cash grab. WOC won't get another dime feom me, I'm proxying any new cards and just won't play if stickers are involved.

[@ItsIntelligentDesign]

I’m so worried about these stickers being way too fiddly to use in the moment. Attaching them, having to remember when they stay on a card vs getting removed, longevity (does the adhesive hold up to heat? to cold? how do they adhere to different types of card sleeve made of different plastics?) It seems they were trying to add a toyetic component to the game, and while that is a popular trend in the industry right now I don’t think this was the right implementation

[@zbaschtian]

Not to mention the immense potential for marking your cards/sleeves with glue residue in competitive paper play. (Yes, I'm aware you can proxy your stickers with paper notes, but let's face it, MtG players are not exactly known for their common sense)

[@ilind__]

This is a great point. I hadn't considered stickers from the perspective of dexterity, which... Uh... I think wizards figured out shouldn't be tournament legal in 1995...

[@_Moralle]

I think something along the lines of a clip would've been way better for a mechanic like this. Sure, it still has a chance of damaging your card, but fiddling and repairing a paperclip is much easier than replacing the glue on a sticker. AND you can just put a clip on the card without actually attaching it. But I guess it might've been more expensive than just making regular stickers. Maybe they could allow people to "transform" stickers into clips or something else while still keeping them legal, as long as the contents of the sticker remain the same.

[@jebsoj]

Magic the Gathering players should start voting with their wallets; that is, dont buy this set and show WotC they don’t want this kind of tomfoolery.

[@GodwynDi]

A lot of us have. Like gacha games, as long as they get the whales, WotC doesn't care about the majority

[@daniduc]

7:37 "you know all it takes is one or two to slip thru and BAM it's companions all over again. STICKERS IN EVERY DECK!" That aged very well...

[@ironhorn17]

Theres an alternate universe out there where the commander format bans stickers before they are released saving us all the trouble

[@thomascampagna6663]

I honestly feel like with all their preaching about the "Spirit of the game" that they without a doubt should ban them preemptively. It's my opinion that all those cards should have been considered "silver border" or I guess "acorn" cards now.

[@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena]

@@thomascampagna6663 Personally i don't think any card should be banned in commander since it is a sign post ban list but people take it literally

[@kaibowman4803]

We currently live in a world where stickers are eternal legal, yet the commander RC refuses to unban a decades old Eldrazi card, while Comet and Oko exist and are legal.

[@QuantumJump451]

I was away from magic for years. Fell off after Kaladesh, but was excited to get back into the game when I found a new playgroup with Streets of New Capenna. At this point I think I might just stop playing the game again. I don't think Wizards have made a single decision since I came back to the game that hasn't disappointed me in some major way.

[@iamthetable8131]

Why would you leave over this bruh, just don't buy this lmao

[@Highstar7331]

hear hear

[@QuantumJump451]

@@iamthetable8131 it's not this, it's this, plus the ridiculously expensive double masters boosters, plus the weird bloated new rules (day/night, dungeon), plus the diluting of the setting with weird crossovers that makes MTG feel more like Fortnite as a card game, plus the lack of RRP allowing them to just sliiiide the price up like boiling a frog, plus the overload of so many sets coming out so frequently, plus the fact that there's only one set per plane means there's no time to have a compelling story on any plane we visit. And I'm not saying I'm even leaving yet, just that it's getting close to the straw that broke the camel's back - at some point I need to accept that the game I once loved has been butchered for short sighted profit

[@NightChime]

An un set forcing you to round up when halving power and toughness seems just wrong. Let the tokens be 1.5/1.5 !

[@aylith663320]

I love the unsets they are great fun. Removing the silver border feels like a big mistake. Now they have to consider other formats before making any unset card. It's just going to weaken the value of unsets.

[@BramLastname]

I know it's because of the whole "The Cheese Stands Alone" thing, But getting rid of the silver border was not the way to fix that.

[@imperiallarch7610]

@@BramLastname What was the "The Cheese Stands Alone" thing? I know what the card does but can't figure out what it has to do with borders.

[@BramLastname]

​@@imperiallarch7610 So quite a while back they made a reprint set, This set was supposed to include at least 1 card of every single MtG set, However because they didn't want to print a silver border card in black border, The Cheese Stands Alone was cut from the set list. Which confirmed to people that Silver Border cards were unofficial filler that even the developers do not consider worth playing. Especially since they later said they would've included the card if it had been printed in black border originally And had made a card nearly identical to it because of this.

