What's a collector booster box really worth when you crack it?
Pick any Magic: The Gathering set. We simulate opening its collector boosters using Wizards' published collation, price every card at live TCGplayer rates, and show the expected value, the odds of breaking even, and exactly how the math favors keeping it sealed.
Pre-order & release day
prices provisional · not rankedPre-order listings and release-day singles are speculative; prices usually crash once boxes hit shelves. We leave these sets out of the ranking until the day after launch.
Crack-it-open leaderboard
Return · worst first“EV cracked” is the expected total card value from opening every pack in the box, with each card valued at the lowest real market price (TCGplayer or Cardmarket). “Return” compares that to the current sealed box price (TCG low). Click any set for a full breakdown and a live pack simulator.
Biggest losers if you crack
Expected loss per box (sealed price minus cracked EV). These are the sets where keeping it sealed hurts the least compared to opening.
| Set | Box | EV cracked | Expected loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (Special Edition)LTR-SE | $6,456 | $1,702 | $4,754 |
| 2The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earthLTR | $1,830 | $594 | $1,236 |
| 3Final FantasyFIN | $1,625 | $830 | $795 |
| 4BloomburrowBLB | $1,149 | $362 | $787 |
| 5The Lost Caverns of IxalanLCI | $1,178 | $391 | $787 |
| 6Phyrexia: All Will Be OneONE | $1,026 | $251 | $775 |
| 7Ravnica RemasteredRVR | $1,250 | $479 | $771 |
| 8The Brothers' WarBRO | $857 | $273 | $584 |