Twelve questions account for most of what people ask before their first order, and this MTG FAQ answers all twelve in the order they usually come up: what to buy, what is inside the box, whether it is genuine, how it ships and what happens if something goes wrong.
Each answer is short here and links to the page that covers it properly. If your question is not one of the twelve, the contact page is the fastest route to a real answer.
| 1 | What should I buy first? |
|---|---|
| 2 | How many cards are in a pack? |
| 3 | What is the difference between a booster box and a bundle? |
| 4 | Is a draft night box worth it? |
| 5 | Are collector boosters worth the money? |
| 6 | How do I know a box is genuine? |
| 7 | Do you sell singles? |
| 8 | How fast is delivery? |
| 9 | Can I return an order? |
| 10 | How do preorders work? |
| 11 | What age is Magic for? |
| 12 | Which deck should a beginner buy? |
On this page
Buying MTG cards: the four decisions that matter
Almost every buying question reduces to four decisions: how many people are playing, whether you want to draft or play constructed, whether you care about foil and alternate art, and how much you want to spend per person. Get those four right and the product chooses itself.
Two players who want to play tonight need a starter deck each or a starter kit that contains two. Four players who want an event need a draft night box. One player who wants to build a deck needs a Commander precon. None of those are interchangeable, and buying the wrong one is the most common expensive mistake.
The fourth decision is the one people skip: spend per person. A $110 box split four ways is $27.50 a head. The same money spent on packs gives each player six packs and no deck. Framing the price per person rather than per box makes the choice obvious in most cases.
There is a fifth decision that matters less than people think: brand loyalty. One publisher prints the game, and every sealed product on this site is the same game. What differs between shops is price, stock and how a parcel is packed, which is why the delivery and returns pages are worth reading before a first order.
If this buying mtg cards answer raises a follow-up, the contact page takes it from there.
We keep the sealed product questions answers short here and put the detail on the page each one links to.
These mtg card questions answers apply to stock in this shop rather than to the market in general.
Sealed product questions: what is actually inside
A play booster holds 14 cards. A collector booster holds 15, with foils and special treatments. A bundle holds nine play boosters, lands and a storage box. A booster box holds 30 play boosters in most current sets. A Commander deck holds 100 cards and is ready to play.
The numbers that surprise people are the land counts. A bundle includes lands because it is built for someone starting out. A draft night box includes 90 basic lands because four players need them. A booster box includes none, because it assumes you already have a collection.
What no sealed product guarantees is a specific card. Pack contents are randomised by the printer, and the only honest description of a pack is its card count and its odds, not its contents. Any shop that promises otherwise is guessing.
If this sealed product questions answer raises a follow-up, the contact page takes it from there.
We keep the mtg card questions answers short here and put the detail on the page each one links to.
MTG card questions: seals, condition and fakes
Sealed means the factory wrap is intact and has not been re-shrunk. A rewrap shows a looser wrap, a seam in the wrong place and plastic that looks thicker and glossier than factory film. That single check catches most of the fakes in this market.
The second check is the box code, which should match the set the box claims to be from. The third is the print quality inside: counterfeit cards usually fail on the green dot test, on light bleed through the card back, and on the feel of the cardstock, which is glossier and stiffer than the real thing.
Condition questions usually concern the box rather than the cards. A crushed corner does not affect the packs inside, but it does affect the value of a sealed collectible, which is why boxes ship in cartons and why damage is handled as a fault rather than a return.
If this mtg card questions answer raises a follow-up, the contact page takes it from there.
We keep the magic the gathering questions answers short here and put the detail on the page each one links to.
Magic the Gathering questions about formats
Four formats cover most play. Standard uses recent sets and rotates. Commander is 100-card singleton with a legendary creature in the command zone and is the most played casual format. Draft is played with packs at the table. Modern and Legacy use older cards and have their own banned lists.
Which format you play decides what you should buy, and it is the question to settle before spending anything. A Commander player wants a precon. A Standard player wants packs or singles from the current sets. A draft group wants a box. Buying against the wrong format is how collections end up as storage.
Legality is per card rather than per printing, which matters for Secret Lair: an alternate-art printing is legal wherever the original card is legal, and vice versa. The art changes, the rules text does not.
If this magic the gathering questions answer raises a follow-up, the contact page takes it from there.
We keep the mtg faq answers short here and put the detail on the page each one links to.
Delivery and returns questions
Orders placed before 5pm ship the same working day with FedEx, DHL, USPS or a local courier, delivery is free over $1,000, and every parcel is tracked. Orders after 5pm ship the next working day.
Returns run to 48 hours from purchase on sealed, unopened product. Opened product cannot be resold as sealed, so it is not returnable, and that includes a box opened only to check the contents.
Damage is different from a change of mind. A damaged box is a fault: photograph the outer carton and the product, contact us within 48 hours, and it is replaced or refunded without a postage argument.
If this mtg faq answer raises a follow-up, the contact page takes it from there.
A good buying mtg cards answer saves a return, which is why the answers below lean towards the practical.
Preorder and release questions
A pre-order reserves a product at today’s price and ships on or after the release date on the listing. The date comes from the publisher, and publishers move dates, so the listing is the only reliable place to check.
