Bots are buying Theros packs for $3.10 and selling Theros packs for $3.25 on the MTGO trade boards. Currently, the prize payouts for Legacy 2-man and 8-man queues are Theros boosters.
I enjoy playing competitive (vs. tournament practice) queues because I find the competition to be more fierce, my opponent's deck to be of a higher quality, and my opponent's dedication to the game to be higher (no rage quitting and if rage quitting does occur, then I get a free pack ).
However, the repurchase price on the secondary market is very low, which acts as a type of tax or rake on playing in the competitive matches. When you enter a match, it costs 2 tickets ($2). When you win, you receive a booster pack that you can sell for 3.1 tickets ($3.10), so $.90 is lost with every win. When you lose, you get nothing.
Given the poor resale value of the Theros packs, a player's win rate needs to be unrealistically high in order to break even or make money playing in 2-man queues (a player needs to win 2 matches for every match loss - possible over short intervals, but impossible over the long-term when playing against other highly-competitive players).
Therefore, I am stuck in a conundrum:
Do I continue to play the more competitive 2-man queues and pay to play (lose money because I cannot consistently win 2 out of 3 matches)?
Do I play in the tournament practice room and face less competitive opponents (and thus lower my enjoyment of playing the game)?
Do I take a respite and wait for pack prices to rebound (depending upon the packs and block release cycle, packs can be resold for $3.75-$3.80 (much less of a tax - money can be made with a more realistic win percentage) and occasionally, packs can be resold for over $4 (when the prize packs are the first release of a 3-release block and the third release is out booster drafts dictate that the first block booster pack will be sold at above $4 per pack))?
Do I stop playing competitive queues all together?
Do I write Wizards and attempt to have their payout structure changed to a structure that is less taxing?
I don't understand why Wizards does not distribute tickets as prizes. Two tickets in by both players, four tickets out to the winner, easy does it- no need to worry about fluctuation in the secondary trade market.
"Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference."
It's like repair costs in a multiplayer RPG, it's a way to decrease inflation. Outside of players redeeming sets, no tickets would ever leave the system. At least that's how I feel about it.
However, I remember some core set selling as low as 2.x which was like the worst. But honestly, 2 mans have always been negative EV. Daily Events however were fine as you will usually have to cash in only 1 out of 3 events to break even. Looking forward to them returning.
The seven cardinal sins of Legacy:
1. Discuss the unbanning ofLand TaxEarthcraft.
2. Argue that banning Force of Will would make the format healthier.
3. Play Brainstorm without Fetchlands.
4. Stifle Standstill.
5. Think that Gaea's Blessing will make you Solidarity-proof.
6. Pass priority after playing Infernal Tutor.
7. Fail to playtest against Nourishing Lich (coZ iT wIlL gEt U!).
There's no way around it, if you want to be profitable on MODO you need to be crazily good and do a lot of winning, especially in format like Legacy. The real value in MODO lies on honing your chops so in real life magic you can beat all the poor plebes at your local tournament scene who haven't played their deck at least a couple hundred matches with prizes on the line.
Doesn't really help as I don't play irl and I doubt that there is much of a Legacy scene in Hawaii.
On a related note, it doesn't seem like the big tournaments are even that profitable - Owen won $3,500 when he won GP DC - a plane ticket, hotel stay for three nights, rental car, and food is going to cost you $1,200 for the weekend. I imagine that there are other benefits, like the publicity, opportunities to write articles, etc.
"Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference."
Play 4 Card Blind!
Currently Playing
Legacy: Dark Depths
EDH: 5-Color Hermit Druid
Currently Brewing: [Deck] Sadistic Sacrament / Chalice NO Eldrazi
why cards are so expensive...hoarders
The only thing that surprised me is that bots are paying $3.10 for a virtual copy of the worst Standard booster pack I can remember.
"Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference."
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