Budget Commander Staples: Shard Colors

Last time, I looked at three-color charms for Commander decks. Today I look at other budget three-color spells for this format, focusing on shard colors (those adjacent on the color wheel: WUB, UBR, BRG, RGW, GWU). I'll give five options for each shard and ignore the charms since I covered those last time. The goal is to identify the best versatile spells in these colors.

Esper (WUB)

There are 55 budget cards in Esper colors (as of this writing). My top five: Magister Sphinx is always a late-game surprise. Obscura Confluence is similar to a charm but more powerful (allowing you to choose three modes). Queza is a ticking time bomb that demands opponent's attention. Void Rend is a great removal spell. Sphinx of the Steel Wind is just a great creature.

Grixis (UBR)

There are 69 budget cards in Grixis colors (as of this writing). My top five: Phyrexian Tyranny is amusing (though it affects you, too). Thraximundar is a great way to sacrifice other players' creatures. Cruel Ultimatum is . . . cruel. Slave of Bolas is, too. And Maestros Confluence is a nice modal spell.

Jund (BRG)

There are 62 budget cards in Jund colors (as of this writing). My top five: Violent Ultimatum is the ultimate removal spell. Madrush Cyclops can make your opponents wonder what is coming next. Xira Arien is great for card draw. Riveteers Confluence is a great modal spell. And Mr. Orfeo will make your other creature double their power.

Naya (RGW)

There are 69 budget cards in Naya colors (as of this writing). My top five: Fiery Justice is a flexible spell that can wipe 1-5 other creatures. Zacama is truly a calamity for opponents. Cabaretti Confluence is a great modal spell. Incandescent Aria is effective in limited situations. And Rocco is good in the late game to fetch another creature.

Bant (GWU)

There are 55 budget cards in Bant colors (as of this writing). My top five: Rubinia is a great way to gain control of other creatures. Giltspire Avenger is a helpful destroyer (but you have to take damage first). Brokers Confluence is in the modal spell line each shard has. Endless Detour is a fun removal spell. And Soul of Emancipation is very helpful.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Budget Commander Staples: Charms

I've done a series of posts on budget commander staples, but have focused to date on one- or two-color spells. Today, I look at three-color, focusing on charms.

Charm is not a card type but in its name. They were first introduced in Mirage (1996), but at the time were one-color. They were (and remain) a versatile spell, giving a player several options to choose from at casting. They are always instants.

We've gotten four cycles of five three-color charms, giving us 20 total. They debuted in Planeshift (2001):

Shards of Alara (2008) introduced five more:

Khans of Tarkir (2014) gave five more, and note the modal format (with bullets for each option):

And Streets of New Capenna (2022) round us out with their five:

Note that of the 20 total charms, 15 are allied trios (adjacent on the color wheel); the five from Khans of Tarkir are the only ones that differ.

Most charms play off their colors' strengths, and are good inclusions in any Commander deck featuring those colors.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Opening a Collector Booster of The Hobbit

As I did last time, today I explore The Hobbit set through opening packs. Today, one collector booster.

I will say it up front: collector boosters are not worth the money. I got one with a draft night box (contents: 12 play boosters + 1 collector booster + basic lands). While I love opening collector packs, there is no way they are worth the price tag associated with buying them 'in the wild' (where they are generally marked up well over MSRP). But even at MSRP ($38), your chance of 'breaking even' value-wise is slim. Anyway, on to the pack.

Simplistically, a collector booster contains 15 Magic cards + 1 art card or token. The Magic cards are 9 foil uncommon/commons, 1 foil basic land, 2 foil rare or mythic rares, and 2 non-foil "booster fun" cards, and 1 foil "booster fun" card. But there are nuances . . . from the official site, one collector booster pack contains:

• 15 Magic: The Gathering cards
• 5 Traditional foil common cards
• There are 60 common cards (89.6%) and 5 common dual lands (7.5%) from the main set that can be found in these slots.
• There are 2 scene cards that can be found in these slots (3%).
• 4 Foil uncommon cards
• There are 55 traditional foil uncommon cards from the main set that can be found in these slots (84.6%).
• There are 4 traditional foil scene cards that can be found in these slots (6.2%).
• There are 6 traditional foil Dragon hoard cards that can be found in these slots (9.2%).In 1 of 10 Collector Boosters, a surge foil Dragon hoard card appears in this slot.
• 1 Traditional foil Middle-earth journey basic land
• 2 Traditional foil rare or mythic rare cards
• There are 53 rare (87.6%) and 15 mythic rare (12.4%) cards from the main set that can be found in these slots.
• 2 Non-foil Booster Fun cards
• A rare HOB scene card (10.1%)
• A rare HOC scene card (14.2%)
• A rare (13.1%) or mythic rare (4.5%) Dragon hoard card
• A rare (4.2%) or mythic rare (3.3%) book cover card
• A Middle-earth classic artist card (11.9%)
• A Dwarvish language card (1.5%)
• A rare (30.9%) or mythic rare (1.2%) extended-art HOB card
• A mythic rare extended-art HOC card (5.3%)
• 1 Foil Booster Fun card
• A traditional foil rare HOB scene card (11.0%)
• A traditional foil rare (14.3%) or mythic rare (4.9%) Dragon hoard card
• A surge foil rare (6.5%) or mythic rare (2.4%) Dragon hoard card
• A traditional foil rare (4.6%) or mythic rare (3.6%) book cover card
• A surge foil rare (2.4%) or mythic rare (1.8%) book cover card
• A surge foil Middle-earth classic artist card (11.9%)
• A traditional foil Dwarvish language card (1.6%)
• A traditional foil rare (33.8%) or mythic rare (1.3%) extended-art HOB card
• A gleaming gold Smaug the Magnificent headliner card (approximately 500 copies available)
• 1 Art card (35%) or double-sided foil token (65%)

My last post broke out some of the above terms, so I won't repeat that here.

