The game Magic the Gathering was revolutionary for its time. Throughout the years since Magic first began, it has evolved quite a bit, and there are many different products on the market that allow you to acquire cards. Therefore, how many packs are in booster boxes, will greatly depend on the type of booster box you buy.
On average, the number of packs in the booster box is 12 to 36 packs. Booster boxes containing draft packs will have 36 packs. Premium booster boxes will contain fewer packs starting from 12 packs a box. Booster boxes that have fewer packs will often contain higher valued cards.
Needless to say, there is far more to booster boxes than that. That being said, let’s take a deeper look into the booster pack types and how that influences how many cards are in the packs, as well as the most popular booster boxes and how many packs they have.
How Many Packs in Booster Boxes
| Box Type | Number of Packs |
|---|---|
| Draft Box | 36 |
| Special Box | 24 |
| Collector Box | 12 |
How Man Cards in A Booster Pack
| Booster Type | Number of Cards | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | 15 | $3.95 |
| Theme | 35 | $6.99 |
| Set | 12 | $4.95 |
| Collector | 15 | $12.99 |
| Welcome | 10 | Free |
Before going into the most popular booster boxes in the game Magic, it is important to have a good understanding of the various booster pack types in the game.
Collector Booster
The collector booster packs have a lot of variances, but they always have 15 cards per pack.
These tend to have more unique and hard-to-find cards and alternate art styles which is perfect for those who enjoy collecting things!
Set Booster
Unlike collector booster packs, the set booster pack only has 12 cards.
Of the twelve cards, present you will find a combination of art cards, basic lands, wild cards, showcase cards, rare cards, uncommon cards, and a token.
Theme Booster
Theme Boosters contain the most cards in a single pack.
Instead of 12 or 16 cards, they have 35 cards! They are themed, always have at least one card that is more rare or uncommon, and they are especially great for new players trying to round out a collection!
Draft Booster
Draft boosters are likely the most common types of booster packs you will come across.
Whether the player is a novice or expert, the draft type is for all! It always consists of 15 cards including 1 rare, 3 uncommon, 10 common, and 1 basic land.
Welcome Booster
Welcome Boosters were designed with the brand new player in mind and were often given out for free.
Depending on what set your Welcome Booster came from, the booster would contain the exact same 10 cards. These cards were designed to act as a sample to new players, containing legendary creatures, planeswalkers, rares, foils, showcase cards, and more.
Examples of Booster Boxes
Now that we’ve established a few definitions, let’s go over some specific examples of different packs that have come out over time, so you can get some real-world ideas of what your purchase might include.
The Modern Horizons 2 Set Booster Box
The Modern Horizons 2 Set Booster Box has a lot of perks to it!
It is made up of thirty of the Modern Horizons 2 set packs, so there should be twelve cards per pack making a total of three hundred and sixty cards in the booster box as a whole. In every pack, there will at least be one card that is a retro-frame or sketch card, a new or modern reprint card, and a foil card.
There can be a large variance in the amount of mystic rare cards in a pack. It is perhaps the most unique of the set, it has the most elements from the older original versions of the game Magic, and it is the only Booster Box with modern reprint cards inside it.
That being said, it is around two hundred and thirty dollars in price which makes it the most expensive of the booster boxes by a long shot. However, it is considered to be the best of the best.
The Strixhaven Set Booster Box
Strixhaven is a big part of the game of Magic’s storyline.
As a result, the Strixhaven Set Booster Box can be incredibly handy. It has thirty Strixhaven set packs, and each of those thirty packs has twelve cards in them. Even though there are only twelve cards per pack, it’s a pretty action-packed set.
Of the twelve cards, one will be a lesson card, there can be up to five rare cards that are either assorted or mystic, and there is a mystical archive in every set.
This booster box is deemed to be one of the best-priced boxes since its expected value was higher than other booster boxes.
The Kaldheim Set Booster Box
This booster box has thirty Kaldheim set packs in it.
Each of the packs has 12 cards in them, and the best part of that can be explained by the reputation the booster box has. It is known to be the booster box that has the most exciting packs to open, which can make it especially fun!
The primary basis that was used as a reference for this part in the story with the Magic adventure is the history and culture of the Nordic and Scandinavian Vikings. That background behind it gives it a fun and unique thrill that is different from the others.
The Zendikar Rising Set Booster Box
These thirty packs will have much to offer, and the Expedition Land box topper that is in this booster box is certainly a bonus!
Another perk is with the thirty booster packs in the booster box. Although the booster packs will only have 12 cards per pack, all thirty of those packs will each have at least one art land and one foil card. To go along with each of the packs, there will be an art card and a token.
