Making your money back with Magic? (Am a new player)

[Pika...]

So I got into the game last Friday. My local store has a weekly booster draft, and at the first one I was told I could potentially make my money back. I got lucky, and got a Planeswalker. Sold it for $26 on ebay. :smallbiggrin:

This week I got four rares, but sadly they were worthless according to ebay. So with each tournament at $12 a pop I broke even.

I am currently trying to hit google for advice on trying to "make my money back", but am not having much luck.

Can those who know about this, and have experience with this please help me out?

Need to know basically everything from the ground up I imagine.

Also, I believe whole boxes are cheaper on Amazon.com, and I have around $300 dollars there in giftcard credits vouchers. But I am clueless if it is a good idea at all, or even which boxes to get. I know there are "core" sets which are basically constantly reprinted cards, and others (I believe expansions?).

[Kizara]

So I got into the game last Friday. My local store has a weekly booster draft, and at the first one I was told I could potentially make my money back. I got lucky, and got a Planeswalker. Sold it for $26 on ebay. :smallbiggrin:

This week I got four rares, but sadly they were worthless according to ebay. So with each tournament at $12 a pop I broke even.

I am currently trying to hit google for advice on trying to "make my money back", but am not having much luck.

Can those who know about this, and have experience with this please help me out?

Need to know basically everything from the ground up I imagine.

Also, I believe whole boxes are cheaper on Amazon.com, and I have around $300 dollars there in giftcard credits vouchers. But I am clueless if it is a good idea at all, or even which boxes to get. I know there are "core" sets which are basically constantly reprinted cards, and others (I believe expansions?).

I suggest trying to sell or trade your cards to your FLGS instead of eBay. Alternately, sell or ask other players.


If you want people to give you an idea of what the cards are wroth, you will need to tell us what they are.

[Pika...]

I suggest trying to sell or trade your cards to your FLGS instead of eBay. Alternately, sell or ask other players.


If you want people to give you an idea of what the cards are wroth, you will need to tell us what they are.

Won't my locals tore give me a small fraction fo it's true worth?

And as the new guy in the Magic crowd I fear I would not be given very "fair" deals and advice.


Oh, and I figured enough to check all my rares (the gold ones) on ebay as soon as I get home for an average card value. I was hoping for advice more on the "how to make your money back" route to this hobby. Basically get a few free cards here and there, while breaking even (currently have six blister's worth, even though I failed on the second week).


p.s. Can some please tell me exactly what FLAGS mean? It has been kbugging me for a good while.

[littlebottom]

booster drafts are your best way of making money back on it... because you pay a not amazing amount, and can sit there taking all the rares that come your way, your best bet is to check each card of the sets worth before you draft, then go there with a shortlist of special cards to look out for inparticular (sometimes a rare is worth more than a mythic rare, etc) but in the end its just luck, buying loads of packs is not as good as you pay for them all, then you get complete randomness, where as booster drafts, you pay for a few and get the more expensive cards from more different boosters, its the way to go in your situation....

TALKING of booster drafts... got one saturday night... and i shall be making a deck first, and taking cards or worth second.... (if you intend to play magic for a while, hang onto a few cards, when they go out of print, if they are a good card, people will pay well for them.)

[Pika...]

booster drafts are your best way of making money back on it... because you pay a not amazing amount, and can sit there taking all the rares that come your way, your best bet is to check each card of the sets worth before you draft, then go there with a shortlist of special cards to look out for inparticular (sometimes a rare is worth more than a mythic rare, etc) but in the end its just luck, buying loads of packs is not as good as you pay for them all, then you get complete randomness, where as booster drafts, you pay for a few and get the more expensive cards from more different boosters, its the way to go in your situation....

Really?

That seemed to be the opposite case today for me. It seemed logical that the best and most expensive cards would be the first to go. Why would they continue passing them along the table until they reached me?




TALKING of booster drafts... got one saturday night... and i shall be making a deck first, and taking cards or worth second.... (if you intend to play magic for a while, hang onto a few cards, when they go out of print, if they are a good card, people will pay well for them.)

I see. Thank you for the advice. I was thinking that after I experiement constructing a black deck I would just keep them in one of the long card boxes to the side just for that (I am a collector of various things after all :smallsmile:), but I doubted that it would work.

However, does that only go for rares and ultra-rares?

Also, I got four rares today (out of three blisters, so I got lucky?), but they are each worth about $0.50 on ebay right now. Are these the ones you say might one day go up in value? http://www.giantitp.com/forums/images/icons/icon5.gif


Thanks for the advice by the way!

