Dealing with new set anxiety and limited finances

[ivanpei]

Anyone notice that MTG is getting extremely expensive? MTG has always been expensive, but now it's really really ridiculous. I have all the staples but when it comes to new sets, it's extremely expensive. For example, I'm looking for a few cards in NPH, namely Batterskull (stompy decks love this), Priest of Urabask, Mental Misstep, Moltensteel dragon and a foil Karn for EDH. Batterskull is 25 USD sold out! The card is busted so every standard deck will probably play 2-3, so that wasn't surprising. However, IMO mental misstep is ridiculously overpriced. It's an uncommon and it's 5 USD. Most importantly, it will not see play in Standard, just in legacy! Karn is also asking for 50 USD, which IMO is crazy because it's not playable in standard/legacy (barring a couple of MUD decks).

I'm a new home owner and I have to pay bills etc. I was wondering how do you guys keep up with MTG's increasing prices. I actually feel like quitting or taking a long break from Legacy to just play casual EDH. There is no incentive to maintain my Legacy decks because there aren't that many tournaments. Shelling out big bucks to play a 20 man tournament once a month seems pretty sillly. MTG has also a very detrimental effect on my health (basically I'd rather play MTG than exercise) and social life (all my money goes to cards and I have little to no time/cash left for other things).

I'm very attached to my cards and I feel quitting is out of the picture. I do plan to Freeze my Legacy collection and stop updating my decks. Getting all angst-ed up to buy singles (foils especially, I cannot imagine how much Foil Missteps will cost me, my balls shrink at this thought) every time a new set comes out and having no one to play with is a major issue. I'm planning on getting married pretty soon and my future wife is starting to wonder about how I'm squandering our nest egg money on cards. If I don't play MTG though and don't hang out on this forum, I get hopelessly bored. Any other hobbies out there that are as creative/customizable as MTG but cheaper?

[pandaman]

The answer is Highlander! You lived in Australia, you'd know it - instead of having to get playsets of all the new awesome cards you only have to get 1! Plus you get to play with the Power 9 and all the cool vintage cards.

And as to how I keep up with increasing prices for newly released cards, just play in local tournaments, attempt to win (this is the hardest part for me) take store credit for winnings and pick up all the Standard stuff with it. It's the cheapest way I've found. Problem is you can't have all the good cards as soon as the set comes out if you don't have enough credit...

[badgerigar]

I cannot imagine how much Foil Missteps will cost me, my balls shrink at this thought
This is your problem right here. You are buying foils. You do not need foils to play magic, even EDH. Foils are designed as a status symbol, so that you can show off how rich you are. You should not be wasting money just to get shiny cardboard.

namely Batterskull (stompy decks love this)
Good in standard, jank in legacy. don't play it.

Priest of Urabask
~$1 for a playset

Mental Misstep
~$20 for a playset. Not very overpriced, roughly equivalent to swords to plowshares. Will be easy to get from standard players.

Moltensteel dragon
~$4 for a playset
Thats a total cost for legacy of about $25. If you buy a playset of batterskull, you will need another $100, but this is a bad idea. At the very least, you should postpone it until you see batterskull lists winning tournaments.

foil Karn for EDH
Wait. Karn will be cheap when he rotates out of standard. He may also become significantly cheaper before that, if he doesn't see much play. Foil Karn will always be expensive, don't get it.


Any other hobbies out there that are as creative/customizable as MTG but cheaper?
Try MTG without the foils. It's great fun.

[Eatatjoes]

I always wait 3 months to pick up any standard cards. This lets the prices stabilize, and its usually the time when mtgo redemptions flood the market, dropping prices further. If i really want to play some cards in type 2, i will borrow them, since i front like 10 different players with legacy cards/decks. Thank god for m12. When the new core set comes out, its a huge relief, since there is alot of reprints, and thats what this year is looking like to.

[ivanpei]

That's true that waiting will usually lead to profits. I feel that Misstep is bound to drop, since its not likely to be played in Standard at all (and I need like 12 missteps since it goes in every deck).

You are right about foils, I'm gonna give up on them. I am still wondering if I should offload all my legacy foils cause I have amassed a huge collection of them (Foil playsets of MM brainstorms, Bobs, Stifle, Spell Snare, Counterspells etc). Continuing to collect foil legacy staples is gonna be a huge pain in the ass. It used to be reasonable to collect foils but it's gotten crazy since the legacy popularity (and price) jump. I used to be able to get foils at 50-80% above normal price. Now people are asking for 100-200% on top of regular non-foil price if they are legacy playable.

I think that most people collect foils for the wrong reasons. Some people do it as a status symbol, for me I collect it because I either enjoy the art, or its a card I really love. For example, the ultimate Legacy status symbol are foil Goyfs, till today I still have not bothered collecting a playset of foil ones. Whereas I collect cards I love like KOTR and Dark Confidant in foil. I just enjoy kicking ass with shiny cards I like. For example I have a playset of foil Baneslayers which I don't use at all (not exacty legacy playable but I picked them up at like 20 bucks each, good deall).

Batterskull is insane in stompy. For decks that can't play elspeth, Batterskull is the answer. I'm looking to play it in my DStompy deck but it's fighting for slots with Moltensteel Dragon. I think I may hold of getting a copy until it rotates from standard (still long way to go). Same goes for priest, insane in Dstompy,

Actually foil Karn is not worth getting. It's just uber cool. I don't think I'd play it in EDH too. Terrible 1v1 cause it's too pricey mana wise and terrible in multiplayer because everyone will gang bang it.

