I took a class on price theory, and when the professor absolutely tore into the idea that the price of input materials is what determine the price of a consumer good, and that price is entirely subjective and based off the marginal utility the product provides to the consumer. I was like Magic cards are the best example of this concept in real life.
Ahhh capitalism. In a marxist economic theory, the value of a good IS determined by the cost of input materials AND labor value, profit is generated as a result of exploitation, using scarcity to increase demand and price, or cutting labor costs below the vlaue generated to take the difference. With luxury goods like magic cards it doesn't matter, anyone can do without, but consider price increases for food, rent, healthcare, and you see oh a deregulated market can lead to a lot of people being nickeled and dimed. It just sucks that our hobby has to br so expensive.
@@evabranco8731 Well, I think you forgot to add that labor value is entirely subjective. How many people could design a good MTG cards? Let alone entire decks? In theory you could say that everyone is able to do that but in reality? What is the cost of labor in such case? Damn, not even mentioning the cost of input materials which can change from one day to another. Sorry but marxist bullshit doesn't even sound good in theory. And in practice it's much, much worse...
Labor Theory of Value that Marx made the lefts presupposition was successfully argued against by Thomas Aquinas in "Just Price" in the 14th century. Ijs
Just wanna say, as someone who works for a LGS I really appreciate your videos. Your input really helps me better understand the game as well as better enjoy this awesome community.
3:05 Individual Card Cost of all Decks ‐------------ Non-Bulk Breakdowns: 3:55 Cabaretti Cacophany 4:19 Obscura Operation 4:46 Maestro's Massacre 5:00 Riveteer Rampage 5:15 Bedecked Brokers ------------- 7:43 Gameplay Reviews 12:00 Final Conclusion Final Grade: A I hope this helps you in the store!
I've been watching your videos for a while even though I got out of Magic about four or five years ago (right after the prerelease for Kaladesh), but I recently decided to get back into commander at an LGS. They complicated so much I almost stopped before I started again. What follows is an old Magic player's rant about the products... When I left (old man voice: In my day), there was one type of booster pack and a commander set every year that I bought at least one of every time and spent the year upgrading before the new set came out. With the commander sets, a year felt right for having time to upgrade it before the next one came out. I bought Freyalise in 2014 and upgraded it into elf tribal until 2015 when I bought Meren and made a graveyard recursion deck that is still my favorite deck. I even bought the Daxos deck that year, traded out the commander for the secondary commander Karlov, and made a lifegain win by commander damage deck that, while fun, has issues with mana that I didn't resolve before I left Magic. I even bought the Kainos and Tiro of Meletis deck in 2016 with a plan to make a group hug deck right before I left... and because I couldn't get my hands on the Atraxa deck. With the new release schedule, you don't really have time to do the upgrades and, in a few cases, the theme is so set specific that it limits upgrade options. For example, I was looking at the witherbloom one from the strixhaven commander set. While Golgari was the lifegain colors of that set and green can gain life occasionally, most of the time it's going to be Orzhov. The same is true for token generation which was Simic in that commander precon/set, but I personally believe token generation is best done by Naya colors (blue can do it, but it's mostly white, red, and green). This was even proven in Capenna where the token generator cult/gang/mob (we'll move on to the next plane before I remember their names or titles) was Naya colors. I'm glad they gave the other colors commanders if people wanted to use those colors for those styles of decks, but it severely limits upgrade option. As to the booster... I went in to buy some boosters. I've been out of the game for a while and figured that was a way to dip my toes in the water. They asked me which type. I was confused by the question and left to do some research not buying anything at the time. I went with set booster because it seemed the best value for the price (I wasn't disappointed). But why did they have to overcomplicate things? I can only imagine someone going into the store for the first time getting confused on what to buy and that's before they even start playing the game which, in itself, isn't the easiest thing for people to understand. I had prior knowledge and kind of knew what I was looking for, but it seems like they have created a barrier to entry for new players with an increase in product.
I was looking through these decks the other day and I'm impressed with the vastly improved mana base as well as how the spell slinger deck doesn't needlessly have 30 creatures in it. I think it only had like 18 creatures or something. Seems they are actually focusing on the play experience now instead of just a way to print cards.
As always, I appreciate your unbiased review. I still haven’t played the last 2 precons I bought, so I think I’ll skip this set. Someday I do want to pick up a complete set that plays well together and I can use to play with friends that come over.
Love the idea of leaving comments on older videos. Gets more traffic for this AMAZING channel. Also props on keeping a straight face after hitting the stack over at the end xD
What if instead of collector boosters, they included a booster with cards of a similar theme within the same color? That way players could try swapping out the cards they get in the booster with the deck if that's all they own.
They probably did think of that idea. They won’t implement something good unless they loose massive profit. They don’t care if you can’t afford the game because they know people will buy them. That’s the sad part. I went after the UMA. I saved a lot of money for one box. They don’t care about the commander name. They see a cash cow. The booster pack is a direct insult on the buyer ends. Hasbro is the main contribution in the Ivory Tower. They want money and they try to do it as much as possible. If a card shop takes a loss oh well. Hasbro made their money now time to move on to the next set. These single set themes are sad and depressing. I miss the good days where we had 3 theme set then rotate to a new place. Hell Fat packs use to come with a novel, 80 lands, 10 booster packs that was $35 back then.
@@MirridonOnslaught I agree with that GW is worse then Hasbro. Do we know if the UK prices are cheaper then the Canadian and US prices? I know import tariffs are a massive contribution to the jacked up prices. I’m more curious if what drives GW business prices. We talk about the increase but not the contributions. I sell MTG and other cards. I also play mtg mostly. I buy Warhammer novels but not the miniatures.
@@dreadrulazmach2472 The prices in other countries are not cheaper either. As far as the tariffs, warhammer content creators have addressed this stating that it wouldn't increase introductory products to $300.
I'll be interested in how your time with Wizard's QA goes. I had to exchange a deck a couple years back where the art was over blacked (Odric was just an almost entirely black square for the art with just his sword showing) Wasn't TOO painful to do the exchange, but it did take a while. Not sure if that was just because it was near the begining of the pandemic, or if that is normal
Here's a data point for ya: I just got my replacements back a few weeks ago for a Secret Lair issue that happened in November of last year. So yeah... it takes a while.
@@Mutoforma Secret Lair, as I understand it, takes longer since they're all limited print run, so I can see how that might take longer. Took over a month to get a replacement commander deck for me about a year and a half/two years ago when the print quality was awful.
It's a quite different scenario, but I had a duplicate card (just one) in one of the Rakdos Guild Kit decks a few years back - the missing card being a mythic, naturally. No muss no fuss, I got the replacement card shipped out to me promptly - and I was in England contacting Seattle. But that was a single card and it was pre-pandemic, so who knows how it'd go now.