[littlebottom]

well..... it depends.... theres a card in the new M10 set, which is called "lightning bolt" which is pay one red and deal 3 damage to target creature or player, and it was instant, this is a reprint of the old card that was deemed overpowered, so it went out of print, they have decided to bring it back, but if you could of hung onto one of them (i believe they were common or uncommon) they were worth well more than they should of been, its a bit hit and miss really

you are right, that often, the rares or mythic rares will go straight away, so it requires a bit of luck. rares and mythic rares are indeed often worth more, but some of them are pretty rubbish, you wont get someone paying much for a djinn of wishes, they arnt all that great, they are good, but not amazing.





the main reason a rare would cary on over to you is if the previous person saw an uncommon that was worth more to them (weather in monetry value or in a deck they want)


the best thing to do is to hang onto any card you cant get decent money for now anyway, and hang onto some you just like. if you want, you can sell the ones you dont want for lots or little depending on the cards, but like i said above you dont know which card will be worth more, some single cards can be worth alot and you would never guess... birds of paradise for one, they dont seem all that good, but they are pretty unique and extremely usefull. my advice is, when you get a card your not sure about, ask your friends, look on the internet, hell, ask me or on giant. and someone will know weather its good to sell or not, or good to hang onto.

[Mystic Muse]

you can also look on this site.

http://magiccards.info/query/cards/7415296.html

[Kizara]

Ok, I stopped playing Magic back in Mirrodin, but what is a Mythic Rare?

Never even heard the term before now. Is it just fancy slang for saying a "good rare", or is it an actual card catagory?

[Mystic Muse]

new category for beyond rare. it's reddish instead of gold. here's an example. http://magiccards.info/ala/en/9.html

[littlebottom]

new category for beyond rare. it's reddish instead of gold. here's an example. http://magiccards.info/ala/en/9.html

yeah its quite new, they have basically turned around and said "its a bit cruel calling them all rares, when you keep getting the same few rares and the ones everyone wants we print much fewer of, so we will give them their own catagory so people stop complaining they are too rare and just accept their feeble attempts at getting these cards are futile yet you will still buy boosters anyway! MWAHAHAHHAAAAHAHAHA GIVE US MORE MONEY!"


..... waaaait... i think from the point where i said "and just accept their feeble attempts" onwards, was me making it up:smallredface:

[Kizara]

new category for beyond rare. it's reddish instead of gold. here's an example. http://magiccards.info/ala/en/9.html

Jumping the shark much?

Thanks for the info regradless.

[Winterwind]

Note though that cards being more rare than regular rares is not a new development. Wizards always used to print some cards more rarely than others; the only thing that's changed is that now these more rare cards have a different rarity colour.

Also, the card Kyuubi happened to link you to may have been somewhat poorly chosen, since, if you stopped following Magic around Mirrodin, it is new to you for reasons far beyond its rarity, namely it being a Planeswalker card, which did not exist back then either. Here (http://magiccards.info/ala/en/185.html) would be a more normal example for a Mythic Rare.

[BizzaroStormy]

Did you consider the fact that playing magic isn't about making money? Unless you become good enough for the high-tier tourneys, you aren't going to make a lot of money playing magic and you likely won't even see a .5% return on your "investment". Its all about having fun.

The only times I ever thought about how much money a card could net me is when I didn't need the card for a deck and was out of snack money.

[Kish]

p.s. Can some please tell me exactly what FLAGS mean? It has been kbugging me for a good while.
I don't know what FLAGS would mean, but "FLGS" means "Friendly Local Game Store."

[The Extinguisher]

If you really want to go infinite (not paying to play) your best bet is Standard Constructed, but on MTGO. It's much easier for these kind of things.

Also, rare drafting is bad for your health :smalltongue:

[Mystic Muse]

I don't know what FLAGS would mean, but "FLGS" means "Friendly Local Game Store."

FLAGS is friendly local awesome game store.:smallbiggrin:

[Pika...]

well..... it depends.... theres a card in the new M10 set, which is called "lightning bolt" which is pay one red and deal 3 damage to target creature or player, and it was instant, this is a reprint of the old card that was deemed overpowered, so it went out of print, they have decided to bring it back, but if you could of hung onto one of them (i believe they were common or uncommon) they were worth well more than they should of been, its a bit hit and miss really

you are right, that often, the rares or mythic rares will go straight away, so it requires a bit of luck. rares and mythic rares are indeed often worth more, but some of them are pretty rubbish, you wont get someone paying much for a djinn of wishes, they arnt all that great, they are good, but not amazing.





the main reason a rare would cary on over to you is if the previous person saw an uncommon that was worth more to them (weather in monetry value or in a deck they want)


the best thing to do is to hang onto any card you cant get decent money for now anyway, and hang onto some you just like. if you want, you can sell the ones you dont want for lots or little depending on the cards, but like i said above you dont know which card will be worth more, some single cards can be worth alot and you would never guess... birds of paradise for one, they dont seem all that good, but they are pretty unique and extremely usefull. my advice is, when you get a card your not sure about, ask your friends, look on the internet, hell, ask me or on giant. and someone will know weather its good to sell or not, or good to hang onto.

