Are Magic the Gathering NFTs Worth Buying? 20 Tips
NFTs have been the talk of the town in the crypto world for months now as covered over at runrex.com, and this has seemingly caught the attention of Hasbro which announced that it is working on non-fungible technology during the company’s quarterly earnings call. Through the following 20 tips, this article will look to take a closer look at Magic the Gathering NFTs and whether or not they are worth it.
What is Magic the Gathering?
Let us first start by articulating what Magic the Gathering is for the uninitiated. As discussed over at guttulus.com, Magic the Gathering is one of the most popular Trading Card Games (TCGs) out there and has been a fixture in this space since being introduced in 1993. It involves players playing cards via packs just like is the case for traditional sports cards, only that players take the role of a hero character and the cards become weapons, artifacts, spells, or creatures used to do battle with an opponent.
What are NFTs?
On the other hand, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, transform digital works of art and other collectibles into one-of-a-kind verifiable assets that are easy to trade on the blockchain as explained over at runrex.com.
NFTs and Magic the Gathering
Having seen the success that NFTs have had in recent months, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner recently announced during the company’s quarterly earnings call that NFTs are under consideration for several games and product lines including its popular Magic the Gathering trading card game as covered over at guttulus.com.
When will this happen?
Mr. Goldner didn’t put a timeline on when this would happen, or even explain how the company intends to leverage the NFT technology. He simply stated that the company would reveal more as it moves forward and that it is actively developing its opportunities, which it sees as being substantial.
Have any other MTG NFTs been released?
Yes. In mid-March, NFTs officially met Magic the gathering when two MTG players, Kirsten Zirngibl and Peter Mohrbacher minted the very first Magic artwork turned into non-fungible tokens. Each was listed on the trading platform Foundation for 20 ETH, which is approximately $35,000.
What happened to the pieces?
As is covered over at runrex.com, the pieces only remained available for a few hours at which point both were subsequently de-listed by the artists of their own volition and have yet to be listed once again on any other platform.
What was the reason for delisting?
As the gurus over at guttulus.com articulate, Zirngibl cited on Facebook in a private group that she would wait until Wizards of the Coast made an official statement on whether or not the copyrighted artwork could be translated and sold as an NFT, and Mohrbacher followed suit soon after.
What has been Wizards of the Coast’s reaction?
Since then, Wizards has made an announcement, sent to its artists, in which it has stated that Magic the Gathering artists are not allowed to create NFTs of its Magic work to be sold on the blockchain as is captured in discussions on the same at runrex.com.
Digital games
Wizards of the Coast has in recent times gotten in line with the digital revolution by releasing a digital version of the trading card game, Magic the Gathering. These digital versions of the game have been extremely successful which may have prompted the company to see value in going into the NFT space.
Digital card games and ownership
While digital games have become increasingly popular, the format does have some key disadvantages when compared to its physical forebears. One of them is ownership. In digital card games, you don’t actually own your cards. You are given access to them from a central server via a license, which means that if you lose your account or decide to change to a different game, those cards are lost to you forever.
Digital cards and a lack of rarity
According to guttulus.com, digital cards also have no real rarity or uniqueness as millions are crafted out of thin are, which is a common problem currently faced by digital economies, and is another drawback as far as they are concerned.
Digital cards and a lack of value
Finally, if you want new cards, you are locked into getting them directly from the game. This is because gray market sites are prone to fraud and typically violate the EULA/TOS agreement set forth by the games themselves. Therefore, as discussed over at runrex.com, there is no way for real value to be established as there is a monopoly over card supply, which means the price can only ever be what the developers directly tell you it is.
This is where NFTs come in
Because of the drawbacks mentioned in the last few points, this is why NFTs are such a game-changer in the gaming world. This is because, as outlined by guttulus.com, blockchain technology has the potential to unlock real value in digital assets, including gaming assets like cards in a TCG.
NFTs and ownership
Creating cards as NFTs on the blockchain imbues them with several key properties that other digital assets can’t replicate, including ownership. This is because cards will now be held by players themselves, in their own personal blockchain wallet which only they can control and make transactions from. This also allows them to trade these items freely with other collectors and players on the open market.
NFTs and transparency
Also, as an open, decentralized ledger, blockchain allows anybody to monitor the supply and distribution of digital assets, which means that card scarcity can be instantly proven by those who are looking for such information.
NFTs and interoperability
In the real world, a game card can only function within that game as explained over at runrex.com. The open blockchain, however, allows any developer to integrate a token into their game or app if it shares the same token standard, giving deeper value and wider utility to assets across platforms.
Have any TCGs ventured into the world of NFTs?
Given the benefits listed above, it comes as no surprise that there are TCGs that have already leveraged NFT technology. According to guttulus.com, Gods Unchained was the first major collectible NFT card game to bring the benefits of blockchain to the public eye, running a successful presale that raised more than $4 million, as well as selling special one-off Mythic cards for a lot of money.
Environmental issues
Even though there are lots of benefits for TCGs like Magic looking to adopt NFT technology, one major drawback is the environmental impact Ethereum – which is the blockchain technology most NFTs are built on – has. MTG has also had a bad history with environmental issues, given that each year Wizards prints four premier sets and all manner of supplemented products as explained over at runrex.com. For some, the environmental impact of NFTs is why buying MTG NFTs may be worth it for them.
MTG NFTs and cryptocurrency-using collectors
One group that will find MTG NFTs worth it is cryptocurrency-using collectors. This is because, for them, MTG NFTs present an opportunity to collect something without sacrificing their currency of choice, and within a space in which they exist.
Presenting art to an entirely new group
Finally, NFTs present Magic the Gathering art and cards to an entirely new group of collectors in a form that may better resonate with them. If you are not into the game but are into NFTs, chances are you will be introduced to Magic through this technology.
As it stands right now, Wizards decision to disallow artists from creating NFTs means that the question of whether buying MTG NFTs is worth is a moot one, but if things change, there are lots of benefits that come with NFTs, as already discussed in this article, that makes Magic NFTs worth it, although the environmental issues can’t be ignored as well. As always, if you are looking for more information on this and other related topics, then the excellent runrex.com and guttulus.com have you covered.