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 been checking again on the recent Magic: the Gathering tournament results posted online at the MTG Top 8 website, and one event, in particular, was the MTGO Challenge done last Feb. 18th, 2023. The top decks were Grixis, Azorius Soldiers, and Mono-Blue but one deck that caught my attention was the Jund Midrange build.

Seeing a Jund version with an Invoke Despair is not uncommon, but utilizing the new cards from Phyrexia All will be One especially the new version of Tyvar as a Jubilant Brawler is what made the list spicy. Another card in the spotlight is Glissa Sunslayer, which is not only an efficient attacker with the combination of first strike and deathtouch, but also acts as a card draw engine and utility enchantment removal ability.

Here below is the full decklist of the Jund Invoke Midrange deck played by maximusdee.

The current Magic: the Gathering Standard deck archetypes are being “compleated” with the new cards from Phyrexia: All will be One set. By that meaning, their main strategy is somewhat leaning towards the use of the Toxic and Proliferate mechanics, and winning via Poison counters. The new archetype goes with the Blue, Green, and Red colors.

Today’s deck feature is on the control category with the game’s topmost colors using it: Blue and White. I found this deck build with a reference to some user-submitted decklist and the recent Standard tournament results posted on the MTG Top 8 website.

Combining some of the commonly-used cards with the new cards from the set, here below is my suggested deck build (semi-version 1.0) for Blue White Poison Control.

I am trying to find some card value hits for every new Magic: the Gathering set released and included in my preorder list is the set’s Prerelease kit. A Magic: the Gathering prerelease kit is a special package that is released before a new set of cards in the Magic: the Gathering collectible card game. The prerelease kit typically includes several booster packs of the new set, a special promotional card, and other materials such as a spindown life counter, a deck box, and a guide to the new set.

Prerelease kits are designed for players who want to get an early taste of the new set and start building decks with the new cards before the official release date. Prerelease events are held at local game stores and provide players with an opportunity to play with the new cards, meet other players, and participate in a tournament-style event.

The Phyrexa: All Will be One set has their PR kit products arrived on time (finally!), and so I was able to do an unboxing video of the kit I purchased from our local gamestore ProReis Place here in Iloilo City. Here below is the unboxing video I recorded last week.

Magic: the Gathering deck brewing is an ongoing process, as you will need to continue to refine your deck and make changes as you learn more about the format and your play style. It’s a great way to expand your knowledge of the game and have fun experimenting with new strategies and cards. In formats like Standard, the deck archetypes are continuously updated with every new set released and added to the format. They are the first inline to experience the gameplay, mechanics, and other new interactions of the set.

Today’s Standard deck on spotlight is Big Red. This is a Magic: The Gathering archetype that focuses on playing a lot of big, powerful creatures and direct damage spells to quickly close out the game. The recent build has adopted the large artifact creatures from Brother’s War as its main win conditions and some support cards that produce Powerstone tokens to ramp its mana.

Below is the video of the Standard deck discussion for Big Red Artifacts with ONE, and the new cards added were the newest version of Koth planeswalker, the Red Dominus, and a new nonbasic land.

Here is the decklist:

4x Abrade
1x Argentum Masticore
2x Big Score
4x Brotherhood’s End
4x Cityscape Leveler
2x Excavation Explosion
4x Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
3x Koth, Fire of Resistance
3x Portal to Phyrexia
3x Skitterbeam Battalion
2x Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
1x The Mightstone and Weakstone
2x Thran Spider

1x Mirrex
22x Mountain
2x Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance

The upcoming Magic: the Gathering set Phyrexia: All will be One will introduce a new level of deck archetypes for the Standard format. One that is most I am excited about is the new version of the Infect deck: Toxic. We had Infect decks before during the Mirrodin Besieged Standard and so this time is another deck strategy to impose using the Toxic mechanic.

For a quick explanation of this new mechanic, the player damaged by the creature with Toxic will take life point damage and the number on the card after the Toxic keyword will give them the same number of Poison Counters. This effect and the return of Proliferate will surely have the deck a sure-win condition that disregards life gain effects and a high life total.

I assume the colors would be Black and Green or Golgari but other options such as Red-Green is also possible. My first choice is Black-Green as based on the previous builds of the Infect decks in Scars of Mirrodin Standard. Using Green has huge trample creatures with Toxic, and Black for access to spot removals, and recursion spells and to disrupt opponents with discard spells to carry out your gameplan as smoothly as possible.

We will do a check again once the Phyrexia: All will be One complete spoiler is out. We will see and consider some relevant Toxic creatures from the set as a potential candidate for the deck. Also, I will be posting a Standard deck tech discussion to feature this archetype.

That is a wrap for now, until the next blog post.

I have contacted our local TO Rei Coo for the upcoming Magic: the Gathering tournaments that could entice the local Iloilo community in joining and playing competitively with more reason to do so. With that in mind, we tried to gauge the possible dates of the Prerelease weekend since the usual delays on the arrival of the product are expected. This has become the norm since the pandemic struck as the supply chain has been affected.

This is the period where we try to be as flexible as possible and also with the players signing up and adjusting their schedules. This is quite hard as most are already working professionals and that the schedules should be set beforehand.

Anywho as this would be a Prerelease event, we decided to have a PR Pass tournament for a weekly schedule. That is either on the Pioneer FNM or Saturday Standard event. Since this will be for a new set, I think this would be beneficial more for the Standard peeps as a free entry to the Prerelease event would mean free new cards for their decks to use. We will see what our TO would decide on the final date of this tournament.

We will announce the event details as soon as it is finalized.