Source Secret Santa 2014?

[Lemnear]

Guys, I guess the Secret Santa lost it's Spirit. It is the gesture what matters and while I can see why there is a 35$ rule so people maybe get some actual playable cards, the wishlists so far make me shudder.

Sets of Force of Wills, Lions Eye Diamonds, Deathrite Shaman, Fetchlands, foreign foils and even FBB Duals (which the cheapest german ex Plateau on MKM is already 95$+ for reference and an german ex U.Sea 700$+). Need to make up my mind if I want to end up confronted with such a wishlist and either disappoint anyone or get ripped off in the end.

Atm I feel like rather sending surprise packages to my fellas around the globe

[Sloshthedark]

Guys, I guess the Secret Santa lost it's Spirit. It is the gesture what matters and while I can see why there is a 35$ rule so people maybe get some actual playable cards, the wishlists so far make me shudder.

Sets of Force of Wills, Lions Eye Diamonds, Deathrite Shaman, Fetchlands, foreign foils and even FBB Duals (which the cheapest german ex Plateau on MKM is already 95$+ for reference and an german ex U.Sea 700$+). Need to make up my mind if I want to end up confronted with such a wishlist and either disappoint anyone or get ripped off in the end.

Atm I feel like rather sending surprise packages to my fellas around the globe

yeah the "wish cardlist" probably wasn't the best idea, gets a bit too ambitious... feels wrong reading through it

[H]

Guys, I guess the Secret Santa lost it's Spirit. It is the gesture what matters and while I can see why there is a 35$ rule so people maybe get some actual playable cards, the wishlists so far make me shudder.

Sets of Force of Wills, Lions Eye Diamonds, Deathrite Shaman, Fetchlands, foreign foils and even FBB Duals (which the cheapest german ex Plateau on MKM is already 95$+ for reference and an german ex U.Sea 700$+). Need to make up my mind if I want to end up confronted with such a wishlist and either disappoint anyone or get ripped off in the end.

Atm I feel like rather sending surprise packages to my fellas around the globe

I was considering entering too, then I clicked on the thread and was

I'm not rich, I can't afford FBBs, foreign foils and what-not. I was going to try to get my wife to help me make some neat Magic themed paraphernalia and include some cards and stuff, but now I feel like anyone who gets paired with me I going to be "WTF is this shit, no BB Duals?"

[Lemnear]

I was considering entering too, then I clicked on the thread and was

I'm not rich, I can't afford FBBs, foreign foils and what-not. I was going to try to get my wife to help me make some neat Magic themed paraphernalia and include some cards and stuff, but now I feel like anyone who gets paired with me I going to be "WTF is this shit, no BB Duals?"

My personal problem is that the estimated 35$ does nowhere fit with the wishlists. Either you go way beyond the 35$ or you disappoint people because you only picked the "cheap" stuff from their list. I feel like people confused their 35$-Secret-Santa-wishlist with their personal want-list for 2015

[H]

My personal problem is that the estimated 35$ does nowhere fit with the wishlists. Either you go way beyond the 35$ or you disappoint people because you only picked the "cheap" stuff from their list. I feel like people confused their 35$-Secret-Santa-wishlist with their personal want-list for 2015

Yeah, as I thought about entering, I was contemplating what a reasonable wishlist would be for myself. I came up with:
any foil Basic Lands (I collect them)
any random tokens (hard to find is cool, but I collect all of them)
any FBB Italian Revised random junk if you have it laying around (which I even felt awkward about asking, even though most of them are pretty low priced)

After I clicked the thread though, I was completely discouraged. Frankly, I don't even care what someone sent me, but I have a feeling that I can't meet people's expectations on what I can actually send them card-wise.

[PirateKing]

I suspect there are those out there looking for a quick gain, but I anticipate to send in kind with my wishes. I don't collect cards outside of decks and various sideboard techs, so any card on someones wishlist will be crispy fresh off the store of my choice. And since they offer free shipping over $100, that has always traditionally been my minimum budget. Much respect to Valtrix, I don't possess the will or skill to manage such an endeavor, so I don't want to appear ungrateful. This is Legacy after all, those that participate must already contend with triple digit single card purchases, and for community events such as these, a balance must be struck between participation and value. $35 allows for a great number of participants while still maintaining a level of value that gifts may stay relevant. It's a difficult line to walk, this forum isn't about discussing budget alternatives to Legacy decks, we're expected to talk about the best iteration of a deck, even if it means 4x Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale.

But for me at least, it's not at all about the money or value. The most disappointment I got was that I didn't get any sweet booze or chocolate I kept hearing so much about. I put some expensive nonsense on my list, but I wouldn't be disappointed in the least to receive something more fiscally manageable. I'm in this for those rare non-magic items that get sent, or the goofy Christmas alters. For those coming into this with any other reasons, unrealistic goals lead to failed expectations.

[TsumiBand]

I'm not sure how DRS can be lumped in with Forces and LEDs; DRS is like a $7 USD card.

Also I guess I understood a wishlist to just be a suggestion and not a demand. In case that wasn't clear with my own personal post (...and I think the 'worst' playset I mentioned was a playset of Serra Ascendants, but srsly that's like the only thing keeping me from having a Soul Sisters decklist ready to sleeve up) then I'll edit mine for the sake of whoever gets my name.

People who fret over not getting everything/anything on their wishlist are, in the end, in it for the wrong reasons and were probably going to be disappointed anyway.

