I know this is really not suggested.. But I would like to buy a booster box, and buy a start box. I learned a couple weeks ago and am addicted. I will be entering this sealed tournament (not expecting to win, but to have fun and get a few packs) and then like I said, start my own deck instead of borrowing.
So without selling ANY cards, I want to know what box will be best for playable cards?
Return to Ravnica is looking awesome right now... So awesome that its booster boxes are already going up in price. Fortunately, they're still manageable, unlike the booster boxes for some sets (Future Sight...:-/).
Innistrad is loads of fun to draft with a booster box because the draft format is so good, and it does at least have a few tournament-playable cards. It also has some sick cards for casual fun, like Werewolves and Bitterheart Witch.
New Phyrexia is another great set for booster boxes, and I've heard that drafts with NP-NP-NP are pretty fun. However, its cards are not usable in standard, the most common tournament format. Still totally awesome for casual matches.
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Don't open boxes. Don't crack packs. Period. The end. The only exception is if you are a business and crack packs to sell singles as a way to bring in more money by diversifying your inventory or you (as an individual) plan to trade/sell off the over-hyped and over-priced cards right away before they drop.
If you want to build a deck buy singles. If you like limited, buy packs *only* to draft/sealed with.
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I write about cube and run cube drafts on magic online.
I don't know, I wouldn't say that someone should never open up an entire box of boosters. Yes, it's economically unsound, but it's also a fairly common tradition for newer players to open a whole box themselves early on. It's fun and satisfying to do at least once -- just acknowledge and be aware that doing so is exponentially more wasteful than simply buying singles of the cards you need.
Anyway, drafting is a popular method -- maybe the most popular method of limited play. It's hard to explain the details, but the gist of it is this:
Usually, you'll run a draft with anywhere from 4 to 8 players. Each player receives 3 unopened booster packs at the start of the draft. The first pack is opened, and each player selects one card from the pack, and passes it to their left. This continues until all the cards from everyone's first pack are gone. Then, everyone opens their second pack, and passes to the right this time after selecting a card. Finally, when those cards have all been passed and depleted, the third pack is opened, which is passed to the left again.
When all is said and done, you'll have a pile of 45 cards that you drafted from all the passing. It's the same amount of cards as the 3 packs you started with, but you were able to see a much bigger card pool than if you had just kept the 3 packs you started with.
Don't open boxes. Don't crack packs. Period. The end. The only exception is if you are a business and crack packs to sell singles as a way to bring in more money by diversifying your inventory or you (as an individual) plan to trade/sell off the over-hyped and over-priced cards right away before they drop.
If you want to build a deck buy singles. If you like limited, buy packs *only* to draft/sealed with.
Wrong.
If you are trying to be ultra-competetive, on a semi-pro level, then don't buy boxes. You will never "get your money's worth" if you are trying to balance the value of the cards you get in the box versus the cost of the box itself.
However, if you are a casual player, and starting out, you probably are, then there is nothing wrong with buying boxes. In fact, I am quite a bit more competetive than a lot of people, and I still buy at least one box of every set.
Do I do it to get "value"? No.
Do I do it expecting playsets of all the great rares in the set? No.
Do I do it because I expect to get the greatest rocking deck out of my draw, and smash all the competition? No.
Do I do it because I want to get a reasonable card base from every set, including the newest one? Yes. I expect that the commons and uncommons from the set will be fully represented in my pull. I do expect a playset of pretty much everything in the common and uncommon rarities. I will also get a representation of the rares in the set, usually pulling at least one of each.
Do I do it because I love cracking packs? Yes. Every pack is Christmas. I love to see if I will get that nice rare, even though I know that the odds are pretty much against it. But, every so often, you do get a decent pull (like the box I got for M13 that had a Foil Ajani, Caller of the Pride that pretty much paid for the box when I sold it back to the store that I got the box from).
All of that means this:
If you want to buy packs, go ahead. Just don't think you are doing so with any real expectation of getting many of the exact rare cards you want. If you are looking to start a card pool for building decks, this is a decent way to do it. You know that if you get a box from a set that is currently Standard-legal, EVERY card in it will be legal to play at Friday Night Magic, any tournament you to go that is featuring Standard, and so on.
