I got back into MtG a few months ago, after a long break from the game, and starting buying boosters/intro packs to build up a workable collection of cards.
Of course, once I had an idea of what sorts of decks I wanted to build, I starting buying singles. But, even though it isn't the smart choice economically, I still like opening boosters, probably for the same reason we all do: in the hopes of saving big on money cards like BSA or fetches.
So, I've resolved to buy a booster box when Worldwake releases, as well as the Intro Packs, to get workable playsets of the commons and hopefully many of the uncommons as well (how many boxes does it typically take to get playsets of commons/uncommons?), not to mention a selection of rares/mythics, then buy the rest I want individually.
From there, I won't buy more boosters, except for drafts.
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EDH UBW Sharuum BR Olivia Voldaren UR Jhoira URG Riku U Vendilion Clique
I usually don't buy packs. If I know there are a lot of cards in a set that I'd like to have, I'll occasionally buy a full box just for the fun of it and maybe to draft. Most of the time, I'll just buy playsets of whatever I need online.
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"...because without beer, things do not seem to go as well."
i usually dont buy packs unless its a draft, just released, or ive got nothing better to do than spend $3 at walmart when my wife isnt looking.
otherwise its singles.
I usually go buy singles as well, but nothing beats the excitement of the moment you crack open a pack.
Not to mention the lovely new-card-smell as well.
I usually get a couple boxes per set anymore. From what I found with Zendikar it takes about 3-4 boxes to get playsets of all uncommons. Some good advice a friend gave me awhile ago was to get a box and then hit up a site like Magic Inferno and get a playset of all Uncommons for like $20 or so. It's not a bad plan since you never know when the next Kitchen Finks / Path to Exile / Bloodbraid Elf will show up.
When I want to build a deck, I buy all the cards from Troll and Toad. Also, when I see a good deal, like a playset of Dazes for 40c, I buy those.
However, I buy packs for trade fodder.
I buy packs all the time. Usually wind up with really good cards. I love the suspense.
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"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." Frederic Bastiat
I will buy packs only when a new set comes out, because this is when you can make the most of trades. Trade overhyped cards for cards you like or think will be sleepers... for example, I bought a box of M10 on release day, didn't crack a Baneslayer which is what I really wanted, so I traded for 3 out of my single box. Ditto Zendikar, I got a playset of Bloodghasts from trades of 1 box w/o trading the fetches i pulled from the box. As an added bonus you get the commons and some uncommons from packs. Once you have them, you don't really need to keep buying packs when all you'll see is maybe 1 card you don't already have a playset of.
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"I have seen the true path. I will not warm myself by the fire—I will become the flame."
—Lim-Dûl, the Necromancer
Buying packs has always been fun but the fun lasts only around 30 seconds.
I only buy single cards and it has been my policy ever since I started Magic unless it's a sealed deck or a draft tourney. 2 packs already cost around $7 and with that money I can already buy a Jace or a Chandra
Well people have preferences, if we all boycott the boosters then there will be very little cards in circulation and it will be harder to build the deck of your choice
Although I might make an exception this upcoming GP. Our country's GP is June 12, just a few weeks after Rise of Eldrazi. As you know it's a big expansion and demand for cards will be extremely high given the upcoming event. If I can grab half a box and sell the cards for profit why not
I try to limit myself to maybe 3 packs worth of cards a week (so if I draft that week, that's my entire magic supply haha). I love opening up packs. It's just so fun.
Granted, if I need a card badly I'll go hunt for it on eBay.
Usually I only buy individual packs if I find a great deal somewhere, but I'll only open packs if I have them as prize winnings or if I buy a box. Buying a box has a nice shot of having a good variety, but buying things a pack at a time shoots the randomness out the window. And really, going for a box usually is only worth it if you think there is value in the set from trading or selling rares that you pull. So in other words, if it's a solid set... buy a box at presale value (usually under $90), if it's a poor quality set, just buy singles. Besides, opening one box will NOT give you a playset of every uncommon (and sometimes you'll be missing 1-2 of certain common playsets).
Boxes are so, so expensive in the UK (and in much of Europe) that I can no longer justify buying one. To make back the value of a Zendikar box for example, I'd have to open something like two foil Lotus Cobras and one of each Fetch.
Plus now WotC has clamped down on US sellers selling overseas, which worked out at something like £65 after paying international shipping (even with the lousy exchange rate), we no longer have that option. A box here costs about £85-90 with shipping. There's no way I can make anywhere near that in singles. I'll buy a booster every now and again but that's all.
Nothing beats opening packs, but its just not feasible any more here. If I ever go to the US, I'll go wild on boosters. Still cheaper to buy singles, but at least it's closer
As it is, I order my singles and playsets on eBay from wherever's cheapest.
Basically I buy a box or 2 at the start of any set and keep what I plan on using later on or if I think something may be a sleeper. I trade the rest of the junk out to finish up play sets. After that I just survive off of winnings and trades and the occasional singles buying when the tournament deck lists change or if I need to make a metagame tweak.
I usually buy a box or two preorder from an online site or 1 online and 1 from my local store to support it, but with WWK, i don't think i have the money to do so and will probably stick to drafting/buying singles.
i mostly buy singles. i buy packs to draft. or for the hell of it, when i have a free 3 bucks. i opened a tarmogoyf that way, once!
