Last updated on March 23, 2026
Secrets of the Golden City | Illustration by Jason Felix
Greetings planeswalkers! It’s no secret that I love Limited. I’ve been fervently drafting Magic for the last decade or so, and I’m not planning on stopping anytime soon. Limited is just the best way to play this game, as you get to do so many different things I love about MTG at once. Every time you play Limited, you must build a deck, plan out your strategy, adapt to your opponent’s strategy, and adapt to both your draws and the game state. There’s so much depth!
What makes Limited even better is that it’s an incredibly dynamic experience that “rotates” every two to three months. Every time there’s a new Magic set, there’s new decks, new strategies, and new experiences for you to have with MTG. WotC also has a generally strong track record with Limited environments, as they have delivered many different yet stellar Draft environments over the years. With all that in mind, I thought it might be fun to look back a bit and spotlight some of my all-time favorite Draft formats.
To make things simple I picked 12 sets that I loved drafting and still recommend today. These sets span the last decade or so of Magic, as I started playing around 2013 with Dragon’s Maze. There won’t be anything before that period on this list, so feel free to tell me in the comments how insane I am for leaving out Innistrad or Modern Masters!
What Makes a Great Draft Format?
That’s an excellent question, really. “One that I’m winning at” is a tempting answer, but objectivity is a noble aim to strive for. In this attempt, let’s isolate a few factors to consider when assessing whether a Draft format is “good.” I’ve identified four central propositions.
Color/Archetype Balance
Woodland Wanderer | Illustration by Vincent Proce
This is an easy one to come up with because of how obviously detrimental a lack of it is. “I hate [this format], all we’re supposed to do is [some overpowered strategy/card]” is a complaint that has been heard at many a local game shop. If players don’t feel like they have agency or a diversity of viable tactics, they’re far less likely to want to draft a format again. Here are some examples of poor color/card balance from past formats (none of which made this list):
- Battle for Zendikar had serious color balance problems, with green being the worst color by a massive margin. Pros considered green so egregiously bad that I recall one of them passing a double Eternal Witness (Greenwarden of Murasa) for a mediocre uncommon p1p1 on camera. And I can’t even say he was incorrect to do so!
- In Forgotten Realms Draft, BR was the best deck by a considerable margin. It had good aggressive creatures, the best removal, the infamous combo of Price of Loyalty + Deadly Dispute, and it was the best color for splashing bombs.
- Modern Horizons 3 introduced what may be the single best common of all time: Writhing Chrysalis. You’re looking at a common that brickwalls fliers, gets value against removal/countermagic, punches hard, and even ramps you into 7s. It could also do a neat The Abyss impression in decks with enough Eldrazi Spawns. Sealed deck was jokingly called “the Writhing Chrysalis lottery” by many, as people were going out of their way to splash every single one of this creature. While I did enjoy Modern Horizons 3 despite this, in retrospect this card obviously needed some kind of nerf (my idea would be either -1/-1 or one fewer spawn).
Note that while balance is good, perfect balance is practically impossible and may not even be desirable to begin with. Imagine a set of 300 Grizzly Bears with different art and flavor texts (60 in each color). This set is perfectly balanced in a way Thanos might approve of, but also about as miserable as half the world’s population disappearing in the snap of a finger.
Experienced drafters can also self-correct for a set’s flaws anyways. Even in the Battle for Zendikar format, green was bad but not so bad that the person getting P1P8 Greenwarden of Murasa shouldn’t be green! The process of drafting itself is what makes most environments so stable, as imbalances in the format (or merely in player’s preferences) can create opportunities for others to build better decks. It’s fine if some archetypes, commons, or strategies are a bit better than other options, so long as they aren’t the only workable thing you can accomplish.
Answers to Bombs/Rares
Bloodthirsty Conqueror | Illustration by Dmitry Burmak
A common gripe about Limited (particularly Sealed) is games being decided by bomb rares. I’m sure we can all recall some bad beats stories we’ve heard or even experienced: “My opponent was dead on board but then they played that stupid rare and I was just dead! I topdecked a land, then another land, then another land! Why does WotC print these unbeatable rares!?”
It’s not an entirely unreasonable complaint, but having cards that outclass others makes drafts more exciting and games more dynamic. What a good format requires is answers to those cards, so that players aren’t just dead to rights the second some mythic angel or dragon hits the table. Answering bombs and winning often feels even better than winning with one, after all.