If, on the other hand, you are wanting to spend the lowest possible amount of money in order to put together a deck that will be competetive at Friday Night Magic, or a tournament that you are thinking of going to, then your best "bang for the buck" will be purchasing singles. You won't clutter your home up with boxes and boxes of bulk commons that may never make it into a deck. You won't add to the landfills in your area with the booster shrapnel that accompanies opening the box of packs (the shrink wrap that coats the entire box, the cardboard box itself, the 36 foil wrappers, and the 36 rules insert cards that will never be good for anything except eventually putting some tape on the corners to use as dividers until you can afford to get some of the plastic dividers that were in fat packs from the original Ravnica until Lorwyn).
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Currently playing:
Standard: WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern: UR Twinning RU G Venus Fly Trap G U Artifacts Aggro U
I guess if you like incinerating money to play the lottery, and get more joy out of opening that insane $Infinite card once in your life than you get pain of loss from getting a $0.10 rare with irrelevant un/commons every other time - go for it. Also who said anything about needing to be some grinder semi-pro? Making effecient monetary choices is sound advice no matter who you are or what you are doing.
If you are just starting out my advice is always the same, draft. When I came back to the game after quitting due to school/affinity I drafted like 2-3 times a week. What did this do for me that buying a box would also do?
1.) Got me cards to play standard with or trade towards a deck to play standard with
2.) Familiarized me with new cards/mechanics
3.) Still got the sick sweat over cracking each pack dreaming of opening some nut mythic.
Well how was it worse than just buying/opening a box?
1.) Much more time intensive
2.) Packs do actually cost more if you are drafting at the standard rate of $15 not factoring in winnings (which don't happen often when you are new)
But how was it better?
1.) By playing and drafting with and against people much better than myself I was forced to get better
2.) I became friendly with people in the local community and made new friends
3.) I had more control over what cards I got (need a dual land for standard? Go ahead and take it over some replaceable 20th-23rd card)
4.) Long run drafting is better value as your skill goes up, which drafting also forces you to do
Want to buy a box? Fine. At least have some friends over to draft it and you keep the cards afterwards (make them use sleeves!). You still get your box of cards, they get a free draft. Everybody wins.
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I write about cube and run cube drafts on magic online.
He or she new to the game. Cracking packs cans be fun, especially when you start. return to Ravnicanis a good box to get. Contact your local stores and see who still has preorders as some stores have stoppedm already. rynto find the cheapest price. You will also want sleeves for your cards and some dice.
I don't do packs or boxes myself these days but enjoy it.
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
Unless you have money to burn, don't buy a box. You'll be wasting money, plain and simple. You will never recoup the cost, and most of the people advocating buying boxes are playing on some foolish "oooh, it's like christmas morning!" sentiment. It's fine to enjoy it for some abstract pleasure, but I enjoy not wasting money.
Here's what I would do if I were you. I know you're not, but still.
For the cost of a RTR box (Most places, $120. You can find them for less online but there's shipping added there.) So for $110-120 I would:
Buy a playset of RTR commons and uncommons. Cost: $35
Attend two prereleases, playing two different guilds (hey, you'll get 12 packs here, WHOOOO! ) Cost: $50
Then at that point, with the remaning $35, if I had a good idea of what I was going to try to play, I'd buy singles to improve that deck. If I had no idea, I'd buy whatever RTR event deck I liked best and then the last 15 bucks on singles. I'd also trade whatever non-lands I pulled at the prerelease that's worth more than $10 or so. I will be in Happytown if I pull a Vraska, because that will be some nice and easy trade fodder (hmmm, a bad planeswalker or 2-3 shocklands? That's a real head scratcher!)
Unless you have money to burn, don't buy a box. You'll be wasting money, plain and simple. You will never recoup the cost, and most of the people advocating buying boxes are playing on some foolish "oooh, it's like christmas morning!" sentiment. It's fine to enjoy it for some abstract pleasure, but I enjoy not wasting money.
