The Real Cost Of Commander Masters

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

I am giving away 50 Collector Booster Boxes of Commander Masters! Sign up using my link and get a $15.00 credit to use on whatever you want: www.whatnot.com/invite/tolariancollege Sponsored by WhatNot!

[@Fry3211]

Awesome!!

[@imnotwadewilsonsee3656]

Always look forward to your videos Prof. Thanks for getting me into Flesh and Blood too.

[@GravSh4rk]

Is it September 4th or November 4th?

[@3N3MYKN1GHT]

I missed out on the last one cause you were opening aftermath opening power 9, and blowing up whatnot.

[@WumboWings96]

@@GravSh4rkit’s September 4th

[@stnavellino]

I'm reminded of a saying that was originally meant for Modern, but now applies to Standard and Commander: the best thing WoTC can do for a format is just forget it exists.

[@riukenavatar8625]

Make limited good and the other formats can sort it out with a banlist.

[@DronVol]

As a paper brawl player, I absolutely agree 😌

[@Ectz64]

The sad part is they can do both. Create the collector market with different art, borders etc. Have a base version of cards that is cheap and easy to get.

[@TheRedGauntlet]

I think thats how yu-gi-oh operates in Japan.

[@bduddy55555]

Pokemon does this and they have $40 Tier 1 decks and still make insane money off of collectors. Every single competitive staple is affordable and there are still chase cards. Why is this so difficult?

[@helfiswelf]

Even baseball cards figured this out

[@idiotsplay580]

bduddy mentioned pokemon but for a specific example; the latest set had a SR chase card for a standard staple that a) costs like 90 bucks and b) a single copy of it is more expensive than basically every standard deck besides arcadura piles. (hell, the full art is close in price to some of the really cheap decks tbh) you can absolutely do both, and im not really sure why TPC of all companies has realized this and hasbro/WoTC has not; it really shows because our competitive playerbase has absolutely *exploded* lately, even while we're dealing with things like live being a pile of junk code

[@truegamerking]

That's how it is in weiss schwarz. $100 base rarity tier 1 $5000 high rarity tier 4

[@furretthefuzzynoodle3896]

The fact that I bought an entire army and rules for a miniatures game the price of 4 set packs is nuts. EDIT: The game was Bolt Action

[@Repli_force]

Welcome aboard.

[@dionisiosmarinos4285]

which miniature game ?

[@billycranston]

Hell the starter box set for shatterpoint is $175 msrp and everyone was complaining about it and it came with four squads and terrain. Basically it was made for two people to split the cost and play. The funny thing is I think it comes with more cards than the collector's box.

[@Constrictor_Victor]

​@@dionisiosmarinos4285Guessing Warhammer

[@rileymcphee9429]

Legos, obviously 🙄

[@Xalyn937]

I was so excited for the precons and they turned out like 20% better than normal for 100% higher price.

[@Wingnut202]

As someone who is just getting back into Magic a bit after Theros, I feel like I entered a bizarro world where what was once a fun, grab some drinks and experiment format where you play with a friend group has become not only the biggest format, but somehow the most expensive and competitive one, even though it still has the social politicking aspects. I really don't know what is left in this game for me, except maybe making a few friends and making cubes or something.

[@eegles]

This is why I sold all of my cards from the late 90s and am done with the game.

[@C.hitchens2.0]

Yeah man I’ve been out for like 10 years. Just got back in. Shits crazy

[@hermodnitter3902]

Just make a Dandan deck and have fun. No need to buy overpriced products.

[@bobross8585]

Just proxy everything.

[@twarnold14]

Despite what the prof says, you don’t need to worry about keeping up with commander. If you are still only playing in your friend group, you still just match their power level. The free spells are cool, but don’t feel like you need them to stay “competitive.” Commander is still ultimately a casual format. That said, I got a small cube that I enjoy curating. Those and dandan are great because you set the meta. No need to worry about the latest and greatest if they aren’t going to be in the games.

[@saltyunion278]

This product just makes me sad. I have a really close friend, a self-proclaimed sliver aficionado who stopped playing commander with our group about 5 years ago due to the rising costs of the format. She always told us that if a sliver pre-con came out that she would start playing with us again. When we told her that one was coming out with this set, she was ecstatic until she looked up the pre-sale price and remembered why she stopped playing. I really miss our old play group...

[@johnr797]

Why not just proxy?

[@PureSolace]

Proxy everything. Play with friends! Life is good!

[@Aigis31]

I'll chime in as well and tell you to start discussions around proxies. Look at the current costs of Magic products and cards! They're so expensive for a "casual" format. Proxies are the easiest way for everyone to have fun the way they want to while also not breaking the bank.

[@Aigis31]

Like, I'm a tokens aficionado at heart and every time I check the price tags of token doublers like Doubling Season, Primal Vigor, Anointed Procession, etc., I cry a little. They may not be necessary, but are very fun to play with. They already cost the price of a good printer, so I chose to get a good printer instead. The value proposition of buying real cards isn't really there anymore.

[@jameswhite3043]

Proxies feel like cheating for many groups, and not all players in the group have the same opinion. If three out of four think proxies are fine, and the 4th feels it devalues their deck and won't play, then no game.

[@citizengraves1632]

Commander Masters is the best endorsement of proxies that WotC could make. If this set doesn't scream "just proxy all those cards" then I don't know what can

[@adamj93]

I was determined not to proxy cards until I saw this set and said "screw it." I have 10 cards from a proxy site in my new deck and I don't feel a single ounce of guilt.

[@domm1413]

Printed my first proxies last night. Spot on take

[@tirexius]

I'll start proxying now

[@jojobetzler3732]

The Commander Masters precons where the cheapest cycle of precons i´ve ever got. I just spent 40 Euros in four packs of DS sleeves because i run out of them and a bunch of paper. Thank you for saving me money Wotc.

[@JacktheDoctor]

Nah, IMO that is 30th anniversary, literally selling proxies for exhorbitant prices. But yeah, doesnt make this set any better.

[@SpacePirateFromSpace]

This made me nostalgic for old commander when you could just slap stuff together and have fun with it. It was fun to be like “oh yeah remember this card?” Or “wow I’ve never even seen that card before!” Ugh I miss that. Commander was best when standard was the tentpole and we were just like doing our own thing with cards made for other formats.

[@casteanpreswyn7528]

This is why I almost exclusively use non-commander specific cards for my decks. Sure, they may not be as powerful, but they are still a lot of fun and nothing feels better than getting that 5 card jank combo off.

