Magic: The Gathering is one of the most popular tabletop games in the world. With millions of players, tens of thousands of cards, and new releases coming out all the time, it’s a constantly evolving game that can be played in an almost endless number of ways.
RELATED: Everything You Need To Know About Magic: The Gathering’s Transformers Cards
However, getting into it can be a bit overwhelming. If you’re buying for yourself or for a friend, knowing what the best thing to get can be a lot of information to process. Fortunately, here are the most recent releases, as well as what each one includes.
Updated January 2, 2023 by Joe Parlock: With 2022 behind us, there is plenty of new Magic: The Gathering stuff to buy. From the ancient battles of The Brothers’ War to the zany mayhem of Jumpstart 2022, there’s something for everyone here, veterans and newcomers alike.
Jumpstart 2022 was the long-awaited follow-up to 2020’s surprise hit, Jumpstart. The idea is so simple, it’s shocking Wizards hadn’t done it sooner: open two booster packs, each with their own theme, and shuffle them up.
It’s a quick and easy way for newcomers to get into Magic, while also offering powerful cards and valuable reprints for the veterans. Keep in mind that Jumpstart 2022 is a full set of its own, with exclusive cards and reprints, and is different to the Jumpstart boosters released for Dominaria United and The Brothers’ War.
Jumpstart 2022 Draft Booster Box
As Jumpstart is meant to be played in a specific way, it is only available as Draft boosters. The Set and Collector boosters of other sets aren’t available here.
The Jumpstart Draft Booster Box contains 24 packs, with each pack including 20 cards each. Every pack is a specific theme – such as Wolves, Morbid, or Teamwork – and includes between seven and eight lands, one or two rares, and the rest split between common and uncommon.
Each pack of Jumpstart 2022 also includes one showcase card, which is a card with alternate art unique to the set. For Jumpstart 2022, that theme is manga art, with various manga artists contributing new takes on popular cards.
Jumpstart 2022 doesn’t include any box toppers or buy-a-box promo cards.
Get it on Amazon here!
The Brothers’ War
The Brothers’ War Key Art by Dominik Mayer
The final Standard-legal set of 2022, The Brothers’ War took us back to one of Magic’s oldest stories with the battle between Urza and his brother Mishra. It was a set full of history, giant mechs, and the body-stealing Phyrexians in one of their earliest appearances.
On top of an excellent set, The Brothers’ War included multiple side-sets you could find in packs, from the retro-framed artifact reprints to the Universes Beyond crossover with Transformers. It also included two new Commander decks with a very retro twist.
The Brothers’ War Draft Booster Box
Draft boosters for The Brothers’ War are the best thing to buy if you want to play the set’s limited formats, such as draft and sealed. These are the most basic type of booster pack, but they still include enough special extras for those on a budget.
Like all other premiere sets, Draft boosters for The Brothers’ War include 36 booster packs, each containing 15 cards. Each pack can contain one retro-framed artifact card of either uncommon, rare, or mythic rarity, one rare or mythic rare, three uncommons, nine commons, and one basic land (25 percent of Draft boosters will replace this land with a full-art basic land instead).
Draft boosters are the only packs that don’t include any of the Transformers crossover cards.
Get it on Amazon here!
The Brothers’ War Set Booster Box
Set boosters are the best way to get bling for your decks without breaking the bank on expensive Collector boosters. While these cost more than Draft boosters, and can’t be used to play draft or sealed formats, they feature art treatments and cards that are impossible to find in Draft boosters, making them ideal for collectors.
The Set booster box contains 24 packs of 12 cards each. Like Drafts, you’ll receive a retro-framed artifact of any rarity. You’ll also get one rare or mythic from the main set, one foil of any rarity, two “wildcards” (random cards from the main set, the Commander- or Jumpstart-exclusive cards, or from the Transformers crossover) of any rarity, three uncommons, three commons, and one basic land.
