Despite only being around since early 2024, Play Boosters have already seen a few quiet changes. Last July, Wizards of the Coast quietly scrapped The List by removing it from Play Boosters. Considering Wizards had just reinvented The List when creating Play Boosters, this change was equally surprising and disheartening.
Now, another feature of Play Boosters is on the chopping block. Following Edge of Eternities’ recent showcase at MagicCon: Las Vegas, Wizards revealed what players can find in the set’s packs. As expected, there are plenty of goodies, including a new bonus sheet, for players to look out for. Notably, however, Art Cards were missing as a potential pull from the MTG set’s Play Boosters.
Putting the Play In Play Boosters
Thankfully, unlike past changes, this rather important change wasn’t completely buried by Wizards of the Coast. Instead, it was cleanly laid out alongside the potential pack pulls, if you bothered to scroll that far. Arguably, this change deserved a bit more fanfare; however, some announcement is definitely better than nothing.
“Please note that Play Boosters no longer contain ad cards or art cards. Art cards can now be found in Collector Boosters.”
Wizards of the Coast
Once Edge of Eternities launches, Play Boosters will no longer contain ad or art cards. Technically, ad cards were already removed from Play Boosters with the release of Aetherdrift, but this is a sensible next step. Now, you’re guaranteed to find a non-foil double-sided token in every single pack. That’s the case for Edge of Eternities, at least, as Wizards may tweak the pack recipe going forward.
Essentially, from now on, every MTG card you find in a Play Booster is going to be playable in some capacity. Tokens might not be the most desirable or valuable cards, but they are at least playable. That said, the outgoing art cards weren’t exactly useless for collectors and Rule Zero-happy Commander players.
Thankfully, for those who do enjoy them, art cards aren’t going away entirely. As Wizards states in their mini announcement, art cards can still be found in Collector Boosters. Potentially, these cards may see a slight value bump going forward, due to their increased rarity. That said, art cards do still have a fairly niche, collector-focused audience.
A Divided Reaction
While there are definitely fans of art cards, MTG players appear to be pretty happy with this change. Reacting to the news on Reddit, players were initially quick to thank Wizards for removing these non-playable cards. Reddit user igniteice, for instance, commented, “I don’t think anyone is buying packs for art cards.”
While this assumption seemed sensible, there were quite a few disappointed MTG players responding to the Reddit thread. Griffery1999, for instance, stated they “actually liked art cards,” while LordFearMe shared how there’s an art card collector at their LGS. Thankfully, as mentioned, art cards aren’t being eradicated entirely, but making them harder to collect isn’t great for everyone.
Curiously, while the reaction on Reddit appears to be fairly split, it’s a different story on Blogatog. Back in early June, MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, polled players for their thoughts on art cards. In the results of this poll, a strong majority stated “I like them. Keep them,” so it’s rather surprising they’re now being removed.
All that said, Wizards of the Coast gets a lot more feedback than just a 1,300+ player poll. Ideally, this feedback should allow Wizards to pursue in the community’s best interests, rather than just a vocal minority. Hopefully, this is what has happened here; however, the long-term ramifications of this change remain to be seen.
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