A long time paper mtg player set me straight

[Minmataro]

I used to complain that it was too difficulty to build up historic card collection without spending a bunch of money.

A buddy who's been playing Paper since the late 90s asked me. How many cards i would need to wild card to enjoy Historic (and now timeless). I told him around 70-80. I am kind of new after all. He looks at me.

"Thats around $200, you can go rn and spend $200 and get everything u want to buy via wild cards off the shop. Thats amazing!"

I was confused. He explained. He just purchased a deck online that was around $500. JUST ONE DECK. He also pays around $200+ for a booster box every set. Yet i can have everything i want for $200. Thats if i cant wait. i could always cherry pick.

I will no longer complain about the amount of money i need to spend in MTGA. I feel silly.

[Berserkr]

$200 for a booster box? He hitting the shipping truck on the road with an ambush? lol

[GarbageCollector]

Your buddy can sell his deck for the same amount he paid for it.

You can't.

[Namdoolb]

Originally posted by GarbageCollector:

Your buddy can sell his deck for the same amount he paid for it.

You can't.

Yeah, that's the one thing that makes me feel very wary about investing actual money into arena.

When you buy actual mtg cards you have a physical commodity that you can sell or trade. It retains a good chunk of the value that you paid for it, & you can get some of that value back from it.

When you buy digital product on arena you don't actually own anything: you retain the use of that product only for as long as the powers that be say you do, and you can't trade or sell or recoup any kind of value from it.

Product on arena has an intrinsically lower value than physical mtg cards, which should be borne into consideration when comparing costs. If the costs involved were exactly the same I would choose IRL cards 100% of the time every time. Even at the current cost difference I find more ability to justify IRL purchases than arena purchases, simply on the basis of value extracted from said purchases.

[Soji]

physical cards can be bartered with, with others who want to do the same, but I can't be arsed to do that anymore these days. Those cards do hold value sure but the effort to find somebody willing to buy the cards at the price you're asking for or even trade the same value isn't guaranteed. Not to mention those Boros Reckoners that were going for 20$ each back in RTR standard, as soon as they rotated out that card got demoted to a bulk rare basically overnight. Many cases like this for cards losing value. Its a lot to keep up with and honestly another job in and of itself. I grew tired of the whole process.

I guess it really all depends on what you're looking to get out of the hobby though. I currently have a commander deck that cost me about 600-700$ to build. I have only been able to play commander with those cards due to work schedules not lining up with anyone in my playgroup in almost 5 months. Sure these cards can be traded for monetary gain, but what's holding more value? The cards in my drawer not seeing play or the digital cards I can't trade, but are able to play with much more often?

[Soji]

Originally posted by Trevor Lahey:

Yea but paper magic cards are worth money and go up in value. in arena you own nothing and your collection can be taken away at the whim of the devs or WOTC. Big difference between the hobby of playing and the dedication and reward of collecting actual physical items.

This isn't always the case, in most cases cards actually decrease in value, especially lately with all the reprints WoTC has been putting out. Plus these cards are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them. Its not like some RPG where every LGS will take anything you're offering just because its valuable, it has to be selling and wanted for them to be bought. I tried to dump 4 Thalia when it was was first printed and going for around 18$ each and nobody around here would take them. Sure those cards are worth 18$ according to TCGPlayer, but they aren't the ones buying it from me. So these 18$ cards I can't get rid of, do not play with and will only take up trade binder space do not hold any value as far as I'm concerned. (another card which decreased in value from reprints btw sitting currently as 0.78usd on TCGPlayer) Now if its from just a collection point of view sure, but I buy these cards to play with, not to stare at in my binder.

[Namdoolb]

Originally posted by Soji:

I guess it really all depends on what you're looking to get out of the hobby though. I currently have a commander deck that cost me about 600-700$ to build. I have only been able to play commander with those cards due to work schedules not lining up with anyone in my playgroup in almost 5 months. Sure these cards can be traded for monetary gain, but what's holding more value? The cards in my drawer not seeing play or the digital cards I can't trade, but are able to play with much more often?

100% does. And also depends what you've got access to in your local area.

You're in the unfortunate position of not being able to get any IRL mtg to happen, so of course your physical cards which you have no-one to play against are going to feel less valuable than arena cards that you can actually use.

I'm lucky enough to have an LGS within easy walking distance. I got in-person mtg on multiple days of the week if I want it, and all I need to do is ping the group chat to make sure people are about & walk down.
With easy access to both arena and IRL, I'd rather play my mtg in-person any day given the choice.

As for card values; some cards depreciate (sometimes quite badly), some cards appreciate (also sometimes by quite a lot).
The decision of whether or not to engage with trading or selling cards is one that everyone has to make for themselves. Nobody ever extracted value from something without an investment of time & energy. Not mtg cards, not life in general....
That said, since we have wonderful trading sites like (wow, It actually censored the name of the site... but I'm sure most people know of it); making money from your collection is probably the easiest it's ever been.
Also, anyone who goes into mtg (of any variety) expecting to make more money than they spend is either going to have to be incredibly circumspect when it comes to their buying and selling, or is just very naive; take your pick.

