MetaZoo Mondays Recap – June 2, 2025

On June 2, 2025, GameQBator Labs Senior Director of Business Development &* lead relaunch architect Charlie Hurlocker hosted the first of what's now officially dubbed MetaZoo Mondays - a weekly Discord AMA where he answers player questions live. From major distribution updates to the philosophy behind product design, Charlie touched on dozens of topics relevant to every caster!

Organized Play: "Highest Priority Behind Sets"

Asked to clarify MetaZoo's plans for Organized Play (OP), Charlie addressed the topic head-on:

"OP is the highest priority behind continuing to produce sets and build out what is needed. OP is deceptively simple in a way. The logistics are more complex than traditional SKUs and you have to be conscientious of the relationship between the assets you are producing and the products that fund it (core boosters)."

- Charlie Hurlocker

He hinted that MetaZoo's regional cryptid identity may play a role in future OP design:

"I'd like to see something a little more interesting than just a stamped promo... I think we have a rich element to MetaZoo in the regional nature and I'd like to see this play into the final design in some way."

- Charlie Hurlocker

He ended the answer with a nod to how important the project is internally, promising more details "by water drop" (referencing the newly leaked Torrential Tides set - read our summary of the new expansion by clicking HERE!)

TCGplayer Status: "Happy to Work with Them When They're Ready"

When user Rhom asked about MetaZoo's absence from TCGplayer, Charlie offered a detailed explanation:

"TCGplayer is tough.I have two pieces of information: One is a thing that went out to retailers saying that they are focused on the capability to host all TCGs. This may mean that they are not focused on onboarding individual TCGs right now... [continued] ...I'm also aware from just reading TCG news that they have shut down their facility imminently and are moving it. I presume this means that most or all of the employees are not likely to continue in their existing roles. So I would assume that this impacts any conversations we have had so far with their dedicated team out of New York."

- Charlie Hurlocker

His tone was diplomatic but clear: MetaZoo is open, but the ball is in TCGplayer's court.

My offer remains the same: When TCGplayer feels that they can support MetaZoo TCG and we are a good fit, we are happy to provide them with current information like we do PSA/CGC/BGS.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Set 2 Sales Sheet Leak: Not the Final Word

When someone asked about the leaked sales sheet for MetaZoo's second set, Charlie explained how these documents function:

These are B2B communications that outline things and set some soft goals so that distribution can start forecasting orders and communicating with retailers... [continued] ...The main things I would highlight is that the elements of product construction are semi-hard. Packaging is obviously FPO, so that can change. Dates have a tendency to slide a little... [continued] ...This is normal.

- Charlie Hurlocker

He emphasized that while leaks aren't ideal, they're expected in the industry:

"The company operates with the assumption that these types of communications are very likely to leak… [continued]... But the elements within them may change and hard confirmations and public announcements are still where people should ultimately look for concrete information about what to expect.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Aura Shifts in Lore: It's Intentional

User JerseyShoreDevil asked why the Chuvash Dragon - The Undeniable ability Beat Down costs aura of a different type clarifying, "is this because he was mapped by Archive and Archive taught him this ability hence not wind cost?" Charlie helped out while deepening aspects of MetaZoo's lore:

It is correct to the IP, and you can read more about this in the lore that regularly posts to the website, that different casters mapping cryptids produces different results. Sometimes this can mean a shift in the aura, a shift in the influence, etc. Your mapped cryptid is unique and distinct. This will continue to be explore a lot as the game and the stories develop more.

- Charlie Hurlocker

If you're interested in learning more about MetaZoo lore, then click HERE for the latest published works from MetaZoo!

Alt Art Boxes: Helping LGC & Streamers Win

In a longer reply, Charlie addressed concerns about alt art boxes suppressing value and hurting the market. His answer painted a bigger picture:

"One thing that alt boxes do is give a legitimate advantage to small community creators (LGS, live ecom, discords, etc.) over a mega seller on static asynchronous ecom (ebay, amazon, walmart, etc.). The lack of confidence in retailers that do not offer live videos, transparent breaks, etc. is a structural advantage to people who have trust with their community and are willing to go the extra mile through content, etc. There is no other game where these people have any structural advantages. They are strictly losing to these alternatives."

- Charlie Hurlocker

He then went on to address the issue of suppressing prices directly along with acknowledging the varied pull rates:

"On the concept of it suppressing prices: I think that's a factor. I think these things are multi-modal and a lot more complicated and cyclical than maybe people are tuned in to. It's something we pay attention to. You may have seen people in the community pull as many as 3 hidden rares and as few as 0 hidden rares (that I've seen, could be higher as the max pulled so far) and that is in an effort to collate in such a way that product isn't "dead." There are some good games that had a big issue with cards that were individually too rare/desirable relative to the rest of what is going on in the product and then everything gets dumped."

- Charlie Hurlocker

At the end of his response, Charlie noted that he wanted an opportunity to discuss this in more detail and offered that in the future he may make a video about this!

Promos & Conventions: Supplies Will Run Out

User The Masked Caster asked if promos would last through convention season. Charlie's reply was short and serious:

"Yes. Orlando promos ran out both days. The holo mailbox promos are actually some of the rarest cards in circ right now. I think the hard rarity of some of these promos will be understood better with time. The number making it back to the secondary market is very low."