Here's what I would do if I were you. I know you're not, but still.
For the cost of a RTR box (Most places, $120. You can find them for less online but there's shipping added there.) So for $110-120 I would:
Buy a playset of RTR commons and uncommons. Cost: $35
Attend two prereleases, playing two different guilds (hey, you'll get 12 packs here, WHOOOO! ) Cost: $50
Then at that point, with the remaning $35, if I had a good idea of what I was going to try to play, I'd buy singles to improve that deck. If I had no idea, I'd buy whatever RTR event deck I liked best and then the last 15 bucks on singles. I'd also trade whatever non-lands I pulled at the prerelease that's worth more than $10 or so. I will be in Happytown if I pull a Vraska, because that will be some nice and easy trade fodder (hmmm, a bad planeswalker or 2-3 shocklands? That's a real head scratcher!)
The problem with that is, with those $35, you get half the land needed for your deck. A few friends and I are splitting a case at $80 a box, and with this set the way it looks so far, we will be easily making the value back. Now sure, buying boxes at 100+ isn't a great way to buy them. However, if you can get them for less than $100, than you can certainly recoup value and have a fun time, and in some cases draft for fun as well.
I guess OP wants it to be 'keyworded' like "dies" was. What word would you replace ETB with though?
When Aegis Angel is born?
When Huntmaster of the Fells arrives?
When Kitchen Sphinx lands?
When Faerie Imposter busts in?
When Dread Cacodemon pops in?
When Malfegor shows up?
For the cost of a RTR box (Most places, $120. You can find them for less online but there's shipping added there.) So for $110-120 I would:
Buy a playset of RTR commons and uncommons. Cost: $35
I like this advice. You would be surprised at how good some uncommons/commons are in some sets, and so far the RTR ones seem promising.
I personally use a lot of uncommons in most of my decks, so i would definitly suggest using them.
And as for the commons, make a pauper deck. If you are unfamiliar with the format, here is a link to an explanation: http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Pauper_Magic
But if you really want to open up some packs, go ahead. I mean, i understand how fun it can be as a new player opening up some of your first packs (just like i did about 3-4 months ago when i joined the Magic community) and they can really effect how you play for the rest of your Magic "Career" depending on your pulls. (For example, i pulled Spectral Rider in my first pack, and i enjoy playing white now, as well as Spirit Tokens.)
Over-all, i think buying a playset of uncommons/commons would be really beneficial. It's a lot cheaper than buying a box, which you would possibly get the playset from, but it's not guaranteed. Who knows, you might end up with like 7-8 of a specific common (Let's just use Angel's Mercy as an example, i've seen people open boxes and pull a lot before.) and you might get screwed over because of that. There are some bad commons, some good ones, but in the end you are better off looking toward buying the playset.
I agree with everyone saying only buy a box if you can get use out of the boosters in some way. Otherwise, buy a playset of commons / uncommons from the current Standard environment, and then work on buying the singles you need as you learn what cards you want to add to your deck. Buying a booster box will net you a ton more commons than you need, maybe not enough uncommons and definitely not enough rares. You might break even if you're lucky, but that also requires you to sell the decent cards you get, haha.
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UUU Talrand, Sky Summoner // (W/U)(W/U)(W/U) Grand Arbiter Augustin IV // RRR Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker // (R/G)(R/G)(R/G) Wort, the Raidmother // URG Riku of Two Reflections // RWU Ruhan of the Fomori
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This is why I started playing magic in the first place. It wasn't PT aspirations just making noobs cry by doing things that are perfectly fair.
The problem with that is, with those $35, you get half the land needed for your deck. A few friends and I are splitting a case at $80 a box, and with this set the way it looks so far, we will be easily making the value back. Now sure, buying boxes at 100+ isn't a great way to buy them. However, if you can get them for less than $100, than you can certainly recoup value and have a fun time, and in some cases draft for fun as well.
Half the land needed for your deck? I don't understand what you're getting at here. With the $35 spent on commons/uncommons from RTR he/she is getting a playset of all of the Guildgates. And Transguild Promenade? Also very good.