[@InuyashaJenny]

next level: Unimaginable - each booster will contain one crayon; collector booster will contain one neon/metallic/shiny marker/brush; instead of boxtopper there will be two potato stamp templates (but you have to bring your own potatoes to the tournament!)😆

[@PallyChan]

I can tell you 100% the motivation for stickers! Look at MTG Arena's digital exclusive cards that have effects on cards in public and private zones! They want to see if they can bring some of these legitimately really fun and awesome card effects and make them possible in real paper magic. Maybe this is a miss, but it 100% is in the experimental spirit of Unsets. I'm not defending dropping the silver border though. Almost indefensible in my opinion...

[@tmbocheeko]

Notable to mention that the number of sticker sheets you choose before a game isn't "up to 10", it's actually a MINIMUM of 10. If someone doesn't choose any sticker sheets before a game begins, it's most likely going to be assumed that they simply chose all of the possible sheets. Then, if it ever comes up in a game, they'll choose three sticker sheets at random from all the possible options using the tool WOTC is going to have available online, and proceed.

[@clayxros576]

Oh good, "Fail to find" now applying to an Ability-Keyword extra deck. As if the stickers aren't a competitive nightmare already

[@MrSeanfish]

That's good news, at least. This way, stickers are way less competitively viable since you don't have a good chance of going into games with the stickers you need. I was concerned that players would just take 3 sheets and use the same stickers every game, which would have made them viable.

[@clayxros576]

@@MrSeanfish Another game called Force of Will tried something similar, using a flat extra deck with randomized summons rather than stickers (which are basically mix n match perminent effects). That only happened after the OG designer and financial backer left. For design/monetization reasons. It's rather startling for me watching Magic seem to walk the path of dying MMOs and card games of the past.

[@DevineAbyss]

Can't you just select the same sticker-sheet 10 times? That would do wonders against randomness.... Even picking 3 sheets, and putting them in 4, 4 and 2 times and selecting sheets that are similar would make it very predictable.

[@bissomitch]

@@DevineAbyss No.

[@tylerrobinson4390]

I truly find your commentary on this mechanic and your other content to be so well thought out. A MTG veteran for sure! As you’ve said, This game is about the gathering ❤️ and I won’t be surprised if after test play and feedback after release the stickers will be nerfed or outright banned. It’s pushing the fabric of what paper play can keep up with imo

[@BluWoolify]

Imagine; WotC announce Sticker sheet 3 is banned from all formats and sticker sheet 10 is banned from pauper

[@lokiwiFruit]

WotC is just branching out with stickers. Card collecting, sticker/stamp collecting etc. Personally, i can't wait for the collectible coins in triple master 2023 draft boosters.

[@gordon7700]

"MTG Coins mechanic will introduce a new crypto currency that players may invest in order to purchase more cards to upgrade their decks."

[@ariatolouei5908]

Funny enough wizards has actually made collectable coins, limited to 9,999 ... I own two They also made collectible coasters 🤦‍♂️

[@WillisPtheone]

Im excited for Wotc to announce a POGS mechanic. Hasbro owns them so why not?

[@lokiwiFruit]

@@WillisPtheone POGs and those slappy wristband things

[@settratheimperishable7800]

It seems like Wizards of the Coast are one of the most bipolar companies I’ve ever seen. One minute they’re making absolutely brilliant decisions that everyone loves and the next they make the most brain dead calls that no one asked for only to then do way with the other decision that literally no one had a problem with to then make another amazing decision again.

[@gurrekurre1726]

Having legal and not legal cards in unsets is not only bad for constructed formats for the reasons mentioned, it also makes unset experiences less "whackier"...

[@tlblitz42]

No, actually. Unfinity was designed under the silver-border paradigm, and only retroactively examined for eternal legality. Unfinity is exactly as wacky as it would have been in silver border, WotC has simply decided that “normal” Magic can stand to be more wacky, rather than saying Un-sets must be less wacky

[@MrContinuityError]

@@tlblitz42 What is the source for this? Seems hopeful but Id like to know where you got this info.

