Bloomburrows Value Boosters are a big misstep for MTG

Just when you thought things were finally settling down in the MTG booster pack department, along comes new horror. There’s been a lot of experimentation in this space over the past few years, with Set, Draft, and Jumpstart boosters being tried and discontinued in rapid succession. Things started to stabilize on Play and Collector boosters with the last few sets, but now Value boosters are here to shake up MTG once again.

This is a new option that is reminiscent of some incredibly unpopular products from Magic’s past. It also offers a significant reduction in value compared to regular boosters and does little to appease those who see WotC as cynical and money-grabbing. Unsurprisingly, many MTG players were not at all happy from the moment the new Value Boosters were revealed.

What are MTG Bloomburrow Value Boosters?

Going back a bit, let’s look at what exactly MTG Value Boosters are. They were announced yesterday in an article on the official MTG website. The article was very short and not very detailed, but it still gives us an overview of the new boosters.

“Value Boosters are smaller, lighter boosters that contain a handful of new cards that every fan can enjoy – a budget-friendly way to Bloomburrow.”

Wizard of the Coast

Essentially, Value Boosters are new seven-card booster packs that are guaranteed not to contain a rare card. Instead, these new packs contain three commons, two uncommons, one wild card of any rarity, and one pseudo-wild card that can be a land, a traditional foil, or a special guest card.

Theoretically, a Value Booster can contain up to two rare cards. This is touted on the product’s packaging, as seen above. While this is technically true, there is no guarantee that you will get rare cards, let alone two in a single Value Booster.

Unfortunately, while Value Boosters are positioned as a budget option for players, no information was given on pricing. This is not surprising, as Wizards of the Coast has stopped assigning MSRPs to products. Because of this, it is currently incredibly difficult to assess whether Value Boosters actually provide real value to players.

Although this lack of information makes a final verdict almost impossible, many MTG players have already voiced their opinion. They are, to say the least, unenthusiastic.

Deceive me once…

Value Boosters are technically a brand new initiative for MTG, but they’re eerily similar to recent products from Magic’s past. In terms of the number of cards included, they’re reminiscent of the Epilogue boosters from March of the Machine: the Aftermath and the Beyond boosters from the Assassin’s Creed set.

This is a worrying sign, as the former were so bad that Wizards scrapped Aftermath sets and Epilogue Boosters entirely. Even the new and improved Beyond Boosters, which learned from the failed Epilogue Boosters, are getting a frosty reception. However, the Assassin’s Creed set is barely a week old, so opinions are still evolving.

Given these past problems, it’s not surprising that Value Boosters look like a disaster in the making. On social media, countless MTG players were quick to point out the similarities between these three products. Even though Value Boosters were only announced yesterday, they already seem to be hated almost universally.

Wizards: “People hated the Aftermath boosters, we learned our lesson.”

So Wizards: “But what if they didn’t have guaranteed rarity?”

Exorrt

Many MTG players were quick to pile on the criticism and took issue with the concept of value boosters. On Reddit, TechnologyTime4531 said, “Wow, that sounds worse than the $1 repacks you find at dollar stores.” User Dark-All-Day went a step further, commenting, “This is, unironically, one of the greediest and most sleazy things WotC can do.”

Value boosters may not be as bad for MTG as these comments suggest, but it’s safe to say that first impressions are not good. For some players, value boosters are the latest example of “shrinkflation,” where products keep their price but offer less value to customers. Since there’s no official statement on pricing, it’s unclear if this is the case. Despite this important missing detail, many MTG players fear the worst.

A question from the audience?

Of course, many early discussions about value boosters overlook a crucial aspect: their target audience. A small package with no guaranteed rarities is, unsurprisingly, not very useful for an established player. However, for new players, especially young ones, they could be an attractive option.

“It is for all grandparents who want to bring their grandchildren a small gift when they come to visit.

It’s for every parent who wants to silence their children at Walmart or Target.”

NeoMegaRyuMKII

Viewed from this perspective, value boosters may ultimately be a positive addition to MTG. New players could be lured in by an inexpensive way to start cracking packs. This, in turn, could convert curious buyers into interested MTG players, but that is hardly guaranteed. While value boosters may be a cheap way to crack packs, they are a terrible way to get started in Magic.

If you want to get into MTG on a budget, pre-constructed Commander decks are the gold standard.

Ultimately, all of these potential benefits are currently negated by a lack of information. It all depends on the price, and at the moment we don’t know what that is. Even if it is low enough for players to consider, the first backlash has already taken place.

Value Boosters are playing with a handicap from here on out. That initial reveal was undeniably a misstep on WotC’s part. For this product to survive, they’ll need to course-correct themselves for the launch. Otherwise, Value Boosters will join their Epilogue cousins ​​on the one-time scrap heap.

Read more: New Bloomburrow promos include Textless Eternal Powerhouse