That's why people buy packs. "you remember that one time"
I buy packs only to draft. I read an article a while back that did the math on cracking packs vs buying singles, and it is far and away easier and cheeper to buy the singles you need over opening packs. The further away from release you get, the higher the disparity.
The one exception is that if I win 4-5 packs from drafting, I'll normally keep 3 and open 2. I have to hide unopened packs from my wife too. She's a fiend when it comes to cracking packs.
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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.
If I'm just building a deck to play against my friends, usually what I do is build a few draft decks over the course of a few weeks, usually until I have all the colors, and then buy a fat pack or bundle to round things out, and sometimes I'll buy single packs just cuz. Usually, the people at my lgs are pretty casual, so they don't mind a home-constructed deck being used during FNM standard format, but if I were to enter a league tourny or do a Grand Prix, then singles are the way to go.
I also don't see packs as a waste of money for the sole reason that I collect magic cards. Some people have stamps, I have magic. So even though I get a lot of cards I can't or don't use in tournaments, I still have them as part of a collection to look at, to pull out and play if I want to build casual decks with friends, or possibly to sell if I need the extra cash.
Besides, if everyone bought singles, who would open the packs where they came from? Other than the lgs of course.
I tend to buy a box (or 2) at the release to get a decent base for a set, then after that, I get cards I need by drafting, trading, buying or just saying "Does anyone have any *instert common or uncommon here", usually the answer's yes because my mate owns the store I play at, so if I need a common or uncommon, I just ask him & he gets one from the Random Jank Box.
I got back into MtG a few months ago, after a long break from the game, and starting buying boosters/intro packs to build up a workable collection of cards.
Of course, once I had an idea of what sorts of decks I wanted to build, I starting buying singles. But, even though it isn't the smart choice economically, I still like opening boosters, probably for the same reason we all do: in the hopes of saving big on money cards like BSA or fetches.
So, I've resolved to buy a booster box when Worldwake releases, as well as the Intro Packs, to get workable playsets of the commons and hopefully many of the uncommons as well (how many boxes does it typically take to get playsets of commons/uncommons?), not to mention a selection of rares/mythics, then buy the rest I want individually.
From there, I won't buy more boosters, except for drafts.
UBW Sharuum
BR Olivia Voldaren
UR Jhoira
URG Riku
U Vendilion Clique
otherwise its singles.
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Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
TRADE ME!!!
Not to mention the lovely new-card-smell as well.
GWU Knightfall
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GBW Nic-Fit
However, I buy packs for trade fodder.
Teneb Reanimator EDH
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I'm banned from posting until next Monday. If you want to trade with me or if you want me to make you a sig, you must PM me.
—Lim-Dûl, the Necromancer
I only buy single cards and it has been my policy ever since I started Magic unless it's a sealed deck or a draft tourney. 2 packs already cost around $7 and with that money I can already buy a Jace or a Chandra
Well people have preferences, if we all boycott the boosters then there will be very little cards in circulation and it will be harder to build the deck of your choice
Although I might make an exception this upcoming GP. Our country's GP is June 12, just a few weeks after Rise of Eldrazi. As you know it's a big expansion and demand for cards will be extremely high given the upcoming event. If I can grab half a box and sell the cards for profit why not
This is true for me as well. I'll go out and buy singles for a Standard deck, but most of my collection comes from drafting twice a week.
EDH:
UBGThe MimeoplasmUBG
Granted, if I need a card badly I'll go hunt for it on eBay.
[SPOILER=Decks and Such]
Current Decks:[SPOILER]
:symu::symw::symg: Bant Exalted (T2) "The Pulse of Bant" Record: 8-3-0, 2nd Place: 1, 3rd Place: 2, 4th Place: 1
:symg::symr: Banefire Elves (T2) [/SPOILER]
Plus now WotC has clamped down on US sellers selling overseas, which worked out at something like £65 after paying international shipping (even with the lousy exchange rate), we no longer have that option. A box here costs about £85-90 with shipping. There's no way I can make anywhere near that in singles. I'll buy a booster every now and again but that's all.
Nothing beats opening packs, but its just not feasible any more here. If I ever go to the US, I'll go wild on boosters. Still cheaper to buy singles, but at least it's closer
As it is, I order my singles and playsets on eBay from wherever's cheapest.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
MY TRADING POST!
I play Standard and Draft at The Universe of Superheroes / The Wizard's Guild in Athens, OH.
That's why people buy packs. "you remember that one time"
I buy packs only to draft. I read an article a while back that did the math on cracking packs vs buying singles, and it is far and away easier and cheeper to buy the singles you need over opening packs. The further away from release you get, the higher the disparity.
The one exception is that if I win 4-5 packs from drafting, I'll normally keep 3 and open 2. I have to hide unopened packs from my wife too. She's a fiend when it comes to cracking packs.
I also don't see packs as a waste of money for the sole reason that I collect magic cards. Some people have stamps, I have magic. So even though I get a lot of cards I can't or don't use in tournaments, I still have them as part of a collection to look at, to pull out and play if I want to build casual decks with friends, or possibly to sell if I need the extra cash.
Besides, if everyone bought singles, who would open the packs where they came from? Other than the lgs of course.
Due to necromancy, this thread has been locked. Feel free to start a new one to continue discussion of the topic.
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