Magic:The Gathering

[Heartkill]

I miss the old days of MTG. My wife got into playing at FNM recently so I dug out some old cards of mine I had from childhood. I had to explain why cards like FoW and Wasteland are so powerful. I have a box of probably 1,200 cards from Beta to Tempest, which is when I stopped playing.



I remember playing the Microprose games on PC. I may have to look around and see if I still have the discs.

 

[ki_atsushi]

Nice cards man, nice cards.

I still think Lion's Eye Diamond is over valued though, there's only a few ways you can use it since you can't put a card on the stack from your hand and then sac the LeD (and therefore your hand) to pay it's mana cost. Now you can only play it's ability as an instant. Wizards gimped it with errata.

 

[Tripredacus]

I think I'll take a look at what I have left and see if any are good. I think that because of the condition they are in, they are not worth anything.

 

[ki_atsushi]

I think I'll take a look at what I have left and see if any are good. I think that because of the condition they are in, they are not worth anything.

doo eet!

 

[Fritz]

I have unplayed versions of bazaar of baghdad, library of alexandria and unlimited berserk. Rest of my cards are not worth much of anything. I mainly bought revised and was done with magic by the late 90's and moved onto other stuff. It was a fun game though, kind of miss playing it.

Fuck my parents for not endulging my MTG obession in 5th grade and buying me power 9 cards haha.

 

[Tripredacus]

doo eet!

Had the great basement flooding of 2008 (or whenever) had not occurred, I would be sitting on a couple of gems. When that happened, nearly all of my magic cards (and my possessions) were tossed out. My tournament decks survived as they had been somewhat protected, but they were so special to me that I kept them even though they smell of mold and some cards have surface damage. Of the 3 I just looked through, and looked up... well I'll just list the two cards I found that are pretty much worthless due to condition.

Island (Guru)
Swamp (Guru)

Just look here and weep along with me, or look here if you don't know what they look like, or look here if you don't know how much they are worth...
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...lete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

Now a possible bright note is that I should have a Guru Mountain somewhere and I'm REALLY HOPING it is in the last remaining card box that had not met with a watery fate of any kind...

EDIT: haven't located the other land yet. Will keep an eye out for it!

Spoiler:

 

[ki_atsushi]

Oh yes, I'm well aware how crazy expensive the guru lands are... I'm sorry bro.

I've heard stories stories such as a guy in the northeast having his basement flood in the late 90's and simultaneously losing over 30 black lotuses he had been collecting, and god knows what else. And they weren't even worth half as much as they are now, if the dude still had them he could be kicking it in the Caribbean...

 

[ebinsugewa]

Nice cards man, nice cards.

I still think Lion's Eye Diamond is over valued though, there's only a few ways you can use it since you can't put a card on the stack from your hand and then sac the LeD (and therefore your hand) to pay it's mana cost. Now you can only play it's ability as an instant. Wizards gimped it with errata.

The main combo is with Infernal Tutor. Cast Infernal Tutor and without passing priority crack LED. You now have a Demonic Tutor and 3 mana. This is very good in Storm decks. LED is also a discard/mana outlet for Dredge decks.

 

[ki_atsushi]

The main combo is with Infernal Tutor. Cast Infernal Tutor and without passing priority crack LED. You now have a Demonic Tutor and 3 mana. This is very good in Storm decks. LED is also a discard/mana outlet for Dredge decks.

Ah! I've heard of Infernal Tutor, but I didn't know how it differed from the other tutors until now. Great combo there!

Speaking of storm, I'm one card away (need another expensive ass Scalding Tarn) from building my own variant on a swathstorm deck:

Land:

4 Island
2 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
4 Shivan Reef
2 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool


Creatures:

None


Spells:

4 Pyromancer's Swath
4 Grapeshot
2 Magma Jet
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Manamorphose
4 Seething Song
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Serum Visions
4 Slight of Hand
2 Remand


Sideboard:

4 Empty the Warrens
3 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Magma Jet
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Past in Flames
2 Hoodwink


The plan is to pop off and kill on turn 4, but it is doable on turn 3 if your starting hand is perfect. You basically want to get out at least 2 pyromancer's swath, while casting as many cantrips as possible on that final turn to build up enough storm for a grapeshot kill. The sideboard has an alternate storm combo in the form of empty the warrens and goblin bushwhacker (haste for all) for some beatdown. It also has hoodwink and ancient grudge in case of any enchantment (leyline of sanctity especially) or artifact shenanigans, and past in flames for some spell recycling. It's gonna be fun.