He doesn't need to get the shocklands right away. But if he opens packs and he grabs them, they can be good. I just see it as a risk because you could get some crap rare in comparison to getting the shockland.
I agree that splitting a box is decent, but it all depends on how much you are getting. I mean, are you getting the full box? Or are you getting a piece of it?
Drafting for fun is one of the funnest things to do. I mean, you can keep all your cards, but "unveil" them in a different way than usual. And your friends and yourself can have a fun time looking at all your new cards. (Just make sure they don't ruin your cards, which is extremely obvious.)
I know, every single time I buy a booster I'm wasting money from the logical standpoint of things. However, for myself, having a booster to look forward to cracking open at the end of the day is entertaining. I'm solely paying for the entertainment value.
I should probably buy lottery tickets instead, but I don't get any kind of rush from scratching off cardboard.
So OP, if you want entertainment value, buy the box. Otherwise, use the money for the singles you want/need.
Half the land needed for your deck? I don't understand what you're getting at here. With the $35 spent on commons/uncommons from RTR he/she is getting a playset of all of the Guildgates. And Transguild Promenade? Also very good.
He doesn't need to get the shocklands right away. But if he opens packs and he grabs them, they can be good. I just see it as a risk because you could get some crap rare in comparison to getting the shockland.
I agree that splitting a box is decent, but it all depends on how much you are getting. I mean, are you getting the full box? Or are you getting a piece of it?
Drafting for fun is one of the funnest things to do. I mean, you can keep all your cards, but "unveil" them in a different way than usual. And your friends and yourself can have a fun time looking at all your new cards. (Just make sure they don't ruin your cards, which is extremely obvious.)
Alright, so buying boxes is only useful if you want to play competitively, but you should play with guildgates over shocks. That seems about right.
I guess OP wants it to be 'keyworded' like "dies" was. What word would you replace ETB with though?
When Aegis Angel is born?
When Huntmaster of the Fells arrives?
When Kitchen Sphinx lands?
When Faerie Imposter busts in?
When Dread Cacodemon pops in?
When Malfegor shows up?
I love how lots of people seem to think that they and they alone have the "only correct answer", and the few people who say "You know what? Do what you want, but understand that it may not be the best move in sheer dollar signs." are jumped on as some kind of heretics.
Damn, the philosophy of "the only right way to do magic is my way" mentality really is the main thing that ever causes me to pull back from the game.
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Currently playing:
Standard: WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern: UR Twinning RU G Venus Fly Trap G U Artifacts Aggro U
I guess if you like incinerating money to play the lottery, and get more joy out of opening that insane $Infinite card once in your life than you get pain of loss from getting a $0.10 rare with irrelevant un/commons every other time - go for it.
Or if you enjoy drafting and want to set one up with your friends. You know you can do that with a box, right?:-/
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The wedding is over. Now it's time for the honeymoon.
Or if you enjoy drafting and want to set one up with your friends. You know you can do that with a box, right?:-/
Or you could read my posts where I suggest doing exactly that if you are going to buy a box. You know you can do that, yeah?
But really when people ask questions about buying box(es) they are generally just going to crack the packs and not play limited. Especially new players.
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I write about cube and run cube drafts on magic online.
Why must people come into topics to try to show their elitism? The Topic creator is new to magic and wants to buy a box. They didnt ask if they should buy or not. Buying a box is fun and opening packs and seeing new cards can give someone new ideas to play with cards that they would not usually use if they just bought singles because these "singles" are the only ones used by you pros.
I could understand if the TC wanted to know if it was worth it but I think you people should just stick to the OP or go show your "knowledge" in one of the many other topics asking about what you guys are talking about. This isnt the topic to do so.