[@dizzlegrizzle1919]

still is great. why are you cryin

[@koolaiddude7685894]

​@dizzlegrizzle1919 cuz people like you coming in to a casual format/environment and acting like some hard ass when you're also just some MTG nerd 😂

[@albertoarias3325]

Yeah, but you can't compete with this new overpowered decks and cards, sadly

[@kkahakusan5591]

J gather friends who share the same sentiment and you're square; if the friend group went to the Shadow realm, there's nothing else to do there 😂

[@hhkotze]

The price hike for Magic over all this year has been insane. I'd love to get new people involved but at these prices it's practically impossible to convince new players to jump in

[@RAY19740]

Im one of them 😢

[@FlawlessGoBot]

And with how much action the TCG space has seen in the last few years and how much more affordable some have been that could come back and haunt them if they aren't careful

[@hhkotze]

@@Syne111 I literally said over the past year (DOM onwards). To put it into perspective, a Commander precon here in South Africa costs more than a full tank of petrol, that's simply not worth it for people "thinking" about jumping into the game. Then on the other side of the fence, you can buy 2 Pokémon precons for the price of one commander precon (Masters excluded) and still have money for lunch. On the singles front, we have but a handful of LGSes over here so it's not that easy to get what you need and without a growing player base packs don't get opened, meaning less singles in circulation

[@user-et3xn2jm1u]

Proxies are easy

[@nathannjh]

I literally print %90 of my cards. If your just “jumping in” having real cards doesn’t really matter. They are simply game pieces, treat them as such.

[@GhostlyGhost333]

I kind of liked the $20 precon decks. The seemed appropriately priced.

[@alvisrouge8690]

It's kinda okay in comparison of other board games!

[@darkmatter515]

I miss that price, way back in Kaldheim commander where it only cost $20...

[@GhostlyGhost333]

@@darkmatter515 Yeah. Funnily enough, Lathril, Blade of the Elves was my first commander deck that I ever bought.

[@sinkrios]

This video explains why I don’t feel bad proxying cards anymore

[@kierafurneaux3172]

Yup. I don't even bother with good proxies, just print out the cards and stick em in front of basic lands

[@pascalsimioli6777]

My guilt disappeared the moment I needed to fix my The Ruinous Powers deck from what WOTC did to it and I had to modify cards to make them 40k related.

[@darwingordon3078]

When it gets too expensive for most players, is when most players start to proxy the cards they need or trade for them no need to be ashamed of it. $240 for four booster packs is shameful. Greed is real.

[@mwood2478]

My printer goes brrr every so often now for legacy/modern. I pushed away from commander as the product line moved towards everything being geared to it. Things were far more enjoyable when it was based around out of standard cards in your collection.

[@oncetimeuse3083]

I literally cancelled a CMM preorder to instead get some high quality proxies for cheaper.

[@StoneyBones420]

Videos like these are why Prof is so important for the community. No sugar coating, calling it out for what it is, looking forward into the future of something we all want to be around.

[@dizzlegrizzle1919]

I am still buying a box and the precons and you know he is buying and has access to many also. very easy to lecture on the sidelines while he has access to it all. you have seen him playing with real dual lands and all of the expensive crap before.

[@Voyajer.]

@@dizzlegrizzle1919 k. He's been playing magic since the beginning so it's not surprising at all he has cards from that era.

[@jaimefillingim2293]

I stopped buying sealed product recently and started buying singles. I really appreciate videos like this because it helps to know I’m not the only one whose concerned over these steady price increases.

[@dawn1279]

same

[@Someone_somewhere6]

You're a really great content creator, and magic professor. You are really making waves in the community, and are shedding some great light. Keep doing what you're doing, Prof!

[@leanin2it]

I have been deeply priced out of playing Magic for several years, but I still enjoy videos from The Professor and my favorite streamers :)

[@neros_soren]

Depending on what you are interested in, and who you playing with, there are enough cheap options. For example, if you have some buddies to play 60 card formats, just get yourself a Pioneer precon, which have a pretty good pricetag...at least until WotC blows those up as well. If you are more interest in Commander, you can check for the Warhammer precons. They also have a really value for their price tag, and are generally considered well made and playable out of the box. And if you are not going to tourneys, proxing is a thing you can do, if your pod/friends are fine with it. (I proxy with a simple printer and some lands, because I seriously can't be bothered with paying up for proxies xD)

[@leanin2it]

@@neros_soren thank you! That’s very kind of you to share some great ideas for inexpensive alternatives. I play some Arena when the Cube comes around :) I should probably make a cube for drafting with friends too

[@neros_soren]

@@leanin2it Oh yeah, if you have a playgroup with 2-8 people, cube is super fun and there are quite cheap cubes as well. Like Innistrad Cube using Innistrad, Dark ascension, Avacyn Restored, Crimson Vow and Midnight Hunt. Depending on the aimed power level there are quite cheap ways out there. And even if cheap is not what you have in mind, proxy it. Especially if it's a playgroup consisting of friend, no one will care anyways.

[@mimico4340]

Play Pauper friend. Is truly the best format anyway.

[@leanin2it]

@@mimico4340 Thanks friend. You know, I think you're right.

[@stevepeter6619]

Sadly, I’m half-expecting the Prof. to be updating his mantra soon from “Buy Singles” to “Buy Basics (and proxy)”. The man loves the game so much and has the patience of a saint, but we all got the budget of a saint.

[@CaptainEnrei]

I don't play magic, but I've got a couple friends who play commander. They're now playing with proxies, and I honestly don't blame them.

[@drpibisback7680]

You don't even have to buy generic basics, many people and places will just give them to you.

[@SOLARN01SE]

I loved the $20 precons. I liked having them to play casual games and they were great gifts to give folks who are new to magic.

[@CloudPlays444]

Gifting Magic is becoming harder and harder. It's just a FUNdemantal part of any tcg imo, to get your friends involved at a reasonable cost.

[@mull2one]

@@CloudPlays444 I tried gifting a Hobbit food and fellowship precon all sleeved up to a friend, and they didn't want to accept the gift because they thought the cards were too expensive to accept being a person that doesn't play MtG often at all, although she knows how to play.

[@sethbartlett4178]

There is a difference between good business and being greedy with their prices. At this point, with all the other costs of life, my playgroup just proxy cards. It feels bad because we use to support our local stores, but it got so expensive we can't do it anymore.