The best Limited formats often have many strong rares, but several outs to them plus fewer egregious bombs. This goes for both maindeckable removal like Impossible Inferno and Trapped in the Screen plus cards you wouldn’t usually maindeck like Disenchant. Do note though that classic “sideboard only cards” like Plummet and Naturalize almost never appear in sets now, as MTG Arena BO1 has WotC printing cards like Broken Wings instead.
Deep Draft Environment with Lots of Playables
Breathless Knight | Illustration by Yeong Hao Han
The best Limited formats have near bottomless depth and greatly reward players who learn all the ins and outs of its cards and archetypes. Modern Horizons 2 is a great example of a recent set that absolutely nailed this. MH2’s 10 base archetypes overlapped really well and there was a ton of good mana fixing with very few truly unplayable cards.
I found myself more focused on bigger picture drafting (i.e., archetype and synergy) than individual card strength when I drafted this set. I looked for late cards like Goblin Anarchomancer, Breathless Knight, and Dihada's Ploy as late tip-offs for open archetypes, sometimes pivoting entirely away from most of my early picks.
Fun
Burning Vengeance | Illustration by Raymond Swanland
It turns out that Magic is ultimately a game at the end of the day! Everyone who plays it is almost certainly interested in chasing that elusive “fun” we all desire. While fun is ultimately a subjective experience with lots of room for personal interpretation and debate, some common things that players enjoy are:
- Dynamic gameplay where players can come back from behind and aren’t immediately dead because they missed a 2-drop or land drop.
- Mana sinks/things to do if you flood, as Limited decks rarely have Constructed level card selection.
- Build-arounds like Burning Vengeance, Spider Spawning, and Stream of Thought that reward you for building your deck in a particular way.
- Games that aren’t too long or too short; for all the frequent complaints you hear about formats being too fast, most players also wouldn’t want every game to go 20+ turns!
And with all that said, let’s get to best 12 Magic sets to draft!
#12. Bloomburrow
Snap up some Bloomburrow play boosters for a full-featured experience of an all-animal plane with clear yet overlapping archetypes. Sure the cute otters, squirrels and rabbits have their fans, but I appreciate the love Wizards gave to bats, lizards, and frogs even if they aren't always the best choice.
I can't forget to mention mice, these rodents became a plague on Standard, but here they are the most aggressive type in a typal-themed set. Don't underestimate the size of the characters, and appreciate the use of large elementals as the “bad guys.”
- TINY TAILS, BIG ADVENTURE—Put your best paw forward and enter the world of Bloomburrow; fight beside mice, frogs, bats, birds, lizards, squirrels, and other critters as you restore the balance of peace in the Valley and prove that bravery comes in all sizes!
- FUN TO OPEN. FUN TO PLAY—Get the best of Draft and Set Boosters, combined into one! Play Boosters are great for Limited play and fun to open, with a possibility of Art cards, Showcase cards, additional Rares, and a foil card in every pack
- BEST BOOSTER FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Specially balanced for Limited play, grab 6 Play Boosters to build a deck and battle your friends in Sealed games, or grab 3 packs and pass them around to build decks in a Booster Draft
- MAY CONTAIN MULTIPLE RARES—Each Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of a Borderless Mythic Rare card from Magic’s history
- SHINING FOIL IN EVERY PACK—Every booster also includes at least 1 shining Traditional Foil card of any rarity; in 20% of packs you’ll also find a Traditional Foil Land card
#11. Commander Legends
I bumped this one down in the rankings a bit, but it’s still my list so I wanted to include an MTG set I personally got a lot of drafts out of! Commander Legends was a very unique set that mixed Draft and Commander into a “peanut butter and chocolate” treat of sorts. The end result was a delicious Draft format that I deeply enjoyed on the eight or so occasions that I drafted it in person.
Wizards of The Coast Magic: The Gathering Commander Legends Draft Booster Box | 24 Booster Packs (480 Cards) | 2 Legends Per Pack | Factory Sealed were unique as the first draftable Commander set, and introduced 20-card packs that would see players taking two cards at once. Strategy wise, this often meant players would lock in their commander early then try to build around that choice (or choices, thanks to partner commanders) as best they could. Pivoting in this kind of Draft format was possible but difficult; while there were 2c themes/archetypes that were supported by multiple commanders, the coolest ones were often best only when you started with them.
