How to get Japanese Showcase cards in Magic: The Gathering

There are several card rarities for you to collect in Magic: The Gathering. It seems like every set adds to this in some way, even if it’s only with an exclusive rarity, but Japanese Showcase cards are a rarity that anyone can get, provided they pick up the right packs.

Japanese Showcase cards are an incredibly vibrant variant of standard cards in Magic: The Gathering. Not all cards have a version in this rarity, but those that do have a unique art style are usually only found in Japanese hobby shops. I think they’re a great card to get if you adore alternate art as I do, but you don’t need to learn a card’s abilities by heart, so you can get and use the Japanese version in your decks.

Image via Wizards of the Coast

To get Japanese Showcase cards in Magic: The Gathering, you need to purchase Collector Booster packs from the Duskmourn: House of Horror set and all the sets released after it. Japanese language Collector Booster packs from these same sets will also include a Japanese Showcase card, though they won’t feature English text.

There are two types of Japanese Showcase cards you can collect. Below, I’ve outlined how to tell the difference so you can keep track of what you get.

• A standard foil Japanese Showcase card is almost borderless, with the art and design over the top of the border’s edges, designed to highlight the card art itself.
• Fracture foils are absolutely stunning Japanese Showcase cards. They let the borderless art take center stage and almost pop off the card itself. You’ll know the difference in these because the border is pretty much gone.

The art from these cards has been specially designed by Kogado Agency, a Japanese art agency that’s been running for over 100 years and has worked with Wizards of the Coast on card designs since War of the Spark and Duel Masters. The art style of these cards is one commonly found in Japanese hobby shops, but now it’s present in one of the world’s biggest collectible card games.

The Duskmourn: House of Horror set had ten Japanese Showcase cards for players to collect in its Collector Boosters. At the time of writing, Wizards of the Coast hasn’t confirmed the cadence for how many per set it will include. While ten seems like a reasonable number, we’ve had smaller sets, such as the Assassin’s Creed set, that squeezing them into would make the drop rate feel pretty unfair.

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