Card packs are the primary means of obtaining cards. Card packs may be purchased using in-game currency Resources, or gained as rewards in Events. A free pack may also be claimed at regular intervals.
Missing cards may be obtained by Crafting. Cards may not be traded between players.
Drop rate quantification was altered in September 2022 to show the probability that a card rarity would appear in the entire pack. Previously (the rates in brackets), probabilities indicated the chance that a given card would be of a given rarity, and thus the percentages added up to 100%.
The current wording for (%) percentage chance list is: "The percentages below refer to the odds of getting at least one card from the associated rarity within the entire purchase "
Once acquired, a card pack may be opened at any time. Waiting will not change them. Opening a card pack provides a fixed number of random cards, generally from the same card set. These opened cards may be new for the player, or already owned ("duplicates" or "dupes").
- New cards are added to the player's collection, and may subsequently be added to Decks.
- Duplicate cards are converted to runes () and mana orb () Resources.
The contents of some packs, e.g. Elite packs, are fixed when they are awarded or bought. Waiting to open them will never change what sets or card groups their contents may be drawn from. The contents of other packs are determined when opened, so what determines the contents may change before it is opened. I.e., cards from new sets may be added to the possibilities, and cards from Standard that rotate out to Legacy may be removed. Information about what a pack will and will not contain is usually found first, and first hand, from Coalitions and MtGPQ Discord channels, or the Elite pack tracking articles.
Contents
Rarities
Each card has a rarity of either Common , Uncommon , Rare , Mythic , or Masterpiece . Progressively rarer cards are less likely to drop from packs, according to drop rates set by the publisher. Drop rates may change at any time.
Some rarities never drop from some pack types. Normally, cards of all rarity except Masterpiece can be obtained by Crafting. Masterpiece cards may only be crafted as a VIP bonus.
Pack types
Regular pack types
Current and previous probabilities. For sale, regularly, for various currencies
- ★ : Unknown whether this is current value
- ‡ : Current data ingame as of October 2022
Pack type | # cards | Cost | Notes | Per 100 cards ★ / Per pack ‡ | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | U | R | M | MP | ||||
Booster Pack | 5 | 60 | 5 cards; rates vary slightly per set | 55 / ~ 98% |
39 / ~ 92% |
5 / ~ 24% |
1.4 / ~ 7% |
0.1 / 0.36% |
Super Pack | 15 | 150 | 3 Booster packs | |||||
Premium Pack | 26 | 300 | 5 Booster Packs plus a random rare | |||||
Free Booster | 3 | - | Three random cards from Standard sets | 82 / 99.49% |
15 / 38.06% |
2 / 7.08% |
0.1 / 0.23% |
- / 0.00% |
Elite Pack | 1 | 400 | (Mythic+ Pack) A single non-dupe Mythic or better | - | - | - | 70 / 71.44% |
30 / 28.56% |
120 | (Rare+ Pack) A single Rare or better | - | - | 75 / 74.61% |
22 / 22.39% |
3 / 3% |
The contents of Elite packs are tracked on the wiki at Elite pack tracking.
