for most of that time, my friends and i got the occasional single, booster pack, and random stuff from car-boot sales.
back in the day, a booster box was a sort of "holy grail" and we never even imagined being able to afford one.
now we're older and a little more able to support our hobbies, we've been getting a box (each) of the new sets, and adding to our collections that way. it keeps things balanced and means we don't have tier-1 decks owning everyone each time we play.
but for New Phyrexia, i went a step further. i ignored the box completely and went straight for a packaged set of 4x every uncommon/common. it was pretty cheap, too!
this is new ground for me... and i'm still not entirely sold on the idea. i bought the set because of money constraints, and because i felt that the uncommons were particularly good in the set..... but it takes away some of that randomness and balance from everyone in my friendship group just "buying a box". although i lose out on the bomb rares, admittedly.
do people regularly do this? it seemed like a good idea but i'd like to gauge the general feeling from the community.
what's your stance?
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I'm thinking of doing just like you, purklefluff. I've been playing magic for a long-ish time too (on and off for the last 10 years or so) and the last few sets have me unimpressed by the stuff I pull simply from ripping packs open. I usually purchase a box at release, then quick open it with my friends over the course of the evening, playing a pack war or two then just duel it out after pimping out our decks with the new tech we pulled.
However I realize how much I can actually put my 120$ (I'm from Canada... sealed stuff is more expensive ) to work for me in the singles / common-uncommon sets department. I can simply purchase a ~40$ w/ shipping 4xUncommon/common set and spend 80$ on rares I actually want, most of which are not the ~3 or so money rares in the set, and pass on the jank I'll always get (I'm looking at you foil Xenograft and foil Fresh Meat).
I realize I likely won't get the nice things like planeswalkers or swords or batterskull, but I feel I'd be getting more from my money that way.
And finally, to echo AQJ, I hear "more serious" people only buy the singles they want/need, usually the money rares, which are advantageous even then, what with the average money rare being at 25-40$ at the time of release, and you are not likely to pull 2-3 money rares per box, even though statistical outliers exist. (My friend pulled 2x SoFaF and 2x Tezzeret in his besieged box)
Cheers, and looking forward to commander,
Chlikaflok
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I think it's a great way to buy into the game. You just never know what weird commons and uncommons you'll need to dig for and it's nice to know that you won't have to go back and find them in shops after forgetting they existed.
It's nice to have a full playset of all the commons, but everything else is just wasted money. I usually buy a few boxes for drafting with my friends and 4 common sets, then buy the uncommons and rares I need. Uncommon sets usually cost a lot of money when you look at how many of those uncommons you really use (and how many of those uncommons end up being worth more than 0.10€)
All the workhorse cards are usually common/uncommon anyway. They're the glue that holds the rares together. I'd rather have those, most days. Makes deckbuilding much easier, definitely.
If you've got lots of old rares, barring the creatures, they're going to better cards 90% of the time anyway.
I try to restrict myself to $100 per set, which meant I could get 1 booster box and maybe a playset of a medium quality rare I liked as singles.
I've kept the same budget, but now I get the common/uncommon playset for $30/$35, which gives me $65-$70 to spend on rare singles. If you're not really competitive and like building lots of decks, you can get loads of the $1> rares with that sort of money. If you like to focus on building 1-3 great decks, you can get the singles you need to make those decks. It means never opening a super bomby mythic, like a batterskull or whatnot, but it eliminates all the chaff you get from opening a box. I'll be doing it this way for as long as I play, because I KNOW I'm getting good bang for my buck, instead of just gambling on the rares Ill open.
Additionally, if you are good at picking out the sleeper rares/mythics in a set you can stand to gain significant monetary value on your cards. I picked Spellskites for $2 apiece, and now they're worth what, like $10? If I ever find I'm unable to use my Spellskites, these have become some premium trade bait.
It's definitely a good idea if you are just getting back into the game and/or really like to brew. NPH in particular has some powerful uncommons (Mental Misstep, Dismember, Beast Within, etc.), so you'll get some good mileage out of your purchase.
That said, I wouldn't recommend doing this if you're already married to a deck for whatever reason. It's cheaper just to buy singles in that case.
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I have not yet bought one of these, but I think they're a pretty good deal if you're looking to have the general core of a set and then buy singles to augment it. It's definitely something I've considered.