[@adamthies7558]

This is gonna get to the point everybody prints there own versions of the cards so they don't have to spent so much on cards

[@StoneyBones420]

I mean its absolutely crazy people think a piece of cardboard should be 60 bucks when you can literally print it for cents, and it does the EXACT same thing. Fuck the secondary market and WOTC for not just reprinting enough staples at a fair price. its going to kill MTG.

[@mendozacarlosfelipew.3055]

Does your local stores allow proxies?

[@xanafein8453]

There's a guy who makes wonderful "proxies" who has informed me that his sales have increased significantly the past few years. I may or may not have used his "proxies" in official wotc events and passed a deck check with them

[@Gorrgrim]

In a way i kind of like the gate keeping wizards does with certain cards. Wizards creates an arms race with accessibility. would you go to a gun fight with a knife? Except now instead of guns everyone has nukes. Game doesn't seem fun to me when the cards are so powerful that there is no way to stop the combo or the only way to keep up is to buy your own infinite combo. It sounds like like everyone in your play group likes the most overpowered, 'you don't get to play magic' cards and you guys like playing 5 turn commander games that have little meaning on actual gameplay or skill

[@Onattamato]

Flawless Maneuver actually was reprinted in one of the ONE precons this year. Granted that it was the second cheapest before, the fact that you can pick it up for $9 when it was $30 before shows how much reprints into precons help.

[@et2neoh]

Thanks for commissioning the fresh art Wizards, time to proxy it all and make it into a product that actually is for me

[@Lycandros]

Are there articles/ videos/ channels that talk about how to do varied quality proxies? Just writing words on paper and putting them in sleeves just doesn't do it for me.

[@charlesthacker2384]

Flawless maneuver did actually get a reprint in the Phyrexian: All will be one rebels deck

[@Zmann86]

I started playing MTG back in 1999 during Mercadian Masques. I can't even imagine if the prices of magic cards reflected back then had today's standards. As a kid, I would never be able to ask for $80-$100 just to go to my local store and purchase a measly amount of cards and play for the weekend. It's ridiculous.

[@egoish6762]

I also started in masques, the idea of saving up for a box of the new set was realistic for a kid with a paper round. Good times.

[@benghis_kaan]

I am an avid commander player, but I have a specific budget for my engagement with this hobby and so far this year, I am only buying singles due to the insane prices.

[@DEATHMETALRUST]

Big same on this. These prices are DUMB

[@TheSureBlock]

Same

[@default9314]

Whats your budget? Yearly or monthly? I gotta know

[@XopheAdethri]

I normally budget 1000$ per set, for sealed/singles/Tournament-fees. The LOTR set i special budgeted an extra 500$ to clean up buying singles and complete a full set of non-play cards for my main collector's collection. For CMM my budget is $00.00. Cause fuck this abusive set. I really wanted the Sliver deck until i got the actual decklist, then the pricings.

[@TheSureBlock]

@@XopheAdethri my budget for Magic is like $50 per month :/

[@lanholtz5122]

Thanks for keeping up the good work and calling out the greedy hands behind the cards. I definitely believe that we, as the consumers, have the ability to change Hasbro's marketing strategies if we can all band together and protest these ridiculous prices. It has to be a combined effort from mtg players all around to resist the urge to crack some packs, or even buy the singles from these new sets. I think even just doing this for 1 or 2 sets will really shake them up (them meaning wizards LLC, Hasbro could probably care less).

[@drpibisback7680]

Hasbro will absolutely care. It's no secret that the reason they've been leaning so heavily on WOTC in recent years is because toys are a dying business and the rest of their properties don't make them much.

[@benhensley3621]

Yes! I knew this was going to be a great topic for Tolarian Winds. Very glad to see it back. I definitely think it's affecting the game in a meta perspective for sure

[@lucassteele1185]

I definitely miss being able to make an opperable deck out of old common and uncommons people forgot about.

[@MCC17011]

I wonder if we'll see more variants of commander like a formalized "low power" version that encourages that. I don't know what that would look like though.

[@casteanpreswyn7528]

​@MCC17011 isnt that kinda the point of Canadian Highlander with its point system for cards, or am I thinking of a different format?

[@MCC17011]

@@casteanpreswyn7528 I like the idea but it technically isn't commander and tbh I've never seen anyone at my store who plays it. I'd be open to trying it but I rather like the "build-around-me" element of commander anyway.

[@suschilegge1683]

​@@MCC17011look into artisan and artisan commander, basically only commons and uncommons

[@AlluMan96]

​@@MCC17011 There does exist Pauper Commander, a format in which the 99 are all commons and your commander is any (legendary or not) uncommon creature, complete with a smaller health pool of 30 and lower commander-damage threshold of 16. If prices keep trending in this direction, I can see Pauper Commander becoming a bit more popular both with casual players not wishing to take up a mortgage to play at adequate power level and older players wanting to re-ignite that old feeling of sifting through jank to make more emergent fun with mtg.

[@yahna.5673]

Keep up the good work Professor

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Thank you, I will

[@GoldenSkeeter]

❤

[@matthewkuehne5480]

Agreed. Your videos are what keep me grounded and informed. My playgroup doesn't allow proxies and it is getting difficult to keep up commander products. I am willing to pay for cards but still feel pushed out of my own group due to capitalism.

[@RandomCommenter955]

@@matthewkuehne5480 Just proxy, but keep it a low power level. There are plenty of cards I cant afford, and yet proxying does not equal building insanely powerful decks. It gives the freedom to brew to ones hearts content and play with decks even when they dont have the means. And if a player does have the means, just bc they can afford the cards, doesnt prevent them from being a miserable asshole to play against, cuz "no proxy" rules are just so richer players can bully other players by justifying playing cards that exceed powerlevel bc they could pay for it, which is dumb. There's other issues as well but yeah.

[@TheDeathPunchSound]

You mentioning Doom Blade made me smile. I recently opened a Magic 2011 toolkit that had been collecting dust, and one of the most nostalgia inducing moments was pulling that card alongside Vampire Nighthawks and Ulamogs Crusher.

[@technocolossus]

Love me some Nighthawk. I really loved the scavenger from zendikar as an improvement too.

[@bladezxc]

For 120 dollars, you can buy Twilight Imperium, an epic board game with 17 different factions to play, a massive tech tree, and more than 300 plastic miniatures with a massive story, a deep lore, and nearly infinite replability. Or you could buy 2 collector boosters. People need to stop buying product from this terrible company. It isn't worth it guys.

