Eternal Masters Supply & Demand

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

What likely catch captivated the attention of most Magic: the Gathering players over the weekend was the release of the special ('one-off') summer set of Eternal Masters.  Like Modern Masters, released in 2013 and in 2015, these sets have a higher expected average value of the cards contained in each booster and a more limited print run resulting in a higher (MSRP) sticker price.  

Where Modern Masters may have had a limited print run, Eternal Masters has a "very" limited print run.  There are quite a number of reports from a gamers to local gaming store owners indicating that there will not be any second print run or re-stock.  Some claim that retailers claiming no anticipated product restock work to the retailers benefit providing them license to charge more. The Eternal Booster box contains 24 packs (a perfect number to draft with) and here in our region (Central Ontario, Canada), the booster box costs about $360 and booster packs go for about $16.  

If you are drafting, then the cost could be likened to what you may spend on a trip to the movies (food 'n' all) or a drinks out at a pub.  We think you would be on the right path if you spent this money as being funds allocated for entertainment.

On YouTube, there are a number of unboxing vidoes of fans cracking packs hoping to lucky enough to pull one or more of the high value cards for re-sale to the secondary market.  Pulling a Mana Crypt, Force of Will, Karakas or a foil Jace, the Mind Sculptor at a worth around a $100 does go a long wat for you to 'recover' the value of your investment but there is real danger here.  The big question for those wanting to receive value is simply - 'Is it worth it to buy into Eternal Masters?'.

Consider this - out of the 69 Mythic Rares and Rares in the set, only about 19 of these cards (>$10) are valuable enough to equate to the value of a booster pack.  For each one of those videos showing a really amazing box, there are likely a dozen other individuals less than satisfied with their return.   We think you would be most happy having the mindset of gaming with the set rather than attempting to turn an economic profit.

Singles Prices - Expect great variance and volatility -

Mana Crypt (M) $98.31
Force of Will (M) $91.76
Karakas (M) $85.01
Jace, the Mind Sculptor (M) $69.00
Wasteland (R) $48.85
Sneak Attack (M) $27.00
Natural Order (M) $26.65
Vampiric Tutor (M) $25.86
Sensei's Divining Top (R) $22.00
Sylvan Library (R) $19.99
Dack Fayden (M) $19.99
Maze of Ith (R) $18.25
Entomb (R) $17.70
Sinkhole (R) $15.74
Gamble (R) $15.00
Chrome Mox (M) $14.95
Maelstrom Wanderer (M) $12.34
Enlightened Tutor (R) $11.79
Vindicate (R) $10.15
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RoE Sealed Products

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Just another quick post today folks,

We would like to do a round-up of all the sealed product packaging Wizards had posted so far this week in the Magic Arcana as part of the big ramp up to the Rise of the Eldrazi Spoilers and Previews. We will have a look at the very cool arts on Booster Packs, Intro Packs and Fat Packs.

But first, before we get to that, here is a piece of total randomness - looking over all the awesome Rise of the Eldrazi creature artwork, why are there no Moose ? (we have Elk and Antelope)



I was reminiscing and looking at some old photos when I came across this one . . . yep - that's a baby Moose in the back seat. Her mother was unfortunately killed in an vehicle accident but she had escaped with only minor injuries. So, thinking out loud here - baby Moose are pretty damn cute (and dangerous) - so why no Moose Wizards - can we get one in within the next block please ?

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Well, anywhoos - let's get back on topic . . .

Make sure you check out these killer arts on Rise of the Eldrazi sealed product . . .

Rise of the Eldrazi Intro Packs - 09 March 2010

Rise of the Eldrazi Booster Packs - 10 March 2010

Rise of the Eldrazi Fat Packs - 11 March 2010

That's it for now folks, tune in latter for more wild randomness.

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All-Foil Boosters

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We will take a short break from our run through of the Zendikar Booster Packs (here & here) to have a look at some interesting from Wizards today . . .

Quote:
Stories are told of boosters with all rares, or all foil premium cards. But those stories are strictly rumors. Legends. Tales told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Until now. Take one last trip to Alara and collect all 539 foil premium cards, in this handsome foil booster. Each of these boosters contains fifteen foil, black-bordered cards from Shards of Alara, Conflux, and Alara Reborn. These boosters will be available for a limited time, starting on January 8, 2010. And they're only $11.99!

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Very interesting. This may or may not be the next winning marketing gambit being rolled out by the Wizards of the Coast. Personally, we will probably not be picking any of these up simply because it seems about $2 to $3 overpriced. This may also have an adverse effect on the singles market for foils. There are some players I know do not care for foils at all due to the bending and warping issue due to the printing process which had not quite been fully resolved to their satisfaction.

Just another note - I'm certain only the very rich would be able to afford the $40 drafts with these packs. ;-)


Having said that, we personally know several EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander) players who are most likely going bananas on receiving this news today. If you are not aware, EDH is yet another Magic the Gathering multiplayer variant format which enjoys a healthy measure of popularity. In EDH, decks are comprised of 100 cards, with only one of each card within the deck. Many players enjoy pimping their EDH deck to include premium foils.

Although WoTC had not elaborated within their post, we are assuming that this special all-foil booster pack will contain 15 cards in total withe the usual distribution of rarity : 1 Rare / Mythic, 3 Uncommons, 10 Commons, and 1 Basic Land. Previously, one would be lucky to find that foil card inserted randomly at the back but since the cards in this special booster are all foils, some waggish players prognosticate that there will be a randomly inserted plain non-foil card. :)

As all of these cards may come from either Shards of Alara, Conflux and Alara Reborn, there is a good chance to see that Bloodbraid Elf, Path to Exile, or Elspeth, Knight-Errant foil you had been wanting but never were lucky enough to open.

