Magic the Gathering? Waste of money?

[Dream]

I was at the store today and saw a section was full of MTG cards for sale. I've never really played, but I know a few people that do. It was crazy how expensive the whole thing was. A pack of cards for $4, a theme deck for $15, and boxes for $50-$100?!

I've read horror stories about this game has turned into crack for some people that end up spending thousands just to improve their decks. Sure the art is nice, but this seems so excessive.

Does anyone think it is ridiculous how expensive these kinds of cards games are?

 

[R. Star]

Well, I still have my horde of 3rd and 4th edition cards I played with as a kid in a box somewhere. Even back then the rarer of the cards were worth a good chunk of change. I ought to check and see how much they're worth now.

Honestly, I have a general dislike of paying to game these days when there are so many free sources thanks to the internet. I guess there's always someone who needs to win that bad they'll spend tons of money to just have a slightly better chance than the other casual player. Anyone can throw together a burn deck in MTG after all.

 

[Namikaze]

If you're interested in the game, try a digital version on X-Box or PS3 first, assuming you have a console available. Same game, just no physical cards, only costs like $10-$20 bucks.

 

[RoJoHen]

Never played it myself, but I have some friends who are obsessed. I figured it was a fad that died back in the 90s...like pogs...but apparently not.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The video game versions are good. You can also pick up some actual decks relatively cheaply. No one's forcing you to spend thousands of dollars to get ultra-rare foils and whatnot.

ETA: I just ordered this a few days ago. 285 cards for $16. A good place to start, since I haven't had any Magic cards in years.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

I tried getting back into it over Christmas on a whim, after being obsessed in the nineties. I threw down a couple hundred bucks to get a good sized pile of "legal" current run cards (no-one in the area played anything but tournament legal, even at home, and most of my originals were essentially useless) and discovered it was still quite entertaining. There are so many cool new cards and concepts/rules (and a few that aren't so cool), but the core game is the same sweet wizard battle it always was.

However, after a few months of playing with people who were either much younger than me, or much older (and creepier), and all much more obsessed and up-to-date with every little insane nuance of the game, up to and including counting cards to calculate the odds of pulling off this or that spell or chain of spells in a certain number of turns based on the first hand, I became less and less enamored.

Then, of course, there was the turn over. Every 4 months or so a new set comes out, pushing the oldest current legal set out of the rotation. If you try to continue playing without buying any of the new cards, the inexplicable rules changes, card exclusions and insanely over-powered new cards usually end up shredding your "old" deck.

It became the 90s all over again: spend gobs of cash keeping up with the Joneses, or fall behind, get destroyed unmercifully and hope you have a friend or two who not only plays, but plays casually, so you don't feel like you wasted all that time and money.

From what I've seen of the video games, they look pretty decent and are faithful to the real thing. That might be your best bet.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I tried getting back into it over Christmas on a whim, after being obsessed in the nineties. I threw down a couple hundred bucks to get a good sized pile of "legal" current run cards (no-one in the area played anything but tournament legal, even at home, and most of my originals were essentially useless) and discovered it was still quite entertaining. There are so many cool new cards and concepts/rules (and a few that aren't so cool), but the core game is the same sweet wizard battle it always was.

However, after a few months of playing with people who were either much younger than me, or much older (and creepier), and all much more obsessed and up-to-date with every little insane nuance of the game, up to and including counting cards to calculate the odds of pulling off this or that spell or chain of spells in a certain number of turns based on the first hand, I became less and less enamored.

Then, of course, there was the turn over. Every 4 months or so a new set comes out, pushing the oldest current legal set out of the rotation. If you try to continue playing without buying any of the new cards, the inexplicable rules changes, card exclusions and insanely over-powered new cards usually end up shredding your "old" deck.

It became the 90s all over again: spend gobs of cash keeping up with the Joneses, or fall behind, get destroyed unmercifully and hope you have a friend or two who not only plays, but plays casually, so you don't feel like you wasted all that time and money.

From what I've seen of the video games, they look pretty decent and are faithful to the real thing. That might be your best bet.

Yuck. Now I remember why I avoided tournaments.

 

[EmoBorg]

I tried getting back into it over Christmas on a whim, after being obsessed in the nineties. I threw down a couple hundred bucks to get a good sized pile of "legal" current run cards (no-one in the area played anything but tournament legal, even at home, and most of my originals were essentially useless) and discovered it was still quite entertaining. There are so many cool new cards and concepts/rules (and a few that aren't so cool), but the core game is the same sweet wizard battle it always was.

However, after a few months of playing with people who were either much younger than me, or much older (and creepier), and all much more obsessed and up-to-date with every little insane nuance of the game, up to and including counting cards to calculate the odds of pulling off this or that spell or chain of spells in a certain number of turns based on the first hand, I became less and less enamored.

Then, of course, there was the turn over. Every 4 months or so a new set comes out, pushing the oldest current legal set out of the rotation. If you try to continue playing without buying any of the new cards, the inexplicable rules changes, card exclusions and insanely over-powered new cards usually end up shredding your "old" deck.

