Supporting the Players' Union

I've been playing Magic for over 13 years of my life with a modest number of tops eights in the past few years. While the amount of money offered on the pro tour is not of the greatest concern to me, the escalating expenses that have been passed onto the competitive/casual player base concern me greatly.

For many years, we've had 'crises' where players drifted away from the game, and were replaced. I was never worried.

But an alignment of various circumstances, especially the number of sets per year and the increased costs of competitive decks through designing chase staples like Thoughtseize that could have been printed at uncommon, and designing ubiquitously necessary staples like Tarmogoyf and Garruk which have put multiple standard-legal cards at prices they have seldom approached. I have never seen a year where so many of my friends have drifted out of the habit of playing Constructed competitively, and sold their collections, or considered selling them. Aside from the cast-iron core of the competitive circuits, there seems to be significant attrition at the FNM level of play. And fewer players seem to be coming to replace them.

Given the exorbitant cost of procuring competitive decks as ground-level player in the current environment, I cannot in good conscience introduce friends to competitive play as I have in the past. The best decks are overwhelmingly superior to any budget facsimiles they could reproduce, and the best decks are far beyond the price of the 12-22 demographic.

Wizards' policies may be profitable in the short-term, but if the recent changes become the status quo they may become a significant concern for the long-term viability of the game.

The fact that the prices are as high as they are is proof that magic is very popular with the standard-playing crowd. What do you want them to do, print the best cards at common so there is no reason for people to buy packs/boxes? I don't think that would work too well.