@ Panda, I have no one to play highlander with where I am right now. It's mainly standard and EDH here, so my power is sitting lonely in a corner (I bought a recall just for Highlander). I kinda dislike EDH right now because everyone is concentrating on getting broken!

[Harduvel]

If money really is a problem for you, then stop with the foils. They're nice, but they're not a necessity if you just want to play.


I need like 12 missteps since it goes in every deck
Again, if money's tight, stop with the excesses. You don't need more than 4 of any card. Ever.

[ivanpei]

You're right, I'm probably gonna stop collecting foils. I wonder if I should offload my old Legacy Foils. I looked at ABU's buy prices and I must say that Legacy Staples are crazy in foil.

[Tha Gunslinga]

I think that most people collect foils for the wrong reasons. Some people do it as a status symbol, for me I collect it because I either enjoy the art, or its a card I really love. For example, the ultimate Legacy status symbol are foil Goyfs, till today I still have not bothered collecting a playset of foil ones. Whereas I collect cards I love like KOTR and Dark Confidant in foil. I just enjoy kicking ass with shiny cards I like. For example I have a playset of foil Baneslayers which I don't use at all (not exacty legacy playable but I picked them up at like 20 bucks each, good deall).


I was cool before being cool was cool. Now that everyone is cool, being cool just isn't cool anymore.

[plus_ten]

I'm a new home owner and I have to pay bills etc. I was wondering how do you guys keep up with MTG's increasing prices. I actually feel like quitting or taking a long break from Legacy to just play casual EDH. There is no incentive to maintain my Legacy decks because there aren't that many tournaments. Shelling out big bucks to play a 20 man tournament once a month seems pretty sillly. MTG has also a very detrimental effect on my health (basically I'd rather play MTG than exercise) and social life (all my money goes to cards and I have little to no time/cash left for other things).



Lol! You have a 20-man once a month in KL? We are only just managing that back here in Sydney. IIRC, you were amongst the few (with me and Patoon) to show at the very first tournament back about 4 years ago! You had landstill back then, and given your nice pictures, I don't see why you need to shell out so much?

But as the others have said, skip on the foils and don't buy into overpriced standard. Over the years, I have built up my own collection (much like yours, except no foils.. lol) and I tend to wait for rotation before buying new cards. At the very least, I wait for cards to settle. Buying during the hype period is definitely not a wise decision.. how many Jaces.. I mean, goyfs.. have there been? Chances are the cards plummet after the release. Pre-ordering is just buying at a time with high-demand, 0-supply and clashing with all the overly keen players and speculators.

How do I keep up with increasing prices? I don't! Lol. I am still a student (yeh, I know.. it's a looong haul), so there is hardly any responsibilities. You, OTOH, are at the stage of life where there is a lot, so maybe it is time to look at opportune costs and give magic a bit less time than you did before.

[menace13]

You're right, I'm probably gonna stop collecting foils. I wonder if I should offload my old Legacy Foils. I looked at ABU's buy prices and I must say that Legacy Staples are crazy in foil.
You can try MTGO, but that is also pricey and if you're anything like the way you are in paper then you'll end up buying a small car on Modo(I have all the staples-non foil- so I know).

Do not sell your foils. They are Always going to be hard to find and expensive. Foils are also the best investment on Modo(if you actually care) since MTGO doesnt have a reserved list.

[ivanpei]

I just offloaded my Foil Gushes @ 20 USD each. Kinda regret now, but I don't play vintage anymore so I'm doing a buddy a favor. You are right though, I love my foils far too much! They used to be affordable to collect but right now, they've gone bat crazy. I picked up my MM Foil Brainstorms @ 25 dollars each back in the day. Now it's Ridic, what about triple? I could cash out, play with Non-foil ones, but I guess I'm too attached to them.

@ Plus_ten, dude how are you! Yeah, we started the scene back in Sydney during it's heyday. But I was in Uni then and I could go to the shop everyday, lend out legacy decks and just have fun. We built the scene like that, but I'm working now so I can't do that anymore. We don't have tourneys in KL but I travel to Singapore to play. I try to go every month but its like a 4 hour bus ride, so I have to find the time.

I think you remember my lust for foils. Its a terrible habit! I recall sitting with Scott during the Alara block before release and I helped him crack packs and sort just so I can have dibs on any Foil Tezzeret, the Seeker or Foil Emperial Archangel he cracks. I feel the same way now and I am itching to get a playset of foil Missteps. This will cost my my left testicle and I'm having anxiety issues with MTG.

Back in Uni I just spent whatever money I had (worked at a restaurant during the summers) and didn't worry too much about it. Right now I have to think about saving etc etc. Kinda sucks :(

[ivanpei]

I just offloaded my Foil Gushes @ 20 USD each. Kinda regret now, but I don't play vintage anymore so I'm doing a buddy a favor. You are right though, I love my foils far too much! They used to be affordable to collect but right now, they've gone bat crazy. I picked up my MM Foil Brainstorms @ 25 dollars each back in the day. Now it's Ridic, what about triple? I could cash out, play with Non-foil ones, but I guess I'm too attached to them.

@ Plus_ten, dude how are you! Yeah, we started the scene back in Sydney during it's heyday. But I was in Uni then and I could go to the shop everyday, lend out legacy decks and just have fun. We built the scene like that, but I'm working now so I can't do that anymore. We don't have tourneys in KL but I travel to Singapore to play. I try to go every month but its like a 4 hour bus ride, so I have to find the time.

I think you remember my lust for foils. Its a terrible habit! I recall sitting with Scott during the Alara block before release and I helped him crack packs and sort just so I can have dibs on any Foil Tezzeret, the Seeker or Foil Emperial Archangel he cracks. I feel the same way now and I am itching to get a playset of foil Missteps. This will cost my my left testicle and I'm having anxiety issues with MTG.

