It may be easy to forget, but we have yet another Universes Beyond set on the horizon. Considering that the Outlaws of Thunder Junction spoiler season begins next week, many MTG players likely aren’t looking ahead this far.
That said, players who are looking forward to Ezio’s appearance into MTG know some details about what’s coming. Thanks to the recent Magic Con Chicago spoiler panel, we have a few examples of what to expect for Assassin’s Creed.
Even though the new Modern legal Assassin’s Creed cards are indeed exciting (and so are the reprints), one unpopular aspect of the Assassin’s Creed set arguable stole the show: the new pack type.
Assassin’s Creed introduces a new type of booster pack that looks like an old one: the Beyond Booster. Beyond Boosters have some startling similarities to the infamous Epilogue Booster, but do have a few slightly redeeming qualities in comparison to the failed product.
Considering how poorly the Epilogue Booster were received, seeing some doubt from players’ perspective shouldn’t be too surprising. What many players did not expect, however, was the price point that these new Beyond Boosters were being offered for.
That’s Not a Play Booster Box
Assassin’s Creed booster displays are officially available for preorder. As far as MTG boxes go, $145 may not seem like a bad price. This is actually pretty cheap in comparison to average preorders on TCGplayer, which is $160, which is the listed price above without the discount.
The issue that players have with this price is that the contents of the booster box may not be what you expect. Play Booster boxes from Murders at Karlov Manor were also available for preorder at around the same price. This was already a price hike from the original Set Booster products, which floated around $100-110. While the Play Booster technically offered more than a Set Booster box before changes were made, players did not agree that it merited about a 50% price hike. As such, Murders at Karlov Manor Play Booster boxes are now only worth $100, after the market basically rejected the previous price.
Instead of comparing the Assassin’s Creed box price to Murders at Karlov Manor, we should instead look to compare this to the Epilogue Booster boxes, which have the most similarities to Assassin’s Creed in terms of pack design. Epilogue Booster boxes do not even sell for $50 at the moment, and you still cannot recoup your value.
Beyond Boosters are definitely a step up from Epilogue Boosters, but players still find that these packs are disturbingly similar.
Epilogue and Beyond Booster Difference
Let’s face it. Epilogue and Beyond Boosters are likely too similar for many players’ taste, and the failure of the previous product could have many nervous. Both packs are tiny and neither set has commons, which led to major duplication issues in March of the Machine: The Aftermath.
Fortunately, the duplication issue may not be as bad for Assassin’s Creed. Beyond Booster sets are twice as large as Epilogue ones, which should help with the mass duplication issue for uncommons. This really took away from the pack opening experience for the Epilogue Boosters. Hopefully we will see a decent improvement with the new Assassin’s Creed product.
You’re also capable of opening more rares in Beyond Boosters compared to Epilogue Boosters. Just one more, to be exact, but the potential to get more value out of your packs is never a bad thing.
Finally, there are some guaranteed high-quality reprints in the Assassin’s Creed set, which could seriously boost the potential value of cards that you could open in a box.
Even with these improvements, however, a smaller pack of cards remains an issue. Like it or not, the reputation of Epilogue boosters is going to impact this product in a negative way, which, honestly, is justified.
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Player Sentiment
The ship on smaller packs may have sailed for the community. March of the Machine: The Aftermath was such a flop that players are totally off the idea of smaller packs. Comments discussing early preorder prices for the Assassin’s Creed product highlight just how displeased players are:
“It feels bad to say, but I’m hoping this product fails badly.
This is their next attempt at 6-card packs. If it succeeds, they’ll sit there and say “See, players love beyond boosters, we’ll do 4 a year”. If it flops, then aftermath boosters may actually be done.”
AnwaAnduril
Like March of the Machine: The Aftermath, this product is undeniably a test one. This is the first Beyond Booster that Magic has ever seen.
The good news is that Wizards does seem aware of the poor reception for Epilogue Boosters, and Outlaws of Thunder Junction is a great example of that. The Big Score was originally intended to be yet another Epilogue set, but Wizards decided instead to change that set into another Bonus Sheet that appears in Outlaws of Thunder Junction. While this certainly makes things a little tough to follow for players, it is still a better alternative.
This change has some players optimistic that this may be the last time we see something like this:
“Trying to be optimistic, maybe I’m just naive, but:
They already axed what would have been the second epilogue boosters (The Big Score got rolled in to Thunder Junction instead of being separate), and I think they understand how hated that set was. I would imagine the contract/details for Assassin’s card quantity/design/etc, were locked in with Ubisoft before they saw the reception of Aftermath. Not as easy to adjust your plans for an IP you don’t own, and a contract you’ve already signed.”
WillowSmithsBFF
While we have absolutely no way of knowing whether or not this is the case, it is certainly a possibility. Wizards is aware of how poorly received the original Epilogue Boosters were – at least that’s what the change to the Big Score suggests. Changing things that last second is really difficult for a company that works on sets three years ahead of time. The possibility of Wizards wanting to change this product and not being able to is quite believable.
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These Prices May Not Stick
Ultimately, the success or failure of the Beyond Booster could have a big effect on future MTG products in the future. If the next Epilogue-ish booster fails, it should be a clean and clear signal to Wizards of the Coast that their fans do not like this style of product. If it succeeds, however, we could see more Universes Beyond expansions with Beyond Boosters in the near future.
Past patterns, however, suggest that these $160 preorder prices for Assassin’s Creed boxes may not stick around forever. While the Epilogue Boosters initially had an asking price around a normal box, they did eventually plummet to $40. For that reason, preordering Assassin’s Creed boxes at this price could be particularly risky, but if EV for the set is higher than expected, than who knows?
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