WotC Shifting Blame For MTG Spider-Man Failure On Influencers

[Spencer Baculi (BIC EIC)]

Okay, this is SO shitty from Wizards of the Coast.

Long story short, the recent Spider-Man set for Magic: The Gathering didn't do so hot, with player interest kinda dwindling and sales being way lower than they expected.

As an MTG player, it makes sense; I LOVE Spider-Man, but some of the cards didn't feel that effective in terms of the larger game, some of the character choices were a bit off, and there wasn't really a sense of 'cohesion' between all of them, to say nothing of the fact that the color combos meant you couldn't really theme anything together (For example, The Clone Saga card is Blue, The Jackal is Blue/Green, Ben is Red/Green, Kaine is Red/Black, and Peter is White, meaning a prospective Clone Saga deck wouldn't really function well. Same goes with how Carnage is Red/Black, Venom is Black, and Peter is White.)



So, today, they launched a user feedback survey for the set - and one of the questions on the surveys basically implies that 'negative influencer commentary' was to blame for WotC's own design missteps.

Smooth move, blaming the fans. Like, this just is the absolute wrong way to go about it.

 

[RustedComet]

Yeah, that’s such a bad look. Instead of owning up to the design issues, they’re trying to shift the blame onto the community? Especially when players were giving valid feedback about the mechanics and balance. Feels like they missed a real opportunity to listen and improve here

 

[EmberVine]

Wow that's ridiculous. Just take the L and plan better next time

 

[Spencer Baculi (BIC EIC)]

They're in for a rude awakening next year too; 4/7 of their sets are gonna be crossover sets, with another being Marvel.

If they don't shape up, it's gonna be baaaaad. Spider-Man's already unwanted; a booster box is just $80 compared to like, $210 standard!

 

[BlackBoxPilot]

They're in for a rude awakening next year too; 4/7 of their sets are gonna be crossover sets, with another being Marvel.

If they don't shape up, it's gonna be baaaaad. Spider-Man's already unwanted; a booster box is just $80 compared to like, $210 standard!

I'm curious what would've happened if they had released the Spiderman set next year. With the next Spiderman movie coming out in the summer maybe it would've sparked a bit of hype and not made the sales so dismal

 

[SignalGhost]

I'm curious what would've happened if they had released the Spiderman set next year. With the next Spiderman movie coming out in the summer maybe it would've sparked a bit of hype and not made the sales so dismal

Who knows if it would've made a difference. With the gaps between the Spiderman movies being so large, I'm sure I'm not the only fan a bit exhausted just waiting for these movies to come out

 

[Spencer Baculi (BIC EIC)]

I think I fall with SignalGhost here; as a DEDICATED Spider-nerd, even I don't really care about the Spider-Man hype until the movie is actually OUT and being shown before me lol.

Of course, that's anecdotal; but more to the point, I'm not sure that would've helped simply because the set is *so* unfun to play.

WotC can save it with the upcoming Marvel set, by making new cards that make the Spidey cards actually work, but yeah, big miss from them.

 

[RustedComet]

I think I fall with SignalGhost here; as a DEDICATED Spider-nerd, even I don't really care about the Spider-Man hype until the movie is actually OUT and being shown before me lol.

Of course, that's anecdotal; but more to the point, I'm not sure that would've helped simply because the set is *so* unfun to play.

WotC can save it with the upcoming Marvel set, by making new cards that make the Spidey cards actually work, but yeah, big miss from them.

Couldn't agree more, I've been pretty over Marvel lately, a lot of their recent movies and shows have been flops. Hopefully WotC can bring it back, but I'm sure Marvel being in a content slump is not helping in the slightest

 

[Spencer Baculi (BIC EIC)]

Couldn't agree more, I've been pretty over Marvel lately, a lot of their recent movies and shows have been flops. Hopefully WotC can bring it back, but I'm sure Marvel being in a content slump is not helping in the slightest

100%, especially that last bit.

With Spider-Man being a flop and a growing number of players just over the Universes Beyond push for next year, if the Marvel set doesn't do absolute GANGBUSTERS, it's going to be the first notes of the MCU brand's actual death rattle.

 

[Billy]

100%, especially that last bit.

With Spider-Man being a flop and a growing number of players just over the Universes Beyond push for next year, if the Marvel set doesn't do absolute GANGBUSTERS, it's going to be the first notes of the MCU brand's actual death rattle.

I don't think the game is redeemable, but the MCU is gonna survive alright mostly bacause of star power. There are people who will always watch a movie because RDJ or Chris Evans is in it, why do you think they have pretty much reassembled the Endgame cast?

 

[PixelNomad42]

I don't think the game is redeemable, but the MCU is gonna survive alright mostly bacause of star power. There are people who will always watch a movie because RDJ or Chris Evans is in it, why do you think they have pretty much reassembled the Endgame cast?

Completely agree. They just haven't been able to find their footing it seems since Endgame, so I'm sure they're just scrambling and going back to their roots because it's what worked for so long