Set boosters also have a 25% chance of including a bonus card from “The List”, a rotating list of older cards. These can range from simply interesting pieces of Magic’s history to absolute powerhouses that are more valuable than the rest of the set, making finding any List card an exciting moment.
Get it on Amazon here!
The Brothers’ War Bundle And Gift Bundle
If you’re not able to splash out on a full booster box, Bundles are a great way of having a fun pack opening experience on a budget.
Both bundles contain eight Set booster packs, a 20-sided spindown life counter (either red or green), a pack of 40 basic lands, and two promo cards: a retro-framed Queen Kayla Bin-Kroog, and one card from the Transformers crossover.
The Gift Bundle has a few differences. The spindown counter is replaced with a blue Transformers-themed one, which is exclusive to the gift bundle, and also comes with one Collector booster. Considering Collector boosters cost almost $30 on their own, one included in this often makes Gift bundles one of the best deals in MTG.
As The Brothers’ War’s Collector boosters have one guaranteed Transformers card in them, this means the Gift Bundle will definitely give you at least two of the cards from the crossover, as opposed to the one promised in regular Bundles.
Get the Regular version on Amazon here! Get the Gift version on Amazon here!
The Brothers’ War Collector Booster Box
The crème de la crème for Magic: The Gathering is the Collector booster. Full of alternate art, some of which is exclusively found here, they are by far both the most expensive and also the most valuable boosters of all.
Collector booster boxes include 12 packs of 15 cards, and each individual pack includes: one guaranteed foil rare or mythic rare (from the main set or from the retro artifact reprints), two non-foil retro reprints, one foil retro reprint, one Transformers card, one foil rare or mythic rare, one non-foil rare or mythic rare, a nonfoil rare or mythic rare from the Commander- or Jumpstart-exclusive cards, one guaranteed foil full-art land, two foil uncommons, four foil commons, and an exclusive double-sided token.
Collector boosters are the only way to find three different art treatments: one percent of packs will include “serialised” retro artifact reprints, which have a unique identifying serial code on them to make them the only one like it in the world. Meanwhile, there is a 12 percent chance of finding a “Shattered Glass” Transformers card, which reimagines the series’ heroes as villains, and vice-versa.
Finally, numerous cards in the packs have a chance of being either extended (where the art spreads across the card and spills over the border), or full-art (where it reaches from top to bottom as well as side to side).
In other words, Collectors boosters are an overwhelming surge of bling that you won’t get in any other pack, making a Booster Box of it a real treat.
Get it on Amazon here!
The Brothers’ War Jumpstart Booster Box
Introduced in Dominaria United, Jumpstart boosters make a comeback for The Brothers’ War, giving you an easy way to quickly get into what this set has to offer.
Like the larger Jumpstart sets, each pack includes 20 cards based on one of five themes – for The Brothers’ War, this can include things like a blue Powerstone Tokens pack, or a green Titanic pack all about buffing large creatures. You shuffle two packs together, and you’re immediately ready for a new game.
Booster boxes include 18 packs of 20 cards each – enough for you and a friend to get nine games in. Each pack includes two guaranteed foil lands, six non-foil lands, and two rares (one of which is a Jumpstart booster exclusive). The rest will be split between common and uncommon cards.
Keep in mind that Jumpstart boosters are the only Brothers’ War boosters that don’t include retro artifact reprints, and also don’t include the Transformers crossover cards.
Get it on Amazon here!
The Brothers’ War Preconstructed Commander Decks
As The Brothers’ War is a set all about Magic’s history, its Commander decks are the first ever to be entirely printed in retro frames that call back to the early days of the game. Between Urza’s Iron Alliance and Mishra’s Burnished Banner, tons of cards are printed in this popular treatment for the first time, and there are a ton of exclusive cards debuting here for the first time as well.
Urza’s Iron Alliance is a white/blue/black deck that’s all about building up a wide army of artifact creatures, that all then get bigger with each further artifact you play. Meanwhile, Mishra’s Burnished Banner is all about sacrificing artifacts and finding ways to bring them back from the graveyard for profit.
