Have you ever felt... tired, of Magic?
General forum
Posted on Jan. 1, 2022, 11:24 p.m. by TypicalTimmy
I've been struggling for about two years now with Magic. On some occasions a set will reignite my interest as The Forgotten Realms did. Ikoria also did this but it was a massive letdown for me because it felt so clunky and awkward and just poorly executed.
For the past two-ish years, Magic has felt more like a cumbersome burden than an enjoyment. The last set I was majorly invested in and loved was Ixalan, which debuted in 2017. Since then, only four sets have garnered any intrigue from me:
- War of the Spark (Planeswalker love)
- Ikoria (Big dumb monsters)
- Kaldheim (Personal interest and reasons)
- The Forgotten Realms (Been playing D&D since 2005 or so)
But of these, almost all of them felt like a major letdown.
- War of the Spark, while I personally loved it, felt mechanically desaturated and the density of most Planeswalkers were lackluster and not viable in most cases
- Ikoria felt like wasted potential and their shining mechanic of Mutate feels overly cumbersome and poorly executed
- Kaldheim just felt... bad. It took OG Ravnica 3 releases to truly diversify 10 Guilds. Kaldheim tried to establish 10 WORLDS in a single set. Kaldheim definitely should have been 2 sets at least. Everything felt only marginally finished with functionally zero synergy between them
- The Forgotten Realms, while I personally loved it to death, was not loved by the community at large and - from my understanding - was mostly considered a failure in terms of sales and engagement, which broke my heart
Magic has been a large part of my life for 7 years now, and now I can't even bring myself to make a new deck. I sit down to build and it's just... it feels pointless. Meaningless. Worthless.
I walked away from the game before because I was tired of the arguing and drama over Secret Lairs. I returned when I faced serious health concerns and was depressed and just wanted to reunite with friends. But... it just doesn't feel the same anymore.
I'm not sure why I am saying any of this. I think Magic is dead to me. It has lost its spark, pun intended.
And that just hurts.
psionictemplar says... #3
Forenote: This is messy rambling and may not make sense reading straight through. Each section is kind of it's own thought.
Speaking from personal experience, I've been playing magic on and off for almost 25 years now. A break every now and then is good for a mental reset, and even if it takes a while, that's ok. I have several friends who have stepped away from the game and come back as well, so what you're saying here doesn't seem odd to me at all. There were a couple things I did want to discuss/clarify with you on. (Probably won't be many replies from me tonight, but I'm still hoping to provide a perspective at the very least.)
I saw where you said you were majorly invested in the past and I'm assuming this is on the mental side of things. Formats, cards in the sets, new interactions, etc. It's really mentally taxing to keep up with how many products they release. If it were financial, then I would say don't worry about it given how easy it can be to find cards online.
When it comes to building new decks, motivation is probably the most important part in the process imo and having a goal there to work towards can be really helpful. For instance, I'm trying to find a way to break Jadzi, Oracle of Arcavios// Journey to the Oracle. Just looking at it as a puzzle to be solved is a big part of keeping things engaging for me. When it comes to playing, I think realizing what your goals/desires as a player are can be very helpful to finding a path to enjoyment. If you're looking to just have casual fun with friends, try staying away from web articles/podcasts to avoid having creativity stifled. While outside sources can be good idea fodder, having things talked about as bad could damper your own enthusiasm towards it. Do your own thing and it will probably be more enjoyable.
Whatever path you choose from here, I wish you the best. Good luck out there and don't be afraid to talk to someone.
January 2, 2022 12:19 a.m.
The thing with hobbies is that they cannot offer pure enjoyment. In isolation, a task without others is a fruitless mentality. Thereupon, if you are to enjoy Magic, it must be done with a group or it must beckon other interests.
For me, MTG was the ignition of several pleasures. As disport, I love writing, reading, delving, and illustrating—the game substantiated these greatly. Moreover, it offers a group wherewith to play and betake time. Magic, to me, was a conduit for many different things, but if it does not strike an axis with you, that is also fine.
You should evaluate how you enjoy Magic, not why. In what lens do you see it? In what times do you choose it? In what ways does it help, and with who? If these answers falter, so be it; such is life. Best of fortune finding your hold.
January 2, 2022 12:22 a.m. Edited.
