What is the expected value of a Strixhaven: School of Mages Collector Booster Box?

Opening a Strixhaven: School of Mages Collector Booster Box gets you about $239.52 of cards at market price. Selling them would return about $141.12 after fees. We do not hold a current list price for it, so compare both figures against what a sealed box actually costs you today.

Is the Strixhaven: School of Mages Collector Booster Box worth opening?

No: at MSRP the cards inside are worth about $389.59 less than the box costs, and buying the individual cards you want will be cheaper. The box only breaks even at $239.52 or less, and less again — about $141.12 — if the plan is to resell.

How much would you get back selling a Strixhaven: School of Mages Collector Booster Box?

About $141.12, against $239.52 of cards at market price. Market price is what a buyer pays, not what a seller receives: TCGplayer takes 10.75% commission plus a 2.5% and $0.30 transaction fee, and posting a single card costs around $1.10. Below roughly $1.66 a card is worth more in a bulk lot, at about $0.04 a rare, than listed and posted — and 17% of this box's value sits under that line.

Strixhaven: School of Mages

Cards inside $239.52$390 short of list

Strixhaven: School of Mages

Strixhaven: School of Mages Collector Booster Box

Open one box and you'll get $239.52 of cards, on average. A box costs $629 right now, so that means you're $389.59 short.

Cards inside

$239.52

Everything in the box, at today's prices

Box costs now

$629

TCGplayer market · from $627

Difference

-$389.59

Against you

Packs in the box

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.

And if you sold the cards?

$239.52 is what the cards are worth to a buyer. It is not what you would be paid for them.

Worth to a buyer

$239.52

Every card at market price

What you'd keep

$141.12

About 59% of it, sold card by card

Stuck as bulk

17%

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 17% 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.

What does a box cost you?

We start from what a box costs right now. Put in the price you're actually being asked to pay and the answer updates.

Box price

$20$1,575

I'd be selling the cards. Values every card at what you'd be paid for it rather than what it sells for — fees and postage on the ones worth listing, bulk rates on the ones that aren't. Comes to about 59% of $240.

-$389.59

per box, against you

You would do better buying the singles

At $629 a box you'd come up about $389.59 short on average. Buying the individual cards you want will usually cost less.

Break-even price

$239.52

Pay less than this and you're ahead on average.

Where the value comes from

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 alt art wild

A foil version of this slot.

Per pack

$10.74

Whole box

$128.88

$97.56 kept

54%

Extended-art commander card

A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.

Per pack

$3.53

Whole box

$42.36

$24.84 kept

18%

Extended-art or borderless core

A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.

Per pack

$1.65

Whole box

$19.80

$9.24 kept

Foil commons

A foil version of this slot.

Per pack

$1.02

Whole box

$12.24

$0.84 kept

Foil sta uncommon

A foil version of this slot.

Per pack

$1.00

Whole box

$12.00

$2.76 kept

Foil rare or mythic

A foil version of this slot.

Per pack

$0.90

Whole box

$10.80

$4.08 kept

Foil uncommons

A foil version of this slot.

Per pack

$0.87

Whole box

$10.44

$1.68 kept

Foil lesson card

A foil version of this slot.

Per pack

$0.23

Whole box

$2.76

$0.12 kept

Etched-foil sta uncommon

A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.

Per pack

$0.00

Whole box

$0.00

$0.00 kept

Etched-foil jp sta rare mythic

A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.

Per pack

$0.00

Whole box

$0.00

$0.00 kept

Etched-foil jp sta uncommon

A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.

Per pack

$0.00

Whole box

$0.00

$0.00 kept

Etched-foil sta rare mythic

A special treatment — alternate frames and art that appear at a lower rate.

Per pack

$0.00

Whole box

$0.00

$0.00 kept

The cards you're hoping to hit

The ten most valuable cards a Play Booster can produce, and roughly how often one shows up.

#1 most valuable

Demonic Tutor

$533.35

You'll open one about 1 every 25 boxes

#2 most valuable

Tainted Pact

$170.96

You'll open one about 1 every 25 boxes

#3 most valuable

Demonic Tutor

$129.59

You'll open one about 1 every 25 boxes

Teferi's Protection

mythicabout 1 every 25 boxes

$108.81

Dark Ritual

rareabout 1 every 13 boxes

$85.56

Teferi's Protection

mythicabout 1 every 25 boxes

$66.22

Swords to Plowshares

rareabout 1 every 13 boxes

$58.51

Tainted Pact

mythicabout 1 every 25 boxes

$58.47

Time Warp

mythicabout 1 every 25 boxes

$55.40

Ephemerate

rareabout 1 every 13 boxes

$52.48

Every rare and mythic in the set

318 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.

			Foil price
Demonic Tutor	mythic	$291.11	$533.35	0.04
Demonic Tutor	mythic	$75.93	$129.59	0.04
Tainted Pact	mythic	$73.10	$170.96	0.04
Teferi's Protection	mythic	$71.43	$108.81	0.04
Dark Ritual	rare	$51.81	$85.56	0.08
Teferi's Protection	mythic	$49.29	$66.22	0.04
Swords to Plowshares	rare	$30.33	$58.51	0.08
Tainted Pact	mythic	$29.35	$58.47	0.04
Counterspell	rare	$28.51	$44.85	0.08
Ephemerate	rare	$28.48	$52.48	0.08
Natural Order	mythic	$28.48	$51.85	0.04
Brainstorm	rare	$26.03	$52.23	0.08
Time Warp	mythic	$26.01	$55.40	0.04
Natural Order	mythic	$25.95	$39.86	0.04
Grapeshot	rare	$25.18	$45.80	0.08
Chaos Warp	mythic	$22.44	$37.43	0.04
Faithless Looting	rare	$21.24	$28.42	0.08
Gyome, Master Chef	mythic	$20.07	—	0.08
Approach of the Second Sun	mythic	$18.94	$27.35	0.04
Crackle with Power	mythic	$18.58	$34.84	0.11

Compare with other boxes

Sets released around the same time, so you can see how this one stacks up.

Modern Horizons 2

$427 of cards

$53 short of list

Strixhaven: School of Mages

$198 of cards

+$3 ahead of list

Modern Horizons 2

$419 of cards

+$102 ahead of list

Questions people ask

It's the average value of the cards in a box. Imagine opening a thousand boxes of this set and adding up every card at its market price — divide by a thousand and you get $239.52. It is not what your box will be worth. Most boxes come in lower, because a small number of very expensive cards drag the average up.

Strixhaven: School of Mages

Strixhaven: School of Mages Collector Booster Box

And if you sold the cards?

What does a box cost you?

Where the value comes from

The cards you're hoping to hit

Every rare and mythic in the set

Compare with other boxes

Questions people ask

What does “expected value” actually mean?

So should I open a box or buy singles?

Could I really get $239.52 back by selling the cards?

Where do the prices come from?

What counts towards the total?

How accurate is this?