[@corkimus]

Honestly a great recommendation cause TI is a fantastic board game and could arguably take up your day for as long if not longer than a session of shuffling up and playing.

[@alexmeek610]

Or u can buy an entire Pokémon standard deck a traptrix deck with upgrades for meta viability or branded deck with upgrades for meta viability and still have 30 dollars to burn on mtg if u want

[@PileOTaters]

I agree wizards blows.

[@VultureXV]

A box of this junk costs $400. I am looking for a new kayak right now and one of the better ones for it's price is $700. This box of cardboard costs more than half of the cost of a functional, man-powered boat.

[@Digital_Butterfly]

​@@VultureXVFor what it's worth, the set is far from junk. It's just that it's way too expensive to be considered a good set.

[@theonlyksmith]

This video is so important. Keep pushing Prof.

[@aldorp]

What attracted me to commander was the low barrier of entry (money wise). Now, it has become so expensive I may consider selling my collection and go to another game.

[@mantislazuli]

Print proxies, honestly. Anyone not wanting to see proxies at their table with the current absurd prices is not worth your time anyway.

[@hatefulgaming1800]

@@mantislazuli Hey you'll know who to rob

[@technocolossus]

​@@mantislazulianybody who has a problem with proxies - outside of owners/employees of an LGS not wanting them used in the store for official events - is a jackass

[@ronb7189]

I wanted to try out MTG around 3 years ago due to the casual and low barrier entry of the Commander format but the pandemic closed the LGS events around me so I eventually lost interest. Now I got the itch to try paper MTG again after playing a few games via MTG Arena and it surprised me that the new commander decks are priced $75-130+ ea, meanwhile I could buy all 4 2021 Pioneer precons for less than $75 and the LGS near my place actually holds Pioneer nights during my day off. At this point I might as well start with Pioneer, from a newbie point of view the meta decks from this non rotating format seems a lot cheaper compare to Commander or Modern.

[@PerpetuallyTiredMillennial]

If WotC is determined to become dockside extortionist, then I'll become a goblin pirate too. Proxy your cards, fight the greed.

[@AkromaStrategy]

My current issue with precons is the land/mana bases, just like everyone else. The included non-land cards are awesome, but it makes it feel like you are buying this great sports car with all the features you could want, only to check it out and see it comes on 12 inch plastic tricycle wheels.

[@EdwinRosario432]

The problem is that I can't give you $100 worth of ribs for $10. I understand that a company has to give a certain amount of value for what they sell, regardless if it costs them .10 to make or 10. So they can either give you a deck with optimized lands in that price bracket or the rest of the deck that compromises the strategy. If you're a newer player and you play another precon, it's fine. If you're a player with a collection, it stands to reason you would have lands that you can use amongst all decks rather than the cards that make that specific strategy, as they are very specific.

[@WeaponXYZ]

​@@EdwinRosario432 That still doesn't change mana bases for precons are horrible, just adding a shock and battlebond land would help so much

[@giglioflex]

@@EdwinRosario432 Lands are only so expensive because they aren't printed enough. If more pre-cons included good lands out of the box, the value of those lands would drop. That can only be a good thing for the game, something as basic as lands should not be where you are spending most of your money. Wizards isn't paying the price of the card to add it into a precon, they pay maybe $0.01 per card regardless of the value of that card. The argument that Wizards can't make money by adding more expensive cards to precons makes no sense. No, they are making money either way.

[@EdwinRosario432]

@@WeaponXYZ Ok but that would also be about half the budget for a $40 deck. Like you can't have it both ways. In a 5 color deck, the shocks alone would be about $150. This is what I mean, then what land cycle will they put into the next product as well? People want more value than they are paying for and while I understand that, it's just not sustainable.

[@brosam_]

@@EdwinRosario432 precons have been selling for well over $60 recently brother, improving the landbase is one thing that would make them actually feel like they're worth ≥$60

[@Nekronyte]

I'm glad you mentioned Modern. My local game store has it as their format on the only night I could play, and after looking at what was considered a "budget" deck I decided to simply sit out.

[@ericaschner3283]

A bit ago I somewhat complained about the standard rotation delay and ban list and was told by two different people to "just play Modern" like it was cheaper than my mortgage or something. 🙄

[@chaoticsindri]

Commander, and Magic as a whole, became a game I couldn't afford when regular booster boxes rose to over $200 in my region

[@B-Randall]

I’ve contemplated selling my entire collection multiple times over the last year or two because the price to just play the game keeps getting farther and farther out of reach than it was before. And Commander Moneys (oops masters) is just another nail in the coffin to me. For a box of Set Boosters, you can buy a brand new video game console… Something that use to bring me great joy has left me with apathy lately, and that really REALLY sucks.

[@dealinoutdevon5498]

A lot of people are selling. I run a store and we buy bulk lots for cents on the dollar all the time.

[@theunwelcome]

spot-on as usual, Prof, these prices are absurd! it's not inflation, it's naked greed and straightforward gouging

[@hillelmerkin8498]

It’s rough, the set looks great but the price is insane

[@georgeholloman9644]

I appreciate you professor, this just makes me sad as a 10 plus year magic fan. Thank you for being the voice we all need to hear.

[@cristinbuskard9250]

I teach D&D at my local game store. The 12 year old kids tried to play commander against each other. One was so overpowered over the other neither kid had fun. I feel like when we make these OP commander cards and the precon a can’t keep up this is what happens.

[@joshuacox5817]

Another example of greedy corporate leeches ruining things for their own potential consumers. Imagine a business model that's self inflicted loss.

[@zetachaox]

I was really looking forward to the Eldrazi precon. Not because it would be very powerful, but because colorless commander sounds like a neat concept and I didn't want to break the bank... so much for that. And the power creep is truly real, remember when you would add cards to a commander deck just because they were fun or quirky?

[@seisner6655]

Love the video, but small correction: You said the whole Ikoria free cycle was never printed in a commnder precon after it's initial release. That's true for most of them, but Flawless Manuver actually was reprinted in the Rebellion precon from ONE.

[@maryjones104]

Came down to comment this, as I was shuffling up my upgraded version of that precon! It got a single reprint, but it's disingenuous to say it wasn't reprinted at all

[@Mushroomhaus0001]

I don’t think it’s disingenuous, really it’s seems like it’s just a mistake. I’m the years since it was printed, it was reprinted once in a small commander deck tucked away in a ton of other chaff that made no splash. Minor and easy to miss because it was easy to miss those precons. But it did bring down the price of Flawless Maneuver, which illustrates his point. I believe it was close to $20 before.