A few sets will have one or two uncommons that are worth most of the $30ish dollars that a common/uncommon playset costs (Mental Misstep in New Phyrexia and Path to Exile in Conflux come to mind). I order such a set for every new expansion because it guarentees you all the commons and uncommons and is far cheaper than buying a box, which saves me money to spend on any rares I want to pick up as singles for any decks I end up building. It's slightly less worth it for Core Sets because of the number of reprints, but is still a decent value as it lets you stock up on staples for which you might want more than 4 copies.
I think it's a great way to buy into the game. You just never know what weird commons and uncommons you'll need to dig for and it's nice to know that you won't have to go back and find them in shops after forgetting they existed.
This.
When a new set comes out, I buy the 4x common uncommon sets, and then buy any chase rares I want as singles. It's SO much cheaper then randomly cracking packs, and it's REALLY nice knowing that you have the cards so if you want to build a new deck, you know you have a playset of any common and uncomon that deck might need sitting in your closet already, so you're not chasing them down in binders and getting overcharged at stores for them.
Easily the most economical way to play MTG. I get my pack cracking fix by drafting. So instead of $85 per box, I get a playset of common/uncomon for around $40 shipped, and have money left over to play in three $15 drafts, which at the store I play in garauntees me 12 packs worth of cards to open even if I never win a game. From those drafts I'll usually end up with 15 or so random rares/foils I can use for trade fodder as well.
This is my MO for nearly every set, whether I take them out of full sets and keep them, sort them from cases and sell the rest, or buy them from other people I have a full Common/Uncommon playset for every set during which I was playing going all the way back to Planeshift. (I'm missing 5th Dawn-> SoK and Lor-> Eve which is sorely missed.. great uncommons in those sets).
I was actually about to thin the herd a bit, but then people started talking about Overextended and I decided it wasn't costing me anything but space.
If you think about it this way. You put $120 per year into the game and then only have to worry about singles most of which are rare.
If you keep trading your rares forward wisely you can grow your collection at minimal cost.
Out of the blackness and stench of the engulfing swamp emerged a shimmering figure. Only the splattered armor and ichor-stained sword hinted at the unfathomable evil the knight had just laid waste.
I would just buy the cards you want at each release. You'll spend less money in the long run and you'll end up with less "chaff" that just sits and collects dust in your basement.
For New Phyrexia, I have yet to buy a pack of it yet. I bought a couple Intro Packs (I like the grab and go decks makes having a "new deck to play" easier then trying to build one.. especially if you don't really have the time to do so.) I bought 16x Mental Missteps because I play Legacy and I wanted to have those on hand. (I have since acquired more .. I have roughly 24 now.) I bought a playset of each Beast Within, Despise, and a few other Uncommons/Commons. And I traded for a playset of Karns. The only card I'm really missing from the set for me is the Sword of War and Peace.
and I probably haven't spent close to 140 on New Phyrexia.
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I just want people who redraft to admit this:
"I can't draft objectively unless I am able to guarantee that I receive at least 3 rares. I am also better than most average/new players so I want to make sure that I get the best rares and they end up with worse ones. I care more about the monetary value of cards than actually playing the game for decent prizes."
It seems like a waste of money to me. Do you really want to have 4 of every cruddy common and uncommon in NPH? Sure, there are some good ones, but a lot of the them are pretty much unplayable in constructed. If I were you, I would just buy the cards I needed
It costs as much to get a 4x common/uncommon set as to get all the commons/uncommons you want and occasionally you get a sleeper like Spreading Seas or something out of the deal for free.
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That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating. Take it back!
I get most of my commons and uncommons from drafting or limited events. That way you get more value out of your money (provided you win) and you usually get to choose what cards you get. I may not get a player's set of all the commons and uncommons, but I usually get the better cards this way.
It seems like a waste of money to me. Do you really want to have 4 of every cruddy common and uncommon in NPH? Sure, there are some good ones, but a lot of the them are pretty much unplayable in constructed. If I were you, I would just buy the cards I needed
It's actually cheaper to buy the sets, sometimes. The NPH set I bought was $30, and included 4 Misstep ($24), 4 Beast Within ($10), 4 Dismember ($6), 4 Deceiver Exarch ($4), 4 Despise ($8), and probably some other decent uncommons that I'm forgetting right now. A lot of the cards are bad, but I own a lot of bad cards to begin with.
