by Johnny Cycles, April 17th, 2024
It’s that time again! A new set release! Outlaws of Thunder Junction is full of powerful cards for Standard, Modern, and Commander. The 1- and 2-drop slots for creatures, in particular, are full of potential format-altering (maybe warping) cards.
I think Tinybones, the Pickpocket is on par with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. Yup…I said that.
Bristly Bill, Spine Sower is begging to be built around and I can’t wait to try out some brews with it.
Caustic Bronco, meanwhile, is a high-value 2-drop that, while maybe not being great at surviving combat or trading up, like Tinybones, does trigger on its attack, not when it deals damage. Thus, it will replace itself either by drawing us a card or drawing a kill spell out of our opponent’s hand.
Of course, I’m most excited about playing some Dragons and jank in Modern! I have an Izzet Dragons deck I’ve been testing for this month’s article that I’m going to hold off on playing until after Magda, the Hoardmaster is available. The set has dropped on MTGO, but so far there aren’t many cards on sale. Goldvein Hydra synergizes nicely with Magda, as well, so be on the lookout for a Gruul Dragon-Hydra deck in the near future, too!
The Main Event
But let’s get to the Collector Booster Box opening! Unlike sets from 10+ years ago, Outlaws of Thunder Junction has multiple set symbols. Gone are the days of cracking simple booster packs and hoping to get that chase mythic, maybe even as foil. Now we have play boosters with guaranteed foils, alternate art cards, and a seemingly random assortment of set symbols. What are they? More importantly, what are the chase cards we’re hoping to open?
Other than what should be considered the main set, as signified by the cowboy hat emblem in the cards above, there are four other set symbols you may encounter, many of which also have alternate art.
Breaking News
There are some big money cards in this slot and each play booster will have at least one. This is the alternate art version of Mana Drain.
The Big Score
There are some seriously powerful cards in this slot, many of which also have alternate art. These cards were originally planned on being released after the main set the same as March of the Machine: the Aftermath. However, Wizards thought better of it after the lackluster success (if that word can even be used here) of Aftermath.
Special Guest
A subset of The List, there are ten cards in this category, each with new art that fits the theme of Outlaws of Thunder Junction.
Commander
Cards from the Commander precons can be opened in collector boosters, as well.
So what do we hope to open? Watch on to find out!
Cost of Collector Booster Box: $230
Total Value Opened: $230
This number only includes cards over $3, so if you count all the other bulk rares, etc., we may be up to $250. Of course, prices almost universally drop after a few weeks. Making matters worse, we didn’t open cards we needed/wanted, other than Force of Vigor. We also didn’t open any true “wow” cards. And finally, we didn’t open any alternate art or foil versions of our favorite cards. So, unfortunately, I’d say this collector box was another bust, even if we technically made our money back. Womp, womp.
Thanks for reading and watching!
