It Is Not Worth It to Open Booster Packs | Here is Why 

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The balance you guys strike between production and actual chemistry and charisma of the crew is exquisite. Love the vibe you guys bring to the community

Pre-Releases are to support my local game store but buying singles is the only way to go. Even though you get exactly what you ordered, I still end up having plenty of cards I didn't really need 😅. Cardboard is one hell of a drug.

For some reason, the cuts to the team walking into a richly-bedecked game store gave me reality TV vibes. I'd watch this team do a Pawn Stars themed show in Magic Berlin. Paup(er) Stars?

It's also worth keeping in mind that this is an idealized scenario where you place value on the cards even if you aren't actually planning on using them in a deck. In practice, if I open a few packs, even if I "break even" on the value of the packs, much of that value is likely coming from cards I don't actually have a place for in any of my decks, and will just sit in my collection. Whereas if I buy singles, every single card I buy is something I want and plan to use in a deck. So the value of the cards in a booster pack for purposes of deckbuilding is even less than is described here.

"Tap 3 untapped Dwarves you control." *taps himself*

We all know this was just an excuse for you guys to crack some packs! Really enjoyed the cuts to the game store, and the pure joy on your faces when getting the foil Delver. :)

So, I would love that booster box, but watching you guys open up packs of Innistrad takes me back to when I 1st started playing with my brother. I was a freshman in college, and he was a sophomore in high school. We didn't have any money to buy singles, so every chance we got we bought booster packs. We brought hundreds of them. Most of my collection is bulk draft chaft from Innistrad block cause we bought so many booster packs. It was wasteful, but it really helped develop my relationship with my youngest brother, who is now my best friend in the whole world.

I won the innistrad cards and was surprised when the package arrived, really hyped to have a card signed by you guys in one of my decks, Thank you!

Ah dang I can't sign up for an account because I live in Canada! Oh well guys I really just wanna say you are a delight to watch. Even just listening to you guys while I complete mundane tasks is a joy. Keep doing what you are doing, Carl Jamin and Thoralf and the rest of the cardmarket crew are truly a cut above the rest !😊😊😊😊

Opening packs is for events, both draft and sealed, or if you recieve them as gifts. Not something to buy and open to get cards you want, or open as an investment.

Yeah, I figured out pretty quickly once I started this hobby that boosters were not worth it, I was much better off buying the cards online, it was cheaper and I had a much greater degree of customization. That said, if you can afford it, opening boosters with friends and playing the cards can be fun, there is a certain whimsy to it. I would only recommend it for the occasional entertainment value.

Some of the art cards are actually worth a decent amount of money, usually not more than like 15-20$ for the most expensive ones, but there are more that fall into the 2-8$ price range. Not a massive windfall but it's worth checking through your collection if you've got a bunch of them

Honestly loving the trio. Hoping to see more of all 3 of them

Don't open packs...unless you're playing limited. Then open _lots_ of packs. Limited is fun!

I personally just like the act of opening Set Boxes sorting and sleeving cards. Its a nice, meditative task and I like having bulk at hand. And over a year of releases I usually end up with a slight profit. But I understand and agree that, for most cases, buying Singles is better. ESPECIALLY when you want a specific card. I never go into opening Set Boosters with the expectations that I will get every card that interests me. But again, I personally do it just as a hobby thing. It helps me defog my brain after a stressfull week and I like the collective part of Trading Cards. Pre-Releases are fine IMO though. You really pay for the Event-Organisation and the experience more than for the card value.

We know its not worth it. But buying packs and hitting spicy pulls in front of friends is priceless. Thats how memories are made

Cursed of the pierced heart was actually one of the cards I used most when I first got into magic during Avycyn Restored and stuff! That curse is fun! Haha Love the content everyone, the whole "we are a shop and not a RU-vid channel" argument only goes so far when all of your content is so good!

I did boosters for the simple reason that I supported my LFGS and I had fun. It's NOT worth it to buy anything but singles, but it is fun.

You guys are so fucken fun to watch. You really give off an energy of just a bunch of buddies around the table. Love it

a sealed boosterbox is a pretty complex financial asset. you have your marketprice for a box, your book value and your expected value from opening your box, and all 3 are not that strongly linked and not the same for everyone. there is also a different uncalculateable risk from buying single boosters since the quality controll wasnt always so good and there has been track printing from time to time.

I love the chemistry of this team! Your content is some of my favourite MTG videos

Love how you answered the title so quickly right at the start

I bought a case of Kaladash the day it was released for $500 at my LGS. Went home and tore through it finding 3 Master Pieces: Mana Vault, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Black Vice. I was so stoked!!!! Fast forward...I'd rather have that sealed case.

I'll never forget seeing TCC open the Tabernacle when he did the old pack Booster Game, Carl reminded me of it.

The bits where you walk into the game shop were so funny, loved those!

15:56 "lighting! And sunder!" 🤣 I love Tawfel

I am very new to magic and it is so awesome to see other people still super nerdy about opening packs!!!!!

