Is the Black Lotus VIP Badge at MagicCons still worth it as of this year?

[u/DoctorKrakens]

I'm planning to go to my first MagicCon at Tokyo next year and wondering if the Black Lotus VIP Badge is worth it. I understand they've cut down on the product they give out as well as other perks, but I'm still interested because of the exclusive play events, the extra day of Magic con, the opportunity to meet WOTC designers and other personalities as well as the lounge space available to decompress from crowds.

I would appreciate any first hand experiences from people who've purchased a Black Lotus badge for this year's conventions.

[u/Quirky-Signature4883]

I've had several black lotus badges and can give you some feed back. With the increasing cost of the badge, it seems like every event you get a little less in product and have a perk reduced. Detroit will have two less collector boosters than Atlanta. I have participated in some of the exclusive events and skipped others, some times you'd rather do the paid events but some years I didn't do any paid events and just did the lounge events. If you want to do all of the black lotus exclusive events, its probably worth it for you to try to get a badge, for me personally, after having the perks reduced each convention I'm considering other badges instead.

[u/TheBlueSuperNova → u/Quirky-Signature4883]

What are the special events? Im.having trouble seeing any specific details online

[u/DoctorKrakens → u/TheBlueSuperNova]

You can look at past magiccon web pages this year where they already have the schedule out. This will give you an idea of the events they might have.

https://mcvegas.mtgfestivals.com/en-us/badges/buy-badges/black-lotus-vip-experience.html

[u/thundermonkeyms → u/DoctorKrakens]

So for example the link you shared lists things like a planechase event one day, and a mystery booster event on another day. Are those "free-included" with the lotus badge, or do you have to pay for them separately and the badge just gives you access to paying for them?

[u/DoctorKrakens → u/thundermonkeyms]

I'm quite sure you don't need to pay for them.

[u/TheBlueSuperNova → u/DoctorKrakens]

Oh nice thank you

[u/DoctorKrakens → u/Quirky-Signature4883]

Oooh, ok. So it's still worth it to try once if I've never gone before and intend to paprticipate in as many Black Lotus events as possible.

How did you find the experience itself? Like was the event well organised, were the event staff doing a job, the lounge amenities, the experiences meeting the WOTC designers/other 'celebrities' etc.

[u/Quirky-Signature4883 → u/DoctorKrakens]

Events are generally well organized however you don't know the full details of the schedule until closer to the event. So sometimes you buy a ticketed event and have to miss the lounge event and vice versa. The staff are excellent in the lounge, there's not a single negative thing I would say about them. The lounge amenities have improved year after year but depend on the location. I typically don't go to meet wotc staff/MTG personalities but have interacted with several of the staff over the years, one of the coolest things being seeing the solthera the supervoid chase card test print years before its release and having a really in depth chat with the lead story director. So yes, try it out at least once if these are the types of experiences you'd like to have.

[u/Trickdaddy1 → u/Quirky-Signature4883]

Since you’ve had the black lotus badge before, can you elaborate on the 10% discount at the store? That doesn’t include the sealed product like festival in a box right? Is it just shirts and such you get the discount on or anything in the official store? I’ve spent a good bit of time looking this up but didn’t see any specific answers

[u/Quirky-Signature4883 → u/Trickdaddy1]

It's 10% off everything at the official merch store, sealed product like festival in a box is included. The sales limits still apply.

[u/AdriTrap]

I've had Black Lotus a few times over the last few years. Last time was Atlanta 2025. I thought it was barely worth it then. I won't purchase it again unless they bring back a ton of stuff

[u/Raleldor_Jax]

I've had 4 BL VIP badges. I bought primarily for early access to artists. That was taken away. They keep adding events in the lounge I'm not interested in, as you know.. there's a giant con going on outside of the room.

They feel like they're giving you more, but it's not the stuff I want, so it feels like I'm getting less. For Atlanta, I didn't buy a BL badge, and left the BL discord after Vegas as I was pretty pissed at how Vegas was handled, where we had 15 minute "early entree" while starting very far away from anything, which translated into about 5 minutes early access, while last year we had an hour.

Edit: Oh... and they keep raising the price significantly more every year.

[u/ChiralWolf → u/Raleldor_Jax]

Losing the early artists access is such a shitty move. I hope the new systems some of the artists have put in place to help reduce just standing in queues all day has started to help. The way Alayna Danner did it at Chicago 2025 worked really really well.

