Over the past year, I spent the days branching out and exploring different avenues of mass-produced and showcased games. I got to watch companies like Intel feature streamers on Twitch and bring more exposure to them and the streaming product. I got to keep tabs on promotional material for general gaming and gamer conventions, the foremost being TwitchCon. I went to Madison Square Garden for one of the biggest League of Legends tournaments in history.
If you didn’t take in what you just read:
“Madison Square Garden for one of the biggest League of Legends tournaments in history.”
It’s already crazy enough that I went to one of the most historic sports arenas in the world for a video game tournament. But when it’s sold out and packed to the brim? That’s absolutely incredible.
The most interesting part is that I have never played a game of League in my life. I’ve watched a few streams late at night here or there, but aside from a basic understanding of when something crazy is happening, I was left clueless. This is a phenomena I read on the Armchair Empire blog, this is exactly why LoL is so good at what it does, non-players watch it! I was just as invested in the matches as someone who’s been playing for years. The promos were made to make you feel something. The players felt like individuals that you could relate with, and how good they were was synonymous with who they were. This doesn’t speak of the matches themselves, which were incredibly exciting to watch through and through.
And I’ll reiterate: half of the time I was clueless as to what exactly what was happening. But it was easy to tell when the momentum shifted, or when someone committed proverbial highway robbery to win a game they had no business winning. More importantly, it was easy for me to get excited about it.
Now, I’m not going to turn this into a “Why can’t Magic do this?” discussion, despite how many of you are going to make it about that. Magic is a much different game. It doesn’t revolve around fast-paced team play, which is a great formula for spectators. The focus of this particular topic is making Magic something people want to watch, instead of being something people simply can watch. We can learn from other successful gaming broadcasts. Simply dismissing them doesn’t help us.
Currently, I think Magic’s coverage and overall presentation are incredible. The coverage at the StarCityGames.com Open Series is phenomenal. As someone who wants nothing more than for Magic to be suceesful, that’s something I truly believe. Wizards’ coverage has improved dramatically as well, especially with their Pro Tours. Every passing week, I get more and more intrigued and impressed. I thoroughly enjoy watching the game, the exciting plays, and the commentary that compliments it. When Cedric gets excited about a top deck, I can get excited too, because I know that he’s genuinely invested in what just happened. This is just as important to me as having a good tournament experience when I’m playing. Plain and simple.
But when it’s all said and done, we often don’t remember what happened. Worst of all, we don’t remember who won, or how they won. Unless the winner is already a distinct personality in the game, it doesn’t really matter who wins unless we make it matter. This is troubling to me, as the majority of tournament winners will be forgotten because of how replaceable they are. Winning a tournament is a big deal. Why do we make it so forgettable? Invitationals do a good job with giving the winner the opportunity to create their own token, but outside of those and Pro Tours, it’s really tough to feel that winning any major event is that important. Most winners feel replaceable, since someone’s gotta win anyway.
Now, with that said, I do feel that this lies more on the player putting themselves out there than coverage giving them that sort of exposure. This is a rather abnormal example, and it isn’t indicative of what I would actually do; but if, say, I’m in the finals against Brad Nelson at a Grand Prix, not only am I going to make sure it gets known, I’m going to play the bad guy. Brad is wildly popular. Me, not so much, and what better way to make people want to watch than heel turning, calling my shot, maybe a little ribbing on social media, etc.? Will it get some people’s feathers ruffled up? Sure, but that’s the point. The viewers should feel something. They should want Brad to win if I’m playing the villain.
These are the kinds of stories that got me, and a countless number of people I know, into watching major events of games that we don’t even play. I can only imagine how people would get more invested when that “rivalry” is made, regardless of who actually winds up winning. This is just one way we can make the show more interesting for the viewer, and is a big thing that a player can do if they’re invested in making a name for themselves. When I win a tough or close game on camera, or when I land a turn one Sire of Insanity in Legacy, you bet your auras that I’m going to showboat just a little bit. It doesn’t matter why you got people to watch, as long as you got them to watch.
The notion that every Magic player needs to be this soulless, poker-faced, tight mouthed shell of a person is lame. We should not be looked down upon for being ourselves. I don’t care what some name or figure thinks about it. They aren’t us, and not everyone has to behave the same way they think is “right”. It doesn’t hurt the show much if you aren’t a fan of this, and it’ll make for much more interesting TV for both those who are and those who are undecided.
