ValiciousMTG

| Sanctum of All 🏳️‍🌈 | 1 NRG Top 8 | I love creatively adapting games so everyone can enjoy them.

[P. C. Palhares @PCPalhares1]

AN OPEN LETTER TO WIZARDS: DON'T WAIT UNTIL EVERYONE LEAVES

Sharing an opinion on the internet is complicated. We are not always interpreted the way we intend to be, and perhaps that is why I thought long and hard before writing this.

Over the past few years, I have been building a community of followers—wonderful people from different parts of the world. And even though I am telling my story, what I am talking about here is not really about me. It is about all of us.

Dear WotC,

The photo below this post shows three Standard decks.

Yes, I built all three.

I did it with a lot of effort, without taking a single cent away from my family's priorities. And I didn't build them because I intend to play all three. To be completely honest, with my current routine, I often only get to play once a week.

I built them because I love this game.

And because I believe that if Magic grows, somehow, I will grow with it.

These decks eventually end up in the hands of players who, for different reasons, cannot afford to build their own. People who want to play. People who want to participate in a tournament. People who simply want to have fun with Magic.

"Come on, Palhares, Magic is a hobby. Not everyone can have access to it."

I agree, to some extent.

But I also know that, in my country, players find all kinds of ways to be part of this game. Maybe there are players from other formats who want to try Standard. Maybe there are new players who want to start playing.

But the barriers are countless.

WotC, I know you are a company. I know there are financial goals, business decisions, and numbers that need to make sense.

I have never been here to attack you.

Quite the opposite.

Many times, I have actually been the person defending your decisions, trying to explain to others that certain choices had legitimate business reasons behind them.

I started playing Standard during Scourge. I was around 14 years old.

Since then, I have always loved this game and, above all, I have always loved Standard.

I honestly don't know how I managed to keep consuming Magic for all these years. I built what I could with the resources I had. I put together imperfect decks. I played tournaments where I lost far more than I won.

And I remember one particular situation.

During Kaladesh, I spent practically all the money from my internship building a deck.

It was one of the biggest financial efforts I had ever made at that time.

And shortly afterward, the deck was banned.

You didn't see it, WotC, but I cried.

And I have absolutely no shame in saying that.

It was all I had. After years of playing Magic, I had finally managed to put together something competitive that I could enjoy.

It didn't even last a month.

Since then, sometimes I feel like some things haven't really changed that much.

The decisions changed.

Programs were cut. Structures were changed.

But you know what didn't change?

The people.

Yes, WotC, I have been playing with practically the same people in my city for almost 20 years.

They are still the same passionate people who are here today.

And all of this might seem like it is about a simple promo card, but I still remember how happy I was when I received a card through one of the old Rewards programs.

Some players said it was ugly—I think they were jealous. Hahaha.

I never thought it was ugly.

It was my card.

A card given to me by the company behind my favorite game.

And that made me incredibly happy.

It is difficult to explain to someone outside this community how much something so small can mean to someone who truly loves a game.

And that is exactly why I am writing this.

These three decks in the photo are a small, almost insignificant attempt to build Standard within my community.

I try to keep the old faces around.

And help new faces appear.

But I often hear something from these new players that worries me.

They play tournaments for other TCGs and tell me:

"I got this just for participating."

"I got a valuable card."

"I felt appreciated."

Deep down, perhaps what they are really saying is something even simpler:

"I felt like I belonged."

And it is difficult to tell those people, "Come play Magic."

Because I know the barriers.

I know that cards have value.

I know we cannot simply reprint everything and destroy the value of the game.

But I also know there are other ways to think about this.

Ways to make the player more important.

Ways to make participation feel rewarding.

Ways to make a new player look at Magic and think:

"I want to be part of this."

It took me approximately 20 years to complete my first set of 40 Shock Lands.

And I am not upset that they are coming back in Star Trek.

Quite the opposite.

I am showing my players that WotC did something really cool with that decision.

You took important, desirable, historically expensive cards and found a way to make them more accessible.

That is powerful.

It shows that there are paths forward.

But this week, while we are already struggling to bring new players into the game, I started seeing several pillars of our community saying:

"I'm leaving."

"I'm going to look for another place to call home."

And that scares me.

Not because I think Magic is going to die.

I don't.

Magic is far too big to simply disappear.

But because I believe a game is not made only of cards.

It is made of people.

Players.

Stores.

Organizers.

Content creators.

Judges.

Communities.

Parents who bring their children to play.

Friends who lend out their decks.

People who spend hours teaching someone how to play.

Players who lose five games in a row and come back the following Saturday to try again.

I am one of those people.

I am a father of two girls.

I am a husband.

