From the moment they were announced, MTG’s new Value Boosters were almost universally hated. Containing only seven cards, with no guaranteed rare, this product seemed absolutely terrible. It’s really no wonder that MTG players are fearing the debut of Value Boosters alongside Bloomburrow already.
While enfranchised MTG players have been quick to hate on Value Boosters, they might not be entirely terrible. Instead, it appears that players are just looking at them through the wrong lens. That’s the suggestion from MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, at least.
The Value of Value Boosters
For the vast majority of MTG players, Value Boosters are terrible, that much we know. While Value Boosters could theoretically contain two rare cards, the likely low odds of this kills their viability. On top of this, Value Boosters aren’t Draftable and they’re no substitute for Commander precons as an entry-level product.
With all this in mind, it seems like Value Boosters are a failure waiting to happen. Even if they’re as cheap as $1 a pack, they serve basically no purpose to the majority of Magic players. That being said, there’s still a genuine audience for these products, which could lead to them being surprisingly lucrative.
After receiving a question about Value Boosters on Blogatog, MTG’s Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, explained the new pack’s true purpose. Rather than being a product for those who already enjoy MTG, Value Boosters have a completely different audience. Specifically, this new product is primarily for mass market stores to sell on the cheap.
“Value boosters are addressing a need of certain mass market stores to have Magic boosters at a lower price point. They are not a product the vast majority of enfranchised players will ever interact with, and their existence has nothing to do with organized play.”
Mark Rosewater
As was somewhat expected, this means that Value Boosters are basically designed to be easy impulse purchases. Whether made at checkout or to sate the desire to crack a pack, they’re the cheapest and most accessible option available. As Rosewater notes, compared to Play Boosters, these sate a desire for a lower cost mass market product.
But Are They Still Bad?
From our perspective, as MTG players, Value Boosters seem like manufactured disappointment. Regardless of this new product’s price, most of the time you’re just getting Draft chaff when you crack one. Even if you’re lucky and find a rare card there’s no promise it’ll be a good or valuable one.
As Mark Rosewater mentioned, however, this product really isn’t for us. While we can’t help but think about value, this product’s intended audience doesn’t care about that. Instead, this product is meant for people who just want to open a pack, regardless of what it contains. When viewed through this lens, Value Boosters are entirely fit for purpose since they’re the cheapest option available.
Ultimately, this makes talking about Value Boosters as MTG players very difficult. As disappointing as they seem to players, the intended audience simply doesn’t care. Even the new player argument that hinges around deckbuilding and Draftability aren’t factors either. The intended audience for Value Boosters simply doesn’t care, they just want a cheap pack to crack.
For the actual audience of Value Boosters, the lack of a promised rare could even be an upside. Rather than always getting a rare card and having to determine its playability, finding a rare card now becomes a thrill. The same is true of the foil and Special Guests cards that can be found inside.
The Pricing Problem
So, as a product, even if we don’t like it, Value Boosters do have a point. What they don’t have at the moment, however, is a price. Since Wizards of the Coast doesn’t assign MSRP anymore, there’s no telling how much Value Boosters actually cost. This will ultimately be the determining factor in the success, or failure, of this fledgling product.
Given the target audience, the cheaper these packs are the better, but Wizards will obviously want profit. If we’re to guess, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Value Boosters selling for $3 to $4 once they hit store shelves. Hopefully, Value Boosters won’t hit the top end of that prediction, but we’ll have to wait and see about that.
To put on our tinfoil hats for a moment, the price of Value Boosters could be a problem for everyone. Since a low-cost option exists, Wizards could feasibly increase the price of Play and Collector Boosters. While this technically is a possibility, there’s no indication Wizards would do this. Considering MTG is already more than expensive enough already, we certainly hope they don’t, at least.
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