Short answer first, because that is all most people want. A modern Pokémon booster box holds 36 packs. If you came here for that, you are done. The rest of this page covers the other games and the one number that actually matters when you are deciding what to buy.
Every game, in one table
| Game and box type | Packs per box |
|---|---|
| Pokémon booster box | 36 |
| Pokémon Elite Trainer Box | 8 to 11, depending on the set |
| Magic: The Gathering, play booster box | 36 |
| Magic: The Gathering, collector booster box | 12 |
| Magic: The Gathering, draft booster box (older sets) | 36 |
| One Piece Card Game booster box | 24 |
| Disney Lorcana booster box | 24 |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! booster box | 24 |
The number that actually matters
Pack count is not really the question people are asking. What they want to know is whether the box is worth it, and for that you want cost per pack. Divide the box price by the pack count and compare it to what a single pack costs off the shelf.
A box almost always wins on that comparison, which is the point of a box. Buying 36 loose packs at retail costs meaningfully more than buying the box that holds 36 packs. If a box does not beat the loose pack price, something is wrong with the listing.
What a box does not tell you
Pack count says nothing about what comes out. A 36-pack box and a 12-pack collector box can return wildly different amounts, because the collector box packs are built to hit more often and cost several times as much each.
And no publisher tells you the odds. The Pokémon Company has never released per-card pull rates for an English set, which is why every pull rate page you find, including ours, is upfront that the figures are collector counts. What we can show you is what the cards in each set are actually worth, which is the half of the question that decides whether opening a box makes sense.
Once you know the count: hobby versus retail, which set to open, and what packs actually pay back.
Questions people also ask
How many packs are in an MTG booster box?
A Magic play booster box holds 36 packs and a collector booster box holds 12. Older draft booster boxes held 36.
How many packs are in a Pokemon Elite Trainer Box?
Between 8 and 11 depending on the set. The count is always printed on the box, and it is the number to use when comparing an Elite Trainer Box against a booster box.
Is a booster box cheaper than buying packs?
Almost always, per pack. That is the point of a box. If a box does not beat the loose pack price, check the listing carefully.
The short version
Pokémon booster box: 36 packs. Magic play booster box: 36. Magic collector booster box: 12. One Piece, Lorcana and Yu-Gi-Oh!: 24. Then work out cost per pack, because that is the number that decides anything.