Onto the original post, Wait for Ravnica or go with Innistrad. Lots of great cards to play around with Innistrad.
every now and then a new set somes along with a fairly large number of rares that either me or a friend wants.
with these kinds of set, the rares tend to accrue a pretty large pre-order value.
for example, a playset of Vraska, the new planeswalker, will run you up at close to £100 at this point in time, maybe even £120. if i then want a playset of each of the new shocklands, and a full set of commons/uncommons, we're talking somewhere in the region of £300 at current pre-order prices.
now, let's say me and one other friend decide to buy a sealed case (6 booster boxes). they run up at about £440. we split the cost. £220 each. they also have a good even distribution of cards if they are sealed. we are pretty much guaranteed to pull at least a full playset of every rare in the set, as well as 2-3 of each mythic (sometimes more, never observed it being less than 2).
honestly, can someone tell me how that isn't better value? i get more than enough commons/uncommons which means i can spread them around my friends. i also get to split full playsets of all the chase rares with a friend (who usually plays different kinds of deck to me) and we have a good time doing it. oh, and i actually spend less money than if i was just to buy straight playsets of the good-looking mythics at this stage.
yes, it's a lot of money.
no, i wouldn't advocate this sort of thing to your average 15-year-old with no income.
but arguably yes, we are actually better off this way than blowing huge wads of cash on a handful of cards.
we even sell a few of the surplus or unwanted rares to get some cash back, and many online sellers give store credit for larger purchases. so we get a better deal than you would think.
buying a single box is usually a way to lose money. buying a case ususally ends up being worthwhile. but we only do it for certain sets with lots of potential.
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Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
Why must people come into topics to try to show their elitism? The Topic creator is new to magic and wants to buy a box. They didnt ask if they should buy or not. Buying a box is fun and opening packs and seeing new cards can give someone new ideas to play with cards that they would not usually use if they just bought singles because these "singles" are the only ones used by you pros.
I could understand if the TC wanted to know if it was worth it but I think you people should just stick to the OP or go show your "knowledge" in one of the many other topics asking about what you guys are talking about. This isnt the topic to do so.
Onto the original post, Wait for Ravnica or go with Innistrad. Lots of great cards to play around with Innistrad.
Why must you people come into topics and show off how little you care about money? The topic creator is new to this hobby and doesn't really have all the information to make an informed choice yet. They even admitting to knowing buying boxes, "isn't really suggested." Buying a box is fun, until you open the packs and are left with a pile of mostly unplayables and not even a playset of the un/commons in the set and feel let down. The better way to get ideas of what cards to play with is to use gatherer and scour over cards to find ones you like. Doing that lets you see all the cards in magic ever not just the ones you casuals randomly open in these "boosters".
I could understand if the TC was asking which standard legal set is best to draft with but I think you people should just stop giving bad "advice" based on emotional appeals and other non-arguments. This isn't the world to do so.
Onto the original post, spend your money on pre-releases, drafts, or singles. You can always draft a box too if you really feel the urge to buy one.
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I write about cube and run cube drafts on magic online.
You're going to get a lot of arguments going both ways here, so let me offer a different way to look at this debate:
Do you have friends you could draft with that you trust? If so, buy a box. Do a free draft with friends and make sure they give you everything when you are done. Not only do you get a box of whatever set you choose, you also had an afternoon of fun with friends. That reduces the economic hit of buying a box.
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So without selling ANY cards, I want to know what box will be best for playable cards?
I kinda like to play and get creatures out fast..
Innistrad is loads of fun to draft with a booster box because the draft format is so good, and it does at least have a few tournament-playable cards. It also has some sick cards for casual fun, like Werewolves and Bitterheart Witch.
New Phyrexia is another great set for booster boxes, and I've heard that drafts with NP-NP-NP are pretty fun. However, its cards are not usable in standard, the most common tournament format. Still totally awesome for casual matches.
Thanks to Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery Signatures!
But like I said, I just want to build my own deck.. I have like ~200 to start out with..
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
If you're not playing in sanctioned tournaments, pretty much any box a store has in stock for under $150 is a good bet.
