Looking for some $20 tech that will wreck your opponent's deck? It's a nasty way to win, but all the more fun, check out Mono Black Pauper Ponza Land Destruction here: ruclips.net/video/Y0QLJycm_-A/видео.html
I don't know why in America the Anthology is so expensive. In Poland for example you can get it for 440zł (~120$) and I've also heard that in Germany you can get it for ~100€ (~117$).
@@admiralcasperr Because precon decks are highly underrated in these areas. The local shops often buy them for display. I have just ordered mine for 135$ in Ukraine - thankfull to this awesome review, supporting my local magic community, just as said ;)
Just the fact you can get a majority of the staples for Ghave and a few other really good competitive commanders. The fact that it's pure value for roughly $175 after tax makes it worthwhile. Honestly, if WotC took their philosophy on edh and Dominaria going forward, they could regain a lot of the momentum they lost within the last year and a half
My local store even sells the decks individually so if you just want breed lethality its 50€, devour for power is 35€ and the other two are 25€ each, whole box is 110€
WARNING : as seen at 6:26 , the tokens ARE NOT in the corresponding decks ! I think this is quite important and I am quite surprised it was not mentioned in the video.
It's probably intentional so speculators cannot grab up the boxes and resell them unopened, but it does suck a bit for someone who has say 1 of the 4 already but really want the other 3.
I already bought it before this video but thank you for doing this professor. Now a video with upgrading all of the decks with current cards would be fantastical
As a player who wasn’t in the format when these precons came out I love this anthology and I’ll take about wade into battle because urzas Incubator is high price lol. And I was never gonna pay 200plus for breed lethality but my favorite deck in this box is the daretti scrap secant deck. I love the synergy
Drake the troll I bought it for the decks themselves I’m leaving 2 untouched. One I’m upgrading and the other one I already have so I’m just gonna part it out to other builds
Bought it just for Devour and Daretti. Getting a second Atraxa certainly doesn't hurt especially with the new gorgeous frame, and the second Kalemne deck makes for a great gift. All in all I feel it's well worth the price especially if you get a nice deal well under MSRP!
I've realized that all I need to do is buy the Commander set every year. It's by far WOTC's most valuable pre-con product. Spending approx $150 once a year is enough for me to enjoy the game.
Unless they bring out Brawl pre-cons and they have the same level of quality in terms of the deck list (which might be impossible while subjected to the standard rotation) I will only buy Commander decks and upgrade singles.
TheTrueLeafless why would it be impossible to do sth like this for brawl? they already set a precedent for decent standard precon products with the challenger decks.
Challenger decks are subject to rotating out rather quickly and aren't singleton decks. Constructing a viable singleton deck with only the standard legal cards is a totally different thing.
Loved the first anthology. And loving this one! Bought it for $175 only to see the price go to about $155 after release, and I'm not even mad about that. So much value in here and a ton of awesome cards in this set.
I remember buying first commander anthology, and it was so much worth it, not only financially but also in terms of fun we had with it. But now that I already own 2 of those decks , and only want Breed Lethality, it's such a pain to pay half the price of vol.2 just to get this one deck :(( I really hoped price would go much more down with this one
I’m going to buy it for Built from Scratch and Devour for Power. I Already own Breed Lethality so I will sell it and I’m going to strip Wade into Battle for Parts
A friend of mine picked this up and we sleeved up and played the decks straight from the box. It was a ton of fun playing all the decks and we've rotated through them several times. I know he's planning on slowly upgrading them. I personally have all four of the decks already but if I had the funds I would definitely have picked this up! A great product. Great video! Thank you for sharing.
ooze is a 2011 deck still good up to this date. Breed Lethality wont be underpowered in a near futur for sure neither. And at worst, I switch it to an infect deck and it becomes even more op
I didn't even know a new Anthology was on the way when my LGS posted a photo of this coming in stock. Went and got one right away and sleeved them all up in Eclipse. Have some friends just getting into Magic and this is the perfect product!
I'm just a amazed how this video respond to all my doubts, it covers everything about the product and what each different person might want of it. Great channel Proffesor
Bought this a few months ago as my introduction to Magic for me and my girlfriend, the day they came out The value of the cards were unreal. I didn't know Wormcoil Engine was that much! And it's become my favorite card too! Thanks for the info Prof! Sorry I'm late to the Magic club. Love your videos!
My copy came today, very very happy. So many great cards that I'm able to mix and match with my current EDH deck/cards. Thanks for the recommendation Prof. From Australia
As an LGS owner, I am still working at 11 P.M. at night doing MTG related things. From consults about EDH decks to just stocking old binders (or my specifically designed in house EDH binders, 1 per color) my day can run long. I watch videos like this because I want to be able to give honest answers to my players about what products are the best for their budget. I say all of that to give context to this: I literally cannot thank you enough for your ending on these videos. I was a player long before I was an LGS owner, and in the past year I have gained a wealth of knowledge about how hard it is to keep the MTG community healthy and whole (something, something, 5 standard bannings, something). That little bit at the end of your video means warms my heart at the end of a long day, so thank you very much for that.
I already owned a copy of wade into battle, which was my first commander deck. I had heard of the format, but didn't know anyone who played at that point. As the least desirable of the includes of this anthology was the only one I already owned, and I really wanted a copy of that breed lethality deck, there was no way I wasn't buying a copy of this anthology! Thanks for once again giving us a great review and a good look at what this product is and what it can be for a number of different players!
I really enjoyed your review of this product Professor. I mostly got it to make an Atraxa deck but it's usually nice when you get to see alternative legendary borders that you would have to get this product in order to get them. I was lucky enough to find Wade Into Battle that was still on the shelves at the local store to get for a few cards in it for when Commander 2017 came out. I moved some of the cards around from the other decks into the Atraxa deck like Wurmcoil Engine since Wurmcoil is always just a beast.
I purchased this Volume because my friend said he would play commander if he could play Atraxa. We chipped in, opened it, sleeved it, and had a 4 way pod. The decks do not feel at the same power level. We ended up banning Grave Pract and Butcher of Malakir from the Mimeoplasm deck. Cauldron of Souls from Atraxa. Once those are removed, game play is pretty awesome. It's definitely worth getting and playing just for gameplay. When we were sleeving it, we said wow...a lot. We bought set without looking at cards. Looking at a Wormcoil Enginge, Sun Titan, Inferno Titan is just awesome.
Love the videos, you have given plenty of memorable moments and much (very needed) advice on products for several years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your hard work and I will continue to support Tolarian Community College for as long as it is here. (I very much enjoyed the planeswalker interviews as well)
I finally experienced my first fnm recently, and I may say that you were absolutely correct of what you have said about how wonderful magic players are, as I child I would expect the adults there to cast me out, but they were helpful, even helping me make my first pauper deck (black zombie infect) was a blast. Thank you professor.
I bought it and split the cost with 3 friends, and we each got one of the decks. We had tons of fun playing our new commander decks. If anyone is thinking of buying it and doesn't quite have the spare money, I recommend doing this.
Extremely helpful video. I really appreciate that you go through the work to do these type of videos because I am always hesitant to buy products like this. Thank you!
I went to my LGS and sold my singles from the mimeoplasm pre made I already had, I sold a few other cards such as a foil doubling season and was able to pay for it. Very much enjoy it and I love the Atraxa deck
As someone who buys all 4-5 decks each year and keeps them together - the anthology is a perfect buy for those of us that may have missed a deck or that elusive first run. I've bought both of these anthologies so far, kept the decks I didn't have and pieced out the others that I did. It offers a perfect way to collect and play while also offering utility (not to mention the new frame and foils are always appreciated).
I preordered mine at my LGS before the decks had been announced for $125 and have not regretted it even a tiny bit. I didn't own any of the precons yet, and plan to play at least three of them a bit as they are before disassembling them for parts, particularly looking to bring them to my LGS's commander nights to let my local player base upgrade their generals to their shiny newness. My brother's already looking to bling out his Daretti deck.
We use our first commander anthology big box to store 16 commander decks, lovely to bring out when we have guests (normally with 1-2 of their own) and roll a d20 to decide who plays what deck. Get to experience decks you wouldn’t normally try and keeps it fresh!
I know everyone's diving into this for Breed Lethality for the most part, but I reeeeaaally hope a few folks pick up Built From Scratch and find the same love for it that I have. Its my favorite precon to this day, Commander or otherwise, and I still keep a stock copy around for players new to Commander to sit down with. Its an absolute joy to play, has a pretty low barrier to entry and a high skill cap. Couldn't possibly ask for more, and I'm super excited to see a foil Daretti and Feldon.
I for one absolutely love this type of product. I just keep the decks as they are and use them for when someone wants to play and doesn't have a deck. Mostly I use them to play with friends against the other decks. It feels more like a board game. Now with the 2 sets me and my other friends can just roll a d8 and get a deck assigned a deck. It's pretty fun since most of the decks are on pretty equal footing.
One thing I feel you touched apon is people online who resale the individual decks in these products. Which may have some down sides , but it allowed me to buy the mimeoplasm deck from this without paying the $80 or so dollars on the other decks
I'm probably one of the minority who bought the Anthology (I skipped last year, and even then I'm not likely to pick up Vol. 1) even though they had all 4 decks. The selection was a huge home run for me: Devour For Power: My favorite precon of all time, and one with special memories associated with it. Unlike what you said in the video, this deck was one of the main reasons (if not, the main reason) why I picked up the Anthology. Built From Scratch: I enjoyed this deck quite a bit, and being able to use multiple options without changing too much of the deck's contents made this a really good option. Wade Into Battle: For most, this isn't a popular choice, but for me, Kalemne was one of my most successful EDH decks I ever built. And thanks to the Anthology, I'm going to revive that deck, though I'm going to try and fix it in case I want to use Anya or Gisela at the helm. Breed Lethality: Do I really need to explain this one? Other than that I love +1/+1 counter synergies and I've been wanting to play this list for quite some time (Iirc, I took the original apart almost instantly when I got it. I could be wrong though). Well worth the $165-200 price tag, and I'll be looking forward to upgrading these so I consistently have 4 decks to tow around.
My husband and I got it, we only owned 1 of the 4 decks before getting it. Pretty much taking them all apart to upgrade our current commander decks as well as building new ones. :D
It was 100% worth it since I paid only $140 pre ordering on ebay. Atraxa nearly covers the cost with her decklist alone. You also have to consider the cards in here that are getting their first foil printings, such as Daretti and Mimeoplasm's backup commanders.
Every day, I am happier and happier I blew my chore money on the Atraxa commander deck when it first came out, even though I didn't know how to play commander at all. I just thought it looked cool.
Once again, the professor has saved us from losing sleep over very important magic the gathering questions and issues. Came as no surprise to be Very informative and helpful, as someone who has never played commander before and is looking for a way to invest comfortably into EDH This is obviously the answer I was looking for. Thanks professor!