 

[hyper]

woa that deck combination is great
im using that

 

[SonGohan]

What's this new mtgo? That shits been in beta client for years, and that interface is pretty shitty. Will you be able to keep all your digital cards or is this a whole new online client?

I'm assuming you're asking about the new Origins game, which to my knowledge hasn't been in beta for years. It's supposed to be a new template that WOTC plans on using to update new card blocks. It differs from the Duels of the Planeswalkers games in that it doesn't revolve around premade decks --you're supposed to be able to completely customize decks from your collections, which comes from booster packs that you can pay for with real money as well as coins you earn through playing solo and ranked multiplayer games. I'd be way more excited over this if it included all the previous cards like MTGO, but at least it's a step in the right direction from those Planeswalkers games. I like that it's free to play as well with being able to earn in-game currency you can spend on packs.

I really don't like the way it splits the fanbase not only between real cards and digital, but also splits the digital with players who have amassed huge collections with MTGO, as well as the other shitty games I mentioned above. They really need to focus their efforts into one place (at least digitally). Like I said above, it seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the massive success of Hearthstone. WOTC should've just updated MTGO into something that looks good with new modes, but it's almost like they're embarrassed it's looked this bad for this long that doing anything to update it now would further shine a light on their years of laziness.

 

[Heartkill]

Nice cards man, nice cards.

I still think Lion's Eye Diamond is over valued though, there's only a few ways you can use it since you can't put a card on the stack from your hand and then sac the LeD (and therefore your hand) to pay it's mana cost. Now you can only play it's ability as an instant. Wizards gimped it with errata.

Thanks man I've kept everything double sleeved for years so my cards have stayed in pretty good shape. Wish I had a time machine to go back and buy more $5 dual lands though.

As ebinsugewa said a few posts up LED is a combo piece, usually for Storm decks. I'd like to put a Legacy deck together with Tendrils of Agony using it.

 

[ki_atsushi]

Thanks man I've kept everything double sleeved for years so my cards have stayed in pretty good shape. Wish I had a time machine to go back and buy more $5 dual lands though.

As ebinsugewa said a few posts up LED is a combo piece, usually for Storm decks. I'd like to put a Legacy deck together with Tendrils of Agony using it.

I hear ya, I was a sucker and got swindled out of a scrubland or badlands (can't remember which) by an older player in high school. I really didn't understand how important those lands really were back then.

Also, about 2 years ago I bought a pack of revised for shits and giggles and got a Tundra! I ended up selling it for $90, which was pretty decent for the time, now it's worth nearly double that.

Magic is better than the fucking stock market.

 

[tacoguy]

It really is pretty ridiculous how fast the price of certain cards can change. The latest examples are the price of the b/g elf land from lorwyn. The elf deck is on the rise in modern and they recently spoiled some new elves in origins that will make them stronger. And now what used to be a $2 dollar junk rare is now a $10 rare because of all the speculators that have been buying the card in bulk. Same thing happened with the U/W merfolk land. And those are just some very recent examples of cards that have spiked in a very short amount of time. You can bet that there are gonna be more cards that make huge spikes like that for the foreseeable future.

As far as MTGO goes, it really does need a complete overhaul. There is no way a program like that should be that much of a resource hog, shitty looking, and have a clunky interface. But with all those negatives it really does have its advantages over paper. Once you get used to the interface, the game is playable. It is also way cheaper than the physical game by a large margin. Also being able to play older formats is a plus. Especially if you live in an area where modern and legacy don't get played. And being able to draft some fun sets like vintage masters, modern masters, or any of the older sets is very fun.

