The purpose of the project is to gather information about the way that Magic: The Gathering cards (or, theoretically, other kinds of trading cards) are inserted into packs.
The method used is primarily to watch lots of YouTube videos of pack openings and analyze the results. There are also other sources of data, like photographs of uncut print sheets.
I believe that documenting this information is an important part of preserving the history of the game.
This work has many benefits.
I can determine the true rarities of cards. For example, I can determine the rarities of token cards, the rarities of special cards like draft-matters cards in Conspiracy sets, or the identity of the short-printed common in sets with C1/C2 common collation.
I can help you gain a better understanding of draft. Using information like print runs can provide an advantage (though perhaps only marginally). A good understanding of pack structure can also improve the accuracy of draft simulations.
I can help navigate packs. Sometimes there you won't know what to expect when you open an old pack. Do you know where to expect the rare in a pack of Exodus?
I can help collectors understand print sheet layouts so they know what kinds of print sheets exist and what kinds of miscuts exist.
Some people will no doubt also be interested just as a matter of curiosity.
Disclosing too much information about collation may be of benefit to box mappers. Box mappers are people who try to use this kind of information to identify packs that contain valuable rares or foils before opening them (often for their own gain). It is my intention to try to avoid publishing too much information that helps box mappers. For sets released in the last ten calendar years (including the current year), I will avoid giving much information about sequencing for rare, mthic, and foil cards. Information that is mostly of general interest, like sheet math and overall foil rates, may still be given.