Back in Uni I just spent whatever money I had (worked at a restaurant during the summers) and didn't worry too much about it. Right now I have to think about saving etc etc. Kinda sucks :(

[dahcmai]

I just wait and have a ton of patience for picking things up. I still have a list of things to grab that makes people laugh because there will be things on my want list like Foil Spectral Lynx. That one has been on there since it was in standard. I have 3 and will eventually pick up the last one in a trade. I'm not in any hurry.

Usually, I pick up foils just as they leave standard. It's usually the best time. I just finished my playsets of Elspeth, Bloodbraids, Knight of the Reliquary, and I'm working on finding 2 more Maelstrom Pulses and 3 foil Knight of the White Orchid to finish out what i want from those sets. how much did I pay for that stuff? Nothing, I traded for them. It's so easy to get that stuff from standard players just by tossing things like Ratchet Bombs and junk I can buy for a dime a dozen at them.

Just have a little patience. Karn will drop hard. He sucks in standard. All planeswalkers that aren't that great in standard go down. Look at Nicol Bolas. He's $44 and that was the first BIN I looked at. Not bad really. Wait until people ignore him. Not everyone plays EDH. Hit up the standard players about 2 months in. You should be able to get one for about $30 in trade.

Foil Missteps will be easy to get for cheap. Just hit up the standard players again. If I put more than $10 in trade towards each one I get, I gave too much. It's all about finding the people who don't want it and won't do the work to sell it online where they can get what it's worth.

I rarely sell old playsets of good cards either even if they are banned. When Berzerk went back on the good list, I had my 4. Same with just about every card. I still have 4 Shaharzads and 4 Yawgmoth's Wills. Hey, you never know. lol I had Candlelabras so no one can bash that old habit too much.

Just hang onto them and have some patience with getting new stuff. I didn't preorder a single thing other than a set of the Swords since it's obvious it will go over it's current price. I'll draft the rest and get my legacy foils come rotations.

[98ViperGTS]

Just thank god that you're only addicted to expensive foils, and not extreme rarities. Think the last single card I purchased ran me $2200 lol. It's a disease.... Run while you can

[ivanpei]

I just wait and have a ton of patience for picking things up. I still have a list of things to grab that makes people laugh because there will be things on my want list like Foil Spectral Lynx. That one has been on there since it was in standard. I have 3 and will eventually pick up the last one in a trade. I'm not in any hurry.

Usually, I pick up foils just as they leave standard. It's usually the best time. I just finished my playsets of Elspeth, Bloodbraids, Knight of the Reliquary, and I'm working on finding 2 more Maelstrom Pulses and 3 foil Knight of the White Orchid to finish out what i want from those sets. how much did I pay for that stuff? Nothing, I traded for them. It's so easy to get that stuff from standard players just by tossing things like Ratchet Bombs and junk I can buy for a dime a dozen at them.

Just have a little patience. Karn will drop hard. He sucks in standard. All planeswalkers that aren't that great in standard go down. Look at Nicol Bolas. He's $44 and that was the first BIN I looked at. Not bad really. Wait until people ignore him. Not everyone plays EDH. Hit up the standard players about 2 months in. You should be able to get one for about $30 in trade.

Foil Missteps will be easy to get for cheap. Just hit up the standard players again. If I put more than $10 in trade towards each one I get, I gave too much. It's all about finding the people who don't want it and won't do the work to sell it online where they can get what it's worth.

I rarely sell old playsets of good cards either even if they are banned. When Berzerk went back on the good list, I had my 4. Same with just about every card. I still have 4 Shaharzads and 4 Yawgmoth's Wills. Hey, you never know. lol I had Candlelabras so no one can bash that old habit too much.

Just hang onto them and have some patience with getting new stuff. I didn't preorder a single thing other than a set of the Swords since it's obvious it will go over it's current price. I'll draft the rest and get my legacy foils come rotations.

Thanks man, there's alot of good advice here. I'll be patient, I'm gonna get my Foil Missteps one day (I just hope I don't end up ordering from ABU, that's usually my last resort). When I left Australia, there weren't alot of people hunting for foils and I got them pretty cheap, about 50-80% above regular non foil. When I went back, I ended up selling more foils than buying because the "disease" had infected the country, LOL.

@ Viper, yup I'm just addicted to expensive foils. My favourite is my Alternate Art Foil English Ertai the Corrupt. I built an Entire deck just to play him as my general. I had to buy all the token generators in foil like Grave Titan, Bitterblossom and Elspeth 1.0 and 2.0. My Elspeth is pretty cool. I had to pay quite a bit of $$$ to pry this of the guy:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_XKr-jVI5KlE/TKvFVv59-8I/AAAAAAAAAZg/08vN7GXXKQE/s512/elspeth%20miscut.jpg

Also this:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_XKr-jVI5KlE/S8v52VMjTLI/AAAAAAAAAJk/alVDyqOi7UY/s512/Dark%20Jace.jpg

Does this count as extreme rarity? Probably not, but I payed big bucks for it (pretty sure its worth alot more now). I got it right after GP KL.

[kiblast]

Foil Missteps are going nut high on ebay now, due to the amazing amount of idiots with cash out there. They should not be so difficult to obtain (off ebay) if you know a group which draft regularly (or if you draft yourself). I bought my set (chinese non foil) in presale for 13$ shipped, and was thinking of buying 2-3 sets just in case, but I said to myself: hey, it's an uncommon, nobody will ever pay more than 4$ each. Obviously I was wrong.

