I haven't played Magic since 1997, but I'm getting out my old cards and am wanting to play again. Most of my cards are 4th Edition and earlier. I have looked up some of the local shops that host game nights, and I see that most of the formats are Standard or other formats that don't allow these older original cards. Are all of these cards useless to me now? And if I buy new cards (assuming I want to be able to play in a wide range of settings), should I only be buying cards from 2016?
Keep everything you have, don't sell it - don't trade it....atleast until you've gotten familiar with the state of magic right now.
I can't tell you too much about the health/meta of Modern/Standard. Your old cards are most likely useless for these formats outside of the possible reprint. Standard recently went through some major changes as to the length of time before cards rotate and due to this there are a lot of vendors trying to take advantage of players right now and pushing for this new format. Don't get sucked in! It's vendors trying to sell off rotated product, there is a lot of backlash from the modern community on this.
Legacy and Vintage are the two competitive formats where your cards will be most sought after, but the formats are not enjoying a healthy player base right now.
Casual formats are huge right now.
EDH/Commander is the most popular casual format right now. This format allows your old cards, you should look into EDH as the new home for your old cards.
Pauper is another popular format, your old cards have a home here too as it also allows old cards.
There are more casual formats but...baby steps for now.
As far as for Standard, everyones pretty much told you everything already. I find Standard to be fun, three of the five sets right now are really good (and the other two aren't quite as bad as people say they are). But EDH is a really fun format, and all your cards are legal for it (save for the banned list, which includes Moxen/Lotus, etc)
And I agree wholeheartedly you shouldn't do anythiing with yoru cards until you see the values now, because they're nothing like they were in 1997. Those $20 dual lands are now $300 dual lands. But at the same time, many cards have had their value die. Shivan Dragon used to be an awesome $20 rare... now its a crap rare that's sold with the starter sets. On the flipside, you can get $2-3 for a Lightning Bolt, a common you probably have a zillion of.
If you have revised dual lands, any of the "power nine," anything from alpha/beta/arabian nights/antiquities, or a handful of random things like Force of will, wasteland, or lion's eye diamond, you may have a pile of money in your collection. If you don't have those things your cards are unlikely to be either good or particularly valuable.
The way we play the game is very different today. When I was playing in the mid-late 90's you could go to a card shop and play casual games with random people... it doesn't really work that way anymore. It's both good and bad. The good is that you can play a local tournament at least weekly at basically any shop (some places almost daily), the bad is if you do not have a very competitive deck (or a lot of skill at drafting) you will get stomped a lot. Which cards you want depends on which format or formats you want to play. I have observed people who come back to the game tend to gravitate toward modern, legacy, or commander.
One of the weirdest things in the past 10 years is that the most-popular casual play in most places is now done with 100-card "EDH" or "Commander" decks, instead of the tried-and-true fun, kitchen-table 60-card decks.
Most "60-card" play in shops tends to be at least semi-competitive Standard, Modern or Legacy.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Master of inaccurate, non-thought-out baseless and naive statements.
I like baby fowl.
Honestly I'd price your cards using any online retailer, preferably several to see what you're starting with. Yo could be sitting on a pile of literally thousands of dollars worth of cardboard. Do not trade/sell until you're sure of what you have!!
I wouldn't jump into a constructed environment (where you build your own deck from cards you own) until you get up to speed on the game environment. Basically there are a handful of formats to consider:
$$$$ Legacy/vintage - most everything ever printed is legal with some banned or restricted cards. Very tuned format that is quite expensive as wizards has promised they won't reprint certain cards as old as your collection that are integral to success over other decks in many cases.
$$$ Modern - everything printed in 8th edition forward that went through a standard rotation is legal (this excludes supplementary product releases). This is a fast format and in some cases kind of expensive.
$-$$ Standard - this is the only rotating format, and includes cards from about the last two years. The format is financially accessible at a local level and quite wide open right now.
$ Draft - you sit down with X number of packs and pick a card and pass the pack to the next person. You do this until you've built a deck and go through a smallish tournament. This is a great way to start rebuilding and learn the format, but inexperience may cause you to pass something valuable or very strong. Channelfireball.com has great write ups discussing what's good in each color.
$-$$$ Commander or EDH - you pick a legendary creature and build a 100 card deck that only uses that creatures colors. This format was originally designed as a multiplayer format and TENDS to be more casual.
