Ah, yup. I've played Cryptic games, STO and NW. The games themselves are good, but they are NOT financially friendly to the casual gamer. Kinda the most greedy, ruthless financial model I've seen from a studio. And in all fairness, I think that has more to do with Perfectworld than Cryptic.
It feels unfun because it is unfun. Unfortunately, it's also the world we live in and counter magic is a basic part of blue magic. I don't mind playing against a deck running a few, but the draw-go kind of "counter everything" decks are just miserable to play against. Heck, I even felt miserable when I was counterspelling everyone into oblivion back in the Lorwyn days with my faeries. It kinda taught me what it felt like from both sides of the counter.
I look at it this way: If everyone would realize that counterspells are a tool, rather than a strategy, the world would be a better place.
I just bought a binder called Ultimate Guard Zipfolio Xenoskin. It's the same 3x4 format as the FOUR, but much better quality. Also zips up for more protection. And it's a better price than the FOUR. Give it a look.
That being said, if you're looking for a binder for trade stock only, a good old 9 pocket is just fine, and is a little more compact to lug around.
Sadly, yes, it's getting harder to find 60 card constructed multi-player free-for-all games out in public. I'm lucky in that I have 2 groups that somewhat regularly still have "magic night". We do not "play casually", people are there to win and there is no lack of competition. It's the hardest format to be successful and win on a regular basis, and far more fun than 1-v-1 games, IMO of course. Top tier tournament decks do not win at our tables, they just aren't built for a MP setting.
We've flirted with Commander, mostly at my request because I love the format, but we seem to always fall back on the 60 card constructed because it's more competitive and much more challenging to win on a regular basis. The only 1-v-1 games we play are a home-brew tribal format that we've tweaked over the years. But our "standard" format is and will always be Vintage B/R list, 60 card constructed.
But yes, Commander is getting more game play in the public settings I think because of the "official" regulation of the format, and players know what to expect. There are different challenges to building good decks than 60 card, and the two formats are always going to appeal to different players. It all comes back to finding and cultivating those private groups in your particular areas if you want to have a outlet to regularly play the 60 card constructed MP FFA games.
I wish it was different, but it's the world we live in.
When we started playing, it was the Shi-vahn Dragon. The internet wasn't the vast source of info it is today, and you never got to hear how anyone else was pronouncing these things. In truth, both the local game shops were using Shi-vahn as well.
By the time the term Shivan came back around, we knew it was pronounced Shi-vin, however, to this day the dragon is still the Shi-vahn to us.
Wizards only makes money from sealed product, and speculation on out-of-print cards does not involve opening new sealed product. Wizards is unaffected by the secondary market.
Well, that's not entirely true though, is it? The LGS cares about the secondary market, and they're the ones actually buying the sealed product from Wizards, not us. Wizards needs those LGS's to stay in business to provide places to play and buy sealed product, and tanking the prices of singles would hurt LGS's.
Besides that, how much sealed product is bought up by the secondary market to open and sort through to meet preorder and on-going demand? Aftermarket VERY much affects WotC. Maybe not the aftermarket for OOP stuff, but Standard? You betcha.
I had to vote for all but one of the choices. I'd simply say you want to keep everything that is "playable". However, "playable" is largely defined by your personal tastes, formats you play, along with the meta you play in. It can also include the meta (or formats) you "might someday be required (or want) to play in".
Generally, I tell people to never get rid of cards. You'll invariably find yourself going out and re-buying cards because you've sold them off at some point. But there are limits. There are obviously cards that NO ONE will ever find a need to play. There is also the issue of how much of your life's storage space you want to dedicate to MTG. All of this factors into what and how many cards you keep in your collection. There is also the monetary value to consider. Watching cards' costs rise and fall is nerve-wracking. I generally don't sell cards out of my "playing" collection. Once it's deemed that I want a certain card in the collection, it stays. Most cards are just kept in playsets of 4, and I get rid of the rest, whether being sold, put into trade stock, or given away. The exceptions are cards that get played a lot and find themselves in multiple decks, or maybe a card that I keep a vintage version of plus a newer version of, or different art I like.
But the point is, I keep a playset of any card that I believe is a card that will see some kind of play at some point. Old favorites that get pulled out for fun, or maybe cards that inspired a deck idea that I haven't put together yet, even a few cards that are just kept for value. It's all up to you, there is no "right" way. Personally, I'd never get rid of a card like Griselbrand or Goblin Lackey. It's a good bet you'll want to play them again at some point, and kick yourself that you got rid of them.
