Core Set 2021
Open one box and you'll get $284.28 of cards, on average. A box costs $486 right now, so that means you're $201.48 short.
Cards inside
$284.28
Everything in the box, at today's prices
Box costs now
$486
TCGplayer market · from $490
Difference
-$201.48
Against you
Packs in the box
12
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.
$284.28 is what the cards are worth to a buyer. It is not what you would be paid for them.
Worth to a buyer
$284.28
Every card at market price
What you'd keep
$154.32
About 54% of it, sold card by card
Stuck as bulk
22%
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 22% 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.
-$201.48
per box, against you
You would do better buying the singles
At $486 a box you'd come up about $201.48 short on average. Buying the individual cards you want will usually cost less.
Break-even price
$284.28
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.
Foil rare or mythic
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$7.74
Whole box
$92.88
$60.48 kept
Share
33%
Extended-art art
A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.
Per pack
$4.64
Whole box
$55.68
$36.00 kept
Share
20%
Rare mythic showcase
A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.
Per pack
$4.36
Whole box
$52.32
$33.36 kept
Share
18%
Foil all showcase
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$2.49
Whole box
$29.88
$19.44 kept
Share
11%
Foil uncommons
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$1.58
Whole box
$18.96
$4.68 kept
Share
7%
Foil showcase basic
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$1.16
Whole box
$13.92
$0.12 kept
Share
5%
Foil common or basic
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$1.06
Whole box
$12.72
$0.12 kept
Share
4%
Common uncommon showcase
A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.
Per pack
$0.42
Whole box
$5.04
$0.12 kept
Share
2%
Foil common uncommon showcase
A foil version of this slot.
Per pack
$0.25
Whole box
$3.00
$0.00 kept
Share
1%
The ten most valuable cards a Play Booster can produce, and roughly how often one shows up.
#1 most valuable
Terror of the Peaks
$91.62
You'll open one about 1 every 5 boxes
#2 most valuable
Chromatic Orrery
$52.86
You'll open one about 1 every 5 boxes
#3 most valuable
Chromatic Orrery
$36.25
You'll open one about 1 every 7 boxes
Terror of the Peaks
$33.83
Rin and Seri, Inseparable
$33.03
Grim Tutor
$31.00
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
$30.31
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
$27.92
Grim Tutor
$27.85
Fiery Emancipation
$26.82
147 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.
| Terror of the Peaks | mythic | $53.37 | 0.19 |
| Chromatic Orrery | mythic | $41.66 | 0.19 |
| Chromatic Orrery | mythic | $34.48 | 0.14 |
| Rin and Seri, Inseparable | mythic | $32.56 | 0.12 |
| Terror of the Peaks | mythic | $31.06 | 0.14 |
| Grim Tutor | mythic | $25.30 | 0.14 |
| Fiery Emancipation | mythic | $25.26 | 0.19 |
| Grim Tutor | mythic | $23.62 | 0.47 |
| Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose | rare | $17.67 | 0.39 |
| Heroic Intervention | rare | $16.79 | 0.39 |
| Heroic Intervention | rare | $15.46 | 0.28 |
| Ugin, the Spirit Dragon | mythic | $14.98 | 0.47 |
| Fiery Emancipation | mythic | $14.85 | 0.14 |
| Ugin, the Spirit Dragon | mythic | $13.29 | 0.47 |
| Azusa, Lost but Seeking | rare | $12.57 | 0.39 |
| Azusa, Lost but Seeking | rare | $12.50 | 0.28 |
| Elder Gargaroth | mythic | $12.19 | 0.19 |
| Teferi, Master of Time | mythic | $11.57 | 0.47 |
| Ugin, the Spirit Dragon | mythic | $11.44 | 0.14 |
| Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose | rare | $11.17 | 0.28 |
Sets released around the same time, so you can see how this one stacks up.