[@seisner6655]

@@Mushroomhaus0001 I agree, it seems like a genuine error and also doesn't contradict the overall point of the evidence brought up, but it is still worth pointing out.

[@Cloudyconfusion]

This is really helpful to learn about the magic community. Might seem silly but a lot of people don’t explain magic so simply and understandably. I’ve never tried commander, it seems too complicated as a new player but just hearing about the fact that this is really the main game at Friday night magic, and the basics of how the format works which you weave in to valuable info for People that already understand and know commander. YOU sir are a really great teacher! Thank you

[@KarlJones73]

I see precons becoming a sub format already, as they are so consistently made to be sub optimal, it actually creates a level that compares.

[@niklask.4050]

Funnily enough that is how my playgroup started out - we bought precons and explicitly set the rule of no upgrades, since we widly differed in income and will of involvement. That created the problem to find balanced groups of precons , since decks from, say, Zendikar Rising were just better than other stuff like the DnD precons. But the newer precons seem to be on a similar level to eachother, so that probably will happen.

[@AcroxShadow]

Absolutely. Sealed Precons is much more reasonable to get into and play.

[@TheTrooper424]

@@niklask.4050 Which DND precons are you talking about? AFR brought us some awesome precons and so did the Battle for Baldur’s gate.

[@TheAnonSamurai]

Lmfao when the intro played I looked at the time stamp then saw you made your own joke about it. Love it

[@TheBizzerker]

What's crazy is how both the absurd price of precons AND exclusion of necessary cards from them compound the problem. Including Sliver Hive in the Sliver precon is definitely likely to lower its price, but not by nearly as much as it would if it were included in a standard-price precon instead of a $90+ (non)premium one.

[@zlwilson21]

The other challenge I am noticing is that, by shifting their focus to Commander, Wizards has begun to have to power creep their own designs year after year. With standard there is a stable power level helped through rotation but, like with yu-gi-oh in order to encourage sales each non-rotation set has to have something newer and more powerful

[@martinheraud1744]

The higher the prices go the more I see people play with proxies. I start seeing people playing 100% proxy decks. And I really consider joining them. 20 euros for a deck with any powerlever seems great

[@sportyeight7769]

And they say China is the evil doer that destroyes every capitalism based product by making bootlegs. When now they allow people to play at a children game that became a luxury item by greed.

[@wesley_b]

Yes. My group has already set up rules around proxies and we’re using them more and more.

[@johnr797]

Nooo you can't just have fun without consoooooming

[@wesley_b]

@@DoubleOhSilver If you have the real card already you can make as many proxies of it as you want no matter the value. We're a relatively casual group so we normally have a direct purchase limit of $5.00 for singles. We took this limit and applied it to proxies. Ie. the value of the real card for any proxies is also limited to $5.00. There's no limit on the number of proxies one can have in their deck.

[@Quietshow]

My God. You've more than proven that Magic is not in the right hands. I'd certainly play it with anyone who has a deck price limit or all proxies though. I appreciate your consistent and trusted candor, Professor.

[@UniversalJuan]

Thanks to you and WhatNot. It'll be my shot at CM product as I have no intention on buying any, just singles.

[@maxmill99]

I think you put things best prof. It doesnt cost wizards any more or less to print certain cards, and they're keeping people away from certain products with these crazy price points

[@JadeHex]

Everyone should've seen sliver hive coming after Kinsbaile Cavalier (you really gotta guess which staple for the archetype won't be reprinted in the precon). One card that I'm ABSOLUTELY flummoxed wasn't included in the ENCHANTMENT CREATURE commander deck was Nylea's Colossus, a card from Commander 2018 that has only 1 printing and got decently expensive (primarily after being included in budget enchantment lists like your thrun voltron).

[@eccboy7]

Fantastic insight as always. Wizards continue to demonstrate how much they dont care about the players. Many of these cards should absolutely have seen reprints in the precons that came out last year. The manabases are a good example: how the hell can the CM precons be considered premium products when the lands dont contain a single shock or battlebond land?! And yet we all continue to line WOTCs pockets. Things will only get worse.

[@TheLordRumfish]

Maybe we need a "price limit" commander, where the deck could theoretically be built with the cheapest versions of cards for $100 or less (for a real challenge, $10 or less).

[@siritachi31]

My play group imposes a limit on deck prices, to ensure we aren't running too man high powered cards and allows us to keep a budget and not spent more than we need to on Magic and we enjoy the game every Friday without issue. We all would love to use the cards we want but with the price of sets and cards we use a limit to keep things fair and cheap

[@bradm6287]

Problem is, as that format becomes popular, demand for those cheap cards increases and now they are 50 bucks.

[@notapplicable6985]

​@@bradm6287It's a way of self balancing

[@amberhernandez]

Ultra budget commander was a favourite of mine to build! Let me tell you, in a restriction where Sol Ring takes up 10% of your budget, creativity in alternate options _shines_ ! Also, Penny EDH is another fun restriction. My Prossh deck still has great options like Mycoloth and Abhorrent Overlord after the penny cut, but finding alts for Meathook and Twinflame has been a struggle to say the least.

[@revolverrambles]

I think a version of pauper where you can use an uncommon or rare as a commander would really make the format pop. Like a rule zero option where you can modify the game with that option. Really wouldn’t cost a lot more to do. You probably have a cool commander to do that with in your collection already to if you’ve even bought a few packs.

[@shootingmoons007]

i and my friends just started are magic journey from a 20 year yu-gi-oh binge and we love it, i am the main one buy all the cards that they need and i help them with deck thank to your KZbin channel and the command zone channel and many channel like yours. So thank you for being one of the inspiration to my magic journey. Here is what i think about magic's pricing, it's to high and it needs to be more affordable for newer players and older players alike. $25 to $35 should be the base pricing of any commander precon, then upgrading that precon should be cheap or expensive depending on the cards you want to use. reprints of classic precon like adrix and nev should only be $19. it is simply not at all fair to the players to price hike.

[@tylerowens]

Every draft booster should cost $3.99, and every card (not necessarily every treatment) in the set should be available in draft boosters. If they want to make ridiculously priced boosters for special art or higher rare density or whatever fine. But playing the game should always cost the same each set.