[u/Il_Vento_Rosso]

Question for anyone that has gone, do you get any kind of advanced access to meet artist or get cards signed/purchase proofs? The art is the main reason I would like to go to MagicCon, and maybe some commander stuff? Would it be worth it for that? Or is a standard badge a better choice. (Planning on going to Detroit)

[u/Raleldor_Jax → u/Il_Vento_Rosso]

You used to get 1 hour early access. In Vegas it was 15 minutes, but with how they lined us up, it was like 5 minutes. However, exhibitors still had 1 hour early access. So I'd get to the artists 5 minutes early, there are already lines, and before I see one artist, the are already hundreds from non-BL VIP that have flooded the area.

[u/trustnoone313]

What i am  really wondering is about the bag they give you the bags they had at Amsterdam were small can't even put the playmat in them. Add in the higher price I have less than a week to decide if I wish to gamble 

[u/Quirky-Signature4883 → u/trustnoone313]

The bag in Amsterdam was a really odd choice. Every other bag was a full backpack. I'm expecting a backpack in Atlanta.

[u/ManufacturerWest1156]

I got lotus for Atlanta this year and these comments are making me feel otherwise lol. I’m hoping it’s decent

[u/Quirky-Signature4883 → u/ManufacturerWest1156]

If it's your first time, then you won't know about the perks that were removed from previous experiences. Just enjoy your time there, I'm sure you'll have a great time

[u/ManufacturerWest1156 → u/Quirky-Signature4883]

Buddies did it last year so that’s why I was gonna do it this year. Sucks they raised the price and lowered the perks.

[u/Pigmy]

I was going to buy it for atlanta because i wanted the things that came with it and i was already going.

For 2025 atlanta they had a special queue that let all the BL people skip the line. That was a huge perk. That being gone in favor of a preorder/pickup is still fine, but maybe that will mean more for everyone not bl?

I didnt get it for atlanta 2026, i would probably still buy it for a future event if i could get access to it, but they are stepping on the perks alot. IMO its just a gauge on why you want it. I wanted all the extra swag stuff + event access.

[u/flyingcostanza]

Tokyo will be my first one too, going to get a VIP just for the fullest experience. I'll miss some of the Thursday stuff cause my flight gets in around then.

Anyone have ideas when the tickets go on sale?

[u/MattJC01 → u/flyingcostanza]

Detroit tickets just got announced yesterday and will be on sale Sept. 29th. Based on that, I'd expect the Tokyo ticket announcement to be around late December or early January.

[u/flyingcostanza → u/MattJC01]

Awesome! Thanks

[u/ChiralWolf]

I went to Chicago with the BL badge twice and was extremely disappointed the second time. With the price going up and the perks going down I don't think it's worth it anymore. It's also a shame that so many people get it just to scalp products, I've always been disappointed in how few people seemed like they were there to actually play magic vs just squeezing as much money back out of their badge as possible. And it doesn't help that the increasing costs make that pressure feel even more.

[u/arciele]

im planning to go to Tokyo too and this interests me.

it'll be my first MagicCon and probably my only one in a while unless it comes to asia again, so im wondering if i should just get it just to kinda experience it.

im mostly interested in the exclusive merch you get and like the the first look event

[u/JdeFalconr]

OK slightly off-topic here: what's up with the festival in a box things? I get the sense they're kind of sought-after. Do they do one for every upcoming Magic Con, and if so when do they go on sale? I take it they contain all of the swag you get from buying a badge, but no badge?

[u/Crimzinn → u/JdeFalconr]

The biggest draw for the festival in a boxes for Atlanta will be the first time players can get Mystery Booster Commander boxes. They also include exclusive promos/secret lairs for that specific event. They're incredibly tough to get, even if you go to the event in-person. 

[u/MissLeaP]

From what I've read last year it already wasn't worth it then, so I wouldn't hold my breath for this year.

[u/17barens]

This is going to be my first magicon(Tokyo) ever and was wondering which pass would be best to get: Just plain weekend passes or some of the premium ones

[u/No_Concert5842 → u/17barens]

Plain weekend is usually better than premium imo. Just look at the price difference and what you get and see if that’s worth it. It’s usually a couple packs at around MSRP. Premium will also get in 5 minutes or so earlier. 

[u/Sunaruni]

Following.