Magic: The Gathering Product Types Explained
Magic has a small habit of putting a lot of different boxes on a shelf.
Play Boosters.
Collector Boosters.
Bundles.
Commander Decks.
Draft Night.
Scene Boxes.
If you are new to Magic: The Gathering, or returning after several years away, it is completely reasonable to look at them and wonder which box is actually meant for you.
The easiest way to understand the range is not by asking which product is “best”.
Ask what you want to do.
Do you want to open packs?
Play a draft?
Start Commander?
Collect premium cards?
Give somebody a gift?
Display a particular piece of artwork?
Different Magic products exist for different reasons. The most useful question is what you want to do with the cards once you open the box. A Commander deck gives you something to play straight away; boosters are not a substitute for a ready-built deck. For storage and protection after purchase, use our Dragon Shield sleeves comparison. For a first multiplayer deck, see the Commander starter guide.
What is a Play Booster?
A Play Booster is Magic’s general purpose booster pack.
It is designed to work both for opening packs and for Limited formats such as Draft and Sealed.
If you want the familiar experience of opening a Magic pack, discovering cards from a set and potentially using those cards in decks, Play Boosters are usually the starting point.
The exact contents can differ between sets.
For Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek, each Play Booster contains 14 Magic cards.
A Play Booster is best for:
opening packs
Draft
Sealed
building your collection
finding cards from the main set
A Play Booster is not:
a complete playable Commander deck
a guarantee of a specific card
primarily a premium collector product
If you simply want to experience a new Magic set through packs, this is usually the most natural place to start.
What is a Collector Booster?
A Collector Booster is the premium version of the booster experience.
It is aimed primarily at collectors and players interested in special card treatments.
Collector Boosters typically contain more foil cards, rares, alternate art treatments, special frames and other premium versions than ordinary Play Boosters.
For Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek, Collector Boosters can contain premium treatments including Surge Foils and other showcase versions from the set.
A Collector Booster is best for:
premium card treatments
collectors
players hunting alternate versions
opening a more premium pack
A Collector Booster is not necessarily best for:
a new player who simply wants a playable deck
someone trying to maximise the number of packs they can open for a set budget
someone who only wants to learn Magic
Collector Boosters can be exciting.
They can also be expensive.
Buy them because premium versions of cards matter to you, not because the word “Collector” makes them automatically necessary.
What is a Bundle?
A Bundle is a boxed product combining several boosters with useful extras.
Bundles are often a good middle ground for someone who wants to open several packs from a new set without purchasing an entire booster display.
They commonly include:
multiple Play Boosters
basic lands
a promotional card
a spindown life counter
a storage box
Exact contents vary from set to set.
For Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek, the standard Bundle contains nine Play Boosters, foil and non-foil basic lands, a promo card, an oversized spindown life counter and a storage box.
View the Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Bundle
A Bundle is best for:
opening several packs
new or returning collectors
gifts
players who can use the included lands
people who want a storage box as part of the product
A Bundle is not a preconstructed deck.
You are buying a set experience rather than one ready-to-play strategy.
What is a Commander Deck?
A Commander Deck is a complete 100 card deck built for the Commander format.
Unlike a booster product, its primary purpose is not opening random cards.
It is meant to be played.
A Commander deck normally contains:
one commander
99 additional cards
a coherent strategy
required lands
supporting cards
tokens and reference material where applicable
That makes preconstructed Commander decks one of the easiest ways to begin playing Magic.
You can open the box, learn what the deck wants to do and play without first building a deck from individual cards.
For the Star Trek release, there are four Commander decks:
Federation Fleet
Landing Party
Klingon Fury
We Are the Borg
View the Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Commander Decks
A Commander Deck is best for:
starting Commander
players who want a complete deck
fans who want a deck themed around a particular faction or character
players who would rather play than open random packs
What is Draft Night?
Draft Night is an all-in-one product designed to let a small group run a draft without assembling all the pieces separately.
For Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek, Draft Night contains:
12 Play Boosters
1 Collector Booster
90 non-foil basic lands
10 non-foil double-sided tokens
1 draft insert
The product is designed around a four player draft experience.
That makes it particularly useful for a game night.
Instead of four people each arriving with packs, basic lands and supplies, one box gives the group the core pieces needed to draft.
The included Collector Booster can then be kept, opened together or used as a prize.
View Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Draft Night
Draft Night is best for:
four player groups
casual game nights
players who enjoy Draft
a self contained Limited experience
Draft Night is not:
a preconstructed Commander experience
the best choice for somebody who only wants one specific card
primarily a display collectible
What is a Scene Box?
A Scene Box is a more collectible, presentation focused Magic product built around a group of cards whose artwork combines into a larger scene.
Not every Magic set has Scene Boxes.
They make particular sense for Universes Beyond releases where recognisable moments and characters can be represented across connected artwork.
For Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek, each Scene Box contains:
3 Play Boosters
6 traditional foil borderless scene cards
6 art cards
1 display easel
The six Magic cards form a connected scene, while the art cards allow the complete artwork to be displayed without game text interrupting the image.
The Star Trek release has two Scene Boxes:
Enterprise-Q
Divergent Timeline
View the Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Scene Boxes
A Scene Box is best for:
fans of the featured scene or characters
collectors
display
players who want the specific included Magic cards
people who enjoy Magic as both a game and an art collectible
Which Magic product should I buy?
If your goal is opening packs, choose Play Boosters.
If your goal is premium cards and special treatments, consider Collector Boosters.
If your goal is a selection of packs plus useful extras, consider a Bundle.
If your goal is playing Commander immediately, buy a Commander Deck.
If your goal is running a small draft night, Draft Night makes sense.
If your goal is collecting a specific illustrated scene, look at Scene Boxes.
That is really the entire secret.
Magic products become much less confusing once you stop comparing them as though they are competing versions of the same thing.
They are tools for different parts of the hobby.
Browse Magic: The Gathering at Bell & Barter
Buy the product that matches the part you actually enjoy.
There will always be another box.