Are fakes almost always sold as single cards? Are sealed packs ever counterfeited?
I don't believe anyone has ever counterfeited sealed packs. There's a lot more to deal with there, including the print runs, the packaging, and I believe most packs have a unique tracking number printed on them.
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Nor will they. They tend not to say anything about legal matters, which this obviously is.
Some people over in Reddit started to get email responses back from a couple of these sellers. One said that they wouldn't sell MTG cards anymore because it was "too risky." The other was more than happy to offer details. 55 cards in a sealed box for $6.50 USD, a case is 100 of these boxes. Can't rightly tell for sure, but it may be that you can only buy them by the case.
That means the only people buying these are people looking to scam, NOT kitchen table friends who want to pull together a cheap cube. We have every right to be nervous, unless what I saw in that thread is clarified to mean something different.
I don't know what's worse... scammers buying cases, or individuals buying enough for playsets for thier personal collections. These things look real enough it would be EXTREMELY hard to keep them seperate from your true collection and not be tempted in playing with them in tournaments.
Most of the cards seen here are Standard/Modern cards not even remotely affected by the Reserved List. The very first card that I saw as a fake was Tarmogoyf, which was just reprinted last year.
People are willing to buy these because they think they can pass them off as the real thing and stick some other poor sucker with a worthless counterfeit.
If you want proxies for a cube/gauntlet decks, there are much easier and legal ways to do that (i.e. a Sharpie or slips of paper with the card name/text)
I checked out the stuff, and it does seem to show that they have the ABUR duals, Onslaught fetches, etc., available as well.
Also, I am not willing to buy these because I think I can pass them off as the real thing, etc. I am willing to buy them because they are cheaper than the real thing. There are easier ways to do it, but the quality doesn't measure up. I have a couple proxied decks, printed out and all, but they do not feel/look quite the same. Buying it from these sources is on par with the price of my own prints, when considering the price of ink, etc.
I understand that you may not agree with this practice, but I'm afraid that both of your statements are demonstrably wrong.
EDIT: Sorry, "demonstrably" may be the wrong term, as I cannot demonstrate to you, empirically, that I want to buy them for my own personal use and because I don't want to spend mortgage payment-type money on Magic cards. I don't think it's hard to fathom that there are those of us out there that would really like to play Legacy Thresh, or Modern Jund, or any other sort of deck, and not be fiscally irresponsible. And again, sure, I could print it up, like I did with my Legacy Fae and remake of my old Extended Dredge, but if I had to choose, I'd choose these counterfeit cards. I think it's reasonable for me to say that you were appealing to the fallacy of hasty generalization.
And let's pretend that they were only doing Modern cards, and not Legacy. Have you seen the price of aTarmogoyf? Sure, supply/demand may very well be driving that price (assuming there is no second-market manipulation or some such), but can you truly say that paying that price for that cardboard is rational?
I would be extremely interested in what happens to the prices in the secondary market, from this point on, to see if there is some sort of deflation in the value of online singles to compensate for the risk of buying these.
If the market were fair and rational, then why would this even be an issue?
EDIT2: Let's think of it like this...
Once upon a time there were two main groups of players. One group complained about the prices of cards in the secondary market. The prices for a decent deck kept rising over the years. The "buy-in" kept going up. They would complain in forums, in the shops....
The response from WotC? They were ignored.
The response from the secondary market or those that "have"? "Deal with it."
Now? Counterfeits. Two main groups, one group complaining.
"It's going to hurt WotC!"
How many will ignore what effect it has on WotC?
Going to hurt the secondary market and those that "have"?
The fact that these exist undermines the value of every single pre-M15 card out there (assuming the new hologram functions as intended). Such high quality counterfeits existing is going to seriously make a lot of people think twice before investing into older cards. I don't think the people who want these as high quality proxies are taking that into consideration.