I love this channel I would simply ask while reviewing a box please review all of it now I must do even more research to see the content of the other 2 decks
Wow, I didn't realize how much value my collection had accrued! I got 3/4 of these when they first came out (including Lethality), and now I'm super glad I did! ^_^
Hey Prof, great video as always! I was lucky enough to preorder commander anthology 2 for 110$. I mostly wanted the Breed Lethality deck but I honestly wanted all of them (though I'm gonna strip Wade Into Battle for parts...). I only recently became interested in the commander format so I never picked up any of these decks in the first place. The value here seemed too good to pass on. I like building decks so having a few different ones to tinker with is just what I'm looking for. Cheers from Denmark!
I split the cost with a friend of mine who only got into Commander (& MTG) in the last year or two. I had already purchased Atraxa and Deretti when they were new on shelves, so it was easy for me to take Kalemne and Mimeoplasm and allow my friend to have that sweet sweet Atraxa. While the MSRP is nothing to sneeze at, the bottom line is that some of those cards -needed- reprints, and getting four entirely unique decks for about 40 bucks each is a steal compared to the going rate on Ebay or savvy LGS.
I feel less anxious about jumping on this as soon as I saw a pre-order. I picked up the first set and loved it. I was able to get parts, I kept two together as loaner decks, and I game one to my GF because I had it already. I think I'll probably end up doing something similar with these. Plus I've been debating on splurging for Atraxa and now I don't really have to. Win win.
I had breed lethality when it released ... That being said I'm not likely going to buy it but if I had to replace it I definitely would consider this as an option... Atraxa is incredibly powerful... And deretti is too... I have bought each of these individually come to think of it... Great work, and I appreciate the reviews... Thanks
I think this year's anthology was made for me. I missed out on a derreti deck and I was pissed I never got breed lethality and I was actually thinking of building a mimeoplasm deck. For me this is a grade A. Picked mine up at my local game store for my countries msrp which is comparable to the USA msrp.
I'm buying it with 3 friends. It will cost me about 40$ for breed lethality. 40$ my brother for Devour of Power and we even found two guys for the two others XD. So yeah, its a lot of money, but if your friends are interested, it drops the cost up to a quarter and it makes a good (right out of the box) competition
6 лет назад
From the Shadows Emerges... You don't get it, do you? How can I save if I am not buying anything and all my money is going to pay living expenses and I barely have enough for food? You don't think logically do you?
I think a missed selling point would be to make the box in the shape of the Deck Builder Toolkit box, with the tab that locks the top shut, but using the high grade cardboard they use here. Put some nice art on the outside, and make it slightly over sized, so it fits the four deck boxes included OR any four fully sleeved Commander decks, with maybe some extra room for the life counters and/or extra cards. They could even make it big enough to hold a Cube. There are a few ways Wizards could make the boxes not just more appealing, but legitimately more useful, and thus, create just a little more of a market for the product.
I wasn't planning on getting this, though now knowing the value and what's in it I just might, im not a big commander player I have only bought Commander product once, and that was all 5 of the planeswalker decks for cheap when they came out. so being able to upgrade those to foils would be pretty sweet and getting access to those other 2 nice decks as well.
I got my set at 5% under MSRP for preordering at my LGS. Definitely worth. I got it for all 4, even though I have a copy of Breed Lethality, the new legendary frames are nice.
I wanted all the decks. I just started playing commander in 2017. I got all 4 C17 decks as well as Anthology V1. I want to collect all commander pre con decks at some point and this is the best way to do it.
The one missed opportunity for this product is the center, where the deck info is located between the life counters, could have been used for (and I believe is large enough for) reprints of the oversized commander cards.
Just started playing magic again sinds i stopped 16years ago. Didnt have any commander decks yet, payed €120 pre order price so im happy with the set😁👍
I started playing commander with the first commander anthology after many years of stop from magic, I will surely buy the second one and I will keep everything because it is a really great product!
Originally passed on the first Commander Anthology set because I was hoping it would be all 2011 Commander Decks and they would just do the years releases instead of this. Seeing how I MOSTLY wanted the 2011 Decks and was a bit miffed at WOTC, I passed.....I was also going to continue to pass but seeing this & reading other comments made me realize I either over pay for secondary market (which can be a gamble) or bite the bullet and get the Decks I really wanted & not hurt myself by missing out on these. Commander IS my favorite format, so it's not that big of hit for me to get these. Since I returned to MTG in 2015 with Commander specifically, while also getting some older Commander Decks: Daretti & Ob Nixilis, I'll roughly have 2-3 of the Dexks offered by the Anthology Sets (they'll def continue these) while also doubling up on some of the rarer/more sought Decks. I also realized more so with tehse type of products, that being a more veteran/seasoned MTG player, I missed out on far less than those who have recently started or returned to playing. So these are indeed a bigger boon/value for those who have little to none of the Commander products or want to share/play with friends, while still being a great value for those of us being around more.
I mainly bought the anthology for the atraxa atraxa and mimeoplasm decks. Although considering mirrordin is when i started playing magic as a kid the bosch iron golem and the wurmcoil engine from when we revisited that plane are nice nostalgic pickups for my burgeoning commander collection. The boxes are ridiculously oversized but quite pretty so i took out the wasteful plastic spacers and use the anthology v1 and v2 boxes to house large parts of my collection in deckboxes like a sort of board game i can crack open when people i can entice into playing or trying out commander come over which i think has some small added value.