By the way, you don't need a full playset of Batterskull. The only way I see this nice equipment played in legacy is Stoneforge Mystic (turn 3 4/4 lifelink blocker @ istant speed is nice ), therefore nobody will play more than 1 of.

In what kind of deck are Priest of Urabrask and the Dragon played? Dragon Stompy?

[Nidd]

Anyone notice that MTG is getting extremely expensive? MTG has always been expensive, but now it's really really ridiculous. I have all the staples but when it comes to new sets, it's extremely expensive. For example, I'm looking for a few cards in NPH, namely Batterskull (stompy decks love this), Priest of Urabask, Mental Misstep, Moltensteel dragon and a foil Karn for EDH. Batterskull is 25 USD sold out! The card is busted so every standard deck will probably play 2-3, so that wasn't surprising. However, IMO mental misstep is ridiculously overpriced. It's an uncommon and it's 5 USD. Most importantly, it will not see play in Standard, just in legacy! Karn is also asking for 50 USD, which IMO is crazy because it's not playable in standard/legacy (barring a couple of MUD decks).

I'm a new home owner and I have to pay bills etc. I was wondering how do you guys keep up with MTG's increasing prices. I actually feel like quitting or taking a long break from Legacy to just play casual EDH. There is no incentive to maintain my Legacy decks because there aren't that many tournaments. Shelling out big bucks to play a 20 man tournament once a month seems pretty sillly. MTG has also a very detrimental effect on my health (basically I'd rather play MTG than exercise) and social life (all my money goes to cards and I have little to no time/cash left for other things).

I'm very attached to my cards and I feel quitting is out of the picture. I do plan to Freeze my Legacy collection and stop updating my decks. Getting all angst-ed up to buy singles (foils especially, I cannot imagine how much Foil Missteps will cost me, my balls shrink at this thought) every time a new set comes out and having no one to play with is a major issue. I'm planning on getting married pretty soon and my future wife is starting to wonder about how I'm squandering our nest egg money on cards. If I don't play MTG though and don't hang out on this forum, I get hopelessly bored. Any other hobbies out there that are as creative/customizable as MTG but cheaper?
It's a new set.
New sets are always ridiculously overhyped.
A hype dramatically increases prices.

Wait for 4-8 weeks after the sets release and the price of many cards will drop like a rock.

Karn for example is currently unplayable in Standard, Batterskull will be a 1-of - at most. And that only applies to the SFM decks, other decks probably won't run this card.

[jamesh]

Just thank god that you're only addicted to expensive foils, and not extreme rarities. Think the last single card I purchased ran me $2200 lol. It's a disease.... Run while you can

Holy high-priced card batman, what is it - summer? test-print? PSA-rated?
whatever it is, you should post in the pimp thread
my price ceiling is a grand, more or less lol

@ dahcmai it's important to remember that time is money (and the one thing you can't purchase is more time) so a trade-off needs to be made better wasting time waiting for a card and just laying your money down

[android]

I have been thinking about this for a very long time now. I'm a player who got into the game in the early 90's as a kitchen table player who didn't really understand or care about the finer details of the game. This lasted well into the 2000's at which time I was introduced to a whole new world of competitive Magic. Prior to this revelation, I would typically buy a box of boosters or less for each new set. Playsets were not even a consideration. Those 1-offs like Balance, Vesuvan Doppelganger and The Hive seemed priceless. The game was arguably better then.

Everything changed. I was informed that my 40 card deck with no sideboard wasn't legal. My channel fireball deck with exactly 1 channel and 1 fireball was laughed at. It was pointed out that due to all my restricted cards, all my decks were technically Type 1. Suddenly, I needed playsets. I needed all the good cards. My collection ended up in two piles, one about 50 times larger than the other. That big pile had become unplayable chaff while the small pile glistened and twinkled like some giant pile of gemstones and platinum coins. The game for me would never be the same.

Flash forward to today. Fuck that shit. I hate the fact that I can't play against any of my old friends who were there from the start but for some reason have not elevated their game to a competitive level. Fuck the fact that I can win with shitty decks against them because I understand the rules and take advantage of the stack. Now I have to be two different Magic players. One takes the game way too seriously and hates to lose or make mistakes, the other has to play down to a level appropriate to my old friends skill levels.

I've decided that my solution is to go back to the old days and enjoy the crappy cards, enjoy having only one of a powerful card, building decks based on ideas and odd interactions, building theme based and tribal decks. I want the old game back but I'm afraid that place no longer exists.

[Royal Ass.]

I also started back in the early 90's. I remember when the first foil set came out during the legacy block. I remember being soooo pissed about it. I really felt like they were cheapening the game. People around me where getting all excited over the foil cards. What where we a bunch of crows going after shiny objects? I developed a physical aversion to foils. I cringed when I saw them. That has never left my system. I still hate foils and the same physiological and psychological reaction to them persists in me.

Back then foils didn't cost all that more than regular cards. Recently they have skyrocketed. There have been many times where I have THANKED myself for being averse to foils as I watch the masses blindly lust for them. It has saved me so much money. I am not a slave beholden to foils. That's not to say I don't like or have nice cards. I like old cards. I have a set of Arabian Nights, Beta Power, lots of duals etc. But I have NEVER been drawn to foil. To me it's like fools gold. A cheap illusion to send the masses into a frenzy. I have literally never purchased or traded for a foil card in all my time with magic and I have played since 1994.

