Magic The Gathering Strixhaven Bundle

JodouKast

Feb 24, 2022 05:27 PM

2,573 Posts

Joined Oct 2015

JodouKastFeb 24, 2022 05:27 PM

2,573 Posts

Quote from kainsword

:

I mean, OK. I think most people would agree that Throne of Eldraine was a pushed set, powerlevel wise (Oko, BoneCrusher, Brazen Borrower, Great Henge, Kenrith, Emry, Mystic Sanctuary, etc). At TCG Mid, Dawnglare Set EV estimates Eldraine to be valued at $82.11 whereas Strixhaven is valued at $85.68. I mean, I'm just one person. I didn't decide that a Strixhaven booster box has a greater estimated value than a booster box of Eldraine, but that's how it is.

That being said, I get it. Some sets don't really appeal to people for one reason or the other. I didn't personally like Ikoria and its focus on mutate (for every single color identity) as a bad Voltron-y strategy, even though people hated bestow for pretty much the same reason back in the Theros block, but people seem to disagree and really liked the set for whatever reason. More power to them if they liked it, though. :shrug:

I don't believe I ever advertised that the bundles could get you JP alternate art Mystical Archive cards, and I'm sure you'd pay a lot more than ~$2.20 per pack to import Japanese Strixhaven boosters to the US, probably erasing any potential "profit" you'd get from getting the JP alt-art Mystical Archive cards... That being said, that Strixhaven even has a Mystical Archive card included in regular draft boosters is just a huge plus over other standard sets, in my opinion, since that got a lot of needed reprints into circulation. Yeah, the prices for those reprints are lower now, _because_ of those reprints, but (many) of those cards were in demand for one format or another and over time, after Strixhaven goes out of print, those staples will creep back up in value.

I'm not even sure exactly where to start in this logical fallacy, so I'll just ignore it and move on. I'll just say that some people just like opening packs, and this is one of the more cost-effective ways to just open packs for MTG, and MTG doesn't usually have sales like this where boosters can be gotten for ~$2.20 each pre-tax. This isn't some kind of scam, and this GameStop promotion didn't break into your home, and kill your dog, and you've been oddly very upset at this optional deal.

Rest assured my overt nature wasn't directed at you; it's to inform and protect my fellow gamers from the very poor value of the set. I would also go as far to say it was not a fun set to draft as pest decks were extremely annoying and the learn mechanic they added was easily my least favorite of 2021. Standard has already dropped all those cards as they're a poor fit for the meta today.

Emotions aside, the core of my analysis is that the set bombed hard in value and the few staples it offers can be had for pennies. I also never accused you of advertising JP alt art MA cards; they are however worth the most from the set but were only included in US collector boosters and JP draft/set so it needed noting. The value proposition is non-negotiable: you WILL lose money spending even a dime on them. People who buy just for the experience would already know this, but for someone else newer it would be a bad experience losing money and damage their opinion of the game.

2

ninkei

Feb 24, 2022 07:13 PM

578 Posts

Joined Aug 2005

ninkeiFeb 24, 2022 07:13 PM

578 Posts

Bit of a tangent: which of the price guides (for MTG) is the most widely accepted as the best right now for older cards? Thanks in advance!

MikeP696

Feb 24, 2022 07:28 PM

12 Posts

Joined Nov 2009

MikeP696Feb 24, 2022 07:28 PM

12 Posts

This isn't a great deal. Gamestop has them in stock to ship WITH a buy 2 get 1 free promo on MTG right now. I landed 6 of these for $130 yesterday.

Amazon is just price matching Gamestop BUT they aren't factoring the B2G1 into it.

1

GreyHeart8074

Feb 25, 2022 01:10 AM

2 Posts

Joined Feb 2022

GreyHeart8074Feb 25, 2022 01:10 AM

2 Posts

Quote from ninkei

:

Bit of a tangent: which of the price guides (for MTG) is the most widely accepted as the best right now for older cards? Thanks in advance!

TCGplayer

2

dancfuller

Feb 25, 2022 03:52 AM

18 Posts

Joined Nov 2010

dancfullerFeb 25, 2022 03:52 AM

18 Posts

Quote from ronakshah2000

:

Also as a guy who played in the 90s - is this a good purchase if I buy 3 so that my two kids and I can each build a deck to play against each other? Is there enough to form a decent-enough starter deck?

I have a few hundred cards from ~ 1995 but I don't think I should integrate them into these new ones. Is that right?

Mechanically, you can use your 90s cards with new cards — there are still just 5 colors, creatures still have attack and block values, the rules are generally the same (with the addition of The Stack to help with complex, well, stacking of spells and effects), but the game is MUCH faster now with what players call "power creep." Generally, creatures are more powerful (whether power/toughness or abilities) while being cast for significantly less mana. Aggressive Mammoth casts for 3 green+3 colorless, is 8/8 with trample, and gives all your other creatures trample, too, without any drawbacks like damaging you every turn or similar. From your era (mine, too), Scaled Wurm was 7/6 for 8 total mana (and didn't have any abilities).

