Whenever a new set of Magic: the Gathering is released, I try to buy some of the booster pack products and if I have some extra budget, preorder a booster box or two. This goes with my reasoning that I can open some good Rares or Mythics and card components that we can use in our card pool. It can be practical but there are also other reasons why we open Magic: the Gathering booster packs.

Opening Magic: The Gathering booster packs can be a reasonable and enjoyable activity for several reasons:

The thrill of Discovery: Opening booster packs is an experience filled with anticipation and excitement. The unknown nature of what cards might be inside adds an element of thrill and discovery that many players find enjoyable.

Building a Collection: Booster packs provide an efficient way to build a collection of Magic cards. They contain a mix of common, uncommon, rare, and sometimes mythic rare cards, allowing players to accumulate a variety of cards for potential use in future decks.

Potential for Valuable Cards: Booster packs have the potential to contain valuable and rare cards. Pulling a sought-after rare or mythic rare card can be not only thrilling but also financially rewarding, especially if the card is in demand in the secondary market.

Limited Drafting and Sealed Play: Booster packs are essential for Limited formats like Draft and Sealed. In these formats, players build decks on the spot from the cards they open in packs. This adds a dynamic and strategic element to gameplay.

Support for Local Game Stores: Purchasing booster packs from local game stores supports the Magic community and helps keep these establishments thriving. Local game stores often host events and provide a space for players to engage in the Magic community.

Art and Flavor Exploration: Booster packs often feature stunning artwork and showcase the set’s flavor. Opening packs allow players to appreciate the artistic aspects of the cards and immerse themselves in the thematic elements of each set.

Trading and Community Interaction: Opening booster packs can lead to card surplus, providing opportunities for trading with other players. This fosters community interaction and can help players acquire specific cards they need for their decks.

In-Store Events and Prereleases: Many in-store Magic events, such as prereleases, involve opening booster packs as part of the experience. These events are a great way to acquire new cards and engage with the Magic community.

Casual and Social Play: For casual players, opening booster packs can be a social and enjoyable activity. It creates a shared experience among friends and can lead to impromptu deck-building sessions or friendly games

While opening booster packs can be a reasonable and enjoyable activity, players need to be mindful of their budget. Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game, and the pursuit of valuable cards should be approached responsibly.

Additionally, for players looking to build specific decks or acquire particular cards, purchasing singles might be a more cost-effective strategy than relying solely on booster packs.

When opening a random booster pack in Magic: the Gathering trading card game, the chances of getting a good card depend on several factors such as the rarity of the card, the number of cards in the set, and the specific distribution of cards within the pack.

Typically, booster packs will contain a mix of common, uncommon, and rare cards, with some packs containing even rarer “foil” or “holo” versions of the cards. The odds of getting a specific card will depend on its rarity within the set. For example, if a set contains 100 cards, and there are 10 rare cards in the set, the odds of getting a specific rare card in a single booster pack are 1 in 10 or 10%.

However, it’s important to note that the odds of getting a good card are not guaranteed even if the card is rare. Additionally, the value of a card can vary based on factors such as its popularity in the current meta-game, its condition, and its desirability among collectors.

Overall, while the chances of getting a good card from a booster pack can be calculated based on the specific set and pack, it is ultimately a game of chance and luck.

I am always been trying my luck with the booster pack openings in every live sell posted on Facebook. Here is a recent one from the store Forge Hobby North Point with a bunch of Phyrexia: All will be One set booster packs opened live. Check out the video below.

I have got another chance to do an unboxing of a Magic: the Gathering collector box from the recent Dominaria United set on my DeathMarked TV Youtube channel. Thanks to my sponsor and fellow Ilonggo player for this opportunity and for helping my channel grow by having these kinds of videos uploaded under the MTG Booster Cracking playlist.

The video of the unboxing of the collector box was uploaded the night before after I have collected the products from our local game store, Pro Rei’s Place. That is to ensure that I can report right away the card hits and other contents of the collector box and also would not get behind the uploads in the category of unboxing the new set.

Here is the unboxing video below. Enjoy!

As I missed opening booster packs of older sets that are still within the Standard format, I decided to order some at one online shop I found while browsing at the Shopee website. Our local game store Rei’s Place only has M21 and some Mystery boosters available and so almost all of the Youtube channels I followed have opened them by boxes. Those are quite redundant in my opinion so I decided to check on older sets if they are available online.

The shop name was 3J Hobby Shop and they are selling various toys, kits, action figures, and modeling materials. They currently have a promo wherein you buy 3 booster packs for only 500 pesos. That is 100-peso less than the individual price of the MTG packs of P200.

I bought 3 of each on the Ravnica Allegiance, Ikoria Lair of Behemoths, and the recent Core Set 2021. Check out below my booster cracking video of the first two Magic: the Gathering sets.

I have been checking for Magic: the Gathering online shops that has placed an account on the Shopee platform and there were a few that are selling not only on MTG but also other trading card game products. These are basically collectible online sellers.