Basically it's all mental. You can make a conscious decision to not like foils. Fortunately, I never had to make that. It was a natural reaction. Perhaps a psychological defense mechanism. I have benefited from it greatly. I have saved money and I am just as happy. In fact as I watch all the crows scurry around for their foils, I feel almost enlightened. I have reached nirvana. Join me.

[98ViperGTS]

Holy high-priced card batman, what is it - summer? test-print? PSA-rated?
whatever it is, you should post in the pimp thread
my price ceiling is a grand, more or less lol

@ dahcmai it's important to remember that time is money (and the one thing you can't purchase is more time) so a trade-off needs to be made better wasting time waiting for a card and just laying your money down

It was a Summer Demonic Tutor. I think I posted it on the bragging/pimp thread about a month ago.

[oRen]

The answer is Highlander! You lived in Australia, you'd know it - instead of having to get playsets of all the new awesome cards you only have to get 1! Plus you get to play with the Power 9 and all the cool vintage cards.

australian highlander is by very far the best format i have ever got to know. too bad all over europe they only play highlander with the retarded german banlist/rules or edh.

[bruizar]

The thing that caused new set anxiety is Tarmogoyf and Jace the Mindsculptor. Anyone who missed the boat on those cards have an urge to purchase preorders just to be sure they won't miss the boat again. Kind of like the internet bubble and venture capitalists.

[Bignasty197]

I have been thinking about this for a very long time now. I'm a player who got into the game in the early 90's as a kitchen table player who didn't really understand or care about the finer details of the game. This lasted well into the 2000's at which time I was introduced to a whole new world of competitive Magic. Prior to this revelation, I would typically buy a box of boosters or less for each new set. Playsets were not even a consideration. Those 1-offs like Balance, Vesuvan Doppelganger and The Hive seemed priceless. The game was arguably better then.

Everything changed. I was informed that my 40 card deck with no sideboard wasn't legal. My channel fireball deck with exactly 1 channel and 1 fireball was laughed at. It was pointed out that due to all my restricted cards, all my decks were technically Type 1. Suddenly, I needed playsets. I needed all the good cards. My collection ended up in two piles, one about 50 times larger than the other. That big pile had become unplayable chaff while the small pile glistened and twinkled like some giant pile of gemstones and platinum coins. The game for me would never be the same.

Flash forward to today. Fuck that shit. I hate the fact that I can't play against any of my old friends who were there from the start but for some reason have not elevated their game to a competitive level. Fuck the fact that I can win with shitty decks against them because I understand the rules and take advantage of the stack. Now I have to be two different Magic players. One takes the game way too seriously and hates to lose or make mistakes, the other has to play down to a level appropriate to my old friends skill levels.

I've decided that my solution is to go back to the old days and enjoy the crappy cards, enjoy having only one of a powerful card, building decks based on ideas and odd interactions, building theme based and tribal decks. I want the old game back but I'm afraid that place no longer exists.

100% Agree. My original Magic buddies no longer want to play with me because I evolved from a casual player into a competitive player and all of my decks are now referred to as "Bitch Decks" because they are constructed better than what my friends play and crush them. I enjoy playing the game and I will continue to do so, just not with my close friends. Sucks, but it's true.

[Koby]

100% Agree. My original Magic buddies no longer want to play with me because I evolved from a casual player into a competitive player and all of my decks are now referred to as "Bitch Decks" because they are constructed better than what my friends play and crush them. I enjoy playing the game and I will continue to do so, just not with my close friends. Sucks, but it's true.

Enter: Commander format.

[Richard Cheese]

Prices always seem to be highest just after a new set comes out, remember when Lotus Cobra was being pre-sold for $30+? I'm thinking I'm just going to start buying a couple boxes of each new set and hocking everything on ebay ASAP, then buying playsets of what I actually want a couple months later after prices stabilize. The only downside to this is that you can't really predict when something is going to breakout in standard like SFM, or at least I can't.

On that note, and maybe this question belongs in a different thread, has someone already run the numbers to show how many boxes of a set you would have to open to be statistically likely to hit various milestones like all rares, complete set, complete playset, etc.?

[Admiral_Arzar]

Basically it's all mental. You can make a conscious decision to not like foils. Fortunately, I never had to make that. It was a natural reaction. Perhaps a psychological defense mechanism. I have benefited from it greatly. I have saved money and I am just as happy. In fact as I watch all the crows scurry around for their foils, I feel almost enlightened. I have reached nirvana. Join me.

I'm right there with you bro *hums in meditation*. I hate foils in MTG, with very rare exceptions (part of it is my light sensitivity, actually, sleeved foils mess with my eyes too much). I do have a weakness for foreign non-foil cards, but I don't go out of my way to get them.

[JACO]

The truth is almost all 'presales' are way overpriced. Sure there are the random Tarmogoyfs here and there (where you wish you would have bought ahead of time), but the HUGE majority of pre-sold cards end up tanking. I remember Mindbreak Trap easily going for $20-25 each in presale prices on eBay before it was released, and X months later it's a $2 card, while still being in Standard. There are a ton of examples like this which I won't go in to, but the reality is most cards are overpriced and will drop drmatatically as supply increases and people realize most of the cards won't have the impact people initially thought.

Batterskull - this is WAY overrrated, and will drop.
Karn - I really really like this card, but it's not a $50 planeswalker. It's a Venser/Elspeth Tirel and should be a $11 card realistically, and only maintain it's value if it sees play in Standard paired with Tezzeret (you have to be forward thinking on this; Karn replacing Jace in the URB Tezzeret deck)
Mental Misstep - this card really is that good in Legacy, but should drop as more and more packs opened; should stabilize at $3 if I had to pick a number

The reality is if you're impatient and have Dom Perignon taste (for foils) you're going to pay a lot. If you're patient and want playable cards you should have no anxiety. ;)

[bakofried]

Only thing I'm interested in foiling is EDH - and even then, it's low priority. English non-foils is the way to go for a truly competitive player.

