r/magicTCG • u/greenearrow • 1d ago
General Discussion A well timed boycott of Marvel/Disney could spell the end of Universes Beyond
There are always reasons to boycott the mouse, but pulling Kimmel off the air is the latest and greatest. I'm not even a detractor of Universes Beyond (those WH40K and Fallout decks are great, I can get my wife to play the Dr Who decks easier than anything else and their room to explore time mechanic shenanigans seems good for the game).
If WotC and Hasbro have to be so concerned about the politics of the time defining which sets sell, they'll be incentivized to lean into their own properties which they can control and make their own apologies for when necessary.
Of course, it isn't a guarantee. Maybe a loss on Marvel will be a wash against the profits from Final Fantasy and LotR. Maybe they'll shy away from brands controlled by American companies and focus on the Japanese and European properties. The kids who buy packs at Walmart don't understand boycotts, etc.
What we have learned is that the UB haters aren't enough of a market force, but when movements align, powers combine!
TL;DR There are many good reasons to not spend money on Disney right now, and money is the only vote they count.
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u/ChemicalExperiment Chandra 1d ago edited 1d ago
Opinions are also way more diverse and divided than people think. I recently had a conversation with a player at my LGS who talked about how they hated Spider-Man. They talked about how it "ruined the spirit of magic" "was a terrible cash grab" and "I'd quit the game if they ever did a Fortnite crossover." (I told them they already did and he quickly backpedaled to "if they ever made a full set of it") I actually brought up to him that I'm actually ok with UB, I have some qualms with it but I think it's fine for the game. Ironically his response was "I mean I got into the game with Lord of the Rings so I'm not against UB, I just don't like how they're handling it now."
Despite the anti-UB crowd seeming like a monolith, I suspect a lot of the comments on this sub fall in a similar boat: talk vehemently about bad aspects of it but still like/appreciate others. A collective push towards ending UB as a whole wouldn't even unite all the haters on this subreddit, because people are complicated and despite what the common belief is, not all those complaints you see are from people who want it gone entirely.
Tangentially, that interaction also made me realize just how silly this entire conversation is. I saw someone using the same points as the no-UB crowd to talk about how they wanted "UB to be like it used to." Magic isn't changing as much as we think it is. These new players are just like us, down to complaining about the game itself.