There also is a 25% likelihood that it will have one of the treasured cards from the list going back to the early history of the game of magic.
The Strixhaven Draft Booster Box
In this pack, there are 36 different packs and a total of 540 cards.
Those packs consist of the various Strixhaven draft boosters, they have a mystical archive card, and a lesson card per pack. Each of the draft booster packs in the box will have 15 cards in them.
The Gatecrash Booster Box
The Gatecrash Booster Box has 36 packs in it, and it has gotten a lot of positive votes and feedback.
On a scale out of ten, it has managed to reach an impressive score of 9.8.
The Core Set 2020 (M20) or 2021 (M21) Booster Box
This Booster Box, at least the 2020 version, also has one of the highest consumer ratings with an amazing score of 9.6.
It has 36 different booster packs making a total of 540 cards in the box in its entirety. Purchasing this booster box can be a bit expensive, but depending on what you draw, it can totally be worth it as it offers a lot for the price.
As for the 2021 version, it has a bit lower of a score at 8.4. However, it is still a really neat booster box! It is unique from the others as it is a collector booster box.
The Commander Legends Draft Booster Box
This Booster Pack has twenty-four draft packs in it, so it has a total of 480 cards.
An extra bonus is that each of the twenty-four packs has at least two legendary cards in it! It additionally has a really good rating as it reaches a score of 9.2 on the scale.
The Time Spiral Remastered Draft Booster Box
The Time Spiral Remastered Draft Booster Box is quite a fun one!
It has thirty-six different draft booster packs which totals to the amount of five hundred and forty Magic cards.
The draft booster packs can be an adventure to experiment with, and where this booster pack is rated 8.9 on the scale, it is quite promising!
The Khans of Tarkir Sealed Booster Box
The Khans of Tarkir was a pretty pivotal set of the game, so having on hand the Khans of Tarkir Sealed Booster Box can be really helpful when you’ve reached that point in the journey of Magic.
It has thirty-six packs making a total of five hundred and forty cared. It also is rated pretty well as it has a score of 8.6.
Now, the packs in this booster box are super epic and have great cards, but because of that, it is more expensive than pretty much all of the other booster boxes.
The Conspiracy Take The Crown Booster Box
The Conspiracy: Take the Crown Booster Box is one full of quick-paced adventure at every turn and point!
This is a super fun one, especially with a great group to play with and join to participate in the adventure. It is rated as an 8.0 which is still really good! It does happen to be incredibly expensive though!
The Modern Horizons Booster Box
The Modern Horizons Booster Box follows suit with the Modern Horizons 2 Booster Box.
It has the modern reprints, and some of the old-school original characters in the game Magic. In the booster box as a whole, there are five hundred and forty cards.
It scores pretty well as it reaches the rate of 7.6, probably much in part to the unique features that come with both of the Modern Horizons Booster Boxes. It can also be a bit pricey, but is super fun and just might be worth it!
The Throne of Eldraine Booster Box
The Throne of Eldraine is a particularly fun part of the game Magic.
Playing with the Throne of Eldraine Booster Box can add more variety to that part of the game and make it extra lively! Also, it does happen to have a score of 7.4 which certainly is not bad.
There are thirty-six booster packs in the booster box, and each of those packs have cards especially beneficial for the Throne of Eldraine.
Needless to say, those additional five hundred and forty cards can potentially make quite a difference. Plus, something nice is that it is on the less expensive side of the spectrum as far as booster boxes go.
Here are some of my favorite TCG Accessories.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you found it helpful on your TCG journey. After 20 years of being in the Trading Card Game community, I commonly get asked what my recommendations are on X products. To help save everyone a bit of time, I’ve listed below my top picks as a TCG collector that I hope you’ll also find helpful.
These are affiliate links, so if you do decide to use them, I’ll earn a commission. But in all honesty, these are the exact accessories that I use and recommend to everyone, even my own friends and family.
Sleeves: If you want the best for Magic and Pokemon cards, I really like Dragon Shield Matte Art sleeves. They have an excellent shuffling feel to them and have great durability, so you don’t have to worry about them breaking on you. If you want my full thoughts on these sleeves, check out my written sleeve review.
Binders: For competitive Magic and Pokemon players, go with the Vault X 12 Pocket Binder. I’m a big fan of 12 pocket binders for keeping playsets of 4 together and this binder is good quality without premium prices. For the pure TCG collectors, I would recommend Dragon Sheild 9 Pocket binders.
Deck Boxes: If you are looking for a solid deck box, then you can’t go wrong with Ultra Pro Towers. Fantastic protection at affordable prices, everything you need. If you want to get a bit fancy like me, go with the Gamegenic Watchtower.