I am curious if anyone has any experience with these fakes in person. Are there any physical qualities they have that separate them from real cards? I know they are faking the blue line, but could there potentially be a different physical flaw to look for? Any info is very much appreciated.
Edit: Just read the link to reddit. Very useful info, thanks!
Some people over in Reddit started to get email responses back from a couple of these sellers. One said that they wouldn't sell MTG cards anymore because it was "too risky." The other was more than happy to offer details. 55 cards in a sealed box for $6.50 USD, a case is 100 of these boxes. Can't rightly tell for sure, but it may be that you can only buy them by the case.
That means the only people buying these are people looking to scam, NOT kitchen table friends who want to pull together a cheap cube. We have every right to be nervous, unless what I saw in that thread is clarified to mean something different.
No, it does not. $650 is really not much money, a lot of Standard decks cost about half of that at the moment. A playset of FoW and Wasteland total up to $460 together going by TCG mid. So $650 for 100 Force of Wills and Tarmogoyfs plus 100 each of 53 other valuable cards? Split the cost 50/50 with a friend and for $325 someone now has Legacy staples enough to trade away for thousands of dollars in real card value. The investment gives someone the option to play several decks, enough cards to trade away for a lifetime, and then some. $650 is a lot more accessible than the price barrier WOTC has allowed to block the entrance into Legacy/Modern. That is what should give pause to everyone.
No, it does not. $650 is really not much money, a lot of Standard decks cost about half of that at the moment. A playset of FoW and Wasteland total up to $460 together going by TCG mid. So $650 for 100 Force of Wills and Tarmogoyfs plus 100 each of 53 other valuable cards? Split the cost 50/50 with a friend and for $325 someone now has Legacy staples enough to trade away for thousands of dollars in real card value. The investment gives someone the option to play several decks, enough cards to trade away for a lifetime, and then some. $650 is a lot more accessible than the price barrier WOTC has allowed to block the entrance into Legacy/Modern. That is what should give pause to everyone.
yep, not to mention the "proxies" sold for avg $10 on ebay, even knowing it was proxy if you look at those ebay accounts people have linked. Although it's very fraudulent to sell these knowing they are fake, it's legal to buy them in most places.
I did some research on the company that is printing these fakes. They are not ONLY printing Magic cards. They are a huge printing company in China, with multiple product lines and several trademarks. I probably shouldn't post the company name here, but if you have the original link to the sales page you can find it.
What I infer from this, is that they DON'T CARE if the cards have imperfections. They care soley about overall profit, so what is the point of paying their design crew more money to make new, fixed card images while they have already sold out their stock (according to other forums)? If what they have is selling, why change it?
They care soley about overall profit, so what is the point of paying their design crew more money to make new, fixed card images while they have already sold out their stock (according to other forums)? If what they have is selling, why change it?
Don't let the picture of Chairman Mao fool you, China is no less Capitalist than the USA. Other companies will compete with them, or they will make improvement to the product to increase sales. It's how business works - part of running a business is growth and every business is always trying to grow.
So I'm thinking I may have a fake set of cards, they aren't really cards I'd say are worth counterfeiting but there's something suspect about them in that there is a thin blue hair in the exact same spot on all four of the cards and I don't see it in any scans online.
I checked out the stuff, and it does seem to show that they have the ABUR duals, Onslaught fetches, etc., available as well.
Also, I am not willing to buy these because I think I can pass them off as the real thing, etc. I am willing to buy them because they are cheaper than the real thing. There are easier ways to do it, but the quality doesn't measure up. I have a couple proxied decks, printed out and all, but they do not feel/look quite the same. Buying it from these sources is on par with the price of my own prints, when considering the price of ink, etc.
I understand that you may not agree with this practice, but I'm afraid that both of your statements are demonstrably wrong.