$-$$ Supplemental products include a vast array of preconstructed decks and sets to get you started with a friend. Typically I'd shy away from any bit the new planeswalker decks. Applications to different formats will vary.
Free! Lastly I would highly suggest you pick up the magic software game on Xbox/ps/steam. There are a ton of rules to learn and you'll get a feel for how the game has evolved.
The game is the best it's ever been and welcome back! Hope this helps.
Wow... I feel kind of overwhelmed right now. We used to just collect tons of cards (buy some from the local store, buy others from older kids who quit playing), just build cool decks from our collection, and then get together and play. If there were "formats" back then, I didn't know about them. We would have tournaments un-officially organized by our junior high (my junior-high principal was really into MTG), but we just brought the decks we made and had fun playing. It sounds like things are a lot different now. Am I going to have trouble finding people who just like to play to have fun? I'm worried I'm going to go to one of these Friday Night Magic events and get the tar beat out of me, and with kids, a full-time job, etc, I won't have the time to invest like I had when I was younger. (Except now I have way more money to spend... )
... three of the five sets right now are really good (and the other two aren't quite as bad as people say they are).
I just placed an order online for two Eldritch Moon booster boxes, one Shadows Over Innistrad booster box, and a Kaladesh bundle. Which are the "other two" sets right now that people say aren't that great? (I'm hoping one of them isn't Eldritch Moon since I just bought two boxes...)
... three of the five sets right now are really good (and the other two aren't quite as bad as people say they are).
I just placed an order online for two Eldritch Moon booster boxes, one Shadows Over Innistrad booster box, and a Kaladesh bundle. Which are the "other two" sets right now that people say aren't that great? (I'm hoping one of them isn't Eldritch Moon since I just bought two boxes...)
Don't worry about it, the complaints are formed with consideration to the Standard & Modern formats. You're gonna have a blast with those boxes! Wait until you see the creature cards that fuse together....
Whatever you do, before you sell/trade/do anything with your older cards look up the value. Lion's eye diamond was obscenely bad when it was printed, people hated it, now it's worth $100 and is one of the most broken cards in the game whereas back then it was worth a few dimes. If you have dual lands that look like underground sea/gigantic load of text in textbox with the 2 colors that the land taps for, all of those are worth $40-$300 depending on the dual land in question. Power 9 cards/mox sapphire, black lotus, ancestral recall, time walk, and timetwister are all worth hundreds to thousands apiece.
In terms of how useful cards are from 1997 and earlier, they can be used in casual, EDH/commander, legacy, cube, and vintage. Which might not be useful depending on local scene, but it's never a bad thing to own dual lands and power 9 because they are worth a lot of cash and cash can get you almost anything.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Yawgmoth," Freyalise whispered as she set the bomb, "now you will pay for your treachery."
Some people play a format called "93/94" or "Old School", where only the first seven sets or so are legal (local variations might occur). It's a small fringe format, but it has some hardcore players here and there. This might be relevant for you for two different reasons:
* You might want to play a format that's pretty much exactly the kind of magic you grew up with. If so, ask around locally, you might find that small group of old geezers doing nostalgia trips; or
* Some cards you mght have that might seem pretty worthless can be worth a fortune solely because they are staples of this format. A few random examples from Arabian Nights: Erhnam Djinn $80, Juzam Djinn $500. Finding a buyer can be hard, but they are out there.
As BC wrote in the post above mine, look up the prices of every single one of your cards, because if you've been away from the game for a while, you'll have no idea what's gold and what's crap.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
You might have real value in your old cards. If you are unsure where to start, read up on the popular MTG formats.
If you are on a budget, you can use your old cards to get new cards. I recommend using MTG price sites like mtggoldfish.com and filter their price listings by "Set." For example, you mentioned 4th Edition. Filter the list for "4TH Edition" then by "price" and check if you own top dollar cards for that set. It is easy to convert your cards into value at most LGS to get booster packs or singles. Ebay is another way of getting rid of cards for cash. Make sure to add tracking for your top dollar cards as insurance.
It sounds to me like the OP used to play good old fashioned "casual magic" - and you can continue to - you don't need to worry about formats etc, but that does make it hard to get random "pickup" games of magic.
The product you bought will be great, and a lot of fun, and mix it away with you old cards. build some decks and play with some friends who also build decks out of the random cards they have. It will be fun. Worry about "Formats" only once one of you starts winning all the time only because they are spending a lot more money than you If you already have a few friends playing on a kitchen table, keep it up!
