Lab Notes!

  Why MTG Arena Feels Like One Miserable Broken Combo After Another Magic: The Gathering Arena launched with the promise of bringing Magic’s best elements — strategy, diversity, and meaningful interaction — into the digital space. But a growing chunk of the player base feels that Arena has become less Magic and more frustration simulator . Below, we break down why Arena feels miserable , with real community reactions and sourceable evidence. 1. Repetitive, Meta-Dominated Gameplay A common complaint across Reddit and forum discussions is that Arena matches feel dominated by a handful of decks — decks you see again and again . Players describe repeatedly facing the exact same cookie-cutter lists pulled from meta sites, which kills variety and makes matches feel predictable and shallow. “It’s so annoying to just play against the same matchup over and over again … the exact same deck every time.” — Reddit user on r/mtg. A community archive of Standard pointed out that format...

  Game Theory (for Magic Players Who Touch Cardboard) Game theory sounds like something you need a PhD for. In reality, you’re already using it every time you decide whether to attack, bluff, or keep a sketchy seven. The problem? Most people think they’re playing game theory… but they’re really just playing vibes. Here’s where folks get it wrong—and how to use it to make Magic (and life) way easier. What People Get Wrong About Game Theory 1. “Game theory means playing perfectly.” Nope. Game theory isn’t about perfection—it’s about expectation . You’re not trying to win every game. You’re trying to make decisions that win more often over time . 2. “There’s always a correct play.” Context matters. The “right” play against a pro is often wrong against a casual player who never bluffs and always taps out. 3. “Game theory removes creativity.” Actually, it does the opposite. Once you understand the baseline, you know when you’re allowed to break the rules—and when you abs...

  There Are No Magic Bullets (And That’s the Point) There are no magic bullets in Magic: The Gathering—though we keep trying to find them anyway. In a recent interview I did with another Magic player, I was reminded of something that sits at the core of the game’s beauty and its frustration: no two people see Magic cards the same way. The same card can represent freedom to one player, frustration to another, or pure nostalgia to someone who opened it in their first booster pack years ago. We’re constantly trying to build rules, frameworks, and guides to make Magic easier to understand and more enjoyable. Deck archetypes, power-level discussions, tier lists, “correct” lines of play—these tools absolutely help. They give players a shared language and a starting point. But they also fall apart the moment we forget that every player brings their own history, goals, and expectations to the table. That’s where the tension lives. One player sees optimization as the highest form of r...

  $8,000 in Card Sales — And I Didn’t Even Have a Plan I sold $8,000 worth of cards… and I didn’t even have a plan. Now, let me be clear right up front: that $8,000 wasn’t cash stuffed into my pocket. That’s sales . A big chunk of it went right back into buying more product. Reinvestment is part of the game. What didn’t happen is just as important. I didn’t run ads. I didn’t have wholesale hookups. I didn’t have some secret distributor pipeline. Everything I bought was retail. Some stuff was on sale, sure—but nothing that anyone with an internet connection and a credit card couldn’t also buy. (Okay, I did grab a few things from Costco and Sam’s Club, but even that stuff is available online.) The point is this: my sales grew from about $2,000 worth of cards from my personal collection to $8,000 in total sales over roughly 34 months—with relatively minimal effort. And yeah, it did take work. Just not “clock in, clock out, get yelled at, worry about being fired” kind of wor...

  How People Actually Win Commander (And How You Stop Them Without Stress) Magic: The Gathering has tens of thousands of cards… but only a handful of ways to actually win a game. Once you understand those win paths, the whole format gets easier: your deck becomes sharper, your answers become smarter, and you stop wondering if you need to memorize every threat under the sun. Most people lose games of Commander not because they built a bad deck — but because they’re trying to answer everything instead of the few things that actually matter . Let’s simplify the battlefield. The Four Real Ways People Win Commander Every victory in Magic fits one of these buckets: Life Total Damage — combat, Voltron, or burn. Commander Damage — one tall threat hitting 21. Combo / Engine — infinite loop, value spiral, or deterministic sequence. Alternate Win / Deck-Out — Thassa’s Oracle, Approach of the Second Sun, mill. That’s it. Literally everything else — big splashy spells, boa...

  Stop Measuring Your Progress by the Finish Line We’ve all been told to “keep your eyes on the prize,” but lately I’ve realized that can be a trap. If you measure your goals only by where you’re trying to go, you’ll always feel like you’re losing. The real measurement is this: Compare yourself to where you were, not where you’re going. This week hit me with a reminder I needed. I’ve already sold as much this week as I sold during the entire last month . That’s wild. And no—this isn’t me flexing, bragging, or obsessing over the numbers. I promised myself I wouldn’t stress about how much I make, and I’m still sticking to that. I’m sharing this because it proves something every seller forgets: Selling is a roller coaster, not a rocket ship. It jerks, dips, throws you sideways, and sometimes breaks down right after you bought popcorn. But when it’s moving, it moves. Resetting My Money Mindset Over the last few weeks, I caught myself worrying about money that didn’t even exist...