What's in a Theros Beyond Death Theme Booster?

So I was out at Walmart today, and I took a quick look at the collectible card game section, as I often do.  There isn't much worth buying there usually, but you never know.  The Eldraine Brawl deck rack was completely empty, for example, because those have been very popular.  But the Theros Beyond Death (THB) Theme Boosters caught my eye -- specifically the black one with Tymaret on the cover, because that's a card I want for a Commander deck.

He's kind of terrifying -- definitely age 13+.

THB was just released to stores this weekend, so these products had probably only been there for a day or two.  Theme Boosters aren't new, but they have a new gimmick this time around: there are 10 rares, 2 in each color, that can only be found in these Theme Boosters.  These 10 cards are aimed at pseudo-casual play level, or maybe Commander and Brawl players, so they aren't intended to attract competitive players (if they did attract competitive players, it could result in a supply problem because they're so relatively hard to get).  The 2 black cards from this group are kind of unexciting compared to a few in the other colors, but I like black.

Anyway, this Theme Booster was $7.48 for 35 cards.  I didn't check Walmart's price for a normal Draft Booster (it's probably around $4), but I can get those at the LGS for $3.50 and they contain 15 cards.  So what's going on in this booster?  Let's look at the back.

First off, this pack has 35 cards that are probably all black.  They want it to be ready to turn into a 60-card deck just by adding 25 lands (Swamps).  Where are you supposed to get the lands?  I don't know.

"At least" one card will be rare or mythic, and they go into great detail in the small text: 10% of packs will have 2 rares.  I'm not sure if that means the second rare is one of the special ones that can only be in these packs, or if it will be one of the multicolor mythics that are listed in the card numbers.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  The card numbers, which look random and skip a bunch of numbers?  Yeah, it took me a little searching to find a checklist to compare against this.

The best resource for the entire card list that I found was Scryfall; search for all THB and sort by Set/Number.

So THB has a whopping 357 different numbered cards, many of which are alternate versions of the same cards.  The basic set is only 254 cards, but then you have cards only found in Planeswalker decks, showcase versions of some cards, extended art rares (I think of these as widescreen cards), and of course the 10 Theme Booster exclusives.

The card numbers listed in the small text include all of the monocolor cards from the base set, plus the 5 common artifacts and 1 common land, and the 6 multicolor mythic rares.  Weird for those last ones to be included in monocolor packs, but it's nice since those are some of the most desirable cards in the set.  The next 5 cards are the showcase (Nyx constellation) versions of the 5 demigods.  And the last chunk of 10 are the 10 exclusive rares.

Now you might also notice that there is a 30% chance of opening a showcase card.  Since there are only 5 showcase cards eligible to be opened in these packs, 1 in each color, that means that this pack has exactly 30% chance of the Nyx constellation version of Tymaret, and 0% chance of any other showcase card.  That's cool, but it should also be noted that this particular card is for sale on TCGPlayer for as low as 5 cents plus conditional shipping.

The other interesting thing here is that there are 33 - 34 uncommons and commons, with no regard to how many of each.  If it was scaled to the ratio of a normal Draft Booster, there would be exactly 6.6 - 6.8 uncommons.

Ok, enough talking.  What's in this thing?

It's the Gray Merchant of Asphodel!  Not a bad start.  Yes, it's not worth much, but at least it's a very popular card playable in multiple formats.

About halfway through the pack, here's our first duplicate card, and it's an uncommon.  We've also found a land, and I notice that the uncommons (silver mask symbol) are mixed in with the commons instead of being in a specific part of the pack like in normal Draft Boosters.

A little deeper, and there's our friend Tymaret, the former Murder King and current demigod.  Ok, we got what we came for.  We can stop now.

No, let's keep digging.

And there's our rare!  We weren't the lucky 10%, so we only got one angry harpy.  Aphemia can be bought online for about 25 cents plus conditional shipping, but that still makes her the most valuable card in the pack.  And at the very back, I thought maybe we'd get a token, but it's just a double-sided ad card.

So lets see it all organized:

We got 20 total commons and 16 unique ones.  This was out of 19 possible black cards and 6 more colorless ones, so we got at least one of most of the possible commons.

We got 14 total uncommons and 11 unique ones.  There are only 13 uncommons in black (ignoring the showcase Tymaret as a separate card), so we did pretty well here, only missing 2 of them.  Also, 14 is double the 6 - 7 we might have gotten.

The rare was a disappointment, but that's normal when you're opening booster packs of any kind.  Never ever open boosters to try to make money -- it's worse than scratch-off tickets.  Anyway, there are 10 mono-black rares we could have opened, plus 1 black mythic and maybe up to 6 multicolor mythics.  And frankly, none of the rares would have made our money back on this pack, even the Theme Pack exclusives.

So we spent $7.48 and opened about $1 in total value if we're generous.  Underworld Dreams and Gray Merchant are cards that are popular, and the removal spells Drag to the Underworld and Inevitable End have a chance of being played in Standard, but even really good uncommons are rarely worth much.  (As an aside, my kid thought Inevitable End was a really sad card because the dad was cursed while the mama and kid looked on.  I deliberately kept him from seeing Aspect of Lamprey because I wanted him to be able to fall asleep...)

