Also,coat of arms doesn’t give +1/+1 COUNTERS (which is what I believe you think makes the combo infinite). You can’t give up the bonus from coat of arms to make more pentavites.
So... as far as getting bang for your buck, the best medium for getting all of those cards out is filling those cardboard containers you can get at game stores (like this one) and sell those for $20-25 a pop. It would probably take a while, though, and there’s no guarantee how many would sell.
Going by common trends for MTG lots on EBay, you could probably make item look more appealing with some time and research. If you spend the time and effort locating the best cards in your lot and can list those front and center as “possible wins”... well, it’s kind of scummy but a whole lot of people do that (again, that might be a reason to have the collection assessed, though that would be a sizeable up-front cost if going through everything takes several hours).
I’ve heard that some card stores (online or in person) buy bulk for tiny amounts so that is also an option.
If you have the patience, going through the collection to know what you have and then blatantly undercutting other sellers on TCGplayer so other shops buy your things might work (as the customer would be paying for shipping).
I don’t know too much of the nuts and bolts of collection selling but I hope some of that may give ideas.
the question is what you want from the situation.
1. You said that your child wants “those”. Does those refer to the comics and Pokémon cards (where you don’t know what to do with the mtg card)? Does those refer to the binders and boxes those cards are in? (Meaning you’d have nowhere to store the magic cards)? If he wants the magic cards... what else would you need to do?
I know that there are people who can do collection appraisals (such as what you’d need if you want insurance on your newfound collection). If you want to contact one just to verify that your child wouldn’t accidentally be playing around with a card worth as much as a used car, go ahead. Are there any other concerns you have?
I mean, if you just want to free up space and get rid of the cards, you are free to put them up on eBay and quite a few people would probably pay something for what is essentially a random lot if that’s not an option.
It seems that the problem here is less “I want more preconstructed 60-card decks” and more “I wish WotC made a magic format that was monetized to my tastes”.
1. No booster pack lottery or buying singles because everything comes in a precon deck.
2. Doubling down on no buying singles as the codes in product would incentivize buying the actual product.
3. Accessible to all because the product would be sold at a “fair” price point.
4. Released regularly rather than once a blue moon so you can enjoy each element of each set even if you want to be playing the budget version.
While the ability to create a “kiddy pool” format with fair pricing within the larger ecology of MTG seems possible, it would represent a tremendous shift in monetization and would cause some possible problems.
1. Especially with such a small card pool, it is easy to imagine the meta of any given format being solved within a couple of weeks. Along these lines, a single underestimated card design could decimate the format for months and banning a card would be more significant in this format as there would be fewer cards to work with in the first place. Imagine if the you want to get some commons from a pack (which you can’t get from the other intro packs) but knowing that the rare in that pack is banned. Serious feel-bad moment.
2. The format gives no real way to transition out. There’s no reason for a player of the format to ever get a draft booster. Even if they get something that they think is cool, they can’t ever use it without leaving the “kiddy pool” and likely getting steamrolled. MTGA kind of solves this problem as you are still getting money to get packs and wild cards but... those rewards mean absolutely nothing to players of this format. Until you save up enough boosters/WCs to build a full standard deck, being rewarded with booster packs you can’t use in your format isn’t really worth much. Ooh, or they could join drafts... and be rewarded with more cards they can’t play...
How does one get surveys from WOTC these days? I used to take surveys on the mothership homepage after each set, but it's been years since I saw one.
This survey was sent out to people who have bought secret lairs. The past few have just generally been online and I discovered them when someone posted on the forum with a link.
As far as this survey:
1. Subscription: Flat out not worth it unless you were planning to get everything anyway. The lack of shipping costs will basically make 1-2 pairs effectively free each year but I’m a bit too selective.
2. Membership: Not worth it for me at the $200-250 price point. The 10% discount only really works out if you plan to buy multiple sets of these lairs (going on past data at least). At the $99 value, I would absolutely jump in as I’m willing to bet that the exclusive releases in the first year will be godly (as Wizards tends to put in extra value when doing things for the first time) to lure in people who missed out the first time (I’m expecting some top-tier offers like imperial seal or a set of all five allied fetches) Will likely jump out the moment the value is gone, though.
Note 1: If wizards ever produces enough secret lairs that it basically becomes an offer of the week program, I would join a $99 membership program even with ho-hum exclusives as the lack of shipping costs is more likely to be cancelled out.
Note 2: The survey asks if special gifts would be an incentive. If Wizards is willing to send out monthly promos to people in the membership program or if membership unlocks a second, superior insert card (such as Lucille or the stained glass walkers) in secret lairs, I would likewise be inclined to keep membership.
For people who do not believe in secret lairs, I would still advise that people who receive the e-mail fill them out.
People bought a lot of the initial secret lairs so we're getting a lot of secret lairs.
People bought a lot of Secret Lair: The Walking Dead and now we have Universes Beyond.
This is an opportunity to directly tell wizards that you would not purchase a Secret Lair subscription/membership program. If the only people who complete this survey are the people who REALLY like secret lairs and you just ignore it, you are going to live in a world where the best value reprints of the year end up being locked behind a $250 FOMO gate.
@neuroticneurok: fair point. I feel that this type of deck is aupposed to finish out with a combo when fully realized... though fairly few precondition could be called anything close to “fully realized” out of the box. This deck just spams flying tokens and slowly strengthens its creatures until it can take out does the slow and inefficient way.
Also, am I wrong in thinking that Combat Calligrapher can trigger multiple times per combat if multiple opponents are attacked (as it doesn’t say “if one or more of your opponents” or “at least one of your opponents”)? If so, throwing this down for 4 mana and instantly pooping out 2-3 attacking inklings isn’t terrible even if this card doesn’t last a full round. Not optimal for any competitive builds but still fairly cost-efficient.
This deck looks like a PITA to play against. Too much to remember about who can attack who and who can't attack someone. I'll politely not want to play against this. Magic is supposed to be fun.
Dude, all the cards stop aggression just toward the player of this deck. I’m not seeing anything that stops attacks against any other player.
lul at a keyword based ETB triggers. Every one needs one of these triggers. That's some dreary design space.
I think you just wanted to make a single cycle here.
1. You are aware that evoke (which this is clearly based on) exists in more than 5 cards and that this ability also works with “leaves the battlefield” triggers, right?
2. There is precedent for mechanics getting reboots such as Chroma/Devotion or Fading/Vanishing.
So... white and red each get decent commanders with card advantage for MV 3.
White and Red each get ho-hum lategame beaters with land cycling.
We get two white pieces of ramp for MV 3 and get a red mana rock for MV 3 that is decent in the late game (plus another MV 3 creature that can cheat out big artifacts from your library).
We get a game-ending boros spell that isn’t just taking extra combat steps.
Putting all of that on top of some really nice reprints, I can tell the sheer amount of effort that was put into this deck.
So... white and red each get decent commanders with card advantage for MV 3.
White and Red each get ho-hum lategame beaters with land cycling.
We get two white pieces of ramp for MV 3 and get a red mana rock for MV 3 that is decent in the late game (plus another MV 3 creature that can cheat out big artifacts from your library).
We get a game-ending boros spell that isn’t just taking extra combat steps.
Putting all of that on top of some really nice reprints, I can tell the sheer amount of effort that was put into this deck.
Personally, I’m not too big on this card. With Garrison or Krenko, I feel good casting the card on curve. If I cast this card on curve, meanwhile, I have likely already played my land for the turn and probably won’t be able to cast any nonland cards... meaning that I just played a 3/3 haste that ate the top card of my library. This card feels much better played on turn 4+ (So you can play a land post-combat if needed) but at that point, I’d personally be treating this card as more of a 4-drop than a 3-drop.
For that, you need cathars' crusade
Going by common trends for MTG lots on EBay, you could probably make item look more appealing with some time and research. If you spend the time and effort locating the best cards in your lot and can list those front and center as “possible wins”... well, it’s kind of scummy but a whole lot of people do that (again, that might be a reason to have the collection assessed, though that would be a sizeable up-front cost if going through everything takes several hours).
I’ve heard that some card stores (online or in person) buy bulk for tiny amounts so that is also an option.
If you have the patience, going through the collection to know what you have and then blatantly undercutting other sellers on TCGplayer so other shops buy your things might work (as the customer would be paying for shipping).
I don’t know too much of the nuts and bolts of collection selling but I hope some of that may give ideas.
1. You said that your child wants “those”. Does those refer to the comics and Pokémon cards (where you don’t know what to do with the mtg card)? Does those refer to the binders and boxes those cards are in? (Meaning you’d have nowhere to store the magic cards)? If he wants the magic cards... what else would you need to do?
I know that there are people who can do collection appraisals (such as what you’d need if you want insurance on your newfound collection). If you want to contact one just to verify that your child wouldn’t accidentally be playing around with a card worth as much as a used car, go ahead. Are there any other concerns you have?
I mean, if you just want to free up space and get rid of the cards, you are free to put them up on eBay and quite a few people would probably pay something for what is essentially a random lot if that’s not an option.
1. No booster pack lottery or buying singles because everything comes in a precon deck.
2. Doubling down on no buying singles as the codes in product would incentivize buying the actual product.
3. Accessible to all because the product would be sold at a “fair” price point.
4. Released regularly rather than once a blue moon so you can enjoy each element of each set even if you want to be playing the budget version.
While the ability to create a “kiddy pool” format with fair pricing within the larger ecology of MTG seems possible, it would represent a tremendous shift in monetization and would cause some possible problems.
1. Especially with such a small card pool, it is easy to imagine the meta of any given format being solved within a couple of weeks. Along these lines, a single underestimated card design could decimate the format for months and banning a card would be more significant in this format as there would be fewer cards to work with in the first place. Imagine if the you want to get some commons from a pack (which you can’t get from the other intro packs) but knowing that the rare in that pack is banned. Serious feel-bad moment.
2. The format gives no real way to transition out. There’s no reason for a player of the format to ever get a draft booster. Even if they get something that they think is cool, they can’t ever use it without leaving the “kiddy pool” and likely getting steamrolled. MTGA kind of solves this problem as you are still getting money to get packs and wild cards but... those rewards mean absolutely nothing to players of this format. Until you save up enough boosters/WCs to build a full standard deck, being rewarded with booster packs you can’t use in your format isn’t really worth much. Ooh, or they could join drafts... and be rewarded with more cards they can’t play...
Lotus-Channel-Bugs?
This survey was sent out to people who have bought secret lairs. The past few have just generally been online and I discovered them when someone posted on the forum with a link.
As far as this survey:
1. Subscription: Flat out not worth it unless you were planning to get everything anyway. The lack of shipping costs will basically make 1-2 pairs effectively free each year but I’m a bit too selective.
2. Membership: Not worth it for me at the $200-250 price point. The 10% discount only really works out if you plan to buy multiple sets of these lairs (going on past data at least). At the $99 value, I would absolutely jump in as I’m willing to bet that the exclusive releases in the first year will be godly (as Wizards tends to put in extra value when doing things for the first time) to lure in people who missed out the first time (I’m expecting some top-tier offers like imperial seal or a set of all five allied fetches) Will likely jump out the moment the value is gone, though.
Note 1: If wizards ever produces enough secret lairs that it basically becomes an offer of the week program, I would join a $99 membership program even with ho-hum exclusives as the lack of shipping costs is more likely to be cancelled out.
Note 2: The survey asks if special gifts would be an incentive. If Wizards is willing to send out monthly promos to people in the membership program or if membership unlocks a second, superior insert card (such as Lucille or the stained glass walkers) in secret lairs, I would likewise be inclined to keep membership.
People bought a lot of the initial secret lairs so we're getting a lot of secret lairs.
People bought a lot of Secret Lair: The Walking Dead and now we have Universes Beyond.
This is an opportunity to directly tell wizards that you would not purchase a Secret Lair subscription/membership program. If the only people who complete this survey are the people who REALLY like secret lairs and you just ignore it, you are going to live in a world where the best value reprints of the year end up being locked behind a $250 FOMO gate.
Also, am I wrong in thinking that Combat Calligrapher can trigger multiple times per combat if multiple opponents are attacked (as it doesn’t say “if one or more of your opponents” or “at least one of your opponents”)? If so, throwing this down for 4 mana and instantly pooping out 2-3 attacking inklings isn’t terrible even if this card doesn’t last a full round. Not optimal for any competitive builds but still fairly cost-efficient.
Dude, all the cards stop aggression just toward the player of this deck. I’m not seeing anything that stops attacks against any other player.
1. You are aware that evoke (which this is clearly based on) exists in more than 5 cards and that this ability also works with “leaves the battlefield” triggers, right?
2. There is precedent for mechanics getting reboots such as Chroma/Devotion or Fading/Vanishing.
I mentioned him for his landcycling, though the reusability is certainly another factor to consider.
White and Red each get ho-hum lategame beaters with land cycling.
We get two white pieces of ramp for MV 3 and get a red mana rock for MV 3 that is decent in the late game (plus another MV 3 creature that can cheat out big artifacts from your library).
We get a game-ending boros spell that isn’t just taking extra combat steps.
Putting all of that on top of some really nice reprints, I can tell the sheer amount of effort that was put into this deck.