One of Magic: the Gathering‘s longest running and most well-respected online vendors and strategy sites, ChannelFireball (CFB), has launched a premium content subscription service named CFB Pro. This announcement comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic severely affecting sales of paper Magic cards across the world.Â
The launch of CFB Pro represents a big strategy shift for the card trading giant. One of CFB’s main competitors, Star City Games, has long gated its premium strategy content behind a paid subscription service. The Bay Area-based CFB had until now boasted free content written by some of Magic: the Gathering’s greatest minds.
CFB Pro features content produced by members of ChannelFireball’s professional eSports team, as well as by other recognized players. The pro team includes some of the best of all time, like Luis Scott-Vargas, Reid Duke and Martin Juza.Â
All subscribers will have access to articles, videos, guides, pick orders and more covering most of the game’s main formats. Notably, the site will still be publishing free content alongside their premium strategy.
Subscriptions begin at $4.99 a month, while $9.99 a month also nets subscribers $10 store credit monthly. CFB Pro also offers yearly subscription packages with attractive bonuses. For $49.99, subscribers will have access to content for an entire year, while also receiving free entry to an online tournament on Magic: the Gathering Arena, worth $25. Finally, a yearly payment of $99.99 gets in the previous tier, plus $120 in store credit.
Undoubtedly, the-post COVID era has forced companies to rethink the way they deliver content to users. CFB has earned a reputation within the Magic: the Gathering community for free world-class strategy content. And now that the company has decided to put a modest paywall in front of their best content, fans can support ChannelFireball without purchasing paper Magic cards.