I bought the Anthology 2 to get all the decks. I bought Kalia from the original Commander Decks with some friends and family members. It was HELL to get find all the different decks, except for Numot deck... No one wanted him lol. But I wanted to buy Devour for power and could never find it. Then over time life happened and I fell out of the game. Fast forward 5-6 years. Now I have Devour AND Atraxa plus the other 2 decks (which are also pretty fun) for the low pre-sale price of $150 (Would have paid $140 if I pre-bought 3 days sooner... DOH!) I think this is a stupendous value! P.S. I am now teaching my GF to play MTG and she loves her Devour for power deck!... Will I ever get to play it??? lol. It is ok because my GF WANTS to play MTG :)
You should also note that people are selling these individually at a very moderate price. Where I live these go for about 50$/deck, and I bought breed lethality for about 46$.
Love your videos. I was able to pick it up for 25% off msrp at LGS by using a points/coupon feature he has. Got it for $130 tax included roughly. I wanted Atraxa to finish off my Commander color pie deck collection, and I like the Giants too. I have Breya and Boros Depala vehicles so I likely won’t be using Build From Scratch.
Interestingly enough, I got my copy of Devour for Power for about 30eur from a greek dealer last year and also a copy of Daretti's for the same cost as a gift for a friend. Which essentialy remarks the difference between Eur and USA markets
I love "Devour for Power" deck, I really love Sultai colors and "Damia, Sage of Stone". I Also think that "Darreti, Scrap Savant" and "Atraxa Preator's Voice" commander deck are very good and has nice cards. Speaking about "Kelamne..." i don't like anything about that deck... but it has ood cards in it like "urza incubator" or "Blade of Selves".
I went and split the purchase of Com An Vol 2 with my friends (who are also my play group) as more for community decks for anyone we bring in that doesnt have a deck or just wants to try something different. maybe down the line we'll strip them or buy one out from one another. we tested them out at our LGS and bought sleeves for each (100 pk Eclipse fyi) and have a great couple of hours playing them.
I picked up Anthology II mostly for the two oldest decks, since I didn't play Magic yet in 2011 and... didn't want to prioritize buying mono-colored decks in 2014-2015. (Mistake!) That said, both of the other decks have a bunch of great cards I'll certainly want extra copies of, and I might just help a friend who's new to Magic assemble a deck of his own.
I was very tempted to pick this up at first, but really sitting down and thinking about it the only commander i would really build with is the mimeoplasm so really it would be better just to build my own deck than to buy an old un-upgraded pre-con and a bunch of other commander decks i probably won't use. This is a good value though. if they had switched Kalemne out for something more worthwhile i might have picked it up
I run an LGS i ordered 5 of these. Put them up for sale on Friday morning and still have all 5. I'm shocked they haven't sold. Thinking about cracking one for my singles display case.
James Leffingwell that's a good idea but I would consider opening just one set and selling each deck individualy. Many people only want one of the deck and don't want to shell out >150$ on a MTG product
Been wanting an Atraxa deck since I mained simic after getting into magic, and now playing commander. This seems perfect to also provide a complete deck t get the girlfriend into it, so will be picking one up before it's to late! (read, tomorrow)
You know, the box being so large isn't necessarily a bad thing. I bought the first commander anthology and the planechase anthology, and i use the boxes as storage for my fairly sizable collection of decks. If you pull out the plastic they can fit various sizes of deck boxes in them, including 80 card BCW's, 100 card ultra pro's, and some other stuff. Not useful for everyone, but something to consider.
@theprofessor my friend actually got a lot of value out of how big the box was as it oddly enough fits ultra pro deck boxes in perfectly. He uses it to carry his collection.
Looking for some $20 tech that will wreck your opponent's deck? It's a nasty way to win, but all the more fun, check out Mono Black Pauper Ponza Land Destruction here: ruclips.net/video/Y0QLJycm_-A/видео.html
Tolarian Community College the first part rhymed, shouldve gone all in
I don't know why in America the Anthology is so expensive. In Poland for example you can get it for 440zł (~120$) and I've also heard that in Germany you can get it for ~100€ (~117$).
@@admiralcasperr Because precon decks are highly underrated in these areas. The local shops often buy them for display. I have just ordered mine for 135$ in Ukraine - thankfull to this awesome review, supporting my local magic community, just as said ;)
Just the fact you can get a majority of the staples for Ghave and a few other really good competitive commanders. The fact that it's pure value for roughly $175 after tax makes it worthwhile.
Honestly, if WotC took their philosophy on edh and Dominaria going forward, they could regain a lot of the momentum they lost within the last year and a half
Kevin Evasiuk i feel as though battlebond is following the same path
My local store even sells the decks individually so if you just want breed lethality its 50€, devour for power is 35€ and the other two are 25€ each, whole box is 110€
Untap And Swing MTG Corpsejack Menace, Juniper Order Ranger, Scavenging Ooze, Forgotten Ancient.
Haha, after Commander 2018 spoilers I can say that the last bit of this comment hasn't aged well.
big oofs from wotc
WARNING : as seen at 6:26 , the tokens ARE NOT in the corresponding decks ! I think this is quite important and I am quite surprised it was not mentioned in the video.
It's probably intentional so speculators cannot grab up the boxes and resell them unopened, but it does suck a bit for someone who has say 1 of the 4 already but really want the other 3.
The time machine surcharge you pay helps keep the morlocks away.
Ha, a H.G. Wells reference. I got that.
Professor you are a great person and content creator, awesome video. A remote hug from Brazil 👊🏾 ✨
I already bought it before this video but thank you for doing this professor.
