September 26 was a big day for Magic: The Gathering, with the Spider-Man set coming out of its pre-release week and Wizards of the Coast designers taking to the stage of MagicCon Atlanta in order to announce what's coming in the near future. Magic: The Gathering's 2025 and 2026 roadmap was revealed nearly in full, including several Secret Lair drops launching in October, all the main sets bar one coming next year, and the various holiday boxes for Final Fantasy coming this December. Considering how successful Final Fantasy was as a set, it's no wonder that Square Enix and Wizards decided to make even more cards, but it's not all roses for these holiday bundles.
Currently, there are already logistical issues with these Magic: The Gathering products due to scalpers and incredible hype, and it doesn't help that they are conceived as Christmas boxes that will release on December 5. The list of boxes is as follows:
- Scene Box - Final Fantasy: Garland at the Chaos Shrine
- Scene Box - Final Fantasy 8: Children of Fate
- Scene Box - Final Fantasy 9: The Siege of Alexandria
- Scene Box - Final Fantasy 15: Camp Comrades
- Game Edition Commander Deck - Limit Break
- Chocobo Bundle
The Chocobo Bundle is by far the most packed of the bunch, though each product has its merits. However, as much as Final Fantasy's new MTG holiday boxes can be great value for money, the Chocobo Bundle is very likely to yield underwhelming results when opened.
One of Magic: The Gathering's Best Final Fantasy Decks Costs $800
Magic: The Gathering has a borderline-broken deck dominating one of its formats thanks to the Final Fantasy set, but it costs around $800.
Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy Chocobo Bundle Explained
Based on the official website, the Chocobo Bundle seems like a good deal right off the bat, as it includes plenty of special cards and goodies. These are:
- 10 Final Fantasy Play Boosters
- 32 landmark basic lands (16 foil, 16 non-foil)
- 10 Chocobo track foil lands
- 2 of 20 Chocobo track foil borderless cards
- Paradise Chocobo (reprint of Birds of Paradise) foil promo
- 1 of 24 non-foil cards from Scene Boxes
- 1 Chocobo-themed click wheel
MTG's Chocobo Bundle Value Breakdown
The random card from the Scene Boxes is a strange choice for the bundle, but since those are all new cards rather than reprints, it's hard to speculate on their value. Birds of Paradise is an iconic MTG card, and it normally goes for $8-10, so the Paradise Chocobo will likely be worth around $15 at least. The Chocobo foil lands are also exclusive to the box, and while they are basic lands, they will still be worth at least a few dollars each. Landmark basic lands are not very valuable, as they range from $0.10 for non-foil to $0.30 for foil. However, the selection for the two random track foil borderless cards can really change the value of the box once it's opened.
MTG x FF's New Chocobo Bundle Is a Controversy Waiting to Happen
There will be 20 Chocobo track foil cards total, and as much as they can be a given person's favorites or least favorites, each one will be valued differently based on the original card's value. They are:
- A Realm Reborn ($0.50-0.70)
- Aerith, Last Ancient ($0.30-0.40)
- Barret, Avalanche Leader ($0.15-0.30)
- Choco, Seeker of Paradise ($0.60-1)
- Cloud, Midgar Mercenary ($30-45)
- Emet-Selch of the Third Seat ($0.20-0.30)
- Estinien Varlineau ($0.15-0.25)
- Locke, Treasure Hunter ($0.25-0.40)
- Lulu, Stern Guardian ($0.75-1)
- Mog, Moogle Warrior ($0.20-0.30)
- Rikku, Resourceful Guardian ($0.35-0.60)
- Snapcaster Mage ($13-19)
- Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant ($0.25-0.40)
- Tataru Taru ($5-6)
- Tifa Lockhart ($3.5-5)
- Traveling Chocobo ($29-32)
- Vivi Ornitier ($32-40)
- Wakka, Devoted Guardian ($0.25-0.40)
- Yuffie, Materia Hunter ($0.30-0.50)
- Yuna, Hope of Spira ($8-12)
What follows is that only 7 cards out of 20 are worth something more than a few dollars, and only four of them are more chase-worthy, with them being Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, Snapcaster Mage, Traveling Chocobo, and Vivi Ornitier. Snapcaster Mage is the odd one out, as it's technically not very valuable, but it's a non-Final Fantasy card with a long history in the game, making it an expensive MTG card that sees a lot of play, and whose value is bound to be high for a limited full-art foil reprint.
13 cards out of 20 are worth $1 or less, which is 65% of the total selection.
All these cards will undoubtedly be more valuable than their regular counterparts due to the nature of the product, but all the $1 or less cards in the bundle will never be worth a lot, overall. Considering that players only get two random cards out of the 20 possible ones, it's very likely that most boxes will have a disappointing selection from a value perspective. Furthermore, with the Final Fantasy characters included being from all over the series, it's very likely that one won't get those they like the most or from their favorite game.
Is MTG's Final Fantasy Chocobo Bundle Worth It?
Whether the bundle is worth it or not depends entirely on the price for this particular box. The MSRP set by Wizards packs great value for money, but it's one of the reasons why the product is already unavailable on Amazon and other websites, as scalpers buy these in large numbers. Those who manage to get a Chocobo Bundle for its original MSRP will most likely get more value out of the box than its cost, as MTG's Final Fantasy Play Boosters, the extra cards, and the accessories all amount to over $100-150 at the very least. The random cards can sway the overall value one way or the other, with good pulls making it fairly easy to get to $200-300 in value and bad pulls making it harder to break even.
Purchasing the box for $300 or more makes it quite hard to get enough value out of it, so fans should temper their expectations. Still, given the limited quantity, it remains a great product for collectors, and it could easily be worth much more if left unopened for some time. Magic: The Gathering cards spike in value very frequently, so it's not impossible that some of the middle-ground cards, like Tifa Lockhart and Yuna, Hope of Spira, become more valuable over time.
Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
- August 5, 1993
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- Richard Garfield
- Player Count
- 2+
- Age Recommendation
- 13+