I got into Magic when Origins was released, and I've had a lot of fun with it, so of course I want to play more competitively. But Standard just started rotating more quickly so getting into that involves more money than it seems to be worth, and from what I've heard the prices of Modern/Legacy seem to be the highest they've ever been. On top of that, both Origins and BFZ block aren't very profitable, so I can't even trade for the cards that I would want. Also, it seems like the general consensus is that BFZ block pales in comparison to past blocks. I want to know what you guys think: Did I pick a bad time to get into the game?
I would say it is a bad time if you are trying to go a bit more competative. But in general I would say it is. ALthough Shadows over Innistrad looks like it is doing everything right. The prices of standard should drop after rotation.
People complain that almost every block pales in comparison to blocks that came before, that magic is out of fresh ideas, blah blah blah. If you're having fun, keep playing. If not, don't. If you look at magic as a way to get value or make money, you'll never have fun.
The lands this standard are crazy expensive for competitive play. Next season should axe a chunk of the equation that's making Standard so crazy expensive, but I'd expect another year before it's relatively cheap again (when Modern, Legacy and Standard aren't competing for land cards).
The fetchlands rotate out of Standard next month, at which point the cost of a lot of decks will decrease by a lot. Most high end competitive decks in Standard are 4 colors right now and the land base is ridiculous. Outside of that, there are budget options and always will be. If I were you, I'd focus on limited and learning to draft well. I think that drafting skills will always serve new players better than hopping into Standard.
The reason Standard is expensive is because Fetches plus Tangos means 4 colour decks are viable. This means everyone just slots in the best cards. This creates a higher demand for cards.
This combined with the poor limited environment and set design of BFZ killed standard in my area. It is only recently a month after OGW that we are recovering.
If you look at magic as a way to get value or make money, you'll never have fun.
While this is true, it all depends on how much time you're planning to put into it. Hitting up an FNM every week plus another tournament here and there means it doesn't take much in winnings to recoup a portion of your input. With good trades and smart purchases when sets release, it can offset a lot of the costs of playing standard and keeping up with rotations. Of course, it will require a variety of skills like how to identify good cards ahead of the pack, what decks to play and how to keep them affordable, etc, but if standard is what you want to do, it will not take long for you to get yourself up to snuff with that goal in mind.
The great thing about Magic is that if you don't want to do that, or don't have the time to dive into standard and manage a rotating collection of playables, the game allows for many, many other kinds of play. I've been playing for so, so many years and I have periods where I'm a standard shark and keep up with it all, then life gets busy and the cards get traded for more stable value, them when I'm back in it I can just jump straight in the deep end. When I can't make weekly FNMs and PPTQs and whatnot, I've got two cubes, an EDH deck, a battlebox and plenty of garbage commons to proxy on for casual Magic.
I don't think there's ever a bad time to get into Magic. There are bad times to get into standard, bad times to get into vintage, bad times to get into competitive Magic. But its such a huge, all-encompassing game that its always the right time to play.
Also, it seems like the general consensus is that BFZ block pales in comparison to past blocks.
Oh and you should note that as a new player, you haven't necessarily seen this yet, but the "general consensus" for literally every single set is that it pales in comparison to past ones. You shouldn't take the vocal part of the community as necessarily speaking for everyone, because for the most part those same people have derided every single set that came out as being unplayably weak.
I think any time is a good time to get into magic because it's a great game. It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to play in standard with a competitive deck, you will always have to pay ~$300-$600 for a deck, no matter if current sets have high financial value or not. If you play limited in order to crack some money rare, you will have the same chance in pretty much every set, there will alwaays be like 5% gold and the rest are dollar cards or bulk. If you want to play eternal formats, now is just as perfect as any other time. Eternal formats are expensive and will always be, no matter what Wizards prints. FOr multiplayer and casual formats like Commander, you can build fun decks for $20 or spend over a grand on it, its all up to you.
