Most items which offer random contents, such as booster packs or blind bags, tend to be pretty low value and therefore qualify as impulse buys. Products of that nature which are higher in value tend to attract a smaller customer base, though they may be more dedicated fans of whatever franchise the product represents.
The Magic: The Gathering Mystery Power Box, available from Walmart, is definitely outside the realm of impulse purchase. However, its perceived value may still make it something that fans struggle to resist, so what is inside these $44.99 boxes? Let’s find out!
Commander Deck
As you can see from the image of the front of a Magic: The Gathering Mystery Power Box, the biggest draw is a full Commander Deck. Previous Mystery Power Boxes have included boosters and other items, but the current offering features a Commander Deck as its main attraction. The thing is, this is a randomly inserted Commander Deck; there’s absolutely no way of knowing which deck you’ll receive, or whether or not it’ll be one you want to even play with. Given the nature of the Commander format, you’ll only be receiving 1 copy of each card in the deck too.
Deck Box and Sleeves
You’ll also find a deck box inside the Mystery Power Box; handy for storing your newly acquired, pre-constructed Commander Deck! Finally, there’s also a pack of 100 sleeves; enough to safely protect your new Commander Deck.
Are Magic: The Gathering Mystery Power Boxes Worth Buying?
Though $44.99 for a full, ready-to-play deck plus sleeves and a deck box does seem like pretty good value, we can’t help but think that you’d be better off spending a little more to get the cards, or deck, that you actually want. It can be incredibly expensive to put together the most competitive Commander decks (click on that TCGplayer button above to see what we mean), but pre-constructed decks with a theme and colors that you choose yourself won’t set you back much more than the cost of a Mystery Power Box.
It’s worth checking out our best Commander deck boxes guide, as you’ll find several options there which far surpass the rather basic, cheap box which is included in the Mystery Power Box. Often for a surprisingly reasonable price too! The sleeves included with the Mystery Power Box aren’t anything spectacular either, but they do get the job done for the price.
It’s also worth noting that, even on the product’s official Walmart store page, a customer is complaining that they picked up two boxes, and received the exact same deck in both! This surely points to less of a random selection in the boxes, and more of a “what can we get rid of that isn’t selling?” approach. So in short, we don’t think it’s worthwhile to pick up a Magic: The Gathering Mystery Power Box.
Check out our other features on Commander-related products, such as our review of RulesDeck and the Vault X Sideloading Deck Box.
