Where did this idea come from? I keep seeing people say this, but there's no proof and it makes very little sense - why wouldn't Black have equal chance of Mogis as it does Phenax?
With the last seeded boosters, they only had 8 variations, which meant that only one variation included a mythic rare.
I play Ertai, the Corrupted as my "steal everyone's stuff" commander. The benefit that you can sac their things to prevent them from getting them back is a nice bonus, even better when you use them to counter their spells as well.
You obviously don't get any of the red threaten effects, but you do get awesome stuff like Praetor's Grasp in black.
Anyone tested MMA 3/2/1 cube? Via standard 1/3/10 packs or completely random?
Got all cards, waiting for sleeves and I'm kinda hungry for some report from actual play.
Haven't gotten to test it yet, but will be running a draft with it next Monday. I'll report back after that with how it went. Will be doing 1/3/10 + 1 (3R/6U/15C stack) packs to better match MM boosters with the random foil.
I'm building out the 3/2/1 setup right now, but I'm making some changes in terms of rares to eliminate the limited unplayable jank or just overly expensive cards that don't really matter for Limited (Goyf/Bob).
Ended up just cutting one rare from each color, and decided I can add rares back in later if I want more variety. Oona's Prowler seemed like a good swap for Bridge from Below, as it is useful in both Fae and Dredge. Past in Flames is intended to provide similar reach to Pyromancer's Swath without the horrid downside, but I'm not sure how that'll play out. Liliana seems on power level of Dark Confidant, but in both Limited and Constructed. Finally, Sunrise Sovereign feels like a good bomb, and should make the Giant deck scary even if it doesn't get Thundercloud Shaman.
I've never understood why Magic doesn't act like almost every other collectible in the world.
Comic books get reprinted all the time. Baseball/basketball cards get reprinted. Books get reprinted. Even guitars, or cars or almost anything people collect get reissued.
When any collectible comes around, the price of the original run - the first printing of a comic book, the first edition of a book - is the one that maintains value.
Action Comics #1 (First printing) just auctioned for $175,000. You can find a reprint of the exact same issue for 20 bucks or less on ebay.
What I'm saying is, for some reason, companies like SCG which basically set the prices of cards is doing it all wrong and are partially to blame for things like the Reserved List. And I'll tell you why: If original printing of cards maintained their value but the reprints were seen as "less valuable," everyone would be happy.
You've got an RTR Shockland? Big deal. Everyone has one of those now. Try finding an original, mint condition Ravnica one.
Collectors will be happy because their original printing would still be worth $35-40. The reprints could be valued at a much more affordable $10.
And while this is the case to an extent - Guildpact Stomping Ground goes for $18 while Gatecrash Stomping Ground goes for $11 - if they simply maintained the values of the original print runs while decreasing the value of the reprints, everyone would be happier.
Why is the Reserved List still around? Because WotC made a promise to the collectors that they wouldn't decrease the value of their collectable. But a reprint in a later edition should have zero baring on whether you have the version from the original print run.
"Here's my M15 Tundra."
"Cool beans. Mine's from Beta."
As a player, I'm happy to play with the card. But as a collector, reprinting it in M15 should have NO BARRING on the price of my original Beta version. My Beta Tundra should maintain it's $1000 price tag 'cause it's still just as bloody hard to find a Beta version of the card regardless of reprint.
That's what the whole idea of "collecting" should be: To collect something because (A) you like collecting that particular thing and (B) because you're hoping it is one day worth something.
The problem is that stores like SCG just want to make money. When a reprint comes out, they just lower the price of the original versions to sell off more copies. That shouldn't be happening. If this were truly a "collectible," the prices wouldn't decrease. It's not the original printing. It's basically the stores that are warping the idea of this being a "collectable" game by determining what the value of cards should be on a day by day basis.
I'm not impressed when people break out RTR shocks. I am impressed when people break out Ravnica Shocks. Those are harder to get. They SHOULD be worth more. If Magic actually acted like every other collectable out there, the idea of reprints really wouldn't be a problem.
The main reason that this doesn't happen like you describe is that Magic isn't JUST a collectible. A lot of the pressure upward on prices is from people who want a legal copy of a card to play with, not just because they like collecting rare cards. That makes the prices behave differently, because that set of game buyers doesn't care (or at least doesn't care that much) what edition a card is from as long as it's playable in their tournament deck. If those are the only buyers that are holding the price up on a card, yeah, it'll drop.
