Magic: The Gathering has a long and storied history. Having been released to the public nearly 30 years ago, MTG is the world’s most successful and popular trading card game. Magic has figured out several ways to commemorate its own history while simultaneously feeding the need for more and more specific reprints thanks to an ever-growing population of more than 25 million players. One of the ways Magic has fed this voracious appetite is through Masters expansions, sets specifically designed to be chalk full of valuable and iconic reprints. Starting with the first Modern Masters expansion in 2013, Masters sets are synonymous with expensive cards from MTG history. And Double Masters might be the most jam-packed Masters set of all time.
Double Masters has, perhaps unsurprisingly, doubled everything about Masters releases, such as making double the rare slots per pack and adding double the box toppers per box. Another way the set celebrated the “double” name is in the specific card choices; many cards in the set have doubling mechanics, including the copying of spells and permanents.
One of the standout qualities of Double Masters is the distance between many of the most recent printings of the cards included in the set and this printing, particularly if specialty expansions like Jumpstart and The List are discounted. Double Masters marks the first time in more than 10 years since players could open Weathered Wayfarer, Bloom Tender, and Thrumming Stone in a booster pack… or since before the year 2000 that players will have the opportunity to open copies of Concordant Crossroads, Food Chain, Mana Vault, and the set’s most expensive reprint Imperial Seal!
Another headline feature of Double Masters is downshifts to common from higher rarities. One of the most exciting is Monastery Mentor, arguably the best red one-drop ever printed and a sight for sore eyes for fans of Burn and aggressive red decks in Pauper. Another fun reprint is Shadowborn Apostle, a common that has the magical ability to have any number of itself in a deck which is always a welcome reprint given that players need huge numbers of them if they want to use them.
Perhaps the most exciting facet of Double Masters isn’t the cards themselves, but the artists. Classic MTG artists who haven’t been seen inside the borders of a Magic card in years like Dan Frasier, Mark Tedin, and Kev Walker make triumphant returns to MTG. And Phil Foglio also makes his return for the first time since Unglued on the new Chaos Warp! He is quoted as saying he had to go buy new paints just for this new addition to Magic’s history.
Double Masters is a set with an incredible pedigree and value, and players across the globe are absolutely going to be clamoring for it. And Ultra PRO is proud to celebrate alongside MTG with lots of excellent accessories featuring art from the set! Get yours here at ultrapro.com or at your favorite local game store!