[@FPRobber]

Yea, even the $10 price for a pack is fucking insane. No other game (other than ultra-predatory F2P mobile games) is anywhere even close to that price. And this set is far, far above even that

[@MatthewOstergren]

I don't have too much issue with the draft packs for Commander sets, which contain 20 cards each, costing a bit more than a 15 card draft pack as long as it's proportional, but stuff likes Masters sets have always been really awful and too expensive for me.

[@N4chtigall]

@@FPRobber Comparing both of those isn't fair. The difference is that you get something physical that you may be able to sell. I'm not saying that 10$ price is fair, I think the whole set is a mess and it shouldn't look like that but I kinda understand where WotC come from.

[@kyleellis1825]

The basic cards should be sold in a set where you get 1 of every common/Uncommon/Rare/Mythic in a set (or the deluze pack for all 4 rarities.). We're buying playing pieces, basi cards aren't collecters pieces anymore. The collecter stuff should be the boosters with all this fancy art they're coming out with now.

[@FPRobber]

@@N4chtigall Boardgames exist and are far cheaper than MtG. The physical aspect is not really an excuse

[@yoink8355]

as someone relatively new to magic (i started around 2 months ago) i find it really sad that just to get all the cool toys other players have avalable i have to pay so much that it is now "cheaper" to just get a decent printer instead

[@sportyeight7769]

i've heard that china makes good printing samples for proxy. something about a boot and a leg magic.

[@MrGhostbeard]

Free yourself with proxies

[@lololllololololol]

I'm with you on that one. I have a ton of deck ideas, but it's looking more and more like I'm going to only buy cards that are $5 or less and proxy everything else

[@sportyeight7769]

The format that made me return to magic because it was wild, cheap, easy and multiplayer. Now is a format with strict staples, not cheap, no so easy because everybody goes full meta. But now with sets costing so much, i guess i would stop drafting and commander all together. Playing with my actual collection and friends only. The rest will be proxies made by me or some very talented asians printers.

[@mathewdebol923]

Beyond Sol Ring, and that’s not really true, there are no “strict staples”. Any staples that you think exist are purely self imposed. I play with multiple playgroups across multiple LGSs and my decks never have an issue keeping up, so don’t let yourself be discouraged 👍

[@davidthorne5715]

This makes me feel a lot better about just getting proxys, there’s some cards I’ll buy because I like the art or the holo but 7 dollars for the battle lands when they belong in every commander deck is insane, I’m still new to this so it blows my mind how lands are the most expensive part of the deck

[@michaelwintermantel9127]

Whatnot on calendar!!! As for the prices, I think this is insane- I like that there are expensive reprints, but I am really trying to figure out if Ill be able to afford even one of these, and whether I should just buy singles on these. I think I might buy one, but I dont think I can buy more than one like I occassionally do. Given the pinkerton issue, plus the rising prices, my feet are already halfway out the door on buying any new products. I genuinely thank you for your honest evaluations and the care you show for the community, and I hope wizards comes to their senses soon. 80 might be reasonable, but over 100 is crazy for a precon, even with expensive reprints. Commander used to be something that increased in value, but now they seem to be priced at the value so that they mostly depreciate- Im worried thats what these will do.

[@daviddixon8674]

Proxy, Proxy, Proxy I honestly believe that if using proxies was more wildly accepted then it would affect the secondary market, which WoTC is obviously paying attention to when doing reprints. Obviously in competitive formats this is different but even my LGS allow proxies for casual nights as long as the card is easy to read and is clearly the card its supposed to be.

[@Khan_pocket]

Thank you so much Prof, you are the voice of the players like me, the players that just want to have the cards to play the game they love. I'm sad about all this

[@kbdekker]

I got back into magic in February after a 24 year break. Commander and it's casual and affordable premise is what roped me in. And I've been having a great time, but dang these prices are making me cringe. I'm luckily no longer a poor high school student, but it makes me sad to see the young kids in my FLGS scrounge their allowance money for a chance for just a few packs of these new commander products.

[@joshuacox5817]

Greedy corporate leeches can't help but cut out their own new customers, right?

[@_somerandomguyontheinternet_]

Meanwhile, I’m a broke college student who can’t afford to buy really anything recently. Maybe if these packs were the old premium of $6-7, I’d get one or two, but honestly, it’s just not worth it.

[@thegouge4284]

Growing up, my dad introduced me to magic with a couple of the OLD 70-card tournament pre-cons. And across all of those decks, I fell in love with the idea of making a rainbow sliver deck. Now, lo and behold, just as I'm considering getting back into magic again, in commander no less, there's a pre-con sliver deck made my WOTC themselves! ...And it's one of the most expensive pre-cons in the set, that's ALSO missing obvious sliver synergies. This REALLY makes me think twice about getting back in to Magic

[@adamdavidson9717]

The professor doesn’t miss on this. Thank you for saying out loud what we are all thinking

[@nickh-i9846]

My personal experience with commander was that it was not the format for everyone. I rember back during return to ravnica days, I was told play EDH(commander) it's the format where you pick your favorite legendary creature and build a deck in its colour identity from card collecting dust in your binders. Well I did just that and the first game I played was against competative style deck that had synergy between the commander and every card in the deck. Long story short, there is no difference between commander and and other formats when it comes to building your deck, you have meta and non meta decks. If you bring a casual standard deck to a competative table, you will have the same play experience as bringing a commander deck or a legacy deck. The differnce between formats is that cards only cycle out of standard and players don't like that. So players prefer formats that don't cycle cards out. Eg. Modern > extended, commander > standard. The problem becomes that if cards don't cycle out, then the meta cards stay the same and they will gain value until they are reprinted.

[@lasterman94100]

I hard disagree on this take as long as you're playing a 4 players pod, even a 10/10 power level can often be brought down by the alliance of the other players, even if it can be less fun and feel like archenemy, as long as your deck isn't basically 100 cards nonsense, even preconstructed can hold their own and keep in check a really strong deck, and even then, nothing forces you to face a CEDH deck, because unlike real competitive format, you can choose to play someone else

[@hallaloth3112]

@@lasterman94100 I've seen this scenario play out a whole bunch at the kitchen table. Myself, my two siblings, and a friend of a sibling. We all have our own personal methods of building a deck. I absolutely love thematic deck building. . .my Ur-Dragon deck is updated from the original precon and stuff full of legendary dragons. . .and it goes off. . .occasionally. . . if people don't nuke the best dragons when they hit the field. My sister pulls decks she likes off the net and modifies them slightly to how she likes to play. . .her decks are often. . .probably about the general power level of the table. . .her Sliver deck is terrifying and she rarely plays it anymore because she'll always end up archenemy. My brother and his friend. . . throw decks together on a loose theme that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. As everyone runs some form of interaction, and table politics happens. . .it really is a toss-up who wins (or who scoops from the annoyance of the sixth board wipe in half an hour).