So I have a relative that used to run a card shop and has a bunch of cards that I'm looking to sell off, but included in that collection are a number of unopened booster packs from old sets like Visions, Exodus, Stronghold, Mercadian Masques, Fourth/Fifth Edition, Unglued, Homelands, and Fallen Empires.
I'm guessing that it would be better to just sell the unopened packs as-is, rather than opening them and selling the cards individually, is this correct? If not, which sets would be worth opening?
What's the source of Tombstalker being in the name and number crunch? The only reference I could find was a link posted as the source of the card on MythicSpoiler.com, which leads to a 404 here on MTGSalvation (http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10248228&postcount=134)
Is there a reason people are playing Flinthoof Boor over something like Hamlet Captain? Is a 3/3 with sometimes-haste better than something that buffs your team, buffs Champion, and is buffed by Mayor?
Gateless Paradise
Legendary Land
As Gateless Paradise enters the battlefield you may pay 2 life. If you don't Gateless Paradise enters the battlefield tapped.
Tap: add 1 mana of any color to your mana pool.
With the last seeded boosters, they only had 8 variations, which meant that only one variation included a mythic rare.
The cipher solver I used was this one: http://www.blisstonia.com/software/WebDecrypto/index.php
You obviously don't get any of the red threaten effects, but you do get awesome stuff like Praetor's Grasp in black.
Haven't gotten to test it yet, but will be running a draft with it next Monday. I'll report back after that with how it went. Will be doing 1/3/10 + 1 (3R/6U/15C stack) packs to better match MM boosters with the random foil.
Black
- Bridge from Below
+ Oona's Prowler
- Dark Confidant
+ Liliana of the Veil
- Extirpate
Red
- Dragonstorm
+ Sunrise Sovereign
- Blood Moon
- Pyromancer's Swath
+ Past in Flames
Blue
- Gifts Ungiven
White
- Angel's Grace
Colorless
- Chalice of the Void
Ended up just cutting one rare from each color, and decided I can add rares back in later if I want more variety. Oona's Prowler seemed like a good swap for Bridge from Below, as it is useful in both Fae and Dredge. Past in Flames is intended to provide similar reach to Pyromancer's Swath without the horrid downside, but I'm not sure how that'll play out. Liliana seems on power level of Dark Confidant, but in both Limited and Constructed. Finally, Sunrise Sovereign feels like a good bomb, and should make the Giant deck scary even if it doesn't get Thundercloud Shaman.
The main reason that this doesn't happen like you describe is that Magic isn't JUST a collectible. A lot of the pressure upward on prices is from people who want a legal copy of a card to play with, not just because they like collecting rare cards. That makes the prices behave differently, because that set of game buyers doesn't care (or at least doesn't care that much) what edition a card is from as long as it's playable in their tournament deck. If those are the only buyers that are holding the price up on a card, yeah, it'll drop.
I'm guessing that it would be better to just sell the unopened packs as-is, rather than opening them and selling the cards individually, is this correct? If not, which sets would be worth opening?
1/1 black Goblin Rogue token implies one of the following:
Boggart Mob
Marsh Flitter
Warren Weirding
Weirding Shaman
My bet would be on Marsh Flitter or Warren Weirding.
1/1 blue and black Faerie Rogue implies Oona, Queen of the Fae
1/1 blue Illusion implies Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1/1 black Bat implies Belfry Spirit or Skeletal Vampire, probably the Vampire.
2/4 black Spider implies Penumbra Spider
2/5 Treefolk Shaman implies Reach of Branches
1/1 black Goblin Rogue token implies one of the following:
Boggart Mob
Marsh Flitter
Warren Weirding
Weirding Shaman
My bet would be on Marsh Flitter or Warren Weirding.
1/1 blue and black Faerie Rogue implies Oona, Queen of the Fae
1/1 blue Illusion implies Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1/1 black Bat implies Belfry Spirit or Skeletal Vampire, probably the Vampire.
2/4 black Spider implies Penumbra Spider
2/5 Treefolk Shaman implies Reach of Branches
Probably the lack of synergy with Burning Tree Emissary, the rest of the two drops can be cast off of it.
Yeah, I'm a fan of the Rainbow Shockland.