I mostly included this here for two reasons: One, it was an innovation that mixed Commander + Draft successfully and lead to sequels. Two, it was one of the only sets I drafted in 2020-2021, as the pandemic had closed my LGS and made drafting in person almost impossible. Visiting my friends for some Commander Legends made those years just a bit less lonely, and for that I’m grateful to this set.
- COMMANDER DRAFT IS HERE. Draft with the first ever booster packs designed for Commander—a Magic format all about battling your friends in epic multiplayer games.
- 24 DRAFT BOOSTERS. Grab 3 packs, pick 2 cards at a time, and add in some lands for a 60-card Commander deck—then show it off in exciting free-for-all games with up to 8 friends.
- 2 LEGENDS PER PACK. Every Commander Legends Draft Booster pack contains 2 legendary cards—enhance your deck with reprints of classic MTG commanders or 1 of the 71 commanders introduced in the set.
- INTRODUCING FOIL ETCHED CARDS. Commander Legends debuts a special kind of foil—foil etched cards with beautiful metallic frames. In some Commander Legends Draft Boosters you can find a foil etched showcase legend or regular foil borderless planeswalker.
- CONTENTS: 24 Commander Legends Draft Booster packs—20 Magic cards + 1 ad/token per pack, with 2 legends, at least 1 rare, and 1 foil each.
Draft Commander Legends on Draftsim
#10. Modern Horizons 3
As you’ll see going down this list, Modern Horizons is a consistent hit when it comes to Draft sets. Modern Horizons 3 was really fun to draft, but it’s the weakest of the three entries for two reasons: balance problems (cough Writhing Chrysalis cough) and the main themes being a bit too “loud.” The big three in this set were energy (three color pairs), Eldrazi (two color pairs), and modified (three color pairs); UB and RB were the only color pairs that were doing something else entirely with the draw-3/affinity for artifacts themes.
While the archetype overlap was very strong due to the prominence of said themes, there just wasn’t that much else you could do compared to past Modern Horizons sets. Still, the set’s high power level, fun mechanics, exciting cards, and higher stakes (due to pack MSRP and all the value you could open) made for an enjoyable experience. It was also the first set to host an Arena Direct, which was an addictive way to play some competitive Limited.
- YOUR NEW FOREVER FAVORITES—Introducing a heaping helping of exciting cards for Modern, one of Magic’s most celebrated formats, plus the return of competitive favorites, there’s something for everyone to love in Modern Horizons 3
- POWERFUL CARDS FOR MODERN CONSTRUCTED, LIMITED & COMMANDER PLAY—Spice up your deck with powerful New-to-Modern cards, host a supercharged Booster Draft with friends, or discover Legendary Creatures with striking special treatments to inspire your next Commander Deck
- MODERN’S NEVER BEEN MORE MARVELOUS—Expand your horizons with novel twists on classic mechanics and more cards for beloved Modern strategies
- FUN TO OPEN. FUN TO PLAY—Get the best of Draft and Set Boosters, combined into one! Play Boosters are great for Limited play and fun to open, with a possibility of Art cards, striking alt-frame cards, and more
- MODERN MIGHT THAT SHINES BRIGHT—Both powerful and flashy, every MH3 Play Booster includes 1-5 cards of rarity Rare or higher and 1-2 shining Traditional Foil cards
Draft Modern Horizons 3 on Draftsim
#9. Tarkir: Dragonstorm
Tarkir: Dragonstorm packs lead you into one of the three-colored warring tribes, and as you navigate your way into a deck, there is a ton of nuance to discover. Find the balance between casting noncreature spells, attacking with a horde of creatures, and building your best graveyard engine with dragons are just a sample of the best strategies to come from this beloved plane.
Take it as a good omen that the dragon set has cool cards that are not dragons.
