There is so much amazing art in early magic (and still today, although it is different), but my favorite is and always will be Stasis. I know it doesn't particularly match the card name or mechanic but it's one of a handful of pieces of magic art that I wouldn't be surprised to see at a museum.
I know how ludicrous this is and I also know that the math doesn't support this kind of results oriented thinking, but I've actually had the same experience. Whenever I buy a fat pack, I tend to pull 2+ mythics and a generally better selection of "money" cards, whereas when I buy a box, I tend to feel shafted (seriously, I bought a box of M13 and got exactly 0 mythic rares, 0). My M14 fat pack yielded Liliana, Ajani, Foil Devout Invocation, Foil Sanguine Bond and Scavenging Ooze.
I know it's wrong and it's related to the sample size, but I feel the same way and it has absolutely effected my purchases.
I think the most important thing is to view the auction and feedback realistically. I recently bought a repack from lennysanderswi that yielded a revised Badlands and a bunch of other $1-3 cards. In reviewing his feedback, I noticed that someone always got the chase card advertised (in this case, an Underground Sea) and that all other feedback was along the lines of "these repacks are exactly as advertised." Then I added up the value of the repack contents and multiplied by the number of lots. In this case, there were 10 lots, with the cards worth roughly $150 and not surprisingly the lots started at $14.99. What the seller was doing was ensuring he got the value of the cards, while unloaded some crap he didn't want/couldn't sell, all while making an interesting and fun set of repacks.
Anyway, I agree that most of these are scams, but I wanted to point out at least one legitimate repacker.
I'm actually about to do the same thing. I'm going to sell the $$ cards on ebay, and then either sell the bulk as one lot, or give my commons/uncommons/crap rares to a friend who has a 7 year old son just getting into mtg.
However, I am keeping my cube just in case I ever want to get back into magic. So, ultimately I'm selling off about 50% of the value of my collection, but getting rid of 90%+ of the cards.
When we play multiplayer, we are usually pretty loose with the mulligans. When it's head to head, we do 1 free mulligan per match (best 2 of 3), plus regular mulligan rules on top of that. If you draw all/no lands, you can ask for another mulligan and odds are your request will be granted.
I am a rule stickler for everything else, but since it's casual kitchen table play, there is no reason to get uptight about the starting hands.
I don't get all the hate for Tom. I played a few games against him on Magic Online (he is a big classic supporter), and he was a great opponent. He is well versed in the game and has a true passion for Magic. Good luck in your future endeavors Tom.
I've actually had this happen a lot with BSS. Last night I did a draft and picked a solid set of BGw Infect cards, only to realize I only had 20 playables. Even with the dreck in the deck, I still managed to ravage the field on the strength of turn 2 Plague Stinger, turn 3 Rot Wolf, turn 4 Blightwidow consistently, regardless of the rusted slasher that made my infect deck.
I used to play in a lot of leagues, and for me the only downside was that you had to wait a month to use your cards in other decks, or trade or sell them. Basically anything you opened was locked up.
I remember pulling a $$ card (I think Damnation, which was high at the time) and not being able to use or trade it until the league was over, which was very frustrating.
Then they introduced 1 week leagues which I liked a lot more.
Some of the bigger bots may have them, but you could also offer a player tix (preferably someone who doesn't pay tax) to buy you one from the store. None of the duel decks have left the store.
I also bought the Exiler deck because I recently sold my classic collection and decided this was a good way to get back in without dropping $1000s of dollars. The only addition I made was adding 4 Wastelands and adding another Jitte in place of the Bonesplitter. Blazelix has had a lot of success and his decklists are listed on classicquarter for you to view. I'd recommend taking a look at them for ideas on how to improve this deck. Either way, Wizards made a smart move in printing these. Here's hoping a blue one comes out with FoWs.
I know it's wrong and it's related to the sample size, but I feel the same way and it has absolutely effected my purchases.
Anyway, I agree that most of these are scams, but I wanted to point out at least one legitimate repacker.
Well, they did print Goblin Guide.
However, I am keeping my cube just in case I ever want to get back into magic. So, ultimately I'm selling off about 50% of the value of my collection, but getting rid of 90%+ of the cards.
I am a rule stickler for everything else, but since it's casual kitchen table play, there is no reason to get uptight about the starting hands.
I remember pulling a $$ card (I think Damnation, which was high at the time) and not being able to use or trade it until the league was over, which was very frustrating.
Then they introduced 1 week leagues which I liked a lot more.