Each box includes a 100-card deck, with each one including 10 brand-new cards and 90 reprints, including lands. They also include a life tracker, deck box, and a Collector booster sample pack, which includes two cards that could be found in any Collector booster pack.
Get the Urza deck on Amazon here! Get the Mishra deck on Amazon here! Get both on Amazon here!
Unfinity
The Big Top by Kirsten Zirngibl
Right now is a really interesting time for Magic, as in its almost 30-year history we’ve only ever had a handful of ‘Un-sets’; or parody releases that poke fun at the game. The latest of these parody sets is Unfinity, which takes us to the outer space funfair of Myra the Magnificent’s Intergalactic Astrotorium of Fun.
Unfinity is full of cards that get your playgroup to do everything from wear hats to throwing cards across the table. It’s a wacky, radically different take on the MTG we usually get to play, and, in a first for Un-sets, it even includes cards you can slot into your other decks.
Unfinity Draft Booster Box
Unfinity is a smaller-scale release than major sets like Dominaria United, and so is only available in two forms. The first are Draft boosters, which are designed to be played in limited games using just what you pull from a pack. Considering Un-sets are almost always designed to be played in a limited way, this is usually the best way to experience Unfinity.
Draft boosters for Unfinity contain 14 cards, and one sticker sheet. In every pack you’ll receive one guaranteed full-art “Space-ic Land” that reimagines Magic’s usual Plains, Islands, Swamps, Mountains, and Forests are either alien scenes or gazing down at planets from orbit. There’s a four percent chance for boosters to include a Borderless Shock Land – valuable lands that are highly playable in multiple different formats, and are definitely going to be in high demand. You’ll also get one rare or mythic rare in every pack.
In every box, you’ll also get a Box Topper in its own, individual wrapper. For Unfinity, these box toppers are foil Borderless Shock Lands, guaranteeing you’ll get at least one when you buy a box.
Get it on Amazon here!
Unfinity Collector’s Booster Box
All you need to do is look at the wrapping for Unfinity’s Collector’s boosters to see exactly what this set is all about. Full of quirky characters and retro futuristic style, it’s an artistic treat on top of a zany set to play.
For Unfinity, every single card in a Collector’s booster is foil. In those 15 cards, you’ll get up to five space-y “Galaxy foils”, including one definite galaxy foiled land, and up to 12 traditional foils. You’ll also get a guaranteed reprint of a card from an earlier Un-set, something that has never happened in a booster product like Unfinity before.
Keep in mind that you can’t draft with a Collector’s booster, mostly because it lacks the sticker sheets found in Draft boosters. However, it does include lots of flash and stylish cards to pull, and the chance of getting exclusive galaxy-foiled cards makes it all worthwhile.
Get it on Amazon here!
Dominaria United
Dominaria United Key Art by Bram Sels
Magic: The Gathering’s Dominaria United kicked off its 30th-anniversary celebrations. Returning to its original setting of Dominaria, it featured tons of legendary creatures to build new Commander decks around, as well as heralded in a whole new era for Magic’s main ruleset (or ‘format’), Standard.
There are lots of ways to pick up Dominaria United that suit all kinds of players. Here’s everything you need to know about buying MTG’s newest set, Dominaria United.
Dominaria United Draft Booster Box
Dominaria United’s draft boosters are mostly aimed at those who like playing limited formats. These are the most basic kind of booster pack, featuring 15 cards, including one guaranteed rare card, one basic land card, and one in three packs includes a shiny foil card.
While they’re the most basic, they’re also the most versatile if you’re buying for someone else, as only draft packs can be used in draft and sealed games, but still includes the same cards, and chances of getting the fancier alternate-art “showcase” style. Each draft booster also includes one guaranteed legendary creature, which means Dominaria United is especially good for fans of the Commander format.
Draft booster boxes include 36 booster packs, for a total of 541 cards. All booster packs also include a box topper, an extra promotional card in its own packet. For Dominaria United, these are the Legends Retold series, which reimagines characters from Magic’s history in new ways.
