Pages

2.05.2009

Six Card Booster Pack

~
Very interesting news today over at WoTC. We now have a new Magic : The Gathering product format . . . A six-card booster pack. You may be wondering if April Fool's Day came early and say "CopySix - go pull the other one", but I am not joshing you - just check the article out on Daily Arcana.
So, if you find yourself in a large mass-market store like Target or WalMart in the near future, you might see one of these. Well, here in my part of Canada, one is unable to purchase any WoTC product at a SprawlMart and must make a trek to the local gaming store, which is rather fine with me as I would rather provide patronage to the retailer that plays host to me (almost) every Friday evening.

That said . . . if I did find myself out and about after regular business hours and happen to be in a 24-hour WalMart with an MTG itch I had to get a hit of cardboard crack, then perhaps I might pick up a few cards. Before this, let us have a look at what we are getting . . .

This new product format offering starting with Conflux we will call 'The Six Card Booster'. Thankfully, it will not replace regular booster packs, and it will only appear in mass market stores. The manufacturer's suggested retail price for this pack is $1.99 or approximately 900 Canadian pesos.

WoTC provides no guarantee as to the rarities of cards within packs, but one may expect a tips/token card, 1 land, 3 commons, 1 uncommon, and 1 'Wild-Card' slot that has an equal chance of being rare/mythic, uncommon, or common. We are informed that there may "even have a chance of opening a foil card".

In comparison, a regular MTG Booster pack contains 16-Cards : 1 Rare/Mythic Rare (Mythic rares are approx. 1 in every 8 rares), 3 Uncommons, 10 Commons, 1 basic land, 1 Token/Tips & Tricks card.

For those gamers out there who continually contemplate the odds of the long-shot, here are the approximate numbers for the Wild-Card slot :
A Common ~ 33.5 %
An Uncommon ~ 33.5 %
A Rare ~ 29 %
A Mythic-Rare ~ 4 %

In Canada, a typical (15 card ) booster pack goes for $5.00 and I would expect the 6-card booster (if they become available here) to retail for about $2.50 to $2.75. As I am not very much of a betting gentleman, I would most likely not bother to pick one up unless it is intended as a Christmas stocking stuffer for the spouse / kids. The community appears highly divided as to this new product offering just as they were upon hearing the announcement that Tournament Packs were to be discontinued.

So, as WoTC states, you will always get a rare or mythic rare in a regular booster pack, but if you find yourself in a mass market store and only have a couple of bucks to spend on scratching your Magic itch, you now have this as an option.

8 comments:

  1. Is that your magic stash. I've got mine on a couple of shelves although I would love a good table to keep deck ideas constantly going.

    ReplyDelete
  2. While I refuse to fall for the 6CB scam, something I've seen as mildly intriguing is the 6CB+30 random cards blister pack. I can't find any solid info on it, and I'm wondering of you know what exactly these 30 cards are. Are they reprinted commons from The Dark? Pre-played ColdSnap?I must know!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The bonus cards seem pretty random. They range from new sets to at least Ice Age, and include pre-played (though some look to be M/NM). I've even found pieces of the Divine vs Demonic constructed deck inside (though, obviously, not the good cards... but I did get a Dark Ritual, and the 'rare' Serra Angel, which made me smile). So, all in all, there is a random chance of minor happiness with the bonus cards. (Which is better than the packs I saw at Target with 2 packs and 8 special cards, since those were mostly basic lands.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I must have been the luckiest person alive. I bought 2 of these 6 card boosters (unaware of what they were) and I got a rare in the first, and a plainswalker in the second.
    Who needs 29% or 4% odds when you have luck?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ive bought two of the Alara Reborn 6 card boosters that came with older cards. Im not sure where these older cards come from but there seem to be a good amount of rares and uncommons in them. Seems like blue but thats my color so I'm noticing them more than say green.

    As for the 6 card booster themselves I have got two regular rare and one foil of feldmist borderpost

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just picked up 2 of these packs on whim — pulled a mythic planeswalker (Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas). Best $4.50 I've ever spent on Magic.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bought a few earlier and pulled a tamiyo, the moon sage 30 dollar card from one from avacyn restored so pretty good

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just bought a few two mythical and shock land

    ReplyDelete