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If you want to build a deck buy singles. If you like limited, buy packs *only* to draft/sealed with.
peasantcube.blogspot.com
Anyway, drafting is a popular method -- maybe the most popular method of limited play. It's hard to explain the details, but the gist of it is this:
Usually, you'll run a draft with anywhere from 4 to 8 players. Each player receives 3 unopened booster packs at the start of the draft. The first pack is opened, and each player selects one card from the pack, and passes it to their left. This continues until all the cards from everyone's first pack are gone. Then, everyone opens their second pack, and passes to the right this time after selecting a card. Finally, when those cards have all been passed and depleted, the third pack is opened, which is passed to the left again.
When all is said and done, you'll have a pile of 45 cards that you drafted from all the passing. It's the same amount of cards as the 3 packs you started with, but you were able to see a much bigger card pool than if you had just kept the 3 packs you started with.
If this sounds too confusing, the Booster Draft Simulator does a pretty good job of showing you how this would work: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/resources.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/resources/boosterdraftsimulator
Commander/EDH Decks:
BRG The Blood of Jund - Kresh the Bloodbraided BRG
WR The Blades of Goldnight - Gisela, Blade of Goldnight WR
Wrong.
If you are trying to be ultra-competetive, on a semi-pro level, then don't buy boxes. You will never "get your money's worth" if you are trying to balance the value of the cards you get in the box versus the cost of the box itself.
However, if you are a casual player, and starting out, you probably are, then there is nothing wrong with buying boxes. In fact, I am quite a bit more competetive than a lot of people, and I still buy at least one box of every set.
Do I do it to get "value"? No.
Do I do it expecting playsets of all the great rares in the set? No.
Do I do it because I expect to get the greatest rocking deck out of my draw, and smash all the competition? No.
Do I do it because I want to get a reasonable card base from every set, including the newest one? Yes. I expect that the commons and uncommons from the set will be fully represented in my pull. I do expect a playset of pretty much everything in the common and uncommon rarities. I will also get a representation of the rares in the set, usually pulling at least one of each.
Do I do it because I love cracking packs? Yes. Every pack is Christmas. I love to see if I will get that nice rare, even though I know that the odds are pretty much against it. But, every so often, you do get a decent pull (like the box I got for M13 that had a Foil Ajani, Caller of the Pride that pretty much paid for the box when I sold it back to the store that I got the box from).
All of that means this:
If you want to buy packs, go ahead. Just don't think you are doing so with any real expectation of getting many of the exact rare cards you want. If you are looking to start a card pool for building decks, this is a decent way to do it. You know that if you get a box from a set that is currently Standard-legal, EVERY card in it will be legal to play at Friday Night Magic, any tournament you to go that is featuring Standard, and so on.
If, on the other hand, you are wanting to spend the lowest possible amount of money in order to put together a deck that will be competetive at Friday Night Magic, or a tournament that you are thinking of going to, then your best "bang for the buck" will be purchasing singles. You won't clutter your home up with boxes and boxes of bulk commons that may never make it into a deck. You won't add to the landfills in your area with the booster shrapnel that accompanies opening the box of packs (the shrink wrap that coats the entire box, the cardboard box itself, the 36 foil wrappers, and the 36 rules insert cards that will never be good for anything except eventually putting some tape on the corners to use as dividers until you can afford to get some of the plastic dividers that were in fat packs from the original Ravnica until Lorwyn).
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
If you are just starting out my advice is always the same, draft. When I came back to the game after quitting due to school/affinity I drafted like 2-3 times a week. What did this do for me that buying a box would also do?
1.) Got me cards to play standard with or trade towards a deck to play standard with
2.) Familiarized me with new cards/mechanics
3.) Still got the sick sweat over cracking each pack dreaming of opening some nut mythic.
Well how was it worse than just buying/opening a box?
1.) Much more time intensive
2.) Packs do actually cost more if you are drafting at the standard rate of $15 not factoring in winnings (which don't happen often when you are new)
But how was it better?