Thank you for the information and advice.

And thank you for the offer of asking you. That is extremely generous. :smallsmile:


And what you said about thrm passing their rares if they wanted something for their deck. There was a girl yesterday who did that, and the guy to her left ended up with a ton of rare and valuable card because of it. Should I strategically try to learn who those people are, and sit next to them?




you can also look on this site.

http://magiccards.info/query/cards/7415296.html

Many thanks!




Did you consider the fact that playing magic isn't about making money? Unless you become good enough for the high-tier tourneys, you aren't going to make a lot of money playing magic and you likely won't even see a .5% return on your "investment". Its all about having fun.

Well, I wanted to try and have fun while attempting to break even.

Also, I enjoy the whole merchant/bazaaring thing. From whatever I've played, MMOs, video games, RPGs (tabletop), etc I love the economic mechanic of setting up a little shop and selling/trading for a tiny profit. Hence I enjoy listing things on ebay, and doing all that.

And if I can play a game for fun, enjoy selling/bartering a bit, AND break somewhere near even why not?


Unless you become good enough for the high-tier tourneys, you aren't going to make a lot of money playing magic and you likely won't even see a .5% return on your "investment". Its all about having fun.

Really?!

That bad? Can anyone confirm this. :smallfrown:




I don't know what FLAGS would mean, but "FLGS"
means "Friendly Local Game Store."

Many thanks.




If you really want to go infinite (not paying to play) your best bet is Standard Constructed, but on MTGO. It's much easier for these kind of things.

Well, I am way too new for an actual tournament. Still getting help trying to set up my first deck from my "leftover" cards from my two drafts.

[QUOTE=The Extinguisher;6821148Also, rare drafting is bad for your health :smalltongue:[/QUOTE]

Why exactly?!

I'm deeply curious.

[The Glyphstone]

Probably because you can be 'marked' as a rare drafter pretty easily, especially if you're a newcomer to that particular store/small community - if you're not visiting multiple stores infrequently, you might start getting a decidedly unfriendly welcome from the other players once they figure out you're not actually playing the game, just snatching up all the rares every time there's a booster draft.

[Pika...]

Probably because you can be 'marked' as a rare drafter pretty easily, especially if you're a newcomer to that particular store/small community - if you're not visiting multiple stores infrequently, you might start getting a decidedly unfriendly welcome from the other players once they figure out you're not actually playing the game, just snatching up all the rares every time there's a booster draft.

Oops. I thought that was half the point of the drafts...

And I do want to enjoy playing the drafts, and learn how to enjoy the game.

[The Glyphstone]

It's half the point, but not the entire point - if you go to a booster draft and take the rare from every pack, you'll end up with a unplayable pile of valuable cards that you can't possibly make a deck out of. This leaves you with two options - drop out of the draft and go home with your heap o' rares, or play anyways and be utterly stomped into the dirt by anyone else in the draft. Do these repeatedly, and you'll earn a solid reputation quickly as either the money-grubbing rare-whore who shows up, nabs all the rares, and leaves, or the totally incompetent and annoying noob who thinks rare cards are Ub3r, building fail decks out of them and annoying everyone else in the store who might have used one of those cards. Neither one is fun to be.

Don't get me wrong, rare-drafting is probably the easiest way to earn your money back, but the opportunity cost is pretty much instantly severing any friendships or community links you might be building with the local players.

[littlebottom]

just got back after doing the booster draft, with 8 people i came joint third, but it was decided i was fourth overall for some reason....:smallyuk:

i could of easily come second or first, just i got completely screwed in one game and my opponent had an easy win.

as for mythic rares and such, i got kinda lucky...

3 mythic rares 4 rares out of 3 boosters each for 8 people, and infact only 1 of those cards DIDNT go into the final deck i made, i only took, not because it was a mythic, but because it was a really good card and simply allowing someone else to have it would of helped them win...

either way, it wasnt a bad night...

in the end i made a mainly green with a hint of blue deck.




oh and about always sitting to the side of someone who passes rares? how? we sit in random orders for just that reason. and the second booster goes the other way round to stop yourself being screwed by having the person to your left take all your usefull cards or to your right.