You guys are amazing. I love how much enjoyment you guys get from just silly stuff like this. :)

Love the content! The energy you bring is fantastic, sadly I wont be able the enter the contest due to living in Australia but I will always enjoy your videos and watch as many as humanly possible (even rewatch some showcases, cause they're always fun :P )

Purely financial you are right, but in the larger picture taking into account fun, enjoyment etc

My favorite channel by far you guys have the best content the most unique, highly entertaining and very informative (not to mention the skill you guys have in actual game play). It all works!

I've never played Magic, but every time I see these three in a video, I buckle in for a good time. Love the content, can't wait to see more!

That was a hilarious cut to the store for a few seconds then back to the studio 😂 I see what you did there editor and I appreciate it.

More of this video. Like seeing your guys open packs

I started playing mtg back at innistrad, and seeing you open those boosters reminded me of the disillusion i constantly felt when opening boosters, expecting something like a garruk relentless or a lilly of the veil, even a bloodline keeper! My first rare ever was, in fact, a mind shrieker. God, i forced that card into my revamped bug event deck (which didn't have green sun's zenith) to try and give it some feel. It's amazing how mtg changed when Return to Ravnica came out, opening those boosters seriously were a joy

Great to see you guys at 80K + subscribers!!! keep up the amazing job!

Great vid as always, have fun 😁

I have a hard time justifying opening packs outside of limited too. In draft/sealed I at least get an experience and a valuable chance to work on my play. It doesn't seem like a *waste* of pack if I play with it first.

Enjoyed this. As mentioned, great chemistry and proving that singles are the way to go is the best thing to do. Or do go to your local game store and do drafts!

You guys really went and did it for science 😅 thank you for curbing my desire to open packs while I wait for my preordered box of March of Machines to come in 😂

That was a fun video to watch, thank you for the content on this channel :)

5:22 “these are just pauper staples, all of them!” Jamin says as he flips over a card currently banned in pauper, Prophetic Prism

Cool crews you guys assembled, on both sides of the tcg market! Really fun to watch you all

This was so fun to watch, love the differents styles of videos! Guess i'll enter the giveaway and try my luck!

Honestly, thank you guys for posting such great content. I'm having a terrible day and you guys always bring a smile to my face and in the short time that I've been playing have absolutely made me love this game more.

Thoralf tapping himself hahhahha man, I love this chanel so much, these guys are awesome

I love the art cards of that set! They are great!

I think, at least for me, the one thing that makes it still worth buying a box of boosters is that it sparks creativity for me. The number of cards that I wouldn't have thought of building around until I bought a box and pulled specific cards is pretty high, whether it be Anafenza the Foremost as a commander or a ninjas/rogues deck that I thought of when I saw Prosperous Thief. And for me, that satisfaction of finding new ideas for decks has more value than the cost of a booster box because it makes the game more fun for me.

Thoralf tapping himself is the cutest thing ever

that mondrian cardigan is hard...love the content

❤❤❤ from Canada. Love the channel gents!!!

The set booster box provides the most amount of cards making it a perfect target for playing with my friends and family :D Also dominaria united was our favorite set by far since we started playing last year! BTW great job on producing all the content. You're an awesome team, one can see that you are having lots of fun, and it makes for an awesome distraction :D

Thoralf tapping himself is A+ comedy love your videos guys.

Card market channel is just so wholesome :)

The full art and phyrexian islands in foil were stacked in compleat bundles so they're very cheap compared to other sets. I have considered selling my entry and prize boosters instead of opening them but who am i kidding, we're all addicted to cardboard.

The thing about booster packs is someone has to open them so that the cards go to the open market. I usually let the other guys open them tho 🤣🤣

You guys are hands down the best MTG content creators. I have literally watched every feature match. Absolutely amazing crew

I still enjoy opening boosters, especially if it's a set that I like. For most sets I would end up with a bunch of cards that are only playable in limited (about a 3rd of them. LCI is more like a 4th though), and maybe a few of them in pauper as well. But I'll also end up with other usable cards that I would most likely never have thought of buying as singles, making me think in new deck possibilities by using the cards that I have. Also if it's a set with chase cards in it, that I think are too expensive as singles, but also have several other cards in it that aren't worth much, but that I'd still want multiples of, then I also see the worth of opening packs. Because if I don't get the chase cards, then I still got something out of it. Maybe not financially in comparison to buying singles, but I enjoy the experience of opening them. Especially whole boxes 😊

My friends and I would open so many booster boxes, sometimes 3-5 at a time around 2011. M12 Core set, New Phyrexia, Innistrad, mirrodin beseiged. All purchased around $100 for a box. Basically every single box would make a small profit, some falling shy by maybe $20 all said and done. It worked out well enough to keep the chain going for some time. The way things are now though it's crazy. Even having been back into the game for well over a year now there are so many products out there that I don't fully understand what all is available. What I can see though, is the over-saturation of these "premium products" making it impossible to do what I used to. $18 a pack is insanity, and while all of these different printings and versions of cards existing is cool, it also kneecaps the prices for the standard versions of cards available in plain jane boosters.