Also, I feel you on the whole different game thing. But I don't regret going competitive; I just regret a few of the consequences.

[GGoober]

I was cool before being cool was cool. Now that everyone is cool, being cool just isn't cool anymore.

This man hit me so hard with this sentence that I am fully aware on the foil situation now.

In the past, acquiring Foils/miscuts/crimped cuts was a hobby that tends to show that you were a collector, an archaeologist who searches for rarer cards. Granted that foils these days are still rarer than non-foil, I think slinga hit the part where having foils is no longer really cool. It used to be cool when people were actually trading/hunting for foil, but it seems that these days people are just willing to pay $$$ to easily obtain cards and suddenly you see everyone with foil cards.

This criticism applies to myself too, since I've pimped out (foil and koreanize) my Landstill and Steel Stompy and Karn EDH deck. I had no intention to further pimp more decks but I admit there was the desire to. Now, after reading slinga's post, I know that if I ever were to go 'pimp' something, it's either going to satisfying for myself or going after things that are truly harder to acquire (miscuts/korean/russian/crimps) etc. Cool is no longer cool after everyone is cool. At least the foils I got are pretty standard staples, and if I ever wanted to unload them, I could do so in the future. But after today, I'm done with the whole 'cool' thing! Also, just when you think you have a really cool foiled out deck, there's someone else who stops by with a foil jap/german deck to make your e-peener go flaccid, unless of course, you understand that having $$$ and being cool is two different things.

TLDR; I'm going to be much more patient in acquiring the things I like. Just buying and spending $$$ to easily acquire things kinda kills the 'collectible' aspect of the game i.e. the hunt for cards and rarities. I remember when I first got into MTG at age 14, back as a kid, it was a hunt to crack a decent rare in packs, or trade for that Sengir Vampire to go in a deck. Somehow I think $$$ has killed the true beauty of the game, the innocence of the game that I once enjoyed.

[Koby]

Set anxiety? Shit I'm having Extended Rotation anxiety!

I'm still waiting for Thoughtseize to drop down to a reasonable level to pick them up. This has been the longest 4 years ever!!

[Tha Gunslinga]

I wasn't as much saying foils weren't cool as saying that he sounded like a stereotypical hipster. I mean, seriously, one post he's all "oh, woe is me, I can't afford cards" then the next one is "well, I have thousands of dollars of Legacy foils, but now I can't afford to buy the new ones for whatever reason, and life sucks suddenly."

[dahcmai]

Eh, I know how he feels. I used to pimp out my decks with every foil or good version that was out there. It's just flat not possible depending on your income. I have no idea what you make a month Gunslinga, but I bet it's more than most people on these forums considering your collection. That or you live at home with parents and have no bills at all. I doubt I could afford to buy foils of every mythic I wanted each set that came out. I sure as hell can't keep up with getting all the cards I would like to have in Legacy. Guess I should have finished my beta duals a while back. Misprint and Summer, no thanks. I definitely am not going to try and afford those.

Prices just started going up faster than incomes did. Some people are going to get behind on trying to keep up.

[jamesh]

It was a Summer Demonic Tutor. I think I posted it on the bragging/pimp thread about a month ago.

oh OK, that's actually quite a good price then

[plus_ten]

@ Plus_ten, dude how are you! Yeah, we started the scene back in Sydney during it's heyday. But I was in Uni then and I could go to the shop everyday, lend out legacy decks and just have fun. We built the scene like that, but I'm working now so I can't do that anymore. We don't have tourneys in KL but I travel to Singapore to play. I try to go every month but its like a 4 hour bus ride, so I have to find the time.

I think you remember my lust for foils. Its a terrible habit! I recall sitting with Scott during the Alara block before release and I helped him crack packs and sort just so I can have dibs on any Foil Tezzeret, the Seeker or Foil Emperial Archangel he cracks. I feel the same way now and I am itching to get a playset of foil Missteps. This will cost my my left testicle and I'm having anxiety issues with MTG.

Back in Uni I just spent whatever money I had (worked at a restaurant during the summers) and didn't worry too much about it. Right now I have to think about saving etc etc. Kinda sucks :(

Hahaha.. We last met when you came back to Syd, wasn't that long ago. 4 hours bus ride? Holy crap! Anyway, we can catch up on PM or facebook (can't find you on MSN though).

Back on topic.. I think the OP (much like a lot of players, myself included) is loving this game, but is at the stage where other things are becoming affected by time (and money) with MtG. It is just another person at a time to consider opportunity costs. Definitely a good time to stop collecting or updating... this is legacy! Out of every standard set, there is 3 playables to get TOPS (don't bring up fetchlands) and often, they are not even rares or mythics (don't bring up Jace, dammit!). lol. Point is... even without updating, a lot of decks can still function at top-tier (even if not optimum) level.

I also find that there is an addiction or just desire to collecting some goodies. I guess I am a touch more fortunate that I don't have a liking to foils, just to simple duals and seeing decks completed. lol.

[warallthetimne]

Do any of you draft? I mean i know we're all legacy "pros" here but i spend 24 dollars a week on drafting and i never have trouble picking up the chase cards. I went to one prerelease this werkend and drafted once after and have 2 sowap, 2 batterskull, and 5 mm (one foil).