Now a video with upgrading all of the decks with current cards would be fantastical
Put Muldrotha in Devour for Power and call it a day ;p
As a player who wasn’t in the format when these precons came out I love this anthology and I’ll take about wade into battle because urzas Incubator is high price lol. And I was never gonna pay 200plus for breed lethality but my favorite deck in this box is the daretti scrap secant deck. I love the synergy
InfamousGengar Games don't buy these for single cards. It's always better just to buy singles.
Drake the troll I bought it for the decks themselves I’m leaving 2 untouched. One I’m upgrading and the other one I already have so I’m just gonna part it out to other builds
Bought it just for Devour and Daretti. Getting a second Atraxa certainly doesn't hurt especially with the new gorgeous frame, and the second Kalemne deck makes for a great gift. All in all I feel it's well worth the price especially if you get a nice deal well under MSRP!
I've realized that all I need to do is buy the Commander set every year. It's by far WOTC's most valuable pre-con product. Spending approx $150 once a year is enough for me to enjoy the game.
5allum Yeah, pretty much. Anything else can be picked up as singles.
Unless they bring out Brawl pre-cons and they have the same level of quality in terms of the deck list (which might be impossible while subjected to the standard rotation) I will only buy Commander decks and upgrade singles.
5allum You can usually order a set for $120ish I think. Just order around release and you should see the option
TheTrueLeafless why would it be impossible to do sth like this for brawl? they already set a precedent for decent standard precon products with the challenger decks.
Challenger decks are subject to rotating out rather quickly and aren't singleton decks. Constructing a viable singleton deck with only the standard legal cards is a totally different thing.
Loved the first anthology. And loving this one! Bought it for $175 only to see the price go to about $155 after release, and I'm not even mad about that. So much value in here and a ton of awesome cards in this set.
I remember buying first commander anthology, and it was so much worth it, not only financially but also in terms of fun we had with it. But now that I already own 2 of those decks , and only want Breed Lethality, it's such a pain to pay half the price of vol.2 just to get this one deck :(( I really hoped price would go much more down with this one
At my local store is 120 euros lol
I’m going to buy it for Built from Scratch and Devour for Power.
I Already own Breed Lethality so I will sell it and I’m going to strip Wade into Battle for Parts
On your point about only wanting certain decks: many ppl can split the cost and take certain decks they want, as I did.
A friend of mine picked this up and we sleeved up and played the decks straight from the box. It was a ton of fun playing all the decks and we've rotated through them several times. I know he's planning on slowly upgrading them. I personally have all four of the decks already but if I had the funds I would definitely have picked this up! A great product.
Great video! Thank you for sharing.
*Is it worth it?*
In short: yes.
In long: non't
You mean anti-yesn't
Spell “whomst’ve.”
ooze is a 2011 deck still good up to this date. Breed Lethality wont be underpowered in a near futur for sure neither. And at worst, I switch it to an infect deck and it becomes even more op
this is true!
you mean dis-non-anti-un-yesn't
I didn't even know a new Anthology was on the way when my LGS posted a photo of this coming in stock. Went and got one right away and sleeved them all up in Eclipse.
Have some friends just getting into Magic and this is the perfect product!
It was great to meet you at star city con. You are a class act sir.
I'm just a amazed how this video respond to all my doubts, it covers everything about the product and what each different person might want of it.
Great channel Proffesor
For those of you that do not have working time machines near your game store, Ugin's Nexus might do the trick.
Can I borrow one? 😂
I don't use RUclips often, but I frequently find myself using your videos to help inform my MTG purchases. Thanks a ton.
Bought this a few months ago as my introduction to Magic for me and my girlfriend, the day they came out The value of the cards were unreal.
I didn't know Wormcoil Engine was that much! And it's become my favorite card too!
Thanks for the info Prof! Sorry I'm late to the Magic club. Love your videos!
I just spent 3 hours going through almost all your videos man. So measured and informational. THANK you for making all of these. So valuable.
My copy came today, very very happy. So many great cards that I'm able to mix and match with my current EDH deck/cards.
Thanks for the recommendation Prof.
From Australia
As an LGS owner, I am still working at 11 P.M. at night doing MTG related things. From consults about EDH decks to just stocking old binders (or my specifically designed in house EDH binders, 1 per color) my day can run long. I watch videos like this because I want to be able to give honest answers to my players about what products are the best for their budget.
I say all of that to give context to this: I literally cannot thank you enough for your ending on these videos. I was a player long before I was an LGS owner, and in the past year I have gained a wealth of knowledge about how hard it is to keep the MTG community healthy and whole (something, something, 5 standard bannings, something). That little bit at the end of your video means warms my heart at the end of a long day, so thank you very much for that.
Very much enjoyed the video. Thanks for the review :)
I already owned a copy of wade into battle, which was my first commander deck. I had heard of the format, but didn't know anyone who played at that point. As the least desirable of the includes of this anthology was the only one I already owned, and I really wanted a copy of that breed lethality deck, there was no way I wasn't buying a copy of this anthology! Thanks for once again giving us a great review and a good look at what this product is and what it can be for a number of different players!
*sigh* now I have to go and sell another Kidney I suppose.
demonzero677 you still have both of yours?
Louise Drake why assume it's his?
Ach, but you can only sell one!
Scott Barnkow not if he gets the 2nd one from someone else
Who said anything about being on Kidney number 2? Magic is an expensive addiction after all.
I really enjoyed your review of this product Professor. I mostly got it to make an Atraxa deck but it's usually nice when you get to see alternative legendary borders that you would have to get this product in order to get them. I was lucky enough to find Wade Into Battle that was still on the shelves at the local store to get for a few cards in it for when Commander 2017 came out. I moved some of the cards around from the other decks into the Atraxa deck like Wurmcoil Engine since Wurmcoil is always just a beast.
