After plenty of hype and anticipation, Wizards of the Coast has property announced the latest Festival in a Box. Containing Mystery Booster 2, and much much more, this product has been the subject of much speculation this week. Thankfully, we now have all the details and this product looks insanely good, even if it is expensive.
In fact, the new Festival in a Box may be so good that it’s actually a problem for MTG players.
What’s In The Box
For starters, the new Festival in a Box goes on sale on August 19th. Priced at $249.99, this product is exclusively available through the Secret Lair website. Notably, this product is only available “while supplies last.” Thankfully, everyone is limited to buying three units per order.
Obviously, the Festival in a Box is very expensive, however, it’s also packed with value. Not only do you get a Mystery Booster 2 box containing 24 packs, but you also get Collector Boosters, promos, and an exclusive Secret Lair drop. The latter of these offers a suite of new chibi MTG cards that look utterly adorable.
While the value of the new chibi MTG cards remains to be seen, the other goodies have more concrete values. The three Collector Boosters, for instance, are worth $107 on their own, largely thanks to Commander Masters. Should you flip these packs, you’re essentially only paying $142 for the Festival in a Box.
As if this deal wasn’t sweet enough, the promos on offer are also insanely good. Previously available via Secret Lair Showdown events at MagicCons, these cards are both exclusive and expensive. The Ponder promo, for example, is worth around $39, while Swords to Plowshares is worth $63!
While prices for the Plains promo and Convention Maro aren’t available, they’ll likely also be rather expensive. This is especially true for the Plains, which may be one of the rarest variants of basic land in existence.
Even ignoring the potential prices we don’t know yet, Festival in a Box contains $209 worth of guaranteed value. Throw on the $40 price of an all-foil Secret Lair drop and you break even at $249. This means the box of Mystery Booster 2 is essentially free. You even get to keep the Plains promo and Convention Maro!
Far Too Good
Even before we get to the potential price point of the Mystery Booster 2 box, the Festival in a Box easily pays for itself. This is incredibly generous from Wizards of the Coast, so it’s very hard not to get excited about this product. That being said, this Festival in a Box is simply too good, and it’s a major problem.
For MTG finance fans, Festival in a Box is a must-buy product. Offering basically guaranteed value, you’d be foolish not to buy this product if you can afford it. Unless the print run is obscenely huge and tanks values across the board, it looks like a guaranteed hit.
On top of this hugely demanding sector, some players just want to enjoy Mystery Booster 2. While it’s on the expensive side compared to other sets, $250 has been set at the cost of admission. Anyone who has been excited to play this set will simply have to pay that price, which many will do.
From these two sectors, Festival in a Box is almost guaranteed to sell out quickly. Unfortunately, many scalpers are bound to try and get their fill as well. While the three box per customer limit is useful, many scalpers will place orders and resell their haul immediately. Much like MTG’s finance fans, they’d be foolish not to.
Sadly, this likely means that Festival in a Box, and Mystery Booster 2, will be incredibly difficult to get ahold of. Not only is the Festival in a Box bound to sell out insanely fast, but secondary market prices will likely be obscene. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Mystery Booster 2 boxes will sell for $300 if not more.
An Expected Upset
When Festival in a Box sells out, many MTG players will be left disappointed. Not only is this product packed with value, but it’s one of the only ways to play Mystery Booster 2. Technically, you can attend a MagicCon as an alternative, but ticket, travel, and accommodation costs aren’t cheap.
For many players, it’s Festival in a Box or bust. Sadly, it’s looking like it’s going to be the latter for many players. Since preorders begin at 9 AM Pacific Time on August 19th, many would-be purchasers are bound to be stuck at work. This is going to make an already difficult sale that much more troublesome.
Ultimately, we can only hope that Wizards changes their mind about Mystery Booster 2’s retail release. While no retail release is planned at the moment, player demand may be able to move the needle on that. Whether or not that will happen, however, sadly remains to be seen since this is quite a niche nostalgic product.
Read More: MTG Players Demand Additional Arena Cards in Mystery Booster 2
