MtG Cabal Cast – Details, episodes & analysis

It's 2025 and we're back with our yearly tradition of discussing what we would do if we ran Hasbro. Secret Layers, Baulders Gate 3, and the finalization of the eOne sale. What a year it's been. Casting out lens, we look at the decisions we saw coming out of Hasbro and WotC and put together some notes and things we'd like to see them do better, things we'd change, things we'd improve. Even a few things we'd like to do away with. Join us on this rocky ride as we discuss what we would do in 2025 if we ran Hasbro.

This week we look back at Magic in 2024 and discuss what we encouraging and what was discouraging. What could be improved and what worked. How did the set release cadence, Secret Lair drops, and handling of constructed impact the game. Effectively grading Magic in 2024 across several, easy to understand metrics with a side of "what happened at the LGS this year?!"

We've had the pleasure of experiencing cEDH from multiple points of view over almost a decades worth of play and thought, what better way to discuss the format than to try and bring together all of that. With the experience of judging one of the largest cEDH events on the East Coast barely in the rear view, we talk about what cEDH means to players, judges, the LGS, and vendors. What is the impact the format has on all the aforementioned people and where we see the format heading. This episode was planned out well in advance of initial cEDH RC issues, giving us an even more interesting insight into the format as we get to marry together player sentiment prior to those events, all the way through the recent bannings.

Whether you were able to play at a pre-elease event held at a WPN premium store or your local non-WPNs event, even just walked in these past few days, you've had the opportunity to engage with Dominaria Remasterd as a product. We touch on what this set means to the LGS and how they are handling such a short lived lifespan for a set that whose only purpose seems to maintain the constant hum of in store releases that we've grown accustomed to this past year. What does the set mean for established players, the drafts, the pre-releasers, and even taking a look into the future when this set can be dusted off and promoted as an "experience." Join us as we break down Dominaria Remastered at the LGS.

Last week we looked to the past, this week we look... to the future! With the quarterly analysis done, MaRo's lastest Tumblr blurb, and a number of key take aways from Hasbro, we compiled a list of things we are looking forward to in 2023. As a vendor, what are we looking for? As an LGS, what do we need? We also cover our hopes and dreams for 2023 and 2024. A few items that we know might not be possible for this year but hopefully the next. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/storm-scale-throne-of-eldraine-through-strixhaven-part-2

2022 felt like one hell of year when looking back at everything that's happened with Magic, WotC, and Hasbro so we decided to bring you the highlights wrapped up for the end of the holidays. Did you, for instance, remember that the Alta Fox discussions happened in 2022? How about the number of sets released or how consumer sentiment impacts the holiday season? Join us, won't you, for one last look back at 2022 and all the ups and downs it brought for us. https://deadline.com/2022/10/hasbro-stock-falls-after-disappointing-earnings-report-dim-holiday-sales-outlook-1235148098/ https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/HAS#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 https://i0.wp.com/onlyontuesdays27.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/30-Years-2.png?resize=768%2C452&ssl=1

WotC announces that players are frustrated they can't immediately play their paper cards from their pre-release events in constructed events like they can on Arena, so now paper cards are legal in constructed starting on pre-release weekend. Okay, but, why? Who asked for this? Why are the LGS and vendors who have an LGS or do events meant to suffer for nothing? Why does WotC continue to harm us? https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/announcements/format-legality-shifts-to-prerelease-with-phyrexia-all-will-be-one

As 2022 draws to a close we have yet another reprint set to scour as an LGS and vendor to determine how we are going to handle allocation. We discuss the contents and preorders, among other things, as we break down our view of the set on the way to each delivering a valuation of how we are going to be handling this set in the short term. Did you know that Collectors Boosters are $200 ea at the LGS but $300 on Amazon with some of the most basic stats we've seen? 15 Magic cards + 1 foil token in each booster 11 foil cards in every pack 2–6 Retro-Frame and 1–5 Borderless cards in every pack 4 cards of rarity Rare or higher in every pack Simply. Wild.

If the Magic vertical were to topple and leave us with a hole in our product catalog, we need to patch this asap before we bleed out. So, as an LGS and a vendor, how do we identify perspective, successful games to plug into our ecosystem? This week we discuss how we measure success at each level, what we look for in a new product, to bring into the store or warehouse. What decisions have to be made, what research done before we dedicate capital to product and personnel? Join us as we again take a deep dive into the heart of these two sides of the gaming retail ecosystem and discuss new product acquisition.

As Thanksgiving in the United States has passed, along with Cyber Monday and the "Holiday Season" in front of us, we continue our evergreen conversation about sales at the LGS and Vendor levels. While it makes sense that a "sale is a sale", the core remaining the same, the strategy for each sale can be unique unto itself and it's this idea that we discuss today. We break down the overall goals, in our experience, of some of the largest Q4 sales opportunities at both levels on this episode.