MTG head asks fans if they really want more expensive Commander decks Magic: The Gathering\u2019s head designer recently took to social media to test the waters on possible future Commander products, with a focus on price and power. It can\u2019t be denied that Mark Rosewater is a busy man. In addition to his duties as MTG\u2019s creative head honcho, Rosewater often uses his regular presence on social media platforms to gauge community interest in ideas for potential future releases. Recently, Rosewater responded on Tumblr to a fan giving feedback about Commander prices, posing a question to the community at large: \u201cWe could make a Commander-focused product at the same price as a premier set, but it would have to be at the same power level as a premier set. Is that something you would purchase?\u201d Mark Rosewater sees pushback on more expensive MTG products Commander is Magic\u2019s most popular format by far, and its dominance shows no sign of slowing. Preconstructed decks have historically been a great way to introduce the format to new players. Commander products being released at a similar cost and power to more expensive sets \u2013 like Modern Horizons \u2013 is something that could potentially satisfy many players. However, Rosewater\u2019s comment around power level has been met with a degree of pushback in spaces like Reddit and Tumblr. The idea of power being tied to price is seen by some as an artificial limitation. One Reddit user wrote: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to be sympathetic to Maro\u2019s viewpoint here when he\u2019s talking about an entirely self-imposed and unnecessary restriction. \u201cIf you make a set that is designed for Commander and not legal in Standard\/Modern\/Pioneer, then I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any reason it needs to be at a Standard power level\u201d. In response, another user wrote that a stronger product can often cannibalize sales of a weaker one, leading to the power\/price consideration. Commander Masters highlights huge MTG issues While many players have responded favorably to the idea of more affordable Commander releases, the cost of Commander products is a prickly subject right now. As part of Magic\u2019s 30th-anniversary celebrations, a set of Commander Masters precon decks have been released. These decks were priced at launch at roughly double the standard precon price. Players were naturally assuming that \u2013 given the inflated price tag and the enduring popularity of some of the included themes \u2013 the decks\u2019 value and power level would similarly be higher than a standard Commander product. Unfortunately, many players have since found Commander Masters decks to be lacking. Key archetype cards like Sliver Hive were not reprinted, and a deck advertised as having an Eldrazi theme featured less Eldrazi than expected. With players hoping for important reprints like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, their lack of inclusion has led to a growing backlash against supposedly misleading marketing and a pricepoint that doesn\u2019t match the deck\u2019s value. Following the release of Commander Masters, it is clear that the price and power of Commander releases will be coming under heavier scrutiny for the foreseeable future. A more transparent discussion of power level and value from Rosewater is no doubt appreciated, and will hopefully lead to products that more closely align with audience expectations in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MTG head asks fans if they really want more expensive Commander decks Magic: The Gathering\u2019s head designer recently took to social media to test the waters on possible future Commander products, with a focus on price and power. It can\u2019t be denied that Mark Rosewater is a busy man. In addition to his duties as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}