It's not "unrecognizable," but it's a different-feeling game at this point.

There are new creature abilities (Landfall, Scrye, Phasing... and many, many more), but you can play around those when mixing cards. There's also a card type of Planeswalker, but, again, you can play around that, if you were to pull one (not sure this set even has Planeswalkers).

Yes, you can mix cards, especially against your kids, but make sure you're getting the new cards, as a "parent tax."

Background: I played Magic through Ice Age, 4th Edition, Homelands, and Chronicles in the 90s, then started Arena in late 2021.

1

dancfuller

Feb 25, 2022 04:14 AM

18 Posts

Joined Nov 2010

dancfullerFeb 25, 2022 04:14 AM

18 Posts

Quote from KrusePants

:

As someone else who played in the 90s, do those old cards hold any value? Or are they obsolete given the enormous changes to the game in the subsequent decades?

JodouKast (great screenname!) is spot-on about the values. Cards which won't ever be reprinted (Reserve List) hold their value, even in generally "low demand," huge print run old sets (4th Edition, Ice Age, etc.), but for eye-popping prices for "normal" cards, you need to go back to the really limited sets from the beginning of the game (and the the Reserve List cards in Revised).

See my other comment about Power Creep and game pace. You can mix old and new cards, and it "works" (Plains are Plains; Forests are Forests, etc.), but a deck of new cards plays very differently from a 90s deck.

KrusePants

Feb 25, 2022 03:32 PM

34 Posts

Joined Jan 2009

KrusePantsFeb 25, 2022 03:32 PM

34 Posts

Quote from dancfuller

:

JodouKast (great screenname!) is spot-on about the values. Cards which won't ever be reprinted (Reserve List) hold their value, even in generally "low demand," huge print run old sets (4th Edition, Ice Age, etc.), but for eye-popping prices for "normal" cards, you need to go back to the really limited sets from the beginning of the game (and the the Reserve List cards in Revised).

See my other comment about Power Creep and game pace. You can mix old and new cards, and it "works" (Plains are Plains; Forests are Forests, etc.), but a deck of new cards plays very differently from a 90s deck.

Thank you. You and JodouKast were very helpful. Mine were all from Arabian Nights up through Portal. I took a look at the reserve list and recognize a decent number of the cards. Now I need to find my binders at my parents house, cross my fingers that 10-14 year old me was responsible enough to keep the cards in decent condition, and hope the cards I recognize were my own rather than from the decks of my couple of friends who played.

dancfuller

Feb 25, 2022 06:03 PM

18 Posts

Joined Nov 2010

dancfullerFeb 25, 2022 06:03 PM

18 Posts

Quote from KrusePants

:

Thank you. You and JodouKast were very helpful. Mine were all from Arabian Nights up through Portal. I took a look at the reserve list and recognize a decent number of the cards. Now I need to find my binders at my parents house, cross my fingers that 10-14 year old me was responsible enough to keep the cards in decent condition, and hope the cards I recognize were my own rather than from the decks of my couple of friends who played.

If they're "original" (black border) Arabian Nights, you may be VERY pleasantly surprised at the prices due to the very low print run, even for "played condition," non-Reserve List, or other unremarkable cards.

If you started getting cards during Arabian Nights, you were there for some releases that may also have some exciting results for you, especially the fact that Unlimited was in circulation and Revised came out shortly after that, with LOTS of Reserve List cards. (Not to gloss over Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark.) Not that it's necessarily about the resale value of your old cards... but if they're just sitting in a box or binder for the last 25+ years, that would be a fun story if there waa notable stuff hiding inside.

If they're Chronicles Arabian Nights (white border), the prices are usually in line with the other high print run mid-90s sets.

Beyond that, there are lots of people (someone above in this thread, in fact) looking for mid-90s Magic cards, even the high print run sets, because those still have vintage or "when I was a kid..." appeal while being reasonable to purchase compared to Revised and prior.

phunky.buddha

Feb 25, 2022 08:22 PM

1,497 Posts

Joined Dec 2007

phunky.buddhaFeb 25, 2022 08:22 PM

1,497 Posts

Quote from KrusePants

:

As someone else who played in the 90s, do those old cards hold any value? Or are they obsolete given the enormous changes to the game in the subsequent decades?

My Type 1 land destruction deck that I rolled in high school which was worth about $2k back in the mid-90s according to the Wizard price guides would buy a new Supra today. So yeah, they're worth some cash. The mechanics you remember from that period are all old and slow now with what's been printed the last few decades, but rarity still speaks volumes, and the cards that were powerful in the 90s are still powerful and highly sought after today with new play combos.

1

Magic The Gathering Strixhaven Bundle

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