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22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

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Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#101

Post by smallnamespace »

Neeek wrote: post #98
klodolph wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I've played MtG three times in my life: back in 1997, in 2004, and in 2016. I'm currently in a sealed league at work, and we're finding that Kaladesh is pretty rich with organic complexity. In my experience, it requires a lot more mental effort than I remember using a decade ago, and the people I'm playing with have expressed similar sentiments. The set seems to be particularly sensitive to issues like ti…

My biggest problem from a couple years back was just one kid who's parents dropped like $600 on his deck and just played to be smug about his 30 damage turn 3 on friday nights. I've always loved trying to make competitive decks with as little money as possible though, maybe it's just me being silly.

From what I heard, it costs a lot of money to purchase a competitive Magic deck, but the cards tend to hold their value so you can just sell them once you're done playing it.

Compare to, say, Hearthstone, where the digital cards have zero resale value, but the up front cost is substantially lower.

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#102

Post by bikamonki »

gnicholas wrote: post #91
dsil wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

fyi, your cards from the 90s might be worth thousands of dollars.

I have a bunch of cards from the 90s but haven't played in decades. What's a good way to figure out which ones are valuable? I had a few beta cards, but mostly the series after that (name escapes me). Also, where's a good place to sell? Online or in-person?

You'll make more money if you take the time to sell them one by one (or 4x sets if you have them). Selling your collection in bulk will make you lose 30-40% but it's less time consuming. Ebay is the place since trading sites will pay you wholesale prices (they have to make a profit retailing your cards).

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#103

Post by dbg31415 »

dsil wrote: post #30
dbg31415 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a reasonable price to spend? You would probably spend you $15 to go see a two hour movie... I bet you can get away with spending under $7.50 per hour on M:tG. But it is a very expensive game if you buy all the cards and only play it once. I still have cards from the 90s, I don't think I've bought anything in 20 years. Still fun game to play on board game night with friends.

fyi, your cards from the 90s might be worth thousands of dollars.

So I shouldn't shuffle them?

Ha, I don't play with the Alpha stuff as much anymore, most of the cards I play with ate Unlimited and the expansions around that time.

I have a Shivan Dragon signed by Richard Garfield that he told me not to take out of my deck so I still play with that. He told me the value of these cards were in how much I enjoy them...

I do have a deck made entirely out of black border Nether Shadows that someone gave me as a joke during a tour of the WotC office years and years ago... most of them are Alphas.

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#104

Post by Pinckney »

smallnamespace wrote: post #101
Neeek wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My biggest problem from a couple years back was just one kid who's parents dropped like $600 on his deck and just played to be smug about his 30 damage turn 3 on friday nights. I've always loved trying to make competitive decks with as little money as possible though, maybe it's just me being silly.

From what I heard, it costs a lot of money to purchase a competitive Magic deck, but the cards tend to hold their value so you can just sell them once you're done playing it. Compare to, say, Hearthstone, where the digital cards have zero resale value, but the up front cost is substantially lower.

Kind of.

Standard is the most popular format, and has the lowest power level of the major constructed formats. Cards are only legal in standard for about 1 year. Most cards that are played in standard aren't powerful enough for Modern, Legacy, or Vintage, so once they rotate out of standard, their value drops.

Siege Rhino, for instance, lost 80% of its peak value by the time it rotated out in April.

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/price/Khans+of+Tarkir/Siege+Rhin...

Modern is funny. It's non-rotating, but has a fairly aggressive ban list. No big deal if you play casually, but it's possible to drop $1-2k on a T1 deck, only to have a key card banned a year or two later, or for the meta to shift and your deck to be hated out of the format.

Legacy, Vintage, and EDH are generally more stable.

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#105

Post by patpatpat »

Pinckney wrote: post #104
smallnamespace wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I heard, it costs a lot of money to purchase a competitive Magic deck, but the cards tend to hold their value so you can just sell them once you're done playing it. Compare to, say, Hearthstone, where the digital cards have zero resale value, but the up front cost is substantially lower.

Kind of. Standard is the most popular format, and has the lowest power level of the major constructed formats. Cards are only legal in standard for about 1 year. Most cards that are played in standard aren't powerful enough for Modern, Legacy, or Vintage, so once they rotate out of standard, their value drops. Siege Rhino, for instance, lost 80% of its peak value by the time it rotated out in April. https://www.mtggo…

It's 2 years for standard atm

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#106

Post by Pinckney »

patpatpat wrote: post #105
Pinckney wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kind of. Standard is the most popular format, and has the lowest power level of the major constructed formats. Cards are only legal in standard for about 1 year. Most cards that are played in standard aren't powerful enough for Modern, Legacy, or Vintage, so once they rotate out of standard, their value drops. Siege Rhino, for instance, lost 80% of its peak value by the time it rotated out in April. https://www.mtggo…

It's 2 years for standard atm

Thanks. Obviously not a format I play.

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#107

Post by hajile »

brianwawok wrote: post #52
JPKab wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember playing the game in the late 90s, and trying again in the early 2000's. The strategy and game-play dynamics were awesome. Not so awesome: the fact that the amount of money a player spends acquiring rarer cards and assembling a deck dictates their success. It's a pay-to-win game and I fucking hate games like that. Not unlike paintball, he who spends the most on gear wins.

You can buy the vest type2 deck for maybe $400 a year. If you want a level playing field, you can have it... Not free but neither are most addictions.

The last time I played Standard seriously was RTR/Theros and all the top decks were 1K+. I looked to buy in a few months ago, but 4 Jace's alone were over $400 (a new person would also be looking at several hundred for fetch lands). The only reason current standard is "cheap" is because everyone knows that most of the cards won't hold their value post rotation.

I think I'll be sticking with the eternal formats where cards don't lose 90% of their value in 2 years.

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#108

Post by TheDauthi »

sqeaky wrote: post #71
JPKab wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember playing the game in the late 90s, and trying again in the early 2000's. The strategy and game-play dynamics were awesome. Not so awesome: the fact that the amount of money a player spends acquiring rarer cards and assembling a deck dictates their success. It's a pay-to-win game and I fucking hate games like that. Not unlike paintball, he who spends the most on gear wins.

I play EDH/commander. There a $50 budget deck can readily beat a $2000 deck. I have won and lost on both sides of that equation. EDH started as a community driven format with no official support. The community decided that your deck must be exactly 100 cards with no duplicates except basic land. This slows the came down and forces more board interaction. On top of that 1 of your hundred cards must be a Legendary crea…

In so far as there's a "right answer" for the pay-to-win parts of the game, this is it. EDH, in general, is much gentler on using cards that aren't the best and most expensive thing around.

I have a tourney-competitive EDH deck that, according to current prices, costs about $400. That's a good bit... but replacing 4 cards with cheaper counterparts brings it down to $63. And I have recently seen at 2 other good EDH decks under $40 from someone who decided he wasn't going to spend more than $50 on any deck.

Definitely doable.

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#109

Post by vG24862ZaX2r »

klodolph wrote: post #60
GarrisonPrime wrote: post #15

"The brainiest it's ever been" makes it sound like it's ramping up the intellect. I guess they're saying that because of the end of the "dumbed-down" core sets, but I doubt it's the case for the game as a whole. I tried getting back into Magic after an 8-year hiatus, and so many of the rules had been changed and simplified that many of the subtleties I enjoyed from before were no longer options. Felt like I was payin…

I disagree. I've played MtG three times in my life: back in 1997, in 2004, and in 2016. I'm currently in a sealed league at work, and we're finding that Kaladesh is pretty rich with organic complexity. In my experience, it requires a lot more mental effort than I remember using a decade ago, and the people I'm playing with have expressed similar sentiments. The set seems to be particularly sensitive to issues like ti…

I agree with you that Wizards has figured out how to create a fun and rewarding limited environment.

I also agree with your parent comment that they have dumbed down constructed.

Re: 22 years in, Magic: The Gathering is the brainiest it’s ever been (2015)

#110

Post by quink »

jeffwass wrote: post #92
everyone wrote: post #68

I still have a tonne of magic cards from the 90's. I wonder how much I could sell them for..

I had a nearly full box of 36 unopened expansion packs, from summer 1994, sitting in my old bedroom closet that my dad recently found. Very annoyingly, the glue on the packs failed after 22 yrs, causing most to open up. Bummer. I'm curious what they could have been worth if the glue didn't fail.

Even if the glue failed, the cards inside may still be worth something, especially from that early. But highly dependent on the set. Check here for the expected value in cost to buy of the cards inside each pack, opened, but in very good condition (i.e. effectively TCGPlayer mid pricing): http://mtg.dawnglare.com/?p=sets&pack=1
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