I just started playing Magic about 2 weeks ago. I played extremely casually back in 2013, meaning I did one draft and quit because I said it'd be too much money and I didn't understand any of it. Fast forward to today, I started playing Arena a few months ago. I built a number of tier 1 decks and got into it big. Then my brother recommended I try paper. I say no, no thanks. I ended up going to my LGS and bought him a bunch of packs and some singles for his Commander deck for his birthday in early December. The shop owner tells me I should come out and draft and learn paper. I refute citing a hard work/life balance. Then Ultimate Masters came out and I was hyped for it without any real good reason. So I finally caved and went, which was very hard for me to do as I did not know anyone and get nervous in a large group of people I don't know.
I did the draft for Ultimate Masters and went 0-3 but I got a good learning experience out of it. Everyone was very nice and it was a lot of fun. I got some good cards even though I am only playing standard right now. I have bought a number of boosters. A vast majority of my collection is made up of GRN and Dominaria. I would say I have probably close to 600 cards now spanning Ulimate Masters, M19, Dominaria, and GRN. I bought a mono blue deck off Card Kingdom to play before draft too. I have not gotten to play it yet, Friday was my first opportunity but draft was canceled due to not enough people and no one was playing Magic anyway, so I left.
My question is, what next? I got a gift card to Amazon and was debating picking up a booster box of something but am unsure of what. I don't want to waste it, it is a $50 credit. I'd put the rest on my card, I know boosters are more than $50. I am not sure what the next best move would be at this point. I want a midrange deck but they are way too pricey up front for me right now. My favorite deck is Golgari midrange. I would almost prefer more of a midrange-y deck, then pretty evenly aggro and control.
My question is, what next? I got a gift card to Amazon and was debating picking up a booster box of something but am unsure of what. I don't want to waste it, it is a $50 credit. I'd put the rest on my card, I know boosters are more than $50. I am not sure what the next best move would be at this point. I want a midrange deck but they are way too pricey up front for me right now. My favorite deck is Golgari midrange. I would almost prefer more of a midrange-y deck, then pretty evenly aggro and control.
If you want to play competitive paper magic, Id suggest selling the gift card for cash value and then using the return to buy singles. It's the best way to build a deck. Otherwise you'll just be wasting money on random cards you don't want/need.
If you cant unload the gift card, then I'd suggest buying a case (not a box) and putting the gift card towards that. You still end up with the problem I described above, but you should pull enough value where you can sell/trade to get what you need if you're patient enough
My question is, what next? I got a gift card to Amazon and was debating picking up a booster box of something but am unsure of what. I don't want to waste it, it is a $50 credit. I'd put the rest on my card, I know boosters are more than $50. I am not sure what the next best move would be at this point. I want a midrange deck but they are way too pricey up front for me right now. My favorite deck is Golgari midrange. I would almost prefer more of a midrange-y deck, then pretty evenly aggro and control.
If you want to play competitive paper magic, Id suggest selling the gift card for cash value and then using the return to buy singles. It's the best way to build a deck. Otherwise you'll just be wasting money on random cards you don't want/need.
If you cant unload the gift card, then I'd suggest buying a case (not a box) and putting the gift card towards that. You still end up with the problem I described above, but you should pull enough value where you can sell/trade to get what you need if you're patient enough
I really do not want to sell the gift card for cash. That comes off as just being a bad friend. It was a Christmas gift from a friend.
I think the point The Decepticon was really driving at was that Boxes and packs are terrible for getting a specific deck together. If you know what you want, buying a box will be unlikely to get you very far into building any specific deck which means you will still need to spend more money later on getting the cards for your deck. If you are serious about making a competitive deck (even on a budget) Singles are always the better option.
Amazon can sometimes have decent prices on card singles but, in my experience, these tend to be on the cards that are in the $10-$20 range because it doesn't make sense for someone to be selling the $.10 cards on that platform. But, you will need at least some of those cheap cards for a deck so you will end up looking elsewhere for them anyway.
