Review - Collector Boosters: Are they worth it?

Who doesn't like the feeling of opening a booster pack and finding a mythic card, foil, or alternate art to pimp the deck?

Regardless of whether you're a player who likes to open boosters or a team that prefers to purchase singles, I'm sure you've risked opening at least one booster pack in your life. And let's face it: it's addictive.

Magic: the Gathering players who enjoy the experience of opening the packs are very well served with the options of Draft, Set Booster, Theme Boosters and Collector Boosters, that can be found in almost any store.

But, which one is really worth it, considering their value?

This article aims to help you better understand of these options, the Collector Booster, which is also the most expensive booster option at the time this article is being written.

Before proceeding with the article, it is important to align with you, the reader, where the information used here comes from. The Magic: the Gathering official game page on the Wizards website has the “Products” tab, where you can find information about the main products, interesting items for beginners and much more.

In addition to this tab, we have a lot of information in the “Articles” part that concentrates texts about sets, announcements and other data that are being considered for this text. The values mentioned as an example refer to those practiced in February 2023, the month in which this article is being written and will be sent for publication.

Having these points aligned, I believe we can move on with the article.

Collector Boosters: The Origins

Collector Boosters were launched with the premise of being a product for those who like to collect Magic or want to have a deck full of different styles and foils.

We were introduced to this product in Throne of Eldraine, in 2019, and since then, we've had more than 20 sets with these boosters. A lot, don't you think?

On average, you can buy a Collector Booster for approximately USD 22.99. The Collector Box, boxes with 12 packs of these much-desired boosters, are usually around USD 287.41. If it's a set too much hype, the value can increase considerably even in the pre-sale before the spoilers.

Now that you already have a sense of the values, let's present the details of this product.

The Collector Booster consists of 15 cards and, depending on the expansion, slots for rare and/or mythic cards may vary. To better exemplify, I separated three images published in articles about products on the Wizards website from sets that came out in 2022 and ONE, which came out in 2023.

Streets of New Capenna

Now let's compare it to the Set Booster:

And the Draft Booster:

Source

Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate

The Set Booster:

And Draft Booster:

Source

Phyrexia: All Will Be One

In Set Boosters:

And in Draft Boosters:

Source

As you may have noticed, collector boosters have more slots for rare and/or mythic cards compared to Draft (which usually has one slot for cards of these rarities) or Set (which has an average of two slots for cards of these rarities).

In addition, the pack comes full of cards in alternative art, foil or extended, a full plate for those who like to have beautiful decks.

On average, you will be more likely to find a Mythic in Set Booster compared to Draft Booster and in Collector Booster compared to Set Booster.

However, from time to time, Wizards of the Coast chooses to make “changes” and an example of this is the Double Masters sets.

In the first Double Masters, we had the launch of the VIP Edition which replaced the box with Collector Boosters. In this product, it was possible to open 33 cards and two tokens, with 2 spaces for showcase or mythic foil and 2 for rare or mythic foil.

In Double Masters 2022 we had a Collector Box of the set that came with only four booster packs that followed the pattern of 15 cards plus 1 token per pack.

Source

It is worth noting that the cards chosen for this set are some of the most popular in the game, such as Mana Crypt, Doubling Season, Chrome Mox, Urza's Tower, Kaalia of the Vast, Dockside Extortionist, Atraxa, Praetor's Voice, Wrenn and Six, Imperial Seal, Liliana, the last hope, Force of Negation and much more.

Even with interesting cards in the catalog, the product was criticized by players for having fewer cards than a standard Collector Box and being the same price.

If you arrived at this topic expecting a “yes” or “no”, I apologize for disappointing you, but my answer is it depends.

First, it depends on the type of player you are. There are those who like to buy singles and see a much better cost-benefit purchasing cards, so a Collector Booster may not attract this audience.

Second, it depends on the set. Even though it's cheaper to pre-order these products, spoiler season helps you get a good idea of how strong the cards in the set will be.

Also, as you can see in the “What's in the Collector Booster?” thread, depending on the set, the booster slots can vary to house special alternate arts or cards with keywords that are unusual in other releases, such as the Baldur's Gate backgrounds.

Third, it depends on whether you like trying your luck or playing it safe. As with almost any booster (except for Theme Boosters), you are not guaranteed anything. You could open dozens of amazing cards for your decks, or dozens of cards you don't like.

Buying a booster is a gamble, buying a Collector Booster is a more expensive gamble with higher chances of return, but it is never guaranteed.

Fourth, it depends on the financial. As mentioned earlier in this text, Collector Boosters are designed for collectors and, therefore, have a high value compared to other products.

Conclusion

Finally, if you were curious about the Collector Booster after reading this article, my advice to you is: buy it at least once to have the experience and satisfy your curiosity.

Wait until a set you like a lot or with a theme that you think is cool to have more chances to pick up cards that will be useful for your deck and try it out.

Magic: the Gathering is a game with plenty of options, and that's wonderful. You can be on the team of players who want to spend a lot on their decks or those who like to set up a budget and that's okay, the important thing is to have fun regardless of the product you buy.

And if you're like me and like to bet on Collector Booster, leave your experience with this product here in the comments. See you in the next article!

Do you think Collector Boosters are worth it?