I am a teacher.

I am a dreamer.

I am a player.

I am a content creator.

And above all, I am someone who deeply loves Magic.

Maybe one day, I will even have my own card.

But today, I already have something I consider much more valuable: people around me who still want to play.

So I will continue.

I will continue building decks.

I will continue lending cards.

I will continue teaching people how to play.

I will continue trying to show people that there is a place for them in the Gathering.

But I needed to tell you something.

It is getting difficult.

It is getting really difficult.

And maybe this is the time to look at all of this not only through numbers, sales, or results.

Look at the faces.

Look at the people who have been holding these cards for 5, 10, 20, or 30 years.

Look at the people who are trying to bring a new generation into the game.

Don't wait until everyone leaves to realize that something needed to be done.

I am not writing this because I have given up on Magic.

I am writing this precisely because I still believe in it.

You created something incredible.

I just want to see that incredible thing continue to grow.

And if this letter reaches someone at WotC who wants to talk, I am here.

I know there are countless incredible names throughout Latin America. There are thousands of us who are passionate about these little Magic cards.

I am just one of them.

But perhaps that is exactly why this letter needs to exist.

Because sometimes it is important to remember that behind every deck, every tournament, every sale, and every decision, there is a person.

And maybe that person is simply trying to say:

"Please, don't wait until everyone leaves."
@wizards_magic @wizards_magic

[TogoresMTG 🦈 🔜 RC Ghent @TogoresMTG]

Published a full Fight Rigging primer on my Metafy, including detailed card choices and a complete sideboard guide. One of the decks I would play at my RC.

I’ll also be giving away 1 month of free access to my guides to 3 lucky winners next Wednesday!

To enter, just share this.

[Nikachu @NikachuMTG]

Wizards fumbling their dominance in the competitive TCG space will be dissected by gaming historians for generations to come.

[Goblin_Ringleader @JStrepek]

This was a lot of fun! I’m excited to talk more about all the future events and the formats at the @NRGSeries 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

@fireshoes How has Fight Rigging been looking? I was excited to see that at the Pro Tour, but haven’t seen much of it since.

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

Saw this advertised, and I had to check their website to make sure it was real. We really do live in the worst timeline.

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

Thorin's Last Stand (There's a lot of enchantments/artifacts in this set, and a surprise team pump outperformed)

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

My first Hobbit draft! Takeaways are games can get very grindy without an evasive threat. Unblockable Bilbo stole a number of games that I don't think I was winning otherwise, especially when I grew him and gave him lifelink with Bowman.
See reply for 3 cards that outperformed

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

Master's Councillors (Milled opponents out during boardstalls. I often got both I was running out at once, milling 6 or 12/turn cycle.)
Stoned by Sunlight, both modes (Killing their big creature is great and all, but so is the indestructable.)
2/3

[オリパワン🥇 @oripaone]

【プレゼント企画🎁】
箱が凹んでしまい商品に出来なくなった「megaドリームBOX」を7名様にプレゼント🎁

🎯いいねとリツイートだけ🎁
✅7/16締め切り

#オリパワン当選報告

[Jostein Hauge @haugejostein]

JD Vance is not expressing a fringe opinion when he says he's "angry about the rise of China."

He's voicing something far more widespread than most people are willing to admit. What we're witnessing is Western hegemonic anxiety expressed with less and less shame.

And I don't think this reaction has much to do with China specifically. If India, or the entire continent of Africa, had industrialized and innovated at the same speed and scale, the response from Washington and Brussels would look similar.

China's rise has simply forced a belief out into the open that many in the West would rather keep buried: a deep discomfort with the idea that "developing" countries might actually develop. That they might compete, might lead, might stop waiting their turn.

Strip away the talk of trade imbalances and national security, and what remains is a simple, unspoken assumption: the West is supposed to be on top. That assumption runs so deep that many people who hold it don't experience it as a belief at all. It just feels like the natural order of things.

So when a country like China rises, it isn't applauded as a great feat of poverty reduction or development — it's treated as a problem. Something to be managed, contained, sanctioned, or tariffed back into its place.

[olivetree @not4selfbut4all]

Fuck the United States. 11 million people without electricity in an El Niño summer. This is beyond evil.
End the sanctions. End the embargo.

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

@Catscollecttcg Bidoof is my favorite

[cats collectibles tcg @Catscollecttcg]

Alright time to show some love :) thanks for supporting us 💓

Follow @Catscollecttcg
Like and repost this
Comment your favorite Pokemon

Ends in 1 week 🌟

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

First draft with Marvel. UW is kinda cracked u'all. UG seems decent as well, lots of ways to abuse cards that reward you for putting +/+1 counters on your creatures.

