Every once in a while, Wizards of the Coast makes an absolutely massive change to the Booster Pack formula. Considering that this is the main way MTG players access their cards, even a small change can have a monumental impact on the community.
Today, Wizards of the Coast has just announced the biggest change to the Booster Pack formula in years. With the arrival of Nauctis: The Sunken Realm, the first set in 2027, MTG will officially introduce God Packs, permanently remove guaranteed foils from regular boosters, and shrink Collector Boosters moving forward.
Magic: The Gathering God Packs
The biggest change from today’s announcement is the introduction of God Packs. Available in both Play and Collector Boosters, God Packs offer exclusively rares and mythic rares, excluding the 1 foil land in Collector Booster packs. With over 14 rares or mythic rares in a Play God Pack, and over 10 in a Collector Booster, these packs should go a long way in paying back the value of your box.
That said, the chances of players finding a God Pack are, predictably, quite poor. On average, one in every 33 regular Booster boxes has a God Pack, while Collector Booster boosters have slightly better odds, appearing in every 25 Collector Booster packs.
On top of these changes, the wildcard slot in regular Booster packs is also getting tweaked, most notably making foil rares and mythic rares much easier to open. If that weren’t enough, Japanese Showcase cards, previously available only in Collector Boosters, will also be available in the Wildcard slot. Both changes aim to make regular Booster packs more exciting to open.
Limited Concerns
Despite the excitement, many players were concerned about the implications for Draft and Sealed. As exciting as opening a God Pack is, these packs would completely warp the intended Limited experience for a set. For example, having an extra 13 rares or mythic rares in a Sealed pool would basically mean you could automatically crush the competition. Alternatively, opening a God Pack in Draft and having to pass most of it would feel incredibly bad.
Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast seems to have already thought of this, stating that God Packs should be removed from Limited events when opened and replaced with a normal Booster Pack free of charge. While store owners don’t need to follow this, it is highly recommended. Outside of casual Drafts and Prereleases, the Pro Tour and other organized play events like Regional Championships will follow these rules.
Collector Boosters Become Smaller
While foil rares and mythic rares will now be much easier to open in Play Booster packs, the same won’t be true for foil commons and uncommons. Commons and uncommons will now be Collector Booster exclusives and will no longer appear in Play Boosters at all. On top of that, fewer commons and uncommons will appear in Collector Boosters, with 2 commons and 1 uncommon removed from the pack.
With this change, foil commons and uncommons will become much scarcer than usual, which could have secondary market implications. For foils with a lot of Commander appeal, like
Patchwork Banner
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from Bloomburrow, foil copies could see a significant markup if this change makes them much rarer.
As a smaller note, Play Boosters as a name will also be going away now, with Draft boxes simply containing booster packs. It’s a minor detail in the grand scheme of these massive changes, but it’s important nonetheless.
With a ton of new details to unpack, it will be interesting to see how players react. The shrinking of the Collector Booster, in particular, has drawn predictable backlash, since the three missing cards aren’t being replaced. While these changes may ironically make Collector Boosters more valuable overall, it does continue the overall trend of Wizards cutting corners with their products. For example, Collector Booster Sample packs were removed from Commander Precons not long ago.
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