Buying it this friday! Keeping Devour for Power and Breed Lethality and selling the other two! Great video Prof!
I purchased this Volume because my friend said he would play commander if he could play Atraxa. We chipped in, opened it, sleeved it, and had a 4 way pod.
The decks do not feel at the same power level. We ended up banning Grave Pract and Butcher of Malakir from the Mimeoplasm deck. Cauldron of Souls from Atraxa. Once those are removed, game play is pretty awesome. It's definitely worth getting and playing just for gameplay.
When we were sleeving it, we said wow...a lot. We bought set without looking at cards. Looking at a Wormcoil Enginge, Sun Titan, Inferno Titan is just awesome.
If Commander Anthology was so good, why isn't there a Commander Antholog- Oh
Daretti has a lot of the cards I need for my Sen Triplets deck that I'm building based on your video about them from way back when Prof.
Love the videos, you have given plenty of memorable moments and much (very needed) advice on products for several years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your hard work and I will continue to support Tolarian Community College for as long as it is here. (I very much enjoyed the planeswalker interviews as well)
I finally experienced my first fnm recently, and I may say that you were absolutely correct of what you have said about how wonderful magic players are, as I child I would expect the adults there to cast me out, but they were helpful, even helping me make my first pauper deck (black zombie infect) was a blast. Thank you professor.
I bought it and split the cost with 3 friends, and we each got one of the decks. We had tons of fun playing our new commander decks. If anyone is thinking of buying it and doesn't quite have the spare money, I recommend doing this.
Extremely helpful video. I really appreciate that you go through the work to do these type of videos because I am always hesitant to buy products like this. Thank you!
I bought one the first day. Felt worth it to me.
I went to my LGS and sold my singles from the mimeoplasm pre made I already had, I sold a few other cards such as a foil doubling season and was able to pay for it. Very much enjoy it and I love the Atraxa deck
As someone who buys all 4-5 decks each year and keeps them together - the anthology is a perfect buy for those of us that may have missed a deck or that elusive first run. I've bought both of these anthologies so far, kept the decks I didn't have and pieced out the others that I did. It offers a perfect way to collect and play while also offering utility (not to mention the new frame and foils are always appreciated).
I preordered mine at my LGS before the decks had been announced for $125 and have not regretted it even a tiny bit. I didn't own any of the precons yet, and plan to play at least three of them a bit as they are before disassembling them for parts, particularly looking to bring them to my LGS's commander nights to let my local player base upgrade their generals to their shiny newness. My brother's already looking to bling out his Daretti deck.
We use our first commander anthology big box to store 16 commander decks, lovely to bring out when we have guests (normally with 1-2 of their own) and roll a d20 to decide who plays what deck. Get to experience decks you wouldn’t normally try and keeps it fresh!
I know everyone's diving into this for Breed Lethality for the most part, but I reeeeaaally hope a few folks pick up Built From Scratch and find the same love for it that I have. Its my favorite precon to this day, Commander or otherwise, and I still keep a stock copy around for players new to Commander to sit down with. Its an absolute joy to play, has a pretty low barrier to entry and a high skill cap. Couldn't possibly ask for more, and I'm super excited to see a foil Daretti and Feldon.
A good suggestions is to split the cost with your friends and each choose a deck to keep
I for one absolutely love this type of product. I just keep the decks as they are and use them for when someone wants to play and doesn't have a deck. Mostly I use them to play with friends against the other decks. It feels more like a board game. Now with the 2 sets me and my other friends can just roll a d8 and get a deck assigned a deck. It's pretty fun since most of the decks are on pretty equal footing.
One thing I feel you touched apon is people online who resale the individual decks in these products. Which may have some down sides , but it allowed me to buy the mimeoplasm deck from this without paying the $80 or so dollars on the other decks
Thank you for the review. Very helpful and thanks for plugging the local game store as opposed to big box stores or online. Cheers!
I'm probably one of the minority who bought the Anthology (I skipped last year, and even then I'm not likely to pick up Vol. 1) even though they had all 4 decks. The selection was a huge home run for me:
Devour For Power: My favorite precon of all time, and one with special memories associated with it. Unlike what you said in the video, this deck was one of the main reasons (if not, the main reason) why I picked up the Anthology.
Built From Scratch: I enjoyed this deck quite a bit, and being able to use multiple options without changing too much of the deck's contents made this a really good option.
Wade Into Battle: For most, this isn't a popular choice, but for me, Kalemne was one of my most successful EDH decks I ever built. And thanks to the Anthology, I'm going to revive that deck, though I'm going to try and fix it in case I want to use Anya or Gisela at the helm.
Breed Lethality: Do I really need to explain this one? Other than that I love +1/+1 counter synergies and I've been wanting to play this list for quite some time (Iirc, I took the original apart almost instantly when I got it. I could be wrong though).
Well worth the $165-200 price tag, and I'll be looking forward to upgrading these so I consistently have 4 decks to tow around.
My husband and I got it, we only owned 1 of the 4 decks before getting it. Pretty much taking them all apart to upgrade our current commander decks as well as building new ones. :D
It was 100% worth it since I paid only $140 pre ordering on ebay. Atraxa nearly covers the cost with her decklist alone.
You also have to consider the cards in here that are getting their first foil printings, such as Daretti and Mimeoplasm's backup commanders.
This video has really helped me figure out if I should get this Anthology. Thank you so much for making this video. It helped a lot!
I did pick up Breed Lethality at MSRP and have already purchased it just for the other decks. Worth it in my mind, financially and just for gameplay.