I have a bad back, and can't stay sitting (or standing, have to alternate) for an extended period of time. During the duration of a MTG match in a store tournament, I do stand up every few minutes, and no one has ever given me a hard time about it. It's fairly obvious that I'm not walking away from the table, it doesn't hinder game play, and the couple of times I've been asked about it a quick explanation of my back issues usually just gets an "old man" comment and we play on. I can't imagine anyone ever getting huffy about someone standing up for a couple of turns to give their bum a rest.
The foam is the best solution I've used. You can get it in all kinds of shapes at places like Home Depot, and it's easy to cut. I use a single big piece of it and cut the length down bit by bit as box slots fill up.
Don't care if it was "first-to-draw-said-legend" luck, I prefer the original rule. They are Legends. Specific, powerful individual beings, places, or objects. It made the most sense.
Original rule: "I'm sorry you wasted your time summoning me to fight for you, but I already have a contract with your opponent, and I must fulfill that contract."
Second rule: "OK guys, so YOU want me to fight for YOU, HE wants me to fight for HIM. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm outta here and ya'll can figure it out yourselves."
Newest rule: "Huh. Wait. I'm here? But I'm THERE? What kind of fubared reality is this? There's only ONE of me. Or not... OK, maybe if I attack you, then I can jump over here real quick and block myself, then sac myself to counter myself before I exile myself? Yeah yeah, that might work."
Maybe the cards that dictated the legend rule changes should have been a bit better thought out.
I've just handled a bunch of these cards and I really can't tell the difference. There's are a few that have obvious printing errors on them, but all the others look and feel real to me. I think the biggest hint for me would be that they're super old cards in NM condition but that can easily be taken care of.
Okay, so here's a question I don't see getting asked much. I'm noticing the trend (both ebay and a couple of retail sites) that the price difference between NM and "played" condition cards is getting closer. This says to me that players are willing to buy played cards on the hopes that "played" condition means authentic card. But are they? If the lowlifes who are trying to pass counterfeits as real are paying attn, are we going to see a trend towards those people trying to artificially "age" the fakes? Is this even possible? Are the fakes going to age in the same manner, or will they become easier to identify as fake if they've been artificially aged? When do we have to start paying attn to ALL cards, instead of just those NM cards?
It's all subjective man. What formats do you play? What's your tournament meta like? What's your casual meta like? Are you into the art? Nostalgia? Foreign Language? Investment collector or just player? What's your threshold for the classification of useful/useless? It all calculates into how YOU should keep YOUR collection. It's all personal, and it all changes numerous times as you develop and evolve as a player. Over 20 years, I've gone from keeping at least 4 copies of EVERYTHING, to "OMG, I got to get rid of some of this crap" and getting rid of everything useless (and again, useless is a personal determination), back to wanting to keep playsets of everything. For sure, as soon as you get rid of a card, something's going to happen to skyrocket that card. Anyone remember Dark Depths, the dollar rare?
I can't even begin to tell you how many cards I've had to "rebuy" because I thought "gee, I'll never play THAT card". The flip side? Is anyone EVER going to have an excuse to play Tarpan? Actually, the answer is yes, SOMEONE out there will decide they love horses or Ice Age and that card then becomes valuable to them and their personal collection. Then there are cards that might suck in a vacuum, but are brilliant when placed in a specific decklist. Do you keep the card, or just rebuy if you happen to make that deck? Will you remember that card even exists?
Long story short. Only you can decide what's the best way for you to keep your collection. We can give you specific pointers on we keep our collections, but you have to decide whether they work for you or not.
It's all good, I know nothing personal was intended. I just tend to get defensive sometimes because people tend to look at someone's off-kilter advice, then their post count, and dismiss them as someone with no knowledge. I only have like 50 posts, but 20 years of playing MTG, mostly in the MP realm. The insecurity is personal flaw, I apologize. I guess you could say it's also a personal flaw to assume that 20 years means I know anything. (my god, I'm an old fart)
OK, so I feel like I need to stick up for myself a little here. If for no other reason than to show I'm not completely dumb.
First, I'd also prefer Swords to Plowshares over Terminate in a one-or-the-other situation as well. I did say that Terminate was ONE of BRW's best removal spells, not THE best, and I mentioned it mostly because it was in OP's maybe list already. We didn't even bring up some others like Path to Exile or Vindicate.
Second, it's been a long time since I've had to look at the price of either card. I'm actually amazed the StP is less money than Terminate. With that knowledge, yeah, Swords all the way.
Ah, yup. I've played Cryptic games, STO and NW. The games themselves are good, but they are NOT financially friendly to the casual gamer. Kinda the most greedy, ruthless financial model I've seen from a studio. And in all fairness, I think that has more to do with Perfectworld than Cryptic.
