Best Value for Beginners.. i.e ME :)

[cbearsbro]

Wanted to get opinions on what's best value for a beginner to get a feel for Magic: Singles, Individual Boosters, Booster Boxes, or complete sets?

I've gotten some of each. Booster Boxes seem to be a good way to get all the commons and most of the uncommons in one shot, with some rares. But the sets give you an idea of what's actually in the particular expansion that you may actually want. Depending on the set, boxes and sets can be relatively close in terms of price.

Hard to say about singles since I'm not really "aware" of what "value" of certain cards are. Some I realllly like, even though they aren't "worth" much to hardcore magic tourney players. Others are just toooo expensive or a complete mystery to me why they should be that way . I think someone suggested MOTL as a price guide for singles.

Sooooo... any opinions?

 

[arhar]

I think that Starter Deck of the current basic set has the best value for beginners. This is how I got into Magic, and I liked it a lot. The only thing, all the beginners should buy Scrye or Inquest with the price guide, and take all the trade offers from "kEwL mAgIc d00dz" with the grain of salt. ("Damn, you got nothing to trade... Armageddon? Pfft, kill all lands - who needs that? What a piece of crap... Allright, just because I like you, I'll give you this big fat Scaled Wurm for this piece of dog feces.. Deal? Allright!")

 

[rkoelsch]

I would start a newbie with a preconstructed deck. They are designed to highlight the colors abilities and special abilities of the set.

 

[cbearsbro]

Originally posted by rkoelsch
I would start a newbie with a preconstructed deck. They are designed to highlight the colors abilities and special abilities of the set.

That's true. I've gotten quite a few of the pre-cons. Figured out which "philosophies" I do and don't like. No fun for me if I can't use creatures LD is ok unless they're playing mono deck. Ya know how annoying it is to destroy an island that gets replaced by an island next turn? . Discard or U/B is probably my second fav right now. It's just not quite as amusing as a good ole fashion knock-down fight Guess that makes me a beatdown fan.

My question was more along the lines of After you've gotten a taste of pre-cons and want to create your own decks, what's a better value.

 

[Hetemti]

You need only two things to start playing:

1) A two-player pack of the base set. 6th came in such a thing, hopfully 7th will too.
2) A friend with basic lands to give.
3) Tournament Starters of the base set and boosters of the T2 sets.
4) A friend who knows the rules.

No. 1 gives you some basic cards. No. 2 gives you the ability to make a bichrome/monochrome deck. No. 3 gets you good cards to play. No. 4 teaches you how to play them, plus gives you trade fodder. Don't want that Urza's Rage or Meddling Mage because you want to play Big Green? Fine. Trade em' for a Child of Gæas, some Rancors, and a Rofellos or two. Until you amass a decent collection, trade what you don't want for what you do want.

Enjoy this time.

...when you say "I want this for my deck" and not "I need this for my deck." That is the moment the Magic will die. The moment you never noticed, but wish you could return before.

...then again...maybe that's just me.

 

[Gizmo]

Find an experienced player - you`ll probably catch them just as they are about to throw about 1,000 commons and uncommons into the trash. We take 4 of each card then are happy to give the rest away to the first newbie we meet. i`ve currently got a stack of about 450 Planeshift commons and uncommons sitting on my desk waiting for the next tourney I go to, where I will give thme to somebody who will use them.

 

[Istanbul]

What you should get depends on your funding available.

SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING STARTED ($150 or more): One box of tournament packs from the latest basic set, and one booster box from the latest expansion. This will give you trade stock that people want, a good assortment of common cards, and some basic land for your decks.

GOT SOME REAL CASH TO BLOW ($70-$100): Six tournament packs of the latest basic set, and as many boosters as you can buy from the latest expansion. You'll still get trade stock, but the tournament decks fulfill one very real need for a starting player: basic land.

JUST CONSIDERING GETTING IN ($0-$70): Four tournament packs, and the rest in boosters of the latest expansion. You'll not get much basic land, but you'll get enough for a mono-color deck if you choose to make one. If you have less than $40, just buy as many tournament packs as possible.

 

[Spiderman]

Generally speaking, I say go for the booster boxes (1 per expansion). That way, you get a good amount of cards and can get a feel of what to get next (increasing the uncommons and rares).

If you play with a group of friends who are also beginners (or I guess experts; it doesn't matter) who are also getting cards, you shouldn't have a problem trading to get cards you would like/want/need. If you're by yuorself though, and getting serious about Magic, then probably the above advice would be better to follow.

Gizmo: Can I send you my address?

 

[cbearsbro]

Originally posted by Hetemti


...when you say "I want this for my deck" and not "I need this for my deck." That is the moment the Magic will die. The moment you never noticed, but wish you could return before.

...then again...maybe that's just me.

