As some of you might be aware, I curate a primer thread for a multiplayer Omnath, Locus of Mana deck, a deck that I've had built continuously for about 4.5 years. As probably significantly fewer are aware, the deck has been close to my heart to the degree that it is 100% foiled (aside from a handful of cards that have never received foil printings). IRL, it's pretty much my signature deck. When people around here think of Omnath, they think of me.
I foiled the deck out over the course of a couple years as a labor of love. But EDH and the mentality behind deckbuilding has evolved pretty significantly in that time. I've been able to keep up for the most part, but I've certainly found that EDH has moved away, if possibly only marginally, from the "Battlefield Magic" mentality of old. As metas evolve, your decks also have to evolve if you want them to stay potent. The problem is, when you've got something as carefully put together and... well, let's not mince words, BLOODY EXPENSIVE as a foil EDH deck, it's hard. Everytime I see a new piece of tech that I want to try, I become hesitant to commit because I just think it'll be a pain in the ass to get any of these new pieces in foil, and if I can't find it right away, I'm "breaking the set" by playing non-foils.
In light of that, it might seem clear that I should de-foil it, but every time I flip through it, I derive some pretty intense satisfaction from seeing the cards I procured for it, especially my Judge foil printings of Gaea's Cradle and Survival of the Fittest, in no small part due to their value.
I'm curious if anyone here has grappled with this particular dilemma before, and if so, what did you conclude?
I encountered a similar dilemma, though during the foiling process instead of after. I rarely, ever, buy cards. A very large majority of my cards were acquired through trade. There were many cards that I wanted for decks that I couldn't even find in English, let alone a foil if there was one. I had two huge problems trying to foil my Karador deck: ABUR Duals and similar cards that didn't have a foil, and cards like Survival of the Fittest that had ridiculously expensive foils. The few times I bought cards, I ended up getting a few cheaper cards rather than one really expensive one, such as buying a Plateu, a Badlands, and a bunch of hard to find Commons/uncommons instead of just a Bayou.
Then there's the bending in foils. Double Sleeved, in a binder and they'll still eventually bend. Most early printed foils hard to find anyway, but then trying to find one that isn't bent is near impossible. I hated looking at the deck sitting on the table with 4-5 cards that were clearly bent, and I eventually gave up on it cause I hated looking at it. Some cards bent the long way, some diagonally, some the short way. Next time you've got the chance you can buy a super cheap deck of standard playing cards, bend them in random directions, and try to play some games with them and see how annoying it is.
Personally, I would never break up a 100% foiled deck. That deck of yours is a thing of beauty.
My arcum deck is around 90% foiled. I'll probably never find foils for power artifact, transmute artifact, Mishra's workshop, etc. I think the one that bugs me the most though, is manakin. I can accept not having a foil version of something printed in antiquities, but a stupid manakin? That's annoying. But anyway, I'd keep your deck together. If having dual lands and whatnot are essential, I'd go for black bordered or altered. It's just a different kind of pimp. At the end of the day, it's about what matters to you.
Look at it this way, you fully foiled out your deck, where possible, and the majority will remain in the decklist regardless of any new card releases in the future. Some of those foils will also not likely be reprinted any time soon or perhaps maybe ever at all. If you've done the hard yards and acquired the really rare foils and have a few modern printed cards that aren't foil, the impressiveness will always remain with the very rare, very expensive older foils that will always be in the deck. You should keep those no matter what.
IMHO a fully foiled deck is impressive, then again so is deck with a mix where someone has a foil gaea's cradle and mana reflection. To me both are just as impressive as one another. On one hand "wow that is some effort", on the other "wow some real nice pieces there, looks awesome".
I went through this dilemma before edh was ever really 'a thing'. When affinity was in standard I got close to completely foiling my affinity deck. Frogmites, disciples, a few playsets missing the odd foil here and there and I was proud of it. But for every person that admired the cards, there was someone who didn't like it, thought it was a waste of money/time and, to be honest, I couldn't be bothered dealing with negatives that came with it (warping has its downsides as well). So I kept the foils I liked and traded the rest of the majority of my foils to have non-foil playsets.
Nowadays I only run foils I was lucky enough to have opened in a pack, didn't want the white-bordered version, or it was justifiably cheap enough to buy the foil version of the card and it's available. It's actually nice because I am not "on the hunt" nor do I have to fork out x times the cost of a plain card. I have more decks and less on my list of "things to get" because I already have them - more time to focus on playing. Some enjoy that aspect of the collectible side of the game and I get that; but for me personally, I moved on from it.
