15
MTG Arena on Steam passed its all time player count with the release of Final Fantasy (previously 12k)
(mtgzone.com)
Feels weird being uninterested in this set and seeing all the opposition online only to see it being a smashing success on just about every metric of popularity
Nixahon on YouTube put it like something like "even if I'm not into it for the IP or adverse to mixing in non-magic IP, I'm still going to have fun with the mechanics". I've kind of used that as the touchstone for me to enjoy it.
Have not had a chance to play it yet (out of town), but that helped mollify some of my objections. Lots of the early access streams look like it will be a fun set mechanically so I'm looking forward to playing.
Played around with a friends set for pre-release and saw some draft decks, I like the tier mechanic, no idea if its new, which allows a spell to be cheap and weak or expensive and powerful. Chocobo kick was an absolute smasher as well, combos so well for landfall. A lot of cards I was meh about but some fun mechanics.