[Andrea Mengucci @Mengu09]

Today on Mengu's Workshop @Tommy_T_T delighted me playing one of the hardest deck in Premodern (and also one of the most expensive 😅) : Iggy Pop! The video was a blast, can't wait for you to see it! #PremodernMTG

[ValiciousMTG @ValiciousMTG]

@Vibatron I started playing Pokemon Red in middle school, on my Game Boy Pocket I won through fundraising for MDA. I can’t use my hands, so I made quite the sight of pressing buttons with my mouth for hours. It must’ve looked like I was trying to eat the game.

[ポケカ予約速報@ポケモンカード情報 @pokecachan]

ポケモンカード抽選まとめ【7/9(木)更新】
画像で〆切順にまとめていますので忘れずに💡

🆕イオンスタイルオンライン：7/10(木)23:59まで
・スターターセットex3種類
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✅Amazon（通販）：招待リクエスト後に当選で予約可能
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🆕おもちゃのペリカン（店舗受け取り）：7/12(���)閉店まで
❶ストームエメラルダ
❷スターターセットex3種類
店舗で応募

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✅iAEONアプリ（店頭受け取り）：7/12(日)23:59まで
・ストームエメラルダ
iAEONアプリ＞お得情報バナー(イオン九州限定企画)

✅セブンネット（通販）：7/15(水)23:59まで
❶30周年記念BOX
❷プレミアムデッキセットエーフィ・ブラッキー
購入履歴が必要（2025/6/1～2026/6/14に1円以上の注文&受け取り履歴）
セブンネットアプリ＞探す＞抽選応募

✅フルコンプ一部店舗：7/17(金)11:59まで
・スターターセットex3種類
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✅フルコンプ一部店舗��店舗受け取り）：7/17(金)11:59まで
・ストームエメラルダ
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✅シーガル（店舗受け取り）：7/20(月) 20:00まで
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✅平和堂アプリ：7/13(月)午前～7/14(火)
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アプリより期間内に応募フォーム��配信

✅GEO（店舗受け取り）：7/13(月) 11:00 ～ 7/16(木) 17:59
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・スターターセットex3種類
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✅カードラボ（店舗受け取り）：各店舗による
・ストームエメラルダ
応募は各店舗Xフォロー&リポスト

✅ホビーゾーン：7/17(金)～7/19(日)21:00まで
・ストームエメラルダ
店頭掲示のQRコードより応募

✅イトーヨーカドー（店舗受け取り）：7/17(金)8:00～7/19(日)まで
❶ストームエメラルダ
❷スターターセットex3種類
✅LINE応募：7月17日(金)8時～7月19日(日)
🎫イトーヨーカドーLINEよりクーポン獲得（詳細は別ポスト）

✅ノジマオンライン（通販）：抽選期限なしで不定期当選
・30周年記念BOX
https://t.co/CUDIpLn3EK

【再販分】
ヤマダ電機アプリ：7/10(金)23:59まで
・アビスアイ

✅お宝創庫・プレイズ：7/12(日)23:59まで
・スタートデッキ100
アプリ応募

✅Joshinアプリ：7/9(木)23:59まで
・スタートデッキ100
ジョーシンアプリ＞マイページ＞店舗限定キャンペーン

✅GEO（店舗受け取り）：7/13(月) 11:00 ～ 7/16(木) 17:59
・スタートデッキ100
https://t.co/6FMcEpglee

✅シーガル（店舗受け取り）：7/20(月) 20:00まで
・スタートデッキ100
https://t.co/6degPkFWI1

事前条件は固定ポスト参照
フォローと通知オンでお知らせします！
#PR

[Pokemon Deals, Alerts & News! @PokemonDealsTCG]

All Early Links for 30th Anniversary Celebration Pokemon TCG on Amazon⚡️

30th Celebration Ultra Premium Collection
https://t.co/SE0GVmTUIg
Elite Trainer Box
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Ditto Premium Collection
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Mew / Mewtwo Figure Collections
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Booster Bundle
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Binder Collection
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Poster Collection
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Battle Decks (Victini / Zeraora Promos)
https://t.co/Vhj9xkXzi3
Tech Sticker Collection
https://t.co/UBkSBGAD9S
Knock Out Collection
https://t.co/uoKNR18QX1
30th Celebration Mini Tins
https://t.co/MEEFrslrVq
Greninja / Sylveon Tins
https://t.co/7UVNHLEQkv
Greninja / Sylveon EX Boxes
https://t.co/RVks1Ww4QZ

Bookmark this post for easy access! We will alert when 30th Celebration products are available for preorder🔔

#Pokemon #PokemonTCG #AD