 

[BerryTogart]

Played and collected for years, then sold my collection when I moved to a new flat - I really enjoyed the game, I do like it still but all in all so many companies put out so many great games at the moment (Paizo Pathfinder LCG e.g.) that can be had for a fraction of the costs and are coop which I ultimately prefer.
Don't regret selling my collection when I did.

 

[ki_atsushi]

It really is pretty ridiculous how fast the price of certain cards can change. The latest examples are the price of the b/g elf land from lorwyn. The elf deck is on the rise in modern and they recently spoiled some new elves in origins that will make them stronger. And now what used to be a $2 dollar junk rare is now a $10 rare because of all the speculators that have been buying the card in bulk. Same thing happened with the U/W merfolk land. And those are just some very recent examples of cards that have spiked in a very short amount of time. You can bet that there are gonna be more cards that make huge spikes like that for the foreseeable future.

As far as MTGO goes, it really does need a complete overhaul. There is no way a program like that should be that much of a resource hog, shitty looking, and have a clunky interface. But with all those negatives it really does have its advantages over paper. Once you get used to the interface, the game is playable. It is also way cheaper than the physical game by a large margin. Also being able to play older formats is a plus. Especially if you live in an area where modern and legacy don't get played. And being able to draft some fun sets like vintage masters, modern masters, or any of the older sets is very fun.

MTGO was fun when I was playing, but I just got tired of not having actual physical cards. Netdecking is a good way to test a deck build you have in paper though, I should probably get back into it. Problem is, I can't remember my password, and the email I signed up no longer exists, lol

 

[Dr Shroom]

 

[SonGohan]

MTGO was fun when I was playing, but I just got tired of not having actual physical cards.

Man, I'm the complete opposite. Not having to deal with actual cards feels so great to me. I can create multiple decks without having to constantly transfer x4 of certain cards around, and I can always find somebody ready to play. I don't think there's a substitute for playing in person, but I think even then I would prefer to play with a digital collection. I played a dude at my college in Hearthstone and it was just us at a table with our ipads. I didn't feel like I was missing anything with real cards. In fact, games went a lot smoother and quicker because the rules were built into the game. I'll never forget arguing rules with dumbasses and threatening to call the WOTC hotline to settle a rule dispute. Those aren't fond memories at all.

 

[systmdfect]

So, I'm curious, for those of you that play Standard (and Modern to some extent)... What do you think about Origins being the last Core Set?

Personally, I stopped caring about core sets after 4th edition. They seem to just be a conglomerate of "OK" cards.

 

[ki_atsushi]

Man, I'm the complete opposite. Not having to deal with actual cards feels so great to me. I can create multiple decks without having to constantly transfer x4 of certain cards around, and I can always find somebody ready to play. I don't think there's a substitute for playing in person, but I think even then I would prefer to play with a digital collection. I played a dude at my college in Hearthstone and it was just us at a table with our ipads. I didn't feel like I was missing anything with real cards. In fact, games went a lot smoother and quicker because the rules were built into the game. I'll never forget arguing rules with dumbasses and threatening to call the WOTC hotline to settle a rule dispute. Those aren't fond memories at all.

You have some good points there, especially with the rules being built into the game so there's no cheating or mistakes. I love hanging out with people and gaming face to face though, it's fun to have real human interaction. And the collector in me wants to have real cards I guess. It would be cool to be able to play magic on an ipad with friends, I could get used to that.

What I really want to do is find a couple more people to play (right now it's just my cousin and I) and make a draft cube.

So, I'm curious, for those of you that play Standard (and Modern to some extent)... What do you think about Origins being the last Core Set?

Personally, I stopped caring about core sets after 4th edition. They seem to just be a conglomerate of "OK" cards.

I don't like seeing the core set going away, simply because that is even further going to limit the standard pool (latest core set + last 2 blocks). Now it's just going to be the last 2 blocks?

