I am a semi-new player who is looking to build his inventory quickly. For Black Friday, I am thinking of getting a Fat Pack and I need help determining which Fat Pack will have the best outcome of cards (Which fat pack will provide the greatest amount of overpowered cards? - indestructibles, planeswalkers, etc.). I have heard Shadows over Innistrad is a good fat pack to buy but I have heard from my friends that it may not be good (they are VERY new to Magic the Gathering). Also, don't worry about the price of the fat pack. I just need a fat pack with a REALLY good set of cards. Any ideas on what to buy? (I already have a Shadows over Innistrad deck builder's toolkit and I want more good cards, since I didn't get much from the toolkit).
P.S. Please try to reply quickly and as in-depth as possible. Also, I would like to know which store I can find that specific Fat Pack in.
You're not going to like this answer, but if you're buying a Fat Pack hoping for a REALLY good set of cards, chances you're going to find yourself extremely disappointed. All you're getting in a fat pack is 9 boosters (10 if Kaladesh), a few basic lands, a nifty looking storage box, and a cool book about the set. Each of those boosters is going to have 1 rare/mythic(maybe 2 if you get a foil rare, 3 if you get a foil & flip in an innistradi pack, but your odds on either of these is too low to count on happening), so that means you're getting 9 or 10 rares, a bit more if you're lucky.
There's 68 Rare/Mythics in Battle for Zendikar. 12 of those cards are running over the $2 pricetag at the moment. (This is not saying there's not good cards going for under $2, but you balance the value of the 15 cards in a booster pack out, and if you're looking for specific good cards for under that price point, its better to just buy them individually, even in bulk, than to hope you crack them) 54 in Oath of the Gatewatch (17 over $2), 77 in Shadows over Innistrad (18 over $2), 49 in Eldritch Moon (18 over $2), and 72 in Kaladesh (26 over $2, and likely to drop). So you can see right there, the odds of you getting more than 2 or 3 valuable cards in a fat pack (or bundle, as they're now called) is pretty darn low.
That's not to say there's no value in cracking packs- they help get your common/uncommon stock up, can get you some trade fodder, they're fun to do it, and cracking a valued rare is far more satisfying than just buying one (and cheaper too... provided its not like the 100th pack you've cracked searching for a $20 rare). In addition for a fat pack, the storage box is very nice and handy, basic lands are always nice, especially when you're new, and the books is a good and informing read, not to mention contains an image catalog of every card in the set. I get one fat pack per set (2 for Kaladesh- the masterpiece hunt bug bit me hard one day at Wal Mart... I whiffed, but did get a Saheeli). But there's no correct answer on which one's going to give you what you want, because it's basically like asking which lottery numbers will win in the next Powerball drawing- there's no way to know, its all luck.
As far as where you can buy them, well, NOT Toys R Us because they gouge the living hell out of you ($52?!). I'd try your LGS, or Wal Mart, or Target, or even Walgreens- all will almost certainly have Kaladesh, and possibly Eldritch Moon, but getting an older one might require some luck with their inventory. Good luck with BFZ- the full art lands made those disappear almost immediately.
Thank you so much for your in-depth answer. I do understand that it is more appropriate to get good cards individually, it's just that I need a good variety of cards to choose from when I go to buy something on Black Friday. I am versing my friends on Saturday with Magic cards and so far they have gotten pretty good cards out of their deck builder's toolkits, which means I don't have time to buy good cards individually. I might consider buying them separately when I am older, but as of right now I need a quick source of good cards, and according to your advice, I might go for the Kaladesh Fat Pack(not only because of the value and number of rare cards but also for the extra booster pack). You seem to be an experienced Magic player, as you have clearly done your research. Thank you so much for answering my question!
You'll have to tell us what you ended up buying. I would have gone with a SOI pack just because you are more likely to get cards that synchronize with the SOI cards you already have. That or maybe Eldrich Moon. I find those two sets play well together. I realize this advice comes late. Really, if you get lucky, it doesn't matter which set you buy.
