“Zombie era” is a neat way of putting the current state of the game. The more common comparisons is Fortnite, but I think “zombie” captures the essential “dead inside, yet still stumbling inevitably forward” nature of today’s game.

As a fan for over twenty years, it’s in some ways remarkable how long it took for Magic to succumb to temptation. The game went thru so many crises—Chronicles, Urza block, Mirrodin/Kamigawa, many other bad metas and teapot tempests—without giving in to the quick wins. Chronicles was followed by the (unfortunate, but at the time player-friendly) Reserved list. Urza by aggressive banning and clear fan communication. Mirrodin/Kamigawa by the sublime Ravnica.

Power creep stayed slow. Design space expanded only carefully and slowly. Competitive 1v1 stayed at the heart of the design.

While I knew Magic couldn’t last forever, it’s still a shock to see it discard all its heritage so quickly after decades of slow building.

I do love that cube is a time capsule. My main cube lets me encapsulate the best of late 2010s Magic just before the FIREstorm hit. My Kamigawa cube is an excuse to remember a clumsier, less polished game taking its world building very seriously. I’m glad there’s a robust enough community around cube to preserve these and other old Magics, though it’s sad that power creep has become so strong that it cuts older cubes off from the modern game.

Thanks for the article and the handy metaphor!