MTG fans respond to Wizards attempts to revitalize Standard
WOTCWill the game’s previous flagship format return to its former glory?
It’s something of an open secret in MTG circles that the Standard format is past its glory days. What was once the only way to play Magic: The Gathering – and remained the game’s main mode of play for decades – is being picked up less and less in person.
After a long period of silence on Standard, Wizards of the Coast finally addressed the issue with promises to revitalize the format in May of 2022. Now, Wizards has broached the matter again and followed up, and MTG fans have their own take on the subject.
Why MTG Standard is losing popularity
WOTCSeeing Wizards actively working to address the problem of Standard will likely come as a relief to many players. While there are many factors inherent in the decline of Standard as an in-person format, one of the predominant factors is increasingly becoming its price. With the cost of MTG products rising all the time, players are increasingly finding themselves priced out of their favorite formats.
Outside of the casual, community-focused aspect, a large part of the appeal of Highlander formats like Commander is the price tag. 100-card decks can absolutely be expensive, but paying for a single copy of an expensive card can feel a whole lot more justifiable than purchasing the multiple copies you’ll need to make a Standard deck function optimally.
Additionally, not being subject to set rotation means that a card bought for Commander will retain its usefulness indefinitely, and Commander is not bogged down by stale meta environments due to the sheer amount of cards on offer.
Wizards’ attempts to fix MTG Standard and fan reactions
WOTC’s most recent announcement regarding Standard is a push towards making in-person events more reliable and rewarding at local game stores. While this is a step in the right direction, it is still a push that is leaving many fans unsatisfied.
As suggested by Reddit User Boozkoo, ‘If they really want to revitalize paper standard then they need to find ways for MTGArena and paper to support each other.’
While there was initially a large amount of synergy between the two products, inflated price points and set rotation created a disconnect fairly quickly between the two forms of play. Now Commander enjoys the top spot of in-person magic, and Standard reigns only in Arena.
Hopefully, there will be space in the future for Standard and Commander to exist side by side as popular paper and online formats. While Commander’s overwhelming popularity is ultimately good for the health of the game, MTGArena proves that there is still a healthy appetite for Standard among players, there are simply barriers to entry currently preventing it from achieving its full potential.
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