I ended up buying a Kaladesh fat pack, and I ended up getting really good light-colored cards from it. The artifacts in the pack are pretty good compared to other artifacts as well. But I was extremely disappointed when I bought it. I expected to find around 300 cards in the fat pack that were according to the statistics above, but the statistics and the number of cards I thought I would get didn't match. I might consider not buying a fat pack ever again. I'm tempted to buy another deck builder's toolkit, most likely of Origins, just to get a lot of good cards. I will sell repeated cards if I do and try to make a profit out of them. I have found that Origins' cards are REALLY good since my friend who bought an Origins deck builders toolkit puts down amazing cards when he plays against me.
P.S. I heard from another friend that Eldritch Moon Booster packs have a guaranteed double-sided Eldrazi card. Can someone confirm this if they bought an Eldritch Moon booster? (referring to the $4 packets with 15 cards)
P.S. I heard from another friend that Eldritch Moon Booster packs have a guaranteed double-sided Eldrazi card. Can someone confirm this if they bought an Eldritch Moon booster? (referring to the $4 packets with 15 cards)
That is mostly true - each pack of Eldritch Moon has a double-faced card in it, but there is one non-eldrazi DFC in the set (the legendary werewolf Ulrich), so you're only extremely likely to get an eldrazi per pack.
So I bought one Eldritch Moon booster pack and boy was I surprised. I got a really good double-sided Eldrazi card, a meld card, a checklist card, and most importantly, a planeswalker. That one planeswalker I got is apparently worth $40. I gained over $40 from a $4 booster pack, so I'm definitely inclined towards getting an Eldritch Moon fat pack. Any comments on if I should proceed?
Why did you think you would get 300 cards? Fatpacks contain 9 to 10 packs of 15 cards which at most is 150 cards plus a land pack. So if your counting the lands you might get 200 cards at most.
Congrats that was a very nice pack. Weather you want to buy the fatpack is upto you. There is no guarentee you will pull good cards, Its all luck. If you just want good cards for your deck(s) i recommend buying singles.
Definitely definitely definitely DON'T bother trying to purchase sealed product, open it, and get a profit from the contents. The market regulates itself - what I mean is that card prices go up and down depending on how often and how likely they are to be opened and how likely they are to be used in good decks - so it's mathematically impossible to, over the long run, make money opening packs/bundles/boxes.
Do you have a local Magic store that sells single cards? I would research the sets, write a list of cards you want and buy them, perhaps using your Liliana, the Last Hope as trade in value to help pay for the deck. The value you net from selling/trading in that card could potentially pay for an entire deck - not bad for a four dollar pack!
Fat packs are a bust now. For the price of 2 of them you pretty much could have bought a box. I'd rather have 36 packs than 20 packs.
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Fat packs are a bust now. For the price of 2 of them you pretty much could have bought a box. I'd rather have 36 packs than 20 packs.
I haven't bought a second one yet and I only bought one Kaladesh fat pack. I don't think I will buy a fat pack actually and I don't plan on buying something more than $60. I get that booster boxes are an amazing chance to get a ton of good cards, but I would rather buy cards individually when I go into a more professional later in my life. They're an easy way to get good cards for low prices. I just don't have the time to go card shopping right now and I have a lot more work to finish up before I can professionalize myself into Magic.
Definitely definitely definitely DON'T bother trying to purchase sealed product, open it, and get a profit from the contents. The market regulates itself - what I mean is that card prices go up and down depending on how often and how likely they are to be opened and how likely they are to be used in good decks - so it's mathematically impossible to, over the long run, make money opening packs/bundles/boxes.
Do you have a local Magic store that sells single cards? I would research the sets, write a list of cards you want and buy them, perhaps using your Liliana, the Last Hope as trade in value to help pay for the deck. The value you net from selling/trading in that card could potentially pay for an entire deck - not bad for a four dollar pack!
I definitely plan to go card shopping when I become professionally inclined into Magic. I also would like to sell Liliana, the Last Hope since many people are finding it recently, but I don't think I can sell it right now. I have made a wish list of cards for when I decide to become more involved in Magic. I don't expect to get a profit out of the booster pack I opened since I can't really sell cards as of right now. I understand the market price for my cards will fall as I wait but I can't really do much about it right now. However, I will sell it when I decide to become a professional Magic player.
(On Lantern Control)"A guy who literally just sits there and mills cards he doesn't like from your library while he slowly, slowly kills you this way."
"If a person's profile includes anime or My Little Pony, feel free to ignore everything they say."