- FIGHT DRAGONS WITH DRAGONS—Return to Tarkir for an epic battle between dragons and clans; discover which clan fits your playstyle with distinct three-color gameplay, and add draconic power to your collection
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Play Boosters are the best way to discover what Magic: The Gathering has to offer; they're perfect for building decks, playing Limited games with friends, and are tons of fun to open
- A DRAGON’S HOARD OF TARKIR TREASURES—Each Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of a Special Guest Mythic Rare from Magic’s history featuring new Borderless art
- SHINING FOIL IN EVERY PACK—Every booster also includes at least 1 shining Traditional Foil card of any rarity; in 20% of packs you’ll add an additional shiny card to your hoard with a Traditional Foil Land
- MAY CONTAIN ART CARDS—Found only in Play Boosters, some packs contain an Art card showcasing a piece of art from the Tarkir: Dragonstorm set and may even feature a foil signature from the artist
Draft Tarkir: Dragonstorm on Draftsim
#8. Edge of Eternities
In a way, Edge of Eternities boosters propel you away from Earth's surface into a fantastic space world where Magic is massive and you feel the full effect from the gravity of putting a lander token into play, or dedicating creatures to generate charge counters on spacecraft. The flavor is unmistakable and vastly unique with the Stellar Sight bonus sheet slipped into the Limited environment. Let the awesome planets be an escape from real life for bit and just enjoy one of the most imaginative universes within Magic's intellectual property.
- BATTLE FOR THE FATE OF A DYING STAR—Explore distant planets, wield dazzling magic, and wage war with alien factions
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Play Boosters are the best way to discover what Magic: The Gathering has to offer; they're perfect for building decks, playing Limited games with friends, and are tons of fun to open
- LAUNCH YOUR COSMIC COLLECTION—Each Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of Special Guest Mythic Rare from Magic’s history featuring new Borderless art
- SHINING FOIL IN EVERY PACK—Every booster also includes at least 1 shining Traditional Foil card of any rarity; in 20% of packs you’ll also find a Traditional Foil Land card
- PLAY BOOSTER BOX CONTENTS—30 Edge of Eternities Play Boosters, each containing 14 MTG cards and 1 Token
Draft Edge of Eternities on Draftsim
#7. Throne of Eldraine
While Throne of Eldraine definitely menaced Standard for a seemingly never-ending two years, it deserves credit for having a great Limited environment. While a focus on monocolor viability seems like it might make for stale drafts, ELD found the sweet spot with hybrid cards like Arcanist's Owl and Fireborn Knight.
These powerful uncommons rewarded mono-white, mono-blue, and 2-color drafters at the same time! This meant you had only a lot of options and substantial rewards for finding the right deck for your seat.
The balance between colors and archetypes was also really solid, although Oko, Thief of Crowns was even more broken to play against in Limited than in Standard.
- Expand your collection. With 36 throne of eldraine booster packs, each with 15 magic cards, The possibilities are nearly endless. Choose your favorite cards, PA your deck, and battle!
- These fairy tales fight back. Throne of eldraine spins grimm’s fairy tales and Arthurian legend as only Magic: The Gathering (Mtg) can. Create your own story as you battle your way to victory with your favorite fabled creatures!
- Devise your strategy. Plan your attack, develop new tactics, and adapt your plans on the fly As you battle your way to victory.
- Join the community. Magic: The Gathering (Mtg) fans have come together for decades to share their love of the game. Become a part of one of the largest gaming communities in the world.
- Play the game that started it all. The original strategy card game, Magic: The Gathering (Mtg) has inspired more than 20 million fans over 25 years.
Draft Thone of Eldraine on Draftsim
#6. Duskmourn
Duskmourn was a surprise hit for me, as I didn’t much care for its horror flavor and expected a dud set after the massive success that was Bloomburrow. WotC went all out with this one, as the gameplay and balance were just tremendous. The enchantment theme translated really well to Limited gameplay, and the archetypes were all really fun to draft, too. Removal was another strong quality for this set, as there were many good ways to deal with the set’s many powerful threats.
Sealed was a bit rougher than Draft, though really I’d say that for almost every single set on this list. Pools often lacked either bombs, removal, fixing, or early creatures, and not being able to fill one of these gaps could leave you feeling outgunned.
Note that I’m also a tad bit biased here, as I managed to get third in the 100k Vegas Open playing this set! Regardless, I still recommend Duskmourn packs as I seriously enjoyed drafting it.
- FIGHT TO SURVIVE IN A HOUSE OF NIGHTMARES—Dare to enter Duskmourn, a plane-enveloping House that sets the scene for your opponent’s greatest fears to come to life
- FUN TO OPEN. FUN TO PLAY—Play Boosters are perfect for Limited play and fun to open, with a possibility of Art cards, alternate art, special frames, and additional Rares and/or Mythics
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Specially balanced for Limited play, grab 6 Play Boosters to build a deck and battle your friends in Sealed games, or grab 3 packs and pass them around to build decks in a Booster Draft
- PACKS MAY CONTAIN MULTIPLE RARES—Each Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of a Borderless Mythic Rare card from Magic’s history
- SHINING FOIL IN EVERY PACK—Every booster also includes at least 1 shining Traditional Foil card of any rarity; in 20% of packs you’ll also find a Traditional Foil Land card
#5. March of the Machine
The greatest Timmy set of all time, bar none. March of the Machine was just pure fun to play. It was also fairly well balanced, with several viable archetypes/playstyles and good enough removal to answer most of the sick bombs in it. Battles also played very well in Limited, as whether to attack your battle or not was often a legitimate decision point. This created the “planeswalker gameplay loop” we all know without the Limited balance problems that come with too many planeswalkers; War of the Spark was a noble attempt, but it didn’t make this list for a reason!
My main critique of March of the Machine draft boosters is that they're almost too big; one set was tasked with representing so many things happening in the MTG universe across so many different planes. Really cool things like Koma, Cosmos Serpent being compleated only end up represented on a common removal spell (Cosmic Hunger) rather than on their own cards. I still wish we could have had a new Koma card that cost Phyrexian mana!
- 36 March of the Machine MTG Draft Boosters—the best boosters for drafting March of the Machine
- 15 Magic: The Gathering cards per booster
- At least 1 Multiverse Legend card in every pack
- 1–2 cards of rarity Rare or higher in every pack
- 1 Traditional Foil card in 33% of packs
Draft March of the Machine on Draftsim
#4. Modern Horizons
The original Modern Horizons was an awesome set to draft with a great 5-color snow deck and a bunch of fun 2-color archetypes. Sealed Modern Horizons was defined by 4- and 5-color piles while Draft was much broader.
I still remember being surprised to see Stream of Thought praised as a breakthrough card by pros, but this made sense in the context of hyper-controlling piles where the card was an important player. A good drafter in Modern Horizons could find success with just about anything.
Dimir () Ninjas, Rakdos Goblins, Orzhov Changelings, Golgari Graveyard, and Boros () Slivers were all viable 2-color archetypes. Other archetypes like Azorius Flicker and Simic () Snow generally got sucked into 3-plus-color control shells as subthemes.
- The first Magic set DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE MODERN FORMAT, Modern Horizons unleashes all-new cards and strategies on the Modern metagame.
- With a mix of reprints and new innovations, every one of the 540 cards in your Modern Horizons booster box is ELIGIBLE YOUR MODERN DECK for the first time.
- In Modern Horizons, historic cycles get new additions and ICONIC CHARACTERS make their first appearance as cards.
- From Battle Cry to Unearth, nearly 40 returning mechanics combine to make Modern Horizons a deep BOOSTER DRAFT experience with endless configurability.
- Every booster pack includes a FULL-ART SNOWCOVERED LAND, printed for the first time since the 2006 expansion, Coldsnap.
Draft Modern Horizons 2 on Draftsim
#3. Khans of Tarkir
This one is a bit of a distant memory, but I’m hardly alone in proclaiming the greatness of Khans of Tarkir packs for Limited. Abundant mana fixing and powerful 3-color cards made for a rewarding experience where you could draft the wedges as advertised or mix and match in 4- and 5-color strategies.
Knowing when and when not to splash or spend a pick on lands was crucial for success in Khans, as was successfully playing around the variety of powerful morph creatures. I still remember the first time I got blown out by an Efreet Weaponmaster!
I'm happy any time this becomes draftable on Magic Arena. Winning cash from that Arena Open while casting cards I’d played almost a decade ago was an incredible feeling!
Draft Khans of Tarkir on Draftsim
#2. Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy play boosters contain characters and key items from 16 games and a lot of powerful ones shine through. The strength of color pairs and a few mono ones like green, complete with job selected little heroes gave this set the feel of a full adventure and one in which you have tons of choices to make and multiple paths to victory.