Hmmmm... at this point, I don't really know what "I need" for my deck. Heck, I'm still twiddling with my one deck idea that I do have So my "I want this for my deck" isn't so much about getting the "killer cards" serious tourney players rave about or whatever. I'm more of a I want it cuz I like the card (Kavu, Dragon, etc.)

So, for me, the Magic's just starting

 

[cbearsbro]

Originally posted by Spiderman
Generally speaking, I say go for the booster boxes (1 per expansion). That way, you get a good amount of cards and can get a feel of what to get next (increasing the uncommons and rares).

If you play with a group of friends who are also beginners (or I guess experts; it doesn't matter) who are also getting cards, you shouldn't have a problem trading to get cards you would like/want/need. If you're by yuorself though, and getting serious about Magic, then probably the above advice would be better to follow.

Thanks for all the responses. Booster boxes do seem the way to go if I don't need land. Although, I am finding a land shortage in comparison to all the kewl cards I've got. Guess that means more tourney packs....

Is it me, or are the Booster Boxes "rigged" somehow? I've bought ones for Planeshift, Prophecy, and Nemesis so far [As you can see, I'm working my way backwards ]. Always get more copies of commons than know what to do with But no real dupes of the rares. Get like 1 draco or 1 Avatar of Woe in a box of 36 packs. Not that I'm complaining. The Planeshift box had almost all different rares Got like 2 Moggcatchers or something Just seems weird that a "random" box wouldn't have more dupes of the rares. Then again, it's probably just because I'm greedy for the good ones

Only problem I have with trading is: 1) Most of cards I have more copies of than I know what to do with are commons. So hard to find anyone willing to trade for those. The uncommons/rares that I do have more'n 4 copies of I either like, or no one else wants em either. How many Razing/Sea Snidds can you possibly use? 2)Not certain what a "good" trade would be really. On the trading post here and other sites you have people say, "only offer good trades" Errr.... "Here's what I got, is it good trade?" So, I guess I'll wait til I have more of a feel for the actual cards before venturing into that arena.

 

[Daggertooth]

If you have money and know How to play, the booster boxes are the best way to go. But If your looking for specific cards for a specific kinda deck the best thing to do is buy single cards.

I personaly like the auctions cause theres a good chance you will get better deals. The best places on the internet that I have found are ebay and yahoo. There is also a new place that dosn't charge any fee so the seller can sell cards for cheaper. It is new so theres not many people there, but you might find what you want. It is www.ccgauctionspot.com

Daggertooth

 

[Spiderman]

In booster boxes, you tend not to get more than 2 rares of a kind and usually it's spread out (if it's truly random). You gotta remember, there's probably around 40-50 rares in a set and since a booster only has 36(?) packs, you're not going to double up a lot. That's why it gives you an idea so you know what to get more of if you really like a certain rare.

 

[cbearsbro]

Originally posted by Daggertooth
If you have money and know How to play, the booster boxes are the best way to go. But If your looking for specific cards for a specific kinda deck the best thing to do is buy single cards.

I personaly like the auctions cause theres a good chance you will get better deals. The best places on the internet that I have found are ebay and yahoo. There is also a new place that dosn't charge any fee so the seller can sell cards for cheaper. It is new so theres not many people there, but you might find what you want. It is www.ccgauctionspot.com

Daggertooth

Kewl. Haven't heard of that auction site before. I'll go check it out. Thanks!

We've won a few mass quantity auctions on Ebay. Given us quite a good idea of commons. They tend to be 80% commons, 29% uncommon [if you're lucky], and 1% rare. Only one auction had decent percentage of rares. Course a couple were in foreign languages Ah well, it was a great deal and right now we're not real picky

 

[cbearsbro]

Originally posted by Spiderman
In booster boxes, you tend not to get more than 2 rares of a kind and usually it's spread out (if it's truly random). You gotta remember, there's probably around 40-50 rares in a set and since a booster only has 36(?) packs, you're not going to double up a lot. That's why it gives you an idea so you know what to get more of if you really like a certain rare.

Ah. Good, then it's not just my "luck" Think the Prophecy one actually did have 2 Avatars of Woe, so that was awesome. Course that was the only Avatar in the box. Planeshift did a lot better. Got all the Planeswalker sorceries, draco, scuta, Lord of undead, etc..

You ever notice that lots of the boosters contain the SAME cards EXCEPT for the rares? My gf and I were taking turns opening packs and we were like deja vu Got to the skip all the commons and name only uncommon/rares stage fairly quickly

 

[Daggertooth]

Actually, its not totaly random. At least for me you tend to get coppies of the worst rares in the set. Like 2 loafing giants or 3 bend or break. But It might be my dumb luck.

 

[Hetemti]

the Prophecy one actually did have 2 Avatars of Woe, so that was awesome. Course that was the only Avatar in the box.

Same here, cept for a foil Avatar of Might.