[ivanpei]

I have a huge legacy collection sure, but most of it were assembled with the old prices (duals at like 30++) so it wasn't that big of a deal back then. But now, it's just getting ridiculous. I'm gonna surrender on the foils. I wanted priest, moltensteel for dragon stompy and I've got them after staking out the pre release sessions.

Strategy of tackling new set anxiety: dump all your real world responsibilities and stake out the pre release. Here's my pull for the weekend:

4 priest of urabask
2 moltensteel
1 batterskull
4 missteps
1 colourless removal spell
4 porcelain legionnaire

Pretty good haul but I spent a long time hunting. Must have talked to like 40 people lol. I think I have a mtg obsession problem.

[Philipp2293]

I think that's a really good haul. At first I was tempted to get 2-3 boxes, but then I just rethought it what I really need atm and I'm down to a playset misssteps, 1 SoWaP and 1 Batterskull. Just pick up what you need immediately, you might be able to trade for the rest cheaper aftewards.

[Mantis]

You start a thread to complain that you can not afford 12! Mental Missteps and a FOIL Karn the Planeswalker anymore and ask for advice. Here is my advice; pull your head out of your ass.

[Admiral_Arzar]

You start a thread to complain that you can not afford 12! Mental Missteps and a FOIL Karn the Planeswalker anymore and ask for advice. Here is my advice; pull your head out of your ass.

Kind of assholish way to put it. However, I admit that if I had read this a year ago, when I was still a poor college student struggling to put together budget decks, I would have been extremely angry reading the OP.

[Phoenix Ignition]

People around me where getting all excited over the foil cards. What where we a bunch of crows going after shiny objects? I developed a physical aversion to foils. I cringed when I saw them. That has never left my system. I still hate foils and the same physiological and psychological reaction to them persists in me.

Back then foils didn't cost all that more than regular cards. Recently they have skyrocketed. There have been many times where I have THANKED myself for being averse to foils as I watch the masses blindly lust for them. It has saved me so much money. I am not a slave beholden to foils. That's not to say I don't like or have nice cards. I like old cards. I have a set of Arabian Nights, Beta Power, lots of duals etc. But I have NEVER been drawn to foil. To me it's like fools gold. A cheap illusion to send the masses into a frenzy. I have literally never purchased or traded for a foil card in all my time with magic and I have played since 1994.

Basically it's all mental. You can make a conscious decision to not like foils. Fortunately, I never had to make that. It was a natural reaction. Perhaps a psychological defense mechanism. I have benefited from it greatly. I have saved money and I am just as happy. In fact as I watch all the crows scurry around for their foils, I feel almost enlightened. I have reached nirvana. Join me.

People around me were getting all excited over "pimping" out their decks with beta cards. What were we? A bunch of crows going after dark bordered objects? I developed a physical aversion to older, more expensive cards, when newer ones play the exact same. I cringed when I saw them. That has never left my system. I still hate paying more for old cards for the same physiological and psychological reaction to them persists in me.

Back then beta didn't cost more than regular cards, recently they have skyrocketed. There have been many times where I have THANKED myself for being averse to Alpha/Beta as I watch the masses blindly lust for them. It has saved me so much money. I am not a slave beholden to Alpha/beta. That's not to say I don't like or have nice cards. I like foil cards. I have a set of every playable foil card ever made. But I have NEVER been drawn to Alpha/Beta. To me it's like fools gold. A cheap illusion to send the masses into a frenzy. I have literally never purchased or traded for an alpha/beta card in all my time with magic and I have played since 1994.

Basically its all mental, you can make a conscious decision to not like alpha/beta. Fortunately I never had to make that, it was a natural reaction. Perhaps a psychological defense mechanism. I have benefited from it greatly. I have saved money and I am just as happy. In fact as I watch all the crows scurry around for their alpha/beta, I feel almost enlightened. I have reached nirvana. Join me in being pretentious and shitting on other people's tastes. Obviously my definition of a good looking card is better than yours.


*facepalm*

[Royal Ass.]

Basically what I'm saying is that I have better taste than you. And, no I don't think the two (Foil and Beta) are analogous.

[GGoober]

*facepalm*

[DTC]

I'm not sure if it's the cost of magic as much as you think. From what i'm gathering you're trying to pick up 12 mental missteps and a foil karn. MM is going to drop to begin with, and if you're only playing legacy once a month i don't see why you need a set for each deck you own.

This seems more a matter of preference, and you want to pay an additional $40 more for your MM's so you don't have to alternate decks, as well a foil karn which is at least twice the price of non-foils (i haven't checked on these, but many standard legal cards tend to start around double their nonfoil).

If cost is a concern about these cards then perhaps it may be better for your budget to just get the 4 and interchange them between decks (if you run a gauntlet with your playgroup for legacy, you can proxy the others).

Personally i also prefer only 4 copies, all english and non-foil of cards over pimp versions or additional copies. If i want to set up a gauntlet, i've been working on proxy playsets of every legacy staple. My pimp tends to prefer japanese versions of cards (which is usually cheaper than foils english versions too!), but even then it all comes down to price. I'd rather play with $60 english goyfs than $90-100 japanese ones. They're cool, but with the extra cost for the playset (120-160USD) it just makes me realize what magic cards i could get for the same price.

I've only played MTG for less than a year though so obviously i'm still not at my 40 duals yet (especially given price spiking), maybe when i have all my staples taken care of i'll trade them up for japanese versions, but for now the extra cost for many isn't worth it so i only bother on low ticket cards.

[ivanpei]

I'm not sure if it's the cost of magic as much as you think. From what i'm gathering you're trying to pick up 12 mental missteps and a foil karn. MM is going to drop to begin with, and if you're only playing legacy once a month i don't see why you need a set for each deck you own.

