Thanks Jeff! That was very insightful and exactly what I was looking for. I always knew standard cards needed such margins for the reasons you outlined but didn't realize it extended as far into legacy/reserved list cards as well. Makes sense!
Based on your thoughts... it also seems to me that the TCGP buylist price is just not an accurate/realistic measure then for most stores. Definitely good to know.
I have sold both on this site and on the facebook groups SonofaBith mentioned above. Plenty of high value transactions as well. Here is what I can offer.
* I have avoided ebay as it is easier to be scammed. It is still rare but you just have more risk so I don't bother.
* TCGP is great but charges additional fees to go through them on top of the paypal fees... but you likely will sell things faster through them. I instead sell on the two sites mentioned above and in general I charge right around what I would make selling it on TCGP for TCGP low. Cards sell... but slowly.... but it's nice knowing I am giving others better deals than TCGP and still making comparable money if not slightly more (we're talking a couple dollars so that's not why I'm doing it... I like giving deals to players).
* You MUST send in a bubble mailer and top loader if doing decent values cards. Tracking is expected. Send out quickly upon payment (next day generally) and PM tracking the same day you ship out. It's good practice and buys you a lot of good will if something goes wrong. Not to mention you should treat them like you would want to be treated. Expensive cards are big investments for many people. In my 80+ transactions I've only had 2 issues (both not my fault... but when shipping things happen in the mail) and both were very reasonably resolved and all parties were happy.
* Always send people pics/scans and have them okay them prior to confirming a deal and having them pay. Many bad experiences/issues stem from improper expectations. People define played/NM differently to the point I almost never list things as NM even though I take very good care of my cards. Meanwhile I once got a bent card from someone who described it as played. I was pissed but that is techinically played. They offered me like $5 back. Augh... These type of things catch up with sellers eventually though.
* And yes plenty have bad experiences. These generally result from bad descriptions of conditions, biting on things too good to be true, or shipping issues. To protect yourself... do what I listed above (good communication, sends scans prior to payment, ship in bubble mailer with top loader, use tracking, etc).... and also do NOT do international shipping. Extra potential fees/customs... more likely to have shipping issues.... language barriers... etc. There are TONS of good people internationally but I just wouldn't risk it. Be clear about this too so you don't waste peoples times.
* The other big pitfall is just straight up scammers. They will claim your card is fake or didn't come etc. So always use tracking to protect against one of those... the pics etc help protect against fake claims... and also if they don't have refs insist upon gift payment. Shady buyers etc will frequently switch accounts etc. So newer accounts are more dangerous. Gift payment protects you. It's also why I stuck to this site and FB groups. This site has very good feedback, reference system, and stringent rules (although not as much traffic now a days sadly). FB is tied to a person so seems less likely they would do something (and again has a reference system which is good).
Let me know if you have followup questions as I'd be happy to help.
Just remember, box mapping was a real thing when those packs were printed. Make sure you fully trust the seller if you're buying the packs just to open them.
This! Be very careful. If it was sealed boxes that would be one thing but I'd be wary of loose packs.
Yeah the the flatrate buylist based off an online store makes perfect sense. Easier to maintain and avoid spikes etc. Just the time it would take to maintain one would could be painful with standards cards alone. I guess I just expected some tiers to it as well. The one added layer seems reasonable and simple enough... otherwise I don't see why anyone would sell higher end cards to them... and if I was an owner I'd want them to as it should be good easy money. I guess the flip side is if people will still sell them plenty at the one flat rate (or they have plenty of inventory as is) why over complicate it I guess. I never questioned it for standard and modern but this is the first time I went in selling something like duals.