Get it on Amazon here!
Dominaria United Set Booster Box
Set booster boxes are aimed at a slightly different type of player than a Draft box. Set boosters are not designed for limited play, and are instead made for the enjoyment of ‘cracking packs’. While Set boosters contain fewer cards than a Draft pack (12 rather than 15), you’re more likely to find alternate art, exclusive cards, and foils.
You’re also more likely to find rare cards, as up to four cards in every Set booster can be rare, rather than just the one in a Draft. Of those twelve cards, at least one will be rare, one will be foil, and, for Dominaria United, one will also be a legendary creature. Set boosters also have one more thing that sets them apart: The List. The List is a collection of older cards that are chosen to be reprinted, and can include everything from obscure cards from 30 years ago to absolute powerhouses of the game today. The List cards appear in one in every four Set booster packs.
A Set booster box includes 30 packs of 12 cards each and one foil box topper from the Legends Retold collection, for a total of 361 cards. That may seem like fewer cards than a Draft box for roughly the same price, but for those who like bling or don’t really bother with playing in drafts, Set boosters are a fantastic choice.
Get it on Amazon here!
Dominaria United Set Booster Bundle
Booster boxes are a pretty hefty investment. Sometimes you don’t want to buy 30+ packs for over $100, you just want a small sampling of what the set has to offer. Fortunately, that’s what Booster Bundles are for.
Dominaria United’s Set Booster Bundle contains eight Set booster packs, a 20-sided dice that functions as a spindown life counter, and a pack of basic lands with a free promo card. This promo is exclusive to bundles, with a foil, alt-art Herd Migration available.
A surprising upside of bundles is actually the box itself. Dominaria United’s bundle box is very stylish, featuring two of the game’s most popular characters, Liliana Vess and Ajani Goldmane, on either side. More than just looking good, these are excellent storage solutions, and can easily hold more cards than just the ones that come in it for those with unruly collections spilling over every surface.
Get it on Amazon here!
Dominaria United Collector’s Booster Box
The cream of the crop of MTG booster packs are the Collector’s boosters. These are a lot more expensive than their Set and Draft counterparts, but there are plenty of exclusive art treatments available only in Collector’s boosters that make them a good pick for anyone wanting only the best of the best.
Each Collector’s booster contains 15 cards, with up to 13 of them being foil. Five or six cards will be guaranteed rares, and in Dominaria United two foil legendary creatures are also included. Notably, Collector’s boosters are also the only way to get extended art versions of exclusive cards only normally found within the Commander decks.
Dominaria United Collector’s boosters also include Lost Legends, which are cards from 1994’s set Legends included in three percent of packs. Not reprints; actual, physical cards taken from sealed Legends booster packs and repackaged. These are exceptionally rare, as many cards from Legends have never been reprinted, and some can also be incredibly valuable.
Each Collector’s booster box contains 12 packs of 15 cards each, and one box topper, for a total of 181 cards. Though this is the most expensive product for Dominaria United, it’s also by far the most eye-catching for anyone who wants to bling out their deck with fancy foils and art treatments.
Get it on Amazon here!
Dominaria United Jumpstart Booster Box
A new type of booster pack introduced in Dominaria United were set tie-in Jumpstart packs. Jumpstar was an incredibly popular release back in 2020 that challenges you to take two random themed packs and shuffle them together to make a fully playable deck.
This is limited for those who don’t enjoy drafting and playing sealed. Quick to get going and easy to understand, it takes all the stressful decision-making out of playing and helps you get into games much faster. Not only that, but each Jumpstart booster pack includes an exclusive card not found in other packs.
Each Jumpstart booster box includes 18 packs, with each one having two foil lands, two rares (including those exclusives), and ten potential themes to play with. These will also be compatible with future Jumpstart packs, meaning you can mix and match Dominaria United’s the upcoming Brothers’ War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and March of the Machine’s.
Get it on Amazon here!