I would recommend you use that $50 on Amazon for supplies rather than cards. Use it to buy a nice deck box or decent sleeves. I really like Dragon Shields but they can be expensive so that gift card can be used to splurge a little. Then, use TCGPlayer, TrollAndToad, CardKingdom, SCG, and so on for your Singles purchases.
Basically, if you are looking for build a specific deck, Singles are the way to go which means Amazon isn't very good. Use Amazon for your supplies. If you just want to build your collection, a box of Guilds of Ravnica or (the soon to be released) Ravnica Allegiance would be alright since they have Shock Lands which are good for Modern if you ever decided to move on to that format.
Supplies arent a bad idea. For a single deck I definitely recommend Dragon Shield sleeves (the Matte Sapphire are especially nice), Ultra Pro Satin Tower case, and assorted dice depending on your preference (D6, D12, D20, etc). 25x D12's + Tower + Sleeves will run about $35. Add in a playmat if you so desire and that should eat up the entirety of the gift card
Basically, if you are looking for build a specific deck, Singles are the way to go which means Amazon isn't very good. Use Amazon for your supplies. If you just want to build your collection, a box of Guilds of Ravnica or (the soon to be released) Ravnica Allegiance would be alright since they have Shock Lands which are good for Modern if you ever decided to move on to that format.
Hollow Prophet, If you're looking for card singles eBay and TCGPlayer are your best bets. Even though I mostly shop for card singles that my LGS doesn't carry on eBay I would highly recommend shopping on TCGPlayer since the proceeds go to the LGS that you're buying from which helps keeps their lights on. If your LGS has a Crystal Commerce feature setup then selling and ordering card singles can really go a long way to provide a place for people to play Magic and other tabletop games.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
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I did the draft for Ultimate Masters and went 0-3 but I got a good learning experience out of it. Everyone was very nice and it was a lot of fun. I got some good cards even though I am only playing standard right now. I have bought a number of boosters. A vast majority of my collection is made up of GRN and Dominaria. I would say I have probably close to 600 cards now spanning Ulimate Masters, M19, Dominaria, and GRN. I bought a mono blue deck off Card Kingdom to play before draft too. I have not gotten to play it yet, Friday was my first opportunity but draft was canceled due to not enough people and no one was playing Magic anyway, so I left.
My question is, what next? I got a gift card to Amazon and was debating picking up a booster box of something but am unsure of what. I don't want to waste it, it is a $50 credit. I'd put the rest on my card, I know boosters are more than $50. I am not sure what the next best move would be at this point. I want a midrange deck but they are way too pricey up front for me right now. My favorite deck is Golgari midrange. I would almost prefer more of a midrange-y deck, then pretty evenly aggro and control.
If you want to play competitive paper magic, Id suggest selling the gift card for cash value and then using the return to buy singles. It's the best way to build a deck. Otherwise you'll just be wasting money on random cards you don't want/need.
If you cant unload the gift card, then I'd suggest buying a case (not a box) and putting the gift card towards that. You still end up with the problem I described above, but you should pull enough value where you can sell/trade to get what you need if you're patient enough
I really do not want to sell the gift card for cash. That comes off as just being a bad friend. It was a Christmas gift from a friend.
Amazon can sometimes have decent prices on card singles but, in my experience, these tend to be on the cards that are in the $10-$20 range because it doesn't make sense for someone to be selling the $.10 cards on that platform. But, you will need at least some of those cheap cards for a deck so you will end up looking elsewhere for them anyway.
I would recommend you use that $50 on Amazon for supplies rather than cards. Use it to buy a nice deck box or decent sleeves. I really like Dragon Shields but they can be expensive so that gift card can be used to splurge a little. Then, use TCGPlayer, TrollAndToad, CardKingdom, SCG, and so on for your Singles purchases.
Basically, if you are looking for build a specific deck, Singles are the way to go which means Amazon isn't very good. Use Amazon for your supplies. If you just want to build your collection, a box of Guilds of Ravnica or (the soon to be released) Ravnica Allegiance would be alright since they have Shock Lands which are good for Modern if you ever decided to move on to that format.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta