Hello and welcome to the Herald’s Horn Newsletter: Issue 4! We have a barn burner of a week (i.e. this is longer), featuring Cole writing about his entry into content creation and what keeps him doing it, along with Cal being curious about the history of booster pack prices. Without any further ado, let’s get into it!
Getting Into Content Creation (The How, The Why, And Why I Still Do It)
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Magic the Gathering has become a behemoth of a game, franchise, hobby, and so much more in the content Creator space. Making the jump into creating anything involving Magic, no matter how much you commit to it, is a huge hurdle for anyone, as a single individual or as a team.
It can be very intimidating to even think about creating something as small as Tiktok or YouTube -horts (and doing so is no small feat), writing articles, creating sub formats, or putting your voice out into the world, especially if it's a podcast or a stream.
I have some thoughts as someone who's been doing this for a few years and is someone who's watched many friends and associates be involved, still continue to be involved, and have left the space for various reasons. But first, let me introduce myself.
The podcast is about two friends getting together every couple weeks and talking about the games of Commander they've played, the decks they're coming up with and Magic content they've watched, read, and listened to from the broader community.
We also dare to ask the question if your Commander passes the Hero's Blade vVibe Check, because I decided to focus on an unceremonious uncommon from Fate Reforged, that cares about legendary creatures. What that means is elusive, and highly subjective, and people seem to enjoy it!
(One of the reasons I'm here is because I leapt at the chance to listen to the Herald's Horn. It felt like a no-brainer, between Cal, Dan, Emma and Lexi, and our podcasts started at the same time. AND, we focused on specific artifacts cards. Felt like kindred spirits.)
What I Know So Far
My thoughts today have to do with what I’ve seen during my time as a creator, the things you have to think about jumping into the space, and some of the nitty gritty depressing stuff that you can expect from someone who isn't “successful” in the numbers game.
Let's start with an overview, things you need to consider when you're committing to any type of project:
It will take some commitment, whether that's time, effort, and frankly, both.
You'll want to educate yourself in some way regarding free applications, or understand that you will be paying for services/applications.
Not everyone will want to watch or listen to what you're doing. We're already in a “niche” hobby, and the more specific you get, the more niche audience you can expect (most of my friends don’t listen to my podcast, for example)
You may not experience the growth that you want. Not everything is lightning in a bottle, and you will have to stick with it long term
You have to learn to not care about the numbers, the views, the clicks and comments, and care about the project you're putting into the world. As they always say, if you are passionate and care about what you’re making, you will have like-minded people who appreciate it in return
Other people in this space can be great resources and inspirations, but they are people too. They will come and go as they need, and it will suck to see them go
Consider having a partner in crime! Doing something by yourself can be daunting. Having someone else to bounce ideas off of, proofread your writing, or having a co-host for a project can alleviate a lot of issues you have by running things by yourself.
(Being your own audio/video editor, social media manager, graphic design, etc has its own satisfaction. But having someone who does the music and compliments your thought processes pays dividends)
HBVC isn't the first podcast I've done within the last 3 years. The first one was Uncommon Commander, and it was a solo-run, weekly cast where I interviewed people about their decks with Uncommon rarity Commanders, their thoughts about Magic and what else they're up to as people and as creators, while also involving discussions of nerd pop culture media. It involved a lot of experimentation and being able to mesh with my guests, most of which were familiar, and others who were complete strangers to me.
I attempted a bit about Hero's Blade while talking to Jim Lapage about his Tor Wauki/Obosh the Skypiercer deck. While falling on its face as quickly as I started it during UC’s run, it’s what ultimately led to HBVC. Stepping stones that were set over years allowed me to move forward with a different goal.
If you're looking to get started yourself, you will want to brainstorm and conceptualize what you want to be doing. Jumping right in without any thought will have you quickly going through burnout or scavenging for ideas. The title of the project, logos, the end goal. All of this won't be apparent until you start, but starting with nothing doesn't help either. Throw darts at a board and see what sticks for you.
As much fun as I had on Uncommon Commander, I was often flying by the seat of my pants trying to get guests and keep things consistent between episodes. Eventually I found that I needed to take extended breaks, and it was eating too much of my time throughout a week if I was trying to create a backlog. In retrospect, I feel as if I had created an extensive backlog before I published the first episode. I would have been able to consistently make episodes over time with some forward planning.
Additionally, recording using OBS for all audio feeds was a mistake in the long run. Editing was a nightmare, there's no way to have the audio feeds be equalized, and if Discord was having issues, that was apparent as well.
There's a lot of free programs that can be used for any type of audio recording, video recording, video editing, etc. Had I actually done some research or asked around, I would have been a lot more prepared and I would’ve had a much higher quality product out of the gate.
