Originally, Jumpstart came out in July 2020, at the peak of the initial pre-vaccine wave of COVID-19 in the United States. The supply chain had gotten a bit snarled, and it was difficult to find the product on store shelves initially. So boxes sold for a premium, but prices leveled out once interest waned a bit (and once reprints started showing up in other products). It’s a shame that the product was initially difficult to get your hands on, as Jumpstart was a full-quadrant press. New players could play a reasonable simulacrum of the game for $10-12. Commander players got quirky new generals and high-value reprints. Legacy players got new cards to test. For those of us who love Magic: the Gathering in all its forms, we got a refreshing palate-cleanser with a low buy-in, like pre-built Limited. My one criticism of the set is the rarity system. Higher-powered or more desirable packs drop at lower rarities, but that’s an ongoing issue with the entire structure of the TCG medium, and not really a critique of Jumpstart.
Jumpstart was pitched as (and is!) a great way to get new players into the game, but, in particular, I’ve found it the ideal way to reintroduce the game to lapsed players. I keep a battle box of Jumpstart packs together for when someone is over at my house and sees the stacks of cards, tokens-deployed-as-bookmarks, and half-built Commander decks studding flat surfaces and expresses curiosity and/or mild concern. Folks who played when they were kids and were drawn away from the game often recall the basics of the game, but aren’t fully ready for the drown-or-doggypaddle world of Commander, or the high costs of formats like Modern. Jumpstart is an effective way to reacclimatize them to the game. It introduces them to new pet cards and themes, and the price point is low enough that I can just say “oh no, those are your cards now” after a game.
While there are numerous ways to play Jumpstart, with as little outlay as two random packs, I prefer to get a more expansive by slapping out options. Once everyone is familiar with the packs and their goals, I like to set up a four player “draft” where everyone gets two picks from 16 total packs. Roll a d4 to determine who picks first, and proceed around the table until everyone has two packs. You then shuffle up and play, either as two 1 v 1 games or as a four-person multiplayer brawl. The stakes couldn’t be lower, freeing up brain space for table talk and meaningless alliances. The power level is relatively balanced, reducing the pre-game Commander power level discussions or artificial constraints placed upon deckbuilding.
With Dominaria United, Wizards brought back the Jumpstart product line. But this time, it’s a diluted version of the original, designed for newer players. The themes are marginalized, and the cards simplified and semi-randomized. It doesn’t offer anything for those of us who love to slip a couple of Jumpstart packs into our jacket pocket when meeting other Magic players at a bar or coffeeshop. Instead, this iteration plays closer to the discontinued “theme boosters.” We won’t discuss this product further, so assume when I say “Jumpstart,” I mean the July 2020 and December 2022 iterations.
The latest version of Jumpstart, which came out on December 2nd, adjusts the model a bit. Rather than being linked to a release, as original Jumpstart was to M21, this Jumpstart draws its Planeswalkers from across a span of sets. It isn’t tied into a specific subset of cards. It does have just as many different packs—121—as the original set, with a similar breakdown of rarities. So, you’ll see the Urza’s pack as often as you saw the Phyrexian pack in original Jumpstart. The themes are a mix of mechanical and flavorful, and they can inspire new Commander decks or fold directly into archetypes that have existed in the game for decades–while everyone has their favorites, my top 5 Jumpstart (2020) themes are:
Sheoldred, Whispering One by Jana Schirmer & Johannes Voss
5. Phyrexian—Jumpstart is a slower format, closer to Sealed Deck play, and Sheoldred, Whispering One is hard to interact with and easy to land in a standard game. When supplemented with a lifegain-heavy pack like Doctor, the grindy loops you can set up with Phyrexian Rager and Phyrexian Reclamation are beautiful ways to introduce players to the concepts that having more life than your opponent isn’t as important as seeing more cards than they do.
Cathars’ Crusade by Karl Kopinski
4. Heavily Armored (Cathars’ Crusade variant)—The Heavily Armored packs reward putting +1/+1 counters on creatures at a pretty decent clip, with cards like Basri’s Solidarity. Pairing it with a creature-heavy pack (as most are) lets you outclass your opponent’s cards quite easily. Backing it up with the Plus One pack especially got out of hand quickly.
