A store near me has a pre-order system but only for one pack at a time. Each FNM he puts out a listing that allows you to purchase a pack for $7.00 Once the product is released he will then give out whatever product you have purchased. Of course the pre-pay system was very well designed inasmuch saying that if not enough product was shipped, whatever monies you have pre-paid with that you did not receive a pack of MM will be issued as store credit. MM packs will be issued as a week-by-week basis to ensure that all people who pre-ordered early will be guaranteed their early pre-pays.
An example of this is below
Person A pre-pays on 10/22, 10/29
Person B pre-pays on 10/22 only
If the store only has 2 packs to distribute both Person A and Person B would receive 1 pack each and Person A would receive 7.00 in store credit.
It actually was a great marketing ploy as it got people into the store every Friday even if they came just to pay their 7.00 You could not pre-pay for a future week or catch up from a past week nor could you pay for another person. He started taking pre-orders for this product as soon as it was officially announced in late October so some people have racked up over a box.
A few of us did the math on these pre-orders and realized that to cover all of them this LGS would have to receive close to 40 boxes. Guess I'm going to get a nice amount in store credit if the print run is as short as people are speculating.
I can generally only afford 1 box per set, so when i get one I make a sort of "Advent Calendar" out of it.
I open one pack every morning for the first week,
Two packs every morning for the second week,
And all the rest on the first morning of the third week!
It takes patience, but it's nice to have something to look foreword to every day for half a month. =)
(Plus that final day with 15 packs is always awesome)
That's such a great idea. I love it. Sure makes buying a box last longer than thirty minutes.
The only way I know how to make a casual deck is for someone to throw a monetary value on the deck I am making. Our playgroup has our decks that are budgeted at 150 dollars just for the reason of a new player coming into the game who doesn't have the best of everything. Are these decks powerful? Absolutely they are, but only when compared to decks that cost the same amount. Competition drives people to play better cards.
Sorry for the tangent. But if you charge people to play a game why punish them for playing the best available. If you want to make it competitive casual then add stipulations into the fold such as Singleton, peasant, pauper.
Even with a tournament that is peasant people can still have a blast due to everyone being on the same level. The people who do not attend these events are the ones who know they can only win with their wallet and not any real skill.
I love coin flip cards due to the chaotic nature of them. I play EDH exclusively and my U/R Planar Chaos deck with Jhoira leading is so much fun. Whenever someone new comes into a game with people I know they get upset with my general and my friends just laugh and say, "don't worry, his deck has just enough chance to make him lose as it does you"
But I agree that many people do not like them because it adds another variable to an already variable heavy game. It's like the shell game where you have no idea what shell the item is under but your only options are shell 1 and 2. Coin flip cards also are purely luck with no skill involved and most competitive players hate that.
Considerably worse than any of those. Nothing worse than an opening hand that was keepable getting plunked for 3 card right off.
Funny you mention this as this is what I play in my casual discard deck, except I use Duress instead of the Thoughtseize. I normally play the duress first as it is limited by what I can take and then the Hymn to narrow the choices. Random discard is always sweet, wish there was more of it. Mind Rot should cost BBB and be random.
I once did it the other way around but most times the duress missed and the opportunity was wasted.
I posted this in another thread but I think this one is more relevant.
What would happen if instead of doing a reprint of the restricted list, they banned all Power 9 and the original dual lands from Legacy and Vintage. The other cards on the RL would be unaffected.
Collectors would still know their cards wouldn't be reprinted and new players wanting to get into vintage and legacy wouldn't be barred by an insane price point by cards barely younger than themselves.
I understand that legacy and vintage are fueled by the Power and Duals and perhaps that is part of the problem. Any format that is backed by something the majority of people cannot own is eventually going to die. I don't play legacy or vintage because I choose not to.
Since I only play EDH/casual the reserve list doesn't really affect me much; however, I would like to see reprints only so I don't have to use a proxy.
I would love to see another boxed set with all 10 dual lands, new border, new artwork, and foiled, obviously banned in sanctioned tournaments. This collection of lands would be bought so fast by casual EDH'ers WotC would be hard-pressed to keep up with demand. In addition, most EDH'ers would also sell off their original duals as they have no need for them. Most die-hard EDH'ers foil their decks so having these lands would be priority over the others, as even a beta Bayou is an eye sore in a Savra deck
Wizards doesn't make any money off the single's market and even if they charged $100.00 a set, I would think most people would drop 4 bills for a playset.
What would happen to the value of The Power 9 and Duals if they were all banned from Legacy and Vintage? The other cards would be unaffected. The reserve list would still be in effect as dictated by the unwritten promise by Wizards but you would never be able to play with them outside of KTM (Kitchen Table Magic).
I'm wondering if any data has been collected regarding the approximate value of cards within a box of Gatecrash. I think within the 2 weeks of RtR the average value of a box hovered around $110 and then slowly died to being around $80.00
Right now what is the price point of a box where the approximate value of contained cards would allow you to break even. SCG's is still selling boxes for $120.00 but I can't see that being anywhere close to the actual value.
