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Jumpstart
Jumpstart
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description two half decks in a circle
Design Doug Beyer (lead)
Sam Stoddard
Yoni Skolnik
Mark Gottlieb
Annie Sardelis
Development Doug Beyer (lead)
Yoni Skolnik
Adam Prosak
Jadine Klomparens
Reggie Valk
Michael Hinderaker
Art direction Cynthia Sheppard
Release date July 17, 2020
Plane Various
Themes and mechanics 46 different themes in 121 packs
Keywords/​ability words Various
Set size 78 cards
(11 commons, 7 uncommons, 14 rares, 6 mythic rares, 40 basic lands)
+417 reprints
(186 commons, 147 uncommons, 73 rares, 11 mythic rares)
+169 M21 cards
(79 commons, 48 uncommons, 20 rares, 7 mythic rares, 15 basic lands)
Expansion code JMP[1]
Jumpstart series
N/A Jumpstart Jumpstart 2022
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Core Set 2021 Jumpstart Double Masters
For other uses, see Jumpstart (disambiguation).
Jumpstart Booster

Jumpstart Booster pack

Jumpstart is a supplemental Magic booster set with mostly reprints and some new cards. The set is closely tied to Core Set 2021 but is a stand-alone product.[2]

Jumpstart was intended to be released on June 26, 2020, but this was pushed back to July 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4][5][6] For Europe, the release was further delayed to October 16, 2020.[7]

Set details[ | ]

Jumpstart expansion symbol

Expansion symbol

“  Mix, Match, Mayhem  ”

Jumpstart melds an easy way of deckbuilding with the “shuffle up and play” speed of constructed. In this, it is similar to the Smash Up game by Alderac Entertainment Group and KeyForge by Richard Garfield.

The set introduced a new way to play Magic that mashes together themes from throughout the history of the game and lets you skip the deckbuilding part. To play a game of Jumpstart, players simply open two boosters and shuffle them together to form a ready-to-play 40-card deck.

The set contained 37 new cards, featuring the Jumpstart expansion symbol, and almost 600 reprints. The new cards are not Standard-, Pioneer-, or Modern-legal but are legal in Eternal formats (Legacy, Vintage, Pauper and Commander). 169 of the reprinted cards are from Core Set 2021[8] and feature the M21 expansion symbol, while the remainder (over 400) are reprints from sets before Core Set 2021 and have the Jumpstart expansion symbol. All cards in the set, including the reprints, have the post-M15 card frame. The new cards and cards with new art are numbered #1/78 to #78/78 (11 commons, 7 uncommons, 14 rares, 6 mythic rares, 40 basic lands). The other reprints with the Jumpstart expansion symbol are numbered #79-495 (186 commons, 147 uncommons, 73 rares, 11 mythic rares). The set contains no foil cards.

The set was designed for two-player gameplay, but players can also play multiplayer with it.[9]

Marketing[ | ]

Jumpstart was primarily sold in 20-card boosters, with 24 boosters per booster box.[10] The contents of each pack fit one of 46 randomly-chosen themes, with each theme having a "rarity" of common, rare or mythic rare. Common and rare themes have multiple variations of their pack contents; in total, there are 121 possible pack contents. All boosters contain at least one rare, and one in three boosters includes an extra rare. Within each pack, seven or eight of the 20 cards are lands and the rest are spells; one basic land in each pack (or in the case of the Rainbow theme, Terramorphic Expanse) features art that matches the pack's theme. The planeswalker-themed packs use their respective Showcase lands from M21, but the other packs use brand-new art created specifically for this set. The booster pack itself is wrapped like a regular pack, but the cards within are packed in an additional plastic wrap, with a face card (the "Pack Summary card") that indicates the pack's theme and color.

Jumpstart was also available in the Jumpstart Multipack, which includes four 20-card booster packs.[11]

The set had an unlimited print run, though it was put on hold during the 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic. The set is available in English only.

Events[ | ]

  • Prerelease: July 17-19, 2020
    • Prereleases ran all day. Each player received two Jumpstart boosters to create a deck. When they played enough matches, they earned a promo card.

Promo[ | ]

Online[ | ]

Jumpstart was released on MTG Arena on July 16th, 2020. Jumpstart cards on MTG Arena are legal in Historic. Some of the deck contents are slightly different from the paper release.[13] The official physical way to play is to open four packs, and then choose how to pair them and then play with two decks. That process works a little differently on MTG Arena. In addition, the card pool of Jumpstart is slightly different on Arena, due to some cards not working well within the format of a computer game (such as constantly asking players to confirm decisions), concerns for the Historic format, or technical constraints. In total, twenty cards from Jumpstart are excluded from the MTG Arena and replaced with other cards.[14]

In Magic Online, Jumpstart cards became available in Treasure Chests.

Themes and mechanics[ | ]

There are 46 themes that range from the familiar to the curious. Common themes are each represented four times in different variations among the 121 packs, rare themes twice, and mythic themes are represented only once. The rarity of a given pack should not be taken as an indication of power level; but rather how replayable the theme is.[15] The variant decklists of a given theme always have the same general flavor, mana curve, and game plan.[16] In addition to the Rainbow deck, each color features two mythic themes, three rare themes, and four common themes.

Name Color Rarity Theme Rares Mythics
Basri {W} Mythic Basri Ket, +1/+1 counters Basri's Lieutenant Basri Ket
Unicorns {W} Mythic Unicorns Blessed Sanctuary Emiel the Blessed
Teferi {U} Mythic Teferi, card draw Teferi's Ageless Insight Teferi, Master of Time
Milling {U} Mythic Milling Bruvac the Grandiloquent
Liliana {B} Mythic Liliana Vess, Zombies Liliana's Standard Bearer Liliana, Waker of the Dead
Phyrexian {B} Mythic Phyrexians Sheoldred, Whispering One
Chandra {R} Mythic Chandra Nalaar, direct damage Chandra's Incinerator Chandra, Heart of Fire
Seismic {R} Mythic Elementals, direct damage[15] Grim Lavamancer, Magmaquake
Garruk {G} Mythic Garruk Wildspeaker, "ferocious" Garruk's Harbinger Garruk, Unleashed
Walls {G} Mythic Walls, defender[15] Assault Formation Towering Titan
Rainbow {M} Mythic Multicolored cards, mana fixing[17] Chamber Sentry Maelstrom Archangel
Angels {W} Rare Angels Angelic Arbiter Baneslayer Angel, Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Dogs {W} Rare Dogs, white weenies Isamaru, Hound of Konda, Pack Leader
Enchanted {W} Rare Auras Ajani's Chosen, Celestial Mantle, Kor Spiritdancer
Pirates {U} Rare Pirates Corsair Captain
Spirits {U} Rare Spirits Rattlechains, Shacklegeist
Under the Sea {U} Rare Big aquatic creatures Pursued Whale, Whelming Wave
Discarding {B} Rare Discard Liliana's Reaver, Nyxathid Tinybones, Trinket Thief
Rogues {B} Rare Rogues Gonti, Lord of Luxury, Thieves' Guild Enforcer
Witchcraft {B} Rare Sacrificing creatures for lifegain, Food Bogbrew Witch, Witch of the Moors
Dragons {R} Rare Dragons Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge, Lathliss, Dragon Queen Terror of the Peaks
Lightning {R} Rare Aggro, cards with "lightning" in their names Ball Lightning, Lightning Phoenix
Minotaurs {R} Rare Minotaurs Rageblood Shaman, Sethron, Hurloon General
Cats {G} Rare Cats Feline Sovereign, Lurking Predators
Elves {G} Rare Elves, ramp Elvish Archdruid Allosaurus Shepherd, Craterhoof Behemoth
Lands {G} Rare Landfall, lands as creatures Oracle of Mul Daya Ulvenwald Hydra
Doctor {W} Common Lifegain Cradle of Vitality, Path of Bravery, Rhox Faithmender, Speaker of the Heavens
Feathered Friends {W} Common Birds and other winged creatures Angel of the Dire Hour, Archon of Justice, Archon of Redemption, Steel-Plume Marshal
Heavily Armored {W} Common +1/+1 counters and go wide Cathars' Crusade, Duelist's Heritage, High Sentinels of Arashin Mikaeus, the Lunarch
Legion {W} Common Go wide tokens Blessed Sanctuary, Glorious Anthem, Mentor of the Meek, Lena, Selfless Champion
Above the Clouds {U} Common Flying creatures Inniaz, the Gale Force, Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, Serendib Efreet, Windreader Sphinx
Archaeology {U} Common Artifact recursion, Scarecrows Scarecrone, Scholar of the Lost Trove, Sharding Sphinx, Vedalken Archmage
Well-Read {U} Common Card draw Mystic Archaeologist, Ormos, Archive Keeper, Read the Runes, Rhystic Study
Wizards {U} Common Wizards, control Barrin, Tolarian Archmage, Talrand, Sky Summoner, Riptide Laboratory
Minions {B} Common Sacrificing creatures, graveyard recursion[17] Kels, Fight Fixer, Phyrexian Tower Ghoulcaller Gisa
Reanimated {B} Common Reanimation Gravewaker, Reanimate, Scourge of Nel Toth Rise of the Dark Realms
Spooky {B} Common Morbid Liliana's Standard Bearer, Black Market, Harvester of Souls, Languish, Ogre Slumlord
Vampires {B} Common Vampires, lifegain Exquisite Blood, Sangromancer, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose Drana, Liberator of Malakir
Devilish {R} Common Devils, creature sacrifice Brash Taunter, Hellrider, Sin Prodder, Zurzoth, Chaos Rider
Goblins {R} Common Goblins Goblin Chieftain, Goblin Goon, Krenko, Mob Boss, Muxus, Goblin Grandee
Smashing {R} Common "Ferocious" Etali, Primal Storm, Hamletback Goliath, Sarkhan's Unsealing, Volcanic Salvo
Spellcasting {R} Common Instants and sorceries, prowess Charmbreaker Devils, Double Vision, Dualcaster Mage Immolating Gyre
Dinosaurs {G} Common Dinosaurs Ghalta, Primal Hunger, Primal Might, Rampaging Brontodon Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
Plus One {G} Common +1/+1 counters and go tall Branching Evolution, Champion of Lambholt, Rishkar, Peema Renegade Primeval Bounty
Predatory {G} Common Death triggers on creatures, lure and fight effects[16] Momentous Fall, Neyith of the Dire Hunt, Ravenous Baloth, Thragtusk
Tree-Hugging {G} Common Treefolk, drawing two cards in a turn Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse, Primordial Sage, Soul of the Harvest, Verdant Embrace