[The Extinguisher]

Also, you're more likely to get your money back getting the good rares for your deck (that usually get you money anyway) building a deck and winning the thing. Prizes are a better source anyway.


Also, if you rare-draft, you can get a really bad cough or a rash. True fact :smalltongue:

[Fan]

I have to agree, if you want your money back in Magic, take your perfectly able mind, and body, and kick some proverbial booty. I believe the standard 1st place prize for a draft is a Box of whatever set you have. From there, you can actually make magnitudes more then what you would have gotten if you had simply rare drafted.

Keep to the basics, and you may lose at first, and heck, you may lose for awhile, but you'll manage to do quite well.

I know at my first FNM, I placed Second with a generic Simic deck I made, and got one of those shiny FNM foils.

The point of the game, unless your a serious mad skillz pro, is to have fun, and occasionally win. Not to rare draft, and become the Stop Having Fun Guy.

[TheThan]

Magic, while it is a CCG isn’t quite like baseball cards. The new cards tend to be more powerful and more attractive than older cards. Not to mention they are tournament legal. There are very few old cards worth collecting now days. So basically my advice is to just find out what’s popular (and therefor powerful) and sell those to people, then take the rest and sell it on Ebay or something. A box of magic cards runs you about 90$ so if you pull for 25$ dollar rares you just made a little money off of it. Then you can sell them in bulk for a little bit more. Each box has 36 booster packs in it (15 cards per pack), that’s 540 cards. So your chances of getting some of the expensive ones are pretty good.

[Pika...]

Magic, while it is a CCG isn’t quite like baseball cards. The new cards tend to be more powerful and more attractive than older cards. Not to mention they are tournament legal. There are very few old cards worth collecting now days. So basically my advice is to just find out what’s popular (and therefor powerful) and sell those to people, then take the rest and sell it on Ebay or something. A box of magic cards runs you about 90$ so if you pull for 25$ dollar rares you just made a little money off of it. Then you can sell them in bulk for a little bit more. Each box has 36 booster packs in it (15 cards per pack), that’s 540 cards. So your chances of getting some of the expensive ones are pretty good.

I see.

But I am guessing my chances of making at least $90 back each time is far from guaranteed?

p.s. Plus I do enjoy the idea of bazaaring/merchanting on ebay (I find it fun for some reason even I do not understand), so this box idea appeals to me.

[Pika...]

I have to agree, if you want your money back in Magic, take your perfectly able mind, and body, and kick some proverbial booty. I believe the standard 1st place prize for a draft is a Box of whatever set you have. From there, you can actually make magnitudes more then what you would have gotten if you had simply rare drafted.

Keep to the basics, and you may lose at first, and heck, you may lose for awhile, but you'll manage to do quite well.

I know at my first FNM, I placed Second with a generic Simic deck I made, and got one of those shiny FNM foils.

The point of the game, unless your a serious mad skillz pro, is to have fun, and occasionally win. Not to rare draft, and become the Stop Having Fun Guy.

True, but until I am able to win I'd like to try to not suffer so much in the wallet if you get what I mean. :smallsmile:


Anyway, I did a standard today just because I was there and there were people I wanted to hang with. I was whipped royally by EVERYONE, but I enjoyed myself. Even did a bit of trading. And the booster they give along with the $8 entry gave me the white colored rhino guy legendary creature, so I guess it was fine.

I do not plan on doing any standards until I get much, much better, though.

[Mystic Muse]

yeah. making 90$ back each time is far from guarenteed. plus all the cards you'll want to keep for your own deck.:smalltongue:

you also want to look at the prices for various rares from various sets. for example. the best box set you could get for 90$ would be the limited edition. look what black lotus from that edition is going for. http://magiccards.info/al/en/232.html

of course anybody selling a box of limited edition cards for 90$ is either insane or some strange god being extremely nice to you judging by the prices of some of those cards

and by white colored rhino rare do you mean mirror sigil seargeant?

[Penguinizer]

Could also be Dauntless Escort.

[Winterwind]

He wrote "legendary", by which I assume he actually means "mythic", as there are no legendary rhinos... and Dauntless Escort is only rare, so it's gotta be the Mirror-Sigil Sergeant.

Cool, that was my first mythic card ever. Still holds a special place in my heart (and favourite deck). :smallsmile:

[Oslecamo]

The best(yet most dirty) way is finding noob players, trade your crap cards for their valuable ones, then sell and profit. If one doesn't have much morals of course. I never did it myself, but saw several people doing so and profiting with that(how else could they build their almost all rare decks after all?)