As someone who's been doing this for a while now, a few friends and acquaintances who wanted to get into podcasting have consulted me and I've also consulted other people despite different workflows and programs. The programs may be different, and you may have to pay for some, but the fundamentals are the same. Ask your peers for advice and see what works for you.
The other thing to consider is that you're going to have hang-ups over your product, your art, whatever you want to end up calling it. Whether that you're comparing yourself to other people in the space, not getting the numbers that you want, if you're hearing yourself and think your voice is annoying via recording, or that you feel you're not unique.
All of these negative perspectives are pretty much unavoidable. How you choose to deal with and navigate these feelings will help you push through and put your product into the world. Personally, I'd much rather keep as low profile as possible rather than break out in a big way, because it would feel pretty overwhelming (and keeping myself humble gives better perspective).
But you have to create something! Put yourself fully into what you're creating and other people will come. I've seen a lot of people start from nothing and have a decent following and it works for the type of art that they're making. And we all like Magic, the next best thing about playing magic is the other social and discussion elements of it! We could yap for hours about magic (and Quinn and I definitely do, our longest episode is 3 hours with my friend John)
Magic Isn't What It Used to Be
Here comes the hard part that some people don't wanna hear and maybe you feel the same way: Magic: the Gathering isn't what it used to be, for better or worse.
(I'm of the group that thinks it's for the better, I just wish WOTC/Hasbro went about it differently).
Whether that's the 50/50 split [between Universe Within/Universes Beyond products], competitive play being dropped like a hot potato but then being focused on, or the 300+ legends designed in a calendar year for Commander players. It's just not the same as it was a decade or more ago.
As a consequence, a lot of people that I know have effectively left Magic and content creation. They may still own cards and play, but they're on the outs and are two steps from quitting.
There are some friends who wanted to create their own podcast, but when WOTC announced the 50/50 split, they effectively gave up before anything started.
There were also the recent announcements regarding the Venus & Mercury League (VML) and Birds of Paradise (BOP) no longer getting support from WOTC, which is a huge gut punch from a community standpoint. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Not sure, but it doesn't look good for papa Hasbro and that's more reason for people to pack their bags, sell their cards and head on out too.
There's also the people who left the creative space for different reasons. The people who's schedules or life circumstances have changed. Marriage, moving, kids, job opportunities, and therefore can't participate. I've seen many Twitch streamers and YouTubers shift gears, change members or dissolved quietly in the night. Suddenly, my heroes are gone and I’m still around.
I guess the question is: why do I still do a podcast about Magic, even when it's not profitable and what the game is about now, isn't what it was when I started?
I think the answer, like the people who are overly enthusiastic about the game, the ones who are positive but criticizing the game, the people who are negative but stick around, and the people who've been burned too much by the game and the company, it's nuanced and personal.
We love or have loved magic for a long time. It's become a very big part of our lives, so we have big feelings about it. How we choose to express those feelings about the game comes in many ways, and some of us choose to apply our voices to it beyond playing the game.
I still really like Magic, as I choose to engage with it by playing Commander. That means I have a lot of friends I get to play with, via Spelltable or in person, and every couple weeks I can sit down with Empress Quinn and talk about it. Low time investment, just enough time for me to edit the audio (or you know, edit everything until 11pm the day before releasing an episode. Know anything about that Cal?), maybe brainstorm a themed opening (so far, a western, noir radio drama, and one about Arcane has been done). Maybe there's gonna be a point where I finally stop wanting to do any podcasting and hang my hat up. However, even after 3+ years, I've only felt better about what I'm doing now with Hero's Blade Vibe Check, after struggling with what I was up to with Uncommon Commander.
I also love the artwork of Magic, even if I'm not too knowledgeable about specific artists. Sure, we're getting Final Fantasy UB soon, and that can be visually dissonant for players, but we also get Magali Villeneuve’s Sephiroth and Cloud Strife on Magic cards soon, and they look amazing! We also get a bunch more of her artwork in regular Magic sets, so I feel like we never quite miss out on what we expect art-wise for Magic.Sure, we’ve had some more outlandish and not-quite-fantasy artwork (Aetherdrift a prime example), but the fundamentals are still there.
I also don't play other formats, so I don't have to sit through entire set reviews for limited or constructed play. I'll listen to the Legendary Creature Podcast’s set reviews (shout out to Andy and Kyle), seek what I want on Scryfall (finding cards for my Odric, Blood-Cursed deck, mostly), I buy my singles, and I call it a day. Then I get to chat about Commander for a couple hours every two weeks, edit the file and send it out into the aether. It's a lot more peaceful for me and allows me to get the most enjoyment, rather than trying to do a weekly release with various other people.
(Until someone plays The One Ring or Rhystic Study, and then maybe I have something bad to say about Magic)
Guess to summarize my thoughts: Magic is what you make of it. If you want to bring something to the table, make a plan and just do it. I think you'll regret not trying it out, even if it's one article or one episode.
