Are you looking to buy Magic the Gathering as a gift this Christmas and don’t know where to start? Look no further, this article should help you put two and two together!
If there is one thing that Wizards of the Coast (WotC) does well, it’s ensuring that there is always a myriad of products to choose from if you’re looking to buy Magic cards as a gift. Unfortunately, for those who aren’t well-versed in the hobby, this abundant selection can be a curse instead of a blessing – a wall of products can be intimidating!
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MtG Sets
The first thing to wrap your head around is the idea of “sets”. Every three or so months, the team at WotC will release a new range of products, generally with a specific theme. They might choose to release a set that focuses on ninjas, fairies, or vampires. Or sometimes, they’ll team up and release a set in collaboration with another company, like the recent Lord of the Rings or Dr Who sets. This theme helps to coordinate the art style and abilities of each card in the set.
When choosing a set, there are two ways you can approach it. The first is to find out (if you can) if the person you’re buying for is currently collecting a set and choose that one! It can be notoriously tricky to collect each card in a set, so helping a player to fill out their collection is will be a welcome gift. The second is to look at the different sets and their themes and see if any stick out to you as something they’d be interested in!
If they’ve just outgrown fairy tales, Wilds of Eldraine might suit with its twisted take, if they’re a long-time fan of Magic, Commander Masters might be for them with its reprints of popular vintage cards! Or maybe they’re new to Magic but their favourite films are The Lord of the Rings – you’re in luck there is a set for you!
MtG Products
Once you’ve chosen your set, the next step is to choose the product (or products if they’re super lucky) that you’re going to purchase for them. When buying Magic, there a lot of options!
| Product | Description | Recomended for |
| Set Boosters* | Set Boosters contain 14 cards, with a few chances to have rarer cards. | Great for collectors or players alike. |
| Draft Boosters* | Draft Boosters contain 15 cards, but only one has a chance for a rare card. Generally used if people are looking to play a “random deck”, each player will buy three packs and they then ‘draft’ cards from their packs. WotC wrote a great article on this. | Perfect pick for diehard players. |
| Collector Boosters | Collector Boosters contain 15 cards and are tailored towards collectors, with a focus on diversity in content and five opportunities for rare cards! | Perfect pick for collectors. |
| Commander Decks | Commander Decks contain 100 unique cards (no card in the deck is the same as another, except for Lands). Two players can grab a Commander Deck and jump straight into a match, no deck building or drafting required. | Great pick for players. |
| Bundles | Bundles generally contain around eight set boosters, promo card/s, land cards, dice (life counter), card storage box and other items! | Excellent pick for someone getting started in Magic, or a great first purchase for someone collecting a new set! |
As you can see from the above, there a few different products to choose from! If you’re looking for a little stocking filler, one or two set boosters is a great choice. Maybe you’ve got a bit of a higher price limit and you are buying for an avid collector – they’ll be sure to appreciate some Collector Boosters. Or potentially you’re looking at buying for someone who hasn’t had a chance to checkout a new set yet – you can’t go wrong with a Bundle!
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The good news is that if you’re buying for someone who loves Magic, you really can’t go wrong with any item that includes booster packs, there are plenty of rare cards out there to be found!
You’ve chosen… So what’s next?
It’s time to head to your friendly local game shop to see what you can find! A great pick this Christmas would be from Wizard’s latest set, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan which was released in mid-November and is themed around venturing into the unknown depths of the caverns. It features merfolk, pirates, vampires and dinosaurs, and introduces ancient artifacts with powerful effects to impact the game.
It also features a collaboration with Jurassic World, with 26 unique cards out there to be found, featuring Ellie and Alan, Ian Malcolm (my favourite), as well as a few of our favourite dinosaurs.
Check out some of the fun cards from the set below, they may be simple but some of my favourites are the full art land cards!
Jurassic World Collection:
Wizards of the Coast sent Quest Daily some cards from the latest set, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, to check out prior to writing this article.
