Mark Rosewater, the head designer for Magic: the Gathering wrote an article several years ago about the three different categories of gamers that play trading card games. I have recently experienced some criticism over the play style I fall squarely into, that of a Spike. I play to win, plain and simple. Many gamers, most notably the more “casual” gamers who could likely be quantified as Timmies or Johnnies seem to carry a notable disdain for the Spikes that walk into local tournaments and smash the competition with ease. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone just played for fun? The answer is no. Spikes are incredibly important for the game in terms of increasing sales and expanding recognition of the product brand.

It seems odd to claim that Spikes increase sales. After all, many Spikes spend very little money at their local stores. They often waltz into the store just to play in whatever tournament is being run, shrewdly negotiate trades with other players, collect their winnings from finishing at the top and leave. But where do these Spikes acquire their collections? What do they do when they need to acquire the cards to complete their decklist for an upcoming tournament? Several may end up borrowing cards from friends, but beyond that, they purchase singles. And the average price of any particular card is rarely a deterrent to purchasing it, as price is no object when it comes to crushing the competition. So when a certain card is in high demand, stores, local or online, will do their best to obtain those cards. This increased demand in the secondary market ultimately leads to an increased demand in the primary market, as many stores now have good reason to open more boxes. The singles market would be nowhere near as large as it is without the competitive gamer.

One thing Spikes do better than any other category of gamer is generate interest in the game and create brand recognition. They do this through the high level tournaments the game’s company hosts and promotes with varying prize pools. From very early on, Wizards of the Coast recognized the importance of high level competition, embracing the very best players and focusing on the skilled aspects of the game. In the past, names like Jon Finkel and Kai Budde became “dinner table” names for groups of Magic players, and thousands aspired to become the best. Just like professional athletes create brand recognition for their respective teams (Kobe Bryant for the Lakers or Derek Jeter for the Yankees), high profile professional Magic players create recognition for the game.

While Magic has fallen from its top dog status in the past, it has gone nowhere but up for the last several years, and while there are many factors that have contributed to this consistent growth, I believe the number one reason for this is the competitive scene. The Pro Tour is a money sink for Wizards, plain and simple. The most current event is offering a prize purse totaling over $230,000. Considering there are four of these every year, Wizards pays out nearly a million dollars in prize money alone. Also remember that many of these players have their travel paid for by being at a certain Pro Player Level, and some of the higher level players even receive appearance fees from Wizards. Couple these player expenses along with obtaining a venue and cost of staff and company travel, and the cost for these events is pretty high.

The price is worth it. Tournament participation at local and regional levels for events such as Pro Tour Qualifiers and Grand Prix has grown over the years, and I would not be surprised to see a direct correlation between these tournament showings and the product’s growth and decline. So why do thousands of players try to qualify for the Pro Tour every year? Because they want to win, and more importantly, they think they can win. And some do. Through a combination of dedication, plenty of practice, consistent improvement, innate skill, and a little bit of luck, some players qualify, and a few even manage to break out and show the TCG world just what exactly they are capable of on the big stage.

So what does all this rambling about the Pro Tour have to do with the World of Warcraft TCG? Well, if Cryptozoic believes the best way to expand their product is by following the industry leader, and I have little reason to not suspect this is their objective with the change to Core to mimic Magic’s Standard format and the change to Box and pack sizes to mirror Magic sizes, then they also need a fundamental understanding of what has made Magic so successful. It was their celebrating the competitive aspect of their game. There are casual formats and products for casual players in both games, but while Wizards clearly distinguishes their casual formats and products from their competitive formats, there is some real confusion from players about Cryptozoic’s stance on their competitive tournaments, and this confusion is a detriment to their brand recognition.

It may not be obvious to a local TCG player, but Spikes do matter to the respective games they play. They drive sales in secondary markets, which ultimately contribute to increasing product sales in the primary market which increases the longevity of any given game. Even more importantly, Spikes create increased recognition for the product through prominent coverage of high level events. Wizards of the Coast understands and embraces this, and have reaped the benefits of doing so. Cryptozoic would do well to follow the industry giant in this particular area.

-Drew Walden