What's Hot in Mystery Booster 2?
Festival at Your Convenience
Festival in a Box brings a colossal selection of cards and on-the-nose references after a three-year hiatus. The first iteration of
Priced at $250, the Festival in a Box bundle included several bonus/fun items to enhance the value. Approximately $92 of the market value came from three Collector Boosters, while an additional $16 was allocated/tied to the Secret Lair Li'l Legends, and $23 to miscellaneous cards previously available during MagicCon. Currently, retailers are reselling these boxes for around $350-$500. Although prices have heightened due to limited availability, they’re expected to normalize once boxes begin to circulate during the next MagicCon.
Indicate
Playtest cards have been a key feature of the Mystery Booster experience since its first iteration. Each booster includes at least one card straight from R&D or simply a fun community joke. While these cards add an element of fun and excitement to sealed events, they hold little value overall. With both the previous release and this latest one, the initial reveal drummed up a wave of excitement, translating to quick market spikes, only to be followed by a sharp price crash for Playtest cards. Since these cards can’t be used outside of Mystery Booster sealed events, the demand remains limited.
Currently, the main buyers of Playtest cards are players building cubes or EDH decks where Rule Zero is more loosely applied. Due to the relatively low demand, these cards can often be picked up quite cheaply. The most interesting card out of this set is
Power Nine at Home
The creation and management of resources are principal aspects of the game. Whether it's playing lands, creating tokens, or deciding when to trade cards for damage, most decisions revolve around the cards we choose to play with. However, with the rise of digital Magic and the introduction of Alchemy, some of these principles have shifted. Mechanics that would have been difficult to track on paper are now possible, though the printing of these cards into physical being has skewed players' perception of the game.
The most controversial example is the
Other Alchemy cards aren’t nearly as imbalanced. However, one notable offender is
With these cards now being printed on paper for the first time, their prices reflect both novelty and demand. Oracle of the Alpha currently leads with a price of $282, followed by Rusko, Clockmaker at $205. On the lower end of the spectrum,
Future Whiteouts
As the variety of art treatments continues to expand in this product, two major themes stand out: the return of white border cards and Future Shifted frames. Many newer stylized cards have received the white border treatment, which makes them appear somewhat jarring. A prime example of this is
Meanwhile, the Future Sight frame makes a reappearance, offering many newer players their first interaction with this type of framing. While certainly unique, both the Future Sight and white border treatments feel like refined, niche design choices rather than broadly appealing styles. I appreciate how the gray artifact frame is used in this release, enhancing the general appeal. Cards like
Additionally, some CEDH staples that were creeping up in price have been reprinted with the Future Sight treatment.
Avant-Garde
The final highlight is the inclusion of Vanguard-style cards in the Future Sight frames. These foils appear in roughly 5% of packs and feature artwork previously used in Vanguard. Given the reuse of this nostalgic art and the low chance to open the cards, I suspect that these will be highly sought after by EDH players.
The two main drivers in this section are
See You There, Chaos Draft
Mystery Booster 2 is a product infused with thoughtfulness and nostalgia, reflecting an appreciation for the game and the elements that have made it great over the years. From a financial perspective, I'm impressed by the value proposition the product offers, along with the wide variety of cards and treatments included. While I do wonder if we would have received a product like this without the events of 2019, I'm certainly glad we have it now.
MagicCon offers a very different experience compared to kitchen table Magic or competing in your LGS. Yet, this product manages to capture much of the same excitement that MagicCon delivers - now accessible from the comfort of your own home.
Join me again next time as we lay down the Foundations for the next five years.
Further Reading:
Matt Grzechnik started playing Magic with the release of Dragon's Maze. Since then he has tried and experimented with all of the formats before discovering his love for EDH and Pauper. Piloting the same Jund deck for the last 10 years, he now tries to both understand and break Sealed as a format.