I had my fully altered Kamal deck that was my signature deck for a couple years and ran into the same thing - my attention span and desire for variety won the day. So, I sold it off and haven't looked back. While it was my baby, it was just a deck and on some level I think it stifled my game. In a very strange way painting that deck was the starting ball in a very weird Rube Goldberg contraption that's led to me creating a Cube and having a lot more fun after it looked like I was burned out on the game.
If you want to keep the financial value of the cards, then don't sell them. But I would break apart the whole thing apart and start with a new project... put it to rest as a singular object.
I don't foil anything in my commander decks, because I can't foil everything in them. My best cards are the broken oldies from the dawn of Magic. They'll never foil Chains of Mephistopheles, for example.
I'm incredibly sentimental and pretty neurotic when it comes to deckbuilding. My preference for pimping is usually pack foil, then judge, then second printings. All English! If a card isn't available I try to get it altered or if I hate the art (Judge survival....sorry) I try for an alter. I very my don't like to dismantle a deck because of the time that goes into it and the idea that maybe I'll use it at the next EDH night. Unfortunately I'm starting to take them apart in the process of putting new ones together. I would say, 100% do not sell off your deck. It's SO MUCH easier pimping a new deck with the peices of old ones and it still retains that specialness of playing with those familiar cards. Kaalia of the Vast was my third deck to make and I played it for over a year. Now, with wanting to play newer stuff I can use foils from it across my new decks and still have the fondness of playing with my "cards"
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test new tech for effectiveness on any of the free testing programs. Cockatrice for example. If it works good for you, bring it in as a foil into the real thing.
I hear ya. My bud de-foiled his Pope deck and wound up having to reacquire a bunch of the stuff. If you're going to do this, be sure you are done with Onmath and move onto the next thing.
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The "Crazy One", playing casual magic and occasionally dipping his toes into regular play since 1994.
Currently focusing on Pre-Modern (Mono-Black Discard Control) and Modern (Azorious Control, Temur Rhinos).
Find me at the Wizard's Tower in Ottawa every second Saturday afternoons.
I have a few pimped out decks, and absolutely understand the annoyance of keeping them up-to-date with new releases.
To ease the pain of constantly upgrading and investing in expensive cards, I tend to "retire" some of my more expensive decks and instead continue brewing new designs, only giving my elite decks special attention on rare occasions.
Some of my more expensive decks I will never get rid of, but know that keeping them updated 100% of the time is more work than they are worth. I find it better to keep them tucked away, seeing play on special occasions, so that I never get tired of the decks play-style and gimmicks. This gives me a lot of room for playtesting different deck builds, and I also never feel obligated to pimp out my "active" and experimental decks.
Doing this also alleviates a lot of unwanted attention from others in my playgroup(s) regarding deck value. I pimp my decks for myself, not for attention from others.
Give it a try - tuck your Omnath deck away for a while. Keep your most recent decklist active somewhere like here or tappedout so you can tinker and modify the decklist without physically touching the cards (this actually does help improve a decks power by lowering card favoritism, as it is harder to make cuts when you see a card you just like sitting in your hand compared to reading it on a online decklist). After a few months go pick up the actual deck and compare it to your theoretical decklist and see what is really worth changing.
edit; main point - you will regret de-foiling a pet project that has taken you this long. Even if it seems like a good idea to sell an expensive card to fund a new deck, I highly recommend not doing that if this deck means something to you.
Yes, this a million times!
I had a pet angel tribal deck. First mono W (with Linvala), then GW with Karametra. It was all right, but eventually the meta left it behind. So I took it apart. But I didn't get rid of the cards. Now those lovely angels grace my Kaalia deck, and the green cards (draw and ramp and protection, etc.) all went to my most favorite deck of all time: Karador.
So yes, keep the cards. Don't get rid of them. You'll be sorry if you do.
