It is more-or-less accepted within our community that cracking individual packs is a terrible way to get value. While high-value sets can potentially pay off when you open enough packs to approach a bell curve, buying one pack from your LGS will always carry a significant risk of losing value. Even if a product was designed to make losing value unlikely or impossible, collectors and game shops would buy out that product to get singles.
All of these arguments come out each and every time that a new masters set has been produced. Players complain about chaff and dollar-bin rares in their $10+ pack while more enfranchised players remind them that this “lottery” effect is what allows wizards to reprint cards in serious need of reprints. In the aftermath of the last Masters Set that we should see for a long while, I asked myself if things could work in any other possible manner… a pack that is fun to crack, as it were.
From that question, Humble Masters was born.
What Is Humble Masters?
Humble Masters is a 260-card custom masters set, functioning as other masters sets with 3 exceptions:
1. The packs are designed to be sold at an MSRP of 6.99 (as the original modern masters)
2. The packs are designed to spread out value far more evenly (in place of having a few $50+ cards).
3. There are zero mythics or rares (apart from downshifted cards)
Drafters will be able to play semi-competitive burn, death and taxes, infect, control (including counter-top), and several flavors of storm (including KCI) among other archetypes.
Economic Considerations
Ignoring the few most expensive cards at the moment (oubliette, three visits, wasteland, and rhystic study), the general values are still pretty high. The average price of a common hovers over $1 (~$0.60 median) while the price of an uncommon hovers over $3 (~$2 median). As such, the value of an average pack should equal its MSRP x3 ($23-25) before price drops, allowing for packs to still provide appropriate value even if a lot of value is dropped. Between the higher value of packs and increased accessibility of a lower MSRP, it should be possible to make up (at least in part) for the boxes/cases normally bought and scrapped by sellers for chase singles.
In most cases, such a high “profit” margin would result in a set being bought out and being scrapped for singles. For Humble Masters, however, this is somewhat less of a concern. Consider that every single value card in this set is being printed in greater quantity than those in sets where the value is bound in rares or mythics. Even if the set is scrapped for singles, the uptick in supply for these cards will still cause prices to go down (giving most consumers a tangible benefit).
The next economic problem that emerges in this sort of hypothetical situation is the concern that players/sellers will be unsatisfied if their collections/stock looses too much value. Again, the fact that we are focusing almost exclusively on value Commons/Uncommons helps us here. While some collectors and traders will lose values on their Ironworks, Tops, and Vials, we limit the damage to investors by keeping all $50+ cards (excluding Oubliette and Three Visits) out of the picture.
Why “Humble Masters”?
If you are wondering about the name of the set, it was the best name that I could come up with.
While the obvious title would be “Peasant Masters”, that doesn’t work for a couple reasons. First, the set includes a number of cards that are banned in the peasant format (Cranial Plating, Grapeshot, Frantic Search, Berserk, etc.). Further, a few commons (such as lightning bolt) were printed at uncommon to fit them in… which wouldn’t fly at more stringent peasant tables. While this set is aimed to help the peasant/pauper crown, calling it “Peasant Masters” would be a teensy bit disingenuous.
I also considered the obvious “Modest Masters”, though that name sounds a bit too tongue-in-cheek for a serious product to my ears.
So... yeah. This is a set that I think would be fun to draft or open. I don't feel that it is too likely to ever see the light of day (for reasons that you folks are welcome to explain) but this is my personal dream set and I wanted to share it.
I agree that this subforum is a bit unconventional for this proposed set. With that said, this forum doesn't really have any place to discuss hypothetical reprint products (where would it go? Magic general? Creative?) and this is still a custom set, albeit one without custom cards. I checked with a moderator prior to posting this anywhere and was told that this is the right place for masters sets.
With that said, I do have three main questions that come to mind when making this set... or at least areas of questioning:
1) This set as a collection of cards
As with a cube, I am curious if I have made any glaring mistakes and/or omissions when assembling this set or if it seems to have a relatively full set of cards within theme (competitive/valuable commons and uncommons)? Are there any obvious downshifts that others would advocate to make the set work and are there any that stand out as positively awful ideas?
