[easybox]Due to this article's possibly inflammatory nature, we must note that this author's views may not reflect the opinions and views of ManaNation.com, its owners, its staff or editorial team.[/easybox]

Hi, I'm Chris McNutt and lately I've become obsessed with the nature and structure of the Magic community. What influences its growth and decline. How our favorite shops can gain custom so that they can continue to be our gaming sanctuaries. This is something that effects us all both immediately and chaotically (like the Butterfly Effect, not the one with Ashton Cutcher.)

There are a few ideas I would like to get across and get players thinking about. I'll admit that I could be wrong about some of the causation and speculative outcomes, but that's why I want people talking and thinking about it. We need this to be part of our regular dialogue as members in the MtG community. I expect and hope that some of this is controversial and that it might anger some folks (probably the really vocal ones). If you believe I'm wrong, I want to hear about it so that I can refine my views and pontificate more accurately.

For the sake of simplification let's say there are 3 kinds of players. Casual, Hardcore and Pro.

Pros are the players that we know by name or reputation. Those we are most familiar with have regular articles on various web sites and Magic makes up a portion if not all of their livelihood. Pro players almost never buy packs and only rarely do they buy singles. Columnists represent an entertainment factor but on the whole Pros do almost nothing to directly increase money to the bottom line of Wizards of the Coast (WotC), quite the reverse I believe. Arguments can be made that they influence spending of the masses but those arguments are emotional and can easily be shot down. They are more akin to reporters and talk show hosts then celebrities. Decks, cards, and strategies are the stars of their shows that we tune in to watch. They are certainly a wonderful part of the equation and I read all the articles I can make time for just like you do. I have my favorite authors from the various sites, hang on their every word, and build the decks that they talk about. Their salaries however come out as a portion of every pack sold, and it always comes back to that.

Hardcore players range from those that you never want to have to play against at the FNMs (not the annoying guy but the one that tends to win) to those that top 8 PTQs and are trying to become Pro. They buy packs, sometimes boxes. Some crack packs looking for those chase cards we all want, but they generally have a large enough trade stock that they can shift things around to get what ever they need. They are also more likely to buy singles. Singles are what keeps most shops open. Singles represent the largest profits for stores and dealers and no direct income for WotC at all. Hardcore players represent the 2nd largest buying group of packs and singles and contribute adequately to the financial stability of the sport.

Casual players are everyone else. They make up the bulk of Magic sales buying packs and boxes and without them, there would be no Pros or Hardcore players. They buy singles as well though generally with a different focus then the Hardcore players. They have a great deal of interest in cards that the Pros and Hardcore players just won't touch. I also think that many of them don't read the articles or Net Deck. The only Pro players names they would likely know are those that someone else mentioned to them. WotC and Magic would not have endured without these guys.

There are quite a few implications you can draw from this, and it's their disparity that has drawn my focus.

When you look at things like the Pro Tour and the big tournament structure you can see that they were designed with a top down view. It looks like they have been modeled off of professional sports. Big public events that are meant to legitimize the game as a sport. Large cash prizes, celebrities etc. This approach though is terribly misguided and I'm amazed that it's been sustainable. With few exceptions Magic is not a spectators sport. To enjoy it you must participate. They could hold the Pro Tour in a basement in Cleveland and as long as the Pros wrote their columns and we got our deck lists there would be absolutely no change the community. There are no bleachers, no season passes. No one says they want to grow up to be LSV. They might want to be LIKE him, and play Magic for a living, but no one wants to actually BE LSV. So what exactly does the Pro Tour (and invitation only event) do for the largest group of magic players, the group that actually keeps Wizards doors open?

Let's look at some numbers. These aren't going to be dead on but they are close.

A Pro Tour costs WotC about $1,000,000 each. About $250,000 of that goes to pay the Pros for showing up and/or playing and the rest is in the venue, travel, accommodations, product, signage, staff/judges etc. There are 3 PTs a year around the world so that's $3 million. A Grand Prix, which anyone can enter (and have recently been breaking the 1,000 player mark) cost under $100,000 in the US and more than that abroad. The venue costs are paid by the tournament organizer and recouped through entry fee. Wizards sells product and things to organizers, but they still lose money on the whole. This year there are 19 GPs around the world so that's around $2 million total. As a Hardcore player, I get no less satisfaction from the coverage and information that comes out of a GP then I do a PT. I get more in fact because I can actually go and play in GPs. Casual players benefit in a similar way.

What if we had no Pro Tours and instead of 19 Grand Prix events we had 50 Grand Prix Events. Nearly one every week all year round. So many that they would be close enough for almost every one to drive to and play in. I can see some potential problems with this, but pretty much all of those are of a transitional nature and not one of structure. Pro Tour Qualifiers could be reinvented as larger Grand Prix Trials with the wins feeding into a bye and perhaps travel structure to exotically located GPs. GPTs would become very relevant because so many more people would be able to go to the more local GPs etc. Organizations like Star City have proven that there is a demand for more large tournaments, and further they have proven that cash tournaments that are not "invite only" can be successful and profitable.

Pros (the vocal minority) won't like this because it cuts into their pocket books. This is a personal and selfish argument. And so it should be, I'd be angry too. But with change comes change... Wizards could just as easily double the pro payouts and work things around so as not to greatly affect them. Since I'm not a Pro, I don't see why they should bother. After all, as I've illustrated above, the Pros do not really contribute positively to Wizards financial livelihood.

Aside from wanting this change so I can go to more GPs, I think this would be a boon for the local markets. Casuals are not likely to be able to expand their personal budgets (allowance etc) much so we need more of them. We get more by having more and larger successful shops. Shop's Magic business survives off singles, WotC off packs. More big and relevant tournaments means more singles and packs sold. More singles and packs sold mean healthier and more viable shops. More shops means more market competition which leads to more choice and diversity for the players. More players means more money in the Magic community. More money in the magic community means more and larger tournaments. More tournaments mean more prize money. More prize money means more competition and more Pros...

We're locked in the wrong cycle. An immediate or gradual change is warranted and if we focus on the bottom up, if we realize that Magic is not like basketball, if we take the time and focus in on creating a larger player base we can make this system not only sustainable but unstoppable.

With the right community structure all WotC would have to do is nudge the structure and create the cards. For too long Magic has survived solely off the creative efforts of the design team and despite the bureaucracy of Wizards management. Local stores are not well supported by WotC and it's time that some steps up to help them. That someone is us.

I'll leave you with one final thought: What do you suppose might happen to Magic if the existing equation has too big of a hiccup? Hasbro only has to twitch a finger to collapse WotC and bring it all in-house. Its amazing they haven't done so already, but our best hope for keeping this thing alive is to keep it in the hands of Wizards and that means helping them be successful. Sometimes helping means fostering ideas and creating conversation, so let's talk about it.

Chris McNutt

fatecreatr@gmail.com

twitter.com/fatecreatr