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Author Topic: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters  (Read 7962 times)

ApothecaryGeist

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Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« on: August 15, 2020, 04:02:30 pm »
Just wonder what we all think about the new "Set Boosters" that will premier with Zendikar Rising.


Are these your new go-to?  Or will you be sticking with Draft packs?


Has anyone seen (or done) an analysis of which is the best bang for the buck?
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Morganator 2.0

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2020, 04:24:19 pm »
We're probably not going to find out which is the most bang for your buck until spoiler season comes out.

For those who don't know about this, here's the link. I'll summarize the breakdown.

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/set-boosters-2020-07-25



Art Card: Exactly like those cards they had in Modern Horizons. Not usable in game, but they look nice.

Land: Zendikar Rising will have basic lands, but future sets will have other stuff for this slot. 15% chance the land will be foil.

Connected Commons and Uncommons: 6 cards here. They are somehow connected by some theme. There will always be at least 1 uncommon here, or all 6 cards could be uncommon.

Head Turner: A "visually interesting looking card". Showcase card or something.

Wildcard Rarity: These two cards could be any combination of rarities, from 2 commons to 2 mythics.

Rare/Mythic: Guaranteed rare/mythic card.

Foil: Guaranteed foil. Could also be rare/mythic.

Token/Ad: Could be a token or ad card, but there is a 25% chance that it will be 1 of 300 specially chosen non-standard-legal cards. Calling it now: this is where the fetchland reprints we've been waiting for will be.

As it stands, I'll be purchasing showcase boosters.

Judaspriester

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2020, 10:44:08 pm »
I don't care much about boosters at all. I nearly only play EDH, so I'm usually way cheaper by buying singles in stead of buying boosters and hope for my luck. Besides that, I'll get way less junk I won't play anyway, because it's made for the 60 formats.
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WWolfe

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2020, 11:06:13 pm »
I don't care much about boosters at all. I nearly only play EDH, so I'm usually way cheaper by buying singles in stead of buying boosters and hope for my luck. Besides that, I'll get way less junk I won't play anyway, because it's made for the 60 formats.

I'm with you. I only buy singles. I think the last box I bought was Amonkhet and I didn't feel like I got anywhere near the bang for my buck. Since then I've only bought singles. I may crack the odd pack now and then at the LGS just for shits and giggles but that's about it.
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Potato Chop

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2020, 04:43:05 am »
I have never bought singles in my life (don't ask why, I don't know) and all the cards in my paper decks are straight out of boosters or sealed decks. This means that for me, the Set Booster is great! I love the idea of Wizards packing extra story and mystery into a booster, and I think that from Zendikar Rising onwards, they will be my go-to for cards.

Token/Ad: Could be a token or ad card, but there is a 25% chance that it will be 1 of 300 specially chosen non-standard-legal cards. Calling it now: this is where the fetchland reprints we've been waiting for will be.

Check out this video for more information on this (It's a quality video with lots of insight - one of my favorite channels): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOxIZF5LBso&t=36s

Fortunately, Mark Rosewater did confirm on twitter that, though there may be fetchlands in The List, this IS NOT the "meaningful reprint" that we are looking forward to. I say "fortunately" because imagine trying to pull fetchlands from a list of 300 possible cards when you only have a 25% chance of getting one each pack. That would be a less than 0.013% chance. I am pretty sure that we will see the fetchlands in a less obscure place sometime soon, though it is possible to pull them here as well.

CleanBelwas

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2020, 09:14:51 am »
These set boosters are kind of interesting, but as people have already pointed out, you're almost always better off buying singles.

My two favourite ways to play MTG are EDH and draft, so for me draft boosters will always be preferred. I'm not interested in boosters that stick to a certain theme. I like the chaotic nature of a draft booster.

My play group will usually split a box when a new set comes out, do a night of drafting and keep whatever we pull.

That said, for those occasions where you just want to crack a pack for fun as WWolfe described, set boosters seem fun. If there is a certain card you're hopeful for or certain colour / archetype you prefer, you can crack a booster more related to that to decrease the chance of pulling crap you're not interested in.

It seems to me that they have very different purposes, and that's fine. This seems like one case where having more products is actually a good thing. If you like draft, there is a booster for you. If you like cracking packs hunting for sweet pulls, there is a booster for you. And for once, it's relatively clear what is what.

Judaspriester

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2020, 07:49:24 pm »
Fortunately, Mark Rosewater did confirm on twitter that, though there may be fetchlands in The List, this IS NOT the "meaningful reprint" that we are looking forward to. I say "fortunately" because imagine trying to pull fetchlands from a list of 300 possible cards when you only have a 25% chance of getting one each pack. That would be a less than 0.013% chance. I am pretty sure that we will see the fetchlands in a less obscure place sometime soon, though it is possible to pull them here as well.

