I am a fairly new player to Magic. My first event was M10 pre-release, so I'm getting ready to go through my first real rotation where I have alot of cards that will no longer be standard legal.
I'm looking for advice on what I should do with my Fetch lands.
And a little background about me so you can give good advice:
I play almost exclusively standard. I play with a casual playgroup at lunch most work days and only occasionally get to my local shop for a FNM (I'd like to go more, but hard at this point of my life with wife, 3 kids, 50+ hour week job).
I'm the most competitive in my casual group. I buy alot of cards because I'm never happy playing only 1 deck for weeks at a time. But I don't often buy a card that costs more than $10. I rely on trades and lucky pack pulls for big money cards. Mostly pack pulls because hard to trade when you aren't at the store much.
I just started getting into EDH, but it takes too long for a lunch break game and that means I won't play it very often. (2-3 times a year probably)
That's why I'm asking here, I don't know what I should do?:
Trade my Fetch lands off for new Planeswalkers or other cards that I want? (otherwise I'll have $200 of Fetch land cards sitting in a box on a shelf)
Hold them because the value will double/triple in the next 2-3 years and it's worth the wait to make better trades in the future?
Hold them because they will get reprinted for Standard and I'll have to recollect them all anyway?
Hold them because in a few more years I'll be so fed up with standard rotations - that I'll just want cool cards to build fun decks with.
Which fetches, Onslaught or Zendikar? Onslaught have been going up as of late I believe (I know Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand have). They aren't going to rotate out of anything soon unlike the Zendikar ones which will rotate out of standard meaning that the Zendikar ones can pretty much only lose value from now on. However the Onslaught ones may be reprinted sometime in the future causing them to decrease to the value of probably the Zendikar fetches. From what we've heard, Innistrad is going to be graveyard based and fetches are great with the graveyeard, so this slightly increases the probability of them getting reprinted. The last time that a cycle of nonbasic lands that weren't from a core set (ie not the M10/M11/M12 dua) was reprinted was in 9th and 10th when they reprinted the enemy pain lands alongside the allied pain lands which were also reprinted in 5th, 6th and 7th. I'm pretty sure no cycle of lands has been reprinted in an expansion block so we'll have to see.
Also Innistrad is supposed to be pushing monocolored but that's speculation. Also, the last couple of blocks have all featured new dual (tricolored in the case of Alara) land cycles.
Keep them! Fetches will always hold their value pretty steadily. It is true that the zendikar fetches will go down a bit during rotation, they will still see play in other formats for years to come.
IMO, I don't see why you "play almost exclusively standard" with a casual playgroup/no time for FNM/Other events.
I see several options.
1.) You stick with Standard. Only standard. Then trade the Fetches for Standard cards.
2.) You and your playgroup move out of standard to whatever kind of casual you decide to create. Keep the fetches. You said that you like to switch decks, and fetches are always good
3.) Same as 2.) , but instead of keeping the fetches, you trade them for a bunch of cool stuff you want to have fun with.
based on your situation, I'd get rid of every valuable card I have 6 months prior to rotation. For example, I'd of gotten rid of all my Zendikar block valuable rares 3 months ago during the new Phyrexia spoiler season.
I have a very specific reason for doing this. In my experience, most cards peak around this time and it will be increasingly difficult to offload/trade them after this point. This is purely for financial reasons, to maximize my return on investment. If you plan on playing with them till the bitter end, and then trade them off/sell them, fair enough, but you can expect most people to undervaluate them.
As far as "should I sell them", yes, of course you should since you only play standard. If you feel like starting a new format, try EDH. That format is excellent at show-casing variety like legacy, but is much easier to break into financially. Also, the EDH format is singletons, so you can get rid of all but 1 of each of your fetch's, and keep the rest to play :P. This is somewhat a compromise I enjoy personally, and might work for you.
Definitely keep them. I think bocephus nailed it on the head; the only cards I've ever really regretted trading (from a gameplay rather than monetary standpoint) are good lands.