[Minmataro]

Originally posted by GarbageCollector:

Your buddy can sell his deck for the same amount he paid for it.

You can't.

Who cares. the entire point. He has to pay a fortune for cards in comparison so maybe i should stfu about the prices of MTGA and stop being a baby about it.

[HighLanderPony]

Just because paper is worse that doesn't make MTGA not dogsheet. Dw, both are terrible in terms of value.

You fell for the "two wrongs make a right" fallacy.

[GarbageCollector]

Originally posted by Minmataro:

Originally posted by GarbageCollector:

Your buddy can sell his deck for the same amount he paid for it.

You can't.

Who cares. the entire point. He has to pay a fortune for cards in comparison so maybe i should stfu about the prices of MTGA and stop being a baby about it.

Suit yourself I guess. I will continue to be a big baby about the company gatekeeping potential fans behind a pay/grindwall and charging absurd amounts for digital product because they know they can get away with it by whaling.

[Minmataro]

Originally posted by GarbageCollector:

Originally posted by Minmataro:

Who cares. the entire point. He has to pay a fortune for cards in comparison so maybe i should stfu about the prices of MTGA and stop being a baby about it.

Suit yourself I guess. I will continue to be a big baby about the company gatekeeping potential fans behind a pay/grindwall and charging absurd amounts for digital product because they know they can get away with it by whaling.

Idk what you want. You want MTG for free? How much is that nice meta Golgari deck thats floating around rn? on paper thats what $400? On MTGO thats what $250? I made a similar deck for next to nothing on MTGA. who cares if i cant sell it to someone lol. I get to play premium high level meta mtg for a reasonable price.


Its $439 on TCG lol. FFS man. How could you possible complain about arena pricing? https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/magic-the-gathering/deck/Golgari-Midrange/480424

[HighLanderPony]

Originally posted by Minmataro:

Originally posted by GarbageCollector:

Suit yourself I guess. I will continue to be a big baby about the company gatekeeping potential fans behind a pay/grindwall and charging absurd amounts for digital product because they know they can get away with it by whaling.

Idk what you want. You want MTG for free? How much is that nice meta Golgari deck thats floating around rn? on paper thats what $400? On MTGO thats what $250? I made a similar deck for next to nothing on MTGA. who cares if i cant sell it to someone lol. I get to play premium high level meta mtg for a reasonable price.


Its $439 on TCG lol. FFS man. How could you possible complain about arena pricing? https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/magic-the-gathering/deck/Golgari-Midrange/480424

Don't compare MTGA prices to paper MTG, compare it to other F2P CCGs. It won't hold up well.

[Minmataro]

Originally posted by HighLanderPony:

Originally posted by Minmataro:

Idk what you want. You want MTG for free? How much is that nice meta Golgari deck thats floating around rn? on paper thats what $400? On MTGO thats what $250? I made a similar deck for next to nothing on MTGA. who cares if i cant sell it to someone lol. I get to play premium high level meta mtg for a reasonable price.


Its $439 on TCG lol. FFS man. How could you possible complain about arena pricing? https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/magic-the-gathering/deck/Golgari-Midrange/480424

Don't compare MTGA prices to paper MTG, compare it to other F2P CCGs. It won't hold up well.

No.

[GarbageCollector]

Originally posted by Minmataro:

Its $439 on TCG lol. FFS man. How could you possible complain about arena pricing? https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/magic-the-gathering/deck/Golgari-Midrange/480424

Not going to try to explain asset value retention to you like a teenager for the tenth time. You seem happy to drop hundreds of dollars on this, so go for it mate. Don't let me ruin your fun.

Originally posted by Minmataro:

Originally posted by HighLanderPony:

Don't compare MTGA prices to paper MTG, compare it to other F2P CCGs. It won't hold up well.

No.

This is a better and more honest response. You don't care and don't actually want to discuss. Cheers.

[Minmataro]

Originally posted by GarbageCollector:

Originally posted by Minmataro:

Its $439 on TCG lol. FFS man. How could you possible complain about arena pricing? https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/magic-the-gathering/deck/Golgari-Midrange/480424

Not going to try to explain asset value retention to you like a teenager for the tenth time. You seem happy to drop hundreds of dollars on this, so go for it mate. Don't let me ruin your fun.

Originally posted by Minmataro:

No.

This is a better and more honest response. You don't care and don't actually want to discuss. Cheers.

No i dont value other digital card games. MTG is the greatest card game by 1000 times over and its pricing is dictated by paper. You bring up other video games is actually going off topic. I never brought them up once in my OP...