Like many of the past years, 2023 is shaping up to be absolutely incredible for Commander players. Not only are there countless new powerful and exciting legendary creatures to enjoy, but there are also several Commander-only products. As usual, preconstructed premier set Commander decks make up a large number of these Commander-focused products. In 2023, however, these products are accompanied by not just one, but two dedicated Commander MTG sets.
Similarly to 2022, one of the highly anticipated Commander products is a quartet of Universes Beyond decks. Themed around the beloved British Doctor Who series, this Universes Beyond release is incredibly exciting and a smidgen controversial already. While these decks should provide players with powerful new MTG cards and plenty of compelling artwork, this Commander release isn’t even 2023’s biggest draw. Instead, that honor goes to Commander Masters.
As the name suggests, Commander Masters is going to be full to the brim with highly prized Commander reprints. Considering that Commander can be seriously expensive, just as it can be delightfully affordable, many of these reprints are sorely needed. Subsequently, long before the set is due to release, MTG players are already eagerly looking forward to this set. So much so that some players are already theorizing what might be spoiled in late July.
A Second First Look
Currently, at the time of writing, only nine Commander Masters cards have been spoiled following the set’s initial reveal. While this doesn’t give players much to go off, what has been seen so far is already incredible. Reprints of Personal Tutor, The Ur-Dragon, Jeweled Lotus, and Capture of Jingzhou, for instance, are all very welcome. Especially since Capture of Jingzhou typically costs $135+ on TCGplayer!
Alongside this quartet of reprints, Wizards has also spoiled five brand new Commander cards, which each look absolutely awesome! Thanks to all these spoilers, it’s safe to say MTG players have had plenty to keep them excited. This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg, as the set will likely include 350+ predominantly reprinted cards. While Commander Masters’ official spoiler season is still a ways away, technically, we should be seeing some new spoilers today. This is thanks to Wizards hosting a Commander Masters First Look livestream. At least, they should be…
All the way back in February of 2023, Wizards announced the date of this First Look Livestream: May 16th, 2023. In the three months since then, however, Wizards has seemingly already gone ahead and had this Livestream. Taking place during the MagicCon: Minneapolis Preview Panel, Commander Masters was shown off on the 5th of May. While not much was revealed during this stream, just one reprint and five new cards, Wizards nevertheless has called it a First Look.
If this is indeed the First Look, excited fans may well be disappointed later today following the date change. As, while the Commander Masters’ first look may have originally been planned, today’s Weekly MTG is now focused on the Standard rotation changes. It’s possible Commander Masters will still be talked about during the stream, however, it’s now seemingly unconfirmed.
Commander Masters First Look Predictions
While the existence of Commander Masters’ First Look Livestream may be somewhat suspect, MTG players are nevertheless excited. This has led to some players hyping up the expected stream, building anticipation for the latest wave of spoilers. Conducting this hype train was Reddit user u/mrlbi18, who stirred up the community into a flurry of speculation.
Unsurprisingly, when offering up their suggestions, many players predicted that many high-cost Commander staples were going to be reprinted. Considering this, should be, is the entire point of Commander Masters, this prediction is hopefully guaranteed.
Until we see the official spoilers to confirm that, however, MTG players like u/theWolfandOwl are still hoping to see the Bond Land cycle reprinted. First printed in Battlebond, hence their name, these lands enter the battlefield tapped unless you have two or more opponents, making them practically an auto-include. With the majority of these lands costing $10 a piece, they’d certainly benefit from a reprint.
Alongside these exceptionally useful lands, players such as u/SomeWriter13 wished the cycle of medallions would be reprinted once again. Last seen all together in Commander 2014, these Medallions are undoubtedly a Commander staple thanks to their blanket cost reduction. Priced at between $13 and $35, the Medallion cycle is hardly cheap, so they could definitely do with a reprint.
To continue the mana-fixing theme, other users such as u/overoverme and u/Canopenerdude commented that Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt both need reprints. Costing $75 and $180, respectively, these cards are, once again, undoubtedly Commander favorites, appearing in 11% and 12% of all Commander decks on EDHREC.
While it’s definitely an important part of every MTG deck, players weren’t only requesting ramping artifacts and land. Instead, players highlighted several powerful and much-loved spells that are due a reprint.
“The set of free spells if have commander Fierce Guardianship, Deadly Rollick, Deflecting Swat) are the biggest things I hope for :]”
u/Sonitus523
“All the big money reprints. My two big ones (besides stuff like the Commander-free spells) are Nykthos, Shrine of Nyx and The Great Henge, both of which are at or over $50.”
u/diamondmagus
“Dinosaur reprints. A lot of the good dinosaurs for commander are 10 bucks and that adds up fast.”
u/PhantomArcadianAE
Pricing Problems
Unfortunately, even if Commander Masters included all of the desired reprints, which some players feel is unlikely, there is a major problem. As the subheading somewhat gives away, this is the rather expensive price of Commander Masters itself. Currently, on Amazon, a Draft Booster Box of the set costs $359.45. In comparison, a Draft Booster Box of March of the Machine is only $109.41. Doing some quick math, this means Commander Masters is more than three times more expensive than a regular set.
As you might imagine, this is a serious problem for players who’d quite like to crack packs and Draft the set. Arguably more problematically, however, is the impact this price point will have on the value of reprints. As pointed out by u/TheW1ldcard, these expensive packs may prevent card prices of in-demand cards from dropping too much. While this is definitely a concern, u/Sir_Encerwal followed up by highlighting how all this has been said before.
“I mean, people said that for 2X2, when speculation on the boxes finally calmed down a lot of the reprints did good work. The only reprint I can think of that didn’t have some impact was maybe Atraxa.”
u/Sir_Encerwal
At the end of the day, there’s no denying that Commander Masters is a tremendously expensive set. Despite this important detail, however, it’ll hopefully do some good work in driving down the prices of Commander staples. Just what cards will be reprinted, however, remains to be seen. Perhaps we’ll find out later today during the second First Look stream. Failing that, however, we’ll have to wait until Just 11th, when the spoiler season starts properly.
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