Buy-a-Box

Buy-a-Box promotional cards are cards given away for purchasing a booster box of Magic cards at certain local game stores. 
==History==
The Buy-a-Box promotion is designed to increase box sales at local game stores. Initially they were foil cards with alternate art, bearing the five mana symbols arranged in a circle as a watermark. From Dominaria through Core Set 2021, they were unique cards that were part of the relevant set, but couldn't be found in booster packs. By customer demand, these were reintroduced for Bloomburrow.
In 2020, an additional Buy-Any-Box was featured. This was given away when any Booster Box was purchased.
===List of Buy-a-Box promos===
The following table is a list of booster box promo cards:
Card	Set 	Date
 	Magic 2010 	2009-07
 	Zendikar 	2009-10
 	Worldwake 	2010-02
 	Rise of the Eldrazi 	2010-04
 	Magic 2011 	2010-07
 	Scars of Mirrodin 	2010-10
 	Mirrodin Besieged 	2011-02
 	New Phyrexia 	2011-05
 	Magic 2012 	2011-07
 	Innistrad 	2011-09
 	Dark Ascension 	2012-02
 	Avacyn Restored 	2012-05
 	Magic 2013 	2012-07
 	Return to Ravnica 	2012-10
 	Gatecrash 	2013-02
 	Dragon's Maze 	2013-05
 	Magic 2014 	2013-07
 	Theros 	2013-09
 	Born of the Gods 	2014-02
 	Journey into Nyx 	2014-05
 	Magic 2015 	2014-07
 	Khans of Tarkir 	2014-09
 	Fate Reforged 	2015-01
 	Dragons of Tarkir 	2015-03
 	Magic Origins 	2015-07
 	Battle for Zendikar 	2015-10
 	Oath of the Gatewatch 	2016-01
// 	Shadows over Innistrad 	2016-04
 	Eldritch Moon 	2016-07
 	Kaladesh 	2016-09
 	Aether Revolt 	2017-01
 	Amonkhet 	2017-04
 	Hour of Devastation 	2017-07
 	Ixalan 	2017-09
 	Rivals of Ixalan 	2018-01
 	Dominaria 	2018-04
 	Core Set 2019 	2018-07
 	Guilds of Ravnica 	2018-10
 	Ravnica Allegiance 	2019-01
 	War of the Spark 	2019-04
 	Modern Horizons 	2019-06
 	Core Set 2020 	2019-07
 	Throne of Eldraine 	2019-09
 	Theros Beyond Death 	2020-01
 	Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths 	2020-04
 	Buy-Any-Box 	2020-05
 	Core Set 2021 	2020-06
 	Zendikar Rising 	2020-09
 	Commander Legends 	2020-11
 	Kaldheim 	2021-02
 	Strixhaven: School of Mages 	2021-04
 	Modern Horizons 2 	2021-06
 	Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms	2021-07
 	Innistrad: Midnight Hunt 	2021-09
 	Innistrad: Crimson Vow 	2021-11
 	Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty 	2022-02
 	Streets of New Capenna 	2022-04
 	Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate 	2022-06
 	Dominaria United 	2022-09
 	The Brothers' War 	2022-11
 	Phyrexia: All Will Be One 	2023-02
 	March of the Machine 	2023-04
 	March of the Machine: The Aftermath 	2023-05
 	The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth 	2023-06
 	Wilds of Eldraine 	2023-09
 	Lost Caverns of Ixalan 	2023-11
 	Murders at Karlov Manor 	2024-02
 	Outlaws of Thunder Junction 	2024-04
 	Bloomburrow 	2024-08
 	Duskmourn: House of Horror 	2024-09
and 	Magic: The Gathering Foundations 	2024-11
 Exclusive card, not found in booster packs of the main set.
===Controversy===
As the promo for Dominaria, <c>Firesong and Sunspeaker</c>, was the only way to obtain this card, its release was heavily criticized. A comparison was made with the exclusive release of <c>Nalathni Dragon</c> in 1994, after which Wizards of the Coast had vowed to make all cards available one way or another for the main public.Firesong and Sunspeaker sets a dangerous precedent. (Reddit)"Wizards decided to stop producing mechanically unique cards outside of booster packs." (Reddit)About the exclusive buy a box promo thing.... (Reddit)Blake Rasmussen Twitter Because it had served its purpose (promoting local game stores and furthering sales), WotC decided to offer a mechanically unique Buy-a-Box promo card at local game stores with each major set release for the foreseeable future. However, they held the possibility open to reprint the promos in other products.
This controversy only magnified with the release of Core Set 2019 and <c>Nexus of Fate</c>; while <c>Firesong and Sunspeaker</c> was of a medium power level and likely not required for any more than one copy per player as a Commander, Nexus of Fate was radically different. The ability to take another turn is extremely powerful, and the in-built recursion led to an endgame where the player takes every turn and wins with whatever's left; ultimately, Pro Tour 25th Anniversary had several successful pilots of Turbo-Fog variants with playsets of Nexus of Fate, resulting in a massive spike of the card price.Nexus of Fate is mjor problem. (Reddit)Nexus of Fate up 17.3% since yesterday and rising. (Reddit) The next two promos for Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance passed without incident, but Nexus of Fate's problems were clearly more of an issue of card power and the promo card status only served to exacerbate controversy over its unfun gameplay patterns. This led to a ban in Arena Standard. R&D admitted the Standard viability of the Buy-a-Box cards needed increased scrutiny, but the exclusive promos would continue.
The promo for Throne of Eldraine, <c>Kenrith, The Returned King</c> was a card that saw widespread play (2-4 copies in a top metagame share deck) for six months. However, during that time, very few high-level Standard tournaments were held on paper (as opposed to on MTG Arena) and the ones that would have been were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, mitigating the discontent regarding obtaining such a card.
A a result of the player feedback, Buy-a-box cards reverted to non-exclusivity with Zendikar Rising. However, reprints that are released exclusively as Buy-a-box promos have continued in supplemental sets such as Commander Legends and Modern Horizons 2.
===Box toppers===
Another take on booster box promo card are the box toppers. Unlike Buy-a-Box promos, these are packaged within the booster box.
==See also==
*Holiday Buy-a-Box Promotion
==References==
Category:Promotional cards