Hmm.. I expect them in Commander Legends, but I'm afraid they will see a rarity upshift.
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ApothecaryGeist

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2020, 10:20:29 pm »
As promised.  Here is my analysis of both types of booster box.  Attached is my raw data.  It's a large spreadsheet, but organized.


I did get every common and every uncommon with the Draft packs.  (I always get every common in a box, but not always every uncommon.)  I got 39 total rares.  38 unique rares.  (My only duplicated rare was Phylath, World Sculptor.  1 was regular; 1 was foil showcase.)  This is highly unusual in my experience, to get almost no duplicated rares in a booster box.


In the Set packs, I did NOT get all the commons and uncommons.  I that had been my only box, I would still need to obtain 4 commons and 18 uncommons.  I did get 40 rares.  33 were unique.  (This seems more in line with the ratio of duplicates I've seen in booster boxes.)


While I got more rares in the Set box, I did get more mythics in the Draft box.  There were also more Showcase frames among the rares in the Draft box.


This is only a sample of 1 each.  But overall, I was underwhelmed by the Set boosters.


Firstly, I did not get all the commons and uncommons in the Set box.  Missing a large number of uncommons.  Given that the collation of commons/uncommons is not random in Set boosters, I do not feel that 2 boxes would provide all of the missing pieces. 


But secondly, when opening the Set boosters I was constantly dissapointed.  There's the promise of "up to 4 rares".  None of my packs had 4 rares.  Only one pack had 3 (2 packs if you count cards from The List).  Some had 2 rares, but most only had 1.  There are only 11 slots in the Set Booster (They say 12, but one is a basic land.)  Every time a common or uncommon shows up in the "random" slots, I felt cheated out of a rare.


I did get 7 cards from The List.  Command Beacon (from a pack with 2 Zendikar Rising rares), and Phyrexian Tyranny (from a pack with ZR rare) were the only The List Rares.  The others were Lash Out, Anointer Priest, Hashep Oasis, Ulvenwald Mysteries, and Cradle Guard.


There were considerably more Showcase cards and foil cards overall in the Set box.  So if that's your thing, this could be a better buy.


I will be sticking with Draft packs.  I might try again with one of each again if the price difference is small.  But I'm not optimistic.
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Xaarvaxus

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2020, 10:40:43 pm »
While I didn't do as close as an analysis, I also have bought one box of each (Set vs Booster) and for the additional money, can say the set boosters aren't worth it and I won't get them again.  The set booster box was over 50% more expensive and in the end I had almost exactly the same number of rares that I would have gotten from a draft booster box with about the same amount of showcase bling, etc.  I also ended up with more mythics from the draft booster box.  The chance of pulling something amazing off 'The List' isn't enough to justify the extra price.  My final thought is that the odds/composition for extra pulls in the Set booster packs is so complicated so that people have a hard time figuring out that they're getting fucked.

ApothecaryGeist

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2021, 09:49:51 pm »
With the Kaldheim release, my comparison of Set boosters vs Draft boosters continues.  I may be warming up to Set boosters.


Raw data attached.


As with Ikoria, I had 1 box of Set boosters and 1 box of Draft boosters.


This time around, I pulled 38 rares from the Draft box and 44 rares from the Set box.  (5 mythics in each box).  In the draft box there were no duplicated rares (a rarity in itself.).  From the Set box I pulled 42 unique rares (of 44).  The two that were duplicated were foil versions.


There were about double the counts of Showcase cards in the Set box as compared to the Draft box. - If you like that sort of thing. 


Another plus for the Set boosters.  A much improved selection of uncommons and commons.  I did get all the commons in this Set box of Kaldheim, unlike with Ikoria.  (Always get all the commons in a Draft box.)


I did not pull all the uncommons from the Set box.  But I was only missing 2.  From experience, this is in line with most Draft boxes I open.  (Usually missing one to four uncommons from the set from a single box.) I did pull all the uncommons from my Draft box. 

I also paid about the same for the two boxes.  So for the same money, I feel that the Set box was a better value.
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Morganator 2.0

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2021, 08:40:54 pm »
I can't give you any information about the draft boosters, but I just finished opening a Modern Horizons 2 set booster box. Of the 30 packs, 18 of them had two rares and 2 of them had 3 rares. Only one of the rares came from "the list". That's a welcome improvement over what I would have gotten from a draft box.