I un-foilled the XDOE list in my sig a few months back, great decision. I was only at about 95%. I started seriously questions what I was doing once I was getting into the really pricy things, but the decision to stop was ultimately about creativity and variety like you are talking about. I did it in stages to make sure it was the right thing to do. First swapped out everything I had in non-foil, made some changes to the deck and grabbed all of the cheap non-foils for the deck I was missing. I put the foils aside for a month or two before unloading anything. There is a mid-price range where it doesn't make sense to trade in foils if you don't have the non-foil version already. Trading a $35 foil for $20 store credit when the non-foil cost $17 doesn't make any sense. So there are a handful of nice foils I kept for that reason. Less of an issue if you are more patient and can find people to trade with directly. When I did finally go trade the load in I got a huge pile of store credit that has gone towards a couple of revised duals and what I needed to complete a half a dozen other decks since. Moving towards a "one of each playable card" in a box with more frequent but less optimized deck building and really enjoying it.
Two years ago, I had a Brion Stoutarm deck that was completely foiled. Once I got the last foil, Arid Mesa, it kind gave me that "Now what?" feeling. It felt like a personal accomplishment but deep down I knew I wasn't going to keep the deck intact for very long. What I did was take the deck apart and keep some of the foils I was more fond to and attempted to "downgrade" them via online trade. The only expensive foils I have left are Sacred Foundry and Sword of Feast and Famine. But yeah, if you're going to de-foil a deck, you will need to commit to finding the right people who would want individual cards more.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you. How much enjoyment do YOU really get out of seeing that its foiled? Do you think you would get the same enjoyment if you had the same cards, but just not foiled?
However, I'll point a few things out:
1) You'll probably still think of you when they think of Omnath, even if your deck isn't foiled
2) Just because 99% of the deck is foiled, that doesn't mean that the last 1% has to be. This isn't an all or nothing scenario. The judge promo survival of the fittest is still a prestigious card even if your Asceticism (for example) isn't. You can both keep your foil cards and add new cards/non-foil cards. Its ok.
3) The converse is also true, just because you sell some of your foil cards, doesn't mean you have to sell all of them. Maybe you keep those judge promos because they are sentimental to you, that doesn't mean that you have to keep the foil Asceticism.
So ultimately, keep the foils you want to keep, let go of the foils that you don't want to keep and don't let yourself get pigeonholed into think its an all or nothing situation.
On a personal note, I used to chase the foils also, but ultimately I found it wasn't worth it. Sure having that "pimp" version of a card is impressive, but I'm usually much more impressed with people who WIN GAMES then I am with people who spent $$$ on a deck and then didn't win. If it was me, unless you're holding onto some of the foils as an investment, I'd turn them into cash.
I have no idea what your budget is, but is it really that hard to keep up? I have 5 fully foiled decks (Kaalia, Kruphix, Kozilek, Krenko (for some reason I'm stuck on "K's"), and Ezuri). They are foiled to the fullest extent they can be, IE about 4-7 cards per deck don't exist in foil. Today each of those decks are worth between $2000 (Krenko) and $4700 (Kozilek), TCGP low, although I paid far less than that since I got in before some price spikes. Even with FIVE decks to maintain, if you're only talking about upgrading as a result of new card releases (IE, not upgrading with old foil cards), I find the cost to maintain them to be quite reasonable. Pretty much each expansion only costs me between $25-$100 to acquire the new foils, and that's for ALL five decks. Having a Kozilek deck made things a bit more expensive than usual, having to get Newlamog and the new Kozilek.
Plus your upkeep is for a mono-colored deck, so the new manabase you need to keep up with should be relatively cheap. If you're worried about a "new piece of tech you want to try", for Pete's sake use a non-foil until you determine it makes the cut and it's time to upgrade. This is especially true if you're looking to add old cards. I realize it may not look as pretty, but there's zero point to test a new strategy with the most expensive version of a card. Would any of your opponents think less of you, b/c your deck has 3-4 cards unfoiled that could be foiled? Doubtful. And if so, just explain you're making changes to the deck.
Again, I have no idea of your budget/income, but I think the cost of maintenance is a small price to pay, in relation to the initial creation of the deck, which you already seem to have accomplished. If you're tired of the deck, then yeah, it doesn't make sense to pump more money into it. But for as long as you enjoy playing the deck, keep maintaining it. I currenly have 19 decks, and I only chose to foil my five favorites (although there are 2-3 others I wouldn't mind attempting to foil, but I've chosen to stop foiling more decks). If Omnath is one of your favorites, and it sounds like it is, don't bail on it.
I didn't really address personal budget in my post, but if the $$$ is even remotely important to you, then I definitely say sell.