Dominaria United Preconstructed Commander Decks
Most MTG sets include a few preconstructed decks for the game’s most popular format, Commander. Preconstructed decks are a great pick if you’re buying for someone else, as not only is there a high chance that they already play Commander, they also include a lot of cards you can’t get elsewhere.
Painbow is one of two decks for Dominaria United, and plays with all five of the game’s colours in a single deck thanks to its exclusive ‘face commander’, Jared Carthalion. There’s loads of powerful cards in here for tearing apart and putting in your own decks, or it can be kept whole and played with other ‘precons’ to ensure everyone at the table has similarly powerful decks to play with.
Get it on Amazon here!
Meanwhile, Legends’ Legacy is a red, white, and black deck that packs in loads of other legendary creatures into a single deck. This makes it perfect for those who like building their own Commander decks, as it’s chock full of other potential commanders to play with. Of course, like Painbow, it’s also a fully-playable deck balanced to ensure you’ll have a good time when playing against other preconstructed decks.
Get it on Amazon here!
Each preconstructed commander deck for Dominaria United includes the 100-card deck, a life counter, a pack of double-sided token cards, a thicker, cardboard ‘display card’ of its Commander, and a two-card Collector’s booster sample pack. Sample packs can have almost anything you’d find in a regular Collector’s booster, like foils and extended art prints. The only thing you’re not able to find in sample packs are the Lost Legends cards.
Other Magic: The Gathering Products
Commissar Severina by Jake Murray
While most Magic releases come as part of wider sets, there are also standalone products worth picking up. These may include brand-new cards, much-needed reprints, or games you can play straight out of the box.
Starter Commander Decks
Commander is Magic: The Gathering’s most popular format, but its 100-card decks can also be intimidating for newcomers. That makes the Starter Commander Decks such an appealing option, as they’re a budget way to get into the format with four simple-to-play, yet powerful decks.
There are five decks available: the white/blue First Flight, blue/black Grave Danger, black/red Chaos Incarnate, red/green Draconic Destruction, and green/white Token Triumph. Each box includes tokens, a deck box, and a life tracker, however it won’t include the Collector booster sample pack you find in other preconstructed Commander decks.
Each deck can be purchased separately, or you can buy all five as a bundle to really kickstart your game night.
Get the First Flight deck on Amazon here! Get the Grave Danger deck on Amazon here! Get the Chaos Incarnate deck on Amazon here!
Get the Draconic Destruction deck on Amazon here! Get the Token Triumph deck on Amazon here! Get all of them on Amazon here!
Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond – Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks
Based on the immensely popular tabletop game by Games Workshop, these four decks recreate Warhammer 40,000’s various factions, such as the Imperium of Man, Necrons, Chaos, and the Tyranids. Each deck is fully legal with Magic’s prolific Commander format, and has 100 cards, tokens, spindown life trackers, and a deckbox.
While most sets get preconstructed Commander decks, the Warhammer 40,000 decks go one step further by having most of their cards be brand new to the game and not available anywhere else. Each deck includes more than 40 original cards, with the remainder being reprints of popular Commander cards with new, Warhammer-themed art.
Each deck can either be bought individually (Tyranid Swarm, Forces of the Imperium, The Ruinous Powers, and Necron Dynasties), or in a bundle that includes all four together. Keep in mind that, unlike a set tie-in Commander deck, these do not include the two-card Collector’s booster sample pack.
Instead, in a first for Commander decks, Warhammer 40,000 also introduces Collector’s Editions, which print the entire deck in a new kind of foiling Wizards describes as “surge foil”. Surge foiling differs from other styles of foiling in that it gives the cards a less uniform, almost oil-slick-like finish that looks really, really nice.
Get Tyranid Swarm on Amazon here! Get The Ruinous Powers on Amazon here! Get Necron Dynasties on Amazon here! Get Forces of the Imperium on Amazon here! Get all four on Amazon here!
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NEXT: MTG: The Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks, Ranked
