Last updated on February 7, 2026
Grunn, the Lonely King | Illustration by Mathias Kollros
Jumpstart's been on a bit of a journey, originating as a standalone product, receiving an excellent sequel, gaining evergreen status, and then falling off completely for some time. With the return of Jumpstart in Foundations, I thought it would be worth reminding ourselves just what Jumpstart boosters are!
Let’s jump right in and see what these packs have in store for us!
What's a Jumpstart Booster? What's the Purpose?
Unity of Purpose | Illustration by Jason Felix
Jumpstart boosters are a product that’s designed to be opened and then played with immediately. They’re very beginner friendly and also appeal to more veteran players with some sought-after reprints, spicy newer cards, and unique gameplay.
Ultimately, while the main purpose is to be a new way to enjoy Magic and one that’s good to introduce new players to help them learn the rules. Jumpstart boosters also double as another avenue for WotC to introduce new cards into Eternal formats like Commander. Not to mention another way to get reprints of sought-after cards out into players hands.
What Comes in a Jumpstart Booster?
Each Jumpstart booster contains 20 cards, consisting of seven to eight lands while the rest are a mixture of all kinds of spells. All the spells in the booster match a given theme, like goblins, elves, or rainbow, with 46 different themes available in the original release.
There were 46 new themes introduced in Jumpstart 2022. Each theme can come in up to four different variations, each with slightly different card lists, for a total of 121 different decks available in the set.
The boosters also come with cards at rare and mythic rarity. Each booster contains at least one rare, with one-in-three having an extra one. Some boosters include foil lands, and others do not have any foils at all. And while most of the lands are fairly ordinary basics, one in each booster matches the theme of the booster, and some (like the Phyrexian Swamp) are collector’s items. Mono-colored boosters often come with one of the “thriving” land cycle, too.
Jumpstart 2022 boosters included one “booster fun” card with alternate anime-styled art, something that returned in Jumpstart 2025.
How Do Jumpstart Boosters Work?
Aetherworks Marvel | Illustration by James Paick
You take any two Jumpstart booster packs, open them, and “shuffle up and play” as in, shuffle both decks together and play a game of Magic with your 40 card deck! There’s not much you need to do to prepare. While this is mainly intended to be a 1v1 game, there’s nothing stopping you from playing some multiplayer with your friends, like Two-Headed Giant.
You can end up with some very strange combinations since the themes of the packs are fairly varied. You might open angels and dogs or well-read minotaurs. And while no combinations are particularly ill-suited together, you could hit the jackpot and find a couple themes that work together amazingly.
Some people like the idea of these randomly-themed decks so much that they’ve built something like a Cube from them. If you have friends come over you can each take two previously opened packs at random and play as if you’d just opened them. There’s definitely replayability here if you have a few packs on hand.
Jumpstart Controversy
The Jumpstart line-up came under fire after Wizards of the Coast started using the “Jumpstart” name to sell less-than-ideal booster packs tied to Standard releases. The original Jumpstart set was awesome, and Jumpstart 2022 was a great follow-up, but there are other “Jumpstart” products released along-side Standard releases, like The Brothers' War Jumpstart or Dominaria United Jumpstart.
No products found.While these Standard tie-ins follow the same premise as the more popular Jumpstart sets (pick two decks and shuffle together), the packs from these sets rarely contain anything of value, and also have a smaller range of themes per set. DMU Jumpstart, for example, only had 10 different themes. If you bought an 18-pack booster box of the set, you'd get quite a few repeats decks, none of which contained anything all that interesting. Even worse, these Jumpstart packs have mechanically unique cards that can't be opened in the main set, though they are rarely good enough to chase after.
This was a clear practice of Wizards using the successful Jumpstart name to market an inferior product that was much closer to the failed Theme boosters than anything else. Many players and LGSs didn't understand that there was a significant different between the formerly successful Jumpstart products and these Standard-adjacent releases that used the same name, and so many players and stores got caught with excess product after players realized the packs weren't as good.
WotC took a break in producing Jumpstart tie-ins after March of the Machine Jumpstart, though the product line-up returned with Jumpstart 2025. Despite being a tie-in with Foundations, J25 is a great set, and bodes well for the future of Jumpstart tie-ins, and the fresh 46 themes of Avatar: The Last Airbender Jumpstart signal a leap into the future.
What's the Difference Between a “Regular” MTG Booster and a Jumpstart Booster?
The main difference between a regular booster and a Jumpstart booster is that Jumpstart boosters are designed to be played out of the pack with just two of them and you don’t need to do any deckbuilding at all, unlike other Limited formats where you still need to decide what to put in your deck. Like normal boosters, they can still be opened just to build your collection, but you miss out on the fun gameplay!