If you look at how much you could sell the foils vs. how much it costs to get the replacement, thats the money you're basically sitting on. Sure $20 isn't a lot in the long run, but add those up and I bet you're talking some serious cash. Compare that number the enjoyment you get of having the foils (compared to just normal cards) and I think that its almost guaranteed that you come to the conclusion to sell. IMO foils are just not worth it.
I didn't really address personal budget in my post, but if the $$$ is even remotely important to you, then I definitely say sell.
If you look at how much you could sell the foils vs. how much it costs to get the replacement, thats the money you're basically sitting on. Sure $20 isn't a lot in the long run, but add those up and I bet you're talking some serious cash. Compare that number the enjoyment you get of having the foils (compared to just normal cards) and I think that its almost guaranteed that you come to the conclusion to sell. IMO foils are just not worth it.
I'll go the opposite direction... I don't know many MTG collections that could make a big impact on ones life if they sold it. There would be a temporary surge in cash, it would be spent, and that's it. People tend to overestimate how much of a long term impact selling their cards will have. So, if you are the kind of person that will pursue foils, keep them. If you really don't care then sell them for non-foil cards, and keep your collection as playable/functional as it is now.
Seriously though, I have seen so many people sell off their stuff because they needed money for something and 3 months later they are in the exact same boat except they don't have any cards to keep themselves entertained with.
If you've already foiled it, then I just recommend not bothering. You obviously and clearly like it, so unless someone is willing to trade you, say, 3 Gaea's Cradle for your judge foil, I see no benefit in the added stress you would bring upon yourself to find the best deal with each sale or exchange. Similarly, I find that a lot of times, new cards I'm extremely interested in testing out are actually not all that beneficial to my decks, overall. I may have added over 10-12 cards to my Ghave deck in the last year, but only 2 of them stuck: Evolutionary Leap and Zulaport Cutthroat. My Arcum deck has received, I think, two cards total in the last year, one being Hangarback Walker and the other, Hedron Crawler (actually, I'm still using a proxy for Hangarback and everyone in my group knows it. I'm not spending $10 on a better Myr Sire since much of the time they're the same card in the first 3 turns).
So, maybe just don't run out and grab the next big thing immediately? I tend to wait until Standard players get their fill, then I'll grab what I wanted. I usually do this unless it's some kind of super amazing card that leads me to think it will revolutionize one of my 9 Commander decks, but I haven't come across one of those in a long ass time. In cases of cards where the foil is 5x the price of the nonfoil, people I play with will buy the nonfoil and run it until the foil price drops, usually a couple months down the road (rarely, if ever, does it take the full Standard cycle). One guy, who is impatient, will buy a copy of the card and then print his own foil proxy and use that in his deck until the *real* foil price drops on the second market. I guess that's another option.
For what it's worth, though, I strongly dislike foil cards a lot. I live in an extremely humid area and I absolutely cannot tolerate the foil bend (even double sleeved with perfect fits and Dragon Shields, the cards will bend without enough time. Living in a valley apparently just does that to foils). So, it should say something if even someone like me is telling you to, "Just keep the deck together as it is." I mean, I traded 1 foil Mox Opal from Scars for 2 nonfoils because I hate foil bending so much. I'd do it with my Rise of the Eldrazi foil Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and foil Cavern of Souls in a heartbeat, because I hate being able to detect where the cards are in my deck, while players at the Pburg card shop have so many foil cards their whole decks curl in the middle and you can clearly see where the nonfoils are, ugh.
Why not pimp it by going oldschool? Getting the first ever printed version of each card.
I do that with my Jeleva Deck right now and I love the deck. Some cards can be ridiculous expensive while others are just a bargain.
I think the pro's of this pimp is that in the long term the cards will hold their value much better, you dont have troubles with foils curling + they are easier to sell if you decide so.
I have never fully foiled out a deck, nor have I had the desire to. Even my most pet deck... my vintage mono black null rod agro deck is a combination of foil, beta and full art alterations. Not just foiled out.
As I have gotten older (31 as I post this, and started at age 21), I have stopped enjoying foil cards as much. Some cards look better in foil, where partical effects really pop out at you. Other cards actually look worse, like The legendary Kamigawa lands, and while they are worth more, I have been thinking about defoiling some of my cards. Both as a way to make money back (to put towards other cards), and to enjoy the art more.
Not to mention that foil curl is terrible, and I live in a city with high humidity. I can't undo the damage that has been done. I can only manage it.
