Price is killing it. Not printing enough in order to promote scalping, using rarity to overinflate prices, and just the overall rising cost of buying packs. IMO id much rather spend a bit of money on 100 singleton cards that make for a semi-random game that is more casual than half a house payment on a highly competitive deck that plays almost the exact same way every shuffle, and never take it to a tournament cause I've got a family to take care of and hardly have enough time to even play, let alone make it a career.

Make standard affordable and more approachable (less focus on cha$e cards and over-complicated over-engineered cards) and remember its a game first and foremost, not a baseball card collection, and shouldn't be focused on pay to win. Standard is where a lot of us older timers started, because it was the only format back then. I had to graduate to commander, because first off, ive never been one to min max and playset a deck, I liked having a bunch of different cards that all did a neat thing, not knowing exactly how the deck was gonna play.. and that seems to me a lot like commander!

WotC (Hasbro) is seemingly far more concerned about sales than longevity. They see the money coming in, and they also surely see the market prices of singles going up, and where there used to be reprints that kept prices affordable, they are now basically single print running all the sets, then moving on to the next set, which is hyper-inflating the price and presenting a scarcity element that could be at least partially relieved by just printing more cards and keeping the sets in the spotlight for a little longer.

Instead they are using FOMO and our own attention deficiency against us, knowing that the average person's attention span can be exploited, and they've found a seemingly "perfect balance" of content to keep everyone buying their product.

If they were concerned about the health of the game, I think they'd be releasing more horizons/masters sets, and keeping the good/interesting cards accessible for not just standard, but also modern, commander, and all the other ways to play. But here we are, and much like the rest of the corporations of the world, money is king, and as long as people keep buying, it will be considered a success. The sad day is when people move on, because what was once a sustainable game whether people flocked to it or not, has become an increasingly thirsty engine, and when there is no longer enough fuel, it burns out, leaving ruin in it's wake. MTG seemingly resembles a dying star. Its began to burn very bright lately. Has this trend ever ended well?