On the second one, why does it seem the TCGP buylist price then is so much higher than what stores tend to give? TCGP claim it is from stores/vendors. Is it just a couple stores are savy enough/willing to get cards and then repost them on TCGP or other similar sites where as most others just cater to local demand? Or maybe even it's jsut a couple of people who mainly do online and are vendors not brick and mortar? Because I totally get you would not be able to move duals quickly in many local stores... but I would think most owners would be invested enough to know about TCGP and selling online. I have read so many articles about how local stores operate on a very thin edge (with MTG usually being what saves them) that I would think more would up to speed on the game and the various retail options (both to know their competition and methods for them to sell/succeed). In fact its part of why I decided I was okay selling to them on the low end as they supported me in playing the game years back and I'd still be turning a profit over what I got them for years back. It seem almost ironic though as the one site in question is the one they are using for their buylist price. I would hope they at least would be familiar with that one (but I respect if they just don't want to sell online). I guess that didn't seem the case to me though as I even offered said duals to a couple larger stores I used to frequent (one of which even goes to shows with their collection etc) and they too were only giving 60% of TCGP low for NM duals... and had a couple (only a couple) in their store already. Really not trying to sound like sour grapes (I'm not upset at all. I have no issue selling them online). I just find this fascinating and if I were in that position I feel like I would be using online a ton (especially for anything that sat on my shelves for a few months. Get it out of there before rotation hits etc). It seems like an important tool in their tool box to keep merchandise moving. Is it more about moving sealed products for those stores then and not a combination of sealed and singles? Is that the piece I was missing?
Thanks again! I've always found the financial side of this game fascinating.
A lot depends on the deck list but in general if you sell a whole deck as is... you will get less than selling it for parts. That said it will be simpler than trying to sell it out as parts (some pieces will go quickly but some will linger for a long time). If you post the deck list I might be able to be more specific.
Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place for this post but it feels more applicable to this subforum than the general one (should it go in store discussion?) My question/topic is two fold. First why do many stores buy list pricing not have different tiers for cards? i.e. We buy at 50% TCGP for standard/modern cards (as they have a lot more volatility and reprints)... 60% for legacy staples... and 70% for reserved list cards? Maybe it's limited to my area but the stores nearby seem to have just a flat margin for all cards (except bulk/dollar bin rares being separate categories) and all just seem to look up TCGP and don't have their own lists (I get this part since maintaining a buylist is a chore with all the volatility and only makes sense for big vendors like the online guys... and using TCGP protects you from big spikes/crashes better).
Second why are TCGP buylist prices so different than many stores? Case in point dual lands. For example a volcanic island is listed as $200 buylist in TCGP (I chose this example on purpose as it the TCGP buylist does seem high relative to TCGP low) but numerous local stores would only give me $120 to $130 and SCG says $150. Is it influenced by individuals trying to buy them cheaper (and not maintain margins but go for volume)? Or is it just some smaller shops are perfectly fine getting $20 or so per card to list them on TCGP and that is why they set their prices higher? The later makes some sense to me, especially for higher end reserved list cards. That's not a lot of effort to get some easy profit and cover rent etc.
Any shop owners care to enlighten me on what I am missing? I feel like my buy list policy would be one of the first things I'd nail down if I was opening a gaming store (knowing MTG and similar TCG are one of the main profit sources of those type of stores) so just curious what goes into it. I've seen/read plenty of interesting finance articles over the year but never anything on this topic. Thanks!
So I am a long time MTG player (and fairly active trader/poster here years back) who doesn't get to play as often since I had kids. I decided to sell of some revised duals and offered them to a few local stores for TCGP buy list pricing. Both offered me substantially less stating that have a policy to buy at X% of TCGP. Now as someone who followed the market heavily for years I totally understand this approach. You need a strict margin like that to protect yourself from the volatility of the market, reprints, and many other considerations. I just question why stores don't have separate margins for higher end stuff. I am talking reserve list, sealed product level stuff. Using the same percentages for standard/modern just makes no sense as there is a lot less risk... and the price differences are far larger when dealing with high end staples. Yes the margin is the same but the actual $$ differences becomes huge.