If you think however that playing magic could somehow be profitable moneywise, then let me tell you that you will have a bad time. The only people that really make money with MAgic are Wizards, Wholesalers and scammers.
Slowly build your way into Modern (if your local area supports it). Standard in my opinion is just way too much of a cash cow. The only way standard is profitable is if your local stores run standard every week, and you get 1st/2nd every week. This way you get a bunch of store credit to be able to keep up with standard.
I quit standard a few blocks ago, this is by far the worst standard ive ever seen in terms of fun sets and cards, and ive been playing competitively for almost 10 years.
Modern, before the Eldrazi Plague was always a blast(I havent played modern recently though), and I think it;s a great format. Wizards just keeps on messing up on the Modern Matsers, so modern prices are way to high IMO =/. It's a shame, it's a great format(Modern and legacy are the only 2 worth playing right now IMO).
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Modern:
Affinity
Naya Burn
Merfolk
White Blue Midrange
Boggles
Grixis Delver
Esper Control(It's semi playable, believe it or not! Dont bring it to a tourny you care about winning though)
It's not a bad time to get into Magic. It's still one of the best games ever made, but you need to become accustomed to a few home truths:
1. It can get expensive. It can be a pricy hobby if you want to play competitively. It comes with the territory. Cubing is a great option. I'm biased, but I really like Peasant cubing.
2. Magic players *****. They're really good at it. Everything sucks. Everything. People *****ed about sets like original Zendikar and Innistrad. Every little change is the end of Magic.
3. Non-rotating formats are a better investment. The initial buy-in can definitely set you back, but with the exception of the occasional new tech or meta-based decisions, your deck will pretty much stay the same.
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Can you name all of the creature types with at least 20 cards? Try my Sporcle Quiz! Last Updated: 6/29/20 (Core Set 2021).
No, this is one of the greatest times to play Magic I can recall, it's just a bit more expensive. Cards are expensive because people want them: the game is more popular than in the past and finding people to play with is easier than ever.
Wait until rotation to get into Standard, or start getting into Modern. There are viable budget decks. 8whack (Goblins) has been putting up results lately and the only expensive card in it is Goblin Guide, who is very good but not really required. You can replace him with Tattermunge Maniac or Mogg Fanatic without losing much power.
These days, some wizards are finding they have a little too much deck left at the end of their $$$.
MTG finance guy- follow me on Twitter@RichArschmann or RichardArschmann on Reddit
Theres never a bad time to start the problem right now is a lot of cards are super playable in modern and its raising a lot prices on standard cards that are also staples, ie Jace, the modern eldrazi cards, fetches, and cards like collected company and kolaghans command. id honestly say this is probaly the most ecpensive standard ive ever seen purely bc of the number of cards playable in modern, recent memory i can say maybe 2-3 cards a block really make this big an impression on modern.
It's not a bad time to get into Magic. It's still one of the best games ever made, but you need to become accustomed to a few home truths:
1. It can get expensive. It can be a pricy hobby if you want to play competitively. It comes with the territory. Cubing is a great option. I'm biased, but I really like Peasant cubing.
2. Magic players *****. They're really good at it. Everything sucks. Everything. People *****ed about sets like original Zendikar and Innistrad. Every little change is the end of Magic.
3. Non-rotating formats are a better investment. The initial buy-in can definitely set you back, but with the exception of the occasional new tech or meta-based decisions, your deck will pretty much stay the same.
Ever consider that maybe the reason Magic players ***** is because there's something legitimately wrong? Everything in Standard now is ridiculously expensive and there doesn't feel like there's a lot of diversity; it's mostly "pick your favorite 3-4 colors and play value cards". Modern has degenerated into an Eldrazi fest immediately after it's most reliable deck just got banned with no warning whatsoever, and is very nearly just as expensive as Legacy. Who wants to spend nearly a thousand dollars on a Tier 1 deck that's likely to get banned into oblivion for no discernible reason? Support for Legacy has dropped a lot with SCG downsizing their Legacy Opens and changing payouts to prize wall bs. And Wizards have made it abundantly clear also that they have little to no respect for their players / judges with the communications that have been issued over the past few months.