^† New card.

Tokens[ | ]

Jumpstart comes with neither tokens nor emblems: that said, a number of cards in the set generate tokens, so a list is provided below for reference. (A list of tokens and emblems for cards printed in Core 2021 can be found here.)

^* These tokens do not have paper printings as of the time of release.
^† These tokens do not have paper printings as of the time of release, but they were printed afterwards.

The following tokens are produced by cards exclusive to the digital release of Jumpstart on Arena.

Cycles[ | ]

Jumpstart contains two cycles of new cards.

Cycle name {W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Hybrid legends Emiel the Blessed ({G/W}) Inniaz, the Gale Force ({W/U}) Kels, Fight Fixer ({U/B}) Sethron, Hurloon General ({B/R}) Neyith of the Dire Hunt ({R/G})
Five rare or mythic rare legendary creatures, each of which has an ability requiring allied color hybrid mana.
Thriving lands Thriving Heath Thriving Isle Thriving Moor Thriving Bluff Thriving Grove
Five common taplands. Each one taps for a given color or a color chosen when it enters the battlefield.

Notable cards[ | ]

New cards[ | ]

New art lands[ | ]

Other cards with new art[ | ]

Paper and digital exclusives[ | ]

Twenty cards were excluded from the MTG Arena release as a result of either their perceived power level being too high for Historic at the time, their digital version being too difficult to use (such as requiring multiple repeated choices from players) or their implementation requiring more time than was available.[14] These 20 paper exclusive cards were replaced with 20 alternative cards when Jumpstart was released on Arena, 5 of which were new to Arena.[18][19] Several excluded cards were later introduced to Arena through other expansions.