If you want to go above and beyond playing the game, grab a microphone and some editing software and see what comes up. Sit down and use voice-to-text when you have some quiet time and if you don't wanna type (and if you use Chat GPT, I will appear through your screen like The Ring). Stick with it until you can. Plan it out. Brainstorm with a friend. Get some advice. And get to work. And I'll see you out there on the airwaves.
Future of this Newsletter
Quick note here to say, I’m currently pausing submissions to this newsletter as I attempt to figure out what I want to do moving forward. Substack as a platform is not something I am currently overjoyed with due to some of the talent they’re actively courting and platforming - but I’m not sure if there is any other place for this newsletter to live effectively. The Morality® of a platform is a hard conversation to explore and most likely this newsletter will simply remain here, but I just wanted to get that out there. Alright, back to it.
A Short History of (Draft) Pack Prices
by Cal Jones
The pricing of Magic booster packs is somewhat a fraught topic - nobody wants to really think about how much we all spend on this frightfully expensive hobby. But, the MSRP of a boostie is long been an important thing to look at and discuss as it impacts the accessibility of the game at every level. I’ve even known communities that will soft-ban a local store for charging a rate above what they consider reasonable - usually $4.50 rather than the then-normal $3.50-$3.75.
It took people by surprise when Magic: the Gathering: Final Fantasy Play Boosters were revealed to have a price of $6.99 - and then Marvel’s Spider-Man followed with the same pricing structure. This is a massive jump - a 27.3% increase from our normal Aetherdrift Play Booster price of $5.49.
There are a range of reasons why these packs could be more expensive, with most pointing to looming tariffs or the price of the licenses themselves. While tariffs may play a part (or be a convenient excuse), for all intents and purposes, we still haven’t received word of a “normal” Magic set price hike and even have MaRo specifically saying it’s just UB boosters that are more pricey.
Universes Beyond packs costing more than their in-universe counterparts felt more acceptable when they were special attractions that at least attempted to fit into the higher-power-level, straight-to-Eternal-or-Modern mold that we’ve been forcibly made accustomed to through Modern Horizons and a continual onslaught of powerful cards from $45 (or $50… or $70…) Commander decks. Now that UB represents the majority of sets entering Standard this year, it’s much more of an obvious problem. For a range of reasons I’m not interested in litigating at length here, it is extremely important for the health of the game for Standard to be as accessible as possible and a higher price point for packs will make Standard that much more expensive. Heck, it’ll make Limited and singles that much more expensive as the packs are the only places we can get the cards we need.
Anyways, small rant aside (more coming on Thursday’s episode I assure you), I wanted to take a quick trip down memory lane, looking at the price changes that Standard-legal, “normal” packs have gone on throughout Magic History - and also interest price adjust them, for curiosities sake (using the good ole CPI inflation calculator). I’m also only looking at the price (and evolution in general) of the normal booster, eventually branded a “Draft Booster,” and now its descendant, the Play Booster. Most of my information comes from the Prices page of the new mtg.wiki, as any deeper level of research would have made my brain implode this week.
When Magic originally released in 1993, the first runs of packs you could obtain, Alpha, Beta, & Revised, had some very familiar looking and feeling packs. They contained 15 cards (11 commons, 3 uncommons, & 1 rare, with basics appearing… in most any slot) and cost a whopping $2.45 (remarkably about the same with inflation as we pay for a Play Booster now, how about that). The earliest sets were full of pack contents and form factor experimentation, with most sets either releasing with eight card packs (priced cheaper, obviously) or what we came to know as normal 15 card packs, with variable distribution of card rarities within. Really, it’s wild to see how close to “right” they got it from the very beginning.
A Growing Game: Ice Age-Urza's Destiny (1995-1999)
New Pack Cost: $2.95
Percent Increase: 20.4%
Inflation Adjusted, 1995 vs. 2025: $6.24
As Magic grew, so did its costs. The world was changing too - paper prices increased, as did printing costs, at the same time that the US Dollar was weak vs. the rest of the world. These are the three reasons that Peter Adkison quoted, at least, in the letter to retailers announcing the change. A 20% increase is nothing to scoff at - and takes the inflation adjusted price to above what we pay for normal Play Boosters now.
A boring change, nothing to write home about, with a stated Increased Costs and All That. Nothing much to see here.
Almost There: Darksteel-Coldsnap (2004-2006)
New Pack Cost: $3.69
Percent Increase: 12.16%
Inflation Adjusted, 2004 vs. 2025: $6.33
A small price increase per Presidential Administration keeps the terrors away, or something. Another small bump, another bit of boredom.