Speaking of luck, let's change to chances of opening up a foil in a normal pack to better understand why the foil cards were so highly sought after because of their rarity.

> This quote from Ben Bleiweiss . . .
The chances of opening a FOIL Path to Exile is 1 in 720 packs (two Uncommons per box, 40 Uncommons in the set). You would need to statistically open TWENTY booster boxes to get a single foil Path to Exile. To get a PLAYSET of Foil Path to Exile, you'd need to open Two-Thousand, Eight-Hundred and Eighty booster packs, or EIGHTY booster boxes!

My Conflux Booster Box

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So I opened up a Conflux Booster Box the other day and decided to record said dissection for your enjoyment. I do this as I have noticed that anyone at the local gammery club with a booster pack in their hand invariably seems to gather attention to see 'what they got'. Furthermore I must admit that this sort of thing gets my attention as well. I suppose there is a complex mix of emotions at play with a handful of cardboard crack - something akin to those scratch 'n' win lottery tickets.

I would like to thank sponsor DogStar Games who without their generousity, this post would not be possible. Please check them out at www.DogStarGames.com for Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Miniatures, and tons of other strategy and role-playing games.

Also - At the time of this post, I have 580 cards for trade over at CCG Tradepost, so if you see something I cracked opened, make tracks over there and sign up before I traded it all away.

Anywho - following is a 5 minute video of 36 Conflux packs being cracked opened . . . enjoy !




Here is what we got . . .

6 Foils
Paragon of the Amesha
Aerie Mystics
Traumatic Visions
Scattershot Archer
Shambling Remains
Infectious Horror
Quenchable Fire

38 Rares
Nicol Bolas
Martial Coup (Foil!)
Banefire
Noble Hierarch
Thornling
Bloodhall Ooze
Master Transmuter
2 x Cliffrunner Behemoth (1 Foil!)
Malfegor
Knight of the Reliquary
Maelstrom Archangel
Progentius
Obelisk of Alara
Raka Mar
Charnelhoard Wurm
Magister Sphinx
Giltspire Avenger
Exotic Orchard
Inkwell Laviathan
Worldheart Phoenix
Telemin Performance
Blood Tyrant
Sigil of the Empty Throne
Kederket Parasite
Voracious Dragon
Font of Mythos
Scepter of Fugue
2 x Scepter of Dominance
Scepter of Insight
Soul's Majesty
Mark of Asylum
2 x Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer
Paleoloth
Cylian Sunsinger
Extractor Demon

Conflux Marketing

Just a brief post with some marketing propaganda from WoTC regarding the release of Conflux, the second set in the Shards of Alara block.

If you were hoping for the full Agents of Artifice novel, sorry - you are getting just a sample chapter. Still, get thee to a gaming store in February, as there are 'even more powerful gold cards' . It just took one name to sell me on this set . . . 'Nicol Bolas'.


As the shards collide, an ancient evil is revealed! A sinister force is conspiring to reunite Alara, as planes of reality begin to overlap, creating chaos on all five Shards of Alara!


The second set in the Shards of Alara block for Magic: The Gathering, Conflux expands on the mechanics introduced in Shards of Alara, and injects even more powerful gold cards into the block.

This 145-card, black-bordered expansion is introduced in Intro Packs containing one ready-to-play, 41-card deck, one booster pack, a learn-to-play insert, and a strategy insert, offered in 5-count displays, and supplemental 15-card boosters packed in 36-count displays.


Also available are Fat Packs containing eight boosters, a card box, a player's guide, a learn-to-play insert, and a sample chapter from the Planeswalker novel Agents of Artifice.

SET SIZE AND PRODUCT OFFERINGS

o 145 black-bordered cards (10 Mythic Rare, 35 rare, 40 uncommon, 60 common).

o Conflux will be sold in Booster Packs, Intro Packs, & Fat Packs (Fat Packs contain 8 booster packs).

o Intro packs are a new SKU introduced with Shards of Alara. Each Intro Pack contains a ready-to-play 41 card deck, 1 Booster pack, a strategy insert, and a Magic the Gathering rules insert for new players. Each deck comes with two rare cards, one of which is a premium foil rare card that is visible through the front of the box. There are 5 different Intro Packs in Conflux, packed 5 per box.

Release Date : February 6, 2009.
Prerelease Events : January 31-February 1, 2009.
Launch Parties : February 6,7,8 2009.
Previews start on magicthegathering.com : January 19, 2009

Conflux Spoiler 4

We have yet another installment of your favourite subject - the early spoilers of Conflux, of the second set in Shards of Alara. This brought to you by the very kind Coffee4am (thnx!) from the boards.

Conflux Fat Pack

From this, we can assume 8 booster packs per fatpack, a Conflux player's guide / card expansion encyclopedia, the MTG novel "Agents of Artifice", a life-counter (D20), and a land booster pack . . . very kewl - Thanks Wizards of the Coast.

Conflux Intro Pack

We also have our very first spoiled Intro Pack. This one comes from the black-RED-Green shard of Jund and is called 'Jund Appetite for War' . . . probably not the best intro-deck name I have heard. I suggest WoTC contact me for assistance on all future nomenclature. The foil rare here appears to be Charnelhoard Wurm, who by the way looks hungry.

Conflux Booster Pack

Here we have an image of a Conflux Booster Pack containing 15-cards of hope, wonder and awe. The image on this foily goodness appears to be Maelstrom Archangel who I will guess is green-WHITE-blue.

And finally, since the sealed tournament decks have been rolled into a shallow grave, WoTC now appears to provide land boosters in their Fat-Packs, which in my humble opinion is a very good idea.

These particular lands are the much awaited EuroLands and most likely will not be making it's way into a FatPack up here in Canada where I live . . . this does not detract from my urge to collect all of 'em.

Stay tuned for more spoiler goodness.