Wizards of the Coast recently revealed new information about the upcoming Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow set. Alongside a trailer that showcases what it includes, the company announced Value Boosters, a new type of booster pack that fans don’t see any value in whatsoever.
According to Wizards of the Coast, Value Boosters, which will be introduced with the Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow set, are “a smaller, lighter booster that contain a handful of new cards any fan can enjoy—a budget-friendly way to experience Bloomburrow.” However, fans have two major issues with the new packs. First, Wizards of the Coast has only just consolidated all of its Booster types, and second, this Booster type seems designed to make newcomers spend more money to guarantee good pulls.
Cheaper packs, worse odds
The heart of the problem fans have with Value Boosters is that they have no guaranteed rare. Each one contains just seven cards as opposed to the 12 you get in Play Boosters and 15 in Collector Boosters. Of those seven cards, three are common, two are uncommon, one wildcard of any rarity, and one that could be a land, special guest, or traditional foil.
The language on these packs even states, “contains up to 2 rares,” but there’s no guarantee of a rare or foil card like there is in the other boosters. Value Boosters will be cheaper because of the lower card count, but without the guarantee of a rare, some fans can see players buying 10 packs and getting very little value for a deck or as a collector out of them.
Players have been discussing this at length on the Magic: The Gathering subreddit. User SWBFThree2020 puts it best. “Didn’t they already try this with Alara… and it failed miserably? I remember me as a kid, seeing boosters for $2 each and getting so excited that I bought like 10 of them… only to realize they were micropacks and only like 3 of them had rares in it. Really soured me on MTG for a while.”
As a fan, I must say that these packs look like they’re targeted more at newcomers who haven’t had the luxury of guaranteed rares and numerous foils in boosters for years. If rares are harder to acquire through these cheaper packs, it’ll take anyone buying them longer to pull the best cards needed to build or modify decks in meaningful ways.
User harker06 added, “Wizards – “we are creating play boosters to reduce the number of different booster types.” Also Wizards – “Hey kid, you want a garbage booster?”” While this seems harsh, fans have been messed around with multiple booster types for years. Even the recent Assassin’s Creed set has Beyond Boosters, which are yet another variation of the current simplified state of Magic: The Gathering.
Value Boosters also appear to be a way for Wizards of the Coast to look like it’s trying to bring down the price of getting into Magic: The Gathering. When you dive into the details, though, it’s an economy of scale that benefits the company with more numbers and turns opening packs into a less enjoyable experience.
The Magic: The Gathering Bloomburrow set won’t be released until August 2, 2024. Wizards of the Coast isn’t going to change what Value Boosters are before then, but if fans continue to vocalize their thoughts, they may at least be limited to Bloomburrow.