Unusual or obsolete pack types
Current and previous probabilities. Offered as rewards and rarely if ever for currency, or no longer for sale
- ★ : Unknown whether this is current value
- ‡ : Current data ingame as of October 2022
Pack type | # cards | Cost | Notes | Per 100 cards ★ / Per pack ‡ | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | U | R | M | MP | ||||
Basic Booster | 3 | - | Three random cards from the ORI, KLD, AER, AKH and HOU sets | 73 / 97.97% | 23 / 54.94% | 3.6 / 10.28% | 0.4 / 1.07% | 0.02 / 0.07% |
Standard Booster | 5 | - | Five random cards from Standard sets | 97.96% | 91.58% | 24.13% | 6.96% | .36% |
Legacy Booster | 5 | - | Five random cards from Legacy sets | % | % | % | % | % |
Standard Booster (non-duplicate) | 5 | - | 5 cards from Standard sets; each will not be the same as any card already owned ★ | 97.96% | 91.58% | 24.13% | 6.96% | .36% |
Legacy Bundle (non-duplicate) | 5 | - | 5 cards from Legacy sets; each will not be the same as any card already owned ★ | 97.96% | 91.58% | 24.13% | 6.96% | .36% |
Free Pack | 1 | - | (Obsolete, replaced by 3-card Free Pack) One random card | 83 | 15 | 2 | 0.1 | - |
Fat Pack | 20 | 200 | 4 Booster packs (Reward only; no longer for sale) | 54 | 41 | 4 | 1 | - |
Big Box | 71 | 600 | 14 Booster packs plus a random rare or mythic (Obsolete, replaced by Premium Pack) |
★ If, for example, the player owns all , and cards, non-duplicate packs can contain only and cards. Therefore, the percentages shown must be a starting point: the probabilities as if no cards were owned
Around AFR, releases of selected cards were offered in the Vault: packs of a single color, and later, themed, named packs. An example of the latter is "Bloody Glory", a Kaldheim pack accessing 30% of the set's cards at a 50% higher price and up to 19 times higher rate of rare cards: 96.39%, 82.12%, 54.48%, 27.81%, and 7.07% chance of a Masterpiece.
Packs and releases
The likely contents of Booster packs of any given set will, by definition, differ from those of another set not only by their particular cards, but in the probability of a given rarity appearing. And for the same reason: the sets are different.
Hibernum expansions
As of October 2022, there were 37 sets released, but there are only 34 Booster packs available. Eldritch Moon cards were moved into Shadows over Innistrad packs, Oath of the Gatewatch to Battle for Zendikar, and Aether Revolt was rolled into Kaladesh.[1] Hibernum made them expansion sets; they are, as of 2022, not available to purchase on their own,[2] although they have been offered as prizes on occasion.
Subsets only contain one-third or so of the associated Magic: the Gathering set's cards. Commons were the first to go, and none of the three have a single . Not having Masterpieces is a separate issue; KLD was the first to have , AER has them, and BFZ and SOI do not.
Main set cards or packs are often offered as rewards in subset events, and presumably to offset card availability imbalance, Eldritch Moon had its cards given as rewards in the main set's event:
- As of October 2022, an EMN Rare is still given as a reward in Avacyn's Madness; not in a pack, but "loose", as are rewards for Training
- Special 5-card booster packs with 65 of the 67 Eldritch Moon cards were constructed to award as additional, holiday season prizes in the December 2022 running of Avacyn's Madness.
Hour of Devastation was the first set to not be added to the pool of cards of the previous, odd-numbered release. All of this may sound dire, but most of it either benefits the player or balances out. Commons tend to be less useful. Not having Masterpieces means that more powerful cards tend to be found at the Mythic or even Rare level, to which Omniscience and Whir of Invention attest. Players were concerned, when Hour of Devastation was announced, that its large card pool would make acquiring Amonkhet cards too difficult, but it was not made into an expansion. The small size of the three expansion sets, with their smaller card pool, less diluted their main sets.
Booster packs by set
The drop rate of Booster packs released early on vary from those released today, and from each other. Releases after M20 all have the same probabilities now, if they did not at release. Sets as far back as Kaladesh had or were given the same probabilities as today, but the set that began the current continuity of unvarying 97.96%, 91.58%, 24.13%, 6.96%, 0.36% probabilities is Core Set 2020.
