What is a Magic: The Gathering Collector Booster

What are Magic: The Gathering Collector Boosters?

Magic the Gathering (MTG) is a CCG – a Collectible Card Game – meaning it’s a game, played with cards… that are collectable! Collecting is one of the most fun aspects of the game (I once collected ‘assassins’), and, whether it’s just cards to admire in a binder or to slot into your Commander decks, MTG’s cool cards are what draw many to the game, and, thanks to Collector boosters, they’ve never been cooler.

For many years, the simplest way to build your collection was with a ‘booster pack’, containing 15 cards comprising a mixture of commons and uncommons, and a single rare. The only ‘variant’ card you could hope for was a foil, introduced with Urza’s Legacy in 1999. Fast forward to more recent times and, realising that the booster pack was more geared towards Limited play than the sheer joy of cracking packs, the makers of the game created two new types of boosters.

The original booster was renamed to Draft Booster, optimised for playing Limited, and was joined by the Set Booster, designed to enhance the experience of opening packs (e.g. with a higher chance to pull rares, art cards, etc), and the most premium booster of all, the Collector Booster, which as well as containing more rares/mythics, also features a special treatment on every card within the pack.

What’s inside a Magic: The Gathering Collector Booster?

A MTG collector booster contains 15 cards: around four rares/mythics and a combination of eleven commons and uncommons, all of which are in foil and/or with alternative or extended art.

To put another way, a MTG Collector Booster contains the flashiest, rarest, and most beautiful versions of the cards in that set. There are showcase artworks, extended or borderless art, and even variations on foiling, such as ‘textured’ (embossed, released in Double Masters 2022) and the new ‘Step-and-Compleat’ from Phyrexia: All Will Be One with a shiny Phyrexian stamp.

Each set also has its own special additions. Innistrad: Crimson Vow featured Dracula variations from the classic novel, just as Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths had Godzilla monsters. There were retro artifacts, serialised cards and Transformers in The Brother’s War, and original printings from Magic’s past in Dominaria United, where cards from the 1994 set Legends were ‘found in a warehouse’ and inserted into packs. Most sets now also feature cards from the accompanying Commander release too.

Each MTG Collectors Booster is so unique, you’re bound to find one that speaks to you. And if you want to go all out, Double Masters 2022 could be the one.

What’s in a Double Masters 2022 Collector Booster?

Double Masters 2022 Collector Boosters are what you get when two premium products collide. Double Masters is a premium reprint set featuring some of the most powerful and highly sought-after cards in the game. The collector boosters of this set are something truly special, with jaw-dropping new versions and the debut of textured foils. From the powerful Eldrazi titans, format defining planeswalkers like Wrenn and Six and commander powerhouses like Imperial Seal and Mana Vault, the cards speak for themselves.

Specifically, each Double Masters Collector Booster contains 15 cards – four rares/mythics, one foil-etched card, 10-11 traditional foils, plus a doubles-sided token. Six of the cards in each pack are borderless, and there is a textured borderless card in 3% of packs.  

What are some other Collector Booster highlights?

It’s not just Double Masters Collector Booster that are worth checking out, every set has something for players to love, whether it’s the setting, the showcase art, or the cards themselves. Here are five that are worth a look:

Phyrexia: All Will Be One

The latest set at the time of writing, and already looking like a smash hit. Dark and twisted, Phyrexia: All Will Be One is set on the plane of New Phyrexia (or is it just ‘Phyrexia’ now?), home to magic’s oldest villains, and things aren’t going well for our planeswalker heroes. From cards in the Phyrexian language, full art lands, and the borderless ichor treatment, the new cards are as creepy as they are cool. A personal favourite of mine are the concept art Praetors… perfection.

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty was one of the big hits from last year and a bold revisit to the Japanese-inspired Kamigawa; a world loved by many, but not a commercial success when we first experienced the plane back in 2004. Wizards had to reinvent it, opting for a more modern, neon-filled futuristic setting, where the old world of spirits met the new age of technology. Featuring the stunning ukiyo-e basic lands, gorgeous treatments with Japanese artists, and the super rare ‘lottery’ neon ink versions of Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos, it's one of the best Collector boosters out there.

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt

The gothic horror setting of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt remains one of the most resonant of Magic’s planes. Combining an autumnal and Halloween-esque Harvesttide Festival with the usual cast of spirits, werewolves, and a few vampires too, depicted in the gorgeous ‘Equinox’ showcase, and you’ve got a winner. It’s enough to make me want to build a werewolf deck! The old-monster-movie-poster inspired ‘Eternal Night’ cards are stunning too, and even though the basic lands may be controversial (can you tell what land they are?), I love them

Throne of Eldraine

The first set to carry Collector Boosters, and it may be the best. For a Standard set, Eldraine was considered busted when it was released (Oko was Broke-o), and many of its cards continue to be cross-format staples to bolster any collection. But it’s the fairy tale style showcase frame that enchants me the most, it’s like you’re reading one of the legendary stories that inspired the set. Just look at variants of Lovestruck Beast, Order of Midnight, or Merfolk Secretkeeper. Best-looking showcase frame to date.

Modern Horizons II

We’ve already covered Double Masters 2022, so I’ve gone for another non-Standard set – Modern Horizons II. The idea behind Modern Horizons was to create a set of cards that didn’t have to worry about breaking Standard, skipping that format entirely to go into Modern and beyond. As such, the cards could go ham… and they do. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, could be the best creature of all time, Urza’s Saga is a cross-format superstar, and we have some amazing characters getting a card for the first time (looking at you, Tourach). Whether it’s the incarnation cycle, fetch lands, or the stunning extended art or retro frames, it’s hard to go wrong with this one.

So, are MTG Collector Boosters worth it?

The answer to the question lies in the name – Collector. MTG collector boosters are a fantastic way to build out your collection with the flashiest and most collectable versions of the cards printed, without needing to pay out for an entire box. If you’re not interested in limited, and like the foil/borderless/extended/etc. treatments, then the MTG Collectors Booster are worth exploring. They are also great for Commander players, with those one-off blinging cards you open able to slot straight into your decks. If you just want to crack a pack, there’s no finer pack to crack than a Collector Booster.