Blessed Sanctuary | Illustration by Anastasia Ovchinnikova
Magic: The Gathering has many different types of booster packs that you can purchase and open based on the type of player you are. Draft boosters are for players who love the Draft experience. Set and Collector boosters are for those who want to chase the big hitter cards. Jumpstart boosters are for players who want a quick, playable experience.
The first Jumpstart boosters were released on July 17, 2020, when the first Jumpstart expansion set debuted. Then, Jumpstart 2022 was released on December 2, 2022 as a follow-up to the previous release, with 51 new cards and 768 reprinted cards. Supplementary Jumpstart boosters were sold alongside Standard set releases, the last of which was The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth with 10 Jumpstart boosters.
Jumpstart boosters are in the process of winding down, and we already know Play boosters will soon replace Draft and Set boosters. What are the differences between Jumpstart and Play boosters? What are the functionalities behind each of them? Crack a pack to find out!
The Difference Between Play and Jumpstart Boosters
Devil's Play | Illustration by Austin Hsu
Play boosters contain six fewer playable cards than Jumpstart boosters. Each type of booster has different functionalities.
Jumpstart boosters are for players who want a quick, playable experience. Rather than passing around the cards with a group of players to draft a deck, two 20-card Jumpstart boosters are simply opened and shuffled together to finalize the deck. There are enough lands already integrated into the packs to make a playable 40-card deck.
This is in contrast to the Play boosters where you’ll still have to pass the packs around with a group of players to undergo the Draft experience. Then, you can finish the deck with the lands you need while playing at your LGS, home, or a friend’s house.
Play Booster Contents
Play boosters combine the love of the drafting experience from Draft boosters with the appeal of collecting big hitter cards with Set boosters. Play boosters have 15 “slots” broken down as follows:
- Common cards in slots 1-6.
- Another common or a card from “The List” in slot 7.
- Uncommons in slots 8-10.
- A rare or a mythic rare in slot 11.
- A basic land in slot 12.
- A non-foil “wildcard” in slot 13 (any card of any rarity from the set).
- A foil wildcard is in slot 14.
- A token, art card, or advertisement in slot 15.
How Many Cards Are in a Play Booster?
Play boosters contain 14 playable cards. The other card in the pack is usually an art card, token, or advertisement.
Jumpstart Booster Contents
Jumpstart boosters contain about 7 or 8 lands while the remaining 12 to 13 cards are different spells related to the theme which the pack encompasses. The original Jumpstart had 46 different themes such as Cats, Goblins, Unicorns, Scrying, Cycling, and so on.
For Jumpstart 2022 Booster packs, there are at least 1-2 rare cards along with an anime-inspired card in each pack.
- 24 Jumpstart 2022 MTG boosters
- 20 Magic cards in each booster—includes all the lands you need to play
- 1 anime-inspired card in every pack
- Total of 1–2 cards of rarity Rare or higher in every pack
- Each booster has over 40 possible themes—combine them for wild mash ups
How Many Cards Are in a Jumpstart Booster?
Jumpstart boosters contain 20 cards. Remove the card that states the theme to be left with only the lands and spells. Combine it with another Jumpstart booster to create a 40-card deck for easy play.
Which Is Better? Play or Jumpstart Boosters?
Play boosters are better than Jumpstart boosters. You can pull more heavy hitter cards in terms of value from a Play booster compared to a Jumpstart booster, especially because you have a chance of pulling a List card in a Play booster.
Best Play Boosters
There are no Play boosters available for purchase at this time. The first round of Play boosters will be released in February 2024 when Murders at Karlov Manor debuts.
Best Jumpstart Boosters
In order to determine the best Jumpstart boosters, it’s worth distinguishing the difference between the two main-line Jumpstart releases from the Standard-set add-ons that use the Jumpstart name for an inferior product.
Jumpstart (2020 version) and Jumpstart 2022 are the only Jumpstart products you should invest money into. The original Jumpstart set was such a hit that WotC used the name to rebrand Theme boosters as Jumpstart boosters that released alongside Standard legal sets. For example, the Jumpstart product associated with Dominaria United is an entirely different product, essentially using the Jumpstart name to sell slightly different versions of Dominaria United Booster packs. These products are terrible value, with only a few new cards spread across the different themes of the set.
It's entirely possible to open a valuable rare in a Jumpstart booster, for example you can get an Orcish Bowmasters in Lord of the Rings Jumpstart packs, but you’d be better off investing in the normal Booster/Set packs for that. If you don’t value playing Jumpstart games, don’t buy these packs! Stick to the 2020 and 2022 main-set releases, or for Standard set releases, stick with Draft/Set boosters, soon to be Play boosters.
Wrap Up
Start from Scratch | Illustration by Bayard Wu
It can be confusing to choose which booster is best for you as a new Magic player. However, we hope that we’ve helped you to see the difference between a Play booster and a Jumpstart booster in preparation for the Play booster debut in February 2024.
Are you ready to jump into the world of Magic further? Head over to the Draftsim Discord to chat with like-minded Magic players who can give you pointers on more of the best Jumpstart boosters for you to play and enjoy as you wait for the Play boosters to be released.
Until next time, play on with your favorite formats and get ready for the expansion of the Magic universe soon to come.
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