I haven’t played since before Wizards started pushing Commander, at that time called EDH. I felt the Standard Format was a perfect setup to keep the game fresh and innovative while still making money, and the Legacy Format was perfect for the people who had cards that are no longer in Standard. I think the Commander Format killed a perfect system, and Wizards/Hasbro are just trying everything to make money and keep the game mostly unplayable with the licensed tie-ins.
Commander has always been my least favorite way to play. I have no comment on anything else because I lost interest completely when they started pushing it. But I will say, every time I hear news about it I’m glad that I stopped dumping money into that cash cow of a card game. And from a business standpoint, I feel they’ve shot themselves in the foot. The reason why Pokemon cards are still so widely sought after is because, for the most part, things have stayed the same (And collectors, of course). With MTG there’s basically no point in owning any cards before 2016 since they’re all underpowered or illegal in any formal setting. Besides hardcore collectors, they’re basically just cardboard.
I’d say power creep in Pokemon might even be worse than in Magic. Looking at old cards vs new cards makes it painfully obvious.
I think that’s just a side effect of making new editions for any TCG. If you don’t provide an incentive to get the new hotness no one will buy it.