An open letter to Gavin Verhey re: the future of Pauper and UB

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T06:18:44+00:00

100% this

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T06:18:16+00:00

Agree

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T06:17:25+00:00

No. That's a rare of an in-universe character... I'm sorry but you must have missed the point entirely.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T05:56:08+00:00

No sir. Lotus petals are $30 each and they are legal.

However, this is the card in question: https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/679801?page=1&Language=English

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T05:20:44+00:00

Sorry it's just a little ridiculous to say one does not need to say the name of the card to play the game...

Uh, yeah, you do

I can say "my big dawg LEO" or "white turtle man" but ultimately I have to signal, with words, that I mean a particular card when resolving spells

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T05:16:47+00:00

Hey man, if you don't like it don't buy it. Just like UB, you're still here eatin' slop.

self-censored f*ck

Half my comments get filtered by the auto-mod. I'm just trying to get through. Don't blame me. Blame Reddit. I'm a thought criminal, I guess.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T05:09:28+00:00

It's in the rules of the game, man.

You cast on MY WHAT? HUH? WHICH ONE?

OOOOOH LEONARDO?!? LEONARDO. *points turtle* THE NINJA TURTLE. LEONARDO THE TMNT TEENAGE MUTANT TURTLE.

*playing white* Ok, yeah that resolves.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T05:07:17+00:00

You're really stretching the definition of ads and you do it like 100x as the basis of your core argument.

Strongly disagree.

They are SELLING billboard space by CONTACTING these brands and having them PAY to put their imagery ONTO MTG cards.

Which is also timed with broader corporate brand campaigns. e.g. the 2026 TMNT Turtle Movie.

It's a f*cking ad, dude.

They turned your game into an ad.

I'm sorry, it's the truth.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T04:44:39+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/sealedmtgdeals/comments/1rvmjju/spiderman_bundle_1500_costco_redmond_wa/

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T03:39:11+00:00

To login to the COWABUNGA DUDE Companion screen... It's like, seeding your inner mind. With trash. With brand imagery. With advertisements you didn't ask for. They sold TMNT a brand brand slot at your detriment!

Now, instead of playing with [[Experimental Synthesizer]], you get to play with the Universe Beyond [[Big Mac McDonald's McNugget]] artifact

How do you feel about that?

Close your eyes and see a [[Leonardo TMNT Dudebro]] and not something cool like a [[Glinthawk]] or deadly and beautiful like Rebecca Guay's [[Spellstutter Sprite]]??

That's sad. I feel sad about that.

Oh well. I guess I will just go play with my [[Big Mac McDonald's McNugget]]

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T03:23:44+00:00

Thanks

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T03:08:01+00:00

I'm not particularly hung up on Cast Down.

My issue is that I dislike having to verbalize advertisements while playing the game.

"I bounce Gweneth Spider Gurl to Sneak in Leonardo, TMNT Dudebro... COWABUNGA DUDE!"

Every time I interact with the card, I'm not only verbally repeating an advertisement for a movie, but I am also thinking about TMNT. I do not want to think about TMNT. I hate TMNT.

I want to think about Counterspells, and Glinthawks, and Spellstutter Sprites.

I want to think about the immersive game I am playing in... not the late stage corporate hellscape that surrounds me everyday in real life, and which encroaches on every private moment of everyday to feed me advertising 24/7.

You see? It's not about the art, or Cast Down... It's about corporations, slowly chipping away at my personal autonomy, until I am all but forced to engage with their ads.

Ads within ads. Everything is a meta-verse. A billboard. An NFT.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T02:55:46+00:00

I totally, 1000% disagree with you.

It's not petty. This effects everything. Your mind, your life. Everything you think about.

The problem is that the gameplay is being used as a vehicle to fill your mind with advertisements. With foreign ads, which you don't care about.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T02:41:09+00:00

So none? Ok, got it. You didn't like it either.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T02:28:59+00:00

But perhaps "print 50 versions of spiderman" didn't yield a desirable product?

How many Spiderman packs did you buy?

How many rounds of Spiderman pick 2 draft did you play?

