This is the fifth in a series of blog posts discussing the trading card game Magic The Gathering (hereafter shortened to just “Magic”) and its connections to the world of sales.
Recently, Wizards of the Coast unveiled a brand-new Magic The Gathering product called “Challenger Decks”. These Challenger Decks are pre-constructed Standard-legal decks in the style of competitive decks played in professional level tournaments. Pro-level decks are in the $200 range for Standard, so what Wizards has done with these Challenger Decks is offer players a budget version of four popular Pro-level decks. Going by current card value on the secondary market, these Challenger Decks contain approximately half of the value of the real Pro-level decks, but will retail for only $29.99 in big box stores like Walmart and Target, as well as local game stores like Bell’s Comics & Cards.
This is the first pre-constructed Standard deck Wizards has ever made where they have taken top tournament results into account when designing a product. With these decks, Wizards has not only taken tournament results into account, but they have also paid attention to value on the secondary market. This a first for Wizards, as their previous pre-constructed deck product – known as “Event Decks” – did not base themselves off of any competitive-level deck list, nor did they contain the $30 MSRP in secondary market card value.
Wizards is marketing this product as an “on-ramp to Standard”, meaning that they are looking to sell this product to new or returning players as a way for them to get into competitive Standard play with a low entry cost. While these Challenger Decks might be great and helpful for new or returning players and are predicted to sell well, these decks spell disaster for specific cards’ values on the secondary market and therefore hurt serious investors. I own several of the high-value cards featured in these decks and have seen their value drop drastically in the last month due to the release of the deck lists (deck lists detail every card contained in the decks and quantities of each).
While Wizards will quickly sell out of all these Challenger Decks, their release still hurts the secondary market. Only time will tell how much of a dent they make.
I learned a lot about cards that I did not previously know. Very interesting post! I wonder how secondary companies are reacting to this big change? Trying to target new players means that they could have a customer for life, though I don’t know the usual lifespan of playing cards.