My pack is pictured below.

My rares/mythics were:

- Smaug the Impenetrable ($26.23)

- Getaway Barrel extended art foil ($0.64)

- Elven Passage dragon hoard frame ($1.91)

- Fateful Discovery foil ($6.87)

- Rhovanion Rampager foil ($0.30)

Those total $35.95; adding the common/uncommon foils, the pack would cost $40 to buy. For MSRP, that just breaks even. But right now, buying an individual pack has a median market price of $73 . . . insane. These are lottery tickets, folks.

If you like collector boosters, I recommend getting one through a draft night box. Those products are (generally) not marked up as much.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.

Opening a Booster Box of The Hobbit

This week, my boys and I opened the play booster box of The Hobbit set. This post explores the fun (and confusion) that comes with the experience.

A play booster box contains the following:

- 1 box topper card

- 30 packs (14 cards + 1 token in each)

For The Hobbit, the box topper is one of 40 "Middle-Earth classic artist cards." (See all 40 cards here.) I pulled a foil Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff, currently selling for $20.

So far so good. Now to the packs.

Simplistically, a pack contains 14 non-token cards: 7 commons, 3 uncommons, and 3 wildcards of any rarity, and 1 land card. But there are nuances in each category; the below table directly from the Wizards site explains more. Buckle in, folks. It is going to be complicated.

• 14 Magic: The Gathering cards
• 7 Common cards
• There are 60 common cards from the main set that can be found in these slots.
• There are 2 scene cards that can be found in these slots (7.8%).
• 3 Uncommon cards
• There are 55 uncommon cards from the main set that can be found in these slots.
• There are 4 scene cards that can be found in these slots (5.5%).
• There are 6 Dragon hoard cards that can be found in these slots (10.9%).
• 1 Wildcard of any rarity
• A common (74.17%), uncommon (3.9%), rare (17.3%), or mythic rare (2.3%) card from the main set
• A common (less than 1%), uncommon (less than 1%), or rare (less than 1%) HOB scene card
• An uncommon (less than 1%), rare (less than 1%), or mythic rare (less than 1%) Dragon hoard card
• A rare (less than 1%) or mythic rare (less than 1%) book cover card
• 1 Rare or mythic rare card
• A rare (82.9%) or mythic rare (11.1%) card from the main set
• A rare scene card (1.8%; does not include rare cards from Scene Boxes)
• A rare (2.3%) or mythic rare (less than 1%) Dragon hoard card
• A rare (less than 1%) or mythic rare (less than 1%) book cover card
• 1 Traditional foil card
• A common (59.8%), uncommon (29.3%), rare (7.1%), or mythic rare (1%) card from the main set
• A common (less than 1%), uncommon (less than 1%), or rare (less than 1%) HOB scene card
• An uncommon (less than 1%), rare (less than 1%), or mythic rare (less than 1%) Dragon hoard card
• A rare (less than 1%) or mythic rare (less than 1%) book cover card
• 1 Land card
• A non-foil (26.7%) or traditional foil (6.7%) default frame basic land
• A non-foil (13.3%) or traditional foil (3.3%) Middle-earth journey basic land
• A non-foil (40%) or traditional foil (10%) common dual land
• 1 Non-foil double-sided token

They use a few terms related to card treatments. Let me explain:

- main set: cards with 'normal' card frames. 

- dragon hoard: cards with the dragon hoard card frame unique to this set. There are 25; see them here.

- scene cards: there are two types of scene cards; "HOB" and "HOC." You can get only HOB scene cards in play boosters. There are 15; see them here. 

- book cover cards: cards with an old school fantasy book art frame. There are 10; see them here. 

- Middle-earth journey basic land: full-art basic lands with the company traveling through Middle-earth. There are 5; see them here.

For each of the above, the cards could be non-foil or traditional foil (surge foils are available only in collector boosters).

I don't know how the math works anymore (it has been too long since my statistics class). But at a high level, combing over the above and making some guesses, in a given pack:

- you get two rares (or one rare/one mythic) ~20% of the time

- you get a scene card ~15% of the time

- you get a dragon hoard frame ~12% of the time

- you get a book cover frame ~1% of the time

This largely tracks with my experience, though I beat the odds in a few categories. In 30 packs, here is what I pulled:

- two rares in at least six packs (I think seven . . . I don't remember)

- 7 scene cards

- 5 dragon frame cards

- 2 book cover cards

My overall haul is pictured below.

A final observation: two of my 'two-rare' packs had the same rare in them (one regular and one foil). I've seen this happen in other sets . . . I wonder what the odds are of that.

Until next time . . . keep exploring.