- Charlie Hurlocker

When briefly asked about the prospect of international MetaZoo conventions Charlie had this to say:

"Conventions in Europe would be awesome! I think that you will see some international appearances before the end of 2025 as we partner with local distributors."

- Charlie Hurlocker

Marketing Strategy: SEO Before Ads

When XxSaVaGe_716xX expressed frustration about old MetaZoo's lack of marketing, Charlie countered with a nuanced response:

"A lot of people have a lot of ideas about what is and is not marketing. Usually what they mean is paid online advertising that they personally saw. We are doing a lot of marketing. Especially on a global basis. It is hard to make generic advertising effective for the new product because there is still a lot of infrastructural work to do to improve the SEO to cleanly land on new, for sale product and the ROI on generic advertising is not strong enough to support a ton of brand dilution into the previous products. So this specific lever is challenging."

- Charlie Hurlocker

Following this, Charlie gave one last positive message in regards to marketing:

"I think that you will see a significant increase in the range of visible, online marketing and promotion throughout the next couple of months leading into water relative to the month leading into base set."

- Charlie Hurlocker

Yearly Roadmap: Not Yet

When asked about the possibility of revealing a full roadmap for the upcoming year, Charlie explained why they're holding back:

"My goal is to make sure we release information responsibly. Hype is great. Hype without delivery is unsustainable. We are looking to build something durable and sustainable. I'm not really interested in getting ahead of ourselves in the shortrun to string people along."

- Charlie Hurlocker

Community Vibes: Let's Be Better Together

In a broader reflection, Charlie acknowledged the community's overall tone and reaction to MetaZoo has improved:

One of the things that I am proud of is that I think the negativity in general has reduced ten fold from say, three months ago. I'm not here to piece through what negativity is valid, warranted, deserved, etc. But on the whole, the game needs a community that people actually want to spend time in. This is a hobby. People need to be able to have fun.

- Charlie Hurlocker

MetaZoo Animated TV Show? Only If It's Great

Prompted by a cheeky "blink if we get a cartoon" joke from user FrostByte Labs, Charlie said:

I would love an animated show for MetaZoo. In a fixed pool where dollars are spent on marketing as a zero sum game, I think that it is really important to make the right show at the right time.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Following this Charlie spoke on the decreasing costs required to create a show and leaves the door wide open for a future show or video game while remaining dedicated to producing the best TCG possible:

The costs on animation are dramatically decreasing and there is a lot of promise on the horizon. But I think that if we made a show right now instead of focusing on the proven fundamentals of distribution, conventions, OP, etc. it would be a mistake. The future? Wide open. I think the mechanics of mapping now make for a cool video game mechanic, too!

- Charlie Hurlocker

Future Features

Mail-In Redemptions? Legally too risky for now, but nostalgic for sure.

Printable Checklists? On Charlie's radar -- "Took a note"

Card Pro Magazine? Not a MetaZoo product, but a good overall addition to the TCG scene as a whole.

Rarity Variety? "Yes, there will be variety in the rarity types in the future"

LGS Outreach: It Starts With You

When user Tuffy the Cow Hunter mentioned their LGS had no idea MetaZoo was back, Charlie encouraged each of us to talk with our LGS about MetaZoo:

First, I'd say that the most important mechanism for informing an LGS is you. An LGS cares infinitely more about what you want to buy than they do what I want to sell... [continued]... So what have we done? We have looked to broaden distribution and promote wide, not deep, sales as much as possible. This helps mitigate individual power brokers from gatekeeping your game and sandbagging price as a negotiation tactic. This also helps more people generally have access. For a game that is not only new but comes from a damaged IP, the distribution breadth we were able to bring to base set was pretty wild.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Creator Programs: Being Explored

Responding to user CBOARDEMIRE's idea for a monthly creator spotlight, Charlie was enthusiastic:

I like the way you are thinking. We are looking to deepen the relationship between content creators and the brand in ways that are gratifying to the ecosystem. There is always a place in the spotlight for people who love the game and work hard to share it.

- Charlie Hurlocker

He went on to point out MetaZoo's latest social media post as an indicator they are moving in this direction:

I will continue to talk with the team about the best ways to do that with what we have available to us. We actually posted a new type of post on Instagram today that people seemed to enjoy. Hopefully that is some directional evidence.

- Charlie Hurlocker

Final Words: Magic Is Real

As the session wound down, Charlie reflected on community acts of generosity and optimism (including his first pocket Squonk):

Chris gave me my first pocket squonk after driving on virtually no sleep all the way to Miami from New York for the game launch. I think those acts of excitement and generosity are the things that I like to dwell on. They bring me a lot of hope and they make Magic feel Real.

- Charlie Hurlocker

He ended the session by wishing us well and indicating that we should be seeing some water set spoilers next week:

Okay. Thanks for playin'. See you next Monday? Oh btw - spoiler season starts next week. Drop the coordinates of the water cryptid you most want to see

- Charlie Hurlocker

Come back for a recap of MetaZoo Mondays on the following day each week! Check us out on Instagram and YouTube! MetaZooNews: Your Hub for Everything MetaZoo!