[afb0032]

My personal problem is that the estimated 35$ does nowhere fit with the wishlists. Either you go way beyond the 35$ or you disappoint people because you only picked the "cheap" stuff from their list. I feel like people confused their 35$-Secret-Santa-wishlist with their personal want-list for 2015

Yeah, as I thought about entering, I was contemplating what a reasonable wishlist would be for myself. I came up with:
any foil Basic Lands (I collect them)
any random tokens (hard to find is cool, but I collect all of them)
any FBB Italian Revised random junk if you have it laying around (which I even felt awkward about asking, even though most of them are pretty low priced)

After I clicked the thread though, I was completely discouraged. Frankly, I don't even care what someone sent me, but I have a feeling that I can't meet people's expectations on what I can actually send them card-wise.

While I understand where both of you are coming from, I think Valtrix did a great job in his opening post addressing this. I view the wishlist as a guide to things you wouldn't mind receiving, but also as an insight to the type of things you personally prefer. I can probably say for certainty I'm not going to send foil japanese jaces, but at least that tells me the person likes blue, likes jace, likes japanese, and likes foil. If they are disappointed by receiving their lower end cards that are on their wishlist, then that is their fault for listing them. I believe most of us understand that not everyone is made of money and has good intentions, which is why altered/signed/off the wall things are more exciting to receive than a regular mtg card.

[iamajellydonut]

I wouldn't call most of these wishlists outrageous. Fact of the matter is that if you need Deathrite Shaman or Jitte or even Force of Will, you probably already have them. So, naturally, you want the things you can't get. The foils. The foreigns. The duals that you can't bring yourself to justify.

If you're looking to join, don't be discouraged because you can't buy most of the things on their list. Most people would be happy with a Delta and some chocolates. And if they aren't, they're scum and who cares.

[sephorusFR]

I'm all in again for a 3rd year :D

[Zombiesquisher]

I wouldn't call most of these wishlists outrageous. Fact of the matter is that if you need Deathrite Shaman or Jitte or even Force of Will, you probably already have them. So, naturally, you want the things you can't get. The foils. The foreigns. The duals that you can't bring yourself to justify.

If you're looking to join, don't be discouraged because you can't buy most of the things on their list. Most people would be happy with a Delta and some chocolates. And if they aren't, they're scum and who cares.

Agreed, I was under the assumption that the point of the lists is to maybe get one thing off of it and some cool alters or something. Not Foil Korean Snapcasters or something like that...

[amalek0]

Yeah, I thought the point was packs of crap like awesome christmasy-altered $1-$5 sideboard cards and fun shenanigans things. Like the christmasy swords to plowshares alters and stuff. Fun Christmas stuff you'd take to an LGS secret santa party

[Fry]

I find some of those wish lists crazy, and I probably won't get any of the cards on some of them because they are insane and I don't have connections to get Korean or Japanese foils. I'll get some fun things and probably make a story out of the order I have the cards packed in my nice little package. I'll make sure to put something nice in there too, but if the list is all $40+ cards, they aren't going to get any. If there is a bunch of smaller things and a something like a $20-$30 dollar card, chances are I will get it and add some other things in the mix, but not if every card is at the cost or more.

[LIKEABOSS]

I have to agree here. When people ask for 4x Force of Will it really gets on my nerves. This is Christmas, not your 1000 things to get before I die list.

[Valtrix]

I agree that the wishlists this year seem rather much, at least compared to years past. That said, looking over the lists again I think they seem more ridiculous than they actually are because everybody puts all the expensive things on top. For example, one starts with FBB duals, but then has things like spellskite at the end so it would be easy to think that it's a really high end list when all the expensive stuff is on the top. It's also perfectly reasonable to put ridiculous things on the wishlist I think, as long as you have a bunch of other not ridiculous things on the wish list as well.

A single force of will isn't out of line as a "top-end" wish list item, though one shouldn't be disappointed if they don't receive it. But, considering that in my opening post I asked people to put the maximum amount of a card they would like it would make sense if a person is interested in force of will they might need up to 4 of them and list that on their wishlist.

I was considering pairing people with "similar" wishlists, but this is imperfect and would take a lot of work. I think that when a little bit more time passes I will try to evaluate the state of the wishlists and see if anything needs to be addressed or not. I'm open to any thoughts people have about it.

[iamajellydonut]

I was considering pairing people with "similar" wishlists, but this is imperfect and would take a lot of work. I think that when a little bit more time passes I will try to evaluate the state of the wishlists and see if anything needs to be addressed or not. I'm open to any thoughts people have about it.

Don't worry about it. Putting too much thought into this and saying "well, you can't do this and have to do this" is about as exhausting for everyone as trying to explain a joke. You can't force someone to have the spirit of the event. They either have it or they don't, and trying to regulate the results just devalues the event as a whole. Just let it go.

[apple713]

are there any foils in this set? Maybe just the commanders?

[amalek0]

Don't worry about it. Putting too much thought into this and saying "well, you can't do this and have to do this" is about as exhausting for everyone as trying to explain a joke. You can't force someone to have the spirit of the event. They either have it or they don't, and trying to regulate the results just devalues the event as a whole. Just let it go.

It is what it is. Whoever I get is going to have their list checked briefly, but is most likely going to get some of the cheaper items on the list altered christmasy by me and maybe some chocolates or something depending on the shipping. Effort and holiday spirit is the point, not the moneys.

[Bed Decks Palyer]

I'll abstain. Lists = crazy. Also... but lets keep that for myself.
Those participating: have fun!