1.) By playing and drafting with and against people much better than myself I was forced to get better
2.) I became friendly with people in the local community and made new friends
3.) I had more control over what cards I got (need a dual land for standard? Go ahead and take it over some replaceable 20th-23rd card)
4.) Long run drafting is better value as your skill goes up, which drafting also forces you to do
Want to buy a box? Fine. At least have some friends over to draft it and you keep the cards afterwards (make them use sleeves!). You still get your box of cards, they get a free draft. Everybody wins.
peasantcube.blogspot.com
I don't do packs or boxes myself these days but enjoy it.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=4832736
Trading 10 full art zen basics for 8 of yours!
I want
Plains - John Avon - 230
Island - Jung Park - 235
Island - Vincent Proce - 237
Swamp - John Avon - 238
Mountain - John Avon - 242
Forest - John Avon - 246
Unless you have money to burn, don't buy a box. You'll be wasting money, plain and simple. You will never recoup the cost, and most of the people advocating buying boxes are playing on some foolish "oooh, it's like christmas morning!" sentiment. It's fine to enjoy it for some abstract pleasure, but I enjoy not wasting money.
Here's what I would do if I were you. I know you're not, but still.
For the cost of a RTR box (Most places, $120. You can find them for less online but there's shipping added there.) So for $110-120 I would:
Buy a playset of RTR commons and uncommons. Cost: $35
Attend two prereleases, playing two different guilds (hey, you'll get 12 packs here, WHOOOO! ) Cost: $50
Then at that point, with the remaning $35, if I had a good idea of what I was going to try to play, I'd buy singles to improve that deck. If I had no idea, I'd buy whatever RTR event deck I liked best and then the last 15 bucks on singles. I'd also trade whatever non-lands I pulled at the prerelease that's worth more than $10 or so. I will be in Happytown if I pull a Vraska, because that will be some nice and easy trade fodder (hmmm, a bad planeswalker or 2-3 shocklands? That's a real head scratcher!)
The problem with that is, with those $35, you get half the land needed for your deck. A few friends and I are splitting a case at $80 a box, and with this set the way it looks so far, we will be easily making the value back. Now sure, buying boxes at 100+ isn't a great way to buy them. However, if you can get them for less than $100, than you can certainly recoup value and have a fun time, and in some cases draft for fun as well.
I like this advice. You would be surprised at how good some uncommons/commons are in some sets, and so far the RTR ones seem promising.
I personally use a lot of uncommons in most of my decks, so i would definitly suggest using them.
And as for the commons, make a pauper deck. If you are unfamiliar with the format, here is a link to an explanation:
http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Pauper_Magic
But if you really want to open up some packs, go ahead. I mean, i understand how fun it can be as a new player opening up some of your first packs (just like i did about 3-4 months ago when i joined the Magic community) and they can really effect how you play for the rest of your Magic "Career" depending on your pulls. (For example, i pulled Spectral Rider in my first pack, and i enjoy playing white now, as well as Spirit Tokens.)
Over-all, i think buying a playset of uncommons/commons would be really beneficial. It's a lot cheaper than buying a box, which you would possibly get the playset from, but it's not guaranteed. Who knows, you might end up with like 7-8 of a specific common (Let's just use Angel's Mercy as an example, i've seen people open boxes and pull a lot before.) and you might get screwed over because of that. There are some bad commons, some good ones, but in the end you are better off looking toward buying the playset.
Hopefully this helps.
FULL TIME FAERIES
Selvala
Half the land needed for your deck? I don't understand what you're getting at here. With the $35 spent on commons/uncommons from RTR he/she is getting a playset of all of the Guildgates. And Transguild Promenade? Also very good.
He doesn't need to get the shocklands right away. But if he opens packs and he grabs them, they can be good. I just see it as a risk because you could get some crap rare in comparison to getting the shockland.
I agree that splitting a box is decent, but it all depends on how much you are getting. I mean, are you getting the full box? Or are you getting a piece of it?
Drafting for fun is one of the funnest things to do. I mean, you can keep all your cards, but "unveil" them in a different way than usual. And your friends and yourself can have a fun time looking at all your new cards. (Just make sure they don't ruin your cards, which is extremely obvious.)
FULL TIME FAERIES
Selvala
Such a great way to say it.
