2021 Holiday Gift Guide - Magic the Gathering

2021 Holiday Gift Guide - Magic the Gathering

Welcome to part three of our holiday gift guide! This one's for the Magic player in your life. What do they want, and how can you get it for them when you don't know the difference between Modern, Standard and EDH? We'll answer that question (and help you out with some of the terminology along the way).

As with our other blogs, we’ll be devoting part of this guide to what questions to ask those loved ones and give you the resources to figure out what they mean. We’ll include a few broad interest and popular suggestions, but when picking out the right gift this year thoughtfulness goes a long way. So if you need a hand with some recommendations, read on and let’s get started! 

Phoenix Holiday Gift Guide: Magic

If you've ever listened in on a conversation between two Magic players, it can often sound like they're speaking in code. It can be hard to listen for key words or phrases, so before we get into the questions, let's talk terminology. Due to the sheer size of the game and the fact that it's been around for almost thirty years, Magic has acquired many, many ways to play. These different ways to play the game are often referred to as "formats." Here are some common examples:

  • Standard - this format is composed of the last couple of years worth of sets (as of this writing, Standard currently encompasses the sets Zendikar Rising, Kaldheim, Strixhaven, D&D Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, Innistrad Midnight Hunt and Innistrad Crimson Vow). Standard is a common format for new players to play, since it's the easiest to acquire cards for.
  • Pioneer and Modern - These are two common formats that have a larger card pool than Standard. Pioneer's card pool goes all the way back to Khans of Tarkir (2014), while Modern goes even further back to Eight Edition (2003).
  • Commander (aka EDH) - This is the most popular casual player format out there. Players are challenged to build a deck of 100 cards, using only one of any given card. On top of that, players select a commander to be the general of their armies. A player's commander is always available to them, so many commander decks are built around that commander's special abilities. Commander is also a multi-player format, so having the best deck is not necessarily a guarantee of victory.
  • Booster Draft - If you're looking for a fun way to build a collection while playing magic, drafts offer that experience. Often played in groups of 6-10 (with 8 being the optimal number of people), drafts begin with each player being given 3 booster packs. Players open each pack one at a time, then take turns picking a card and handing their pack to the person next to them. By the time all players are finished, they have a small pool of cards they're expected to use to build a deck from.

So with a little terminology explained, let's talk about what kind of questions you should ask your magic playing friends & family. 

Questions to Ask

What formats do you like to play? Passionate magic players will often play in more than one format, but finding out which ones they really enjoy will help you tailor your gifts to best suit their interests.

Are there any singles you're currently looking for? Okay, this one's kind of a loaded question. One that can elicit a variety of responses ranging from "not really" to "here's a big long list of cards that I'm looking for."  The key with singles is to find a few that meet your gifting budget, rather than going for a bunch of the lower-value commons / uncommons. If you go this route, quality is better than quantity.

Do they have any favorite colors? I know this seriously sounds like a joke, but a lot of accessories that we’ll suggest below come in a variety of shades of color.

Okay, so now that you’ve got a bit of information about your household’s Magic player, time to put it to use! Here are a few recommendations, along with short descriptions of who each recommendation might be for. 

Phoenix Recommendations

As we move onto the recommendations, a quick note: we're going to be painting in broad strokes here for our Magic recommendations. That's because Magic is, at it's core, a game about mixing and matching cards across sets in order to maximize their effectiveness. So to truly excel at the game, most players will build decks out of many many different sets.

Set Booster Boxes

What are they? Set booster boxes are kind of ideal for a "big gift" idea for something under the tree. They're boosters meant for filling out a player's collection of harder to find cards. Each box contains 30 individual packs, and each pack can contain anywhere from 1-4 rares or mythic rares. 

Who are they for? Anyone really! But if we had to pick a part of our community and player base that would benefit most from them, it would be newer players seeking to build out their collection. 

What's currently available?  We currently have or have the ability to restock the following sets:

Collector Booster Boxes

 

What are they? Collector boosters are for that person in your life that needs everything shinier or fancier if possible. While the boxes are smaller than set boosters, and have less individual packs, the content of those packs is much more rare filled than set or draft boosters. 

Who are they for? These are for the collector or the high end player. If you've heard your magic-playing loved one muttering about needing to foil out their deck or finding a chase or harder to find card, collector boosters can present a really good way to do just that.

What's currently available?  We currently have or have the ability to restock the following sets:

Draft Booster Boxes 

What are they? Draft boosters are the old school staple of Magic. When most people think of booster packs, this is what they're thinking of. 

Who are they for? These boxes are, hands down, for the limited or draft-player in your life. They are meant to be opened as part of a booster draft or sealed tournament, and often times players will bring their friends together to break open a box and play.

What's currently available?  We currently have or have the ability to restock the following sets:

Secret Lair Ultimate Edition 2

What is it? Secret Lairs are normally a special limited release set that players must order ahead of time in order to get in on. This particular secret lair is a special one, made available in small quantities to game stores around the US. And we've got about 3-4 of them left (at time of posting).

Who's it for? Much like collector boosters, the secret lairs are for dedicated collectors, or people hunting for the shiniest of shiny possible cards. If that applies to the magic player in your life, consider this as a gift possibility.

Signature Spellbooks / Commander Collection Black

What are they? Signature spellbooks and their 'upgraded' version the Commander Collection are small collections of non-randomized cards that offer players a way to get specific cards of specific colors without buying a lot of booster packs or going out to get singles.  Currently, we have 2 Signature Spellbooks in stock (Gideon / White, and Chandra / Red), and a preorder open for the Commander Collection Black, which releases at the end of January.

Who are they for? These are similar products to the Secret Lair we mentioned above. They've got specific cards in them, so Commander players and collectors are the main targets for these particular items.

Bonus ideas!

While that may be it for our gift guide, that's definitely not the end of the variety of gift ideas out there for the Magic player in your life. Accessories such as deck boxes, binders, play-mats and card sleeves are all things that a magic player will want! Don't be afraid to get creative, mix and match things up, or to look for a more thoughtfully hand-crafted gift that's got a few individual packs inside. If you're looking for ideas on this front, check out the video below from the fine folks at Tolarian Community College for some fun and neat ideas!