[city41]

I really have no doubt at all that Magic is the greatest game ever devised. However, I do think it was a better game in the early days before strategy and meta was disseminated so broadly across the internet. Each local community had their own deck styles and approaches, and a big part of the game was in discovering new combos and decks on your own. I feel that part is a bit lost these days.

[arvinsim]

I don't think information availability affected the game so much as the economic barrier. I mean, if people have infinite access to cards, there would be a lot of experimenting going around.

[city41]

I think both are factors. In the 90s I'd estimate my Magic circle was about 100 people or so. Sure that's a lot of room for experimentation, but nothing like the millions of players today.

[alanfalcon]

The tools exist for people to experiment as if they had infinite copies of every card ever printed, and the people who most enjoy that sort of thing definitely make use of those tools!

[arvinsim]

That’s right but they wouldn’t be able to test on real tournaments though.