[@violetlazuli3998]

@@MrContinuityError I believe this was in the initial details article from last November or December where they announced the acorn change

[@tlblitz42]

@@MrContinuityError From To Unfinity and Beyond (11/29/2021): “I should stress that all the cards in this set were designed before this distinction existed, so cards weren't made to be one or the other. We just made cool cards for the set and later divided them into categories. We tweaked a small number of cards that were close to being non-acorn, but mostly things stayed as originally designed.” I tried to link the article, but I think it got auto-detected as spam

[@gurrekurre1726]

@@tlblitz42 oh i did not know that

[@nathanl8622]

I don't even care that unmechanics are making it into black border play, I just think it's poor form to take a set that only ever gets printed in English (and is unlikely to be printed outside English since so much un-humor is pun-based) and introduce it into eternal formats which are played all over the world.

[@Cajek2]

I'm glad magic is finally dying

[@DreadSkulll]

I hadn't even considered this fact, jesus wotc what are you doing

[@MrBrainFog]

@@Cajek2 huh?

[@MakeVarahHappen]

Looking back a year later the problem with stickers wasn't the mechanics. People over explain it when it's basically just skullbriar tokens. It's the power level and a literal technology of the stickers. It should have been canned when the reusable stickers clearly wouldn't work out. They play wonderfully though.

[@jadethethief]

Rosewater's expressed frustration in the past that silver border cards, which are designed to be legal for casual play, are often shunned in Commander (and not allowed per the RC's official rules), ostensibly a casual format. So I feel like the removal of the silver border has a lot to do with that, and trying to communicate to players that the less game-breaking Un cards are okay to play, by making them just eternal legal outright. Stickers as a new kind of counter seems like a neat idea, but until I see it in action it does feel like there'll be a lot to keep track of, and I worry about the reusability of them. That glue can't last forever.

[@BramLastname]

Then why didn't they make an official format for Silver Border cards? All they had to do was give it a name and like two sentences as a description, But instead they axed silver border cards and upset everyone with the new mechanic.

[@xChikyx]

Nice to see the professor and the instructor playing together... and to think people thought it was the same person 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@CarterCat60]

I’m sorry, I have a whole legal attraction deck

[@MrWarptime]

There was a level of trust being requested from WOTC when they said that they'd let the cards from Un Sets that are functional in the regular game be legal in them. The stickers MASSIVELY violate that trust. Un Sets aren't a fun thing to look forward to anymore. They're done.

[@BramLastname]

Yeah, if they'd hosted official Silver Border events Or even just made Silver Border it's own format, They could've achieved what they're trying to do Without breaking everything like this.

[@snoweefrost4412]

@@BramLastname Silver border did have its own format. Nobody played it

[@Sullindir]

@@snoweefrost4412 This is actually worth mention. As popular as Un-sets are, the format in which they are legal sees insufficient participation to support it. It seems like there are two perspectives to this issue, both of which are likely true: 1. That silver-bordered cards aren't legal in the formats that matter, therefore they do not merit investing in, and; 2. That the players aren't interested in playing silver-bordered cards for more than the occasional novelty. The developers' position of placing more weight on the first perspective risks disenfranchising those players that place greater weight in the second. Theme, tone, and immersion can be immensely important to a gamer, and the continued erosion of the identity of the game as a mature take on high-fantasy may threatening the ongoing investment of those players that require that immersion to enjoy the game. I question whether the number of prospective players that could be won over with the "wacky amusement park in space" theme is worth that risk.

[@BramLastname]

@@snoweefrost4412 I know that on paper it was, but it wasn't treated that way. There was no banlist or format news And all the sets were still marketed as "illegal in official play" Rather than "Un-Format cards". It doesn't help that they decided Un-cards are not eligible for reprint sets, Since that just cements their position as "inferior" cards.

[@Sean.Cordes]

I gotta be honest. I got into the game in 2015 via commander, and I really enjoyed it for about 5 years. Then the firehose of constant content, and constant spoiler season really pushed me away. I've checked in every couple months since just to see if it's getting better and in fact the opposite seems true - it seems worse with every new set. I'm at the point where I'm probably going to sell all or at least the vast majority of my collection and decks. I'm feeling completely done with this game and the direction it has taken the last 2 years.

[@TheLitmas]

I'm in the exact same boat. Working on listing my collection over the last few days.

