What's usually the best time to buy singles from a new set if you're looking to get them cheap? A month after release? A year? I assume it's different for Standard-legal ones compared to supplementary ones (and different supplementary sets), but beyond that, I'm really not sure.
Depends on what you want them for. the BEST time to buy cards is either when they they have just rotated out of standard or they have just been banned from a format.
If your looking for Reserve list goodies the time to buy was... Several years ago, but Today is the best option you are going to get on that front.
I just want them for casual play, pretty much. I most often try to get the newest printings of cards if there's more than one. I'm just never sure how many print runs a set will have, or whether cards will spike, or whether to wait for possible reprints in a supplementary set, or any of that. Or, for that matter, when the draft tournaments are. Like, if I'm buying Battlebond cards, would I have better luck buying them a month or two from now instead of now? Do Standard-legal sets drop in price quicker than supplementary sets? And then there's Commander Anthology 2, which seems like it will be pretty limited in its printing.
before a set rotates can be good, people unloading things, things that were higher playable that have decreased toward the end of their life cycle, etc
sometimes you can pull stuff out as it gets spoiled, but it can be really volatile and sometimes stuff is dramatically over priced and tanks in value after release
Just as they rotate out of standard is best then.
My original magic group, made of my university friends, basically plays the format "old standard" where they buy peoples old standard decks and play 60 card casual.
Right now I am waiting for cards like Walking ballista and the plainswalkers Teferi and Khan to rotate out so I can add them to my commander decks.
The best time to buy singles is when they are undervalued and about to be overvalued. Finding that time can often be tough.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Well, the way to analyze it blind is to really just look at the card itself and make a judgement based on it's qualities. Generally, lower CMC = higher chance of being playable in non-rotating formats. If it does something unusual, like remove counters from other things or grants shroud, that means it is probably more likely to be played. If the toughness is above 3, that also means it is more likely playable.
Basically, the games prices are driven by four different formats: Legacy, Modern, Commander, and Pauper. At least outside of standard legality.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
For things that rotate out of standard - end of November
For fresh reprints - buy right away or you can wait a little, price will be low for some time, but will eventually move up
For any other things just buy when you have money, though if they are really expensive (like Karn or Engineered Explosives) you can wait for reprint because they are highly likely to be reprinted soon and you will save a lot (though soon can be an year or two)
If you are talking about things like battlebond/unstable that were NEVER standard legal, you want to buy them as soon as possible after full release. Battlebond has stopped being opened now by 99% of the population. Supply is about as high as it's going to get while demand for some cards is going to keep going up. Those lands are probably not going to see reprints anytime soon so as EDH players put them in decks, there are less and less around. Arena Rector and Najeela, the Blade-Blossom have the potential to see play in Commander for quite awhile and not see more printings.
Look what happened to the basic lands from unstable, where they just keep going up since no more will exist and those are a card that has other options for direct replacement.
As to the advise of "waiting for rotation", if the card is seeing Commander or Modern play, the price may not drop much after rotation.
When buying new cards, I've found that for cards under $5, get them right at release. Especially if you can pick them up for under $3.
Some cards are "sleepers", and once they see play in decks that place, they'll only get more expensive.
With expensive cards, I personally keep an eye on the market weekly. If I notice these cards trending down I'll pay daily attention,
once they hit bottom I buy.
Card prices at release are based purely on speculation. After a week or two the prices start to reflect the reality of how useful they are.
For many cards, if you are just playing casually, right after rotation can be a great time, if you want to wait for a year-ish.
I always follow set previews, so when a set drops I've already have a buy list set up. I've managed to pick up a lot of cards on the cheap this way(Walking Ballistas for a few bucks).
Every once in a while I get burned, but not enough to matter. Consider Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, I'll be paying around $34 for him. Thar may be a
stupid price, but he may get more expensive. I collect dragons so I'll just take the chance.
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I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
There is no guarantee that the cards you want will drop in price. 90% of cards decrease in value the more time passes. but some just climb up.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
If your looking for Reserve list goodies the time to buy was... Several years ago, but Today is the best option you are going to get on that front.
before a set rotates can be good, people unloading things, things that were higher playable that have decreased toward the end of their life cycle, etc
sometimes you can pull stuff out as it gets spoiled, but it can be really volatile and sometimes stuff is dramatically over priced and tanks in value after release
My original magic group, made of my university friends, basically plays the format "old standard" where they buy peoples old standard decks and play 60 card casual.
Right now I am waiting for cards like Walking ballista and the plainswalkers Teferi and Khan to rotate out so I can add them to my commander decks.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Basically, the games prices are driven by four different formats: Legacy, Modern, Commander, and Pauper. At least outside of standard legality.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
For fresh reprints - buy right away or you can wait a little, price will be low for some time, but will eventually move up
For any other things just buy when you have money, though if they are really expensive (like Karn or Engineered Explosives) you can wait for reprint because they are highly likely to be reprinted soon and you will save a lot (though soon can be an year or two)
G Green Stompy
RG Shamans
UB Mill
UG Infect
WUBRG Slivers!
Look what happened to the basic lands from unstable, where they just keep going up since no more will exist and those are a card that has other options for direct replacement.
When buying new cards, I've found that for cards under $5, get them right at release. Especially if you can pick them up for under $3.
Some cards are "sleepers", and once they see play in decks that place, they'll only get more expensive.
With expensive cards, I personally keep an eye on the market weekly. If I notice these cards trending down I'll pay daily attention,
once they hit bottom I buy.
Card prices at release are based purely on speculation. After a week or two the prices start to reflect the reality of how useful they are.
For many cards, if you are just playing casually, right after rotation can be a great time, if you want to wait for a year-ish.
I always follow set previews, so when a set drops I've already have a buy list set up. I've managed to pick up a lot of cards on the cheap this way(Walking Ballistas for a few bucks).
Every once in a while I get burned, but not enough to matter. Consider Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, I'll be paying around $34 for him. Thar may be a
stupid price, but he may get more expensive. I collect dragons so I'll just take the chance.