EDIT: Sorry, "demonstrably" may be the wrong term, as I cannot demonstrate to you, empirically, that I want to buy them for my own personal use and because I don't want to spend mortgage payment-type money on Magic cards. I don't think it's hard to fathom that there are those of us out there that would really like to play Legacy Thresh, or Modern Jund, or any other sort of deck, and not be fiscally irresponsible. And again, sure, I could print it up, like I did with my Legacy Fae and remake of my old Extended Dredge, but if I had to choose, I'd choose these counterfeit cards. I think it's reasonable for me to say that you were appealing to the fallacy of hasty generalization.
And let's pretend that they were only doing Modern cards, and not Legacy. Have you seen the price of aTarmogoyf? Sure, supply/demand may very well be driving that price (assuming there is no second-market manipulation or some such), but can you truly say that paying that price for that cardboard is rational?
I would be extremely interested in what happens to the prices in the secondary market, from this point on, to see if there is some sort of deflation in the value of online singles to compensate for the risk of buying these.
If the market were fair and rational, then why would this even be an issue?
EDIT2: Let's think of it like this...
Once upon a time there were two main groups of players. One group complained about the prices of cards in the secondary market. The prices for a decent deck kept rising over the years. The "buy-in" kept going up. They would complain in forums, in the shops....
The response from WotC? They were ignored.
The response from the secondary market or those that "have"? "Deal with it."
Now? Counterfeits. Two main groups, one group complaining.
"It's going to hurt WotC!"
How many will ignore what effect it has on WotC?
Going to hurt the secondary market and those that "have"?
"Deal with it."
The problem with any/all of your argument is the fact that mtg is a collectable trading card game, and has been marketed as such from day one.
These aren't going to have much of an effect on the secondary market other than people putting a higher premium on graded cards. The fakes will most likely, forever have something that sets them apart from the real ones to a trained eye. If you are spending hundreds of dollars on cards, you should be aware of what to look for, and aware of any possibility of impostors.
This will also have very little effect on players. There will be a few that try to pass them off as real in a tournament setting, but they will get caught. Maybe a few guys will have some better casual decks. Anyone with any real interest in playing legacy already understands the monetary commitment it requires. Legacy isn't for everyone, and it never will be. I think wotc merely keeps it around to keep from alienating those who have spent the money to play in it, or were there at the beginning. They don't want to do anything that would have such a sweeping and likely permanent effect on the secondary market, and piss off a good portion of their customers at the same time. They may do a little of both here and there, but they will always have a format where things like the power nine are legal.
Are the counterfeiting foil cards as well in this company? so far i've only seen non-foils, and i don't really want to check my foils if it's unnecessary.
The problem with any/all of your argument is the fact that mtg is a collectable trading card game, and has been marketed as such from day one.
These aren't going to have much of an effect on the secondary market other than people putting a higher premium on graded cards. The fakes will most likely, forever have something that sets them apart from the real ones to a trained eye. If you are spending hundreds of dollars on cards, you should be aware of what to look for, and aware of any possibility of impostors.
This will also have very little effect on players. There will be a few that try to pass them off as real in a tournament setting, but they will get caught. Maybe a few guys will have some better casual decks. Anyone with any real interest in playing legacy already understands the monetary commitment it requires. Legacy isn't for everyone, and it never will be. I think wotc merely keeps it around to keep from alienating those who have spent the money to play in it, or were there at the beginning. They don't want to do anything that would have such a sweeping and likely permanent effect on the secondary market, and piss off a good portion of their customers at the same time. They may do a little of both here and there, but they will always have a format where things like the power nine are legal.
You are right, it is marketed as a collectible card game. I can concede that. I can honestly state that I haven't been "collecting" much since I started being fiscally responsible, though
And you may be right that this may have no effect on the secondary market. If so, so be it. The secondary market doesn't seem to care much about losing customers like me to begin with, so if it did have an effect, it would have a positive one in my case (new/returning customer!). Either way, I'm not paying the stupid crazy prices - I'm waiting until they go down. Until then, I'll play cheap stuff and/or proxy, or just not play at all and have fun with virtual building.
And, if this doesn't catch on much, then I agree it may have little effect on the general population of players. This hasn't affected me yet, not until the prices start taking a hit (if they do). Legacy isn't for me - not because I am not capable to playing it, but because I'm not blowing wads of cash on pretty cardboard. Racing cars isn't for everyone; The cost to pay for and upkeep a performance car is real-world. Those parts cost real money to manufacture. Magic cards? Not quite so much.
There is obviously a market for these counterfeits, as shown by the interest in people willing to buy them cheap. That's just a market that WotC and the secondary market have to recognize that they are passing up, until something changes on their part.
As i work for a financial institution i can definitly advise anyone here if they are wondering what rights they have if they should purchase counterfeit merchandise online (from any seller outside of europe). counterfeiting will always have a market and is always illegal, just because it is cards and not brand name clothing or antiques or currency makes no difference. if you live in canada even better cause the rcmp activley works to shut down sellers of counterfeit goods. if any of you have any questions in regards to your rights if you may have purchased some of these online, if you traded or bought them in person i cant really help but for online credit card purchases i can assist and hopefully this doesnt become a huge issue.
How many times in the past have counterfeits become and issue?
It happens with some frequency, but they're usually not this spot on. They've generally been easier to spot using one of the standard techniques (blue line, bend test, jewler's loupe, light test, etc) or just by comparing to any regular card. With these, all indication seems to be that they have the cardstock, dimensions, and responsiveness all almost exact to that of regular magic cards. The only differences seem to be font and kerning.
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This is WoTC's own fault for letting the prices of tournament playable cards get so high.
This is a sentiment I keep seeing thrown around, and it seems pretty disingenuous.
A lot of the cards that are being counterfeited here are not even super high value cards. Chalice of the Void was among one of those cards, and that goes for only ~$6 each.
These are priced so cheaply that there's effectively no way to have WotC's chase cards priced low enough that it wouldn't seem worthwhile to the counterfeiters. And if they did, it would cause people to leave the game in droves, because you'd be opening less than $1.50 in value from every single $4 booster pack.
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This is a sentiment I keep seeing thrown around, and it seems pretty disingenuous.
A lot of the cards that are being counterfeited here are not even super high value cards. Chalice of the Void was among one of those cards, and that goes for only ~$6 each.
These are priced so cheaply that there's effectively no way to have WotC's chase cards priced low enough that it wouldn't seem worthwhile to the counterfeiters. And if they did, it would cause people to leave the game in droves, because you'd be opening less than $1.50 in value from every single $4 booster pack.
I too am not sure why they printed some less-expensive cards; maybe to seem less suspicious?
Either way, between the reserved list killing Legacy, their refusal to lower prices on modern cards, and the fact that standard is usually dominated by chase mythics, I welcome our new fake overlords.
well counterfeit cards can be problem if they are sold as the real deal, wotc is never the vicitim in this unless fake packs start being produced and sold, us players on the secondary market though can feel the repercussions ie our collections being worth squat, being dc'd from a tourney or even being accused because of unknowingly trading a too good fake. Seeing as in this kind of situation counterfeit has a direct impact to us the end user, not the company/brand I imagine if these/this factory starts chruning out larger # of better quality fakes there is a very real scenario of prices going up cause wed have to get everything certified before we sell/buy online, or even in person. just my 2 cents.
I too am not sure why they printed some less-expensive cards; maybe to seem less suspicious?
Either way, between the reserved list killing Legacy, their refusal to lower prices on modern cards, and the fact that standard is usually dominated by chase mythics, I welcome our new fake overlords.
The reserved list is hardly "killing" Legacy.
They've taken multiple steps to make Modern more accessible. With the exception of Jund, most Modern decks fall in the $400-$600 range.
Many of the strongest cards in standard right now are Rare or less. Of the top 30 cards in standard right now, only 2 are Mythic (Jace, Architect of Thought and Master of Waves). If we extend to the top 50, we only pick up 4 more (Thassa, God of the Sea, Stormbreath Dragon, Blood Baron of Vizkopa, and Sphinx's Revelation). None of these cards are even worth more than $20.
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just by-the-by, a viewpoint from a casual player here:
magic is a great game. perhaps the best game. i have a huge collection spanning alpha through to theros, but even with a full-time job, plenty of value to trade with and many friends who also play, there's just no way i'll ever be able to afford some cards.
a playset of JTMS? tarmogoyf? never on your life! this is a game! it's something i do for fun on a saturday afternoon... not something i start paying more on than (for example) my motorbike. does the fact that i'm not prepared to shell out thousands of pounds on a few pieces of paper mean i shouldn't be able to experience the game to its fullest? no! that would be like sitting down for a cozy game of scrabble and being told that the basic boardgame only contained vowels and to get any consonants you had to spend £2000 on the secondary market to pick up some extra scrabble letters.
it has, and will always seem utterly ridiculous to me that cards can reach such absurd values, simply because they are desirable. not only that, but i would happily and with a clear conscience purchase good quality forgeries (if i knew they were forgeries) for a cheap price, in order to experience playing with those cards without shelling out enough money to renovate my kitchen.
i have no ulterior motive, i'm not going to sell them or dupe anyone into trading for them. but being able to own them (i mean, a card is a card, right? if it looks the part and it fits in a sleeve, who's to know?) and play with them would make my experience of playing magic more complete. and before you ask, no - i'm not about to print a load of inkjet-fakes because we all know they look awful and break the experience of playing the game.
for those of you for whom magic is some sort of weird money-sink thing where you get to brag about having expensive pieces of cardboard... well power to you, i suppose. i'm a bit more pragmatic and just enjoy playing the game.
Can you explain how to tell the difference in the font? I can't tell which is the real one and which is the fake one here.
I don't believe anyone has ever counterfeited sealed packs. There's a lot more to deal with there, including the print runs, the packaging, and I believe most packs have a unique tracking number printed on them.
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Nor will they. They tend not to say anything about legal matters, which this obviously is.
Some people over in Reddit started to get email responses back from a couple of these sellers. One said that they wouldn't sell MTG cards anymore because it was "too risky." The other was more than happy to offer details. 55 cards in a sealed box for $6.50 USD, a case is 100 of these boxes. Can't rightly tell for sure, but it may be that you can only buy them by the case.
That means the only people buying these are people looking to scam, NOT kitchen table friends who want to pull together a cheap cube. We have every right to be nervous, unless what I saw in that thread is clarified to mean something different.
I don't know what's worse... scammers buying cases, or individuals buying enough for playsets for thier personal collections. These things look real enough it would be EXTREMELY hard to keep them seperate from your true collection and not be tempted in playing with them in tournaments.
I checked out the stuff, and it does seem to show that they have the ABUR duals, Onslaught fetches, etc., available as well.
Also, I am not willing to buy these because I think I can pass them off as the real thing, etc. I am willing to buy them because they are cheaper than the real thing. There are easier ways to do it, but the quality doesn't measure up. I have a couple proxied decks, printed out and all, but they do not feel/look quite the same. Buying it from these sources is on par with the price of my own prints, when considering the price of ink, etc.
I understand that you may not agree with this practice, but I'm afraid that both of your statements are demonstrably wrong.
EDIT: Sorry, "demonstrably" may be the wrong term, as I cannot demonstrate to you, empirically, that I want to buy them for my own personal use and because I don't want to spend mortgage payment-type money on Magic cards. I don't think it's hard to fathom that there are those of us out there that would really like to play Legacy Thresh, or Modern Jund, or any other sort of deck, and not be fiscally irresponsible. And again, sure, I could print it up, like I did with my Legacy Fae and remake of my old Extended Dredge, but if I had to choose, I'd choose these counterfeit cards. I think it's reasonable for me to say that you were appealing to the fallacy of hasty generalization.
And let's pretend that they were only doing Modern cards, and not Legacy. Have you seen the price of a Tarmogoyf? Sure, supply/demand may very well be driving that price (assuming there is no second-market manipulation or some such), but can you truly say that paying that price for that cardboard is rational?
I would be extremely interested in what happens to the prices in the secondary market, from this point on, to see if there is some sort of deflation in the value of online singles to compensate for the risk of buying these.
If the market were fair and rational, then why would this even be an issue?
EDIT2: Let's think of it like this...
Once upon a time there were two main groups of players. One group complained about the prices of cards in the secondary market. The prices for a decent deck kept rising over the years. The "buy-in" kept going up. They would complain in forums, in the shops....
The response from WotC? They were ignored.
The response from the secondary market or those that "have"? "Deal with it."
Now? Counterfeits. Two main groups, one group complaining.
"It's going to hurt WotC!"
How many will ignore what effect it has on WotC?
Going to hurt the secondary market and those that "have"?
"Deal with it."
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On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
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I am curious if anyone has any experience with these fakes in person. Are there any physical qualities they have that separate them from real cards? I know they are faking the blue line, but could there potentially be a different physical flaw to look for? Any info is very much appreciated.
Edit: Just read the link to reddit. Very useful info, thanks!
The Izzet
No, it does not. $650 is really not much money, a lot of Standard decks cost about half of that at the moment. A playset of FoW and Wasteland total up to $460 together going by TCG mid. So $650 for 100 Force of Wills and Tarmogoyfs plus 100 each of 53 other valuable cards? Split the cost 50/50 with a friend and for $325 someone now has Legacy staples enough to trade away for thousands of dollars in real card value. The investment gives someone the option to play several decks, enough cards to trade away for a lifetime, and then some. $650 is a lot more accessible than the price barrier WOTC has allowed to block the entrance into Legacy/Modern. That is what should give pause to everyone.
yep, not to mention the "proxies" sold for avg $10 on ebay, even knowing it was proxy if you look at those ebay accounts people have linked. Although it's very fraudulent to sell these knowing they are fake, it's legal to buy them in most places.
Don't let the picture of Chairman Mao fool you, China is no less Capitalist than the USA. Other companies will compete with them, or they will make improvement to the product to increase sales. It's how business works - part of running a business is growth and every business is always trying to grow.
Here's a few pictures.
Dunno, seems a little odd.
The problem with any/all of your argument is the fact that mtg is a collectable trading card game, and has been marketed as such from day one.
These aren't going to have much of an effect on the secondary market other than people putting a higher premium on graded cards. The fakes will most likely, forever have something that sets them apart from the real ones to a trained eye. If you are spending hundreds of dollars on cards, you should be aware of what to look for, and aware of any possibility of impostors.
This will also have very little effect on players. There will be a few that try to pass them off as real in a tournament setting, but they will get caught. Maybe a few guys will have some better casual decks. Anyone with any real interest in playing legacy already understands the monetary commitment it requires. Legacy isn't for everyone, and it never will be. I think wotc merely keeps it around to keep from alienating those who have spent the money to play in it, or were there at the beginning. They don't want to do anything that would have such a sweeping and likely permanent effect on the secondary market, and piss off a good portion of their customers at the same time. They may do a little of both here and there, but they will always have a format where things like the power nine are legal.
You are right, it is marketed as a collectible card game. I can concede that. I can honestly state that I haven't been "collecting" much since I started being fiscally responsible, though
And you may be right that this may have no effect on the secondary market. If so, so be it. The secondary market doesn't seem to care much about losing customers like me to begin with, so if it did have an effect, it would have a positive one in my case (new/returning customer!). Either way, I'm not paying the stupid crazy prices - I'm waiting until they go down. Until then, I'll play cheap stuff and/or proxy, or just not play at all and have fun with virtual building.
And, if this doesn't catch on much, then I agree it may have little effect on the general population of players. This hasn't affected me yet, not until the prices start taking a hit (if they do). Legacy isn't for me - not because I am not capable to playing it, but because I'm not blowing wads of cash on pretty cardboard. Racing cars isn't for everyone; The cost to pay for and upkeep a performance car is real-world. Those parts cost real money to manufacture. Magic cards? Not quite so much.
There is obviously a market for these counterfeits, as shown by the interest in people willing to buy them cheap. That's just a market that WotC and the secondary market have to recognize that they are passing up, until something changes on their part.
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
I seem to recall fake boxes of Champions of Kamigawa or something. Never really seen a huge surge of fake cards.
It happens with some frequency, but they're usually not this spot on. They've generally been easier to spot using one of the standard techniques (blue line, bend test, jewler's loupe, light test, etc) or just by comparing to any regular card. With these, all indication seems to be that they have the cardstock, dimensions, and responsiveness all almost exact to that of regular magic cards. The only differences seem to be font and kerning.
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This is a sentiment I keep seeing thrown around, and it seems pretty disingenuous.
A lot of the cards that are being counterfeited here are not even super high value cards. Chalice of the Void was among one of those cards, and that goes for only ~$6 each.
These are priced so cheaply that there's effectively no way to have WotC's chase cards priced low enough that it wouldn't seem worthwhile to the counterfeiters. And if they did, it would cause people to leave the game in droves, because you'd be opening less than $1.50 in value from every single $4 booster pack.
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I too am not sure why they printed some less-expensive cards; maybe to seem less suspicious?
Either way, between the reserved list killing Legacy, their refusal to lower prices on modern cards, and the fact that standard is usually dominated by chase mythics, I welcome our new fake overlords.
The reserved list is hardly "killing" Legacy.
They've taken multiple steps to make Modern more accessible. With the exception of Jund, most Modern decks fall in the $400-$600 range.
Many of the strongest cards in standard right now are Rare or less. Of the top 30 cards in standard right now, only 2 are Mythic (Jace, Architect of Thought and Master of Waves). If we extend to the top 50, we only pick up 4 more (Thassa, God of the Sea, Stormbreath Dragon, Blood Baron of Vizkopa, and Sphinx's Revelation). None of these cards are even worth more than $20.
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EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
magic is a great game. perhaps the best game. i have a huge collection spanning alpha through to theros, but even with a full-time job, plenty of value to trade with and many friends who also play, there's just no way i'll ever be able to afford some cards.
a playset of JTMS? tarmogoyf? never on your life! this is a game! it's something i do for fun on a saturday afternoon... not something i start paying more on than (for example) my motorbike. does the fact that i'm not prepared to shell out thousands of pounds on a few pieces of paper mean i shouldn't be able to experience the game to its fullest? no! that would be like sitting down for a cozy game of scrabble and being told that the basic boardgame only contained vowels and to get any consonants you had to spend £2000 on the secondary market to pick up some extra scrabble letters.
it has, and will always seem utterly ridiculous to me that cards can reach such absurd values, simply because they are desirable. not only that, but i would happily and with a clear conscience purchase good quality forgeries (if i knew they were forgeries) for a cheap price, in order to experience playing with those cards without shelling out enough money to renovate my kitchen.
i have no ulterior motive, i'm not going to sell them or dupe anyone into trading for them. but being able to own them (i mean, a card is a card, right? if it looks the part and it fits in a sleeve, who's to know?) and play with them would make my experience of playing magic more complete. and before you ask, no - i'm not about to print a load of inkjet-fakes because we all know they look awful and break the experience of playing the game.
for those of you for whom magic is some sort of weird money-sink thing where you get to brag about having expensive pieces of cardboard... well power to you, i suppose. i'm a bit more pragmatic and just enjoy playing the game.