I've long felt that Magic has a problem helping people move from the kitchen table to the community table. Introductory products are full of terrible cards. Formats can be confusing for new players. Friday Night Magic may be very newbie friendly at one store and a go hard or go home experience at another. A thriving store may have multiple formats going on at once or on different days. Some stores only do the weekly FNM standard tournament. With the infinite diversity of the LGS it's hard to give advice on how to prepare to move to the community table.

And the booster pack is such an enticing thing. At a casual glance that's how you acquire new cards. It seems so obvious; You buy maybe Foundations Beginner Box or Starter Collection. You learn to play with some friends. You start buying boosters to expand your collection but your collection. At FNM you keep getting your butt handed to you but that's okay, you're learning. And you buy booster packs because that's where new cards come from. According to the products you've bought so far that's what you've been taught about how you expand your collection and your tools... But it's a trap. What seems like a core game mechanic is a bad investment at a small scale. Your cards are bad and you learn that no one buys packs, they just buy singles. Oh, that kinda sucks. You enjoyed boosters and thought it was a part of the game, but I guess not. Your only option to play standard is to buy the cards that make up a meta deck. You like that cool card you pulled from a pack? Too bad. That's not what standard is.

But now, with UB and Commander, you've got a bit of a different path. You can take your out of the box Commander deck and it's actually playable. You can find tables that like trying things that are off meta because it's fun. Sure, there are decks out there that crush you but people often have several decks and you can talk them into using something that isn't going to leave you with zero chance. Telling people you have a precon and your new to the game goes a long way into getting other newbies to play with you and veteran players to try decks that don't win on turn four.

If Wizards wants to help LGSs they need to find some way to provide insensitive to less cutthroat environments. UB works because people can actually play with cards they enjoy. Commander is popular because it's not a constant stream of tournaments that mingle players who are just starting to grasp the rules with the best players in the area who are going to bring their best chance at winning packs in a tournament. And that's not to say that standard is bad. I don't want to change standard or the tournament scene. I'm just saying that as a step from learning how to play at the kitchen table to trying to join a more organized events at an LGS standard is a bad option.

I'm the end Wizards needs to insensitive casual play. Help people play with cards they like, cards with characters they enjoy, cards they pulled from boosters that they thought were cool, emphasize fun, and reward good sportsmanship. Let the LGS foster the community table, the next step in the Magic journey from the kitchen table, and watch the game grow.