Some people say that Magic is more about the cards being played, not necessarily the people playing them. This is a fair point that is apparent in every tournament you watch. At the end of a Grand Prix, you can check the Wizards page for the top five cards of that tournament. At an SCG Open, you’ll see the most talked about cards being . . . well . . . talked about. When every new set comes out, we debate which cards we think are the most powerful, interesting, underrated, and/or overrated. We watch to find out. Do we watch to talk about who’s right? Because of who’s playing what? Because of how well someone does with the cards we care about?
Not . . . really?
If anything, the player, writer, or other well-known person will get talked about by proxy of the card or cards they play during that period. Ross Merriam is a proxy of the Elves archetype. Players that religiously play the deck will go to him as a channel to what they seek: Advice, praise, or some other sort of attention to the cards they care about.
The Mario Kart Blue Koopa Shell players (Spikes) go to established professional players for the exact same reason, though the approach is different. They want to consume and use the best possible cards and decks for their next tournament, every week, no matter what the actual cards do. While the end goal for these two parties differ, the focus remains the same: the cards.
So let’s say that this is, in fact, the case. Let’s say that the cards are the core of Magic coverage. If this is the case, then let major figures be catalysts for that. I don’t just mean writing about upcoming cards we’re excited about, or which underrated card overperformed at last week’s tournament. I mean full push, head on, in your face content. I mean plaster Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy all over my screen and drive the point home. “This is the card to look out for this weekend,” and cut a segment featuring a well known player on the card. Use them to make that card the focal point of the weekend. This is already done to some extent with quick questions via Wizards, and deck techs via SCG. Those are great, but I want to have expectations about this deck or card when it’s presented to me. Drive me right toward that! I know it sounds over the top and outside what most are used to with Magic contentl; but the only way I see Magic content going is up, and something like this could really make viewers invested in what they’re watching. I believe this can work even for viewers who barely know how to play Magic.
However, there’s no reason why we can’t get the same experience that we get from Pro Tour coverage. Even with the Pro Tour, there’s a lot to be improved on, especially with smaller details. It is unacceptable for commentators to misstate how the most-played cards in the format work, leave dead air during a match when things are happening, or let their phones ring live on the air. If you’re serious about delivering the best possible presentation to your audience—if your audience includes players across all spectrums of Magic: players who are looking to get into Magic, players who don’t play Magic but saw the channel on Twitch, and everyone in between—then this should not happen. Ever.
Period.
This presents a rather unusual question that doesn’t seem like it needs to be asked, but probably should, even if it’s just for argument’s sake:
Does Magic even want to be a spectator sport?
This is a complete flip from the presented point, but it’s important because there’s a strong chance that we may not want to use Magic coverage as an avenue for people outside of those that are invested in the competitive scene. Magic may not want to be this huge thing that sells out huge arenas and tells major player and card stories through the Jumbotron. Magic may want to stay where it is now, and expand on that. This is perfectly okay, and it’s hard to argue against that. The formula seems to be working well, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Thousands, often tens of thousands of viewers from across the planet tune into the Open Series, Grand Prix, and Pro Tours every single time they broadcast. This is great! As long as that is maintained, expanded on, and fleshed out, then I see nothing but strong results to come.
Money is another reason why things should stay focused on what they are now. Not necessarily prize money from tournaments (though that could be a factor), but how much it costs to expand the stage. Let’s be real here. It’s not cheap to put these things together, and asking to make coverage as big as it could be may not be sustainable yet because of how relatively small that specific market is. I’m not a financial expert by any stretch, but it doesn’t really make sense to make that next big step financially.
Maybe the time for Magic to get even bigger is approaching. Or maybe not. Either way, Magic is continuing to grow quickly, and it doesn’t show signs of stopping any time soon. I want Magic to be as successful as it can possibly be. While I don’t think that it necessarily needs to go in any particular direction rI’ve discussed, it does need to be ready. I think the cards and players are definitely ready, but there’s always room for improvement. I want Magic to succeed more than anything, and I know that the folks in charge have even more drive than I do. Magic will always be an incredibly popular game, and its popularity will only grow as gaming as a whole gets bigger.
Anthony has been competing in games for the better part of his adult life and is dedicated to improving his game, improving his community, improving himself as a person, and most importantly having fun and enjoying himself while doing so. You can check out his stream to find out which video game is the latest to catch his attention.