2) This set as experimental set design
This set was designed as a hypothetical draft set with no rares, creating some interesting difficulties. Without rares/mythics, the number of commons is buffed up and the number of uncommons has more than doubled compared with a normal set. As such, players drafting this set cannot reliably "force" a draft strategy as might in a standard legal set as the chance of getting key uncommons in their archetype is notably lower. While there is a decent level of redundancy, I want to check if this sort of draft format is still seen as tenable (do people enjoy drafting 840 card cubes with only 4 players, to give an analogous scenario)?
3) This set as a product
Unlike a custom card set, we actually have data to suggest the value of packs. One of my goals with this set was to create a set that actually gets decent value per pack without overly punishing LGSs. Did I get somewhere in the neighborhood of this goal or is this merely a pipe dream?
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It is more-or-less accepted within our community that cracking individual packs is a terrible way to get value. While high-value sets can potentially pay off when you open enough packs to approach a bell curve, buying one pack from your LGS will always carry a significant risk of losing value. Even if a product was designed to make losing value unlikely or impossible, collectors and game shops would buy out that product to get singles.
All of these arguments come out each and every time that a new masters set has been produced. Players complain about chaff and dollar-bin rares in their $10+ pack while more enfranchised players remind them that this “lottery” effect is what allows wizards to reprint cards in serious need of reprints. In the aftermath of the last Masters Set that we should see for a long while, I asked myself if things could work in any other possible manner… a pack that is fun to crack, as it were.
From that question, Humble Masters was born.
What Is Humble Masters?
Humble Masters is a 260-card custom masters set, functioning as other masters sets with 3 exceptions:
1. The packs are designed to be sold at an MSRP of 6.99 (as the original modern masters)
2. The packs are designed to spread out value far more evenly (in place of having a few $50+ cards).
3. There are zero mythics or rares (apart from downshifted cards)
What? No Rares?
That is correct. This set contains exactly 124 commons and 136 uncommons and nothing else. In place of a rare slot, there is a fourth uncommon slot in each pack. While there are a substantial number of downshifted cards (Ant Queen at common, Monastery Mentor at uncommon, etc.), no card worth over $9 was downshifted unless it has been uncommon at some point in the past (meaning no low-complexity staples like Death’s Shadow or Tarmogoyf ).
Instead, you might have to settle for cards like Wasteland , Aether Vial , Reanimate , Sensei’s Divining Top , Counterbalance , Aura Shards , Rhystic Study , Berserk , Goblin Lore , Maze of Ith , Worldly Tutor , Oubliette , Three Visits , Krark-Clan Ironworks , and Manamorphose.
Drafters will be able to play semi-competitive burn, death and taxes, infect, control (including counter-top), and several flavors of storm (including KCI) among other archetypes.
Economic Considerations
Ignoring the few most expensive cards at the moment (oubliette, three visits, wasteland, and rhystic study), the general values are still pretty high. The average price of a common hovers over $1 (~$0.60 median) while the price of an uncommon hovers over $3 (~$2 median). As such, the value of an average pack should equal its MSRP x3 ($23-25) before price drops, allowing for packs to still provide appropriate value even if a lot of value is dropped. Between the higher value of packs and increased accessibility of a lower MSRP, it should be possible to make up (at least in part) for the boxes/cases normally bought and scrapped by sellers for chase singles.
In most cases, such a high “profit” margin would result in a set being bought out and being scrapped for singles. For Humble Masters, however, this is somewhat less of a concern. Consider that every single value card in this set is being printed in greater quantity than those in sets where the value is bound in rares or mythics. Even if the set is scrapped for singles, the uptick in supply for these cards will still cause prices to go down (giving most consumers a tangible benefit).
The next economic problem that emerges in this sort of hypothetical situation is the concern that players/sellers will be unsatisfied if their collections/stock looses too much value. Again, the fact that we are focusing almost exclusively on value Commons/Uncommons helps us here. While some collectors and traders will lose values on their Ironworks, Tops, and Vials, we limit the damage to investors by keeping all $50+ cards (excluding Oubliette and Three Visits) out of the picture.
Why “Humble Masters”?
If you are wondering about the name of the set, it was the best name that I could come up with.
While the obvious title would be “Peasant Masters”, that doesn’t work for a couple reasons. First, the set includes a number of cards that are banned in the peasant format (Cranial Plating, Grapeshot, Frantic Search, Berserk, etc.). Further, a few commons (such as lightning bolt) were printed at uncommon to fit them in… which wouldn’t fly at more stringent peasant tables. While this set is aimed to help the peasant/pauper crown, calling it “Peasant Masters” would be a teensy bit disingenuous.