[@Nick-cs4oc]

I’ve been a casual enjoyer for a bit and have been wanting to get in deeper but they keep pushing away when an expensive deck could be rendered into fodder at any moment. Bright side is I’m aware of all the awesome alternatives and can support someone who appreciates their fans.

[@flobenzo4897]

All comes down to finding the right playgroup that builds at a level you’re happy with. Might not be easy, but not everyone who plays gets sucked into every set and buys the most expensive stuff

[@crazyscarecrow8136]

I’ve been playing since 7th edition and I feel the same about the release schedule. It’s just too much to keep up with nowadays unless you play Magic full time.

[@BramLastname]

I don't play Magic, but have tried it, However, I had the same with Yu-Gi-Oh. Now I play Duel Masters (Play's) and Yu-Gi-Oh Rush And I enjoy them much more than the original versions. Duel Masters took Magic the Gathering and got rid most of my annoyances with the core game play (such as lands, converting mana cost and tracking life and toughness) And Yu-Gi-Oh Rush created back and forth gameplay that makes even vanilla's worth using. Edit: Needed more Enters.

[@JudgingFtW]

Albert Einstein once said something like, "No matter what your difficulties in mathematics, I assure you mine are still greater." As a judge, this quote does a great job encapsulating how I feel about stickers.

[@tylerisdrawing9913]

It doesn't matter what the pulse is, Rudy will just say "look at all these idiotic timmies just leaving money on the table - everyone's all "Rawr pitchforks!!!". I don't understand why people can't understand that keeping the game healthy is the only factor this game has for its' long term survival. People like Rudy are going to pump everything up astronomically because they don't care about the actual game, they care about the "investment opportunity". Sure, Magic's been alive for 30 years, but the insane level of predatory mechanics and crossovers have only been really ramped to this level in the past few years.

[@clayxros576]

Looking at the world of MMOs, the number of predatory tactics introduced into a game is directly related to the oncoming death of said game. Whether that's a result of dropping player numbers or the tactics drive players away I can't say. But it doesn't bode well.

[@93rwolf]

@@clayxros576 This has nothing to do with an MMO. That's a ridiculous comparison. Magic has been growing in popularity over the last couple years also.

[@clayxros576]

@@93rwolf Have you played many MMOs?

[@l4l01234]

Yeah fuck that and fuck all "investors" and speculators. Maybe if MtG wasn't so ridiculously expensive I could get some of my friends to actually play it some time.

[@93rwolf]

@@clayxros576 Yes I have. Specifically RuneScape and Old-school RuneScape. MTG is a collectible trading card game. It has literally nothing in common with MMOs.

[@MTGUnpacked]

Stickers fit right in with the wacky mechanics of Un-sets, but making them legal in regular formats is a dumb idea. It's the paper equivalent of Alchemy, and we know how well that has been received so far🤦‍♂️

[@RandomCommenter955]

Hey but they probably will offer a paper arena special of $50 for 10 sticker cards + 4 common reprints of worthless cards and 1 $200 non-reserve list card. Better yet, why not just sell us "Mythics for Paper" $50 and wotc will print us any method we want unless it's a card that is actually worth money. Why not, wotc is trying to import all the failures of arena into paper at this point.

[@matthewsanchez7953]

"He's right you know."

[@xanderlastname3281]

see but stickers are going to get dirty... over time they're going to stick less and less to everything. I feel like they should have used like 2, super thin magnets or something. place one thin magnets on the front, one on the back, and boom. it now "Sticks" to the card, without being easily worn down. or atleast a thin magnet and a super-cheap magnetic metal. idk how expensive magnets are but I suspect getting a thin peice of metal would be cheaper

[@Evelaraevia]

I like competitive magic and silver boarder magic and I think this new "un-set playable in eternal" is bad for both "formats". On one side you get junk like stickers and absurd jokes in legacy, and on the other than they have to tone down the absurdity of unsets to make sure they are somewhat reasonable for eternal play and this is a lose lose. I also feel like this sticker stuff wasn't created with paper magic in mind, this is a mechanic perfect for Arena. Is this going to be the future of magic? Focus development on Arena and if paper magic suffers, so be it?