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been playing magic for ... 17 years?
for most of that time, my friends and i got the occasional single, booster pack, and random stuff from car-boot sales.
back in the day, a booster box was a sort of "holy grail" and we never even imagined being able to afford one.
now we're older and a little more able to support our hobbies, we've been getting a box (each) of the new sets, and adding to our collections that way. it keeps things balanced and means we don't have tier-1 decks owning everyone each time we play.
but for New Phyrexia, i went a step further. i ignored the box completely and went straight for a packaged set of 4x every uncommon/common. it was pretty cheap, too!
this is new ground for me... and i'm still not entirely sold on the idea. i bought the set because of money constraints, and because i felt that the uncommons were particularly good in the set..... but it takes away some of that randomness and balance from everyone in my friendship group just "buying a box". although i lose out on the bomb rares, admittedly.
do people regularly do this? it seemed like a good idea but i'd like to gauge the general feeling from the community.
what's your stance?
However I realize how much I can actually put my 120$ (I'm from Canada... sealed stuff is more expensive ) to work for me in the singles / common-uncommon sets department. I can simply purchase a ~40$ w/ shipping 4xUncommon/common set and spend 80$ on rares I actually want, most of which are not the ~3 or so money rares in the set, and pass on the jank I'll always get (I'm looking at you foil Xenograft and foil Fresh Meat).
I realize I likely won't get the nice things like planeswalkers or swords or batterskull, but I feel I'd be getting more from my money that way.
And finally, to echo AQJ, I hear "more serious" people only buy the singles they want/need, usually the money rares, which are advantageous even then, what with the average money rare being at 25-40$ at the time of release, and you are not likely to pull 2-3 money rares per box, even though statistical outliers exist. (My friend pulled 2x SoFaF and 2x Tezzeret in his besieged box)
Cheers, and looking forward to commander,
Chlikaflok
If you've got lots of old rares, barring the creatures, they're going to better cards 90% of the time anyway.
I think you're fine.
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I've kept the same budget, but now I get the common/uncommon playset for $30/$35, which gives me $65-$70 to spend on rare singles. If you're not really competitive and like building lots of decks, you can get loads of the $1> rares with that sort of money. If you like to focus on building 1-3 great decks, you can get the singles you need to make those decks. It means never opening a super bomby mythic, like a batterskull or whatnot, but it eliminates all the chaff you get from opening a box. I'll be doing it this way for as long as I play, because I KNOW I'm getting good bang for my buck, instead of just gambling on the rares Ill open.
Additionally, if you are good at picking out the sleeper rares/mythics in a set you can stand to gain significant monetary value on your cards. I picked Spellskites for $2 apiece, and now they're worth what, like $10? If I ever find I'm unable to use my Spellskites, these have become some premium trade bait.
That said, I wouldn't recommend doing this if you're already married to a deck for whatever reason. It's cheaper just to buy singles in that case.
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UBGThe MimeoplasmUBG
This.
When a new set comes out, I buy the 4x common uncommon sets, and then buy any chase rares I want as singles. It's SO much cheaper then randomly cracking packs, and it's REALLY nice knowing that you have the cards so if you want to build a new deck, you know you have a playset of any common and uncomon that deck might need sitting in your closet already, so you're not chasing them down in binders and getting overcharged at stores for them.
Easily the most economical way to play MTG. I get my pack cracking fix by drafting. So instead of $85 per box, I get a playset of common/uncomon for around $40 shipped, and have money left over to play in three $15 drafts, which at the store I play in garauntees me 12 packs worth of cards to open even if I never win a game. From those drafts I'll usually end up with 15 or so random rares/foils I can use for trade fodder as well.
I was actually about to thin the herd a bit, but then people started talking about Overextended and I decided it wasn't costing me anything but space.
If you think about it this way. You put $120 per year into the game and then only have to worry about singles most of which are rare.
If you keep trading your rares forward wisely you can grow your collection at minimal cost.
For New Phyrexia, I have yet to buy a pack of it yet. I bought a couple Intro Packs (I like the grab and go decks makes having a "new deck to play" easier then trying to build one.. especially if you don't really have the time to do so.) I bought 16x Mental Missteps because I play Legacy and I wanted to have those on hand. (I have since acquired more .. I have roughly 24 now.) I bought a playset of each Beast Within, Despise, and a few other Uncommons/Commons. And I traded for a playset of Karns. The only card I'm really missing from the set for me is the Sword of War and Peace.
and I probably haven't spent close to 140 on New Phyrexia.
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It's actually cheaper to buy the sets, sometimes. The NPH set I bought was $30, and included 4 Misstep ($24), 4 Beast Within ($10), 4 Dismember ($6), 4 Deceiver Exarch ($4), 4 Despise ($8), and probably some other decent uncommons that I'm forgetting right now. A lot of the cards are bad, but I own a lot of bad cards to begin with.
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UBGThe MimeoplasmUBG