Next year, Magic: The Gathering turns 30, finally old enough to sit on a crowded train without feeling guilty. The publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has announced a variety of promos and events as part of its long birthday celebration (opens in new tab), but one of them is making Magic's tragedy even more upsetting than usual. It's a box of four 15-card booster packs that costs $999, the most expensive official Magic product ever.

The 30th Anniversary Edition (opens in new tab) contains old-school Magic cards with original art, such as "Sivan Dragon," "Angel of Serra," and "Sword to Hoe. Some of the cards are retro-framed and stick deep in the vein of nostalgia, such as the original white mana symbol (opens in new tab) and land cards that say "tap to add" instead of the modern curved arrow symbol (opens in new tab) that represents tapping, 1990 It also includes cards that are emblematic of the magic of the 1990s.

It even includes cards from the Reserved List, a set of cards that are usually never reprinted, like Black Lotus and the rest of the infamous Power Nine (opens in new tab). All cards have a reverse side indicating that they are 30th anniversary editions and may not be used in tournaments or Magic sanctioned events. They are collectors' items, the kind of thing that streamers open and swoon over on camera rather than a way to get Magic back into rotation as it was played circa 1993.

Online reaction (open in new tab) was not positive (open in new tab). Cost (opens in new tab) is an obvious point of contention: "These big huge piles of money around me have really hindered me from playing Magic: The Gathering," said @HexproofHarry (opens in new tab), "They released four booster packs for 999 I'm so glad they released them for $999," he says. The fact that you can buy 4 randomized packs for a whole $1,000 and not be guaranteed to get the cool Black Lotus, etc. is also damning, as u/Last_Mandalorian (opens in new tab) posted on the r/magicTCG subreddit. " This is the most predatory thing Wizards has ever done and I am seriously considering whether I should give this company another dollar."

and, as is typical of Redditor, he responded appropriately.

Other players, who have been clamoring for years for a reprint of the reserve list card, are frustrated that it is finally happening, but in a format they can't use. While that is not worse than it not happening at all, one cannot say that to the Internet.

Meanwhile, the "Dominaria" Remastered set, which will be released next January 13, will be loaded with returning cards from the format that can be used in Standard, at regular prices. Some of these cards will be exactly the same as in the 30th anniversary edition, such as "Sword to Hoe" and "Bird of Paradise," while others will have retro frames. As another part of the birthday celebration, retro-framed cards from each year of Magic will be reprinted as promos for in-store pre-release events.

In other words, if you are interested in old-school cards in a playable format without bank-busting prices, some of them will be available. Because a mint condition "Black Lotus" is worth several thousand dollars by itself (opens in new tab).

"I think this 30th anniversary edition is exactly what WotC should be making," says card game designer, former Magic pro, and voice of reason Brian Kibler (opens in new tab). 'You can target collectors directly like Secret Lairs without surrounding yourself with actual game pieces on the backside of high prices. I think this is much better than more sets that keep growing. "

In case you really want to throw the full $1,000 into the 30th Anniversary Edition out of your own pocket, it will be available for purchase from 30thEdition.wizards.com (opens in new tab) after November 28. If you want to go through life like a normal person, looking at the gallery of cards in the set and saying, "Oh, I remember when "Black Vise" (opens in new tab) looked like this," that's an option (opens in new tab).