I look at it this way: If everyone would realize that counterspells are a tool, rather than a strategy, the world would be a better place.
That being said, if you're looking for a binder for trade stock only, a good old 9 pocket is just fine, and is a little more compact to lug around.
We've flirted with Commander, mostly at my request because I love the format, but we seem to always fall back on the 60 card constructed because it's more competitive and much more challenging to win on a regular basis. The only 1-v-1 games we play are a home-brew tribal format that we've tweaked over the years. But our "standard" format is and will always be Vintage B/R list, 60 card constructed.
But yes, Commander is getting more game play in the public settings I think because of the "official" regulation of the format, and players know what to expect. There are different challenges to building good decks than 60 card, and the two formats are always going to appeal to different players. It all comes back to finding and cultivating those private groups in your particular areas if you want to have a outlet to regularly play the 60 card constructed MP FFA games.
I wish it was different, but it's the world we live in.
By the time the term Shivan came back around, we knew it was pronounced Shi-vin, however, to this day the dragon is still the Shi-vahn to us.
Besides that, how much sealed product is bought up by the secondary market to open and sort through to meet preorder and on-going demand? Aftermarket VERY much affects WotC. Maybe not the aftermarket for OOP stuff, but Standard? You betcha.
Generally, I tell people to never get rid of cards. You'll invariably find yourself going out and re-buying cards because you've sold them off at some point. But there are limits. There are obviously cards that NO ONE will ever find a need to play. There is also the issue of how much of your life's storage space you want to dedicate to MTG. All of this factors into what and how many cards you keep in your collection. There is also the monetary value to consider. Watching cards' costs rise and fall is nerve-wracking. I generally don't sell cards out of my "playing" collection. Once it's deemed that I want a certain card in the collection, it stays. Most cards are just kept in playsets of 4, and I get rid of the rest, whether being sold, put into trade stock, or given away. The exceptions are cards that get played a lot and find themselves in multiple decks, or maybe a card that I keep a vintage version of plus a newer version of, or different art I like.
But the point is, I keep a playset of any card that I believe is a card that will see some kind of play at some point. Old favorites that get pulled out for fun, or maybe cards that inspired a deck idea that I haven't put together yet, even a few cards that are just kept for value. It's all up to you, there is no "right" way. Personally, I'd never get rid of a card like Griselbrand or Goblin Lackey. It's a good bet you'll want to play them again at some point, and kick yourself that you got rid of them.
Original rule: "I'm sorry you wasted your time summoning me to fight for you, but I already have a contract with your opponent, and I must fulfill that contract."
Second rule: "OK guys, so YOU want me to fight for YOU, HE wants me to fight for HIM. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm outta here and ya'll can figure it out yourselves."
Newest rule: "Huh. Wait. I'm here? But I'm THERE? What kind of fubared reality is this? There's only ONE of me. Or not... OK, maybe if I attack you, then I can jump over here real quick and block myself, then sac myself to counter myself before I exile myself? Yeah yeah, that might work."
Maybe the cards that dictated the legend rule changes should have been a bit better thought out.
Okay, so here's a question I don't see getting asked much. I'm noticing the trend (both ebay and a couple of retail sites) that the price difference between NM and "played" condition cards is getting closer. This says to me that players are willing to buy played cards on the hopes that "played" condition means authentic card. But are they? If the lowlifes who are trying to pass counterfeits as real are paying attn, are we going to see a trend towards those people trying to artificially "age" the fakes? Is this even possible? Are the fakes going to age in the same manner, or will they become easier to identify as fake if they've been artificially aged? When do we have to start paying attn to ALL cards, instead of just those NM cards?
I can't even begin to tell you how many cards I've had to "rebuy" because I thought "gee, I'll never play THAT card". The flip side? Is anyone EVER going to have an excuse to play Tarpan? Actually, the answer is yes, SOMEONE out there will decide they love horses or Ice Age and that card then becomes valuable to them and their personal collection. Then there are cards that might suck in a vacuum, but are brilliant when placed in a specific decklist. Do you keep the card, or just rebuy if you happen to make that deck? Will you remember that card even exists?
Long story short. Only you can decide what's the best way for you to keep your collection. We can give you specific pointers on we keep our collections, but you have to decide whether they work for you or not.
First, I'd also prefer Swords to Plowshares over Terminate in a one-or-the-other situation as well. I did say that Terminate was ONE of BRW's best removal spells, not THE best, and I mentioned it mostly because it was in OP's maybe list already. We didn't even bring up some others like Path to Exile or Vindicate.
Second, it's been a long time since I've had to look at the price of either card. I'm actually amazed the StP is less money than Terminate. With that knowledge, yeah, Swords all the way.