Whether it is a $4 draft pack or a $300 box of Double Masters, in the end it only matters what we are willing to pay for them. That’s one of the main reasons it confused me so much to see people angry over the price of Double Masters. So I decided to do some research and then weigh in with my two cents, for what its worth. Please read through and let me know in the comments or find me on social media. I really would love to have an actually conversation about this.
Wizard of the Coast has had it’s fair share of criticism over the past few weeks. Most of it has been deserved. They are making changes and hopefully even more to come in the future that will bring more inclusiveness and representation to the game that we all love. But one area that people complained about was the price when Double Masters was announced. 2 rares or mythics, 2 box toppers, 2 of everything pretty much, which explains the name but, the price of the boxes are triple that of a core set box (possibly higher), the packs were around $17 to $20 each. People then went on relentlessly that they were putting all these great reprints behind a huge paywall, and that they only cared about their “whale” or VIP customers.
I listened to The Professor (Click here to go to his channel), who I love to watch and support, do an entire video covering how they cost to much and how they could easily lower the price. While his point was technically correct, this has always been the case. Yes they are making rectangles of cardboard but this game we love only survives if the company survives. They have a business model like any other company. This is the same argument against the collectors boosters which always seem to do rather well (As long as the set is worth it). At least in Double Masters you are getting 24 packs not 12. And to top it off, this is only one of 8 FULL sets released this year. The other sets are more moderately priced to what we are used to (Which I honestly believe will be going up in the years to come) and have come with some great new cards and some amazing reprints.
Core Set 2021 is set to bring some awesome reprints to us in just a few days. Just to name a few, they are reprinting Grim Tutor, the first time in over 10 years. You can now preorder one for $25 dollars instead of $175 and I’m sure that price will drop even more after release. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is coming back and has also dropped $30 in price. Containment Priest, Scavenging ooze, and more are also being reprint in M21. I’m not even going to dig into all the reprints coming in Jumpstart but man has there been some spicy ones already. These sets are going to be amazing and soon we will have fetch lands back in normal draft packs. If they had reprinted the fetches in Double Masters and not a regular draftable set, I may understand the argument a little more.
Just remember that when WotC releases a new set that is a masters set and it comes with a hefty price tag, that WotC knows what they are doing and care about the fan/player base. They know they have to make cards more available to the average player base and the release of M21 and Jumpstart have shown me that they are keeping it all in mind. There are plenty of issues that WotC has and ones that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Don’t attack them for something this simple. If we had just waited we would have seen what was coming in regular sets and the landscape would have made a little more sense. Did they fumble the announcement, release it at the wrong time, and make it worse than it should have been? Yes, but stay on top of them for social change and inclusion. Not something as small as 1/8th of the products this year being a little to expensive for your taste.
But this is The Magic Tavern, your opinion matters to us and we want to have a conversation with you guys. Did we miss something that makes the outrage more understandable? Let us know in the comments and let’s talk! Until next time!
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