I have found one recently that sells Ravnica Allegiance booster packs for only P160 each, P20 less than the retail price of P180. My goal was to open at least one shockland as their prices recently has gone up maybe because of the demand in the Pioneer format.

I waited for my vouchers to refresh as new ones are added monthly so that I could get a discount on the shipping fee which usually rates at P100 to P150 each transaction. I decided to buy 4 booster packs to increase my chances. The total amount was P640 plus the discounted shipping cost of P40. I arrived almost a week later because maybe of high quantity of purchases for the Christmas rush.

I decided to do a booster cracking video that night but I got impatient so I just opened one pack and was lucky to open a Breeding Pool shockland. It is probably the highest value in all the five shockland cycle in the set. That is basically main goal achieved.

The remaining three Ravnica Allegiance booster packs were opened on a later date and here below is the video.

It was a good I opened that shockland before these three Rares showed up as they were way below their booster pack worth. Anyhow, overall value is still above the cost so it was pretty much a positive result. I just needed to dispose of this card while at the high price (20 usd as of this posting).

That is a wrap for this post. Until next time.

It is another Saturday visit at our local Magic game store, Pro Reis place, and I have yet to drop the card components for my card pool teammates. It was last week when I did some booster pack opening and so I decided to go for another batch. This time, three Throne of Eldraine booster pack purchased. I am thinking to be lucky that time to least open a Fabled Passage or Murderous Rider.

Check out below the booster crackin’ video I uploaded at my Youtube Channel (which is still under renovations) and see what Rare cards I pulled:

I took this video in a co-working space in Timawa area and the good thing is the light position above the station I rented. It was perfect for the video but I forgot to bring my cellphone stand in order to properly place the camera angle. I ended up innovating with some sticky notes placed on a pile to act as the stand. I think it turned out okay after the camera adjustment.

The card pulls, unfortunately, were not that great if you have checked the video already. I guess I will try my luck again next time and the next purchase will probably from an online store I have found before. Stay tuned for this one.

That is a wrap for now. Thanks for reading and until next post.

The Core Set 2020 products of Rei arrived a day late which is not a big deal as the players would still storm the local game store for the Saturday Standard tournament. I was also there for the event and got the chance to crack some Magic Core Set 2020 boosters after most of them had opened their booster boxes and stuff.

Here are the Rares (no Mythic, unfortunately) that I have opened:

Leyline of the Void
Tale’s End
Chandra’s Regulator
Voracious Hydra
Dungeon Geists
Temple of Triumph
Temple of Malady

While the two lands maybe quite useful for the deck upgrades of the card pool, the rest can also be considered such as Dungeon Geists for my planned Azorius Flyers deck and Voracious Hydra which can be a potential Simic Ramp new component.

Tale’s End is a maybe board, along with Leyline of the Void which the existence of Izzet Phoenix in Standard as the main reason.

The regulator might find its use in a Big Red Chandra-based planeswalker midrange deck. Come to think of it, I have not yet seen an actual match online with that deck. Maybe I needed to research more.

Anyways, that were the booster pulls last night. Hoping to get lucky the next time.

So yeah, I decided to test my luck again with sealed MtG products. This time on War of the Spark where I loaned a booster box from Rei’s store. The card pool had decided before to skip buying a box from the set but upon seeing the value of the uncommon Planeswalker, I might get some good stuff and maybe the foil ones to open.

I dropped by Reis place after receiving a message that his new WAR boxes has arrived. I decided to have the payment in two gives, paying the initial 2K. I chose which box from the crate, dropped by the laundry to finish drying my clothes and went home to the bhaus.

I then intended to open the War of the Sparks booster packs by batches so as to sort and discuss the playable and relevant cards for the Standard format. I wanted to do a Facebook Live unboxing but my internet connection that time has been acting up and so, back to the old school pics.

Here below are the rares or mythics of the first ten booster packs.

The walkers are the auto pic cards here as Vivien, Sarkhan and Chandra are all playable in their respective deck archetypes. Next in line are Soul Diviner and Dreadhorde Arcanist, with the latter being played in Mardu or Boros versions of the Feather+pump spells deck.

The next ten booster packs opened had the following cards:

This is where I got the two Finale mythics along with a foil version of the Black Finale and Bontu Eternal God. What they said about the rumors were true. Having one Finale as your mythic means the rest of the mythics opened are also one of the Finale card cycle.

I wanted Bontu as the top curve in a Rakdos aggro shell but I haven’t seen an actual list that finished well in major tournament. Maybe I will have my own deck list soon.

The cards seeing Standard play in this batch are Domri, Nissa, Finale of Promise, Enter the God-Eternals and Planewide Celebration. The first two walkers are known to be part of the latest version of Big Gruul deck and also Nissa are in the lineup of Mono Green or Simic Ramp builds. I have seen the Red Finale in two copies in Izzet Phoenix decks, having it as a late game Phoenix trigger source.

There are no money cards in this first two batch of booster packs with Chandra as the highest cost based on the current price but for the playability, they are evenly placed.

There are sixteen booster packs left so I will just reserve the discussion on the next blog post. That is a wrap for now. Stay tuned for Part 2.