Pre-ordering matters most for licensed sets, where allocation is decided before release and boxes are not reprinted to meet demand. It matters least for sets that are printed in waves and stay available.
A pre-order can be cancelled before it dispatches. Once it ships it becomes an ordinary order and the 48-hour window applies in the usual way.
Every buying mtg cards answer below is written the way we would say it across a counter.
A good sealed product questions answer saves a return, which is why the answers below lean towards the practical.
Order, payment and account questions
You do not need an account to browse or to check out. The checkout shows the payment options available for your address, and the total shown at the final step is the total charged, including any carrier rate below the free-delivery threshold.
If you need to change an order, do it before 5pm on the day you ordered. A note added to the order reaches the packing bench, which is the only point at which an address or a gift message can still be changed.
Never send card details by email or through the contact form. Payment is handled at checkout, and no genuine message from us will ever ask for a card number.
Every sealed product questions answer below is written the way we would say it across a counter.
A good mtg card questions answer saves a return, which is why the answers below lean towards the practical.
Questions parents ask
Magic: The Gathering is published with an age guidance of 13 and up. That is a reading-age judgement rather than a content warning: the cards involve fantasy combat, and a game requires reading a paragraph of rules text on each card.
For a younger player the practical answer is a starter deck rather than packs. A starter deck is a complete game with a guide, and it can be played on a kitchen table without an opponent who owns a collection.
The other thing parents ask about is value, and the honest answer is that packs are a lottery and decks are a product. If the goal is a game tonight, buy a deck. If the goal is the fun of opening packs, buy packs and expect nothing specific.
One more thing worth saying for parents: a bundle is often a better first purchase than a booster box. It is smaller, it includes lands and a storage box, and it gives a young player the pieces to keep a deck together rather than a pile of cards in a drawer.
Every mtg card questions answer below is written the way we would say it across a counter.
A good magic the gathering questions answer saves a return, which is why the answers below lean towards the practical.
MTG FAQ questions this page cannot answer
Three things sit outside what a sealed-product shop can answer: what a collection is worth, whether a card will rise in price, and which cards to put in a deck. Those are card-market and deck-building questions, and a shop that sells boxes has no special insight into them.
Defective cards pulled from a pack are a publisher matter rather than a retail one. A miscut or a print error is handled by the publisher’s customer service, and we will point you at the right route rather than pretend to fix it.
Anything about tax, customs or business purchasing is also outside our remit. We can tell you what the checkout charges and how a parcel ships; we cannot tell you how to account for it.
Every magic the gathering questions answer below is written the way we would say it across a counter.
A good mtg faq answer saves a return, which is why the answers below lean towards the practical.
Where to ask the thirteenth question
If your question is not on this page, send it through the contact form. Questions that arrive often get added here, which is how an FAQ stays useful instead of becoming a museum of 2019.
The category pages answer most product-specific questions in more detail than an FAQ can: pack counts, land counts, player counts and the difference between two similar products. The MTG buying guides cover the decisions rather than the products.
And if the question is about an order you have already placed, quote the order number. That turns a general answer into a specific one, which is usually what people actually wanted.
Every mtg faq answer below is written the way we would say it across a counter.
These buying mtg cards answers apply to stock in this shop rather than to the market in general.
Frequently asked questions
What should I buy first?
A starter deck or starter kit if you want to play tonight, a Commander precon if you have a group, or a draft night box if four of you want an event.
How many cards are in a pack?
A play booster holds 14 cards and a collector booster holds 15. Older draft boosters held 15.
What is the difference between a booster box and a bundle?
A booster box is 30 play boosters and nothing else in most current sets. A bundle is nine play boosters plus lands, dice and a storage box.
Is a draft night box worth it?
For four players, usually yes: 12 play boosters, a collector booster prize, 90 lands and tokens for a two-hour event. Split four ways it is often under $30 a head.
Are collector boosters worth the money?
They are worth it if you want foils and alternate treatments rather than volume. Per card they cost far more than a play booster.
How do I know a box is genuine?
Check the factory wrap for a re-shrink, check the box code against the set, and check the print quality of any card you are unsure about.
Do you sell single cards?
No. The catalogue is sealed product only. For one specific card, a card marketplace is the right place.
How fast is delivery?
Orders placed before 5pm ship the same working day. Transit time after that depends on the carrier and destination.
Can I return an order?
Sealed, unopened product can be returned within 48 hours of purchase. Opened product is not returnable.
How do preorders work?
A preorder reserves the product at today’s price and ships on or after the release date on the listing. It can be cancelled before dispatch.
What age is Magic for?
The publisher’s age guidance is 13 and up. It is a reading-age judgement rather than a content warning.
Which deck should a beginner buy?
A starter deck or a two-deck starter kit. A Commander precon is the next step once you have someone to play with.
We keep the buying mtg cards answers short here and put the detail on the page each one links to.
These sealed product questions answers apply to stock in this shop rather than to the market in general.
Sources and further reading
Where a fact on this page comes from somewhere else, this is the source.
- Magic: The Gathering product catalogue – pack contents, formats and age guidance.
- Wizards Play Network – prerelease timing and sanctioned play.
- Scryfall – card legality, printings and set membership.
Where the detail lives
Every answer above has a longer version on one of these pages.