[@tysonwhitman3303]

keep in mind that there are both legal and non-legal cards; it's true that the legal cards can't be too ridiculous but there're plenty of cards (perhaps called acorn cards? I forget the name) that won't be eternal-legal. In terms of flavor complaints, that's all up to you and I won't argue against it

[@falconJB]

A lot of un-cards are still not going to be legal in normal play so they don't have to tone them down.

[@graefx]

I love unsets and silver border cards. Unstable draft was a blast. I have no issue with including black border cards in an unset for eternal. Stickers should be nowhere near black border cards. Its a thoroughly unmechanic thats just going to lead to disruption and obtrusive book keeping

[@alwaysplaythegame]

The same was said about rolling dice. Stickers will probably come to a standard set at some point (maybe already in the pipeline). Stickers do make many of the 'alchemy' cards more playable in paper. Elite Spellbinder would play a lot better if it just put a sticker on the card. I don't like stickers either, but I do believe that the primary intent of them is to have status effects that are easier to keep track of during gameplay. They kind of are an extension of tokens.

[@graefx]

/s ?

[@missmeeper]

There will always be people like me, new mechanic comes out, time to make a themed commander deck around it.

[@craig1287]

Oh my, will stickers have their own layer? I'm guessing they will just fall into the layer that handles adding and removing abilities, but if they do their own sublayer that will be strange.

[@markmason2216]

Couldn't be that simple, name changing stickers would be in the Text layer, as an example. Power/Toughtness stickers in the ...uh... Power/Toughness layers/sublayers :)

[@StarkMaximum]

I mean if you think about it, a sticker on a card is in fact its own physical layer...

[@macmusial3644]

This is a good question, I assume they'll just function like keyword and power/toughness counters and apply at the same time as abilities/spells that grant those things based on timestamp order, but there might be weird issues with the fact that they can stay on cards as they move through zones so I'm not sure

[@Moersfreak]

Man, I am so glad that I'm not a judge anymore.

[@bissomitch]

How are stickers different from any other characteristic modifying game element? Keyword counters, mutate, P/T defining abilities, etc.? This is not as complex as the anti-sticker faction is making it out to be.

[@Loki-]

Having been introduced to MTG early '00s as a young teenager and barely able to keep track then. It made it really hard coming back being overwhelmed by the countless mechanics introduced by 2015. I'm back again and seeing this continue is making it harder. My point being... I'm not even a brand new player and I'm overwhelmed by the number of sets and mechanics! How do they expect to bring in NEW players??

[@BramLastname]

I started playing Duel Masters about 2 years ago, it's an official Japanese MtG spin-off in case you don't know, And was delighted to see how simple the rules were. No tracking toughness or calculating life totals, No lands and no converting mana costs. It made the game so much more accessible And as a result so much more fun. Tho over 90% of the cards are only in Japanese, So if you wanna play with English cards you're restricted to playing the first few sets, But if you're willing to either trial and error or read the wiki a lot, You can play the official mobile version.

[@sk8rdman]

I haven't really played Magic in years, but given the direction WotC has been going with their D&D products, it doesn't really surprise me that they're slowly ruining MTG too.

[@alexotter1760]

my big question is how well the stickers will stick. anyone whos tried to replace a sticker back on a sticker sheet knows its close to impossible, because peeling the sticker curls it and now the adhesive has been exposed to air and was previously stuck on something and it just never goes back like new. are they super sticky, which might only slightly help and would mostly ruin cards and sleeves? are they thicker stickers which would just kinda be a pain? the only realistic solution i have is to remove all the stickers from a sticker sheet and stick them onto cardstock, cut them out, and then put them in a plastic baggie/sleeve with the original sheet so all the costs remain. then if i ever need one i can just put the cut out sticker inside the sleeve im using. though at that point, is it a legal-for-play sticker sheet? at that point why bother with making them stickers and why not make them punch out tokens, almost exactly how SNC did counters...hmm (not even mentioning how gross stickers can get. if you drop one of those on the floor of your kitchen/LGS its all over. irremovable hairs and a nasty layer of dirt. what a nightmare.)

[@bissomitch]

Post-It flag sales will skyrocket in October 2022.

[@cosmic-creep1384]

I imagine they think everyone uses sleeves lol which i will say i do recommend doing so anyways but it's still odd they want us to risk damaging cards by putting adhesives and shit on em.

