Upcoming Set: Zendikar Rising
Today, Mark Rosewater released a video from his home as part of Comic-Con@Home. Today's topic was Zendikar Rising, and he's given us our first glimpse into this highly anticipated set.
Mark introduced us to a new type of Booster pack that is going to be offered with Zendikar Rising, called Set Booster Packs. These packs will contain the following:
Slot 1 – Art Card Slot: Introduced in Modern Horizons last year, these collectible art cards were a hit, so they're bringing them back.
Slot 2 – Land Slot: In this set, since we have full-art basic lands, this slot with have basic lands.
Slots 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 – Connected Commons and Uncommons: The next six slots are dedicated to commons and uncommons.
Slot 9 – Head-Turning Slot: Now we've ventured into the first slot of the Fireworks chapter. The goal of this chapter is to be splashy and exciting. You never quite know what might turn up here. Slot #9 is always going to be a visually interesting looking card. What that means will vary from set to set. For Zendikar Rising Set Boosters, that means you will get a common or uncommon that is either a showcase card or a card that's a cool element of the set that hasn't been revealed yet.
Slot 10 and 11 – Wildcard Rarity Slots: These two slots can basically be anything from common to mythic rare. It is possible to get showcase versions of rares and mythic rares in these slots.
Slot 12 – Rare/Mythic Rare Slot: Now we venture into the Big Finish Chapter. This chapter is about guaranteed goodies. The first slot here is your rare/mythic rare slot. This was the most exciting thing in the Draft Boosters, so we couldn't get rid of that. This acts just like the rare/mythic rare slot that you've grown to know and love in Draft Boosters. Starting with Zendikar Rising, the mythic rares are changing their rate of drop. In the past, 1 in every 8 rares was a mythic rare. Starting with Zendikar Rising, that will be changing so that 1 in every 7.4 rares will be a mythic rare. This will also be true of Draft Boosters.
Slot 13 – Foil Slot: A foil in every Set Booster Pack, and it can be any rarity!
Slot 14 – Token/Ad Card: These cards are similar to what you'd find in a Draft Booster. But wait, WotC has one more trick up their sleeve. 25% of the time, instead of an ad or token card, you'll get a card from The List. What exactly is The List? Well, one of the coolest parts of Magic is its history, so they're pulling a trick from Time Spiral and Mystery Booster. They've chosen a list of 300 interesting cards from Magic's past. As with Mystery Booster, they will be printed as they appeared (including art, frame, and expansion symbol) with the exception that they'll have a small Planeswalker symbol in their lower-left corner. The List has commons, uncommons, rares, and mythic rares which will fall at the proper rate to one another. Being on The List does not make cards Standard-legal. They are legal in whatever formats the cards are already legal in. The cards can be pulled from anywhere in Magic's 27-year history. The plan is for The List to change subtly from set to set, bringing in cards that might make sense with the set they're in, but it will mostly stay intact from set to set, meaning you all will get to learn what cards are in The List.
These new Set Boosters are estimated to be about $1 more per pack than current Draft Boosters and will come in a display case of 30, instead of 36.
Stay tuned as WotC releases more information on Zendikar Rising in the coming weeks!