There's a lot that's happened in the past 3-6 months of Magic and very little of it seems to really be benefiting the players. There is certainly a case to be made that the state of Magic isn't as rosy as people would have you believe.
That's a really sweet mix of sour grapes, entitlement and good ole' fashioned doomsaying. To the OP, this is a typical example of the kind of sky-is-falling diatribes that people have been spewing out for years. Yet somehow, from this overwhelming void of misery, this precipice of impending doom, this CROSSROADS OF INTENSE ANGUISH...the world keeps turning and we keep playing Magic.
*inhales*
Standard is actually diverse, Eldrazi will be banned/neutered in Modern, Legacy's slow death is old news, there have always been expensive cards in Standard, and some people will always make Wizards out to be evil.
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Can you name all of the creature types with at least 20 cards? Try my Sporcle Quiz! Last Updated: 6/29/20 (Core Set 2021).
I'm having a blast, started playing again two months ago after more than 15 years away from the game. Limited sealed events are only "competitive" events I am even thinking about right now. Just making home brews at the kitchen table is crazy fun.
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I'm fairly confident I will think of something to say. Active Player: 1994-1999, 2016-
The glut of fixing in Standard right now makes every deck disproportionately expensive, since every good card gets jammed into 80% of the decks. When the fetchlands rotate out shortly, however, this will likely be corrected for, and prices will (hopefully) return to something resembling sane levels. Modern's in a bad place right now, but WotC has made it clear that the Eldrazi deck(s) can expect a ban. (Now, whether an eldrazi-less modern is any more worth your time and effort is still up for debate...) So right now, today, March 10th, is an awkward time to start jamming sanctioned events, but April is likely a different story. So ultimately, if you're interested, then sure, start sniffing around. I would avoid buying into anything for the next few weeks, though.
Honestly, standard is extremely diverse right now, and contrary to popular belief still very cheap (if you avoid a jace deck) and will only get cheaper when fetches rotate, since they are the largest cost of non-jace decks right now anyway.
Modern, right before OGW (yes even with the twin ban) is extremely diverse as always, come april it will return to normal
Edh is still edh, which i have discovered is an amazing option while waiting out the eldrazi ban in april
Legacy and vintage are as they always were, too expensive for new, budget friendly players, and honestly overrated anyways
This limited environment is amazing. Drafting ogw is extremely fun
If you only listen to the people on this forum, Magic is a terrible game and you should have never staryed playing in the first place
Upon your own investigation, you will most likely discover otherwise
If you are having fun, it's never a bad time to get back into Magic.
From an economics perspective, there will always be expensive standard cards, though expensive lands in particular will be the largest offenders since they'll show up everywhere, on the flip side, lands like fetchlands will hold much of their value past rotation. If you are looking to get into standard, I would suggest not jumping in immediately and instead buy new newest set for 6 months starting with a new release. At that point you'll have 3 sets worth of cards which comprise most of standard and can then focus on building decks that will survive the final rotation without investing too heavily into the oldest of those blocks.
Try out Commander and Modern. Commander is cheap to enter, and you can use most of the cards you collect in different deck then rotate into Modern with staples like lands.
For right now, I would get a set of the fetch lands from Khans of Tarkir. At the very least, get the Blue/Black, Blue/White, and Red/Green. Most people play draft and Standard to build a collection, if they stick to it long term they go into Modern and Commander.
You may also wish to look into building a cube if you enjoy drafts.
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Life is a beautiful engineer, yet a brutal scientist.