The Great Peace: Time Spiral-Ravnica Allegiance (2006-2019)
New Pack Cost: $3.99
Percent Increase: 8.1%
Inflation Adjustments:
2006 vs. 2025: $6.39
2012 vs. 2025: $5.59
2019 vs. 2025: $5.04
You read that right, reader-who-is-newer-to-Magic - Magic booster packs had the same MSRP for nearly 13 years. A wild achievement that was most likely helped by the complete cratering of the global economy in 2008 (and another smaller recession along the way) but one that gave some level of stability to the game nontheless. No matter what you had going on, you could go and get yourself a booster from your LGS for $3.50 (or $4 if they weren’t cool) or maybe even a whole box for $100+tax. These prices seem wild to think about even now as we stare down $7 Universe Beyond boosters but we live in a different world.
MSRP-less Wasteland: War of the Spark-Foundations (2019-2024)
New Pack Cost: ??? (Spoiler: often still $3.99)
Wizards of the Coast cut adrift the prices of their products from any guidance starting in February, 2019. However, prices, on average, stayed pretty stable for packs as WotC still quietly set the prices that Distrobutors bought the product from, who then would then apply a relatively standard, flat markup to the product before passing it onto stores, who often would just apply a standard markup and sell it to the consumer… for about $4. Prices did fluctuate up over time - and stores felt more comfortable with price-gouging on more popular products (though MSRP never stopped them) - with the most prominant price chance coming in July 2022, with about an 11% price bump coming through from Wizards to Distro to stores.
You Are Here: Foundations-??? (2024-???)
New Pack Cost: $5.49 (Universe Within sets)-$6.99 (Universes Beyond sets)
Price Increase: 37.6% (vs. 3.99, not entirely accurate)
MSRP was announced to return (to actual loud cheers) at MagicCon Chicago in 2024, starting with Foundations and continuing into the foreseeable future.
And here we are - with pricey Universe Beyond packs and pretty-normal-actually-according-to-inflation-estimates Universe Within packs. What have we learned? I dunno man. I had fun though.
The Latest Episode: 12,000 + Cards Get an Errata & Matt Nass Wins a Pro Tour
On this one, Cal & Dan chop it up about Pro Tour Chicago, a new Magic wiki & also a massive, and at the same time very small, errata update. Of course, there's also the Product Watch, featuring Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Final Fantasy, & Avatar the Last Airbender, and we have the return of Letter to the Editor, with a question just for Dan! No guest... because the interviews are on Tuesday now!
That’s right, I’m experimenting with a small change to the show format, with The News, Product Watch, etc. releasing on Thursday & the Interview releasing on Tuesday.
I recently discovered SUPERJUMP magazine, an online video game publication that is, in their own words, only writes about the experiences that thrill & delight them. I simply love media based in joy, so it’s been extremely up my alley to read some of the pieces contained within. It also has a cool model - anyone can apply to be a contributor & then their editors choose if they want you on the team. Its a bit more open than the traditional submission model. You have to still submit quality work to get published, something I’ll be working on, as I was accepted to the team as of this morning. Here’s hoping. :)
So Much Power It Barely Fits on Screen - This recent LSV vintage cube draft brought me a lot of laughs. His deck is hilariously powerful, including four pieces of power & even has a Library of Alexandria… which I’m not sure if he ever ends up activating to draw a card.
This 50-second Youtube short contains both beautiful piano playing and a delightful tip for Jazz Solo Balads - very relevant to you all I’m sure. I just love listening to it and I’m sure there’s some life lesson about patience and restraint to be learned too.
My dumb Magic-backed poker deck (a DCI membership reward in 1997) brings me so much joy. I’ve played games of spades in a bar with it already & I don’t really plan on stopping, theoretical high value be dammed.
That’s all folks! Thanks for reading. See you sometime (probably in two weeks, but we’ll see).
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As someone just starting content creation Cole's article is very encouraging. I tend to get a bit lost in the sauce writing and perfecting when I should probably just hit "publish". Loving the Horn though, and hoping it sticks around despite ~shenanigans~
Kind of funny to read Cole's encouraging words to make the content you want to see in the world followed by an announcement of possibly shutting the blog down (on Substack at least). Not meant to be a criticism, just acknowledging something similar to irony happening here. Creating works in this current digital age sure is fraught.
Love the articles, interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing this work!
As someone just starting content creation Cole's article is very encouraging. I tend to get a bit lost in the sauce writing and perfecting when I should probably just hit "publish". Loving the Horn though, and hoping it sticks around despite ~shenanigans~
Kind of funny to read Cole's encouraging words to make the content you want to see in the world followed by an announcement of possibly shutting the blog down (on Substack at least). Not meant to be a criticism, just acknowledging something similar to irony happening here. Creating works in this current digital age sure is fraught.
Love the articles, interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing this work!