- THE ENTIRE FINAL FANTASY SAGA IS HERE—Step into the unforgettable stories of all 16 FINAL FANTASY core games brought to your tabletop with the strategic gameplay of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game
- CUE THE VICTORY FANFARE—Cast powerful spells, meet iconic characters, and visit familiar locales on the back of a Chocobo with cards featuring FINAL FANTASY-themed art and mechanics
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Play Boosters are the best way to discover what Magic has to offer; they're perfect for building decks, playing Limited games with friends, and are tons of fun to open
- COLLECT RARE CARDS—Each Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of special cards featuring beautiful borderless alternate art
- SHINING FOIL CARD IN EVERY PACK—Every Play Booster also includes at least 1 card with a shiny Traditional Foil treatment; in 20% of packs you’ll also get a Traditional Foil Land card
Draft Final Fantasy on Draftsim
#1. Modern Horizons 2
I knew that when I was updating this list, my #1 wasn’t going to change. This is a personal list after all, and there’s no set more personal to me than Modern Horizons 2. It’s the only set I can think of where after hundreds of drafts of it, I was still excited to fire up dozens more. What made Modern Horizons 2 so good?
Ultimately it just had a lot of things going for it. It was a higher price point/return set to draft, both online and in person. The set was packed with exciting build-arounds, solid archetypes, and a generally deep Draft environment. The themes in the set (discard, artifacts, sacrifice, squirrels, reanimator, delirium, etc.) overlapped in many ways, and there was a ton of relevant fixing that you could use to build creative decks. The fact that the common fixers were also artifacts was of immense utility to many decks, too!
If I had to give a negative to Modern Horizons 2, I’d say its main failure was offering an ultimately lackluster Sealed format. Fringe decks like storm were basically dead on arrival in Sealed, so what it usually ended up being is “play all your 2-for-1s/bombs, play all your lands, hope you opened the right ones.” That’s not a terrible experience, but compared to how much I enjoyed drafting it, Modern Horizons 2 Sealed was decisively mediocre. It also made for very imbalanced matches of Sealed, as one pool opening much better lands/cards than the other could make games feel pretty hopeless.
- 36 Modern Horizons 2 (MH2) Magic: The Gathering Draft Boosters
- 1 New-to-Modern reprint in every pack
- 1–2 Rares and/or Mythic Rares in every pack
- Just add lands and draft with up to 12 players
- Introduces powerful cards and beloved reprints to the Modern format
Draft Modern Horizons 2 on Draftsim
Best Sets for Beginners
New to drafting in Magic and looking to give it a try with some friends? It can be a little intimidating to get started, but trust me, it’s absolutely worth it to take the time to learn Magic’s best format. A good bet for getting started with Draft is to start with simpler sets first; Foundations would be a better choice than Modern Horizons 3, for example.
I also encourage you to start with something Standard legal. Standard is (hopefully?) in a bit of a renaissance right now, so the cards you draft have immediate utility for your collection. Of the current Standard-legal Draft sets, there are three sets I recommend you try.
#3. Bloomburrow
Bloomburrow easily has the best flavor of any set in a long time, which led to one of the warmest receptions for a Magic: The Gathering set I’ve ever seen online. Beyond its cozy flavor, Bloomburrow was also a solid, straightforward Draft set. Limited is very much dominated by the 10 2-color animal archetypes in Bloomburrow, which makes this an excellent set for learning how to build around cohesive themes. You may also learn a valuable thing or two about reading signals, pivoting, etc. in drafts, as there are intricate synergies between cards. My main gripe with Bloomburrow was that it lacked much depth beyond those archetypes, but newer players should have their hands (paws?) plenty full with this one.
- TINY TAILS, BIG ADVENTURE—Put your best paw forward and enter the world of Bloomburrow; fight beside mice, frogs, bats, birds, lizards, squirrels, and other critters as you restore the balance of peace in the Valley and prove that bravery comes in all sizes!