If you are looking to get some random pickup games, the commander format is definitely what you're looking for. People have mention it (ie multiplayer, 100 card deck, built around a legendary creature) - but the Commander product is a fun thing to get you started with this - this years version was just released, but any of them you find are going to be awesome if you like the look of the commander in charge of the deck, and the decks are very very customizable.
If you are interested in trying slightly more competitive things, there will be "pre-release" tournaments in January for the new set Aether Revolt. Happens the weekend before the release of the new set, and everyone just plays sealed decks against each other. If you find this fun, I am sure a local store run's draft tournaments also, and these are great ways of building your collection while getting into the groove of playing competitively.
pucatrade
big receipts
alpha mox emerald
beta time walk
4 goyfs received
3 liliana of the veil
4 karn liberated
3 force of will
4 grove of the burnwillows
snapcaster mage
3 horizon canopy
2 full art damnation
Maybe DRAFTING might be something to try. It is a lot of fun especially during a Prerelease. Aether Revolt is around corner. Some LGS accept trade-in cards to pay for your drafting entry. Food for thought.
I can't tell you too much about the health/meta of Modern/Standard. Your old cards are most likely useless for these formats outside of the possible reprint. Standard recently went through some major changes as to the length of time before cards rotate and due to this there are a lot of vendors trying to take advantage of players right now and pushing for this new format. Don't get sucked in! It's vendors trying to sell off rotated product, there is a lot of backlash from the modern community on this.
Legacy and Vintage are the two competitive formats where your cards will be most sought after, but the formats are not enjoying a healthy player base right now.
Casual formats are huge right now.
EDH/Commander is the most popular casual format right now. This format allows your old cards, you should look into EDH as the new home for your old cards.
Pauper is another popular format, your old cards have a home here too as it also allows old cards.
There are more casual formats but...baby steps for now.
Welcome back
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/334931-what-is-the-most-pimp-card-deck-youve-seen-or?comment=5361
Commander
RGOmnath, Locus of Rage Grenades! EDHGR
UWSygg's Defense, EDH - Voltron & ControlWU
BUGMimeoplasm EDH ft. Ifnir Cycling-discard comboBUG
WBTeysa, Connoisseur of CullingBW
BWSelenia & Recruiter of the Guard suicice combo EDHWB
UBRWGO-Kagachi - 5 Color Enchantments - EDHUBRWG
I wouldn't move anything until you know what you want or what formats are popular in your area
Colossus of Sardia
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Yeah...
As far as for Standard, everyones pretty much told you everything already. I find Standard to be fun, three of the five sets right now are really good (and the other two aren't quite as bad as people say they are). But EDH is a really fun format, and all your cards are legal for it (save for the banned list, which includes Moxen/Lotus, etc)
And I agree wholeheartedly you shouldn't do anythiing with yoru cards until you see the values now, because they're nothing like they were in 1997. Those $20 dual lands are now $300 dual lands. But at the same time, many cards have had their value die. Shivan Dragon used to be an awesome $20 rare... now its a crap rare that's sold with the starter sets. On the flipside, you can get $2-3 for a Lightning Bolt, a common you probably have a zillion of.
The way we play the game is very different today. When I was playing in the mid-late 90's you could go to a card shop and play casual games with random people... it doesn't really work that way anymore. It's both good and bad. The good is that you can play a local tournament at least weekly at basically any shop (some places almost daily), the bad is if you do not have a very competitive deck (or a lot of skill at drafting) you will get stomped a lot. Which cards you want depends on which format or formats you want to play. I have observed people who come back to the game tend to gravitate toward modern, legacy, or commander.
Most "60-card" play in shops tends to be at least semi-competitive Standard, Modern or Legacy.
I like baby fowl.
I wouldn't jump into a constructed environment (where you build your own deck from cards you own) until you get up to speed on the game environment. Basically there are a handful of formats to consider:
$$$$ Legacy/vintage - most everything ever printed is legal with some banned or restricted cards. Very tuned format that is quite expensive as wizards has promised they won't reprint certain cards as old as your collection that are integral to success over other decks in many cases.
$$$ Modern - everything printed in 8th edition forward that went through a standard rotation is legal (this excludes supplementary product releases). This is a fast format and in some cases kind of expensive.
$-$$ Standard - this is the only rotating format, and includes cards from about the last two years. The format is financially accessible at a local level and quite wide open right now.
