MTG Aftermath singles plummet in price, booster boxes remain overvalued

Wizards of the Coast took a chance on its first-ever Magic: The Gathering mini Standard-legal set through March of the Machine: Aftermath, falling short of expectations which have resulted in significant card price drops on the secondary singles market. 

Heading into March of the Machine: Aftermath (MAT), WotC was reaping profits from Phyrexia: All Will Be One (ONE) and March of the Machine (MOM). Both sets were well-designed and card singles held their value on the secondary market weeks after release. And then came the MAT set less than a month after MOM, spoiled early by leaks while failing to live up to the hype. 

Related: All prices MTG March of the Machine cards worth money

Containing only 50 cards, MAT epilogue booster packs feature five cards while collector boosters showcase six. Since the sets release, the value of cards within these booster packs has dropped below what the boxes are priced at. 

• Epilogue booster box on Amazon: $76
• Collector booster box on Amazon: $181

At the time of writing, May 15, the highest-priced chase card in the MAT set is an Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin Halo foil variant valued at around $45 to $50—found only in collector booster packs. The entire set is barely valued at $100 for regular versions of cards, leaving most players who have purchased an epilogue booster box in the hole financially. 

Cracking MTG booster packs is always a risk, with some booster boxes failing to provide chase cards that make it worth it. But at least the chase cards are there for when players do hit. The MAT set has only one chase card at the moment and it isn’t worth spending $181 on a collector booster box to find it. 

The next MTG product should make up for the failings of MAT, with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth set scheduled to release globally on June 23, with prerelease events starting on June 16.