@@kayak2662 It would incentivize me to buy more precons, as someone who doesn't buy collector boosters those would be sales they aren't getting otherwise
Love this deck and just beat my husband with it moments ago.. the board state was massive but I pulled rogues passage and destroyed him two turns later.
Thanks Prof for making these videos. I started out Magic in 2019 and still love seeing you introduce Magic to new players. I started with standard but now getting into modern. Thanks again.
I had the duplicate issue happen several years ago. I don't remember the precon but it had 2 portal mage. Another was supposed to have a bunch of zombie tokens and the whole token slot was full of the ad cards. Wizards fixed both for me. Hopefully they do the same for you!
I also ran into the same issue before. I wasn't a new player and already had a decent collection, so I wasn't bummed out about it. However, if I was a newer player, I would have been very disappointed. Sure you can sell some of the value cards or trade them, but that misses the point entirely when it comes to getting a precon. New players want to be able to crack open a deck and experience their first game.
One thing I have to say about these precons is that I really appreciate wotc taking advantage of them and pushing to have More unique cards in them that use other mechanics from older sets that’ll probably never be used in standard anymore. I still lament how we’ve gone away from commanders precons being unrelated to the standard set of the week being released but seeing older mechanics being used like these are mini Horizon sets is still sweet.
WotC has said that their data states that apparently the majority of players prefer the precons being related to the standard set, so make of that what you will I guess.
*_Opens a Commander deck full of duplicates_* Prof: Time to send an email! *_Proceeds to open an Obscura pre-con on camera while in voice-over explain the playstyle of the Cabaretti pre-con_* Me: Time to send an email!
Thanks so much, really greeeat how you compare so much and be precise, and always offer a so great panel of different analysis on the same product, but from many different point of you so everyone has something to take from your vids. Thanks!
We played a game last night, where one of us played the Esper deck, out of the box (Voting Sphinx Commander), and the rest of us played our optimised decks. He won the game - these precons do have the ability to keep up with established decks. That is what I love about them.
I'm a new magic player who has mostly been playing standard, but I'm trying to get into commander since it's so popular. I recently found Coven Counters at not my local gamestore but one a couple towns over for $20 so I made sure to snap it up.
As someone relatively new to magic (aka I’m too broke to flesh out whole commander decks) it’s good to see these have some value to it. I bought the red/green commander deck from Kamigawa and it was alright to play, but most the time my friends commented how disappointed they were in it 😅. Ah well, I’m probably gonna go for the red/green/black one because I want to make one of my first decks a group hug deck with that commander that hands out reassure tokens to people. Is it dangerous? Yes! Is it profitable? Also yes!
@@leemonlucky nah they are not talking about the plunder queen, there speaking about Vazi, Keen Negotiator that gives treasure tokens to an opponent equal to the amount you made. Its both truly horrible and will likely lead to pretty unfun games (Unlike the Plunder Queen who's pretty good) so I understand forgetting about it.
@@olivermeloche2042 oh… it wouldn’t be fun? I thought a group hug deck that just handed out tokens would be hilarious and like… nice for people to have the mana to do what they wanted to do that they’re decks would work. Maybe I’m just not quite understanding it.
@@SporeTres well friend, I’d love to do that, but honestly my budget right now doesn’t really give me a lot of room to go drop a lot of money on buying a bunch of single cards. That’s why I’ve been going for the bigger pack stuff like that one commander deck I bought. Otherwise, yeah, I’d really like to do that to keep up with my friends. They let me use their decks or I’ll proxy a card since we’re just doing it casually but I get some pretty rough remarks when I do the latter.
Those values feel way inflated. They will go down as those precons actually reach circulation. Didn't we only include reprint values in a deck's value before? I love the connive deck and a lot of that slots into my Sefris Deck. Anhelo is a great commander, but you need a number or upgrades to really make sure it goes.
Damn! I have never seen such a big duplicat mistake in a precon before! Will be interesting to see what customer support does. Awesome video as always!
If they instead of "special two sample collector packs" (just 4 cards) replicated formula from Intro Packs and they put one or two draft/set boosters inside, it would be waaaay more interesting product marketing than this.
For what its worth: I bought 3 of these, Obscura, Cabaretti, and Riveteers, from amazon at the beginning of May. They were the "minimal packaging" versions of the decks, and were SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the "normal" versions at just under $40 per deck shipped. They arrived today. The minimal packaging version has everything important still included, including the sample booster. As of they typing of this comment, it seems they've gone up, but for the future, be sure to check the minimal packaging version after release to see if its cheaper than the normal version.
I really like this set of decks, but that may be my love for the aesthetic poking through. Personally, I really like the Cabaretti, so I'll probably aim for their deck above the others.
I ordered the Riveteers and Obscura ones when my LGS had them at $36. They're listed at $40 now which still seems decent for what you get in them. Going to build a new fun deck around Beamtown Bullies.
It is kind of incredibly frustrating to see the one Commander Deck I wanted, being Anhelo, is the only one to have an apparent factory printing error..
I agree. I preordered that deck a while ago and my friends and I have an entirely themed release night planned for tomorrow for these decks. In all honesty, seeing that printing error has me worried that I’ll end up having to sit it out/use a deck that isn’t themed accordingly. In all honesty, it has me considering canceling my preorder. :/
@@XykrisVT like I said of all the decks I was mostly hyped for Anhelo. I already have cards set aside that I want to try and upgrade it with and seeing how the deck has multiple duplicates so we're missing some cards is just disheartening honestly
It would add value, but would also increase the initial cost of the pre-con, so that Wizards doesn't lose money over it. I'd rather pay $45 for what we get now than have to pay $55 for a pre-con full of full-art lands. I would not appreciate my basics overpricing my merchandise.
@@stevesack439 Technically, yeah, but that's not how it works out in real life. Off the machine, yes, each card costs the same to print, but sales value is always distinctive, and unique to every card. The fact of the matter is that full-art basic lands carry more intrinsic value than regular basics do, at market, so those would drive up the overall cost of the pre-con deck itself. Wizards would have to raise the prices of their pre-cons, otherwise they would lose money overall on the sales. Not the manufacture, certainly, but the sale price is what counts here.
@@jacob4920 I feel like the team losing money and missing out on additional profit should be separated. They certainly won’t be losing any money, and may even make more money as demand would be higher.
I already have an Esper blink deck, so I'm excited to get new pieces for it, it's odd though that the Obscura one would end up the most interesting to me as my favorite color is actually green.
I buy 2 copies of most of the commander decks that come out, one to play and one to display, and for the last few sets I haven't done this, but with these...I most definitely will! $430 on Amazon for 2 sets is great. And especially since I need the rest of the filter lands for my collection.
New Capenna looks like such a great set in terms of overall world building. The roaring 20s' is such a stylistic era to base a fantasy world in. From the jump, I'm a Maestros guy. I play Izzet/Prismari regularly, while getting into Rakdos recently due to vampires. The Riveteers are looking mighty nice though with their blitz mechanic and union worker vibes. This set is looking great.
I think this set has real promise and like always is amazing for new players to get into commander without going through entire deckbuilding. So many people at my lgs have gotten into commander through this type of product so it's good to see it being worth the money.
Re: Talrand - I'm inclined to think WOTC should adopt a reprint policy where they don't reprint the same (R)/(M) in multiple commander decks in the same year. Indeed, I'd go so far as to argue that a 2 year "soft" reprint threshold is appropriate; they'll always find a product to reprint Talrand in, but when you only need 1x of a cool legendary card, it's kind of underwhelming when you have a dozen and they sell for a quarter each. Limitations breed creativity, and WOTC could stand to be a bit more creative with their reprint choices.
But other cards definitely need more than 1 reprint every 2 years, like fetchlands. WotC doesn't need arbitrary rules to make good reprint decisions, they just need to put in more effort.
@@doktorwyvern2883 Do we really need Fetchland reprints every year? Compare to Ravnica Duals; those hold their value @~$10 and get reprinted every 5-6 years. If Fetches were $10, we'd be happy. The prospect that a single (R)/(M) card (save sol ring) needs to be reprinting in multiple commander decks each year is highly dubious.
@@fate3071 Setting aside the economic issue, print-to-demand (C) versions of (R) cards would undermine the fun of "cracking a pack" and remove a compelling reason to play limited. Artificial scarcity is artificial, but it's one of the things that builds the playerbase and community - collecting and/or building a deck on your own takes time and effort, and paying someone else to do it for you and just buying a complete set or tier 1 constructed deck is pricy because you're obtaining cards differently than intended.
Just getting back into MTG after almost 2 decades. Have been making new friends at my LGS and really bummed that I missed your giveaway. That being said I have purchased the Bedecked Brokers commander deck set and was also disappointed with the "booster" included. I have participated in one draft tournament (I did not come in last) focused on the D&D commander set which was loads of fun! Tonight I will see how my new capenna deck plays vs current and established players. I already miss the old days with 60 card beta decks running rampant and the old cards that I invariably lost all those years ago, but I am excited by all of the changes, additions and possibilities that the "newer" sets have/are bringing to the game as well as what the future holds for MTG. Returning fan, happy and hoping to be in the community for the rest of my life 🙏
I think it'd be great if you made videos suggesting some upgrades for these precons. It'd be a great way to introduce new players into buying singles, too!
I can't wait ta get my copy of Kitt Kanto's deck, the idea of having a lounge singer as a commander is just hilarious. X'D Annnd I got it below msrp as well! =D
@@C4PT41NSL1NKY Kinda sorta! I pre-ordered a small handful of the Cabaretti theme booster packs so I'll have ta see what my pulls will be. =P But I definitely have some plans for the deck! As much as I like the commanders and the overall theme I feel like I need to rebuild a good portion of the deck. x.x
I love it when WotC does right by your estimation. I bet there are some employees there who become overjoyed when they do you proud. I'm thinking of the card designers and game testers specifically, here. You, however, always do me proud, Prof. I suspect I'll always be a fan. 💜
While everyone probably likes seeing the "financial value" in these decks - I think it would do these videos a lot of good to set aside the cards printed exclusively to the commander decks... cards they've shown aren't likely to get a reprint in a number of years (or seemingly ever). The "big ticket" cards are the ones doing the heavy lifting on the 2 decks, and almost all the new cards are in the $1 or more list - driving that number up while 1 land per deck aside, there are no meaningful reprints found inside.
i bought a set for me, then decided to sell the precons to my friends coz they need it more :) i sold it to them for the preorder price :) just add a bit for the shipping. but im happy coz at least they get to have new commanders while im stuck with my Yuriko, Belbe and Thrasios and tymna decks :)
Normally I only play commander so thank you for introducing me to pionier. I always like your fun introduction and found it hilarious thanks to both of your co-actors.
The one thing I love about the commander line is they’re slowly improving and becoming the new standard of the commander decks of now ,it makes decks that are just as good become more affordable is an amazing interaction for the magic community and I hope this continues from now on
I will buy the Cabaretti one, using Phabine as the commander and taking out the goad cards for more tokens synergy. I managed to find Halo Fountain at prerelease ^.^
When Prof started showing off the Grixis deck, there definitely were a lot of duplicates in the actual deck. Considering I’ve preordered that pre-con, should I be worried about that deck being illegal to play, due to being filled with duplicates?
No you should worry about the deck being functionally unplayable due to the cards chosen, the thing makes the 2014 commander precons look like modern precons by comparison
the general way wizards handles defective precons is you can play the deck out of the box, but if you exchange even one card, you must make the deck legal.
@@Saetanigera You're thinking of precons that contain banned cards. This deck is defective in the sense that the box accidentally replaced half the cards (the half with all of the lands) with second copies of the other half, and therefore would be unplayable on virtue of having no lands.
Hey Professor! I thought you would like to hear that this is the first set I won't be buying any sealed product from. I found out that SCG sells preorder singles for prices like will probably be a month from now, and ordered a few chase cards from the New Capenna Commander set, a few from the standard set all the dumb singles I wanted for under about $80! I didn't get any of the new triomes yet, and I may later, but I just feel so good maintaining a little self-discipline and waiting for these cards to come in. Thank you for all the good advice!
They wont do anything that affects the 2nd market if they dont profit from it first. That's their way of getting a cut from the 2nd market while not acknowledging its existence.
your consumer protection is the best and I liked that you pointed out how nice it was that they tried to trick us into thinking there are 2 collector boosters inside.
The Maestros have me torn. On the one hand my two favorite things in Magic are Grixis and Vampires. On the other hand the deck is not my play style at all. If I was picking one up though it would either be Maestros or Obscura.
As usual, great content! The last commander deck i purchased before my hiatus from Magic was Invent Superiority! Now that I'm back in in the realm, I'm ready to build a deck. I think I will pick one of these up and give it a second chance.
I’m more than likely going to buy the obscura deck, as well as maestros (esper and grixis respectfully) I’ve just always been a big fan of the two color combinations. Does that make me an evil magic player…? Maybe.
I have always loathed the inclusion of the under $2.00 cards in the assessment as they are often cards players already have access to, recently drafted, and/or easily traded for with little effort or expense.