$ Draft - you sit down with X number of packs and pick a card and pass the pack to the next person. You do this until you've built a deck and go through a smallish tournament. This is a great way to start rebuilding and learn the format, but inexperience may cause you to pass something valuable or very strong. Channelfireball.com has great write ups discussing what's good in each color.
$-$$$ Commander or EDH - you pick a legendary creature and build a 100 card deck that only uses that creatures colors. This format was originally designed as a multiplayer format and TENDS to be more casual.
$-$$ Supplemental products include a vast array of preconstructed decks and sets to get you started with a friend. Typically I'd shy away from any bit the new planeswalker decks. Applications to different formats will vary.
Free! Lastly I would highly suggest you pick up the magic software game on Xbox/ps/steam. There are a ton of rules to learn and you'll get a feel for how the game has evolved.
The game is the best it's ever been and welcome back! Hope this helps.
I just placed an order online for two Eldritch Moon booster boxes, one Shadows Over Innistrad booster box, and a Kaladesh bundle. Which are the "other two" sets right now that people say aren't that great? (I'm hoping one of them isn't Eldritch Moon since I just bought two boxes...)
Don't worry about it, the complaints are formed with consideration to the Standard & Modern formats. You're gonna have a blast with those boxes! Wait until you see the creature cards that fuse together....
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/334931-what-is-the-most-pimp-card-deck-youve-seen-or?comment=5361
Commander
RGOmnath, Locus of Rage Grenades! EDHGR
UWSygg's Defense, EDH - Voltron & ControlWU
BUGMimeoplasm EDH ft. Ifnir Cycling-discard comboBUG
WBTeysa, Connoisseur of CullingBW
BWSelenia & Recruiter of the Guard suicice combo EDHWB
UBRWGO-Kagachi - 5 Color Enchantments - EDHUBRWG
In terms of how useful cards are from 1997 and earlier, they can be used in casual, EDH/commander, legacy, cube, and vintage. Which might not be useful depending on local scene, but it's never a bad thing to own dual lands and power 9 because they are worth a lot of cash and cash can get you almost anything.
Currently Playing:
Retired
* You might want to play a format that's pretty much exactly the kind of magic you grew up with. If so, ask around locally, you might find that small group of old geezers doing nostalgia trips; or
* Some cards you mght have that might seem pretty worthless can be worth a fortune solely because they are staples of this format. A few random examples from Arabian Nights: Erhnam Djinn $80, Juzam Djinn $500. Finding a buyer can be hard, but they are out there.
As BC wrote in the post above mine, look up the prices of every single one of your cards, because if you've been away from the game for a while, you'll have no idea what's gold and what's crap.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
If you are on a budget, you can use your old cards to get new cards. I recommend using MTG price sites like mtggoldfish.com and filter their price listings by "Set." For example, you mentioned 4th Edition. Filter the list for "4TH Edition" then by "price" and check if you own top dollar cards for that set. It is easy to convert your cards into value at most LGS to get booster packs or singles. Ebay is another way of getting rid of cards for cash. Make sure to add tracking for your top dollar cards as insurance.
I hope this helps.
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB
The product you bought will be great, and a lot of fun, and mix it away with you old cards. build some decks and play with some friends who also build decks out of the random cards they have. It will be fun. Worry about "Formats" only once one of you starts winning all the time only because they are spending a lot more money than you If you already have a few friends playing on a kitchen table, keep it up!
If you are looking to get some random pickup games, the commander format is definitely what you're looking for. People have mention it (ie multiplayer, 100 card deck, built around a legendary creature) - but the Commander product is a fun thing to get you started with this - this years version was just released, but any of them you find are going to be awesome if you like the look of the commander in charge of the deck, and the decks are very very customizable.
If you are interested in trying slightly more competitive things, there will be "pre-release" tournaments in January for the new set Aether Revolt. Happens the weekend before the release of the new set, and everyone just plays sealed decks against each other. If you find this fun, I am sure a local store run's draft tournaments also, and these are great ways of building your collection while getting into the groove of playing competitively.
Welcome back to the world of magic!
you can pull up cards on set at a time and it will have prices for you.
here is arabian nights for example.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/index/ARN#paper
pucatrade
big receipts
alpha mox emerald
beta time walk
4 goyfs received
3 liliana of the veil
4 karn liberated
3 force of will
4 grove of the burnwillows
snapcaster mage
3 horizon canopy
2 full art damnation
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB