Big Score | Illustration by Zuzanna Wużyk
The Collector Booster era has led to exceptional borderless and showcase treatments, not to mention specialty foils and exclusives. We’ve had quite a few sets since their introduction, enough that we can rank what things look like on the market for booster boxes. Collector Boosters have a high risk/reward profile; they have a higher sales price, but you’re more likely to open valuable cards.
If you’re like me, you like to extract good value from your sealed purchases. If you’re going to gamble on opening packs, it may as well be packs likely to have something you can use or sell.
I’ve dug through TCGplayer and Scryfall to find the cheapest boxes and some of the best pulls you can expect from them. I can’t name every good or useful card in each set without writing a textbook, so consider these my biased highlights.
These prices were taken from TCGplayer on July 5th, 2026 and are subject to significant changes over time.
What Are Collector Booster Boxes?
Inscription of Insight | Illustration by Zoltan Boros
Collector Booster Boxes are display boxes that contain 12 Collector Boosters, a type of booster used to distribute Magic: The Gathering cards. Collector Boosters contain cards from the main set, as well as most supplemental products associated with a set. They often also contain special treatments, frames, arts, foils, etc, exclusive to a set’s Collector Boosters.
For example, Marvel Super Heroes Collector Boosters can contain cards from the main set, the bonus sheet, the Commander precons, the Jumpstart Boosters, and the Scene Boxes.
For the sake of simplicity, I’ll focus primarily on main set and bonus sheet cards.
#1. Innistrad: Midnight Hunt – $209.97
We’re far enough from the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt for the value of its Collector Boosters to fall off a lot, not that they were flying off the shelf to start. The vampire and werewolf themes are so niche that if you don’t run them, those cards collect dust in your collection.
There’s a gulf between the prices of The Meathook Massacre and Haunted Ridge these days, the two most valuable cards in the set at their base, nonfoil printings. Innistrad Remastered, precons, and bonus sheets have reprinted many of the original chase cards like Eaten Alive, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, and Unnatural Growth, and the slow lands like Rockfall Vale occasionally see reprints that keeps their value in check.
The black and white basic lands are gorgeous, though, especially in foil. Some legendary creatures in this set appear in an Eternal Night showcase, with art that matches the gothic basics, and werewolves get an Equinox showcase treatment.
#2. March of the Machine: The Aftermath – $224.46
The set that sold so poorly that it changed the plans for The Big Score, March of the Machine: The Aftermath is a tidy set that contains no commons. You actually get twice the cards in a Collector Booster that you get in an Epilogue Booster.
There’s some good stuff to be found here, though. It’s the set that gave us Nissa, Resurgent Animist, Tyvar the Bellicose, and Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin. Many of the desparked planeswalkers are good commanders or support cards for their archetypes, and they come with multiple arts and treatments to collect. But there’s no basics here; the MAT Bundle contained March of the Machine basics.
#3. Innistrad: Crimson Vow – $242.77
Innistrad: Crimson Vow has the same issue as Midnight Hunt, which is that Innistrad Remastered has reprinted many of the more desirable cards. Toxrill, the Corrosive is a notable exception, only reprinted in a Secret Lair. But some cards like Necroduality or Hullbreaker Horror took a hit with INR.
Innistrad: Crimson Vow Collector Boosters are the only place you can open Dracula reskins, although Castle Dracula (Voldaren Estate) was only available as a Buy-a-Box promo. The slow lands are still good, though many have been reprinted over the years. The set also contains Fang showcase cards for vampires and continues the Eternal Night showcase treatment of some legendary creatures.
#4. Streets of New Capenna – $247.47
Streets of New Capenna Booster Boxes contain region-specific box-topper prints of Gala Greeters, with rules text in that region’s language and art inspired by its culture. The most valuable of these is the Korean one, which sits at a market price of nearly $180 on TCGplayer.
The chase cards in the set proper start with the crime family triomes, like Jetmir's Garden or Spara's Headquarters. Each Collector Booster contains a foil metropolis land, which could be any of the triomes or common lands like Waterfront District.
Forty-five cards come in a gilded foil treatment, highlighted by cards like Raffine, Scheming Seer that are a few bucks in their base printing but 10 times more in the illusive gilded foil. Nine more cards got an Art Deco showcase exclusive to Collector Boosters.
There's some decent value at the uncommon level with cards like Slip Out the Back and An Offer You Can't Refuse. The Phyrexian-language Urabrask, Heretic Praetor is available in all boosters from the set.
The full-art basics don’t do much for me (aside from help me fill my Commander decks with a unique basic in each slot), but your mileage may vary.
#5. Aetherdrift – $270.46
Aetherdrift has its haters, but there’s plenty to love in its card slots. It gave us Stock Up, Ketramose, the New Dawn, and Monument to Endurance, for starters. It also continues the Verge land cycle started in Duskmourn: House of Horror.
The first-place foil treatments are exclusive to box toppers. Some cards got a Japanese showcase treatment exclusive to DFT Collector Boosters, like Loot, the Pathfinder and Chandra, Spark Hunter.
The serialized Headliner of the set is The Aetherspark, which is also pretty desirable in its other prints. The gods and gearhulks have graffiti showcase cards.
#6. Dominaria United – $303.46
The stained-glass basics in Dominaria United are stunning, especially in foil. The stained-glass treatment is also applied to legendary creatures in the set; DMU guaranteed that you’d find at least one legend in Draft and Set Boosters, and more than one in Collector Boosters. The stained-glass legends are also found in a textured foil treatment.
But, to bury the lede, the card you want in this set is Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. In all versions. The base is around $100. The next most valuable base printing is Plaza of Heroes, followed by Silverback Elder. The bottom fell out of Timeless Lotus’s price when Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander reprinted it.
Pain lands like Shivan Reef or Caves of Koilos are welcome, but they’re common enough reprints in Commander precons. DMU gives you the chance to pull borderless prints, though; I really like the Yavimaya Coast in foil.
#7. Adventures in the Forgotten Realms – $306.45
The weaker of the two Dungeons & Dragons sets has to be Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. The only thing exclusive to these is the extended art treatment. Everything else can be found in Draft and Set Boosters, though at a lower frequency.
The top of the list in terms of value is still really strong, though. Old Gnawbone and Tiamat lead the brood, but Circle of Dreams Druid is an explosive mana dork, The Book of Exalted Deeds pumps out angels and can save you from imminent death, Teleportation Circle is a blink staple… and then I get into other great cards like Lolth, Spider Queen, Xorn, Delina, Wild Mage, and Fighter Class, cards I run in a few decks each.
For special art treatments, there’s module lands like Den of the Bugbear and rulebook treatments like Oswald Fiddlebender.
But if you’re doing D&D, Karlach, Fury of Avernus, the ancient metallic dragons, and the upgrade from venture into the dungeon to the initiative all make Battle for Baldur’s Gate stand a full head higher.
#8. Kaldheim – $311.04
2021’s Kaldheim has incredible mythics. There’s Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider, which you can find in regular, showcase, and Phyrexian treatments. Birgi, God of Storytelling is busted, Halvar, God of Battle is perfect for equipment decks, and Tergrid, God of Fright is on the Commander Game Changers list. And don’t forget Esika, God of the Tree.
Goldspan Dragon is an accelerant for decks that use Treasure, while Tibalt's Trickery is a rare counterspell in red. The World Tree and Maskwood Nexus combo together to pull all your creatures out of your deck. KHM also has angel themes, including Starnheim Aspirant’s cost reduction.
Kaldheim is notable for its snow themes; snow basics aren’t reprinted often, so they tend to be worth a little more than regular basics. The snow duals in this set are also fetchable, and the set continues the Pathways from Zendikar Rising.
#9. Theros Beyond Death – $320.70
One of the last sets before the introduction of Set Boosters, Theros Beyond Death has some really good cards, and others that are either situational or plain mid.
Some of the chase cards include Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Nyxbloom Ancient for land decks, and other powerful cards like Shadowspear, Idyllic Tutor, Serpent of Yawning Depths, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling.
Underworld Breach and Thassa's Oracle are heavily-played combo pieces, while Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is a frequent flier on ban lists.
The Nyx basics are simple yet gorgeous, especially in foil.
#10. Unfinity – $333.24
I shouldn’t be surprised that the only Un-set of the Collector Booster era is also among the cheaper booster boxes available. Most of these cards aren’t legal in most formats, whether they’re acorn cards, sticker cards, or attraction cards.
Still, Unfinity reprinted the full cycle of shock lands, and you’re guaranteed a foil one as the box topper. There’s a second borderless treatment in the set, too. There are two sets of space-age full art basics, one from the perspective that you’re orbiting the planet, and one from the planet’s surface.
Saw in Half was more valuable as a combo piece before its reprints in Bloomburrow Commander and Marvel Universe. Comet, Stellar Pup and other dice roll cards play well with Wyll, Blade of Frontiers or Mr. House, President and CEO. Clown Car is a mana sink for robot decks.
#11. Murders at Karlov Manor – $345.95
You like serialized cards? How about seven of them? Murders at Karlov Manor Collector Boosters are brimming with potential alternate art between the case files, magnified, and Ravnica City showcase treatments.
The set is full of weird little mysteries in its art and packaging, like different colored smoke on Break Out or different feathers in the Wojek Investigator’s hand. Some case file showcases also come with “invisible ink” scrawled in their text box, though the invisible ink versions are Collector Booster exclusives.
As for the cards themselves, MKM gave us a good cycle of dual-color, fetchable surveil lands. Delney, Streetwise Lookout, Archdruid's Charm, and Warleader's Call are some of the other standout cards.