[@benpearson49]

03:53 So, they took the obvious Silver Border away, and replaced it with a much harder to see, Acorn. I don't see the sense in this.

[@UnexpectedDanger]

Best part is how often they've botched the printing of these.

[@MachiriReviews]

NOOOOOO STOP TRYING TO MAKE THE FUN AND WHACKY WIZARDS IS LITERALLY KILLING MAGIC!!!

[@ItsDangerousGoAlone]

I remember once telling a friend about silver border sets when walking dead came out and how they did my little pony and transformers silver cards before. It was such a safe assumption at the time, just like how i had the assumption that this unset was silver bordered even though i have already seen all the previews so far. My eyes and mind was not looking for what border color this is, this is the first i realized they are legal cards.

[@MichaelMoore99]

Not all of them. Only cards that WotC deems work within black-bordered rules are legal. Space Family Goblinson is one of those. It's fairly normal except for the name. I could see it in a normal Magic game. Acorn cards, like Angelic Harold or Killer Cosplay, are the old silver-bordered cards and still aren't legal. Unfortunately, WotC says that some sticker cards, like Wicker Picker and Carnival Carnivore, work in black-bordered rules, even though they could've just made all sticker cards Acorn and saved us.

[@TriangleChloros]

@@MichaelMoore99 The issue is that there are cards that *can't* be legal in black border, then there are cards that technically *can* be legal, but probably shouldn't be. From everything they've said, the acorn pretty much only covers the former. Wicker Picker *does* work fine within the rules, with fewer rules changes than Mutate. It just shouldn't be there.

[@MichaelMoore99]

@@TriangleChloros Yeah, if you read my other comment, I was saying they can work, but WotC should've just kept stickers in Acorn and there wouldn't've been so much fuss.

[@redbirdriot]

I've seen people "in the discourse" saying that it's just for fun and you shouldn't worry about it. I think you hit the nail right on the head Prof about why I'm weary of this. If the best case scenario is this is a rather ineffective mechanic in constructed formats, then why even bother making it legal there? I think it's far more likely that there will be something from this set that impacts a format, and if it hopefully doesn't, what about the next gimmick...sorry, "mechanic." WotC/Hasbro wants that money, and I'd wager that means something in this will be pushed. Really hoping I'm wrong, not looking forward to FNM commander nights filled with fucking sticker sheets.

[@ArceusShaymin]

The argument of "if it's ineffective then why make it legal" is so dumbfounding to me. How many mechanics have ended up being fun but not competitively viable in the history of eternal format Magic? If I had to pull a number out of my ass I'd say a *conservative* estimate is 60-70% of all mechanics. Standard can get away with using lower-power mechanics most of the time because it's pruned to only the newest stuff, but in eternal play most mechanics by themselves are just not competitive enough on their own to see play outside of maybe one or two abusable cards. The reason they make it eternal legal should be because it's *rules-codable,* not because of playability. If you can codify it within the rules of current Magic, then unless it's so obviously disruptive that the team doesn't want to print it for other reasons, it should be able to be played in eternal formats. That's one of the reasons that silver border exists - as a testing ground for how certain mechanics COULD work without legally codifying them (which, as an example, Far Out from this set is NOT eternal legal because the team cannot find a way to currently make of ruling of its exact wording mechanically).

[@Shenaldrac]

"It's just for fun" What exactly is fun about damaging my cards? Stickers are _sticky._ They have glue on them that's how they stick. You try to take a sticker off, you'll almost certainly be ripping off the top layer of cardboard and ink. I will 100% worry about that, thank you very much!

[@TerraFindleMan]

I didn't realize that this was a thing. Guess I just have to refuse to buy even one pack/ uncard now. Vote with my wallet!

[@veizour]

"We're playing commander, no stickers" - 2022 new commonly used phrase precedent probably

[@qualquercoisamestre]

That's how they are going to kill paper magic: making mechanics so hard to track that your only option is going to a digital client.

[@voratheexplorer6442]

This reminds me of when Super Smash Bro's Brawl added tripping to "appeal to casual players". Tripping barely did anything to support casual play. But it did create such a massive divide in the playerbase that much of the competitive scene around brawl started with brawl, while the melee players stuck to melee. And in a strange mirror, I bet you most casual players won't even think twice about the implications of Urza's Jace into Pithing Needle, because some of them may have never heard of the needle.