I'm happy i jumped on Atroxa when i had the chance. She was my target commander when those decks came out.
I didn’t even realize they were doing these. I’ll have to keep a lookout in the future!
Every day, I am happier and happier I blew my chore money on the Atraxa commander deck when it first came out, even though I didn't know how to play commander at all. I just thought it looked cool.
Once again, the professor has saved us from losing sleep over very important magic the gathering questions and issues. Came as no surprise to be Very informative and helpful, as someone who has never played commander before and is looking for a way to invest comfortably into EDH This is obviously the answer I was looking for. Thanks professor!
I love this channel I would simply ask while reviewing a box please review all of it now I must do even more research to see the content of the other 2 decks
Wow, I didn't realize how much value my collection had accrued! I got 3/4 of these when they first came out (including Lethality), and now I'm super glad I did! ^_^
Hey Prof, great video as always! I was lucky enough to preorder commander anthology 2 for 110$. I mostly wanted the Breed Lethality deck but I honestly wanted all of them (though I'm gonna strip Wade Into Battle for parts...). I only recently became interested in the commander format so I never picked up any of these decks in the first place. The value here seemed too good to pass on. I like building decks so having a few different ones to tinker with is just what I'm looking for. Cheers from Denmark!
I split the cost with a friend of mine who only got into Commander (& MTG) in the last year or two.
I had already purchased Atraxa and Deretti when they were new on shelves, so it was easy for me to take Kalemne and Mimeoplasm and allow my friend to have that sweet sweet Atraxa. While the MSRP is nothing to sneeze at, the bottom line is that some of those cards -needed- reprints, and getting four entirely unique decks for about 40 bucks each is a steal compared to the going rate on Ebay or savvy LGS.
I feel less anxious about jumping on this as soon as I saw a pre-order. I picked up the first set and loved it. I was able to get parts, I kept two together as loaner decks, and I game one to my GF because I had it already. I think I'll probably end up doing something similar with these. Plus I've been debating on splurging for Atraxa and now I don't really have to. Win win.
I had breed lethality when it released ... That being said I'm not likely going to buy it but if I had to replace it I definitely would consider this as an option... Atraxa is incredibly powerful... And deretti is too... I have bought each of these individually come to think of it... Great work, and I appreciate the reviews... Thanks
I think this year's anthology was made for me. I missed out on a derreti deck and I was pissed I never got breed lethality and I was actually thinking of building a mimeoplasm deck. For me this is a grade A. Picked mine up at my local game store for my countries msrp which is comparable to the USA msrp.
Thank you Prof for delivering! Although I couldn't wait longer and already bought it ^^
I am tempted, as I want to start playing commander. I think this would be a good entry point to see if my friends would like to start playing as well.
God I hate being poor.......
I feel you mate
Agreed
Jokes on you, in Bulgaria everything costs twice as much
I'm buying it with 3 friends. It will cost me about 40$ for breed lethality. 40$ my brother for Devour of Power and we even found two guys for the two others XD. So yeah, its a lot of money, but if your friends are interested, it drops the cost up to a quarter and it makes a good (right out of the box) competition
From the Shadows Emerges... You don't get it, do you? How can I save if I am not buying anything and all my money is going to pay living expenses and I barely have enough for food? You don't think logically do you?
I payed 99€, do not have a Commander deck, the format is popular at my LGS and now I can partake in it, too. For me it was totally worth it.
I think a missed selling point would be to make the box in the shape of the Deck Builder Toolkit box, with the tab that locks the top shut, but using the high grade cardboard they use here. Put some nice art on the outside, and make it slightly over sized, so it fits the four deck boxes included OR any four fully sleeved Commander decks, with maybe some extra room for the life counters and/or extra cards. They could even make it big enough to hold a Cube. There are a few ways Wizards could make the boxes not just more appealing, but legitimately more useful, and thus, create just a little more of a market for the product.
Time machine fuel is related to oil prices.
I wasn't planning on getting this, though now knowing the value and what's in it I just might, im not a big commander player I have only bought Commander product once, and that was all 5 of the planeswalker decks for cheap when they came out. so being able to upgrade those to foils would be pretty sweet and getting access to those other 2 nice decks as well.
I got my set at 5% under MSRP for preordering at my LGS. Definitely worth. I got it for all 4, even though I have a copy of Breed Lethality, the new legendary frames are nice.
I wanted all the decks. I just started playing commander in 2017. I got all 4 C17 decks as well as Anthology V1. I want to collect all commander pre con decks at some point and this is the best way to do it.
Wow!!!
Thank you for this video, I was waiting anxiously for it!
The one missed opportunity for this product is the center, where the deck info is located between the life counters, could have been used for (and I believe is large enough for) reprints of the oversized commander cards.
I bought the last years commander Anthology and loved it. And you better believe im going to do the same here. Especially for breed lethality.
Innistrad cube must be the next video or the one after. Excited!
Just started playing magic again sinds i stopped 16years ago. Didnt have any commander decks yet, payed €120 pre order price so im happy with the set😁👍
I started playing commander with the first commander anthology after many years of stop from magic, I will surely buy the second one and I will keep everything because it is a really great product!