It became the 90s all over again: spend gobs of cash keeping up with the Joneses, or fall behind, get destroyed unmercifully and hope you have a friend or two who not only plays, but plays casually, so you don't feel like you wasted all that time and money.

From what I've seen of the video games, they look pretty decent and are faithful to the real thing. That might be your best bet.

That sounds quite similar to my WOW experience. I love WOW but it got repetitive eventually with the Raids, BGs and Arenas. Guilds breaking up and friends leaving. Fighting young kids and older adults who seem to have alot of time on their hands. I left the game two years ago.

 

[Garrovick]

I hear ya. I played WoW from December of 2004 through January of 2011. Had a good bit of fun but I'm glad I finally broke loose from it.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Well it's a collectible card game, so the cards are an investment not just an expense. I don't play anymore but not too long ago I sold my cache of cards (mostly from the 90s) for around $800 over E-Bay.

I still have several hundreds of dollars of cards in my Magic Online account, which is basically just like the paper game except in an online chatroom and you can meet and play online. You have to "buy" digital cards to play, but you can sell them too. Just like in paper.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It's only an "investment" if you can sell them for more than you paid, which seems to only be true within a rather narrow window.

 

[Davros]

I played for a while when I worked in a game store. We played a few hands about a year ago and had some fun. People hated my choke on your own deck deck that took away the other players untap while making them draw extra cards.

 

[FPAlpha]

It's the standard business model for trading card games.. if you want to play competitively (and the vast majority of games are competitive, mainly through tournaments) you have to stay on the powercurve meaning you will constantly have to buy new cards.

I play a different TCG (one of the very few which has stuck around for more than 15 years when 90% of the games besides MtG die within a few years) and it's the same, you just have to accept the fact.

It is a pricey hobby but then again also much fun to come up with new ideas for decks or improve existing ones. It's half/half between having the good cards and being also a good player when it comes to success but then it's just sitting down with a few friends once a week, toss some cards around and have good time (and a beer or two helps too ).

 

[Ian Keldon]

Yet another example of the power of human stupidity. Even as a luxury item, MTG is a scam and a ripoff and should be banned. If you must invest resources in entertainment, at least do so in venues that offer enrichment for the mind and food for the soul (music, literature, etc).

 

[Unicron]

I was at the store today and saw a section was full of MTG cards for sale. I've never really played, but I know a few people that do. It was crazy how expensive the whole thing was. A pack of cards for $4, a theme deck for $15, and boxes for $50-$100?!

I've read horror stories about this game has turned into crack for some people that end up spending thousands just to improve their decks. Sure the art is nice, but this seems so excessive.

Does anyone think it is ridiculous how expensive these kinds of cards games are?

I do, as a now retired from collecting (but not playing) MTG player, and I had a good system for expanding my own collection without using up too much extra income. I also have the benefit of a good comic shop that has some "specialty" decks for sale. I've gotten some good stuff from those. My collection is far too big now, as I started about 10-15 years ago, but I still have it and I still enjoy building decks. Back then, the prices were a bit cheaper and they didn't include boosters in the main decks, which is one thing that raised the price.

For me, it was never about trying to get complete versions of a given expansion, because a CCG of Magic's scale is just too unrealistic for that. There was a big uproar in 2010 over changes made to the game engine, and I find the easiest solution personally is to simply ignore some of the changes I dislike and think hurt the game.

 

[Mooch]

I play off and on...it is expensive, but not a waste of money if you enjoy it.

Never played it myself, but I have some friends who are obsessed. I figured it was a fad that died back in the 90s...like pogs...but apparently not.

It's more popular than it's ever been, actually!

Then, of course, there was the turn over. Every 4 months or so a new set comes out, pushing the oldest current legal set out of the rotation. If you try to continue playing without buying any of the new cards, the inexplicable rules changes, card exclusions and insanely over-powered new cards usually end up shredding your "old" deck.

Sets only rotate once a year, and only if you play in one of a couple of the available formats. Not really sure what you're talking about in regards to "insanely over-powered new cards", the designers spend enormous amounts of effort trying to ensure new sets are balanced with old (well, recent old) sets.

Even as a luxury item, MTG is a scam and a ripoff and should be banned.

I'm not sure why you think it's a scam....if you don't like the concept of randomized cards, most serious players purchase the bulk of their cards on the secondary market.

 

[Unicron]

I've seen some players say they feel the more recent decks, to some extent, are becoming way too creature heavy and the strategy element is being lessened. I liked the Innistrad block, but the four archangels in the last expansion are either broken or close to being broken. So I think perhaps there is some truth to that complaint.

 

[sojourner]

I love my new Krenko's Mob boss.

 

[Unicron]

I can imagine he must be fun in a goblin deck. Or just annoying, depending on one's perspective.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Even as a luxury item, MTG is a scam and a ripoff and should be banned.

I'm not sure why you think it's a scam....if you don't like the concept of randomized cards, most serious players purchase the bulk of their cards on the secondary market.

At insanely inflated prices, only to find out in 6-12 months that their prized deck they spent all that time and money on is rendered unplayable by the strike lists and they have to rebuild...again...rinse, repeat.

MTG is "planned obsolescence" at it's most naked and raw. And all PO is a scam by definition.