Coming back after a 15 year break! I’ve been watching videos and yours are seriously helpful! I’m def going to be a long term follower! Obscura operation sounds like my kinda deck! Thanks for the insight
Hey Prof? Could you raise a stink over the "booster pack only" "commander cards" as a distribution method? There's no indication that the cards aren't in the precons but if you check the decklists you'll see they aren't there. It is vaguely alluded to in spoiler season that they exist, but wotc has never put out a definitive listof what those cards are or how to tell which ones are not in the precons. If you could bring enough attention to it maybe we could AT LEAST get some kind of physical marker on the cards that they aren't in the precons. They've been doing this since Midnight Hunt and it really sucks. For New Capenna the booster pack only commander cards are: Bennie Bracks, Zoologist; Tenuous Truce; Swindler's Scheme; Mari, the Killing Quill; Spiteful Repossession; Boxing Ring; Vazi, Keen Negotiator; and Threefold Signal. It's way too easy for someone to see that it's in the commander set, but not realize that it's not in the precons. It took me 30+ minutes of research to track down which cards from this set are not in the precons, and the only reason I knew to even look is because I keep my nose to the ground reading wotc articles.
In 2020 I bought the zendikar rising precon for $18 because it was the cheapest. I am thinking to get a new deck since my friends are making $100 decks and buys 1000 card sets. I always lose game due to their powerful cards. The problem is the precons became so expensive almost $45. I was hoping to get anhelo the painter deck(maestros) since it seems the most fun due to its spell and casualty strategy. Love your videos keep it up!
The Italian in the end credits brought me back to when I was a child on the big desktop computer wanting to learn it. I totally forgot about that phase so thanks for reminding me.
Man... Cabaretti Cacophony seems super fun. Both as someone who has a Marisi, Breaker of the Coil deck, and someone planning to pick up pieces for a Jinnie Fay deck! ...I haven't felt this excited for a Commander product in a long time.
![แฉกลโกงงานวัด 2024 [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.106 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/taC5dpP3HXA/mqdefault.jpg)
I took a class on price theory, and when the professor absolutely tore into the idea that the price of input materials is what determine the price of a consumer good, and that price is entirely subjective and based off the marginal utility the product provides to the consumer. I was like Magic cards are the best example of this concept in real life.
Theory in practice.
Ahhh capitalism. In a marxist economic theory, the value of a good IS determined by the cost of input materials AND labor value, profit is generated as a result of exploitation, using scarcity to increase demand and price, or cutting labor costs below the vlaue generated to take the difference. With luxury goods like magic cards it doesn't matter, anyone can do without, but consider price increases for food, rent, healthcare, and you see oh a deregulated market can lead to a lot of people being nickeled and dimed. It just sucks that our hobby has to br so expensive.
@@evabranco8731 Well, I think you forgot to add that labor value is entirely subjective. How many people could design a good MTG cards? Let alone entire decks? In theory you could say that everyone is able to do that but in reality? What is the cost of labor in such case? Damn, not even mentioning the cost of input materials which can change from one day to another. Sorry but marxist bullshit doesn't even sound good in theory. And in practice it's much, much worse...
My professor taught that price is ONLY what your customer is willing to spend. He wasn't wrong. It's everywhere.
Labor Theory of Value that Marx made the lefts presupposition was successfully argued against by Thomas Aquinas in "Just Price" in the 14th century. Ijs
The prof's interaction with WotC Customer Support is something I'd love to see. It will be a useful guide for anyone who ever wondered what to do.
It's likely they'd give special treatment if they know it's prof, definitely if they know it's going to be broadcast
@@DanatronOne that's why he wouldn't tell them
It might be decent. Arena’s support team has been very helpful for my issues with that client.
@@TrainmasterGT tech support and replacements for physical cards are vastly different though
@@fate3071 sure I’m just saying that if one is good the other might be as well.
The fact that commander precons are including wayfarer''s bauble is such a nice move from Wizards for the budget commander playgroups.
Is it still "budget" tho?
@@treetheoak8313 Should be once again after being reprinted in a large scale like these commander decks.
@@treetheoak8313 it costs less than 1 euro, id consider that a budget card
Yeah, it'll be better when it's reprinted properly in baulders gate
Mitch is somewhere laughing
Just wanna say, as someone who works for a LGS I really appreciate your videos. Your input really helps me better understand the game as well as better enjoy this awesome community.
It's nice to see the shards back. The last time all 5 shards were together in a Commander set was like 2013 if I remember correctly.
And those decks sure were fun to play!
3 color commanders are a great opportunity to reprint some cool lands and a lot of great mana rocks, and hopefully some obscure 3 color jank classics.
I'm more of a wedge guy myself (abzan specifically) but all the tri coloured decks are appreciated by me
Ahh yes me buying Naya Marath and my friend buying Jund Prosh and kicking my butt with it..brings back great memories.
3:05 Individual Card Cost of all Decks
‐------------
Non-Bulk Breakdowns:
3:55 Cabaretti Cacophany
4:19 Obscura Operation
4:46 Maestro's Massacre
5:00 Riveteer Rampage
5:15 Bedecked Brokers
-------------
7:43 Gameplay Reviews
12:00 Final Conclusion
Final Grade: A
I hope this helps you in the store!
I really like how the Riveteers Deck is put together, finally we can "Just Jund Them" In style
Every Jund deck is Lets just Jund them; only some show it more than others
It's a wonderful Gruul Variant style to use...
I've been watching your videos for a while even though I got out of Magic about four or five years ago (right after the prerelease for Kaladesh), but I recently decided to get back into commander at an LGS. They complicated so much I almost stopped before I started again.
What follows is an old Magic player's rant about the products...
When I left (old man voice: In my day), there was one type of booster pack and a commander set every year that I bought at least one of every time and spent the year upgrading before the new set came out.
With the commander sets, a year felt right for having time to upgrade it before the next one came out. I bought Freyalise in 2014 and upgraded it into elf tribal until 2015 when I bought Meren and made a graveyard recursion deck that is still my favorite deck. I even bought the Daxos deck that year, traded out the commander for the secondary commander Karlov, and made a lifegain win by commander damage deck that, while fun, has issues with mana that I didn't resolve before I left Magic. I even bought the Kainos and Tiro of Meletis deck in 2016 with a plan to make a group hug deck right before I left... and because I couldn't get my hands on the Atraxa deck.
With the new release schedule, you don't really have time to do the upgrades and, in a few cases, the theme is so set specific that it limits upgrade options.
For example, I was looking at the witherbloom one from the strixhaven commander set. While Golgari was the lifegain colors of that set and green can gain life occasionally, most of the time it's going to be Orzhov. The same is true for token generation which was Simic in that commander precon/set, but I personally believe token generation is best done by Naya colors (blue can do it, but it's mostly white, red, and green). This was even proven in Capenna where the token generator cult/gang/mob (we'll move on to the next plane before I remember their names or titles) was Naya colors.
