I exclusively purchase sealed packs. If there is a way of knowing which set has the highest probability of yielding a specific card, that would help to complete collections faster while still ensuring a mint condition card.

I'm sure that the effort needed to implement this would be great, so I understand if it can't happen. I just thought it might be handy for collectors.

jlipscomb89 wrote:I exclusively purchase sealed packs. If there is a way of knowing which set has the highest probability of yielding a specific card, that would help to complete collections faster while still ensuring a mint condition card.

I'm sure that the effort needed to implement this would be great, so I understand if it can't happen. I just thought it might be handy for collectors.

Booster packs are 1 rare/mythic rare, 3 uncommon, and 11 commons.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Magic:_The_Gathering_sets tells you how many rares/uncommons/commons are in each set.

Then it's simple math... if you're working on M12, which has 53 rares and 15 mythic rares, if you're looking for a specific rare/mythic rare each booster pack will have exactly a 1/68 chance of having the card you need.

Or if you're looking for an uncommon, each booster will have exactly 3/60 or 1/20 chance of having the uncommon you need.

Most people don't buy exclusively sealed, they will trade or buy singles to complete sets.

Thanks for your input.... but I'm well aware of how to figure out the probability of cards being drawn in a pack. By asking if there was a way, I should have been more specific. Is there an easier/faster way.

Every addition that anyone suggests in the forum people can do on their own. They don't suggest them because they can't do it, they suggest them because it would be easier if they were on the site. I am no different. I know how many cards of each rarity are in each pack, and I know how to find how many of each rarity are in each set.

I just thought that if there were a utility available on the site it would save some people some time.

You could make a simple spreadsheet that number crunched if you are looking for more of a per set "list" that on a quick glance could give you the break downs.

But in all honesty, if you collect, buying a box and then the missing singles is a good way to complete a set.

The aforementioned math also doesn't include foils, which as of late take a common card slot.

Or Innestrad which includes a double faced card, which in turn can be rare.
Which gives us the possibility of 3 rares in a single pack.