When my friends and I were younger we knew buying packs was a waste, but for some reason it would all change when we had enough for a booster box. We would need a card or two, and save up like 3 or 4 times the cost of those singles and figure the booster box was a better deal AND THEN NOT GET THE CARDS WE NEEDED.

Love that Mondriaan sweater Carl!

Seeing such openings, I always hope I can one day lovingly adopt a large pile of cheap, common cards and give them a home in a cube of mine. Each battle played unsleeved. When awaiting another combat, they'd be spartanly wrapped into paper towels and stored in a cardboard box. After drafting I sleeve and stow away anything that's rare, foil, and/or too expensive to play raw(which to me means sold for more than 20 cents).

I freaking love you guys. Could watch this for hous...

I opened a case of 2020 jumpstart it cost me 600 AUD. I sold the dupe singles for 595 AUD and I have a full set of 46 themes with 100+ left over. So I basically made my set for free and stand to profit a couple of hundred if I can sell the other hundred plus decks. It was a good investment.

This was very nice! Felt like good old fun!

You guys dont do these alot but this was alot of fun to watch

That booster box actually had about an extra 10 Euro of profit when you add in all those 30-90 cent cards that you excluded and the commons could be sold in bulk for another couple euros. So you actually made about an 8% profit on the booster box which is actually decent as a lot of low risk investments like CoDs only give around 4%.

Come for the Magic, stay for the Mondrian drip 😎👌

I never opened up boosters for value back in the days. I did it to find out what cards were actually in the set, but obviously this was in the 90s when internet was minor and visual spoilers weren't a thing yet. Sometimes my main reason to buy a starter deck was to find the right basic lands 😆

1:15 Holy shit that Compensator of a Sager notebook looks even more compensatory in Thoralf's hands.

Do we finally have a good MTG RU-vid channel outside decktechs and games ?? Yes. :) Good job guys !

Best MtG content on RU-vid by far. You guys are legends

Filming the store is excellent!

Damn me and my New World adress not being able to make a CM account. Figured I might as well leave a comment here. I appreciate the variety content in addition to the normal Magic. Probably one of my fave paper Magic channels.

thanks for doing all the math! so much money over time.

Love how you guys say it’s not worth it and immediately fall into the dopamine trap 😂

Back in the day I spent hundreds trying for a spirit of the night because none of the shops in my area were selling them.

I have an extended family member who has exactly that: one booster from every set in history, sealed. It's incredible

I stopped opening booster packs, I only get them as trade. I still remember opening a whole box of Futuresight and not getting a single Tarmagoyph. That unopened sealed box would today sell for well over $1000.

This is the kind of pack cracking content that I like.

Seeing you guys play the booster box game is entertaining

That was an awesome video 😊

Great video wish I could've entered the raffle but can't since in the US. Irregardless, I always enjoy watching these videos; y'all all have such a wholesome way of entertaining us fans.

Very cool video and very scientific. I want the inisstrad boosters

Nice sweater, Carl! I want one.

Phenomenal show, gentleman 😁

I completely agree that keeping sealed product is a better investment. I'd be rich if I did that.. but the fun I've had along the way is more valuable.

fun twist, you guys have way too much chaos energy and i love it

One time I had a mental breakdown and bought 2500 dollars worth of magic booster boxes. My overall return has been less than 1000 dollars. I had to pay almost 4000 dollars to repay the debt I accumulated. Yes boosters are not worth it. Don't go on a manic spending spree with a credit card kids. If you have the means and you find it fun. Pick up a collector booster here and there but don't buy like crazy. Either that or draft because at least that's fun and you can use/keep the cards you get.

It unfortunately appears that card market isn't available in Australia but I'd like the set booster cards ideally 😅

U.S. viewer so no free cards for me 😔, but I enjoyed watching your discussion about why I should stop buying packs. Laughed at Thoralf's excitement at opening the packs, keep up the great work guys your videos are always worth a like.

Bro, looking at that Sheoldred now in 2024, it literally almost pays for the whole box. Crazy how time flies! 11:23

I'd love to sign up for a chance to win the og Innistrad packs, but I live in the U.S so oh well. Very insightful video though, especially with that mindblowing figure about how much money you'd make if you just never opened the packs

Great content.

I've never wasted a booster pack. I enjoyed every single one.

i would like the DOMINARIA ! coz i have nothing from dominaria. haha so that would be fun! especially coz those are a LOT OF CARDS! and it could be fun to make decks with those

Putting aside just how theraputic opening packs feels, yeah I only buy a box if there's a lot of targets I want for binder/deck. I don't usually go into box/pack buying with the mindset of making my money back or a profit, I do it for the cards. If I'm making a deck I go for singles cuz it's just really silly buying a box of like 120 cards when I only need 3.

I want to win the old innistrad. Need that foil delver for my deck :D (love the video btw, keep going :3)

Best of luck to those entering the drawing! I may have just missed it, but I didn't see an option for USA, so I unfortunately have to sit out. I probably would've gone for the box myself, seeing as Sheoldred is so expensive and she's one of the two preators not currently in my collection.