Commander Anthology

So yesterday this set has come out, but nothing is new in this release.  This was a release so that all the new players can have a chance to pick up the older Commander sets.  Only thing is, with this release you only get 1 of the decks from each of the previous 4 years, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015.  That means Wizards of the coast are going to have 5 years of Commander Anthology releases.  Each year, they will be able to release 4 decks from each of the first 4 years for the next 5 years because there were 5 decks each year.

These decks MSRP at $164.99 and I am pretty sure they will sell at MSRP or higher.  The demand for this product is high, and I can only see the value of these cards go up in value.  I already have these decks sorted in the collection, along with some sealed product.  For this printing I picked up a couple sets, one to open and one to keep.  I know, you might be wondering why would I open a set?  I just like the cards in the sets, and I would like some more to play with.

It has come in the same packaging as the other Anthology sets, and I for one hope they keep up with with this trend.  They are very sturdy boxes, and well packed.  Each deck comes in another good storage box with the name of the deck on the top.

You also get some life spin downs.

But I do have to say that the main thing I really enjoy is that this set comes with tokens, but the tokens all have the Magic the Gathering card backs instead of the marketing images the tokens in sealed packs come with.

I also hope they release all these Anthology sets within the same set.

Picked my two sets up at Lodestone Games and of course while I was there I had to see what was new there.  I was able to finally grab that Masterpiece Invocation of Force of Will.

Honestly I was just really happy to pick this one up and it is the only one I really wanted from the Invocation set.  Now I could care less which ones I pick up as I think the prices of this set is going to keep going down.

Also picked up the Invention of Ensnaring Bridge which leaves only 5 more to get from the Inventions set, and the highest priced on let to pick up is the Wurmcoil Engine.

Then for some stupid reason I decided to pick up another Invention Torrential Gearhulk.  I have no idea why, but I still stand by my spec on a free Instant from the graveyard.

So with those pickups and the Commander Anthology it was a good day.  I am not sure about the Archenemy Nicol Bolas though.  There was no offer to pick up Commander Anthology from Rudy on Alpha Investments, but he was discounting Archenemy like a crazy fucker.  Based on the set, it is all reprints with no real good cards.  There are some Planeswalkers, but those cards are not really played anywhere, and it is all based on the Gatewatch against Nicol Bolas.  Personally, just seems like a copycat of the Marvel Universe, and I find copycats just boring.  This whole super team to fight off evil masterminds is just getting old.  I know, everything has it cycles, but WoTC is late to the super group game.  They need to build off the lore that already exists instead of just mashing stuff together.  Everyone loves history, even if they don't think they do.

I will most likely just pick up a single set to keep sealed, and not open any for the decks. I would like to pick up some of those Archenemy cards, but I am not willing to buy and crack desks for them.  I will most likely try and pick up those cards in the aftermarket.  Right now Commander is the only decks worth cracking for singles.

One thing to point out is that Lodestone is looking more and more like my new LGS.  They seem to be able to keep the better cards in stock, and I am constantly able to find cards I need at good prices.  I really like that they price the cards out, and have some sort of idea of what the value of the cards are to them.  They are not just following the TCGPlayer Mid.  It just seems like they are trying harder with their inventory without sending anything to an online market, which makes people to go into the store to shop.

I know before I was pretty happy with the TCGPlayer Mid prices, but after going through that, there was no real price setting.  I also had some doubts about how some stores would buy based on eBay, but then sell at TCGPlayer Mid.  I have just found that without setting the price of the cards, and what they are valued, they are just taking it on the easy street and do not really put any skin in the game for the worth of the cards to them.

They also have a really good player base, so you are getting a lot more to shop from.

Anywho, lots of changes going on in my Magic world, and hope to have more updates as we move along.  Just need to see if this is where I am going to hang my support.