Some foils I love and would never get rid of, like the Dark Depths I opened at the Cold Snap prerelease, where we were also given the promo Merit Lage token. I also prefer my promo Korlash, Heir to Blackblade and more. There is no uniformity to magic cards. The frames change every few years in some way or another. Beta cards dont look the same as cards from mirrage or vissions, which look different from invasion, even though they were all before 8th edition. It is what it is.
Just enjoy the cards in your own way. They don't all have to be foils. They don't all have to be nonfoils.
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"Whatever style you wish to play, be it fast and frenzied or slow and tactical, the surest way to defeat your opponent consistently is by dominating him or her in the war of card advantage." - Brian Wiseman, April 1996
Why not pimp it by going oldschool? Getting the first ever printed version of each card.
I do that with my Jeleva Deck right now and I love the deck. Some cards can be ridiculous expensive while others are just a bargain.
I think the pro's of this pimp is that in the long term the cards will hold their value much better, you dont have troubles with foils curling + they are easier to sell if you decide so.
The OP complained about the difficulty of keeping up the costs of a foil deck, and your suggestion is to pimp it in another fashion? So, disassemble what he's got, and start pimping from scratch?
I think a lot of people have misinterpreted my dilemma. It's not about the cost of keeping up with buying new foils for the deck, or about the value of the cards I have. It's about the fact that, because this deck of foil cards is basically "my baby," I have a hard time making changes to it in order to try new things when I don't have a foil copy of new cards on hand. It's inhibiting my ability and desire to try new things, to push the deck in a radically different direction if I feel it's gotten stale. The question is simply whether or not to dismantle the deck, not to sell the cards, in order to breathe new life into it, or to leave it intact as a testament to years of tinkering and playing, a question which is made harder by the fact that I *like* seeing it the way it is.
I think a lot of people have misinterpreted my dilemma. It's not about the cost of keeping up with buying new foils for the deck, or about the value of the cards I have. It's about the fact that, because this deck of foil cards is basically "my baby," I have a hard time making changes to it in order to try new things when I don't have a foil copy of new cards on hand. It's inhibiting my ability and desire to try new things, to push the deck in a radically different direction if I feel it's gotten stale. The question is simply whether or not to dismantle the deck, not to sell the cards, in order to breathe new life into it, or to leave it intact as a testament to years of tinkering and playing, a question which is made harder by the fact that I *like* seeing it the way it is.
Make a list, then pull it apart. It's not like you can't simply recreate the "legacy" version of it at any time if you're not planning on selling/trading off the pieces. My Jaya list is foiled out and my longest running deck, but that doesn't mean the deck is physically intact at all times.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
I consider my self a collector and deck builder. I have comepletely foiled out two decks. A Kurkesh mono Red and Chromanticore Five color. Ive reently dismantled both and built five color superfirends and colorless eldrazi, which I am now in the process of foiling out.
So, Once you get tired of a deck, make it into something new, and try to foil that out. That way your collection is always growing.
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I foiled the deck out over the course of a couple years as a labor of love. But EDH and the mentality behind deckbuilding has evolved pretty significantly in that time. I've been able to keep up for the most part, but I've certainly found that EDH has moved away, if possibly only marginally, from the "Battlefield Magic" mentality of old. As metas evolve, your decks also have to evolve if you want them to stay potent. The problem is, when you've got something as carefully put together and... well, let's not mince words, BLOODY EXPENSIVE as a foil EDH deck, it's hard. Everytime I see a new piece of tech that I want to try, I become hesitant to commit because I just think it'll be a pain in the ass to get any of these new pieces in foil, and if I can't find it right away, I'm "breaking the set" by playing non-foils.
In light of that, it might seem clear that I should de-foil it, but every time I flip through it, I derive some pretty intense satisfaction from seeing the cards I procured for it, especially my Judge foil printings of Gaea's Cradle and Survival of the Fittest, in no small part due to their value.
I'm curious if anyone here has grappled with this particular dilemma before, and if so, what did you conclude?
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
Then there's the bending in foils. Double Sleeved, in a binder and they'll still eventually bend. Most early printed foils hard to find anyway, but then trying to find one that isn't bent is near impossible. I hated looking at the deck sitting on the table with 4-5 cards that were clearly bent, and I eventually gave up on it cause I hated looking at it. Some cards bent the long way, some diagonally, some the short way. Next time you've got the chance you can buy a super cheap deck of standard playing cards, bend them in random directions, and try to play some games with them and see how annoying it is.
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain
B Toshiro Umezawa
BG Pharika, God of Affliction - Necromancy and Politics
WWW The Church of Heliod
WBR Zurgo, Helmsmasher
RG Wort, the Raidmother
UBR Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
UG Vorel of the Hull Clade
My arcum deck is around 90% foiled. I'll probably never find foils for power artifact, transmute artifact, Mishra's workshop, etc. I think the one that bugs me the most though, is manakin. I can accept not having a foil version of something printed in antiquities, but a stupid manakin? That's annoying. But anyway, I'd keep your deck together. If having dual lands and whatnot are essential, I'd go for black bordered or altered. It's just a different kind of pimp. At the end of the day, it's about what matters to you.
My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
IMHO a fully foiled deck is impressive, then again so is deck with a mix where someone has a foil gaea's cradle and mana reflection. To me both are just as impressive as one another. On one hand "wow that is some effort", on the other "wow some real nice pieces there, looks awesome".
I went through this dilemma before edh was ever really 'a thing'. When affinity was in standard I got close to completely foiling my affinity deck. Frogmites, disciples, a few playsets missing the odd foil here and there and I was proud of it. But for every person that admired the cards, there was someone who didn't like it, thought it was a waste of money/time and, to be honest, I couldn't be bothered dealing with negatives that came with it (warping has its downsides as well). So I kept the foils I liked and traded the rest of the majority of my foils to have non-foil playsets.
Nowadays I only run foils I was lucky enough to have opened in a pack, didn't want the white-bordered version, or it was justifiably cheap enough to buy the foil version of the card and it's available. It's actually nice because I am not "on the hunt" nor do I have to fork out x times the cost of a plain card. I have more decks and less on my list of "things to get" because I already have them - more time to focus on playing. Some enjoy that aspect of the collectible side of the game and I get that; but for me personally, I moved on from it.
If you want to keep the financial value of the cards, then don't sell them. But I would break apart the whole thing apart and start with a new project... put it to rest as a singular object.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
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Yes, this a million times!
I had a pet angel tribal deck. First mono W (with Linvala), then GW with Karametra. It was all right, but eventually the meta left it behind. So I took it apart. But I didn't get rid of the cards. Now those lovely angels grace my Kaalia deck, and the green cards (draw and ramp and protection, etc.) all went to my most favorite deck of all time: Karador.
So yes, keep the cards. Don't get rid of them. You'll be sorry if you do.
UGUPrime Speaker Seamonster RampUGU
WUGDerevi Does NothingWUG
RRRFeldon's Lovely LadiesRRR
However, I'll point a few things out:
1) You'll probably still think of you when they think of Omnath, even if your deck isn't foiled
2) Just because 99% of the deck is foiled, that doesn't mean that the last 1% has to be. This isn't an all or nothing scenario. The judge promo survival of the fittest is still a prestigious card even if your Asceticism (for example) isn't. You can both keep your foil cards and add new cards/non-foil cards. Its ok.
3) The converse is also true, just because you sell some of your foil cards, doesn't mean you have to sell all of them. Maybe you keep those judge promos because they are sentimental to you, that doesn't mean that you have to keep the foil Asceticism.
So ultimately, keep the foils you want to keep, let go of the foils that you don't want to keep and don't let yourself get pigeonholed into think its an all or nothing situation.
On a personal note, I used to chase the foils also, but ultimately I found it wasn't worth it. Sure having that "pimp" version of a card is impressive, but I'm usually much more impressed with people who WIN GAMES then I am with people who spent $$$ on a deck and then didn't win. If it was me, unless you're holding onto some of the foils as an investment, I'd turn them into cash.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=63536
Don't for get to put have and want tags in your trade threads! If you want to know how, ask!
Plus your upkeep is for a mono-colored deck, so the new manabase you need to keep up with should be relatively cheap. If you're worried about a "new piece of tech you want to try", for Pete's sake use a non-foil until you determine it makes the cut and it's time to upgrade. This is especially true if you're looking to add old cards. I realize it may not look as pretty, but there's zero point to test a new strategy with the most expensive version of a card. Would any of your opponents think less of you, b/c your deck has 3-4 cards unfoiled that could be foiled? Doubtful. And if so, just explain you're making changes to the deck.
Again, I have no idea of your budget/income, but I think the cost of maintenance is a small price to pay, in relation to the initial creation of the deck, which you already seem to have accomplished. If you're tired of the deck, then yeah, it doesn't make sense to pump more money into it. But for as long as you enjoy playing the deck, keep maintaining it. I currenly have 19 decks, and I only chose to foil my five favorites (although there are 2-3 others I wouldn't mind attempting to foil, but I've chosen to stop foiling more decks). If Omnath is one of your favorites, and it sounds like it is, don't bail on it.
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
If you look at how much you could sell the foils vs. how much it costs to get the replacement, thats the money you're basically sitting on. Sure $20 isn't a lot in the long run, but add those up and I bet you're talking some serious cash. Compare that number the enjoyment you get of having the foils (compared to just normal cards) and I think that its almost guaranteed that you come to the conclusion to sell. IMO foils are just not worth it.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=63536
Don't for get to put have and want tags in your trade threads! If you want to know how, ask!
I'll go the opposite direction... I don't know many MTG collections that could make a big impact on ones life if they sold it. There would be a temporary surge in cash, it would be spent, and that's it. People tend to overestimate how much of a long term impact selling their cards will have. So, if you are the kind of person that will pursue foils, keep them. If you really don't care then sell them for non-foil cards, and keep your collection as playable/functional as it is now.
Seriously though, I have seen so many people sell off their stuff because they needed money for something and 3 months later they are in the exact same boat except they don't have any cards to keep themselves entertained with.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
So, maybe just don't run out and grab the next big thing immediately? I tend to wait until Standard players get their fill, then I'll grab what I wanted. I usually do this unless it's some kind of super amazing card that leads me to think it will revolutionize one of my 9 Commander decks, but I haven't come across one of those in a long ass time. In cases of cards where the foil is 5x the price of the nonfoil, people I play with will buy the nonfoil and run it until the foil price drops, usually a couple months down the road (rarely, if ever, does it take the full Standard cycle). One guy, who is impatient, will buy a copy of the card and then print his own foil proxy and use that in his deck until the *real* foil price drops on the second market. I guess that's another option.
For what it's worth, though, I strongly dislike foil cards a lot. I live in an extremely humid area and I absolutely cannot tolerate the foil bend (even double sleeved with perfect fits and Dragon Shields, the cards will bend without enough time. Living in a valley apparently just does that to foils). So, it should say something if even someone like me is telling you to, "Just keep the deck together as it is." I mean, I traded 1 foil Mox Opal from Scars for 2 nonfoils because I hate foil bending so much. I'd do it with my Rise of the Eldrazi foil Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and foil Cavern of Souls in a heartbeat, because I hate being able to detect where the cards are in my deck, while players at the Pburg card shop have so many foil cards their whole decks curl in the middle and you can clearly see where the nonfoils are, ugh.
Sig and Avatar drawn by me.
I do that with my Jeleva Deck right now and I love the deck. Some cards can be ridiculous expensive while others are just a bargain.
I think the pro's of this pimp is that in the long term the cards will hold their value much better, you dont have troubles with foils curling + they are easier to sell if you decide so.
As I have gotten older (31 as I post this, and started at age 21), I have stopped enjoying foil cards as much. Some cards look better in foil, where partical effects really pop out at you. Other cards actually look worse, like The legendary Kamigawa lands, and while they are worth more, I have been thinking about defoiling some of my cards. Both as a way to make money back (to put towards other cards), and to enjoy the art more.
Not to mention that foil curl is terrible, and I live in a city with high humidity. I can't undo the damage that has been done. I can only manage it.
Some foils I love and would never get rid of, like the Dark Depths I opened at the Cold Snap prerelease, where we were also given the promo Merit Lage token. I also prefer my promo Korlash, Heir to Blackblade and more. There is no uniformity to magic cards. The frames change every few years in some way or another. Beta cards dont look the same as cards from mirrage or vissions, which look different from invasion, even though they were all before 8th edition. It is what it is.
Just enjoy the cards in your own way. They don't all have to be foils. They don't all have to be nonfoils.
The OP complained about the difficulty of keeping up the costs of a foil deck, and your suggestion is to pimp it in another fashion? So, disassemble what he's got, and start pimping from scratch?
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
So, Once you get tired of a deck, make it into something new, and try to foil that out. That way your collection is always growing.