Since its announcement earlier in October, 30th Anniversary Edition has seen no end of complaints. In theory, 30th Anniversary Edition’s non-tournament legal Beta reprints should have been a slam dunk success. With the right price tag, Wizards could have been raking in the money and truly celebrating their anniversary in style. Unfortunately, Wizards of the Coast didn’t choose the right price tag, as 30th Anniversary Edition costs $999. For that price, MTG players get an exceptionally slim chance at a Black Lotus since a 30th Anniversary Edition box only includes four fifteen-card packs.
By reprinting Reserved List cards while also being effectively unaffordable for the majority of players, 30th Anniversary Edition has pretty much everybody. This is quite a miraculous feat considering that Reserved List lovers and haters seem to butt heads at every opportunity. As if its fundamental flaws weren’t enough to cause complaint, 30th Anniversary Edition just can’t stay out of trouble. Recently, 30th Anniversary Edition saw a fresh wave of complaints thanks to Wizards giving the product away to celebrities. Unfortunately for Wizards, it has only taken a single day for the much-mired product to find itself in trouble again.
Black Lotuses for Black Lotuses
To make the celebrations for Magic 30 that much more special, Wizards of the Coast is giving out 30th Anniversary Edition packs to event attendees. Specifically only the attendees who bought the most expensive $750 tickets. Suitably dubbed the Black Lotus VIP tier, MTG players who purchased these tickets are rewarded handsomely for their investment. This is despite the Black Lotus VIP tier already having more than enough value to justify the substantial ticket price. Regardless of the original ticket’s value, Black Lotus VIP ticket holders are now being gifted an extra $999 in value. For better or worse, the Black Lotus VIP ticket holders appear to be the only ones receiving this surprise bonus.
As you might expect, especially if you saw the outrage at Hunter Pence being gifted the prized packs, this move from Wizards has not gone down well. “This whole product is a joke,” Reddit user u/Baza26b damningly stated while venting their frustrations. “The old adage ‘a fool and his money are easily parted’ WOTC have swung for the bleachers.” Similarly, u/Machdame said, “this seems like a slap in the face..” before touching upon a sensible point. Since 30th Anniversary Edition packs can include almost all cards from Limited Edition Beta, there’s no guarantee you’re going to pull a Black Lotus. Subsequently, as u/Machdame notes, “these are probably worth more unopened.”
A Good Gift to the Wrong Audience
Instead of piling additional hate onto 30th Anniversary Edition for daring to exist, many players were baffled by Wizards’ decision to give this generous gift to Black Lotus VIP ticket holders. In some sense, it is understandable that Wizards may want to reward its most dedicated fans who’re coming to Magic 30. Merely following that line of thinking, however, makes an already controversially exclusive product that much worse. Is it a great gift for Black Lotus VIP ticket holders? Absolutely yes; however, that gift is only going to a very limited number of players. As Black Lotus VIP ticket holder u/Mooberries noted, “there are apparently 320 of us.”
Currently, outside of it being a lovely gift, players are struggling to fathom why Wizards have actually done this. Some players were quick to suspect that there was a surplus of 30th Anniversary Edition packs left over since preorders didn’t sell out. As other players noted, however, the product isn’t available to purchase yet, as Pre-orders start on November 28th. Without a sensible reason in sight, user u/Hmukher suggests they “feel like [Wizards’] PR department must have a ‘who can create the worst media dumpster fire?’ competition or something.”
A Better Price?
Given the outrage that it has caused throughout the MTG community, there has been a lot of speculation about 30th Anniversary Edition receiving a potential price drop before release. Most recently, Reddit user u/Soupealatomate posited that Wizards could drop the price all the way down to “350 USD.” Unfortunately for players who don’t throw up in their mouths upon hearing that price, this speculation was quickly condemned. Responding to the post, several users, such as u/MagnesiumStearate, bluntly stated that “they’re not gonna do that. You’re way too naive.”
While cleaving the price of the 30th Anniversary Edition by over half would be a welcome gesture, that may not be enough to convince some MTG players to part with their money. Recently, r/mtgfinance users were polled and asked how much they would spend on a 30th Anniversary Edition pack. Collated by user u/X_WhyZ, this data suggested Wizards would to reduce the product’s cost too much lower than $350. The majority of users, in fact, stated they would only want to play between 1 to 5 dollars per pack. According to u/X_WhyZ’s data, some players even suggested that 30th Anniversary Edition packs should be free. Ultimately, while a price reduction to this level would certainly be excellent, unfortunately, it’s purely wishful thinking.
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