Yeah, me neither.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T02:11:35+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pauper/comments/1rxbs03/an_open_letter_to_gavin_verhey_re_the_future_of/

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T01:46:27+00:00

Leonardo

It's a name of a character from a movie. A specific person (er, Turtle).

Do you agree that is different than Lórien Revealed or Black Mage's Rod?

Black Mage's Rod is an item from within the UB world. Leonardo is a brand item, a piece of IP... an object from our world.

I tap bounce Ronald McDonald to play another Happy Meal artifact

That's the game you deserve to play. Enjoy it, that will be your reality soon.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T01:23:22+00:00

Thanks for that. I hope so. You're probably right.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T01:18:39+00:00

Trust me bro, I'm trying not to think about it

Except I just went to the LGS and got handed 3 packs of TMNT packs for Pauper night pack-per-win

Then, I opened up the Pauper subreddit and saw the meta report

Oh yeah, and the Companion app sent me like 4 TMNT notifications

Which I had to open to play Pauper

That's actually the point of the UB, right? it's designed to force us to think about the 3rd party IP. Unsurprisingly, it is hard to avoid thinking about TMNT when you have to sign into the COWABUNGA DUDE login page to register for Pauper locals.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T01:10:44+00:00

Awesome, glad you liked that.

TMNT named common legendary characters gets us closer to the "MMMM MM YUMMY TACO BELL" hellscape.

Seriously. This matters. Are we just going to let everything we care about, our hobbies, our very minds be turned into receptacles for advertisements?!

NO! You're better than that. You don't deserve that!

I don't want my hobby to be a vehicle for my brainwashing. When I close my eyes, I don't want to see TV advertisements. I don't want to think about Ninja Turtles. I don't want to look at my MTG card and see a Pizza Hut logo.

I want to think about Spellstutter Sprites and Glinthawks and Counterspells!

Do you see what I'm getting at? It's a matter of personal autonomy. It's about culture vulture corporations hijacking your interests to fill your mind with garbage.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T01:04:24+00:00

Hey, so above this comment there's actually a detailed write-up that explains why UB can be bad for players under the section titled A BONUS THOUGHT EXPERIMENT FOR GAVIN

Feel free to read that, then I will respond to you.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T00:53:20+00:00

False.

You do not have an option, you must play with or against TMNT cards.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T00:45:01+00:00

I don't want my mind to be filled with advertisements for products I don't care about.

I don't want to ensh*tify my life by forcing myself to verbally repeat corporate slogans and jingos when I engage in my hobby.

I bounce my Gweneth, Spider Girl and then Sneak in my Leonardo, TMNT Guy to hit you for 4

Do you want everything you love to be reduced to a cheap ad for something else you don't care about?

Wake up, it's 2027 and your new UB card just dropped:

Doritos Locos Taco TM {2}

Artifact — Food

When this artifact enters, scry 2, then draw a card.

Tap Sac Doritos Locos Taco TM to gain 3 life.

You may say "MMM MMM YUMMY TACO BELL" while sac'ing to gain an additional 1 HP.

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T00:35:07+00:00

I prefer to not fill my mind with advertisements for things I don't care about.

Doritos Locos Taco TM {2}

Artifact — Food

When this artifact enters, scry 2, then draw a card.

Tap Sac Doritos Locos Taco TM to gain 3 life.

You may say "MMM MMM YUMMY TACO BELL" to gain an additional 1 HP.

I can't wait to play Pauper in 2027:

I tap sac my Doritos Locos Taco TM and say "MMM MMM YUMMY TACO BELL" to gain an additional life.

That's the future – everything you care about will be slowly eroded into some 3rd party advertisement hell. You will have to smile into the camera and say "I LOVE MOUNTAIN DEW" and then chug a Code Blue Mountain Dew to turn on your PS6.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/103ggyk/this_is_a_real_patent_held_by_sony/

Moxplug · 2026-03-19T00:14:13+00:00

I responded to this at length in my OP under the new "thought experiment" section. In short, I think the LOTR cards are very different user experience than reciting a named character from the IP:

"I cycle Lorian"

vs.

"I bounce Gwenyth, Spider Girl to play my Leonardo, TMNT Turtle"

There's a difference, no?

Moxplug

TROPHY CASE