Absolutely, yes. The ideal time would have been between 1993 and 1999, back when everything made sense and all was right with the world. 6th edition screwed everything up everything but the card frames, then 8th Edition screwed up the one thing that 6th Edition hadn't, then M10 came along and raped the game's decaying corpse. If you want to get a feel for what the game is supposed to be like, try finding a copy of the 1997 Microprose game.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
(Also known as Xenphire)
This combined with the poor limited environment and set design of BFZ killed standard in my area. It is only recently a month after OGW that we are recovering.
While this is true, it all depends on how much time you're planning to put into it. Hitting up an FNM every week plus another tournament here and there means it doesn't take much in winnings to recoup a portion of your input. With good trades and smart purchases when sets release, it can offset a lot of the costs of playing standard and keeping up with rotations. Of course, it will require a variety of skills like how to identify good cards ahead of the pack, what decks to play and how to keep them affordable, etc, but if standard is what you want to do, it will not take long for you to get yourself up to snuff with that goal in mind.
The great thing about Magic is that if you don't want to do that, or don't have the time to dive into standard and manage a rotating collection of playables, the game allows for many, many other kinds of play. I've been playing for so, so many years and I have periods where I'm a standard shark and keep up with it all, then life gets busy and the cards get traded for more stable value, them when I'm back in it I can just jump straight in the deep end. When I can't make weekly FNMs and PPTQs and whatnot, I've got two cubes, an EDH deck, a battlebox and plenty of garbage commons to proxy on for casual Magic.
I don't think there's ever a bad time to get into Magic. There are bad times to get into standard, bad times to get into vintage, bad times to get into competitive Magic. But its such a huge, all-encompassing game that its always the right time to play.
Oh and you should note that as a new player, you haven't necessarily seen this yet, but the "general consensus" for literally every single set is that it pales in comparison to past ones. You shouldn't take the vocal part of the community as necessarily speaking for everyone, because for the most part those same people have derided every single set that came out as being unplayably weak.
If you think however that playing magic could somehow be profitable moneywise, then let me tell you that you will have a bad time. The only people that really make money with MAgic are Wizards, Wholesalers and scammers.
UR Mizzix of the Izmagnus ~~~ Build your own win-condition: Finite Spellslinging
UR Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer ~~~ We are the Borg. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.
WUB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic ~~~ A Guide to dying slowly
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose ~~~ Marchesa's undying Marionettes
RGW Mayael the Anima ~~~ All Hail the Big Chungus
GWU Chulane, Teller of Tales ~~~ Permanents Only ETB Shenanigans
BGU Sidisi, Brood Tyrant ~~~ Sidisi's Restless Servants
WUBRG The Ur-Dragon ~~~ Dragons eat your face
WBG Karador GBW
R Daretti R
RG Omnath GR
WRG Modern Burn GRW
WB Modern Tokens BW
DCI Rules Advisor as of 5/18/2015
Modern, before the Eldrazi Plague was always a blast(I havent played modern recently though), and I think it;s a great format. Wizards just keeps on messing up on the Modern Matsers, so modern prices are way to high IMO =/. It's a shame, it's a great format(Modern and legacy are the only 2 worth playing right now IMO).
Affinity
Naya Burn
Merfolk
White Blue Midrange
Boggles
Grixis Delver
Esper Control(It's semi playable, believe it or not! Dont bring it to a tourny you care about winning though)
Legacy:
Miracles
Deathblade
1. It can get expensive. It can be a pricy hobby if you want to play competitively. It comes with the territory. Cubing is a great option. I'm biased, but I really like Peasant cubing.
2. Magic players *****. They're really good at it. Everything sucks. Everything. People *****ed about sets like original Zendikar and Innistrad. Every little change is the end of Magic.
3. Non-rotating formats are a better investment. The initial buy-in can definitely set you back, but with the exception of the occasional new tech or meta-based decisions, your deck will pretty much stay the same.