Without stating specific values I was offering them my cards for more than 25% off TCGP low (yet alone their actual market value as most were NM) and was matching TCGP buylist prices. They proceeded to offer me a price hundreds of dollars less. How does this make any sense? If they bought them off me at the offered TCGP buylist price and turned around and sold them on TCGP at TCGP low, then they would have made hundreds (even after fees). Instead they say no thanks I want a couple hundred dollars more out of this deal.
Any shop owners care to enlighten me on what I am missing? I do not mean for this to be salty. I am confident I can sell the cards and for more than I was asking at the stores. It will just take some time waiting for a buyer to come along. I have to assume I am missing something but just wanted to know what? This wouldn't be a question to me if the cards has reprint risk etc... but these are revised duals.
Neither is this. These aren't songs or literary pieces.
I know it can have looser meanings, but in those looser meanings all 5 of the originals would fit said looser meaning as it would be a collection of decks. Just like a collection of video games or comics. Not like a Twilight Zone Anthology would limit it to one episode per year.
It can be whatever... and since the 2014 and 2015 decks are pretty easy to find, it would make sense to print older decks that aren't as available.
When I first heard about it I was hoping it would be something a bit more unique (even though I fully expected it to be exactly what it turned out to be). For example just the new cards from all the commander decks over all 4 years.... or maybe a set where they gave one of each card in any of the decks throughout the years (but not multiples) and a bunch of land so you could construct each of the decks... but not all of them. Kind of a big commander starter set. By eliminating duplicates it would bring the card count way down but allow them to make this a true anthology.
Either way this is a neat product/concept. Just not sure it will drive down prices too much given it's cost and selected sets. A lot of the target audience will have some of these already (so even if they want the Kaalia deck why would they buy a set with other decks they already have from recent years?) and another set of people who don't have the decks will be scared away by the price tag. I like that they are doing products like these but it made more sense with planechase since it was full of the entire earlier planechase decks.
Agreed there is lots of good advice here. The biggest thing to know though is you have to be fluid and let the pool tell you where to go. Thankfully this prerelease isn't a pick your color one as those often force people to make bad choices (I went blue so I'm going blue! even when another color is better for them). Below are some quick tips to do this but please understand there are way too many variables for this to be 100% accurate... but it's how I advise any friends when helping them with their decks or teaching them how to do this.
Beginner Tips to letting the pool tell you what to do:
1) Open all cards and while doing so sort them into 9 piles. One pile for rares/mythics, one pile of all remaining Blue cards, (similar pile for other 4 colors), Gold card, artifacts, and lands. Doing the sorting while opening saves some time and will immediately give you good info on where you likely will go. Then place the rares/mythics on the top of the appropriate piles
2) Whichever color you have the most of... (regardless of rares/etc)... skim through. Separate it into 3 piles... Definitely would play (planeswalkers, removal, bombs, etc).... Maybe (decent filler and/or sideboard type cards)... and definitely will not. As long as you have 12+ playable cards in this color... 9 times out of 10 this needs to be one of your two colors. I often put the definitely not playable ones into my box to save space as they are not happening
3) Quickly do the same for the other 4 colors
4) Now time to picks your colors. Any color that has 12+ playable cards can be one of your primary colors. Any that has 6+ can be a splash candidate... anything less toss the whole color and forget about it. (advanced players can potentially splash these smaller pools but I avoid it for beginners as it's tough to balance).
5) I generally pick one color first... Pick whatever you think is your overall best color (doesn't mean most cards... but best pool of cards)... This is where BREAD comes into play. You want the color with the best combination of bombs and removal first as you NEED to play that color.
6) Then add playable gold cards to the other 4 colors stacks to determine the 2nd color that will compliment it best. Compliment is the key word. If you pick a blue control style for the best set of cards... you likely don't want to pair it with red if it's all aggro rush cards. Won't jive well. This is where knowing the arechtypes mentioned above by Kyuuki helps.
Now on to actual deck building!
1) Plan to go for 24 cards and 16 lands. More advanced players will know when to tweak this ratio but for beginners I usually say stick with it... unless you have a knowledgeable friend who can assist.
2) Plan to go dual colored. Even if you have one VERY strong color it is often smart to splash another color for more removal as it's always tough to get in limited.
