Anger over MTG Command Masters boxes remains after spoiler stream fails to satisfy chat

Wizards of the Coast kicked off Commander Masters spoilers on July 11 with a preview stream that left many Magic: the Gathering players in chat disappointed. 

Product fatigue in MTG has been replaced with price fatigue leading up to the release of Commander Masters (CMM) on Aug. 4. The Eternal-legal set arrives on the heels of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set that released in June, in which collector booster boxes hit an all-time historical high as collectors searched for The One Ring. Prices for the upcoming Commander Masters set aren’t much better and the CMM spoiler stream by WotC failed to justify the price of those products to chat. 

Much like previous MTG Masters sets, the main CMM set is only made up of reprints throughout Magic’s history. It was designed for Draft, in which players can add a second commander through Partner, where Singleton rules don’t apply, and players draft two cards at a time. There is no Sealed format for the Commander Masters set. 

Related: MTG Commander Masters release dates, preorder prices, and spoiler dates

Most of the reprints showcased during the July 11 WotC Commander Masters spoilers stream were staple or low-end priced single MTG cards that are getting reprinted, with the exception of the Medallion cycle which was last printed in 2014. This is the third time the Medalion cycle has been printed throughout the history of Magic. 

Other CMM spoilers included cards like Command Tower, Sol Ring, Path of Ancestry, and Arcane Signet—all solid MTG cards in the Commander format but hardly worth a price tag of almost $300 for a Draft booster box, according to TCGPlayer. Set booster boxes aren’t much better, having a preorder price of around $375, and collector booster boxes that only contain four booster packs are priced at around $220 heading into the launch of the CMM set. 

Many in chat during the Commander Masters spoiler stream expressed their displeasure over the lack of expensive reprints, like Dockside Extortionist or even another reprint of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. Instead, a majority of the legends revealed during the preview stream are already priced under $10 prior to another printing.  

Legendary CMM spoilers included Kozilek, the Great Distortion, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Krenko, Mob Boss, Chainer, Dementia Master, and Maelstrom Wanderer. Other Commander Masters spoilers shown were Spellseeker, Land Tax, and Evacuation. 

The season for Commander Masters spoilers began on July 11 and will drop through July 20. Very little of the MTG set has been spoiled at the time of writing so it’s possible the box prices will reflect the set’s contents at the time of launch on Aug. 4.