This seems more a matter of preference, and you want to pay an additional $40 more for your MM's so you don't have to alternate decks, as well a foil karn which is at least twice the price of non-foils (i haven't checked on these, but many standard legal cards tend to start around double their nonfoil).

If cost is a concern about these cards then perhaps it may be better for your budget to just get the 4 and interchange them between decks (if you run a gauntlet with your playgroup for legacy, you can proxy the others).

Personally i also prefer only 4 copies, all english and non-foil of cards over pimp versions or additional copies. If i want to set up a gauntlet, i've been working on proxy playsets of every legacy staple. My pimp tends to prefer japanese versions of cards (which is usually cheaper than foils english versions too!), but even then it all comes down to price. I'd rather play with $60 english goyfs than $90-100 japanese ones. They're cool, but with the extra cost for the playset (120-160USD) it just makes me realize what magic cards i could get for the same price.

I've only played MTG for less than a year though so obviously i'm still not at my 40 duals yet (especially given price spiking), maybe when i have all my staples taken care of i'll trade them up for japanese versions, but for now the extra cost for many isn't worth it so i only bother on low ticket cards.

I've given up on collecting the pricier foils now. Actually I think I'll give up pimping my legacy decks totally. I only really want to keep my blue cards relatively pimp as blue is my favourite colour (I don't play decks without 4 Brainstorm/some sort of deck manipulation in tournaments). Pimping used to be reasonably priced, but right now, not anymore. I've decided I'm not gonna get any karns at all because it's just cool and does little else. I'm gonna pick up 1 Normal Foil Phyrexian Metamorph for my Sharuum EDH (I've pimped up everything else, including FBB duals) and thats it, just for completion's sake.

I however still aim to pick up foil Missteps as I want to have a pimp Dreadnought deck. I've got all the staples in foil like Counter-top, MM brainstorms, Bobs, Stifles etc etc, and I'm just gonna get the Missteps for completions sake. It may take some saving and a long time to track 4 down, but I guess that's what makes hunting foils so rewarding/addictive/fun/stressful. I admit I'm whining alot about it's price, but oh well, staples cost a bomb in foil, thats a fact.

[dahcmai]

Just trade for them. I got one from the pre-release already. It cost me a couple of Phyrexian Crusaders. Darn.

[ivanpei]

Just trade for them. I got one from the pre-release already. It cost me a couple of Phyrexian Crusaders. Darn.

I put an ad out on my local forum WTB/WTS thread and I'm picking up my first foil misstep tomorrow @ 22 USD, score!

[wmagzoo7]

I understand the mentality and why this is difficult for you but I feel like you are complaining about this like it's a real problem. It's probably because the situation I am in makes it much more difficult for me to get cards and I'm worrying about tweaking my collection and relocating assets towards what I want. I'm a 19 year old college student who has been playing eternal formats for close to three years now and granted I don't play Legacy because my area doesn't really have a scene but I play Vintage and I'm working on acquiring power.

For you to complain about Foil Mental Missteps and how Foil Karn is so expensive just annoys me to no end. If money is really an issue then don't get Foils. It's a very simple concept that you seemingly have trouble grasping. I've spent my fair share of time Pimping out decks and I understand the allure of it as I'm pimping out my deck too but the whole mentality of "I need to buy Foil X and Foil X on Ebay so my deck can stay fully pimped" astonishes me. As Gunslinga and Metalwalker said, pimp is not and in my opinion should not be going out and buying whatever foils I want for my deck to show how much money I have.

I won't go so far as to say that this is your goal because you seem to have at least a somewhat nobler purpose but really think things over before posting on here. If you need people to tell you that complaining about foil prices is the same as complaining about Rolex prices then you have bigger fish to fry, but Foils don't make any sense moneywise. Unless it is a card that will always have a set foil price (Brainstorm) then having a foil version is just an added risk. Also, if you keep nonfoils then you can much more reasonably keep your collection liquid so you could trade a spare Jace or what have you instead of having a Foil which you bought for some amount of money and can only get a significantly lower amount for if you sell, forcing you to hold the card. Problems such as this make foils much less attractive to me personally, but it is after all your collection and your money so do with it what you want.

[ivanpei]

I know I may annoy some people who cannot understand the addiction to foils. However I understand this, the thread is for discussion among pimp/foil lovers who appreciate the stuff. Ive picked up some good advice and Thats what this thread is for.

[bruizar]

I understand the guy. At the prerelease I pulled a Sword of War and Peace. I really wanted a Sword of War and Peace but I sold it the same day because it wasn't foil. I'm not going to play a non foil Sword, period. If I´m going to trade or buy non/foils, I will just end up wasting my money because i will replace them with foils anyway and the nonfoils will start collecting dust.

I wouldn't prioritize Mental Missteps though. This is the list of foils I am hunting for from New Phyrexia (for Vintage/Legacy)

1 Batterskull - I am sure this will get played in legacy
1 Sword of War and Peace - Need to be able to choose from all sorts at all time
4 Gitaxian Probe - This thing may get as expensive as MM
4 Mental Misstep - Need it, but it´s expensive. Won an ebay auction for $183 but the reserve was not met..
4 Surgical Extraction - You know these will end up in sideboards
4 Praetor's Grasp - The best new printing for vintage alongside Probe
4 Hex Parasite - Vintage card and utility creature like Revoker
4 Birthing Pod - Casual stuff
4 Phyrexian Metamorph - Best clone ever that can be played off a workshop
4 Beast Within - Oath...

EDIT
I can also imagine Blade Splicer will go up.