- FUN TO OPEN. FUN TO PLAY—Get the best of Draft and Set Boosters, combined into one! Play Boosters are great for Limited play and fun to open, with a possibility of Art cards, Showcase cards, additional Rares, and a foil card in every pack
- BEST BOOSTER FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Specially balanced for Limited play, grab 6 Play Boosters to build a deck and battle your friends in Sealed games, or grab 3 packs and pass them around to build decks in a Booster Draft
- MAY CONTAIN MULTIPLE RARES—Each Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of a Borderless Mythic Rare card from Magic’s history
- SHINING FOIL IN EVERY PACK—Every booster also includes at least 1 shining Traditional Foil card of any rarity; in 20% of packs you’ll also find a Traditional Foil Land card
#2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set has three main decks to worry about in alliance, disappear, and mutagen. The skills they require are fundamental ones that you can expect to matter in upcoming sets. Among the silly cards there are some really powerful cards that are straight up stronger than previous iterations and top this all off with one of the most fun comic book franchises in the world. What you end up with is a great introductory set for drafting Magic.
- TAP INTO TURTLE POWER—Magic gets a quadruple dose of mutagenic mayhem as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles make their debut on the battlefield!
- A TURTLE IN EVERY PACK—Collect, construct, and combat with an iconic roster of allies and enemies from four decades of time-tested Turtle-mania
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Play Boosters are the best way to discover what Magic has to offer; they're perfect for building decks, playing Limited games with friends, and are tons of fun to open
- WELCOME TO THE GATHERING—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy, gorgeous art, fantastical stories, and a thriving fan community all together into a card game experience like no other
- CONTENTS—30 Play Boosters, each containing 14 Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cards
Draft Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Draftsim
#1. Foundations
While not my favorite set from a veteran’s perspective, it’s hard to imagine a better experience for a new/intermediate drafter than Foundations Draft. The archetypes in the set are fun and straightforward, the balance is reasonable, and there are still plenty of interesting decisions to make in drafting and gameplay. The cards themselves are also legal for a full five years in Standard, which makes Foundations a great first stop for players looking to play Standard. Even if you aren’t, you should be able to flip many of the rares in the set (like Bloodthirsty Conqueror, Doubling Season, Authority of the Consuls) for a pretty penny.
- WELCOME TO THE MULTIVERSE—Meet Magic’s most popular characters, raise zombies or cats, and strategically command armies or ancient power; this set covers Magic’s greatest hits and it’s the perfect way to start playing with your friends
- A GAME THAT FUSES ART, STORIES & STRATEGY—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy, gorgeous art, fantastical stories, and a thriving fan community all together into a card game experience like no other
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS—Construct a deck out of your favorite color combinations or draft packs with friends, Play Boosters are specially balanced for any way you like to play
- SIMPLY THE BEST CARDS—Play with cards that made Magic what it is today and open packs that may contain beautiful Borderless cards that put the card’s art on full display, including fan-favorite reprints with new art
- COLLECT RARE & MYTHIC RARE CARDS—Each Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of a Special Guest Mythic Rare card featuring a beautiful alt-frame treatment from Magic’s history
Wrap Up
Vizier of Many Faces | Illustration by Ryan Yee
Drafting is easily the best thing about Magic. If Draft didn’t exist, I probably wouldn’t still be playing Magic a decade after I touched my first Vampire Nighthawk. Limited is truly an experience like no other, and as a bonus is also the best “work out” there is for getting better at Magic. Truly learning and excelling at Limited tests your skills in deck building, card evaluation, reading signals, adapting on the fly to complex situations, and more.
With all the above in mind, it goes without saying that I recommend you Hop to It and crack some packs with friends. If you haven’t played any of the 12 formats above, conquer your Fear of Missing Out and do so! The good news is that you can always buy booster boxes and packs online, check out your local game store, or draft these sets whenever they’re on MTG Arena or MTGO.
Let me know which older sets have had your favorite Draft environments in the comments, or bring the discussion over to Discord.
Until next time, may your P1P1s always be busted!
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5 Comments
best of all time not including RAV1 full block, ISD1, INV or ZEN1, but putting KALDHEIM in the top 10? sure thing lol
One author’s opinion! I started playing in 2013 so I never played Rav1 and only played Innistrad via MTGO (almost a decade later so I didn’t really “get” it). Zendikar is another set I haven’t played but all I hear about it is how aggro it was. A cursory look through the set on draftsim once had me blushing at the sheer number of unplayables I saw.
I agree with you on many sets but why is Kamigawa Neon Dynasty not on the list?
I can’t believe Rise of the Eldrazi isn’t on here. It’s a legendary draft environment.
Probably deserves a mention on most lists, though this author capped out on a certain year.
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