For the second straight week, Magic: The Gathering had tables full of players enjoying the Avatar release, as the shoppers everywhere prepare to open up the wallets for Christmas gifts on Black Friday.

The “Universes Beyond” proponents can continue to enjoy the victory, which should successfully make a lot of players forget about a Spiderman release many called too “thin” and disconnected, and instead tie-in to other 2025 victories such as Final Fantasy heading into next year.

I asked about 20 players during and between games for more feedback on the set and it continues to be all positive. Art, functionality, and connections to the source material continue to resonate with players.

During gameplay, many players have been too busy to incorporate the new set into the “Win-cons” of their existing decks but only because they have been under a time crunch with the approaching holidays.

Magic The Gathering players in Northeast Wisconsin have been happy with their “pulls” and a lot of the more coveted cards are already being passed around in binders.

While Avatar has been a success so far, many players have told me that they’ve made their last significant purchase of the year with “The Last Airbender” property. This means that it will be up to loved ones to pick up sets and keep the cash registers buzzing during the holiday. It won’t be anything new. Parents and relatives have been mumbling unfamiliar IPs when buying games for Christmas for the last 40 years.

Projections for Lorwyn Eclipsed remain hot, while the same can’t be said for Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles with players less enthusiastic about our “turtles in a half shell” friends. Wizards have some marketing work to do in that regard.

Next week, Magic The Gathering Players will be forced to the dinner table for Thanksgiving, but retail should be strong for the rest of the holiday weekend.