 

[SonGohan]

I find as I get older, the less I feel the "itch" to collect things. I just unloaded 20k+ cards and it feels pretty liberating, to be honest. Having a complete collection of cards that I can carry around and play on a tablet feels so much better than lugging a 25lb bag full of cards, dice, playmats, life counters, and other stuff. If you told me in 1998 that I could carry around an electronic device, smaller than a notebook, that could give me access to hundreds of thousands of cards that I can use to play anybody, anywhere, I'd be excited as hell. It'd sound like some Star Trek shit to me.

Some people look at cards as investments, and I get that. I think the time to invest in Magic was the 90s, though, as you aren't going to pull any sort of return on your investment these days. WOTC is shitting so many card blocks out as they rotate others that you can't even take a break from it if you wanted to. I like having a digital collection that I can access from anywhere, from multiple devices, and not have to worry about my collection getting ruined in a flood or some other horrible situation. I think it also puts emphasis on actually playing the game, instead of worrying about sleeving each card in special plastic, and trying to be extra careful playing/shuffling your deck because you have 4 $100 cards in it. Hell, maybe you don't even put those cards in your deck because it would "ruin the value." I remember playing Sinkholes in one of my old 90s decks, and when I paid out the nose for 4 copies of them a few years ago, I was torn on whether to play them at all. I hate that.

That said, I don't think Origins is the answer WOTC needed in the digital market. I'll probably try it, but be complete f2p and not invest any money into it. I hope other players on this site try it out so we can face each other, or do some two-headed dragon shit. I wonder if there's a way to play those old Microprose games online..

 

[ki_atsushi]

I find as I get older, the less I feel the "itch" to collect things. I just unloaded 20k+ cards and it feels pretty liberating, to be honest. Having a complete collection of cards that I can carry around and play on a tablet feels so much better than lugging a 25lb bag full of cards, dice, playmats, life counters, and other stuff. If you told me in 1998 that I could carry around an electronic device, smaller than a notebook, that could give me access to hundreds of thousands of cards that I can use to play anybody, anywhere, I'd be excited as hell. It'd sound like some Star Trek shit to me.

Some people look at cards as investments, and I get that. I think the time to invest in Magic was the 90s, though, as you aren't going to pull any sort of return on your investment these days. WOTC is shitting so many card blocks out as they rotate others that you can't even take a break from it if you wanted to. I like having a digital collection that I can access from anywhere, from multiple devices, and not have to worry about my collection getting ruined in a flood or some other horrible situation. I think it also puts emphasis on actually playing the game, instead of worrying about sleeving each card in special plastic, and trying to be extra careful playing/shuffling your deck because you have 4 $100 cards in it. Hell, maybe you don't even put those cards in your deck because it would "ruin the value." I remember playing Sinkholes in one of my old 90s decks, and when I paid out the nose for 4 copies of them a few years ago, I was torn on whether to play them at all. I hate that.

That said, I don't think Origins is the answer WOTC needed in the digital market. I'll probably try it, but be complete f2p and not invest any money into it. I hope other players on this site try it out so we can face each other, or do some two-headed dragon shit. I wonder if there's a way to play those old Microprose games online..

I'm definitely going to try Origins out (the same way too, I never pay money to unlock shit that can be won for some effort). When it's out I'll play ya some matches for sure.

 

[hyper]

I've got Magic 2015 on my tablet now but I'm still on the first campaign

target has these new fat packs for $42 five pre made decks, boosters and lands pretty tempting

Also some oversized decks supposedly a "new multiplayer" format called 'commander'

the cards are huge looks silly

 

[ki_atsushi]

I've got Magic 2015 on my tablet now but I'm still on the first campaign

target has these new fat packs for $42 five pre made decks, boosters and lands pretty tempting

Also some oversized decks supposedly a "new multiplayer" format called 'commander'

the cards are huge looks silly

Never pay retail for a fat pack, they can be had for under $30 (sometimes under $25!) on eBay. Same for the preconstructed decks. I've seen some of them for like $10.

And as far as commander is concerned, it's only the commander himself/herself that gets an oversized card in those pre-made decks, the rest are normal.

 

[Lagduf]

Commander is a great format, particularly for casual, thematic play.