I also considered the obvious “Modest Masters”, though that name sounds a bit too tongue-in-cheek for a serious product to my ears.
1 Serra Angel
2 Porcelain Legionnaire
3 Soul Warden
4 Soul’s Attendant
5 Martyr of Sands
6 Soldier of the Pantheon
7 Thraben Inspector
8 Toolcraft Exemplar
9 Mana Tithe
10 Journey to Nowhere
11 Soltari Champion
12 Imposing Sovereign
13 Spirit of the Labyrinth
14 True Believer
15 Standard Bearer
16 Feudkiller’s Verdict
17 Cho-Manno’s Blessing
18 Ajani’s Pridemate
19 Seeker of the Way
20 Silence
WHITE UNCOMMONS
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Monastery Mentor
3 Mentor of the Meek
4 Stony Silence
5 Flickering Ward
6 Gift of Estates
7 Lingering Souls
8 Mother of Runes
9 Mobilization
10 Gerrard’s Battlecry
11 Path to Exile
12 Apostle’s Blessing
13 Ghostly Prison
14 Secure the Wastes
15 Vizier of Remedies
16 Aura of Silence
17 Cradle of Vitality
18 Aven Mindcensor
19 Enlightened Tutor
BLUE COMMONS
1 Prognostic Sphinx
2 Gitaxian Probe
3 Blighted Agent
4 Counterspell
5 Remand
6 Capsize
7 Snap
8 Gush
9 Rhystic Study
10 Preordain
11 Serum Visions
12 Frantic Search
13 High Tide
14 Mulldrifter
15 Etherium Sculptor
16 Azure Mage
17 Archaeomancer
18 Peregrine Drake
19 Cloud of Faeries
20 Mystic Remora
BLUE UNCOMMONS
1 Mental Misstep
2 Counterbalance
3 Propaganda
4 Soothsaying
5 Forbid
6 Brain Freeze
7 Turnabout
8 Tinker
9 Deepchannel Mentor
10 Arcane Laboratory
11 Clone
12 Lunar Mystic
13 Dungeon Geists
14 Invisible Stalker
15 Nevermaker
16 Viral Drake
17 Corrupted Conscience
18 Soulblade Djinn
19 Mystical Tutor
BLACK COMMONS
1 Vault Skirge
2 Sengir Vampire
3 Soul Snuffers
4 Skinrender
5 Ichor Rats
6 Reaper of Sheoldred
7 Dark Ritual
8 Cabal Ritual
9 Night’s Whisper
10 Street Wraith
11 Snuff Out
12 Tainted Strike
13 Gurmag Angler
14 Golgari Thug
15 Dread Wanderer
16 Priest of Gix
17 Tortured Existence
18 Unearth
19 Viscera Seer
20 Bubbling Muck
1 Dismember
2 Crumbling Ashes
3 Nether Traitor
4 Ichorid
5 Necroskitter
6 Inquisition of Kozilek
7 Oubliette
8 Vampire Nighthawk
9 Tendrils of Agony
10 Crypt Rats
11 Fatal Push
12 Necromancy
13 Hymn to Tourach
14 Hypnotic Specter
15 Corrosive Mentor
16 Blood Artist
17 Exsanguinate
18 Phyrexian Vatmother
19 Reanimate
RED COMMONS:
1 Act of Aggression
2 Shivan Dragon
3 Burning Inquiry
4 Faithless Looting
5 Flameblade Adept
6 Priest of Urabrask
7 Goblin Bushwhacker
8 Crash Through
9 Expedite
10 Hordeling Outburst
11 Young Pyromancer
12 Rift Bolt
13 Lava Spike
14 Mogg War Marshal
15 Beetleback Chief
16 Rite of Flame
17 Desperate Ritual
18 Empty the Warrens
19 Punishing Fire
20 Crown of Flames
RED UNCOMMONS
1 Gut Shot
2 Goblin Lore
3 Hateflayer
4 Stigma Lasher
5 Simian Spirit Guide
6 Pyrohemia
7 Grapeshot
8 Seething Song
9 Zada, Hedron Grinder
10 Monastery Swiftspear
11 Price of Progress
12 Treasonous Ogre
13 Shattering Spree
14 Goblin Bombardment
15 Lightning Bolt
16 Chain Lightning
17 Skullcrack
18 Fireblast
19 Chandra’s Phoenix
GREEN COMMONS
1 Mutagenic Growth
2 Ant Queen
3 Utopia Sprawl
4 Tinder Wall
5 Wild Nacatl
6 Three Visits
7 Silhana Ledgewalker
8 Glistener Elf
9 Ancient Stirrings
10 Invigorate
11 Utopia Mycon
12 Rancor
13 Quirion Ranger
14 Crop Rotation
15 Essence Warden
16 Spore Flower
17 Hooting Mandrills
18 Spore Frog
19 Sprout Swarm
20 Leatherback Baloth
GREEN UNCOMMONS
1 Berserk
2 Elvish Spirit Guide
3 Thrashing Brontodon
4 Archetype of Endurance
