Magic 2015
Open one box and you'll get $185.04 of cards, on average. A box costs $376 right now, so that means you're $190.79 short.
Cards inside
$185.04
Everything in the box, at today's prices
Box costs now
$376
TCGplayer market · from $390
Difference
-$190.79
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.
$185.04 is what the cards are worth to a buyer. It is not what you would be paid for them.
Worth to a buyer
$185.04
Every card at market price
What you'd keep
$66.60
About 36% of it, sold card by card
Stuck as bulk
47%
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 47% 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.
-$190.79
per box, against you
You would do better buying the singles
At $376 a box you'd come up about $190.79 short on average. Buying the individual cards you want will usually cost less.
Break-even price
$185.04
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
$2.62
Whole box
$94.32
$56.52 kept
Share
51%
Commons
The bulk of the pack. Individually worth very little.
Per pack
$1.14
Whole box
$41.04
$1.44 kept
Share
22%
Uncommons
Three per pack. Occasionally one is worth real money.
Per pack
$0.87
Whole box
$31.32
$1.44 kept
Share
17%
Foil (any rarity)
The guaranteed shiny card in every pack. Usually a common, occasionally something expensive.
Per pack
$0.37
Whole box
$13.32
$6.84 kept
Share
7%
Basic land
The basic land. Worth essentially nothing unless it is a full-art foil.
Per pack
$0.14
Whole box
$5.04
$0.00 kept
Share
3%
The ten most valuable cards a Play Booster can produce, and roughly how often one shows up.
#1 most valuable
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
$79.55
You'll open one about 1 every 2 boxes
#2 most valuable
Sliver Hivelord
$64.55
You'll open one about 1 every 3 boxes
#3 most valuable
Sliver Hive
$35.40
You'll open one about 1 every 2 boxes
The Chain Veil
$34.11
Nissa, Worldwaker
$22.69
Waste Not
$18.26
Profane Memento
$18.01
Life's Legacy
$16.81
Aetherspouts
$15.41
Venom Sliver
$14.41
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.
| Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth | rare | $55.10 | 0.62 |
| Sliver Hivelord | mythic | $17.71 | 0.31 |
| Sliver Hive | rare | $12.62 | 0.62 |
| Polymorphist's Jest | rare | $7.42 | 0.62 |
| Waste Not | rare | $7.13 | 0.62 |
| Liliana Vess | mythic | $6.91 | 0.31 |
| Mass Calcify | rare | $6.60 | 0.62 |
| Chord of Calling | rare | $6.41 | 0.62 |
| Nissa, Worldwaker | mythic | $5.72 | 0.31 |
| Ajani Steadfast | mythic | $5.25 | 0.31 |
| The Chain Veil | mythic | $5.20 | 0.31 |
| Life's Legacy | rare | $4.90 | 0.62 |
| Ob Nixilis, Unshackled | rare | $4.24 | 0.62 |
| Spectra Ward | rare | $2.90 | 0.62 |
| Obelisk of Urd | rare | $2.56 | 0.62 |
| In Garruk's Wake | rare | $2.29 | 0.62 |
| Avacyn, Guardian Angel | rare | $1.90 | 0.62 |
| Crucible of Fire | rare | $1.73 | 0.62 |
| Hornet Nest | rare | $1.44 | 0.62 |
| Goblin Rabblemaster | rare | $1.21 | 0.62 |
Sets released around the same time, so you can see how this one stacks up.