I know, every single time I buy a booster I'm wasting money from the logical standpoint of things. However, for myself, having a booster to look forward to cracking open at the end of the day is entertaining. I'm solely paying for the entertainment value.
I should probably buy lottery tickets instead, but I don't get any kind of rush from scratching off cardboard.
So OP, if you want entertainment value, buy the box. Otherwise, use the money for the singles you want/need.
Alright, so buying boxes is only useful if you want to play competitively, but you should play with guildgates over shocks. That seems about right.
Damn, the philosophy of "the only right way to do magic is my way" mentality really is the main thing that ever causes me to pull back from the game.
Standard:
WBRG Aggro-Reanimator Humans GRBW
Modern:
UR Twinning RU
G Venus Fly Trap G
U Artifacts Aggro U
Legacy:
B Reanimator B
WU Stoneblade UW
EDH
WBGGhave, Guru of SporesGBW
URGRiku of the Two ReflectionsGRU
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonGRBUW
Casual
Far too many to list
Or if you enjoy drafting and want to set one up with your friends. You know you can do that with a box, right?:-/
Thanks to Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery Signatures!
Or you could read my posts where I suggest doing exactly that if you are going to buy a box. You know you can do that, yeah?
But really when people ask questions about buying box(es) they are generally just going to crack the packs and not play limited. Especially new players.
peasantcube.blogspot.com
I could understand if the TC wanted to know if it was worth it but I think you people should just stick to the OP or go show your "knowledge" in one of the many other topics asking about what you guys are talking about. This isnt the topic to do so.
Onto the original post, Wait for Ravnica or go with Innistrad. Lots of great cards to play around with Innistrad.
with these kinds of set, the rares tend to accrue a pretty large pre-order value.
for example, a playset of Vraska, the new planeswalker, will run you up at close to £100 at this point in time, maybe even £120. if i then want a playset of each of the new shocklands, and a full set of commons/uncommons, we're talking somewhere in the region of £300 at current pre-order prices.
now, let's say me and one other friend decide to buy a sealed case (6 booster boxes). they run up at about £440. we split the cost. £220 each. they also have a good even distribution of cards if they are sealed. we are pretty much guaranteed to pull at least a full playset of every rare in the set, as well as 2-3 of each mythic (sometimes more, never observed it being less than 2).
honestly, can someone tell me how that isn't better value? i get more than enough commons/uncommons which means i can spread them around my friends. i also get to split full playsets of all the chase rares with a friend (who usually plays different kinds of deck to me) and we have a good time doing it. oh, and i actually spend less money than if i was just to buy straight playsets of the good-looking mythics at this stage.
yes, it's a lot of money.
no, i wouldn't advocate this sort of thing to your average 15-year-old with no income.
but arguably yes, we are actually better off this way than blowing huge wads of cash on a handful of cards.
we even sell a few of the surplus or unwanted rares to get some cash back, and many online sellers give store credit for larger purchases. so we get a better deal than you would think.
buying a single box is usually a way to lose money. buying a case ususally ends up being worthwhile. but we only do it for certain sets with lots of potential.
Why must you people come into topics and show off how little you care about money? The topic creator is new to this hobby and doesn't really have all the information to make an informed choice yet. They even admitting to knowing buying boxes, "isn't really suggested." Buying a box is fun, until you open the packs and are left with a pile of mostly unplayables and not even a playset of the un/commons in the set and feel let down. The better way to get ideas of what cards to play with is to use gatherer and scour over cards to find ones you like. Doing that lets you see all the cards in magic ever not just the ones you casuals randomly open in these "boosters".
I could understand if the TC was asking which standard legal set is best to draft with but I think you people should just stop giving bad "advice" based on emotional appeals and other non-arguments. This isn't the world to do so.
Onto the original post, spend your money on pre-releases, drafts, or singles. You can always draft a box too if you really feel the urge to buy one.
peasantcube.blogspot.com
Do you have friends you could draft with that you trust? If so, buy a box. Do a free draft with friends and make sure they give you everything when you are done. Not only do you get a box of whatever set you choose, you also had an afternoon of fun with friends. That reduces the economic hit of buying a box.