Vivi Ornitier is a 3’11” black mage who, whereas going through the existential disaster of questioning his place on this planet, fights evil aliens and apocalyptic gods in Last Fantasy IX. Twenty-five years later, Vivi remains to be related, as he has additionally damaged Magic: The Gathering Customary format. Whereas I’m pleased to have a set of Magic: The Gathering playing cards that includes characters from my favourite JRPG, the dynamic Universes Past units deliver to the MTG ecosystem is problematic to say the least, because it dangers harming the inspiration that sustained Magic: The Gathering for a very long time.
As somebody who has been introduced again to Magic due to a Universes Past set, I do know the enchantment. On the identical time, being again jogged my memory of the outdated occasions once I was extraordinarily excited concerning the probability of getting a replica of Akroma, Angel of Wrath, or once I turned obsessive about Arcanis, the All-powerful. Each of those legendary creatures are native to Magic lore, and so they have remained iconic for many years. A part of me does not wish to fall into the nostalgic entice of pondering Magic had an essence that’s now being misplaced, however the different half is aware of if Wizards of the Coast goes to maintain Universes Past authorized in Customary, it may at the least attempt more durable to make the playing cards balanced.
I do know the troubles Vivi Ornitier causes (particularly when paired with Agatha’s Cauldron), however I wouldn’t be enjoying Magic in 2025 if it weren’t for the Last Fantasy set. When it was introduced two years in the past, I immediately knew I might be again within the recreation I had barely touched for 10 years. I requested a good friend to lend me a Commander deck and started attending my native card recreation retailer. I began saving a part of my wage for the fateful day I might preorder the official pre-constructed Commander decks and purchase as many boosters as I may.
To remain alive and kicking, a recreation wants gamers, and Universes Past has proved itself as a potent supply of revenue for Hasbro. Our relationship with popular culture has modified within the final 20 years, with many firms specializing in converging and overlapping as many IPs as potential. From Ernest Cline’s 2011 ebook Prepared Participant One to Fortnite, many have appeared for tactics to create the proper playground the place pop-culture followers can take pleasure in their favourite franchises, regardless of the recipient they have been put into.
There’s energy within the Universes Past venture due to how effectively it communicates with informal gamers and particularly with those that are new to the sport. (Even when Mark Rosewater just lately disputed the declare that Universes Past is primarily focused at new gamers.) In the course of the Last Fantasy set prerelease occasion, I performed subsequent to a man who mentioned he had bought his older brother’s outdated playing cards to pay for a Last Fantasy play booster field and a Commander precon. I can solely think about the tales we’ll hear as soon as the Avatar: The Final Airbender set is launched, one that’s already making individuals excited with cabbage sellers and memorable moments represented within the playing cards Wizards of the Coast has revealed up to now.
After years of getting left my Magic playing cards with my good friend, I purchased a brand new binder the place I hold my uncommon Last Fantasy playing cards — with a particular part just for these referencing Last Fantasy IX, which is my favourite numbered title within the well-known Sq. Enix sequence of JRPGs. It goes with out saying that Vivi is one in all my favourite characters as effectively. Nevertheless, I do not suppose he ought to be in Magic, not at the least in the way in which he is now.
Though Vivi won’t be the most important menace in Commander, he has been a behemoth in Customary, particularly mixed with the cardboard Agatha’s Soul Cauldron. Vivi not solely grows greater and hits the opponent the extra spells you play, it then turns that into mana, which you should use to solid much more spells. When you exile Vivi with a Soul Cauldron, then all of your creatures get those self same talents. Based mostly on information collected from over 600 matches within the Customary format in a number of contexts, 41% of the winners performed with an Izzet Cauldron deck. In different phrases, there’s little room for inventive and totally different methods, regardless of the Customary format now together with a fairly large variety of units.
Apart from, Vivi Ornitier is the costliest card in a set whose primary goal was to draw new followers and introduce them to the sport. If somebody needs to have a single copy of this card, they should pay round $100 (the cardboard was promoting at $98.98 on TCG Participant as of the time of scripting this story). Whereas the spike in worth can also be as a consequence of scalping (the apply of shopping for giant portions of standard or limited-edition merchandise at retail worth to scale back provide and improve demand), or the variety of new individuals who solely wish to accumulate, if the cardboard will get banned on account of the skewed metagame, that worth will probably drop, pissing off multiple devoted collector.
New gamers would possibly come to Magic: The Gathering as a result of they will have fairly foil playing cards of their favourite online game character, however older gamers would possibly get bored with seeing their beloved recreation diluted by different IPs (a standard criticism about Universes Past). They will really feel much less motivated to competitively have interaction with Magic as a result of a set made to please one other fanbase is altering their favourite recreation.
Magic: The Gathering has a lot to supply: It may be a enjoyable recreation for brand spanking new gamers, an incredible passion for informal ones, and essentially the most aggressive TCG on this planet. Universes Past can deliver some nice taste to the sport, but when the associated fee is alienating a loyal participant base, then Wizards ought to maybe rethink a few of its technique. Vivi is simply essentially the most obtrusive instance.
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