Also, when does a box go up in value? How long do you need to hang onto a sealed box to make a profit. Obviously some sets are so worthless that even sealed are worth less than the original purchase price.
I am trying to make a deck focusing around discard with a few heavy hitters as finishers. I want to stick with black only since going into grixis colors it's easy to steer the deck in a different direction.
Don't buy packs expecting to make your money back. It rarely happens. I open 1 case of product each set and build from there. Magic is an expensive hobby but I enjoy it. If you cannot afford to play magic don't whine when you don't open godly stuff on a peasant budget.
Sometimes I even feel cheap when I see other people have 700 decks I would have to trade almost my entire collection to build. I work in law enforcement and tell every offender...You get the justice you can afford. The same is true for magic. Don't expect different.
An example of this is below
Person A pre-pays on 10/22, 10/29
Person B pre-pays on 10/22 only
If the store only has 2 packs to distribute both Person A and Person B would receive 1 pack each and Person A would receive 7.00 in store credit.
It actually was a great marketing ploy as it got people into the store every Friday even if they came just to pay their 7.00 You could not pre-pay for a future week or catch up from a past week nor could you pay for another person. He started taking pre-orders for this product as soon as it was officially announced in late October so some people have racked up over a box.
A few of us did the math on these pre-orders and realized that to cover all of them this LGS would have to receive close to 40 boxes. Guess I'm going to get a nice amount in store credit if the print run is as short as people are speculating.
That's such a great idea. I love it. Sure makes buying a box last longer than thirty minutes.
Sorry for the tangent. But if you charge people to play a game why punish them for playing the best available. If you want to make it competitive casual then add stipulations into the fold such as Singleton, peasant, pauper.
Even with a tournament that is peasant people can still have a blast due to everyone being on the same level. The people who do not attend these events are the ones who know they can only win with their wallet and not any real skill.
Landdestructionburn.dec ftw
But I agree that many people do not like them because it adds another variable to an already variable heavy game. It's like the shell game where you have no idea what shell the item is under but your only options are shell 1 and 2. Coin flip cards also are purely luck with no skill involved and most competitive players hate that.
Funny you mention this as this is what I play in my casual discard deck, except I use Duress instead of the Thoughtseize. I normally play the duress first as it is limited by what I can take and then the Hymn to narrow the choices. Random discard is always sweet, wish there was more of it. Mind Rot should cost BBB and be random.
I once did it the other way around but most times the duress missed and the opportunity was wasted.
What would happen if instead of doing a reprint of the restricted list, they banned all Power 9 and the original dual lands from Legacy and Vintage. The other cards on the RL would be unaffected.
Collectors would still know their cards wouldn't be reprinted and new players wanting to get into vintage and legacy wouldn't be barred by an insane price point by cards barely younger than themselves.
I understand that legacy and vintage are fueled by the Power and Duals and perhaps that is part of the problem. Any format that is backed by something the majority of people cannot own is eventually going to die. I don't play legacy or vintage because I choose not to.
I would love to see another boxed set with all 10 dual lands, new border, new artwork, and foiled, obviously banned in sanctioned tournaments. This collection of lands would be bought so fast by casual EDH'ers WotC would be hard-pressed to keep up with demand. In addition, most EDH'ers would also sell off their original duals as they have no need for them. Most die-hard EDH'ers foil their decks so having these lands would be priority over the others, as even a beta Bayou is an eye sore in a Savra deck
Wizards doesn't make any money off the single's market and even if they charged $100.00 a set, I would think most people would drop 4 bills for a playset.
What would happen to the value of The Power 9 and Duals if they were all banned from Legacy and Vintage? The other cards would be unaffected. The reserve list would still be in effect as dictated by the unwritten promise by Wizards but you would never be able to play with them outside of KTM (Kitchen Table Magic).
I'm wondering if any data has been collected regarding the approximate value of cards within a box of Gatecrash. I think within the 2 weeks of RtR the average value of a box hovered around $110 and then slowly died to being around $80.00
Right now what is the price point of a box where the approximate value of contained cards would allow you to break even. SCG's is still selling boxes for $120.00 but I can't see that being anywhere close to the actual value.
Also, when does a box go up in value? How long do you need to hang onto a sealed box to make a profit. Obviously some sets are so worthless that even sealed are worth less than the original purchase price.
Thank you
I am trying to make a deck focusing around discard with a few heavy hitters as finishers. I want to stick with black only since going into grixis colors it's easy to steer the deck in a different direction.
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Liliana of the Dark Realms
Creatures
2 Griselbrand
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Black Cat
4 Tribute to Hunger
4 Sign in Blood
4 Barter in Blood
4 Mind Rot
2 Killing Wave
4 Mutilate
24 Swamp
The sideboard is something I have no clue over as tonight will be my first FNM in almost 3 years and I have no idea of the meta.
Sometimes I even feel cheap when I see other people have 700 decks I would have to trade almost my entire collection to build. I work in law enforcement and tell every offender...You get the justice you can afford. The same is true for magic. Don't expect different.