5 Elephant Grass
6 Krosan Grip
7 Triumph of the Hordes
8 Constant Mists
9 Noxious Revival
10 Carpet of Flowers
11 Beast Within
12 Devoted Druid
13 Thragtusk
14 Eternal Witness
15 Psychotrope Thallid
16 Mistcutter Hydra
17 Might of Old Krosa
18 Become Immense
19 Worldly Tutor
1 Judge’s Familiar
2 Unmake
3 Boros Charm
4 Dryad Militant
5 Dimir Infiltrator
6 Goblin Electromancer
7 Slippery Bogle
8 Terminate
9 Grisly Salvage
10 Burning-Tree Emissary
MULTICOLOR UNCOMMONS
1 Reflector Mage
2 Thopter Foundry
3 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Gerrard’s Verdict
5 Wear//Tear
6 Lightning Helix
7 Kitchen Finks
8 Aura Shards
9 Baleful Strix
10 Lim-Dul’s Vault
11 Crackling Drake
12 Mindswipe
13 Shardless Agent
14 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
15 Blightning
16 Kulrath Knight
17 Vulturous Zombie
18 Worm Harvest
19 Bloodbraid Elf
20 Manamorphose
ARTIFACT COMMONS
1 Grinding Station
2 Blasting Station
3 Mishra’s Bauble
4 Signal Pest
5 Myr Retriever
6 Lotus Petal
7 Chromatic Sphere
8 Chromatic Star
9 Relic of Progenitus
10 Cranial Plating
11 Lightning Greaves
12 Thought Vessel
ARTIFACT UNCOMMONS
1 Krark-Clan Ironworks
2 Isochron Scepter
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Aether Vial
5 Skullclamp
6 Lodestone Golem
7 Scrap Trawler
8 Sol Ring
9 Sword of the Meek
10 Ashnod’s Altar
11 Summoning Station
12 Salvaging Station
LAND COMMONS
1 Ash Barrens
2 Ancient Ziggurat
LAND UNCOMMONS
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Cabal Coffers
3 Mistveil Plains
4 Tolaria West
5 Barbarian Ring
6 Terrain Generator
7 Blinkmoth Nexus
8 Wasteland
9 Maze of Ith
So... yeah. This is a set that I think would be fun to draft or open. I don't feel that it is too likely to ever see the light of day (for reasons that you folks are welcome to explain) but this is my personal dream set and I wanted to share it.
With that said, I do have three main questions that come to mind when making this set... or at least areas of questioning:
1) This set as a collection of cards
As with a cube, I am curious if I have made any glaring mistakes and/or omissions when assembling this set or if it seems to have a relatively full set of cards within theme (competitive/valuable commons and uncommons)? Are there any obvious downshifts that others would advocate to make the set work and are there any that stand out as positively awful ideas?
2) This set as experimental set design
This set was designed as a hypothetical draft set with no rares, creating some interesting difficulties. Without rares/mythics, the number of commons is buffed up and the number of uncommons has more than doubled compared with a normal set. As such, players drafting this set cannot reliably "force" a draft strategy as might in a standard legal set as the chance of getting key uncommons in their archetype is notably lower. While there is a decent level of redundancy, I want to check if this sort of draft format is still seen as tenable (do people enjoy drafting 840 card cubes with only 4 players, to give an analogous scenario)?
3) This set as a product
Unlike a custom card set, we actually have data to suggest the value of packs. One of my goals with this set was to create a set that actually gets decent value per pack without overly punishing LGSs. Did I get somewhere in the neighborhood of this goal or is this merely a pipe dream?