#12. Marvel’s Spider-Man – $364.42
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone who is or thinks they’re funny has riffed on how bad this set was to the point that it’s tired. I will say though, my spies at my LGS tell me that the one return they made on Magic product last year was all Marvel's Spider-Man stuff. So why aren’t these even cheaper?
First place to look: The Soul Stone, the set’s headliner, which received both a textless cosmic foil print and a gauntlet print exclusive to Collector Boosters. Borderless comic treatments of cards like Eddie Brock are also exclusives, as are the textured foil costume change alters of Spectacular Spider-Man.
Parallel Lives, Opposition Agent, and Reanimate are some of the chase cards in SPM’s section of the Marvel Universe bonus sheet, and Collector Boosters have a guaranteed slot compared to a Play Booster’s 1-in-24 odds.
The set itself isn’t all that exciting though; Norman Osborn has cEDH potential, Multiversal Passage is fantastic color fixing, and Impostor Syndrome is a good card that also references a meme well.
#13. Zendikar Rising – $367.37
Zendikar Rising doesn’t go as silly as other sets with all the showcase treatments and supplemental products, so the value you’ll find in Collector Boosters comes from the strength of the cards themselves.
ZNR is known for its MDFCs, including widely used ones like Malakir Rebirth and Valakut Awakening. Sea Gates Restoration and Agadeem's Awakening are also really valuable. The mythics in this set also include Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, Angel of Destiny, and Ancient Greenwarden.
It’s the original appearance of Scute Swarm, which has been reprinted a few times but always soars in demand whenever a new lands commander is released. There’s cards like Forsaken Monument for colorless decks and Maddening Cacophony for mill decks. All in all, it’s still a good set to open.
#14. Throne of Eldraine – $382.25
Throne of Eldraine was beloved and popular, but the product itself is showing its age. A number of its best cards have been reprinted, which has eroded the value of some cards. Fabled Passage has been especially affected by 2026 reprints.
ELD introduced us to The Great Henge and the Castles, plus there’s Torbran, Thane of Red Fell, Questing Beast, Embercleave, and Oko, Thief of Crowns.
#15. Lorwyn Eclipsed – $384.86
Lorwyn Eclipsed was a very popular Draft set, but it’s not the most impactful in terms of collecting. We do get the half of the shock lands that were missing from Edge of Eternities, though, including in reversible, double-sided prints.
Bitterbloom Bearer makes for a good Headliner as a callback to Bitterblossom. Japan showcase treatments return on cards like Glen Elendra Guardian.
Bloom Tender, Hexing Squelcher, Formidable Speaker, and Moonshadow are some of the other choice cards, but a lot of what’s going on here is typal, so it’s specific to the archetype you’re building. But if you’re looking for generic, Chronicle of Victory is a flexible typal payoff for any creature type you want, the set is full of shapeshifters, and you may even find a Springleaf Parade.
#16. Assassin’s Creed – $402.87
Each of the historic figures in the set, (Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Read and Anne Bonny, Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh, and Sokrates, Athenian Teacher) received serialized rainbow foil prints of their borderless treatments, translated into their native language.
Assassin’s Creed features some fun reprints like Black Market Connections, Reconnaissance, and a pair of Mirran swords, but you’ll mostly find Assassin’s Creed characters like Edward Kenway and Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Brotherhood Regalia remains a fantastic piece of equipment for decks that need to connect with their opponents, and you’ll always find someone willing to take a Path to Exile off your hands.
#17. Outlaws of Thunder Junction – $403.94
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Collector Boosters have so many products competing for slots: There’s the main set, the Commander precons, the Breaking News bonus sheet, and The Big Score, which was originally going to be another small, Epilogue Booster set.
Bristly Bill, Spine Sower and Terror of the Peaks are the cards you want to open the most. There’s a huge gap down to the extended art Goldvein Hydra, Insatiable Avarice, and Three Steps Ahead.
Some of the Breaking News cards received a textured foil treatment, and these are some of the most expensive cards you can find in the set; Mana Drain, Mindbreak Trap, Force of Vigor, and Thoughtseize are the prize finds here.
The Big Score cards include the original Simulacrum Synthesizer and Vaultborn Tyrant. The cards in this sheet are also available in a special vault frame that’s only in Collector Boosters, and five of them have a special raised foil print.
Wrap Up
The Moment | Illustration by Patrik Hell
Just missing out from this list as of July 5th, 2026 are Double Masters 2022 and Innistrad Remastered. Whether you’re looking for boxes to open or boxes to buy and sit on for a while, some of these should give you the fun or value you seek.
Which of these sets would you spring for, and what are you looking for in them? Are there any inclusions or omissions that surprised you? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord. For more daily news and tidbits, subscribe to our newsletter.
Until next time, happy hunting!
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