[@nickh-i9846]

​@@lasterman94100 Fair point, but is commander any better than a 60 card format in a pod of 4? From my experience the games feel about the same. Diplomacy, archenemies, etc.. The real difference between commander and any other 60 card format, is deck construction requirements and the non-rotating pool of cards. Unless you define commander as a format where you can only play in pods of 4, I don't but that is just me I guess. Also, as a note, on 100 card nonsense, this was how I was sold on commander to begin with, back in the late 2000's, pick your favorite legendary and fill the deck with cards that match its colour identity from your binders. At least that sets a low cost to entry, but like you alluded to, you probably won't hold your own even against precons with 100 card nonsense.

[@edhdeckbuilding]

"switching out my doomblades for deadly rollicks" - genius line that really shows how the format has changed.

[@Imaboboom4u]

I recently started playing commander with friends and I've been having a lot of fun, i was looking forward to price-lowering re-prints but at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if they stay the same price or go for even higher. It's honestly ridiculous.

[@andyphilipson6983]

There was two 14 year olds used to come to Commander night at my local LGS. They were really into but stopped coming recently as they couldn’t afford it even with the money they earned from part time jobs they did outside of school.

[@THAGR33NBAST3RD]

Used to play with a few friends about 17 years ago our mums would get us a pack every Friday if we did good in school half the fun was watching each other open the packs to see who got the best pulls, been seeing your videos and it's making me wanna get a few decks and play again but wow can't afford these prices unfortunately wish I had of got into it a few years ago instead! Would give anything to have my old cards

[@Pharrelliper]

The real hype from this set isn't going to be expensive drafts or the cards being reprinted It's the rarity downshifts for Pauper and PDH players (yay for my beloved dread return)

[@neros_soren]

I agree, I am just hoping to snag a Zacama and Days Undoing for Pioneer if they get to ~3-5. It's, imho still the best way to enjoy the game on a budget'ish.

[@GothamKnight-hsw4vx526430]

YO DREAD RETURN?? LESSGOOO PEDH zombos getting new shit

[@gingeroxide]

A full length feature could be used to explain the rise and dominance of Commander.

[@SFUTH]

I remember when the commanders for these precons were announced, and I was so excited for Zhulodok because I've been wanting to make a colorless deck. Then I watched the price climb up and up, and at this point, I'm probably just not going to buy it.

[@cavebeast]

Hello, Love your videos, I'm from the UK and I've only recently gotten into Magic the gathering, I love the game and love collecting but it is very daunting. All these new sets coming out super quickly that are so expensive I struggle to keep up. I haven't played commander yet due to not having a commander deck yet but ill get there.

[@henryoconnor7016]

As someone who just recently started engaging with Magic after not buying any products since ~2017 it has been really discouraging to watch this trend develop. Watching great series like Shuffle Up and Play or Game Knights or Commander at Home and feeling inspired by the cool decklists, only to check the prices online and see something way out of a reasonable range has become a routine. Even if you don't consider the mana bases and just look at the actual spells, some of these decks can run you multiple hundreds of dollars, or more. It feels terrible to reintroduce myself to the game and be limited to just watching KZbin videos of people playing fun decks instead of doing it myself. This video is a home run, thanks for always advocating for the people who like to play the game and have loved it for so long.

[@EpickBoi]

"This product for the format that's meant for everybody is not for everybody." Well said

[@lynnharper308]

Unrelated but I just finished building Ghoulcaller Gisa this morning. It's not a high power level or anything, just something I wanted to build because I like her and I love zombies 💕

[@thatguyintherain3168]

Time to build Geralf, Visionary Stitcher out of spite.

[@evanopq]

will you make that video you mention at 15 seconds? I'm genuinely interested in why it has boomed the last couple years. I played a lot in 2018, and standard/modern were the dominant formats.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Yes it is in the works!

[@drpibisback7680]

I think the big thing is that engagement with Standard and Modern was driven heavily by tournaments, which between the pandemic and WoTC's horrendous mismanagement of organized play basically stopped happening. Commander, by nature of being a casual format, also has the advantage of a wider field. In Modern, you will not have a fun time trying to play your random Goblins deck against Living End or Rhinos. But in Commander, you can slap Krenko in the command zone, play all your favorite Goblins, and still have a reasonable chance because the average deck is much slower and less interactive. Finally, the multi-player element makes it easier to play in group gatherings - there's no need to pair up into matches, it's more like the feel of playing a board game. All of these are, from my observation, the things that made commander explode as the most popular format.

[@antonbrusco]

I can’t believe I can actually have a chance at getting any of this product!! Prof really is the goat. I’m a single dad with 3 kids and cannot bring myself to spend that kind of money, that I don’t have, just to keep having fun and enjoying EDH.. my friends, their kids, and my kids all enjoy getting together and playing.. this product price sucks and wizards are showing there colors once again😢

[@42grath]

To your earlier point, I was basically playing vintage/modern decks with friends until we had one friend join us who really was only interested if he was going to get into magic, he wanted to run Commander. I was admittedly hesitant because I liked building to the 60 card format. 4 cards minimums, the pace and play, etc. But now that I've been playing Commander for a few months, i honestly haven't touched those 60 card decks, aside from converting most of them into commander decks. On top of that, aside from Pioneer, Commander is the only event I see at the local game stores.

[@sickshock9772]

It does make me feel bad that I have to miss this awesome set because of its high cost ☹️.

[@jfmoone]

Great video - I'm leaning ever more towards buying cheap singles and making proxies.

[@anastasiaparker9451]

I think you, and other MTG content creators, should start making more content using and spotlighting fan-made Magic cards. Maybe even showcase some ways to create custom cards. I think it would help people to recognize that Magic, as a game, can be played using whatever pieces the players want to use. Plus it would be fun to watch, and as far as I'm aware is an untapped niche.

[@KraziEyevin]

Untapped, eh? I see what you did there.

[@bobby45825]

That'd be pretty sweet if they played with proxies. Like the high grade ones.

