Booster Crafting Details *Updated (12/8/17)

BUgsySA

Add me as another wishing you could select color, but it’s fantastic to see it finally implemented!

Brigby

Mburn7 said:

madwren said:

I do wish you were able to choose the color, however, as the price seems extreme considering the slow rate of reward accrual for many individuals.  For example, I'm missing 13 Origins mythics. A booster costs 5000 orbs, which is equivalent to 10 duplicate mythics (as you receive 500 orbs for them at conversion).

I would not be surprised if they made it block format like this in order to get it out faster, and then made color or set-specific offers like they used to with regular boosters.  If that isn't the plan, however, @Brigby tell the devs its a good idea every once in a while

I'm not sure what future plans are, when it comes to different Booster Crafting offers or features, but I do know that the original design allowed players to target specific colors, but not sets. We decided to swap those two around, in order to allow players to have more control over choosing Standard or Legacy cards.

I personally believe that keeping the exploratory nature of not targeting a color can be a good thing, as it will encourage creativity in deck strategies/Planeswalker choice, while still allowing players to hone in on set mechanics that are key to the deck they're crafting.

hawkyh1 said:

what is mana orbs from a 'non-craftable set'?
will I be able to craft origins cards?

HH

A non-craftable set is how we reference a new set that hasn't been out for a month yet. In exchange for not being able to craft cards from that set, any duplicates from that set will give bonus Mana Orbs when converted.

Yes, you will have the opportunity to get Origins cards by selecting the Other Standard Sets option.

Edit: I meant Standard, not Legacy. Sorry!

madwren

Brigby said:

I personally believe that keeping the exploratory nature of not targeting a color can be a good thing, as it will encourage creativity in deck strategies/Planeswalker choice, while still allowing players to hone in on set mechanics that are key to the deck they're crafting.

Thanks for the background on the changes. I do agree set without color is preferable to color without set. When it comes to spending hard-earned currency, however, I believe it's better to let the person go after what they definitely DO want, rather than what they MIGHT want that they just haven't tried yet.

Again, randomness is fine, obviously there's a profit margin to be protected, etc. We just disagree on the amount of variance to be expected in attempting to craft specific cards. 

Anecdotally, I think the "month before crafting cards from the new set" is very fair, and the "extra orbs from dupes from that set in the interim" is particularly generous.

DBJones

@Brigby:
Wait, Origins counts as legacy? Does that mean it won't be playable in standard soon?

Brigby

DBJones said:

Brigby:
Wait, Origins counts as legacy? Does that mean it won't be playable in standard soon?

Woops! I meant the Other Standard Sets option, not Legacy. I was thinking about Paper MTG for a second 

DBJones

Thank goodness, I was worried. Thanks for the quick response!

Drewster

I am very happy about this.

Dropspot

This is A LOT better than I expected. I can only say thank you. 

khurram

This is such good news. Can't wait for the update.  

khurram

Also, its good that duplicates will still give out Mana runes too in addition to Mana orbs.

Just a little disappointed that specific colors are not targetable. That means that I'll end up with a mindwrack demon instead of ulvenwald hydra. And i won't be able to get Drowner  or archive at the first try. But agreed that sets without color are much better than colors without set.

Sarahschmara

GrizzoMtGPQ said:

Jewels for Elite Packs should never result in a dupe. Why is this not obvious to you @Oktagon?

I couldn’t “like” this AND mark it “insightful” so I’m quoting instead. This! 100%

Drewster

khurram said:

Also, its good that duplicates will still give out Mana runes too in addition to Mana orbs.

I think this is my favorite thing as I've been saving since the first announcement and have been grinding away leveling planeswalkers. Now, the 3 I have left to level won't take as long!

khurram

Now wait a minute. I just re-read this.

• Legacy Sets (all Sets that aren’t in the Standard Rotation) are treated as a Single Set, and will be the cheapest you can craft to complete your sets!

@brigby am I understanding it wrong? Because it sounds like selecting specific sets is also not really possible. Are you redefining what a set is for the purpose of booster crafting?

You cant target colors, fine. But you can't really target sets if 3 of those are lumped together. If I want a card from origins I should be able to target just origins.

DBJones

I think it means you can target any particular set in standard, or all of legacy. Brigby confirmed you can target Origins specifically about 10 posts back.

Drewster

One suggestion:

IF someone own Every card in a set except the masterpieces I think they should get the chance to Orb Craft a masterpiece for the set say @ 15,000 Orbs.

Yirrixees

ManiiNames said:

So if I buy an Elite pack for 400 jewels and get a dupe, I can buy 1/10 of a mythic with the mana orbs I receive?  That’s really poor.

Yeah, this is the one thing i have a major problem with. 400 jewels is such a grind to only get a dupe, with crafting coming out i am fine with 100 jewels allowing dupes, but the 400? *sigh*...

still this is good news.

Ohboy

madwren said:

Much better than expected. Most importantly, not exchanging dupes for dupes is fantastic, and what I feel people most desired.

I do wish you were able to choose the color, however, as the price seems extreme considering the slow rate of reward accrual for many individuals.  For example, I'm missing 13 Origins mythics. A booster costs 5000 orbs, which is equivalent to 10 duplicate mythics (as you receive 500 orbs for them at conversion).

This means if I want, say, Hixus, I'll have to spend between 10-130 duplicates mythics to get it. That's a huge range of outcomes from "generous" to "exorbitant".

Being able to limit by color would not only help mitigate the disparity of those outcomes (while still assuring a degree of randomness), but assist people--particularly those who haven't been on the gravy train--in targeting specific cards that match their favorite planeswalkers and play styles.

Your mythics currently have almost zero value. Anything more is generous.

Houdin

Just a question of numbers.
It seems that for common, rare and mythic to standard set is 10 to 1. However uncommon is 45 to 1??
@Brigby is this correct? Or a typo in your sheet?

blacklotus

i think we are forgetting we do get lots of common n uncommon dupes (12 per day if one logs in every 2 hours, but realistically about 8 free cards daily). although very low in mana orb value, they do add up over time.

The fact i can get a brand new non-dupe mythic out of my countless free duped commons and uncommons have me in a full cup mood. Thank you Octagon and D3go. 

Hesturk

The system seems good. However the major problem I see are the elite pack. Masterpiece are not craftable and you won't be able to get a reroll from the Elite pack. Then I think the only possible balance would be to have only masterpiece in Elite pack.