I'm glad they gave the other colors commanders if people wanted to use those colors for those styles of decks, but it severely limits upgrade option.
As to the booster... I went in to buy some boosters. I've been out of the game for a while and figured that was a way to dip my toes in the water. They asked me which type. I was confused by the question and left to do some research not buying anything at the time. I went with set booster because it seemed the best value for the price (I wasn't disappointed).
But why did they have to overcomplicate things? I can only imagine someone going into the store for the first time getting confused on what to buy and that's before they even start playing the game which, in itself, isn't the easiest thing for people to understand. I had prior knowledge and kind of knew what I was looking for, but it seems like they have created a barrier to entry for new players with an increase in product.
Hate that they increased the price.
Again? Whew.
Yeah but considering you get more in the box now a few dollar increase isn't that bad
@@TSears2010 Opinions like yours are exactly the reason why they keep doing this. The production price is the exact same compared to previous precons
@@monomanamaniac they are collector booster samples which only contain 2 cards and you aren't guaranteed good cards.
@@56andru I retracted my statement, that was a let down
I was looking through these decks the other day and I'm impressed with the vastly improved mana base as well as how the spell slinger deck doesn't needlessly have 30 creatures in it. I think it only had like 18 creatures or something. Seems they are actually focusing on the play experience now instead of just a way to print cards.
As always, I appreciate your unbiased review. I still haven’t played the last 2 precons I bought, so I think I’ll skip this set. Someday I do want to pick up a complete set that plays well together and I can use to play with friends that come over.
Love the idea of leaving comments on older videos. Gets more traffic for this AMAZING channel. Also props on keeping a straight face after hitting the stack over at the end xD
Great to see one's insights confirmed, this makes me even happier to pick up my Riveteers deck tomorrow. Thanks a million, Prof!
What if instead of collector boosters, they included a booster with cards of a similar theme within the same color? That way players could try swapping out the cards they get in the booster with the deck if that's all they own.
Like the themed set boosters that they already have. That's a great idea and I honestly cannot believe they didn't think of that first.
They probably did think of that idea. They won’t implement something good unless they loose massive profit. They don’t care if you can’t afford the game because they know people will buy them. That’s the sad part. I went after the UMA. I saved a lot of money for one box. They don’t care about the commander name. They see a cash cow. The booster pack is a direct insult on the buyer ends. Hasbro is the main contribution in the Ivory Tower. They want money and they try to do it as much as possible. If a card shop takes a loss oh well. Hasbro made their money now time to move on to the next set. These single set themes are sad and depressing. I miss the good days where we had 3 theme set then rotate to a new place. Hell Fat packs use to come with a novel, 80 lands, 10 booster packs that was $35 back then.
@@dreadrulazmach2472 if you compare to other tabletop games, its not as bad. Looking at you GW.
@@MirridonOnslaught I agree with that GW is worse then Hasbro. Do we know if the UK prices are cheaper then the Canadian and US prices? I know import tariffs are a massive contribution to the jacked up prices. I’m more curious if what drives GW business prices. We talk about the increase but not the contributions. I sell MTG and other cards. I also play mtg mostly. I buy Warhammer novels but not the miniatures.
@@dreadrulazmach2472 The prices in other countries are not cheaper either. As far as the tariffs, warhammer content creators have addressed this stating that it wouldn't increase introductory products to $300.
I'll be interested in how your time with Wizard's QA goes. I had to exchange a deck a couple years back where the art was over blacked (Odric was just an almost entirely black square for the art with just his sword showing) Wasn't TOO painful to do the exchange, but it did take a while. Not sure if that was just because it was near the begining of the pandemic, or if that is normal
Here's a data point for ya: I just got my replacements back a few weeks ago for a Secret Lair issue that happened in November of last year. So yeah... it takes a while.
@@Mutoforma are you in the US? I've had two issues with secret lairs missing a card and I've received the card within a month both times.
@@Mutoforma Secret Lair, as I understand it, takes longer since they're all limited print run, so I can see how that might take longer. Took over a month to get a replacement commander deck for me about a year and a half/two years ago when the print quality was awful.
It's a quite different scenario, but I had a duplicate card (just one) in one of the Rakdos Guild Kit decks a few years back - the missing card being a mythic, naturally. No muss no fuss, I got the replacement card shipped out to me promptly - and I was in England contacting Seattle.
But that was a single card and it was pre-pandemic, so who knows how it'd go now.
Do you still have the deck or did you have to send it back. That sounds like it could've been worth a good chunk of money of you kept it.
Imagine if there was a collector booster in every precon? Imagine how much money wizards would make from being nice to the community.
How would they make money?
@@kayak2662 by selling product?
@@TheMonyarm I mean in this guy's comment, how would they make more money by putting in a collector booster?
@@kayak2662 It would incentivize me to buy more precons, as someone who doesn't buy collector boosters those would be sales they aren't getting otherwise
not nearly as much as they make off people dumb enough to pay
Funnily enough, I just bought that Coven Counters deck... Decent value for $20.
I took it and made a Katilda-Deck with it. Super fun
Honestly I'm glad it tanked and became so cheap, it's very enjoyable to play and upgrade
Same, I bought 2 more at $15 each. Fun deck.
Love this deck and just beat my husband with it moments ago.. the board state was massive but I pulled rogues passage and destroyed him two turns later.
Got it for 15 and run Kyler as the commander, its great.
Thanks Prof for making these videos. I started out Magic in 2019 and still love seeing you introduce Magic to new players. I started with standard but now getting into modern. Thanks again.
Normally im a grixis guy, but something about the Brokers deck just speaks to me. Probably the demon-lawyer thing.
IKR I want Falco customized as Harvey Birdman ;p LOL
Brokers obscura and maestro are so kool. And cabaretii has some seris upgrades for my cat tribal deck
@@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299 I already wanted to build a Falco deck. Now I'm torn between that or star fox Falco for alters...
@@captianbacon LOL I almost forgot Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia also practices Bird law... ;P
I saw that Rhino in a pin striped suit with armored pauldrons with a big ass hammer and a monocle and immediately need it.
I had the duplicate issue happen several years ago. I don't remember the precon but it had 2 portal mage. Another was supposed to have a bunch of zombie tokens and the whole token slot was full of the ad cards. Wizards fixed both for me. Hopefully they do the same for you!
I also ran into the same issue before. I wasn't a new player and already had a decent collection, so I wasn't bummed out about it. However, if I was a newer player, I would have been very disappointed. Sure you can sell some of the value cards or trade them, but that misses the point entirely when it comes to getting a precon. New players want to be able to crack open a deck and experience their first game.
