Interview: Jakob from Mana Entzug on collecting, Commander, community, and real-life meetups
- L7
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Today’s interview is with Jakob from Mana Entzug, a weekly podcast about Magic: The Gathering with a clear focus on Commander/EDH. We met through a previous job, and over time we stayed in touch through collecting, because we both love that “physical ownership” feeling, cards, vinyl, artwork, and everything you can actually hold in your hands. This interview is exactly about that: collecting, community, meeting in real life, and why those things still can’t be replaced in a digital world.
To match the topics in this interview, collecting, modern digital pressure, and meeting in real life, we built a metal playlist to play along while reading:
1) Collecting is collecting
Niflheim Records:
You’re at home in the TCG universe, I come from vinyl, both worlds live from “physically owning things”. What’s the strongest part of Magic as a collectible for you, holding it, sorting it, building decks, showing it, trading it? What can digital never truly replace?
Jakob:
For me, “physically owning” a card is not just having a piece of printed cardboard in my collection, it’s also art, nostalgic moments, and sometimes the collector’s value. The most fun for me is of course playing Magic, especially Commander, in person, and that’s also the best place to show the special versions of cards. Cards from special universes with combined artworks, I even have some of them framed on a wall. Especially from the Lord of the Rings set, I collected all complete images from the main set, because on one hand they are beautiful, and on the other hand, every time I sit down to work, I can take a quick look at these masterpieces. Of course I also trade cards that are strong and have a certain value, but usually I try to keep at least one version of a card for my collection and also for potential new decks. Digital Magic can’t replace any of that for me and never will, even though I still enjoy playing a few quick games online from time to time. Apart from that, there is always the option to look for a spontaneous webcam game on the Discord of my podcast and still play with your physical cards.
2) Your view on the MTG scene today
Niflheim Records:
How has the Magic community changed in recent years, online and offline? What’s working really well right now, and what sometimes annoys you?
Jakob:
The Magic community has probably changed more in the last few years than it did in the 25 years before that since the game exists. Wizards of the Coast keeps trying to bring new players into Magic: The Gathering, and they found an effective way to do it: the so-called Universes Beyond. Basically these are expansions based on other IPs (Intellectual Properties) like The Walking Dead, Warhammer 40k, Fallout, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and many more, that function under the rules of Magic: The Gathering. This expansion into other universes brings the company higher and higher profits every year and new players, but it also annoys and pushes away long-time Magic players who can’t connect with all these different universes. Online and offline it’s a double-edged sword. On one side it’s great that so many new people join the hobby, but on the other side what annoys me is the negativity towards many of these Universes Beyond sets. For me it’s important that Magic releases cool new mechanics and strong cards that you can think about for days, what new combos exist, or which old cards go completely crazy with them. The IP on the packaging is completely secondary for me. Many people write these sets off before they even saw a single card, and I think that’s a shame. Sometimes even highly expected sets flop, like Spider-Man last year. That set went from a supposedly non-draftable (self-contained playable) set to a barely draftable one, and you can really feel that. The decision to put this set into Wizards’ main format (Standard) was announced when the game had already been in development for years. The biggest problem is that Wizards didn’t secure the online rights for it, which is why for Spider-Man and all future Marvel sets there will be a special online edition with the exact same cards, but different names, keywords and artworks. That made the whole player base angry, and I also think it wasn’t solved well.
3) When collecting turns into “too much”
Niflheim Records:
Do you think collecting sometimes goes too far, with products that add little value for the game or the community and mostly exist to take more money from people? Where is the line for you between a cool new product and a pure cash grab?
Jakob:
First of all, everyone has to decide for themselves how much money they want to spend on their hobby. I do think sealed products are too expensive, and you can see that especially with Universes Beyond sets. In my opinion, the power level doesn’t match the price, and because of the growing collector aspect and super rare cards in collector boosters, collecting is slowly turning into a lottery. It doesn’t bother me if I don’t pull expensive cards, but it bothers me when the collector aspect takes over so much that sealed products are completely sold out and unaffordable. The best example from last year is Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy. Collector booster boxes cost 350 euros on pre-order (which is already a lot of money), and because of strong cards and the “lottery cards” like the golden Chocobos they quickly went up to over 1,000 euros. That annoys me a lot, and it’s not even a cash grab, it’s more like attracting scalpers the way light attracts moths. Another thing I see critically are some “Secret Lair Drops”, where Wizards of the Coast sells directly to consumers without distributors and local stores as a middle step. Even though Wizards claims they don’t recognize the secondary market, you can clearly see that many popular Secret Lairs include cards that have a higher price on the secondary market. That has changed a bit over the years, sometimes there are Secret Lair Drops sold for 40–50 euros where the regular versions cost only a few euros. That’s when it sometimes starts to feel like a cash grab.