[@ktayna.]

I've been playing Magic for little more than 11 months now, after some 5+ years of yearningly watching people play at college. You see, I'm severely visually impaired, and couldn't read the cards fast enough to make a game feasible, if I could read them at all. Then I found Arena, and I was thrilled; I could finally learn and play at my own pace, and maybe if I played enough matches, I could memorize enough cards and know my decks well enough to actually play in person at my LGS, college and such. And it happenned, and it was blissful; it wasn't all formats and I still rely a lot on my opponnent's goodwill, but I can play some decks, and I was happy. As long as I could train on Arena, I could eventually feel comfortable playing with actual people. Unifinity would be my first Unexperience, and even though I wouldn't be able to train on Arena, I was planning to memorize at least most of the cards as they were revealed, so I could draft it at my LGS. And then there's this. Honestly, it makes me feel like the game doesn't want people like me.

[@KP-us9iy]

We want you! Even those of us without your circumstances still struggle to remember what certain cards do or how they interact. It’s a tough game but still very rewarding. I hope you can continue enjoying it in the future, hopefully without needing to interact with acorn stamps or stickers too much!

[@chrismanuel9768]

@@KP-us9iy The players might, but that doesn't mean the game does.

[@eldonerc2524]

humm, why do a feel that a braille cards in an un-set would be awesome. 🤔

[@ktayna.]

@@KP-us9iy thank you my dude! ❤️ This game has become such an important part in my life, it's so heartwarming to hear understanding players like you

[@krekkaking]

Un-set cards were often villified and ostracized from any casual table as well, because they aren't considered even casual legal

[@BramLastname]

This is where companies should use their influence to add legitimacy, Instead of printing them in black border, Recognise silver border as an official format And make sure this decision is heard by the player base.

[@krekkaking]

@@BramLastname since when has wizards ever made an announcement of something and the playerbase stick to it?

[@BramLastname]

@@krekkaking surprisingly often But the problem is that while on paper this format existed, WotC didn't promote it as a format, As such the majority of the player base considered it not worth playing.

[@RusticHighman]

we let my sister run a few in her deck for a while, after about 5 games that crap had to go. permanently.

[@smjsuperscott]

My Old Buzzbark dice roll deck is one of my favorite decks. It has very average power and just a lot of dice rolling mechanics, not legal. I was so mad at the decision to not make any un cards commander legal when it was teased they might be, it became the straw breaking the camel's back and I walked away from the game for years. Now that there are themed commander decks from 40k and un cards from this new set will actually be legal, it's like they're doing everything I wanted in order to come back... funny that this video expressed the exact opposite opinion to this viewpoint.

[@blasterbom7651]

This is a test for sticker transformation cards. They did a test of the full card front sticker on a secret lair bonus card. We will probably get a card that has a one time transformation(ever) and if you want to play the card you'll have to rebuy it each time you choose to transform it. Makes sense, they'll be a limited number of the untransformed card so more packs will have to be bought to provide for the need. Subscriptions for individual cards effectively.

[@jeremylove7]

Imagine how valuable NM sticker sheets will be in 30 years 😋

[@deolamitico]

least rich r/mtgfinance user in 30 years

[@josephcourtright8071]

If they made a good game, then they would get sales. This type of thing is how you erode a player base.

[@griffonsarcade]

Back when I was a new player, I used to hear people say that they stopped playing mtg when Kamigawa added rat ninjas to the game, and they thought that was too stupid so they stopped playing. I wonder if I'm gonna be as jaded and gatekeepy as those dorks someday, by telling some new players that stickers ruined the game for me and it's a dumb game

[@earp]

Fully agree that the opt-in and opt-out of silver borders was fundamental in my mind. Keeping the wacky and weird seperate from the "regular" magic made them special and different. Unless WotC is making unset card that are close to or mirror actual play, the dissolution of silver border is a mistake.

[@bissomitch]

The whole point is the not wacky and weird cards from Unstable were defacto excluded from play in many players' minds due to being silver-bordered. Are stickers "wacky and weird"? In my opinion, not any more so than keyword counters. MTG players are, as usual, overreacting to change.

[@elijahdavila3684]

@@bissomitch You're trying to divorce the mechanic from the themeing here which can't be done because the only stickers that exist at this point are wacky.