My 720 Peasant Cube
Find one you like
Build a budget version of it
Upgrade it when you feel right to do
Have fun
URW PillowFort Stasis (costruction)
modern:
U Taking Turns combo
pauper:
UB Servitor Control
xenob8 : you know you are going to have a bad time when opponent starts with snow covered island
Wait until rotation to get into Standard, or start getting into Modern. There are viable budget decks. 8whack (Goblins) has been putting up results lately and the only expensive card in it is Goblin Guide, who is very good but not really required. You can replace him with Tattermunge Maniac or Mogg Fanatic without losing much power.
MTG finance guy- follow me on Twitter@RichArschmann or RichardArschmann on Reddit
BWTeysa, Orzhov Scion Combo
GUEzuri, Claw of progress Morph
GUBSidisi, Brood tyrant
RWGisela, Blade of Goldnight Random red white cards i dont use.dec
GBLoam Pox
Modern
UBFaeries
GBWGoyfless Abzan
On Squirrels
On Risen Executioner
That's a really sweet mix of sour grapes, entitlement and good ole' fashioned doomsaying. To the OP, this is a typical example of the kind of sky-is-falling diatribes that people have been spewing out for years. Yet somehow, from this overwhelming void of misery, this precipice of impending doom, this CROSSROADS OF INTENSE ANGUISH...the world keeps turning and we keep playing Magic.
*inhales*
Standard is actually diverse, Eldrazi will be banned/neutered in Modern, Legacy's slow death is old news, there have always been expensive cards in Standard, and some people will always make Wizards out to be evil.
My 720 Peasant Cube
Active Player: 1994-1999, 2016-
Sign & Share Petition To Fix MTG: Arena's Economy: https://goo.gl/z8fop8
Modern, right before OGW (yes even with the twin ban) is extremely diverse as always, come april it will return to normal
Edh is still edh, which i have discovered is an amazing option while waiting out the eldrazi ban in april
Legacy and vintage are as they always were, too expensive for new, budget friendly players, and honestly overrated anyways
This limited environment is amazing. Drafting ogw is extremely fun
If you only listen to the people on this forum, Magic is a terrible game and you should have never staryed playing in the first place
Upon your own investigation, you will most likely discover otherwise
UWRjeskai nahiri UWR
UBRgrixis titi UBR
UBRgrixis delverUBR
UR ur kikimite UR
EDH
RUG Riku of Two Reflections RUG
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR
UBRGYidris, Maelstrom Wielder UBRG
UBRJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeUBR
From an economics perspective, there will always be expensive standard cards, though expensive lands in particular will be the largest offenders since they'll show up everywhere, on the flip side, lands like fetchlands will hold much of their value past rotation. If you are looking to get into standard, I would suggest not jumping in immediately and instead buy new newest set for 6 months starting with a new release. At that point you'll have 3 sets worth of cards which comprise most of standard and can then focus on building decks that will survive the final rotation without investing too heavily into the oldest of those blocks.
Older Magic as a Board Game: Panglacial Wurm , Mill
For right now, I would get a set of the fetch lands from Khans of Tarkir. At the very least, get the Blue/Black, Blue/White, and Red/Green. Most people play draft and Standard to build a collection, if they stick to it long term they go into Modern and Commander.
You may also wish to look into building a cube if you enjoy drafts.
Modern
Commander
Cube
<a href="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-lists/588020-unpowered-themed-enchantment-an-enchanted-evening">An Enchanted Evening Cube </a>
Absolutely, yes. The ideal time would have been between 1993 and 1999, back when everything made sense and all was right with the world. 6th edition screwed everything up everything but the card frames, then 8th Edition screwed up the one thing that 6th Edition hadn't, then M10 came along and raped the game's decaying corpse. If you want to get a feel for what the game is supposed to be like, try finding a copy of the 1997 Microprose game.
Death and Taxes
Pauper
UB Teachings
Tortured Existence
Murasa Tron
Modern
Pod (RIP)
Bloom(RIP)
Merfolk