The value of Masters products has declined since the underprinted, value-packed original MMA2013, but not this steeply. At release. Where previous Masters products have sold rather stably at $200 a box, if not more, and often began retailing in the $220-$240 range, Iconic Masters is available for $160 a box. Iconic Masters has the lowest box price of any Masters product ever. I had the chance to play the set at HasCon (where I rather enjoyed playing the weird set four times) and got in a draft at PAX (cons aren’t my preferred locale for drafting-Magic’s easy enough to play and cons have so many unique opportunities), and that might be all I get to do without buying a box.

By missing release weekend, I seem to have missed almost every opportunity I’ll have to play the set at a store. It just came out and yet there are barely any Iconic Masters events in New York City or its environs. Iconic Masters may have the shortest shelf life of any Magic booster product in recent memory.

I also missed most opportunities I’ll have to play with Iconic Masters, a set that released this weekend. I had the opportunity to play games on stream with some of my childhood design heroes, receive some invaluable playtesting feedback, and see many of the wondrous friends and colleagues I’m privileged to know. PAX Unplugged was last weekend, and I had a complete blast.

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