Why players may struggle with $200 settlement

Magic: The Gathering is going to drop all of its Avatar products on the market for everyone to grab after a pre-release week from November 14th to November 21st. There will be several items to look forward to depending on the player's preferred formats and collections. Even though Commander decks for Avatar weren't created by Wizards of the Coast, Commander players will still have their cake and eat it too thanks to several products that support the format. The main set is the most obvious, but Avatar will also have Eternal-legal MTG set aside with Jumpstart boosters and the Commander's Bundle is the cherry on top.

Commander decks are usually great because they allow new players to get into the format easily, and veterans can still get a fully functional deck for cheap, sometimes including powerful and valuable reprints. Without devotees MTG Commander decks, Commander's Bundle for Avatar looks like the next best thing. The problem is that with all the crossovers and specials, the game is plagued by scalpers who buy these items in bulk and then sell them for more than their original MSRP. Right now the Commander's Bundle is averaging $185-200 on TCGPlayer and is sold out on the official reseller site. However, breaking is mostly impossible.

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Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Commander's Bundle Value Breakdown

There are many examples of great value or lack thereof Magic: The Gatheringrelease history. The recent debacle around MTG The Encyclopedia Secret Lair drop is on the very value end of the spectrum, packing well over $200 in value cards. Instead, while the Commander's Bundle for Avatar isn't bad, it can be incredibly hard to get enough value out of it to justify its current price. This is because of its contents, which are:

• 15 foil base surfaces (with 5 full Appa art surfaces)

• 15 non-foil surfaces (with 5 full Appa art surfaces)

• 9 Play boosters from the Avatar set

• 1 Collector Booster from the Avatar set

• 1 click wheel life counter

• 1 storage box

• 5 promotional cards (3 predetermined and 2 random)

The MSRP for each product in the Avatar Commander's Bundle is as follows:

• $6.99 for each Play Booster ($62.93 total)

• $37.99 for Collector Booster

Various MTG the lots included in the volume aren't exactly valuable, and the folio full art is likely to settle for less than $2 each, while the non-foils are already under $1. Likewise, the life counter and storage box are nice additions, but they don't really have much value. What's left are the promo cards which are:

• Guaranteed cards:

  • Arcane Signet (around $0.40)

  • Sol Ring (around $1.20)

  • Swiftfoot Boots (around $1.20)

• Randomized cards (2 cards out of 10 in the deck):

  • Enlightened Tutor (white, around $30)

  • Flawless Maneuver (White, around $15)

  • Mystical Tutor (blue, around $13)

  • Fierce Guardianship (blue, around $42)

  • Entomb (black, around $14)

  • Deadly Rollick (black, around $17)

  • Gamble (red, around $11)

  • Deflecting Swat (red, around $61)

  • Worldly Tutor (green, around $19)

  • Obscuring Haze (green, around $6)

Why can't you break even with Avatar's command pack

It follows that the average value from randomly distributed cards is $22.80 for one card and $45.60 for two cards. With an original MSRP of $110, this would be a fantastic deal, but from the looks of it, you're much more likely to get less value out of the bundle. Since the random cards can have a combined value of up to $17 or up to $103, it boils down to what one gets. However, this also applies to Play Boosters and Collector Boosters, which are more likely to not match (or exceed) than contain valuable cards.

Even when leaving the value MTG Play Boosters and Collector Boosters as they are, the split looks a little grim. It's like this:

• $62.93 for Play Boosters

• $37.99 for Collector Booster

• $10 for foil and accessories

• $2.80 for guaranteed promos (although special releases can bring $10-$15 in total value)

• $22.80 on average for a random promo (although special versions can be more expensive)

• Total value: $159.32

Is the avatar commander pack worth it?

Given the current price of the Commander's Bundle, most players will find it hard to justify spending $185-200 when the average value is much lower, and in the best case scenario, meaning Fierce Guardianship and Deflecting Swat are randomly selected cards, it's still around $216 total, which is barely more than cost. This can also happen in Secret Lairs like the new one MTG Monster Hunter Secret Lair Superdrop where the value is lower overall.

That doesn't necessarily mean there isn't value in the new Commander's Bundle, as some fans may simply enjoy opening it up to collect the unique cards it offers. However, for those looking for an incredible deal, this was one for only its MSRP, rather than its current price. The hype around MTG However, Avatar cards like Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, Avatar Aang, and Firebending Student are very real and could be part of a Commander deck with any luck. And with just as much luck, you can get the basics of a powerful commander deck with cards like Enlightened Tutor, Fierce Guardianship, and Deflecting Swat.

Original release date

August 5, 1993

Designer

Richard Garfield

Number of players

2+

Age recommendation

13+