All that, and I still have no idea whether you can get foil cards in these packs.  I'm guessing no, since they aren't mentioned in the small text.

What can we take away from this?

Theme Booster is a good product for you if you:

• Want to get a good sampling of commons and uncommons in a single color and don't mind paying for convenience (rather than buying them as singles, or picking them up out of the garbage at your LGS after some power gamer buys packs and throws away everything but the rares).
• Want to get a feel for the set or learn to play Magic by mashing these 35 cards with 25 lands (that you already have) to build a deck and playing with a friend who is doing the same.  I think this would be a pretty good way to play.
• Find it fun to open something with a random chance of something unique (the exclusive cards).

Theme Booster is not a good product for you if you:

• Want to add money value to your collection.
• Want to build a competitive deck in any format.

Whether it's better than opening Draft Boosters is completely up to your preferences.  These are completely missing some multicolor and colorless cards from the normal set, but they also ensure you only get cards in the color you want.  You'll get fewer rares on average and way more uncommons.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you know what to expect from THB Theme Boosters.  Me, I'll be exiling some cards from people's graveyards with Tymaret, Chosen from Death while the other 34 cards from this pack probably just collect dust.

Theros Beyond Death Prerelease 2020-01-18

So Theros Beyond Death just released.  I really like the flavor in this set, with so many of the cards trying to either escape the underworld or keep them from escaping.

For prerelease, I got a pool that was distinguished by amazing mana fixing -- 3 Traveler's Amulet; 2 Ilysian Caryatid; Omen of the Hunt; Dryad of the Ilysian Grove; and some other cards that dig a few cards deep for a land.  So I was pretty sure my best bet was to play as many bomby creatures as I could -- Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath; Nightmare Shepherd; Thryx, the Sudden Storm; Gravebreaker Lamia (to find Uro); etc.

My original deck was slightly different than depicted here, but a couple people helped me refine it after 2 rounds.  Here's the adjusted version of the deck (apologies for the glare):

I originally had all 5 colors.  I stuck with red just for the 4/4 Wardens of the Chained because they're such a good curve out after Ilysian Caryatid, followed by a 4-power 4-drop or 5-drop.  With 2 Traveler's Amulet, I only needed 16 lands -- I originally had 3 Amulets and 15 lands, but the other guys convinced me it was too clunky and a bad top deck.  While that's true, I maintain that it isn't the worst top deck when some of your better late game plays are cards escaping from the graveyard, which need cards like Amulet to exile.

So how did it go?

Round 1 vs. White-Green Auras
This deck had Siona and a bunch of powerful auras and aura payoffs.  In the first game I chose to be on the draw, which was almost certainly incorrect.  He built a pressuring army that I couldn't keep up with.  In the second game, I had a great turnaround, managing to flash Thryx in when he didn't have anything to block fliers, and make a winning attack.  Unfortunately, our games were very long (he's a notorious slow player), and we were at a draw.  There is no benefit to a draw, but he didn't want to random for the win, so I told him I'm happy with a draw, but he didn't want neither of us to benefit.  After a lot of back and forth, to the entertainment of other people watching, he offered me the win as long as I give him the win next time it happens.  I agreed.  Win, 1-1.

That match also featured a judge call to fix a timing issue.  He had Dreadful Apathy on my 4/4 Minotaur, and I started my turn with it and an Ilysian Caryatid.  I stated, out loud, with pauses in between, "Draw for turn," drew a card, then, "First main phase," then "I tap the dryad for 2 white mana."  He says "Wait, I want to exile the minotaur so you can't tap for 2."  I said we were already in main phase and it's my priority, so he can't do that.  He says he wanted to do it before my main phase, so I called judge and explained, and judge said he missed his chance.  It's a good reminder to always be clear about what actions you are doing and what phase you are in.

Round 2 vs. Black-Green
This guy had a bunch of strong green cards, between creatures that fight, creatures that pump, and just generally strong creatures like Voracious Typhon.  He also had a Return to Nature to exile my Uro from the graveyard before I could recast it.  Loss, 0-2.

Round 3 vs. Red-Green Klothys
This match was much the same as the one before.  In the first game he had Klothys to exile my Uro from the graveyard while also slowly killing me, and Tectonic Giant to make sure I couldn't get back into the game.  In the second game, he just had too much pressure again while removing my bomb enchantment creatures with multiple copies of Return to Nature.  Loss, 0-2.

For the last round, I had a bye, so I found a game of Commander to lose instead. :)

Lessons learned:

• Green is amazing in sealed, and everyone was playing it.
• My 4/4 rare enchantment creatures and Uro were super vulnerable to Return to Nature, which is just straight up premium in this format.  Furthermore, they were also bad at blocking commons like Loathsome Chimera.  Maybe it was just bad luck with Uro, but he never made it back from the graveyard in 3 tries.
• On the other hand, Thryx was great with the extra 1 toughness and not having the enchantment type.  I didn't see it enough, but I feel like it was the most reliable creature in my deck.
• Medomai's Prophecy was a card I didn't have in my original build, but it was suggested for the card draw.  It was weird to play because it can be awkward naming your play a turn ahead of time.  The second and fourth chapters don't really have much value, so I'm not sure it's worth it for a weird suspend Divination.
• I was notably very short on removal, especially the ubiquitous enchantment removal.  One copy of Drag to the Underworld doesn't go very far.
• With all the deck searching, I felt like I was playing a really bad Modern deck.  :)

As for value, that was pretty good, mostly because I had a great promo.