4) Why people still need to meet in real life
Niflheim Records:
When everything keeps getting more digital: why is it still important to you that people meet in real life, whether at concerts or for playing and trading? What is that factor you can never fully get online?
Jakob:
It’s basically already in the name of the card game: Magic: The Gathering, the magic, the gathering. My favorite way to play is Commander, which is the closest to a board game version of Magic. The interactions are the most important thing for me, and a digital version could never replace that. Beyond the rules of Magic, you can also influence the game outside of them, for example by convincing opponents that you’re not the threat, or agreeing together to remove a dangerous card. In Commander this is called “politics”, and for me it’s what makes the format special. Trading cards also doesn’t work online at all, at least if you look at the currently most popular online client from Wizards: Magic Arena. In an older client that still has almost all cards that exist (Magic Online) you can trade cards, but the client is outdated and the user interface is so beginner-unfriendly that it probably won’t exist in the long term.
5) Stage and camera, the same muscle?
Niflheim Records:
You stand on stage with your band live and you’re also a content creator on camera. What did playing live teach you about being confident in front of a camera, and what did you learn through YouTube that helps you live?
Jakob:
Standing on stage with my band “Echonauten” has a very different charm than simply pressing “record”. First of all, everything is live with my band. If I mess up, sing wrong, or make other mistakes, I can’t just cut it out in post production. The live reactions are also absolutely amazing, when we play our own songs and people clap along, or completely lose it when we interpret their favorite song in Irish folk style. Of course, stage experience is also an advantage for my video podcast and YouTube, because for videos for my band I use certain audio programs and video programs, and I have the knowledge for them. When recording my podcast I’m much less nervous now than at the start, and I’ve already used what I learned in video editing for the Echonauten. I haven’t had real stage fright for a long time, but a certain excitement is still there.
6) Music as an escape
Niflheim Records:
When you think about stressful phases: what does music give you personally, mentally, emotionally, as energy or as a vent? And what do you want to give people when you play live?
Jakob:
When I started playing electric guitar seriously at 16, my goal was always to play the sickest solos on stage and impress everyone. For that I practiced a lot and very intensely. The song that pushed me to a new level, besides a lot of AC/DC covers, was Canon Rock. This is a rock version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D major, arranged by a YouTuber named JerryC. Since the first time I heard this song, I absolutely had to be able to play it myself. I still remember one evening after guitar lessons when I managed to figure out the main riff by ear, and I wanted to play it perfectly once before going to bed, which ended up being 7 in the morning the next day. What I mean is: I can completely lose myself in music and forget everything around me. That’s especially true when I’m practicing certain passages intensely. Music also gives me energy, it helps me focus, but it also distracts me from bad thoughts and all the bad things happening in the world. Music is basically a constant companion in my life, and I wouldn’t want to live without it.
7) Dream project: the perfect Mana Entzug event
Niflheim Records:
If you could plan freely: what would your perfect Mana Entzug event look like, meetup or tournament, community, and as a bonus live music from your band? And do you have a dream project like designing your own card (or a small set)?
Jakob:
Funny enough, I’m currently planning exactly that. Next year I want to host the first community meetup for my podcast and connect it into one big day event. During the day it will be a Commander or Magic event with shared experiences, eating together, trading, and much more. The day will then be completed in the evening with a performance of my band, the Echonauten. That way I combine my two biggest hobbies: trading cards and music. My patrons who support me financially on Patreon.com will have priority access to tickets, because I want to give something back to my biggest supporters. The event will take place in Fürth and it’s within walking distance from the train station, so I hope many people will come, up to 50 people will fit there :)
Follow Mana Entzug
Thanks again to Jakob for the interview. If you want to follow Mana Entzug, here are the best places to start:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@manaentzug
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manaentzugpodcast
A big thank you to Jakob for his time and for the detailed, honest answers. I really appreciate it, not only as a collector myself, but also because you can feel how much heart he puts into Mana Entzug and his community.
Comments