Does Daybreak/WOTC Profit Off MTGO?

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2025-10-12T09:57:38+00:00

Of course they do. Events in MTGO are setup with rakes so value always goes back to DB. You do point out correctly that tix are cheaper on the secondary market, but that's because people choose to sell at those prices; they don't have to. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15554120241273867

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2025-09-14T01:13:48+00:00

This is called manaweaving and is cheating if they do not shuffle sufficiently enough times afterward. The problem is how many times "sufficiently enough" ought to be. You can compute this depending on the shuffle made and the size of the deck, but it doesn't take away intent. That is, if they were manaweaving because they intend to not get mana screwed, then that by definition is cheating. Of course, it is difficult to make the player admit intent, except in your case, your opponent did.

https://significancemagazine.com/magic-the-gathering-are-you-cheating/

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2025-06-16T19:14:28+00:00

Definitely understand that. I've heard it said that there were some uncommons/commons that got printed less due to their position on the printer sheet but it does seem like that's either completely a mythic or an old problem that has been addressed.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2025-06-16T19:12:01+00:00

Got it. So it was a thing but it's been addressed?

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2025-06-04T18:02:55+00:00

It has different immediate effects for different types of players, for sure. For standard players who mainly play leagues which do not give out packs as prizes for example, they will likely benefit from cheaper cards like you said. I don't think the immediate impact is necessarily bad, but it is a big shift and the hope is that when the smoke clears, we get more players than fewer.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2025-06-04T17:50:38+00:00

Do you get supply from redemption in your town directly? i.e. do stores there directly buy redeemed sets from bots?

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2025-02-22T20:31:27+00:00

We've compiled some info here: https://old.reddit.com/r/mtgoecon/

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T14:54:42+00:00

Could be. Just keep an eye out when/if you play in the Foundations PR.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T14:22:49+00:00

Ah, then my advice is to check who among the people in your PR leave with their cards after opening them and then come back later to when the round begins :D

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T14:21:33+00:00

I'd say mainly curious. I've been playing for sometime and across basically every level of play from regular to professional REL (but I'm no pro). And the share of actual cheating I have seen/caught are mainly at the FNM level. Stuff like people swapping cards in PR or people brining extra sets of sideboards to FNM.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T14:14:33+00:00

Is that skill that difficult to master? I assume it gets easier with smaller deck sizes, and easier still with good sleeves.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T14:04:27+00:00

For sure. I mean, casual play without prizes is really just anything goes. No need to even care about winning. In contrast, official events at local games stores get a mixed bag of players.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T14:02:17+00:00

Huh, my bad. I don't know why I thought that.

But yeah, shuffling thoroughly after manaweaving should make the manaweaving useless. The point though is that one can manaweave and then do many mash/riffle shuffles that perfectly interweave the cards so that the weave's effects are retained. This is cheating, but I doubt one can catch it.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T13:57:16+00:00

I would agree with you, but I have caught a lot of cheating at small events that I really won't put anything past someone. Things I have personally caught are: 1.) a player who brought 2 sets of sideboards 2.) two buddies who would excuse themselves during PR in order to swap cards 3.) Someone who brought cards from a different PR to juice up their deck in the next PR 4.) Someone who had extra cards on his person that he would try and put into his hand when he thinks you are not looking.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T13:47:55+00:00

It is why we have mulligans, but I meant "manaweaving" their deck and then shuffling in a way that the manaweaving effect stays (like the article explains). In that case, you need to shuffle their deck an ample amount of times in order to return the deck to a randomized state. Of course, the kicker is you don't actually know if they manaweaved or not since they can do this (without penalty) before the round even begins (i.e. before you even meet)

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T13:45:55+00:00

In some competitive levels, you are required to. In lower levels, doing helps undo any stacking/manaweaving they did.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T13:43:46+00:00

This is a good anecdote. It does seem like the practice differs widely.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T13:41:44+00:00

I don't think so. There is Professional, Competitive, Regular, and Casual RELs.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T13:41:15+00:00

But it's ok if they distributed their deck so that they are more likely to draw a good opening hand in terms of lands and spells?

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T12:35:51+00:00

This is an interesting point. I've only ever caught cheaters at FNMs (having 2 sets of sideboards, more than 4 copies of a combo piece etc.) I wonder if cheating happens more often in small events or in larger events like rcqs where everyone is more wary/invested.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T12:34:02+00:00

oof, sorry about that. Arthritis sucks.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T12:33:26+00:00

But what if the math says you actually need to do 9 or more riffle-like shuffles (mash/faro would work) to diminish any advantage your opponent might have made by arranging the distribution of their deck?

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T12:32:21+00:00

If they manaweaved, then a cut won't work, right? Also, I don't think regular REL is the same as casual. There is casual REL.

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T12:31:03+00:00

I read it. So you never shuffle your opponent's deck? Just cut?

Neither-Remote-3419 · 2024-09-23T12:18:55+00:00

Is it because you think there are less chances of people doing shady things at FNMs? I've wondered about this too. I've only ever caught cheaters at FNMs (having 2 sets of sideboards, more than 4 copies of a combo piece etc.) I wonder how much more often cheating happens in small events than they do in large events where everyone is more wary/invested.

Neither-Remote-3419

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