Probability | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Set | C | U | Rare | Mythic | MP |
Origins ORI | 99.71% | 75.65% | 23.37% | 5.92% | - |
Battle for Zendikar BFZ | 99.71% | 75.81% | 23.31% | 5.82% | - |
Shadows over Innistrad SOI | 99.67% | 75.43% | 27.4% | 6.22% | - |
Eldritch Moon EMN | - | 100% | 1.4% | 32.52% | - |
Kaladesh KLD | 97.96% | 91.58% | 24.13% | 6.96% | 0.36% |
Amonkhet AKH | 97.98% | 91.62% | 23.62% | 6.97% | 0.36% |
Hour of Devastation HOU | 97.96% | 91.63% | 23.46% | 7.29% | 0.5% |
Ixalan XLN | 98.64% | 89.96% | 18.42% | 6.32% | 0.99% |
Rivals of Ixalan RIX | 97.98% | 91.52% | 24.45% | 6.61% | 0.35% |
Dominaria DOM | 97.95% | 91.61% | 23.45% | 7.57% | 0.5% |
Core Set 2019 M19 | 97.96% | 91.63% | 23.46% | 7.29% | 0.5% |
Guilds of Ravnica GRN | 97.96% | 91.58% | 24.13% | 6.96% | 0.36% |
Ravnica Allegiance RNA | 97.93% | 91.52% | 24.08% | 8.06% | 0.36% |
War of the Spark WAR | 97.96% | 91.56% | 24.14% | 6.96% | 0.36% |
Odyssey Block (From the Vault: ODY TOR JUD; 75 ) | - | 99.97% | 55.24% | 17.93% | 7.66% |
Odyssey ODY | - | 99.97% | 55.24% | 17.93% | 7.66% |
Odyssey ODY Collector rewards (3 cards) | - | 94.02% | 61.65% | 21.47% | 11.59% |
Torment TOR Collector rewards (3 cards) | - | 94.02% | 61.65% | 21.47% | 11.59% |
Judgement JUD Collector rewards (3 cards) | - | 94.02% | 61.65% | 21.47% | 11.59% |
Current (M20 onwards) | 97.96% | 91.58% | 24.13% | 6.96% | .36% |
Elite packs by set
Elite pack probabilities vary throughout MtGPQ history, up to and including the present.
Probability | |||
---|---|---|---|
Set | Rare | Mythic | MP |
Kaladesh KLD | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Kaladesh KLD | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Amonkhet AKH | - | % | % |
Hour of Devastation HOU Rare+ | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Hour of Devastation HOU Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Ixalan XLN Rare+ | 81.92% | 16.48% | 1.6% |
Ixalan XLN Mythic+ | - | 75.01% | 24.99% |
Dominaria DOM Rare+ | 71.45% | 25.70% | 2.85% |
Dominaria DOM Mythic+ | - | 64.31% | 35.69% |
Core Set 2019 M19 Rare+ | 74.60% | 22.40% | 3% |
Core Set 2019 M19 Mythic+ | - | 71.45% | 28.55% |
Guilds of Ravnica | |||
Ravnica Allegiance | |||
War of the Spark | |||
Core Set 2020 M20 Rare+ | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Core Set 2020 M20 Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Throne of Eldraine | |||
Theros Beyond Death | |||
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths IKO Rare+ | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths IKO Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Core Set 2021 | |||
Zendikar Rising ZNR Rare+ | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Zendikar Rising ZNR Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Kaldheim | |||
Strixhaven STX Rare+ | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Strixhaven STX Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Adventures in the Forgotten Realms AFR Rare+ | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Adventures in the Forgotten Realms AFR Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Midnight Hunt MID Rare+ | 74.61% | 22.4% | 3% |
Midnight Hunt MID Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Crimson Vow VOW Rare+ | 74.64% | 22.36% | 3% |
Crimson Vow VOW Mythic+ | - | 71.44% | 28.56% |
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty NEO Rare+ | 74.63% | 22.39% | 2.99% |
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty NEO Mythic+ | - | 71.43% | 28.57% |
Streets of New Capenna SNC Rare+ | 74.61% | 22.39% | 3% |
Streets of New Capenna SNC Mythic+ | - | 71.45% | 28.55% |
Dominaria United DMU Rare+ | 75.08% | 22.52% | 2.4% |
Dominaria United DMU Mythic+ | - | 75.76% | 24.24% |
The Brothers' War BRO Rare+ | 74.61% | 22.4% | 3% |
The Brothers' War BRO Mythic+ | - | 71.44% | 28.56% |