Core Set 2019
Open one box and you'll get $173.88 of cards, on average. A box costs $197 right now, so that means you're $23.51 short.
Cards inside
$173.88
Everything in the box, at today's prices
Box costs now
$197
TCGplayer market · from $196
Difference
-$23.51
Against you
Packs in the box
36
Each holds one rare or mythic
Box price from TCGplayer, checked September 2, 2026 · Card prices from Scryfall (TCGplayer market data) · last updated August 29, 2026
This is an average. A few very expensive cards pull it upward, so most individual boxes land below it. Opening one box is closer to a lottery ticket than an investment — the number below tells you whether the lottery is priced fairly.
$173.88 is what the cards are worth to a buyer. It is not what you would be paid for them.
Worth to a buyer
$173.88
Every card at market price
What you'd keep
$52.56
About 30% of it, sold card by card
Stuck as bulk
53%
Cards worth more by the thousand than listed
Two things separate the two figures. Fees take 10.75% commission plus 2.5% and $0.30 on every order, and postage on a single card runs about $1.10 — a bite a cheap card cannot absorb. And 53% of the box's value sits in cards below roughly $1.66, the point where a card is worth more thrown into a bulk lot at $0.04 a rare than listed, packed and posted. Selling the whole box to a buylist in one go pays less again.
Assumes one card per order, which is the cautious reading — a buyer taking several cards at once splits the fixed costs between them. Fees are TCGplayer Marketplace rates as of February 2026; bulk rates are current cash buylist.
We start from what a box costs right now. Put in the price you're actually being asked to pay and the answer updates.
-$23.51
per box, against you
You would do better buying the singles
At $197 a box you'd come up about $23.51 short on average. Buying the individual cards you want will usually cost less.
Break-even price
$173.88
Pay less than this and you're ahead on average.
Every pack has a few fixed positions — a guaranteed rare, a wildcard, a foil. Here's what each one is worth across the whole box.
Rare or mythic
The one guaranteed rare or mythic in every pack. This is where most of a box’s value sits.
Per pack
$1.90
Whole box
$68.40
$37.80 kept
Share
39%
Nonland common
One of the card positions in every pack of this product.
Per pack
$1.31
Whole box
$47.16
$1.44 kept
Share
27%
Uncommons
Three per pack. Occasionally one is worth real money.
Per pack
$1.19
Whole box
$42.84
$9.36 kept
Share
25%
Foil (any rarity)
The guaranteed shiny card in every pack. Usually a common, occasionally something expensive.
Per pack
$0.25
Whole box
$9.00
$3.96 kept
Share
5%
Basic or common land
One of the card positions in every pack of this product.
Per pack
$0.18
Whole box
$6.48
$0.00 kept
Share
4%
The ten most valuable cards a Play Booster can produce, and roughly how often one shows up.
#1 most valuable
Scapeshift
$66.09
You'll open one about 1 every 3 boxes
#2 most valuable
Crucible of Worlds
$37.66
You'll open one about 1 every 3 boxes
#3 most valuable
Arcades, the Strategist
$25.91
You'll open one about 1 every 3 boxes
Resplendent Angel
$18.32
Liliana, Untouched by Death
$14.19
Tezzeret, Artifice Master
$13.45
Sarkhan, Fireblood
$12.91
Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire
$11.05
Omniscience
$10.34
Psychic Corrosion
$10.09
68 cards. “Copies per box” is how many of that exact card you'd expect from one box on average — under 1 means you usually won't see it at all.
| Scapeshift | mythic | $47.51 | 0.31 |
| Crucible of Worlds | mythic | $32.11 | 0.31 |
| Resplendent Angel | mythic | $8.49 | 0.31 |
| Goblin Trashmaster | rare | $7.74 | 0.61 |
| Omniscience | mythic | $6.34 | 0.31 |
| Tezzeret, Artifice Master | mythic | $5.35 | 0.31 |
| Leonin Warleader | rare | $5.25 | 0.61 |
| Death Baron | rare | $4.58 | 0.61 |
| Arcades, the Strategist | mythic | $4.38 | 0.31 |
| Liliana's Contract | rare | $4.22 | 0.61 |
| Gigantosaurus | rare | $3.92 | 0.61 |
| Detection Tower | rare | $3.05 | 0.61 |
| Magistrate's Scepter | rare | $3.02 | 0.61 |
| Hungering Hydra | rare | $2.75 | 0.61 |
| Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire | mythic | $2.59 | 0.31 |
| Sarkhan, Fireblood | mythic | $2.39 | 0.31 |
| Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma | rare | $2.25 | 0.61 |
| Runic Armasaur | rare | $2.10 | 0.61 |
| Desecrated Tomb | rare | $2.00 | 0.61 |
| Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants | mythic | $1.61 | 0.31 |
Sets released around the same time, so you can see how this one stacks up.