Given an extra week for the prices to settle by about 30 - 40%, promo Uro is around $32 and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is around $6.50.  Nightmare Shepherd is around $3 and foil showcase Callaphe is...well, it's pretty?

Anyway, I hope I have better luck drafting this set than I had at prerelease!  It looks like it has some fun directions that are different from normal (I'll be looking for Return to Nature at the beginning of packs...).

Thanks for reading!

FNM Throne of Eldraine Draft 2020-01-03

There were 10 people for the last Eldraine draft of the season (next week will be Chaos, unless the store is too empty to support a draft while people are in Austin for the Grand Prix).  So we had one table of 10 and a 3-round draft.

I forgot to take a photo of my draft, but here are the important picks, from bottom left to top right.

Pick 1 was easy -- the Murderous Rider showcase card is about $8 and very strong.  Second pack I went with a card that pairs easily with the rider and decided to see if I could make the knights theme work.  The next several picks all fit the theme, although Ardenvale Tactician was a hedge in case either of my colors were wrong.

Second pack rare was Hushbringer, which is good but not better than removal.  The choice was between Baked into a Pie and Slaying Fire.  I don't know which is objectively better, but I wanted to take every strong black card I could to defend my position, because red seemed somewhat more open.  I don't remember much of the narrative of the rest of this pack, but I did settle solidly into black-red.

Third pack had a foil Pyromancer and an Acclaimed Contender at rare.  I didn't really want either of them for my deck, but there was nothing that really called to me so I took the Pyromancer on the chance that I lucked into some draw-a-card cards.  Syr Konrad was about 3rd or 4th pick, and there was another Syr Carah in the same pack.  Then one or two packs later, I saw a 3rd Syr Carah and drafted her.

Weirdly, 2 other players opened Murderous Riders as their rare (I think only one of them was in pack 1).  So I did have a bit of competition for black cards in this 10-player pod.

I spent a lot of time going over my deck to make sure I was not making a mistake like last time.  I made sure I was supporting the knight theme first and foremost, and playing the strongest cards I could.  Here is what I settled on:

I played every card in my pool that worked with knights, but I held off on my good non-human payoff of Ferocity of the Wilds and a couple good creatures that weren't knights.  Brimstone Trebuchet is one of my favorite cards in this format and Tournament Grounds would also be worse if I played too many non-knights.

This was my first time with a bunch of pump effects, which go well with Gingerbrute, Raging Redcap, and the lifelink Knights.  I was excited about this deck.

Here are my sideboard cards:

Bog Naughty was another card that was just barely not good enough.  I decided that two copies of Syr Carah were the only 5-mana 3/3's I wanted, since I only had a few food sources.  I ended up sideboarding in Memory Theft in both my matches.

How did it go?

This was a rare circumstance where I feel like I mostly got the bad side of variance.  I also kept some sketchy hands.

Match 1 I played against black-green.  First game I drew too many lands.  Second game was one of those where everything just matched up badly.  Like I played a 2/3 after he had a 2/3 deathtouch Oakhame Adversary that draws cards when it hits you.  Then he added a +1/+1 counter to it with Outmuscle and fought mine, and my next play was a 3/3 when his creature was now a 3/4.  Loss, 0-2.

I played a game against another green deck between rounds.  I made an impressive Raging Redcap and hit for 12 once, but he had a higher density of creatures on board and won.

Match 2 was against white-blue.  She had some good rares but not a lot of overlapping synergy.  First game she mulliganed on the play, so I decided to take my chances with a hand of 6 lands and Bake into a Pie on the draw.  It turned into a long game, as she was low on lands and I was low on nonlands.  I eventually got her down to 1 life over several turns with Syr Carah, but she was able to play enough power and give haste with a Crashing Drawbridge and hit me for lethal.  Second game I also had a lot of lands and wasn't quite able to keep up on board.  Loss, 0-2.

So the deck went 0-5 in games.  Maybe I should have jammed in more creatures, but 15 is pretty adequate, with 11 of them costing 3 or lower.  I just kept having hands that were mostly lands, removal, and combat tricks.  I also maybe should have mulliganed more aggressively.

Tournament Grounds seemed pretty mediocre, and it probably is, but it certainly didn't help its case that I generally had enough red and black sources without it.  I had one game where it helped me cast an equipment on time, and one game where it prevented me from casting Baked into a Pie on time.

As for value, I drafted 2 rares and 8 uncommons, both slightly below par.  I did manage to trade for some white-blue dual lands for my Pioneer deck, but that's a different story for a different post...

Thanks for reading!  Next up is maybe a Chaos draft and then a new season of Theros: Beyond Death.