Why Did Theme Boosters Change to Jumpstart Boosters?
Change of Fortune | Illustration by Sam Guay
Theme boosters never really found the right home. The niche they were aiming for was superseded by set boosters in the end, but theme boosters stuck around, often taking up shelf space in stores and going unsold.
Lackluster theme boosters combined with the fewer free Intro Decks provided to local game stores left a big gap in products to introduce new players to the game. No doubt WotC noticed the popularity of Jumpstart as a very new-player-friendly format with fairly simple card designs and players who just wanted to dip their toes into Magic. And going for a low price makes them even more attractive to someone who wants to find out if Magic is for them.
A further bonus of a product like this is that it’s not like an Intro Deck where you buy one and you may not want to tweak the deck afterwards. You can very easily buy more boosters, try out new theme combinations, and then try out a different combination later! Hence, Jumpstart boosters are good to compare with theme boosters.
How Many Packs Are in a Jumpstart Booster Box?
There are 24 Jumpstart packs in a full-release Jumpstart booster box. This is enough for 12 players to build 2-pack decks, or for two people to build six different 2-pack decks each.
Note that some Jumpstart releases were used as supplementary products to a bigger Standard release set. These booster boxes have 18 booster packs, and are absolutely not worth the money, though they often contain exclusive cards that aren't in the main set.
Are Jumpstart Booster Boxes Worth It in General?
Reidane, God of the Worthy | Illustration by Jason Rainville
There’s definitely value in the Jumpstart packs. As with any Magic product, the value is partly subjective. On top of the value of the singles in the packs, there’s also value of it as a good teaching tool, an onboarding product to the hobby, and a fun Limited play experience.
Allosaurus Shepherd is the poster child of value in the original Jumpstart set. Other cards, like Rhystic Study and Bruvac the Grandiloquent, are worth upwards of $30 or more.
The Jumpstart sets that were offered as ancillary products to mainline sets are absolutely not worth your money. Dominaria United Jumpstart, for example, is an awful product that should be avoided at all costs. When people say “Jumpstart is worth it,” they mean the full Jumpstart releases: Jumpstart (JMP), Jumpstart 2022 (J22), and Jumpstart 2025 (J25).
How Many Rares and Mythics Are in a Jumpstart Booster Box?
There’s at least one rare or mythic in each Jumpstart booster, with one-in-three having a bonus rare. This means that each mainline Jumpstart booster box will have 32 rares or mythics on average. This number scales back for 18-pack Jumpstart booster boxes.
It’s difficult to calculate how many packs in a box will have a mythic, but we do know that every pack that’s themed after a planeswalker (like Liliana) will have a mythic planeswalker included.
Are Jumpstart Boosters Limited Release?
Jumpstart boosters aren’t limited release. There have been multiple waves of the first set released to stores, and it’s still relatively easy to find on the shelves of your LGS despite selling well. Future sets releases may or may not include them, and when WotC does, they’re readily available.
Do Jumpstart Boosters Have Cards from The List?
Jumpstart boosters do not include cards from The List, possibly because it would make it difficult to include them while keeping “shuffle up and play” part of the experience.
How Many Jumpstart Booster Boxes Are in a Case?
A case of Jumpstart booster boxes contains six booster displays, each with 24 booster packs.
What Sets Have Jumpstart Boosters?
Some Jumpstart sets are standalone products, and tend to be great sets overall, while many of the Standard tie-in sets are not worth buying. Here is every Jumpstart product so far:
Mainline Jumpstart Sets
- Foundations Jumpstart 2025
- Jumpstart 2022
- Jumpstart: Historic Horizons (MTG Arena exclusive)
- Jumpstart (2020)
Supplementary Jumpstart Tie-ins
- Marvel Super Heroes JumpstartMarvel Super Heroes
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Jumpstart
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Jumpstart Vol. 2
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Jumpstart
- March of the Machine Jumpstart
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One Jumpstart
- The Brothers' War Jumpstart
- No products found.
Wrap Up
Finale of Promise | Illustration by Jaime Jones
So, in the end, is Jumpstart a good product? I say so, but specifically the numbered sets, not the Standard tie-ins. Anything that makes the game more accessible is good. They’re also clearly fairly popular with Magic veterans, and not many products can be said to bring fresh and seasoned players together like this.
If you haven’t tried Jumpstart yet, I encourage you to give it a go. If nothing else, it is a great way to get your friend, partner, or family member interested in this hobby that we all love.
Have you shuffled up and played Jumpstart yet? If so, what cool theme pairs did you open? Should they be reserved for Universes Beyond properties? Let me know in the comments or over on the Draftsim Twitter.
Catch you ‘round, from your friendly neighborhood well-read minotaur!
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