The Real Cost Of Commander Masters 

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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.

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As a guy who produces proxies, I'd like to thank wizards of the coast for pushing magic players away from them and towards me with every new product release.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

This video is so important. Keep pushing Prof.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Keep up the good work Professor

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.

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 💕

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 RU-vid 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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

I will say I think the printing of premium versions of cards like the free commander cast cards and dockside does help keep prices I just wish like you said they would reprint the cards in other sets maybe without the premium versions so this way high prices go to the cards that people would only want to get if they already are willing to pay high prices.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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!

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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.

Thank you Prof for always looking out for the players! I just started playing commander after leaving modern because it was too expensive. I really don’t want that to happen with commander

Heya Prof, just wanted to mention that Flawless Maneuver was reprinted in the Rebellion Rising precon from March of the Machine, but seeing as how it wasn't one of the really expensive ones that doesn't really detract from the point you're making.

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!

This actually put into perspective a bit of my trouble making my own commander deck without any guidance. I have a collection mostly dating back to og theros and gatecrash, some stuff from other eras of magic but mostly those. When I went to make my Errant and Giada deck, I had those alongside a bundle from ONE and my MOM pre-release stuff. The deck sucked badly, it's not a whole lot better now really but I've updated it with a few other cards from a precon I never used. Effects like Detain just don't really cut it anymore, I don't have the more sought after cards from those eras either so I'm left with cards that just can't really compete much even at the casual tables. Though a little hard to tell because I got terrible luck with lands despite a solid third lf the deck being lands That all said, I'm looking forward to Commander Masters so I can get more options. Even still, I think I'll try to snag older bundles or even booster boxes for stuff like Modern Horizons 2 or Commander Legends if I can find any. They may be weaker but probably not much more expensive. I'd buy singles but I enjoy cracking packs

This is exactly the dilemma I've been in with masters sets. My partner (who is disabled and cannot work, and who's state won't even give them disability benifits) and I love playing MTG. I've played since original ravnica, and I've never been able to justify the cost of a masters booster or two because I have to then literally decide on groceries for a few days, or cardboard.

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.

My LGS, which hosts three commander nights each week across two stores, that sell out every week, has sold four entries to their Commander Masters prerelease event this weekend. Four. For an event that is in three days. They've sold less than that for launch weekend. Tells you just about everything you need to know about this set.

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

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.

Thank you for making this video!

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)

Never confuse price for value

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

My ramos deck and i love you prof. I jammed it full of funny old cards.

Minor correction to the point about the Ikoria free spells: Flawless Maneuver received a reprint in the Phyrexia All Will Be One commander decks. Doesn’t change much in regards to the point being made though.

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.

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

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

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😢

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

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.

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.