So I was doing some cleaning around my room and only now noticed how much Magic related junk I've allowed to accumulate over time. I've filled two shoeboxes of just toploaders of cards I've ordered over the last year or two. I saved a few of the nicer boxes from the last few pre-releases (the Shadows over Innistrad satchels are really damn cool), and I have enough random mismatched sleeves that they can probably sleeve a few decks. I think the top loaders and the cardboard from the prerelease boxes are recyclable but not sure if I should just toss the mismatched sleeves in the trash. I have so many extra token cards that commons that I'm almost debating just tossing some of them into recycling along with the newspapers.
Anyway, with all the product that comes with our cards, how do you all deal with the waste? Do you repurpose some of the things or does most of it just go in the trash?
Almost upset that I dropped $100 for a playset of these about 2 weeks ago to start a legacy reanimator. A little less upset that now I may be able to afford two more to toss into 2 of my EDH decks.
I run maverick with 2 zealous persecutions in the sideboard for this specific purpose.
So many good uses: wait for elves to go off and then wipe everything at a critical moment, wiping all the goblins after an empty the warrens, wiping 1/1 spirit tokens, wait for an alpha strike and then let their weakened creatures slam into your buffed ones.
For tokens, i love ratchet bombs and engineered exploives on 0 for mass token wipe and or flip planeswalkers.
Other than that, just get good at getting tht jitte out.
Just an update, ended up investing a few hundred into a playset of scrublands, savannahs, and 1 Bayou. It kills me that I don't have a wasteland to play with right now, especially when I've seen them sold for as low as $35 a piece. However, the hope is that with the investment in duals now, I can trade the excess duals for other cards I want (Liliana of the Veils, Wastelands, Dark Depths, etc). On the other hand, if we get an influx of legacy players, maybe $35 is the lowest its even going to go.
Not quite a cipher card but if since you're guaranteed to hit every turn with invisible stalker, you will bury your opponent with card advantage with Bident of Thassa. It isn't bound to any one stalker, can get more cipher cards in your hands, and works well with multiple stalkers.
unlike something like MTGO, you don't get sucked in because obviously you can't just spend time golfing at work or when you should be doing something else.
Unless you waste tons of worktime on a golfing forum
Long story short, pick them up if you need to play them NOW. It's unlikely that they'll ever "tank" per se but if you want them cheaper, you'll want to ask yourself if the marginal decrease there may be between now and June is worth the 2 or so months of not playing them.
I completed my Khans fetch playsets a month ago and the prices of today don't seem to be different now than they were last month before rotation. I don't know how much lower they'll get in 3 months.
Wow - I'm kind of touched by the earnest feedback. Thanks all. I guess the internet has good people too. So yeah. that's all good advice. I am actually in therapy. I'm honest with my wife now, who has been more patient than I deserve. I think I'm coming around to admitting how big of a problem it really is for me. I'm a graphic designer and work on my computer people don't really care what I do hour-by-hour as long as I hit pretty vague deadlines and give the goods. I think that's partially why I've gotten so out of control, because I'm pretty highly functioning, and my life has let me get away with it this long, which is probably the worst kind of addict.
I wonder if I can handle playing paper MTG or Commander or something or if it's like some people here have suggested, that's a little like having "one drink." But really thanks everyone - Lots of good advice. And yeah, people's insights were right on. Even on the minimizing stuff. It's funny I know the answer is just stay committed to therapy, stay away from it, focus on other hobbies, etc -- but I think I keep hoping for some golden bullet I suppose. Though I realize that's a fantasy.
Foodchaingoblin was right, I kind of vented here after reading a bunch of other posts from people with this problem and the majority of comments were about how a MTG addiction wasn't real and just your general trollish stuff. But really everyone thanks for the support. It's nice to hear advice from people who care or know that there are others out there.
Just be careful with Commander--should you decide to go that route. If you have a penchant for forking over extra money on foils/promos (like I do, even with 40k in student loan debt) then those decks get stupidly expensive REAL fast.
I personally never got this myself. I play legacy with a handful of people at my shop who proudly show off their special foiled out such and such cards. I myself couldn't stand the idea of spending extra money for a foil version of one card if I could use the difference in the upcharge to buy more cards that would actually make my deck play better. I don't mean that as an insult to those that do, though since we all play the game for our own reasons and I suppose some players just have more cash to burn than I.
Current semi-addict here and slowing down my magic purchasing. I've had an addictive personality for quite some time. I'll second the notion that the less you have going on in other aspects of your life. When everything is perfect, no great urgency, no big goals that need to be hit asap, you still crave that challenge and stimulation and find it in your hobbies. I've had this happen from video games, to airsoft, to knives, to guitars, to Magic. Even if you quit Magic, I can't say for sure if you'll ever really turn off that need for stimulation. The therapy everyone is talking about may help you get to the root of it.
Best thing I can tell you that's worked for me is to find yourself a hobby that's more skill intensive and less purchase intensive. Things like writing, martial arts, taking up an instrument (although its very easy to get sucked into buying gear so word of caution with this one), or some sports have a comparatively low cost barrier of entry and won't require you to dump your wallet out weekly. Especially with music or sports, you'll have the satisfaction of seeing yourself improve each week and each month.
Another thing you can do is find a hobby with a good group. I played in a band and they would always bust my balls for coming in with fancy shmancy new guitars or pedals each week. The joke was that I compensated for my lack of skill with having the most expensive gear. Its good to be visible because it keeps you accountable. Its good to have someone around to tell you "Hey, maybe you're going a little overboard there." When you're intentionally trying to hide your behavior pattern on a regular basis is the moment red flags should be going off. Real addiction begins behind closed doors and often only gets noticed once the consequences start visibly spilling out.
Edit:
PS: When this has all blown over, take your wife out for a nice dinner of vacation with just the two of you. No better way to forget about magic than a little bit of quality time with the missus
Strong nationalists
Give promises of grand reform
Rise rapidly on public support
Not experienced politicians
Targeting specific demographics as threatening the country's interests
Promise to deal with wartime enemies
Strong on territory enforcement
You know Sanders hits quite a couple of those too, ya?
Certainly "promises of a grand reform", but what else?
Obviously, not "strong territory enforcement", "promise to deal with wartime enemies", and "not experienced politicians but I'd say they definitely have "rapid rise in public support" and "blaming a specific demographic" in common yet on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum. Sanders appeals to young middle class voters by blaming wall street for the erosion of middle class opportunities such as increasing competition for jobs and insurmountable student loans. On the other hand, Trump appeals to the working class by blaming foreigners for everything from illegal aliens taking their jobs to terrorists killing everyone in their sleep. For this reason, I'm a little wary of both candidates, moreso Trump.
Here's my take on it:
Of course, I'm definitely more on board with Sanders' message who has a better case against wall street than Trump does against illegal aliens. Yes some very powerful individuals on Wall Street are finding every single legal loophole they can to dodge taxes and exploit the markets. Yes, Rupert Murdoch and his ilk have the ability to manipulate mass media to misinform to skew information to get voters on board with certain issues. Yes he and the big banks have the ability to throw money at whatever politician will best serve their bottom lines. This has been going on forever and people finally began noticing after the housing collapse in of 08 and the start of the recession.
My issue with both candidates is that they're promising both their voter bases the world and then some without considering the implications of what it would take to put some of these into practice. Trump's inane wall is a little more obvious. For Sanders maybe less so. Sanders' message is anti-Wall street and the funding for all his social reforms will come from taxing wall street trading. However, he could easily drop dead from old age before he ever gets wall street to cooperate on anything let alone get free college for nationwide. Sure people are fed up with Wall Street, but the problem is that for the moment, the social elites hold the majority of the power and if you want anything to get done, you can only go on antagonizing them for so long. (Additional reading: http://www.businessinsider.com/major-study-finds-that-the-us-is-an-oligarchy-2014-4) I'm dubious that if he gets elected that there will be any way to get any of his bills enacted in a political climate as polarized as we have now. I mean Obama's biggest issue, universal healthcare, took 2 years to get enacted (2010) and another 3 before they could even launch the site (2013). That took the ball 5 years to get rolling and some politicians have still made it their career goals to scrap the whole program.
What I'm trying to say is no one can truly get government moving without getting their hands at least a little dirty. No one can get anything done with conceding on some issues. That's why politicians always seem so disappointing after getting into office when they have to renege on their campaign promises. They eventually have to face the realities of what it takes to get the job done and they realize that maybe they can't keep all those promises.
Here is the thing: Planeswalkers tend to be crap in modern and I was never a fan of them since their inception. To be good, they either have to be able to grind out matches by making things that defend themselves and have some kind of really good secondary or ultimate, or have an effect they can lay down the second they hit the field. To date, the most played planeswalker in modern is Liliana of the Veil and that's because she is inexpensive to get into play and she has a very good set of abilities. Meanwhile, Karn and Ugin play a part in tron, but otherwise there aren't a lot of them floating around.
The other reason I'm not a fan of them is that I thought we are playing the role of planeswalker. So if we are the planeswalkers, are these guys the drop outs from the planeswalker schools? They die easy, often have incredibly narrow sets of abilities, and seem to go through a personal identity crisis every couple of years.
Meh there is a pretty good pool of playable planeswalkers: Origins jace, ravnica jace, Lotv, Karn, Ugin, Elspeth Sun's champion, Sorin solemn visitor, gideon ally of zendikar, Both of the tezzerets, Gideon Jura, ashiok, Oath Chandra and Chandra pyromaster so I wouldn't go as far to say that few are playable. This card is unplayable however.
I guess Jace, unraveler will probably see better play in standard. I guess time to set my sights on the better planeswalker of the deck, Arlinn Kord. Really wanna grab a few copies for a zoo deck.
Anyone feel that there's an archetype that can house Jace, Unraveler of Secrets in the way that baby Jace, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy has been embraced in UW control? Slotting in a 2 mana jace isn't too hard but I'm curious if any deck can stomach a 5 mana planeswalker.
Anyway, with all the product that comes with our cards, how do you all deal with the waste? Do you repurpose some of the things or does most of it just go in the trash?
Birds of paradise
Swords to plowshares
Dark ritual
Daze
Lightning bolt
Will not be in
Crucible of worlds
Griselbrand
Karakas
Liliana of the Veil
Dark depths
Also very much yes to the Legendary werewolf. So ready for a werewolf EDH deck.
So many good uses: wait for elves to go off and then wipe everything at a critical moment, wiping all the goblins after an empty the warrens, wiping 1/1 spirit tokens, wait for an alpha strike and then let their weakened creatures slam into your buffed ones.
For tokens, i love ratchet bombs and engineered exploives on 0 for mass token wipe and or flip planeswalkers.
Other than that, just get good at getting tht jitte out.
Lol, I play Maverick, Nic Fit, and Goblins and none of my decks were mentioned. Low Tier 2 decks for life
Unless you waste tons of worktime on a golfing forum
I completed my Khans fetch playsets a month ago and the prices of today don't seem to be different now than they were last month before rotation. I don't know how much lower they'll get in 3 months.
I personally never got this myself. I play legacy with a handful of people at my shop who proudly show off their special foiled out such and such cards. I myself couldn't stand the idea of spending extra money for a foil version of one card if I could use the difference in the upcharge to buy more cards that would actually make my deck play better. I don't mean that as an insult to those that do, though since we all play the game for our own reasons and I suppose some players just have more cash to burn than I.
Best thing I can tell you that's worked for me is to find yourself a hobby that's more skill intensive and less purchase intensive. Things like writing, martial arts, taking up an instrument (although its very easy to get sucked into buying gear so word of caution with this one), or some sports have a comparatively low cost barrier of entry and won't require you to dump your wallet out weekly. Especially with music or sports, you'll have the satisfaction of seeing yourself improve each week and each month.
Another thing you can do is find a hobby with a good group. I played in a band and they would always bust my balls for coming in with fancy shmancy new guitars or pedals each week. The joke was that I compensated for my lack of skill with having the most expensive gear. Its good to be visible because it keeps you accountable. Its good to have someone around to tell you "Hey, maybe you're going a little overboard there." When you're intentionally trying to hide your behavior pattern on a regular basis is the moment red flags should be going off. Real addiction begins behind closed doors and often only gets noticed once the consequences start visibly spilling out.
Edit:
PS: When this has all blown over, take your wife out for a nice dinner of vacation with just the two of you. No better way to forget about magic than a little bit of quality time with the missus
Obviously, not "strong territory enforcement", "promise to deal with wartime enemies", and "not experienced politicians but I'd say they definitely have "rapid rise in public support" and "blaming a specific demographic" in common yet on the complete opposite side of the political spectrum. Sanders appeals to young middle class voters by blaming wall street for the erosion of middle class opportunities such as increasing competition for jobs and insurmountable student loans. On the other hand, Trump appeals to the working class by blaming foreigners for everything from illegal aliens taking their jobs to terrorists killing everyone in their sleep. For this reason, I'm a little wary of both candidates, moreso Trump.
Here's my take on it:
Of course, I'm definitely more on board with Sanders' message who has a better case against wall street than Trump does against illegal aliens. Yes some very powerful individuals on Wall Street are finding every single legal loophole they can to dodge taxes and exploit the markets. Yes, Rupert Murdoch and his ilk have the ability to manipulate mass media to misinform to skew information to get voters on board with certain issues. Yes he and the big banks have the ability to throw money at whatever politician will best serve their bottom lines. This has been going on forever and people finally began noticing after the housing collapse in of 08 and the start of the recession.
My issue with both candidates is that they're promising both their voter bases the world and then some without considering the implications of what it would take to put some of these into practice. Trump's inane wall is a little more obvious. For Sanders maybe less so. Sanders' message is anti-Wall street and the funding for all his social reforms will come from taxing wall street trading. However, he could easily drop dead from old age before he ever gets wall street to cooperate on anything let alone get free college for nationwide. Sure people are fed up with Wall Street, but the problem is that for the moment, the social elites hold the majority of the power and if you want anything to get done, you can only go on antagonizing them for so long. (Additional reading: http://www.businessinsider.com/major-study-finds-that-the-us-is-an-oligarchy-2014-4) I'm dubious that if he gets elected that there will be any way to get any of his bills enacted in a political climate as polarized as we have now. I mean Obama's biggest issue, universal healthcare, took 2 years to get enacted (2010) and another 3 before they could even launch the site (2013). That took the ball 5 years to get rolling and some politicians have still made it their career goals to scrap the whole program.
What I'm trying to say is no one can truly get government moving without getting their hands at least a little dirty. No one can get anything done with conceding on some issues. That's why politicians always seem so disappointing after getting into office when they have to renege on their campaign promises. They eventually have to face the realities of what it takes to get the job done and they realize that maybe they can't keep all those promises.
You're missing my 2 personal favorites: Elspeth, knight-errant and Garruk Wildspeaker . Absolutely amazing in the right shells. Great in creature decks.
I guess Jace, unraveler will probably see better play in standard. I guess time to set my sights on the better planeswalker of the deck, Arlinn Kord. Really wanna grab a few copies for a zoo deck.