One thing I have to say about these precons is that I really appreciate wotc taking advantage of them and pushing to have More unique cards in them that use other mechanics from older sets that’ll probably never be used in standard anymore. I still lament how we’ve gone away from commanders precons being unrelated to the standard set of the week being released but seeing older mechanics being used like these are mini Horizon sets is still sweet.
WotC has said that their data states that apparently the majority of players prefer the precons being related to the standard set, so make of that what you will I guess.
@@dyciefisk2535 WotCs data smells funny.
*_Opens a Commander deck full of duplicates_*
Prof: Time to send an email!
*_Proceeds to open an Obscura pre-con on camera while in voice-over explain the playstyle of the Cabaretti pre-con_*
Me: Time to send an email!
Thanks so much, really greeeat how you compare so much and be precise, and always offer a so great panel of different analysis on the same product, but from many different point of you so everyone has something to take from your vids. Thanks!
We played a game last night, where one of us played the Esper deck, out of the box (Voting Sphinx Commander), and the rest of us played our optimised decks. He won the game - these precons do have the ability to keep up with established decks. That is what I love about them.
That happened a while back with the coven counters deck.. a guy kept up and got 2nd, definitely they are not bad.
It's nice to see an Esper commander that isn't janky or overly competitive. Kamiz is just what I've been waiting for.
Purchased all 5 recently on Amazon for $150 total. Prices have gone down! Glad I waited
I'm a new magic player who has mostly been playing standard, but I'm trying to get into commander since it's so popular. I recently found Coven Counters at not my local gamestore but one a couple towns over for $20 so I made sure to snap it up.
Great pick! I did not expect to like that human/ +1/+1 counters deck but I really do
As someone relatively new to magic (aka I’m too broke to flesh out whole commander decks) it’s good to see these have some value to it. I bought the red/green commander deck from Kamigawa and it was alright to play, but most the time my friends commented how disappointed they were in it 😅. Ah well, I’m probably gonna go for the red/green/black one because I want to make one of my first decks a group hug deck with that commander that hands out reassure tokens to people. Is it dangerous? Yes! Is it profitable? Also yes!
The card you're talking is only red/green sadly, so you'll have to throw a third of the deck away if you want her as commander :).
@@leemonlucky nah they are not talking about the plunder queen, there speaking about Vazi, Keen Negotiator that gives treasure tokens to an opponent equal to the amount you made. Its both truly horrible and will likely lead to pretty unfun games (Unlike the Plunder Queen who's pretty good) so I understand forgetting about it.
You should probably buy singles to upgrade one rather than another one.
@@olivermeloche2042 oh… it wouldn’t be fun? I thought a group hug deck that just handed out tokens would be hilarious and like… nice for people to have the mana to do what they wanted to do that they’re decks would work. Maybe I’m just not quite understanding it.
@@SporeTres well friend, I’d love to do that, but honestly my budget right now doesn’t really give me a lot of room to go drop a lot of money on buying a bunch of single cards. That’s why I’ve been going for the bigger pack stuff like that one commander deck I bought. Otherwise, yeah, I’d really like to do that to keep up with my friends. They let me use their decks or I’ll proxy a card since we’re just doing it casually but I get some pretty rough remarks when I do the latter.
Those values feel way inflated. They will go down as those precons actually reach circulation. Didn't we only include reprint values in a deck's value before? I love the connive deck and a lot of that slots into my Sefris Deck. Anhelo is a great commander, but you need a number or upgrades to really make sure it goes.
Damn! I have never seen such a big duplicat mistake in a precon before! Will be interesting to see what customer support does.
Awesome video as always!
If they instead of "special two sample collector packs" (just 4 cards) replicated formula from Intro Packs and they put one or two draft/set boosters inside, it would be waaaay more interesting product marketing than this.
They contain 1 sample collector booster of 2 cards, one rare or mythic, one common or uncommon.
For what its worth: I bought 3 of these, Obscura, Cabaretti, and Riveteers, from amazon at the beginning of May. They were the "minimal packaging" versions of the decks, and were SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the "normal" versions at just under $40 per deck shipped. They arrived today. The minimal packaging version has everything important still included, including the sample booster. As of they typing of this comment, it seems they've gone up, but for the future, be sure to check the minimal packaging version after release to see if its cheaper than the normal version.
1 year later and I just now scored the same exact Riveteer's rampage on amazon prime day for $29.99.
I really like this set of decks, but that may be my love for the aesthetic poking through.
Personally, I really like the Cabaretti, so I'll probably aim for their deck above the others.
I ordered the Riveteers and Obscura ones when my LGS had them at $36. They're listed at $40 now which still seems decent for what you get in them. Going to build a new fun deck around Beamtown Bullies.
It is kind of incredibly frustrating to see the one Commander Deck I wanted, being Anhelo, is the only one to have an apparent factory printing error..
I agree. I preordered that deck a while ago and my friends and I have an entirely themed release night planned for tomorrow for these decks. In all honesty, seeing that printing error has me worried that I’ll end up having to sit it out/use a deck that isn’t themed accordingly. In all honesty, it has me considering canceling my preorder. :/
Another printing error? QA has really gone to the shitter these days for WOTC. It would be nice to have a set where there isn’t an issue
@@XykrisVT like I said of all the decks I was mostly hyped for Anhelo. I already have cards set aside that I want to try and upgrade it with and seeing how the deck has multiple duplicates so we're missing some cards is just disheartening honestly
As far as I understand this was a one of thing (though I might be wrong) as Prof said he opened others and they didn't have this problem
@@LotharLive I hope you're right cause it sounded like, to me, he said that the Anhelo precon period had printing errors
Wish we got a squirrel mob boss in this set. "Chatterbang" if you will, a tommygun toting squirrel fully addicted to halo
i wish they would make all of the basics full art in all of these precons (if the set has them). It would add value without making the deck stronger.
It would add value, but would also increase the initial cost of the pre-con, so that Wizards doesn't lose money over it. I'd rather pay $45 for what we get now than have to pay $55 for a pre-con full of full-art lands. I would not appreciate my basics overpricing my merchandise.
@@jacob4920 each card costs the same to print.
@@stevesack439 Technically, yeah, but that's not how it works out in real life. Off the machine, yes, each card costs the same to print, but sales value is always distinctive, and unique to every card. The fact of the matter is that full-art basic lands carry more intrinsic value than regular basics do, at market, so those would drive up the overall cost of the pre-con deck itself. Wizards would have to raise the prices of their pre-cons, otherwise they would lose money overall on the sales. Not the manufacture, certainly, but the sale price is what counts here.