[@alexandernikolaidis]

I’m a player who started playing in the 90s and mostly dropped out due to price and my own time. I feel that, in order to be competitive at magic, you have always had a challenge of price (though pros could be sponsored and borrow cards). Sometimes, there would be a competitive red deck a bit more budget, but standard has never been affordable. However, I could still play with my friends because the goal wasn’t to be competitive and thus the extra money wasn’t needed. I feel about power creep in commander that it’s best mitigated by the community intentionally being more creative, wacky, fun with their decks - you don’t have to play dockside, or even Sol Ring. This might mean that you can’t show up to a random store and just play - and that has never been how I engaged with multiplayer magic, so I could be missing a huge component. But I think players have a responsibility to “limit” their own decks to include players who are on the budget side, for the sake of fun. It’s easier to do that in a small playgroup, but even in setting with “strangers” like a con or LGS you can absolutely just intentionally build a less powerful deck.

[@hallaloth3112]

I remember when I bought the Ur-Dragon precon for $40. . .kicking myself to this day that I didn't go back and grab Atraxa and Vampires. I still make my decks based on what's in my binders and bulk. . .I can't afford single prices. . .I shouldn't technically be cracking packs either, but I find it more fun since it means a new (fairly diverse) card pool to grab jank from. I honestly just relegate myself to kitchen table play. . . between not even owning the 'staples' and not being willing to update to the most powerful cards. . .I've never felt comfortable going to play with strangers.

[@drunkennephilim2995]

Maybe the real commander tax was the product wizards released along the way

[@brandonusher4322]

Never confuse price for value

[@EvanForbesIF]

The problem I've had with masters sets over the past few years has been that as ultra premium sets they haven't had as significant of an impact on singles prices that I hoped out of a reprint set. Modern horizons 2 did great things for fetch lands. I wish double masters 2 would have done the same for dockside, and I doubt commander masters will be any different.

[@janMelantu]

Limited Print Run sets (Masters) have less of an effect on prices than print-to-demand (Standard, Legends, Horizons) sets. Tarmogoyf’s price didn’t care about how many Modern Masters sets it was in.

[@janMelantu]

Limited Print Run sets (Masters) have less of an effect on prices than print-to-demand (Standard, Legends, Horizons) sets. Tarmogoyf’s price didn’t care about how many Modern Masters sets it was in.

[@amberhernandez]

One of the best parts of a reprint announcement is knowing the price of X card is going to tank, or you'll have a chance at opening it yourself and saving money anyway. Unfortunately, when the price barrier is so damned high, I doubt the prices for some of these reprints will change much at all!

[@babyberry369]

What surprised me the most for this set was the lack of friendly fetchlands. Even though they had been massively overprinted during the Khans block they have steadily crept up in price over time to the point where the cheapest one from that set costs more than the most expensive enemy version thanks to modern horizons 2. This product would've been the perfect way to get them reprinted since masters sets in the past have done things like this such as modern masters 2017 and when dominaria remastered came out they didn't want to print them there since the original version were from onslaught which there were cards from it in that set. I would've much preferred that wizards take notice of these issues more often as to not only justify newer masters set cost more but to also incentivize the justification for prices being so high in a masters set.

[@magetheory]

I am new to magic. In the last 2 months I’ve spent about $700 on building my deck, then I found out a box of this set is going to be $400+. Honestly when did collecting Warhammer 40K get cheaper than a tcg? I’ll be painting minis from now on and stick with my crappy Sauron deck for nights we play magic.

[@Vanessa_M]

I'm so happy with my local community, a lot of players (including myself) won't play the same deck multiple rounds on an evening. its all about building interesting decks and not about building the most powerful. commander is about shuffling up your deck and having a nice talk with friends for about an hour before changing decks (maybe a player switch between tables) and starting a new game.

[@GreyGaymer]

I have fallen in love with magic in all formats, except the actual management of it as a product. In trying to get new friends into it now, everyone I talk to is distinctly uninterested explicitly because of price creeping and just how inaccessible the various game pieces are at pretty much all price points (save the rare starter kit)

[@morgansearle3912]

encouraging people to play using something like tabletop simulator, where all cards are essentially proxied and everyone can play with any card they want by default, is a good way to get around this issue. It doesn't have the same feel as in-person kitchen table play, but if you aren't as local as you used to be anyway, it's win-win!

[@todaywithrhea917]

50 free packs on Sept 4th???? That's my birthday! I hope I get one! Love the content! Now I have to get WhatNot for watching your stream.

[@jubul666]

prof i am honestly so torn, a friend from out of state is coming to visit next month and i really want to draft this set with him and a few other friends. i dont really care what i pull value wise and i just want to have fun and share the game of magic with friends who know of the game but dont really have collections or play but the price of a draft box of commander masters is kind of nutty. like i dont mind spending 300 for a night of fun with friends and it does look like an insanely fun draft but ill feel bad "voting" with my wallet by paying that price and telling wizards its okay to charge that much. i miss drafting and last time i did was unfinity (that set was a blast to draft)

[@danhan121]

I left the game at March of the machine. I now feel a sense of freedom both financially but more importantly freedom from the anger held against an abusive company with every business decision Hasbro have made.

[@nathans1787]

I left in early 2021 (after playing for 26 years) because I hated the direction of Universes Beyond. I’m so glad I left when I did, though, because I changed careers and make a lot less money now. There’s just no way I could keep up anymore.

[@dianethepunk6149]

I feel like this should really push more people to play pauper but I've been screaming into that void for years now

[@EdwinRosario432]

It's like wanting to pet a tiger, but every time they do it mauls them. Then they jump in again. And again. Proxy the cards, agree to a budget for the deck at current prices, or play something like pauper.

[@kendelia9609]

Snuff out has entered the chat

[@EdwinRosario432]

@@kendelia9609 *ahem* Proxy

[@drpibisback7680]

​@@kendelia9609Don't forget Lotus Petal for all the combo players. $20 common, never been reprinted.

[@cooljoe500]

Pauper is kinda cringe ngl

[@bradbornmann1757]

I remember when magic was about the game and the cards and not the money

[@dvillegas]

There's a point most people in the US don't see, and is the fact that there's an international community for MTG that is getting beyond shafted by this product because of the shipment fees, right now the one LGS that is bringing them here is charging $20 for the draft boosters and $30 for set boosters, with no plans for any sealed or draft event because they know noone is gonna be able to afford them, and it's really hurting the community, especially because commander is the only format that still brings people to play in the stores, it's quite sad to see wotc clearly not giving a damn about us