Wizards of the Coast suggested some in-store strategies for Magic: The Gathering new player acquisition that revolve around the release of their upcoming Foundations set.
With the core Magic: The Gathering community maturing, as the game is now 30+ years old, new player acquisition continues to get both more relevant to expand the game’s base as well as trickier to accomplish for FLGS retailers. Now that WPN metrics have been back on as a product assignment tool for a bit (see “Play Metrics for ‘Magic: the Gathering’ Events“), gaining new players has become even more important to FLGS. The upcoming Foundations set is WotC’s attempted answer to both helping add new players to the base and reviving Standard play at the same time. Thus, they have offered up a few tips for retailers looking to make the most of this release in the way of new players acquisition:
Use the Beginner Box as Intended. The most basic product in the Foundations line-up (see “‘Magic: The Gathering – Foundations’“), that is aimed at entry level players, is their re-formatting of Jumpstart packs into a Beginner Box. WotC suggests using this box as a gateway product to capture new player interest, giving them their first taste of the game. This product is a little different than the Starter Kits offered previously because it utilizes eight themed packs, instead of pre-constructed decks, so it gives new players a little replayability out of the box.
Engage Players with Magic Academy. This new event series is part event and part tutorial (see “Retailer Information“) that is the next level up from new players learning the game from a Beginner Box. The goal is generally to hone new player’s skills while intermingling them slightly more experienced players who are maybe looking to get better at the game while getting a gift-with-purchase promo for their efforts. This event type can utilizes various Foundations product types alongside online tutorials and Welcome Decks to help players along their journey.
The Magic Academy also offers a Deck Building event that helps players prepare for their first prerelease event. WotC suggests running this event so that new players aren’t trying to build their decks aimlessly from the random pool of cards handed to them in packs at the prerelease event. The video for this event offers tips on mana curve planning, color combos, and a deck review phase to make sure new players can be somewhat competitive in the prerelease (or at very least have a good time playing).
Schedule Events Over a Month in Advance. They also mentioned the scheduling of Magic events being a factor in retaining players. Apparently, events scheduled over a month in advance have a 40% more attendance rate than events scheduled less than a month in advance. WotC also suggested doing repeating events, so that new players get in the habit of coming back at the same time and place every week.
Beyond these three summarized points, WotC added in a catch-all piece of advice, “always be willing to try something new.” However, this isn’t much of a revelation for both new and seasoned FLGS owners, as they are likely ALWAYS trying new things just to keep the lights on.
Source: ICV2