@@jacob4920 I feel like the team losing money and missing out on additional profit should be separated. They certainly won’t be losing any money, and may even make more money as demand would be higher.
I'm brand new to magic, I've been looking at your old vids and have learned a lot. Thanks for the consistent informative videos
I already have an Esper blink deck, so I'm excited to get new pieces for it, it's odd though that the Obscura one would end up the most interesting to me as my favorite color is actually green.
I buy 2 copies of most of the commander decks that come out, one to play and one to display, and for the last few sets I haven't done this, but with these...I most definitely will! $430 on Amazon for 2 sets is great. And especially since I need the rest of the filter lands for my collection.
New Capenna looks like such a great set in terms of overall world building. The roaring 20s' is such a stylistic era to base a fantasy world in. From the jump, I'm a Maestros guy. I play Izzet/Prismari regularly, while getting into Rakdos recently due to vampires. The Riveteers are looking mighty nice though with their blitz mechanic and union worker vibes. This set is looking great.
FYI: amazon sells minimal packaging versions of these decks that are not (currently) marked up
Do they have the 2 "sample" packs?
@@VampiricTyrant yep, it's literally all the same stuff, just a different box
@@VampiricTyrant description says they do
I think this set has real promise and like always is amazing for new players to get into commander without going through entire deckbuilding. So many people at my lgs have gotten into commander through this type of product so it's good to see it being worth the money.
Re: Talrand - I'm inclined to think WOTC should adopt a reprint policy where they don't reprint the same (R)/(M) in multiple commander decks in the same year. Indeed, I'd go so far as to argue that a 2 year "soft" reprint threshold is appropriate; they'll always find a product to reprint Talrand in, but when you only need 1x of a cool legendary card, it's kind of underwhelming when you have a dozen and they sell for a quarter each. Limitations breed creativity, and WOTC could stand to be a bit more creative with their reprint choices.
Agreed. While Talrand is a really cool card, they over-printed it in too many Commander pre-cons AND Time Spiral Remastered.
But other cards definitely need more than 1 reprint every 2 years, like fetchlands. WotC doesn't need arbitrary rules to make good reprint decisions, they just need to put in more effort.
@@doktorwyvern2883 Do we really need Fetchland reprints every year? Compare to Ravnica Duals; those hold their value @~$10 and get reprinted every 5-6 years. If Fetches were $10, we'd be happy.
The prospect that a single (R)/(M) card (save sol ring) needs to be reprinting in multiple commander decks each year is highly dubious.
Or reprint every card and abolish the scummy secondary market so I can play with my cardboard squares
@@fate3071 Setting aside the economic issue, print-to-demand (C) versions of (R) cards would undermine the fun of "cracking a pack" and remove a compelling reason to play limited. Artificial scarcity is artificial, but it's one of the things that builds the playerbase and community - collecting and/or building a deck on your own takes time and effort, and paying someone else to do it for you and just buying a complete set or tier 1 constructed deck is pricy because you're obtaining cards differently than intended.
Just getting back into MTG after almost 2 decades. Have been making new friends at my LGS and really bummed that I missed your giveaway. That being said I have purchased the Bedecked Brokers commander deck set and was also disappointed with the "booster" included. I have participated in one draft tournament (I did not come in last) focused on the D&D commander set which was loads of fun! Tonight I will see how my new capenna deck plays vs current and established players. I already miss the old days with 60 card beta decks running rampant and the old cards that I invariably lost all those years ago, but I am excited by all of the changes, additions and possibilities that the "newer" sets have/are bringing to the game as well as what the future holds for MTG. Returning fan, happy and hoping to be in the community for the rest of my life 🙏
I think it'd be great if you made videos suggesting some upgrades for these precons. It'd be a great way to introduce new players into buying singles, too!
5:32 Nice catch!!
Wow, that was a huge error, I hope everyone who has this problem gets a reimbursement
They probably won't. More likely WotC will take about 2 months to send them the missing cards. (Had to deal with that process with another product)
Amazing concentration at the end. You didn't even break form after obliterating that stack!!! Bravo sir!
Do you know why the "Minimal packaging" versions seem to cost ~10-20% less, for from what I can tell, literally the same thing card wise
Reduced shipping cost due to being smaller and a easier shape
Lot of people care about the art on the box if they keep it, but otherwise it's literally the same deck.
@@SpecHallenbeck that kinda makes sense, but close to $10 per unit seems like a lot
@@Figsbar you can pack like 4-5 times as many in the same space for shipping. Plus it’s that much less plastic and ink and stuff
Do the minimal packaging versions come with the Collector's sample boosters?
Just got into magic and have had a lot of fun exploring your channel
For how long Wizards absolutely hosed white in regards to card draw, I'm fine with them going a little crazy with it recently
Picked up Bedecked Brokers. Absolutely love it.
Avenger of Zendikar feels like the most overprinted rare that still has a $5+ value.
I always try and catch your is it worth buying videos on the commander products. Your insight is greatly appreciated! Thank you, Professor!
I can't wait ta get my copy of Kitt Kanto's deck, the idea of having a lounge singer as a commander is just hilarious. X'D
Annnd I got it below msrp as well! =D
You and me both. 42.99
@@C4PT41NSL1NKY I got mine for $37.40! =P
@@spectralcanvasimages Nice! Pick up any upgrades for it yet?
@@C4PT41NSL1NKY Kinda sorta! I pre-ordered a small handful of the Cabaretti theme booster packs so I'll have ta see what my pulls will be. =P
But I definitely have some plans for the deck! As much as I like the commanders and the overall theme I feel like I need to rebuild a good portion of the deck. x.x
These commander precons are really the most balanced I've seen, and they really nailed the reprints. I think they might be listening to you Prof!
I love it when WotC does right by your estimation. I bet there are some employees there who become overjoyed when they do you proud. I'm thinking of the card designers and game testers specifically, here. You, however, always do me proud, Prof. I suspect I'll always be a fan. 💜
The guy running the printing machine is sweating right now.
I always appreciate your views on these subjects. Thanks Prof!
While everyone probably likes seeing the "financial value" in these decks - I think it would do these videos a lot of good to set aside the cards printed exclusively to the commander decks... cards they've shown aren't likely to get a reprint in a number of years (or seemingly ever). The "big ticket" cards are the ones doing the heavy lifting on the 2 decks, and almost all the new cards are in the $1 or more list - driving that number up while 1 land per deck aside, there are no meaningful reprints found inside.
I picked up Kamiz from my LGS tonight, loved the way the deck played and can't wait to get some singles to bolster its power.
i bought a set for me, then decided to sell the precons to my friends coz they need it more :) i sold it to them for the preorder price :) just add a bit for the shipping. but im happy coz at least they get to have new commanders while im stuck with my Yuriko, Belbe and Thrasios and tymna decks :)
Normally I only play commander so thank you for introducing me to pionier. I always like your fun introduction and found it hilarious thanks to both of your co-actors.