Allosaurus Shepherd by Randy Vargas
3. Elves—While the Allosaurus Shepherd pack was one of the “chase” packs, as the Rider saw some Legacy exploration, the Craterhoof Behemoth pack was even more desirable for those actually playing Jumpstart as it was intended. Reanimated/Elves is an all-but-undefeatable pairing, and Craterhoof is just as good cast off Elf mana as it is when Exhumed.
Isamaru, Hound of Konda by Christopher Moeller
2. Dogs (Isamaru variant)—Aside from being adorable, the Dogs pack with both Isamaru and Pack Leader has quite a curve. Selfless Savior is the Most Valuable Pup in most games, and Jumpstart’s more forgiving pace means you can actually live the dream of Release the Dogs into Supply Runners to run over your opponent with the whole pack.
Bruvac the Grandiloquent by Ekaterina Burmak
1. Milling—This “mythic” pack introduced us to Bruvac the Grandiloquent who was reminiscent of Limited megaton bomb Jace, Memory Adept. When you only have to mill through 33 cards instead of 53 or 92, it becomes a terrifically attainable goal to exhaust your opponent’s library. The remainder of the deck was generally lower in power, but if you could back your mill up with Walls or Vampires, you could burn through your opponent’s deck with [/mtg_card]Teferi’s Tutelage[/mtg_card] and Thought Scour while fending off their attacks.
Jumpstart 2022
I haven’t had too much time to test out Jumpstart 2022 just yet, but personally, I’m most excited about bolstering my battle box of Jumpstart by selecting themes that match up well with the previous set’s standouts. Among these initial explorations:
3. Devilish/Raid—Zurzoth is one of my pet cards from Jumpstart, and his Devil tokens are annoying little nuisances that become threats awfully quickly. The way he can—purely by accident—disrupt opponents’ plans is why I prize him so highly. Add to that the chaos and card advantage of [/mtg_card]Brazen Cannonade[/mtg_card] or Glint-Horn Buccaneer, and you have a potent engine that sometimes speeds to the finish line, or explodes along the way.
2. Multi-Headed/Plus Ones—It’s slightly antithetical to the format, but going mono-colored in Jumpstart is a huge advantage. The lack of mana fixing (although the Thriving lands are a nice concession to that need) and the variability of the games means that reducing your mana issues to “did I draw enough lands” rather than “did I draw the right mix of lands” gives you a head start against your opponent. Add to that the explosive nature of these two packs, and you’ve got a pairing that can produce a player-killer before your opponent has their deck set up.
1. Urza’s/Lands—The Urza’s pack includes a Karn Liberated, at the tradeoff of only including 2-3 copies of each of the Urza’s lands. While you can plan on assembling the Urzatron organically, Jumpstart 2020’s Lands lets you ramp up those chances with Oracle of Mul Daya. When your opponents are making Colossal Dreadmaw, you’re making a Karn or a Walking Ballista, which hardly seems fair.
Releasing the second true Jumpstart set in December is a savvy maneuver—it’s a great stocking stuffer or holiday gift, but more than that, it’s the perfect holiday hangout activity. Games are quick, swingy-but-balanced, and raucous. I’m lucky enough to have leave time around the holidays and unlucky enough to have an anxiety disorder that means I need to recharge from holiday expectations. I tend to spend the dark evenings around this time of year gaming at the kitchen table with friends. Jumpstart has entered the rotation as a quick break between games of Wingspan or rounds of Dominion. It adds variety and velocity on Magic nights, when you don’t have the time for Commander or the brainpower for tournament testing–completely perfect for this time of year. During a hectic season, it’s refreshing to take a break here and there to remind ourselves of why we love this game, and Jumpstart is a streamlined and hilarious way to do so. Setup is minimal, gametime is speedy, and it’s a step up in power from the Game Day boxed set or similar introductory products–plus, you get to throw Banana tokens at your friends’ Zombie armies. What more could you want from Magic than that?
Rob Bockman (he/him) is a native of South Carolina who has been playing Magic since Tempest block. A writer of fiction and stage plays, he loves the emergent comedy of Magic and the drama of high-level play. He’s been a Golgari player since before that had a name and is never happier than when he’s able to say “Overgrown Tomb into Thoughtseize,” no matter the format.