Color Paper variant Online variant Packs affected Added to
Arena in
{W} Ajani's Chosen Archon of Sun's Grace Enchanted
{W} Angelic Arbiter Serra's Guardian Angels
{W} Path to Exile Banishing Light Legion
{U} Read the Runes Gadwick, the Wizened Well-Read
{U} Rhystic Study Teferi's Ageless Insight Well-Read Enchanting Tales
{U} Thought Scour Weight of Memory Mill
{B} Exhume Bond of Revival Reanimated
{B} Mausoleum Turnkey Audacious Thief Rogues
{B} Reanimate Doomed Necromancer Reanimated
{B} Scourge of Nel Toth Woe Strider Reanimated
{B} Sheoldred, Whispering One Carnifex Demon Phyrexian Historic Anthology #5
{R} Ball Lightning Lightning Serpent Lightning
{R} Chain Lightning Lightning Strike Lightning
{R} Draconic Roar Scorching Dragonfire Dragons
{R} Flametongue Kavu Fanatic of Mogis Smashing
{R} Goblin Lore Goblin Oriflamme Goblins
{R} Lightning Bolt Lightning Strike Lightning Mystical Archive
{G} Fa'adiyah Seer Dryad Greenseeker Lands
{G} Scrounging Bandar Pollenbright Druid Plus One
{G} Time to Feed Prey Upon Predatory

^‡ New to Historic.

Misprints[ | ]

There were several quality issues reported for Jumpstart packs. The most notable was the appearance of cards with two different card faces layered over each other. These "double printed" cards resulted for example in combining 2 different basic lands into accidental dual lands that garnered high prices on the secondary market.[20][21]

Changes in rarity[ | ]

Shifted from the last non-precon set (mentioned in parentheses).

Common to uncommon[ | ]

Common to rare[ | ]

Rare to uncommon[ | ]

Uncommon to common[ | ]

These cards are all new to Pauper.

Pack Summary cards[ | ]

See also[ | ]

References[ | ]

  1. Information below the text box
  2. Wizards of the Coast (February 20, 2020). "Introducing Jumpstart: A New Way To Play Magic". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Weekly MTG: Jumpstart!. Twitch.tv/magic (February 20, 2020).
  4. David McCoy (February 21, 2020). "Jumpstart is a New Sealed/Preconstructed Hybrid Product, Releases July 3, 2020". Hipsters of the Coast.
  5. WPN. "Jumpstart Product page". Wizards Play Network.
  6. Wizards of The Coast (April 2, 2020). "Jumpstart Release Shifts to July 17". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Wizards of the Coast (October 1, 2020). "Jumpstart Tabletop Release (EU)". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Mark Rosewater (June 8, 2020). "Need I Say Core". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Mark Rosewater (February 27, 2020). "Is jumpstart more focused on 1v1 or is it also geared towards multiplayer?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  10. Mark Rosewater (February 26, 2020). "how many packs in a booster box of Jumpstart?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  11. Jumpstart. Amazon.com.
  12. WPN (June 18, 2020). "Sneak Peek: Marketing Kits for M21, Jumpstart, More". Wizards Play Network.
  13. Alex Wiltshire (June 16, 2020). "You might finally have time for Magic: The Gathering thanks to Jumpstart". Rockpapershotgun.com.
  14. a b Wizards of the Coast (June 17, 2020). "Jumpstart Cards Being Replaced in MTG Arena". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. a b c Mark Heggen (June 18, 2020). "Stay Safe and Throw Lava". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. a b Doug Beyer (June 17, 2020). "Behind the Scenes of Designing Jumpstart". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. a b Alex Wiltshire (June 17, 2020). "Magic: The Gathering Jumpstart packs revealed: Minions and Rainbow". Rockpapershotgun.
  18. Wizards of the Coast (June 23, 2020). "MTG Arena: State of the Game -June 2020". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. Wizards of the Coast (July 15, 2020). "Jump into Jumpstart on MTG Arena". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. MTG_OG_VA (July 18, 2020). "Opened a Jumpstart booster and got 7 Volcanic Islands in it!". Reddit.
  21. lupulinaddiction (July 12, 2020). "Anyone else open misprints from Jumpstart?". Reddit.
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