The one thing I love about the commander line is they’re slowly improving and becoming the new standard of the commander decks of now ,it makes decks that are just as good become more affordable is an amazing interaction for the magic community and I hope this continues from now on
I'm glad that you had fun playing those decks! It convinced me to get one!
I will buy the Cabaretti one, using Phabine as the commander and taking out the goad cards for more tokens synergy. I managed to find Halo Fountain at prerelease ^.^
I'm going Jinnie and there's so many upgrades that are new cards in the precon that I'm going to have to get it.
The video I was awaiting as I was pondering if I wanted to grab two precon, thanks for your timely arrival.
When Prof started showing off the Grixis deck, there definitely were a lot of duplicates in the actual deck. Considering I’ve preordered that pre-con, should I be worried about that deck being illegal to play, due to being filled with duplicates?
No you should worry about the deck being functionally unplayable due to the cards chosen, the thing makes the 2014 commander precons look like modern precons by comparison
the general way wizards handles defective precons is you can play the deck out of the box, but if you exchange even one card, you must make the deck legal.
Probably not. These errors are almost always one-offs, and the fact that this one happened to be on camera doesn't change that.
@@Saetanigera You're thinking of precons that contain banned cards. This deck is defective in the sense that the box accidentally replaced half the cards (the half with all of the lands) with second copies of the other half, and therefore would be unplayable on virtue of having no lands.
@@ArmadilloAl It was their response to a doubled card in a previous precon (though in that case it was a single card)
Hey Professor! I thought you would like to hear that this is the first set I won't be buying any sealed product from. I found out that SCG sells preorder singles for prices like will probably be a month from now, and ordered a few chase cards from the New Capenna Commander set, a few from the standard set all the dumb singles I wanted for under about $80! I didn't get any of the new triomes yet, and I may later, but I just feel so good maintaining a little self-discipline and waiting for these cards to come in. Thank you for all the good advice!
Amazon has most of them in the reduced packaging version for ~$38 which is a great deal
It is so nice to get good commander precons. It's a great way to get into the format for a lot of people.
They should give those "sample packs" to LGSs to promote attendance for commander related events.
They wont do anything that affects the 2nd market if they dont profit from it first. That's their way of getting a cut from the 2nd market while not acknowledging its existence.
@@flanbeau The SM(sorry...or not?) exist wether WoTC like it or not. I don't think people are as dump as they think.
your consumer protection is the best and I liked that you pointed out how nice it was that they tried to trick us into thinking there are 2 collector boosters inside.
The Maestros have me torn. On the one hand my two favorite things in Magic are Grixis and Vampires. On the other hand the deck is not my play style at all. If I was picking one up though it would either be Maestros or Obscura.
3:00 the perfect card while talking about collector boosters lol.
Haven't been this early to a video since Hydroid Krasis was in standard
Hahahaha me too!
Same
Same
As usual, great content! The last commander deck i purchased before my hiatus from Magic was Invent Superiority! Now that I'm back in in the realm, I'm ready to build a deck. I think I will pick one of these up and give it a second chance.
I’m more than likely going to buy the obscura deck, as well as maestros (esper and grixis respectfully)
I’ve just always been a big fan of the two color combinations. Does that make me an evil magic player…?
Maybe.
Technically the card “Expendable Lackey” is the sleep with the fishes joke for this set
Very considerate of WotC to speedrun making me cynical of their business practices when I've only just gotten into the game with Neon Dynasty.
This was a lot of help! Thanks for all you do Prof!
I have always loathed the inclusion of the under $2.00 cards in the assessment as they are often cards players already have access to, recently drafted, and/or easily traded for with little effort or expense.
Coming back after a 15 year break! I’ve been watching videos and yours are seriously helpful! I’m def going to be a long term follower! Obscura operation sounds like my kinda deck! Thanks for the insight
Hey Prof? Could you raise a stink over the "booster pack only" "commander cards" as a distribution method? There's no indication that the cards aren't in the precons but if you check the decklists you'll see they aren't there. It is vaguely alluded to in spoiler season that they exist, but wotc has never put out a definitive listof what those cards are or how to tell which ones are not in the precons. If you could bring enough attention to it maybe we could AT LEAST get some kind of physical marker on the cards that they aren't in the precons. They've been doing this since Midnight Hunt and it really sucks. For New Capenna the booster pack only commander cards are: Bennie Bracks, Zoologist; Tenuous Truce; Swindler's Scheme; Mari, the Killing Quill; Spiteful Repossession; Boxing Ring; Vazi, Keen Negotiator; and Threefold Signal.
It's way too easy for someone to see that it's in the commander set, but not realize that it's not in the precons. It took me 30+ minutes of research to track down which cards from this set are not in the precons, and the only reason I knew to even look is because I keep my nose to the ground reading wotc articles.
In 2020 I bought the zendikar rising precon for $18 because it was the cheapest. I am thinking to get a new deck since my friends are making $100 decks and buys 1000 card sets. I always lose game due to their powerful cards. The problem is the precons became so expensive almost $45. I was hoping to get anhelo the painter deck(maestros) since it seems the most fun due to its spell and casualty strategy. Love your videos keep it up!
1:20 into the video and I swear the professor was channeling my thoughts out loud.
Thanks for the reminder to not pay for the mark up. 👍🏻
From someone who was about to pay the mark up, thank you for the inclusion for affordable commander decks at the end!
Always great to hear your reviews, Prof!
I have yet to try commander with my brothers… we purchased the challenger decks for Easter and are having a blast with those :)
The Italian in the end credits brought me back to when I was a child on the big desktop computer wanting to learn it. I totally forgot about that phase so thanks for reminding me.
Like the prof’s straight forward on the decks.
I like the obscura but that is just personal preference.
Please do a follow up video on how Wizards handled the printing error
Man... Cabaretti Cacophony seems super fun. Both as someone who has a Marisi, Breaker of the Coil deck, and someone planning to pick up pieces for a Jinnie Fay deck! ...I haven't felt this excited for a Commander product in a long time.
Was planning to pick up the Bant deck as I just started building a Derevi deck. Figured it would have some useful cards for it, if not just keep it.
Thanks for the info as always! Super excited to get my deck box!
the 2 card pack is a nice little addition, just makes the new product opening experience a little sweeter
Thanks for pointing out the pioneer suggestions!
I’m encouraged to see they play well together and are fun 😊
I got in for the Riveteers as soon as it was available, picking it up in a few hours. Looking forward to trying it out.