Trolling about what? I'm not trolling anyone I'm just replying to their comments.
nevermind, sorry. I guess I seemed as clueless about Mtg when I started.
Also great pull with the liliana the last hope. I would recommend selling it to your magic store, and buying singles for your deck.
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Modern:
URB Grixis Delver URB
WUB Ad Nauseam WUB
(On Lantern Control)"A guy who literally just sits there and mills cards he doesn't like from your library while he slowly, slowly kills you this way."
"If a person's profile includes anime or My Little Pony, feel free to ignore everything they say."
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P.S. Please try to reply quickly and as in-depth as possible. Also, I would like to know which store I can find that specific Fat Pack in.
There's 68 Rare/Mythics in Battle for Zendikar. 12 of those cards are running over the $2 pricetag at the moment. (This is not saying there's not good cards going for under $2, but you balance the value of the 15 cards in a booster pack out, and if you're looking for specific good cards for under that price point, its better to just buy them individually, even in bulk, than to hope you crack them) 54 in Oath of the Gatewatch (17 over $2), 77 in Shadows over Innistrad (18 over $2), 49 in Eldritch Moon (18 over $2), and 72 in Kaladesh (26 over $2, and likely to drop). So you can see right there, the odds of you getting more than 2 or 3 valuable cards in a fat pack (or bundle, as they're now called) is pretty darn low.
That's not to say there's no value in cracking packs- they help get your common/uncommon stock up, can get you some trade fodder, they're fun to do it, and cracking a valued rare is far more satisfying than just buying one (and cheaper too... provided its not like the 100th pack you've cracked searching for a $20 rare). In addition for a fat pack, the storage box is very nice and handy, basic lands are always nice, especially when you're new, and the books is a good and informing read, not to mention contains an image catalog of every card in the set. I get one fat pack per set (2 for Kaladesh- the masterpiece hunt bug bit me hard one day at Wal Mart... I whiffed, but did get a Saheeli). But there's no correct answer on which one's going to give you what you want, because it's basically like asking which lottery numbers will win in the next Powerball drawing- there's no way to know, its all luck.
As far as where you can buy them, well, NOT Toys R Us because they gouge the living hell out of you ($52?!). I'd try your LGS, or Wal Mart, or Target, or even Walgreens- all will almost certainly have Kaladesh, and possibly Eldritch Moon, but getting an older one might require some luck with their inventory. Good luck with BFZ- the full art lands made those disappear almost immediately.
P.S. I heard from another friend that Eldritch Moon Booster packs have a guaranteed double-sided Eldrazi card. Can someone confirm this if they bought an Eldritch Moon booster? (referring to the $4 packets with 15 cards)
Do you have a local Magic store that sells single cards? I would research the sets, write a list of cards you want and buy them, perhaps using your Liliana, the Last Hope as trade in value to help pay for the deck. The value you net from selling/trading in that card could potentially pay for an entire deck - not bad for a four dollar pack!
Currently Playing:
Standard:
Nothing, the format Bores me!
Legacy:
RBurn (Made on the Cheap!)R
RGBelcherRG
WSoldier StompyW
BReanimatorB
EDH:
BUGRWSliver OverlordWRGUB
BGeth, Lord of the VaultB
I haven't bought a second one yet and I only bought one Kaladesh fat pack. I don't think I will buy a fat pack actually and I don't plan on buying something more than $60. I get that booster boxes are an amazing chance to get a ton of good cards, but I would rather buy cards individually when I go into a more professional later in my life. They're an easy way to get good cards for low prices. I just don't have the time to go card shopping right now and I have a lot more work to finish up before I can professionalize myself into Magic.
I definitely plan to go card shopping when I become professionally inclined into Magic. I also would like to sell Liliana, the Last Hope since many people are finding it recently, but I don't think I can sell it right now. I have made a wish list of cards for when I decide to become more involved in Magic. I don't expect to get a profit out of the booster pack I opened since I can't really sell cards as of right now. I understand the market price for my cards will fall as I wait but I can't really do much about it right now. However, I will sell it when I decide to become a professional Magic player.
nevermind, sorry. I guess I seemed as clueless about Mtg when I started.
Also great pull with the liliana the last hope. I would recommend selling it to your magic store, and buying singles for your deck.