I'd rather buy this and c18
Originally passed on the first Commander Anthology set because I was hoping it would be all 2011 Commander Decks and they would just do the years releases instead of this. Seeing how I MOSTLY wanted the 2011 Decks and was a bit miffed at WOTC, I passed.....I was also going to continue to pass but seeing this & reading other comments made me realize I either over pay for secondary market (which can be a gamble) or bite the bullet and get the Decks I really wanted & not hurt myself by missing out on these. Commander IS my favorite format, so it's not that big of hit for me to get these. Since I returned to MTG in 2015 with Commander specifically, while also getting some older Commander Decks: Daretti & Ob Nixilis, I'll roughly have 2-3 of the Dexks offered by the Anthology Sets (they'll def continue these) while also doubling up on some of the rarer/more sought Decks.
I also realized more so with tehse type of products, that being a more veteran/seasoned MTG player, I missed out on far less than those who have recently started or returned to playing. So these are indeed a bigger boon/value for those who have little to none of the Commander products or want to share/play with friends, while still being a great value for those of us being around more.
I mainly bought the anthology for the atraxa atraxa and mimeoplasm decks. Although considering mirrordin is when i started playing magic as a kid the bosch iron golem and the wurmcoil engine from when we revisited that plane are nice nostalgic pickups for my burgeoning commander collection. The boxes are ridiculously oversized but quite pretty so i took out the wasteful plastic spacers and use the anthology v1 and v2 boxes to house large parts of my collection in deckboxes like a sort of board game i can crack open when people i can entice into playing or trying out commander come over which i think has some small added value.
I bought the Anthology 2 to get all the decks. I bought Kalia from the original Commander Decks with some friends and family members. It was HELL to get find all the different decks, except for Numot deck... No one wanted him lol. But I wanted to buy Devour for power and could never find it.
Then over time life happened and I fell out of the game. Fast forward 5-6 years. Now I have Devour AND Atraxa plus the other 2 decks (which are also pretty fun) for the low pre-sale price of $150 (Would have paid $140 if I pre-bought 3 days sooner... DOH!)
I think this is a stupendous value!
P.S. I am now teaching my GF to play MTG and she loves her Devour for power deck!... Will I ever get to play it??? lol. It is ok because my GF WANTS to play MTG :)
The boxes are so pretty! I really love the stuff prof, keep up the good work.
Worth noting that for EU players, you can find the indivdual decks on Cardmarket for close to MSRP (Breed Lethality is selling for 38€ right now).
It's interestingly the first appearance of a flip card in the M15 border. Check out the new printing of Nezumi Graverobber, it looks pretty funky.
You should also note that people are selling these individually at a very moderate price. Where I live these go for about 50$/deck, and I bought breed lethality for about 46$.
Love your videos. I was able to pick it up for 25% off msrp at LGS by using a points/coupon feature he has. Got it for $130 tax included roughly.
I wanted Atraxa to finish off my Commander color pie deck collection, and I like the Giants too. I have Breya and Boros Depala vehicles so I likely won’t be using Build From Scratch.
Interestingly enough, I got my copy of Devour for Power for about 30eur from a greek dealer last year and also a copy of Daretti's for the same cost as a gift for a friend. Which essentialy remarks the difference between Eur and USA markets
I love "Devour for Power" deck, I really love Sultai colors and "Damia, Sage of Stone". I Also think that "Darreti, Scrap Savant" and "Atraxa Preator's Voice" commander deck are very good and has nice cards. Speaking about "Kelamne..." i don't like anything about that deck... but it has ood cards in it like "urza incubator" or "Blade of Selves".
I went and split the purchase of Com An Vol 2 with my friends (who are also my play group) as more for community decks for anyone we bring in that doesnt have a deck or just wants to try something different. maybe down the line we'll strip them or buy one out from one another. we tested them out at our LGS and bought sleeves for each (100 pk Eclipse fyi) and have a great couple of hours playing them.
I picked up Anthology II mostly for the two oldest decks, since I didn't play Magic yet in 2011 and... didn't want to prioritize buying mono-colored decks in 2014-2015. (Mistake!)
That said, both of the other decks have a bunch of great cards I'll certainly want extra copies of, and I might just help a friend who's new to Magic assemble a deck of his own.
The Professor has spoken!
I've only recently got into Commander. However, I am loving it. This would be a great way to get into it more. :D
I was very tempted to pick this up at first, but really sitting down and thinking about it the only commander i would really build with is the mimeoplasm so really it would be better just to build my own deck than to buy an old un-upgraded pre-con and a bunch of other commander decks i probably won't use. This is a good value though. if they had switched Kalemne out for something more worthwhile i might have picked it up
Yay a new video by the professor!
I run an LGS i ordered 5 of these. Put them up for sale on Friday morning and still have all 5. I'm shocked they haven't sold. Thinking about cracking one for my singles display case.
James Leffingwell that's a good idea but I would consider opening just one set and selling each deck individualy. Many people only want one of the deck and don't want to shell out >150$ on a MTG product
I become a huge fan of Tolarian CC. Love from Argentina.
Been wanting an Atraxa deck since I mained simic after getting into magic, and now playing commander. This seems perfect to also provide a complete deck t get the girlfriend into it, so will be picking one up before it's to late! (read, tomorrow)
You know, the box being so large isn't necessarily a bad thing. I bought the first commander anthology and the planechase anthology, and i use the boxes as storage for my fairly sizable collection of decks. If you pull out the plastic they can fit various sizes of deck boxes in them, including 80 card BCW's, 100 card ultra pro's, and some other stuff. Not useful for everyone, but something to consider.
My local store opens these and sells the decks individually. 45€ for Atraxa, 30€ for any other deck and 5€ for a life counter.
@theprofessor my friend actually got a lot of value out of how big the box was as it oddly enough fits ultra pro deck boxes in perfectly. He uses it to carry his collection.
This price, in retrospect with comparison to UMA, is reasonable.