Huge changes coming to MTG as new Play Boosters replace Draft and Set 

Magic: The Gathering is officially scrapping Draft and Set Boosters. Here’s what comes next for MTG boosters. 

MTG players will soon see a huge change in the way that cards are bought and pulled. Debuting in 2024’s Murders at Karlov Manor set, a new product called Play Boosters will come to be the default Booster pack. Set and Draft Boosters are being phased out and replaced by this combined product. 

MTG players have one more Premier set – November 2023’s Lost Caverns of Ixalan – to pick up boosters in their current form before Play Boosters become the norm. 

With the introduction of Play Boosters, Magic will only feature one main booster type for its players. Though Collector Boosters will be sticking around unchanged, the main method of pulling and collecting MTG cards will be much more streamlined overall. Play Boosters will also be priced internally by Wizards at the same price as Set Boosters are now. 

Why the switch to Play Boosters? 

WOTC

As part of a recent press event, Wizards of the Coast’s’ Blake Rassmussen went over the team’s reasons behind the switch to Play Boosters. The goal for the Play Booster is to harness and combine the strengths of each product, ‘taking the best of both and putting it together.’  

Rassmussen confirmed that since their introduction, Set Boosters had come to utterly eclipse Draft Boosters in terms of sales. Therefore, the team aimed to recreate the extra value and tailored pack-opening experience of a Set Booster, but one that can also be drafted. The team is excited by ‘how much cleaner it makes things’. By trimming down to one main booster they are hoping to answer some fan complaints about MTG recently having ‘too many product releases’. 

When asked whether fourteen cards being in the pack would alter the set-opening experience fans have come to expect, Rassmussen replied that the team did not expect there to be significant changes. They went on to point out that one of the issues with collecting MTG tends to be having too many cards rather than too few. A higher percentage of rares being included in each default pack means a higher amount of cards worth putting in a wide range of decks. 

Drafting with Play Boosters 

Moving forward, MTG pre-release kits will now contain Play Boosters instead of Draft Boosters. While these boosters will still function perfectly well for drafting, their price point will be slightly higher. 

As part of the press Q&A, Rassmussen was asked whether there were concerns that draft and pre-release experiences would lose popularity because of Play Boosters’ higher price point. They responded that this was considered extensively within the design team, but they don’t believe that pre-releases will be negatively impacted given the overall higher value from the new boosters.  

MTGArena Play Booster changes 

Moving forward, Play Boosters will be used for draft events in MTGArena, but Rassmussen warned that certain cards on The List may be changed due to Arena using an older format.  

Boosters that are acquired outside of Arena, such as by using gold or scanning codes, will stay the same as they are now. Additionally, the price of drafting on Arena will not change. 

MTG Play Boosters FAQ 

How Many Mythic rares can be pulled in an MTG Play Booster box? 

Between 1 and 4 Mythic rares have the potential to appear within a given play booster box 

Will Collector Boosters be replaced by Play Boosters? 

MTG Collector Boosters will not be affected by the release of Play Boosters. 

Will Play Boosters be more expensive than Set Boosters? 

Play Boosters are priced internally by Wizards at the exact same current cost as Set Boosters. 

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