To me, the key difference between lands and other good cards is that lands aren't inherently broken. If you're playing casual your playgroup may not appreciate your Stoneforge / Skullclamp / Jace 2.0 deck, so I can understand trading off cards like that when they rotate. Good dual lands, on the other hand, probably won't cause any objections when used to make a Five Color Minotaur tribal deck. Even if you only make one casual / non-Standard deck that you play for giggles, they'll find a place in that deck.
Any fetch land that can search out a land that produces blue mana you should keep mainly because blue is the most powerful color in legacy and vintage. These will keep their value and/or rise the most out of all the fetchlands
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I am a fairly new player to Magic. My first event was M10 pre-release, so I'm getting ready to go through my first real rotation where I have alot of cards that will no longer be standard legal.
I'm looking for advice on what I should do with my Fetch lands.
And a little background about me so you can give good advice:
I play almost exclusively standard. I play with a casual playgroup at lunch most work days and only occasionally get to my local shop for a FNM (I'd like to go more, but hard at this point of my life with wife, 3 kids, 50+ hour week job).
I'm the most competitive in my casual group. I buy alot of cards because I'm never happy playing only 1 deck for weeks at a time. But I don't often buy a card that costs more than $10. I rely on trades and lucky pack pulls for big money cards. Mostly pack pulls because hard to trade when you aren't at the store much.
I just started getting into EDH, but it takes too long for a lunch break game and that means I won't play it very often. (2-3 times a year probably)
That's why I'm asking here, I don't know what I should do?:
Trade my Fetch lands off for new Planeswalkers or other cards that I want? (otherwise I'll have $200 of Fetch land cards sitting in a box on a shelf)
Hold them because the value will double/triple in the next 2-3 years and it's worth the wait to make better trades in the future?
Hold them because they will get reprinted for Standard and I'll have to recollect them all anyway?
Hold them because in a few more years I'll be so fed up with standard rotations - that I'll just want cool cards to build fun decks with.
Thanks for the advice.
If it's the Zendikar ones, ship them. They're only going down with the upcoming rotation
If it's the Onslaught ones, keep them, Legacy and Vintage are causing their prices to at least stay the same, if not go up
Also Innistrad is supposed to be pushing monocolored but that's speculation. Also, the last couple of blocks have all featured new dual (tricolored in the case of Alara) land cycles.
I see several options.
1.) You stick with Standard. Only standard. Then trade the Fetches for Standard cards.
2.) You and your playgroup move out of standard to whatever kind of casual you decide to create. Keep the fetches. You said that you like to switch decks, and fetches are always good
3.) Same as 2.) , but instead of keeping the fetches, you trade them for a bunch of cool stuff you want to have fun with.
WUBEsper-Blade
EDH: Savra, Queen of the GolgariBG
Format: Standard - NPH
Location: 2011 MMS Qualifier - Minneapolis, MN (6/4)
Players: 99
Finished: 2nd Place
TRADE THREAD
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=347708
I have a very specific reason for doing this. In my experience, most cards peak around this time and it will be increasingly difficult to offload/trade them after this point. This is purely for financial reasons, to maximize my return on investment. If you plan on playing with them till the bitter end, and then trade them off/sell them, fair enough, but you can expect most people to undervaluate them.
As far as "should I sell them", yes, of course you should since you only play standard. If you feel like starting a new format, try EDH. That format is excellent at show-casing variety like legacy, but is much easier to break into financially. Also, the EDH format is singletons, so you can get rid of all but 1 of each of your fetch's, and keep the rest to play :P. This is somewhat a compromise I enjoy personally, and might work for you.
Good luck!
if you play casual (which you already said you do), fetches are the most important cards in your collection.
besides, playing casual but sticking regimentedly to standard seems like an oxymoron.
keep them, by jove.
1 - Zendikar fetchlands will still see play in Extended
2 - If Modern does become a for real format they will be an essential tool for zoo decks and others that want to splash a mana fix.
To me, the key difference between lands and other good cards is that lands aren't inherently broken. If you're playing casual your playgroup may not appreciate your Stoneforge / Skullclamp / Jace 2.0 deck, so I can understand trading off cards like that when they rotate. Good dual lands, on the other hand, probably won't cause any objections when used to make a Five Color Minotaur tribal deck. Even if you only make one casual / non-Standard deck that you play for giggles, they'll find a place in that deck.