Omniscience_is_life says... #5
Never should you think you have to keep pushing at something just because you have been doing so for a while. Having sunk capital into something is a poor reason to continue to sink more into it.
If at any point a hobby feels like just another roadblock in the way of what you really want to do, well... why continue? Especially with something like Magic, where you can just box your cards and come back later should you so wish.
I personally have felt the effect of MTG fatigue in the form of certain decks; I tend to spend over an hour a day for months on a deck that I feel has real potential, and that occasionally makes me just burn out and give it a rest for a while. Sometimes I come back, and sometimes I don't--really just whatever will make me feel best.
Magic is a fantasy trading card game, in the end. Not something that should be causing distress, boredom, anxiety, depression, etc.
Overall: pursue whatever you think will best support a good mental state, and keep you doing what you love. Whatever that may be.
January 2, 2022 2:32 a.m.
fadelightningmm says... #6
I get exactly what you mean feeling fatigued with magic. I think part of the issue is there’s too much product now. We don’t get time to bask in a product for a few months like we once did even 5 years ago. WOTC feels like they are full on pedal to the metal which makes neat worlds like ikoria, kaldheim, and strixhaven feel like momentary blips than true investments like the 3 block structures from years past.
The other major factor that makes magic feel tiring right now in my opinion is the focus on edh. For me edh is the only format I play and over the past several years the format has become a lot quicker and very homogeneous. When wotc started printing multiple commander sets a year with cards that significantly warped the format it became a chore. I think burnout in magic can occur very easily when the games you are playing feel monotonous
January 2, 2022 3:10 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #7
No, I've never really felt tired of magic. Card combinations, interactions, rules tidbits, flavor connections, the gears never stop whirring in my head. As an escape from real life, an outlet for creativity that keeps bubbling up and can't be spent in other aspects, Magic is on a pedestal in my head that's not easy to come down from.
What has changed, though, is the Gathering. Live play is getting harder and harder to realize, many people don't trust the world and won't sit down at a table to play a few games. When I'm having a thousand ideas in between play sessions, and opportunity to test out just two of them, and they don't work out as well, but by the time I'm able to play again, I don't recall what the actual issues were and the frustrations build up. The end goal of building decks still is to play them against other decks, and the ratio of building decks vs. playing decks is severely distorted.
Combine that with the insane amount of product to keep up with and I do believe I understand where the exhaustion could set in. The effort of keeping your knowledge up to date while playing 2 or 3 sessions in between set releases, especially if you're into the world building and everything feels like a quick money grab more than a well-developed product, disappointment is bound to set in.
Best of luck with getting through the frustrations though, probably the best thing is to step away and breathe a bit. The fear of missing out is real though, a few months without following Magic and there's hundreds of new cards again. The game is always moving, that's probably why it won't ever feel the same, but nostalgia is powerful enough to blind you to that fact.
January 2, 2022 5:17 a.m.
Sorry to hear TypicalT. I guess sometimes it can be just as hard for us to put a finger on what draws us to something as it is to put a finger on what keeps us interested in it. That being said, I always enjoy your comments and here, so I hope that you might continue to post about the game, even if you feel at a lull with it, which is completely understandable : )
Honestly, I think it's very unrealistic for most players to keep up with the pace of sets unless they have a vested interest in doing that. Tournament players or content creators might feel the need to jump into every set, but as a run of the mill magic player, I know I'll skip sets or blocks at a time, and it feels a little dull sometimes.
That being said, there is a certain unspoken quality to a lot of magic sets. The new visits to Innistrad felt very underwhelming to me even though I'm a big fan of classic horror and the setting in general. I went in with a lot of enthusiasm, but then looked at everything and shrugged, meh. Commander sets recently feel very samey even if they are giving us new stuff, and modern horizons seems to be the land of bombs, which in itself does make it less appealing. There is an unspoken quality, and I feel like it's that as a player, all of us can feel something about a set. I always feel a sense of, how much excitement went into this set at design, and honestly it shapes a lot of my experience. It's kind of like seeing live music. If the band on stage is really into it but they're not the best, it still might be a lot more engaging for the audience than an amazing band who couldn't give a fluff.
AFR had so much fun in it. Every time I look at my cards from that set I find something new. Even down to the little details like, Split the Party That's a throw away card in any other set, but you put some love into the design and the flavor and it's one of my favorite cards. Minsc and Boo even showed up and did exactly they do; be a little nuts and throw hamsters : ) Not everything in AFR was perfect, but there was so much good. But then I look at that and I look at Crimson Vow and it's like seeing Die Hard Bruce Willis vs Live Free or Die Hard Bruce Willis. One of them just stopped caring : )
I just think it's interesting TypicalTimmy, because it seems like we like the same sets and have similar downswings. It's probably fair to say that every set will never be a hit for everyone, and people are always welcome to like whatever they like, but at the same time there is a tangible difference in the creative energy that goes into different sets. I guess when it comes down to it, it's hard to judge the game by it's worst set, but it's also hard to judge the game by it's best set.
Either way, best of luck with everything in the world, and have a wonderful day today : )
January 2, 2022 8:04 a.m.
Yeah, I've had fatigue too. No time for physical gathering lately + cost of cards = less interest. I'm trying to not spend $$ for something I may sit down with once a month. I also tire out with EDH because we have so many pushed commanders, WUBRG commanders, do-it-all commanders that I have seen so frequently. At least a few of my buddies will play commanders that aren't the top 25 popularity (others exclusively do) & it grows tiresome when people can't read the room so frequently & they just keep wasting my time with some super-popular easy-mode commander. Everyone groans or rolls their eyes when they are playing their pet-decks & this happens - it ends up being a foregone conclusion that some do-it-all commander will outcompete everyone else, yet it seems like human nature that players keep doing that & so it is a tiresome thing for me. In addition, I feel pretty uncomfortable feeding the Hasbro-machine at this point, but I know my feeling on feeding the machine is the exception - players are still shelling out for boxes more & more each year.
January 2, 2022 10:01 a.m.
TypicalTimmy I’ve been there too. Usually it’s weird or interesting cards that pull me back into mtg after a period of fatigue. Also, forgotten realms was one of my favorite sets and pulled me back in after a long period of absence.
January 2, 2022 10:23 a.m.
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I too liked Forgotten Realms - I think that is the one place you were incorrect in your assertion: most critics have been acclaiming Forgotten Realms.
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My other major fatigue point has been tribal stuff. To me it is no coincidence that there has been a tribe-heavy element to all those sets you mentioned. Hard to pull a Kaldheim booster when you find another friggn elf-berserker that you are never gonna use. If you are into all these tribes, good for you (we've had about 9 months of them now). For those of us that don't give diddly for tribes it has been fatiguing. Really tiresome sets lately for people that want to brew without tribe-chase cards. Not easy to get excited for alot of these & to me that was a disappointing element to all the Innistrad stuff: more friggn tribal... but those lands were sweet. I know, people like there tribes, but I'm just saying, if you couldn't give 2 shits for them it has been a rough year.
January 2, 2022 10:46 a.m.
You aren't alone. Since last August I've been struggling with depression robbing me of my ability to enjoy things, including Magic. I think I only played two Magic events from August to the end of the year. I don't think there's anything wrong with needing to take a break because you're not feeling the game. Or sometimes changing what you're focusing on. I'm probably going to start working on some cube ideas in the new year. I don't think there's any shame in needing to change how you approach Magic or just taking a break for a while because it's not bringing you joy.
January 2, 2022 12:19 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #13
Been here too. I use to be super into modern was trying to build all the meta decks - the format basically died when another lgs popped up in the area; we had 3 at the time and it splintered the player base. Now it's all commander and draft - I've found that I really enjoy limited being able to figure out what's best in a tiny card Pool and being a $15 activity I can do every other friday to socialize/improve at has been much more enjoyable than trying to keep up with the metagame of other formats.
January 2, 2022 1:17 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #14
Also, I feel the game has become very oversaturated. Between content creation and product releases it's very hard to enjoy sets before they're trying to shove another 1 down your throat. With lock downs/covid shenanigans it was amplified 1000%.
Like, did anyone get to play commander legends? I got lucky enough to get some friends together and play at home but it would of been super fun to play at my lgs. That format had to be the best drafting experience I've had last year and I never got to do it in store :(
Sets get figured out and everyone is onto the next new shiny thing - it's hard to brew honestly because so many people are already figuring out the skeletons/bulk of the deck you'll be lucky to get above a 30% difference in cards.
January 2, 2022 6:03 p.m.
I am tired of Magic (he says while buying a foil finale of devastation out of boredom). It takes WAY too much effort to build a deck, pilot a deck, and honestly....just dealing with bad apples. Even replacing the bad apples with good ones, the above 2 problems still stand.
Life is difficult, doing basic math is difficult to the point where piloting my Xenagos deck (big beaters hasted and doubled power) has become hard simply due to a simple numeric equation which I can solve easily on paper but its incredibly difficult in my head.
Covid DESTROYED me, in more ways than one. I haven't played since March 2020 and I have tried to keep up with the sets and updating decks (online anyways) but to no avail. Not to mention other life issues/opportunities arise that take immediate priority over a card game.
I miss the Magic and the Gathering in Magic the Gathering. Covid took away the Magic and the Gathering. All that is left is THE
January 2, 2022 6:07 p.m.
FormOverFunction says... #16
The COVID aspect of this is a whole topic on its own, both very personal and also probably similar/shared. Outside of that, I wanted to say that walking away from magic is not only an option, but I think a good idea. Stash your cards in a safe place and then swing out to see what’s out there for other things to do (if possible). I don’t regret the times I spent outside of magic, and wouldn’t want any of you to feel like it’s an impossibility. I would MUCH rather have some of you come back in a year with a post about how you got the itch back rather than have some of you just drop off the site. You’ve got to take care of yourselves, and skipping a few sets is MORE than worth it.
January 2, 2022 7:43 p.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #17
Thanks, everybody. Means a lot that so many of you took the time out of your weekend to respond to me. :(
As for the health concerns, doctor has me on a 6-month plan of medications to try and fight it. He hasn't done any tests for cancer - citing that there is a very serious insurance problem in our way. Essentially, a biopsy requires surgery (no matter how minor) to take a sample and test. The insurance company would likely refuse to cover the charges, saying that he should have expended all other reasonable tests first. So even if it is throat cancer, despite having insurance, I could be stuck with thousands of dollars in bills. So he wants to try medicine to see if it is something else, first.
His thoughts are that it is not cancer, but something entirely different. The medicine I am on has helped reduce the pain and difficulty breathing, but the lumps / masses are still there. I'll be on this medication for several more months. So we haven't exactly ruled out cancer, moreso we are abiding by what the insurance company mandates. However, with that said, there is promise as we are seeing improvements with the medicine.
I know it's typically not a good idea to be such an open book online, but honestly it's what helps me cope and manage. I don't have anyone in my life to talk to things about. No friends in person, and my family is... well. sigh
So I'm basically perpetually alone. All I do is work myself to death, come home and fall asleep with my kitty. Adding up the hours from my job, I've worked nearly 3,500 hours this year alone at one job + my second job I held for a while which was another 20 hours a week for a few months.
I don't have anyone or anything in my life anymore. That's why I am so open on here... it's the only place I feel like I have any connection. Even still, I feel like I don't even really have friends on here anymore, either...
So... thank you. It truly means the world to me that so many of you have taken the time to reply. Helps me realize that the world isn't as dark and lonely as I believe it to be...
January 2, 2022 8:52 p.m.
TheoryCrafter says... #18
I could literally play this game for hours if I had someone to play with. In the Ten years plus or minus I've actively played Magic fatigue has never been a problem. At this point I've been restricted to just playing against myself due to a variety of factors.
I've had my Issues, but nothing huge enough to make me want to walk away.
I concur with the others on here. Take a break and reassess. If we don't burn out ourselves first, we'll be here when you get back. And you'll be in my prayers.
January 2, 2022 10:12 p.m.
CasualCucumber says... #19
TypicalTimmy it is always good to vent out, especially here since it seems to help you. As for the financial aspect to your health, I can't comment too much on my own experience (my country does it differently). But one thing I've learned in my life, is that my life is worth whatever the cost it takes to keep on living.
As for magic take a break. Don't look at any new cards or any magic related news. Only pick-up your cards to play with people if you so desire. But getting into a new hobby often helps with the fatigue. The past year I've gotten into miniature wargames with my siblings, and it feels great to learn new things and explore new ideas. I just love painting small dudes now, and it gives me great stress relief after work.
If you can handle it at the moment maybe try some new hobbies - it could be anything. Woodworks? Reading? Movies? writing? getting out, walks, social life? Perhaps there is a small club (gathering) of people you could get invested in - maybe they play boardgames? maybe they go out shooting? maybe they cook together? or maybe you just want to know everything about birds? If there is one thing I've learned from being sick is that it gives a great opportunity for self-reflection and exploration of yourself, as daunting as the challenge ahead might be.
Whatever you decide Timmy, this site will still be full of nerds ready to open their arms and welcomming you back when/if the times come.
January 3, 2022 4:15 a.m.
January 3, 2022 7:05 p.m.
I second everyone who suggests taking a break. It doesn't even have to be a full departure, if you don't want it to be. Put your cards on a high shelf, don't play, but stick around on the forums, if they're your main outlet. Just hang around and chat, theorize, create cards, do whatever you enjoy. Or if you would prefer to make a clean break, you know you're always welcome around here.
Take care of yourself, TypicalTimmy. You deserve it.
January 3, 2022 7:15 p.m.
TypicalTimmy I'm pretty new here but I know for sure that there are a bunch of people who are always going to be wishing you the best and happy to see you around and chatting about cards and things. It's hard to say how magic will be and if it will ever feel as good as those real best sets, but I guess all we can do is see what comes out and hope for the best. 'I do feel like magic is in a current limbo. Like, they don't know if they want to be arena or alchemy or flavor or power or whatever else. A lot of the older sets might have had bad cards in them by todays standards, but at least they knew exactly what they wanted to be. Now it's just like they throw everything at the wall and try to see what sticks, and I think it leads to boom/bust feelings for everyone, which is, I don't know.
Heh, sorry, I don't mean to go on about sets and things. TypialT, feel free to PM me if you ever want to chat about, well, anything. How AFR was awesome? How Ikoria felt actually powerful? Or whatever, really. It's cool either way, but if you do want to chat, feel free to shoot me a "Hi"
January 4, 2022 6:56 p.m.
I was hoping Dominaria would be like "Legends" from back in the days. To some extent it was... less synergy, less "paint by numbers" design on those cards. Dominaria was one I enjoyed more. I loved 50% of Commander Legends (monarch enchantments were great) & HATED the chase-card portion of it.
I am looking forward to Streets of New Capenna because I THINK it will embrace the less tribal, less synnergy aspects of magic. That aspect where you open a pack & think "what am I going to do with this bizarreness?", instead of: "oh they want me to put this Chase ninjalord in a ninja deck". Notice one of those statements is a question & the other is a foregone conclusion -- that is one thing I've noticed with a bunch of sets, is the lack of open-endedness on the types of cards they have been putting out there.
January 5, 2022 7:16 p.m.
jamochawoke says... #24
I only play Modern and Commander over Spelltable right now. I hate Arena. There are much better digital card games.
Before the pandemic I also played Limited Draft and Sealed. New sets mean occasionally I'll find a new card that works better in some of my existing eternal format decks.
I only build decks around themes I like. I started playing in Modern with Burn, Warriors, and Elves btw so my perspective has always been around finding a theme and pushing it towards more and more competitive versions of itself. So actual playing I don't feel any real fatigue.
What I do feel fatigue with is collecting. I also was an avid collector of themed cards. Currently I own every Dragon art ever printed and available to get for customers. I am 1 card short of every warrior (ironically thought that was too expensive now it is 4x the price I thought was too expensive lol). My angels and knights collections are getting cumbersome too now. I felt massive wallet fatigue after this past year with all the different sets and jerks from mtgfinance speculating on cards I wanted.
I basically stopped buying packs. Just so not worth it. I rarely pick up singles now unless the card is a dragon or exceptionally powerful. I'm getting ready to dump a few thousand cards I never play with. But I'll always keep and play with my pet decks and keep my collections unless I hit some crazy emergency where I need big money.
LordBlackblade says... #2
It something has become more of a chore than a hobby, it's time to walk away. Maybe forever, maybe just for a time. Your enjoyment with an activity can ebb and flow; however, if it is consistently a chore then it is time for a break. That's just good life advice in general.
I personally walked away from play-by-post Pathfinder this past year after playing it daily for nearly six years. It had become just another task to complete, the magic and enjoyment were gone. You can't force yourself to enjoy something.
January 2, 2022 12:02 a.m.