Elan Morin Tedronai

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2021, 12:17:54 am »
I don't care much about boosters at all. I nearly only play EDH, so I'm usually way cheaper by buying singles in stead of buying boosters and hope for my luck. Besides that, I'll get way less junk I won't play anyway, because it's made for the 60 formats.
I'm 100% with you, check again with upvote. I don't buy boosters at all. I play at FNMs and I test my Modern Tribal combinations. A friend of mine in Bulgaria, Ivan, buys usually a whole box. It's like a ritual for him, but he has the finances and he even gets to give me some cards that I lack as Needlethorn Drake from Strixhaven. I only expect several cards from most sets that goes like 2-3€ at utmost as Rakdos Headliner, Skophos Reaver and Breya's Apprentice from MH2. From some sets I don't buy anything at all. Especially due to the fact, that I have 3 casual EDHs, that are like precons "Natue of the Beast", "Draconomicon" and "Adaptive Enchantment" and I don't look on EDH Editions very closely. Only the latter is built from the actual deck that was given as a Birthday present 2 years ago. While suffering from covid-19, but not in such a strict quarantine, I was able to built it and mostly built it from out-scraps I have, and what a friend Boris, who goes by nick krgr, here with fantastic decks, has. He gave me several more expensive like Godsire, Mayael the Anima and Mayael's Aria, while ordering the bulk from Card Market EU. So, I only buy cards that goes well with the Tribal mechanics. All my decks are such. I don't just buy boosters. What commons, uncommons and other Mormons possess each booster is meaningless to me. I buy cards that go well with certain creature type and ability they have. Like whirling around Pheres-Band Warchief, Stromkirk Captain Knight Exemplar, Captain of the Watch and several others to make a deck. Goblins and Elves, no question, they're full of lords. Even the Allies can be counted but they are more Equipment type of deck. Which is not bad, but such decks are generally weaker than control decks. Ivan however looks to each set for particular cards probably more that will go good with his vision and that's why he buys a whole box and it's like a ritual for him. However he keeps his decks in MTG Vault hidden and I don't blame him. He uses expensive fetches, Walking Ballista and other very expensive cards. I cannot stand against him in casual play, but during this pandemic, he spends in home with his children and wife while still working full time. I just don't have any experience, "set boosters vs draft boosters", because due to my way of building decks conceived on Tribal theme, I expect only several cards, but have bought a bundle or even received as a present which counts of M13 and M14. From year to year, I only have built decks which have particular creature type, like Vedalken-Elf Artificers and Human-Aetherborn Artificers, which were conceived 3 years ago and are not bad, but Kaladesh is totally designed IMHO for casual play. I guess only my Dinosaurs are conceived from precon, but it was Huatli White-Red and expanded to put Green. It's like 33% per color with Explorers of Ixalan look, but quite effective. I'm considering putting it in FNM these days. No, no boosters from me. I'm only interested in singular cards from each set, but can look forward to buy something big in Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, Morningtide, Eventide and Eldraine like a booster or bundle box from these editions, when I have greater fortunes. When I have money I'll buy set boosters from certain editions, so set boosters win. :P
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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #12 on: June 15, 2021, 02:34:25 am »
I host weekly drafts with 6 to 11 players each week some times twice a week. I always will buy draft boosters, i have attempted a draft with set boosters once and it was a terrible experience. I did this due to the draft boosters for kaldheim i pre ordered getting over allocated and i was given set boosters instead.

Draft boosters > set boosters for me
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Cosmic_Insight

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #13 on: June 15, 2021, 05:11:03 pm »
Set boosters are not supposed to be drafted due to the lower amount of commons and uncommons. WoTC stated specifically that draft boosters are for drafts and set boosters are meant, “to be opened for fun”
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Loaded Shaman

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Re: Set Boosters vs Draft Boosters
« Reply #14 on: July 03, 2021, 07:29:09 am »
While I didn't do as close as an analysis, I also have bought one box of each (Set vs Booster) and for the additional money, can say the set boosters aren't worth it and I won't get them again.  The set booster box was over 50% more expensive and in the end I had almost exactly the same number of rares that I would have gotten from a draft booster box with about the same amount of showcase bling, etc.  I also ended up with more mythics from the draft booster box.  The chance of pulling something amazing off 'The List' isn't enough to justify the extra price.  My final thought is that the odds/composition for extra pulls in the Set booster packs is so complicated so that people have a hard time figuring out that they're getting fucked.

I'm all about draft boxes. I've never felt compelled to deviate from this. Not once!

I've seen so many friends drop the extra cash, and watch me smiling as I paid less for exactly what I went in it for.

I buy two from each set as they come out; one to keep sealed and on the shelf, the other to open and enjoy.

Other than that, I go for singles that I want. I never chase singles via booster boxes. If I get what I want by luck of the draw, it's icing on the cake.