Local Games Store owners say they are having a hard time getting their Standard format Magic: The Gathering events to fire off.
The comments on Magic's Standard format as a whole came to light on a recent Facebook poll of Wizards Play Network (WPN) members in which 35 percent of respondents claimed the recent Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes standard showdown events have been "negative" for them and another 36 percent saying they didn't even run the events for one reason or another.
"No one wants to play Standard," says Wil Goodrich of Red Dragon Gaming in Portland, Ind. "That ship has sailed."
Edward Drew of Forgotten Path Games in Vacaville, Calif., is finding similar issues.
"I can only fire Standard when the store championship promo is good and people want to test or during the RCQ season," he says. "As soon as the season ends, they all stop playing Standard."
Some local game stores are reporting a diminishing interest in the format since the release of Marvel Super Heroes, though that might be just a coincidence.
"We almost got eight [players] consistently weekly during Strixhaven but now it won't even fire," comments Joe Houston, co-owner of Go Beyond Games in Dauphin, Canada.
A few store owners have pointed on fact out that might be having an impact on the format. And it's one that's well beyond their control.
"No distributors have Magic sets for us to sell, which hurts all formats but Standard most of all," says Brandon Amico of Gamers' Haunt in Asheville, NC.
As for what could help revitalize Standard as a viable format for local game stores, one LGS owner has an idea.
"I’m thinking if Standard got 40 ready-to-play decks a year like Commander, it could make a solid comeback," suggests John Hollifield of Matchstick Games in Mount Sterling, Ken.
In that aforementioned poll of WPN members, only eight percent of respondents say their Standard Showdown events were a "positive" experience with even fewer, just one percent, responding "very positive" in the poll.