3) Take all playable cards, the artifacts, and the lands... sort them out into 2 rows of 6 piles. Top row is creatures with the first column being 1 CMC creatures, 2nd column being 2, etc (with the last pile being all 6+ CMC). Bottom row is the same only for spells. With some rare exceptions you want at least 1/2 of your cards to be creatures (or spells that generate bodies)... and you only want a couple cards in the 6+ pile... and most of your creature cards in the 2-4 CMC piles.
4) start trimming down your deck in front of you until you are at 24 cards (not counting lands). Note it's not a big deal if you are at 25 as using 41 cards is not bad. Do not go to 42 though!
5) Finally look at the cards in front of you. Let's say its blue and white. Take 12 islands and 12 plains. Put 8 of each into the deck and hold onto 4 of them. Now compare the different colors. If you have a lot more blue cards than white cards... take away a plains and add another island. Same is true in reverse. Then focus on what color you want more of early. If all your blue cards are more expensive... and all your 2 CMC creatures are white... you want more plains (by the time you get to higher casting costs you are more likely to have both types of lands.. and you want white early). If lots of cards have triple UUU in their cost you might need some more islands... There are no hard rules... but these are what you look for when determining your land split between the two colors.
6) Leave it on the table like this (in the 12 piles with lands seperate)... and ask a friend to review (and you can review theirs at the same time)... leaving any playable cards you cut off to the side so they can see other options. A second opinion always helps :- )
Okay... this is plenty long already but I hope it helps!
EDIT: Sorry... a couple more things. Since you are worried about your friend (not yourself) I would have them do all the card sorting mentioned... then have her pick what she thinks is the best color. At this point you should go over and see if you agree. This is valuable for her to learn how to do it... but not waste time (yours and hers) moving onto deck construction etc. So hopefully you can both sort out at same time... pick colors... and you can confirm you agree with hers... then both do the deck construction (again I would encourage she does it to learn it) and then you can swap places and review eachothers decks. I do this all the time with my friends I go to prerelease with anyway. It helps.
And if you have time after all this... play against each other for the first 5 turns... then reset and do it again. It gives you a great idea how your deck will do and if your land balance is right.
I can't speak to the specific prices for this set (especially as much of the set is still unknown) but from previous sets I can say that buying full sets is rarely a winning bargain. You are paying for the convenience and certainty of having every card immediately and not playing the pack opening lottery. You will also end up getting a bunch of cards you won't need (all the vanilla/limited cards).
If you want to be economical your best bet is to buy just the singles you need... and not buy into the pre-release hype. If you are savy enough to pick up on some underrated cards and pre-order them, then great... but the majority of the time you are better waiting until MTGO redemptions hit and buying in then. Most cards will be near their bottom at that point.
This is all assuming you don't need the cards to play with quickly and you are going for the economical route.
Yeah I was talking to the wife about the buying/selling now vs waiting. She obviously was in the wait and see camp put as soon as something is confirmed it'll be to late.
We're already seeing things like LED's and duals go up. Forces have already started dropping. I think an X-factor in all this that people aren't talking about is the people hoarding cards just thinking they would never be printed, reserved or not, based on power level. FoW is a card like that. I know a guy who at one time had 60 copies because he just sat by and watched them go up with no reprint. Once the judge printing happened he started unloading a few just in case. Now he dumped everything except a playset. Even though Eternal Masters may not introduce many copies into the wild collectors fear may introduce more. I've seen a few ppl online already start unloading everything non-reserved. It's going to be interesting watching what happens to things printed vs not.
I think it depends on the card somewhat. I think this is very applicable to FOW. Some other cards though (like show and tell) I'm guessing this is less a factor. Still this is an interesting angle I had not thought of.
On my end I am debating whether or not to sell some of my reserved list cards into the hype. Specifically my duals as I only use them for casual commander anyway... where my friends don't mind me proxying. It is cool to own the cards but after the spike I'm anticipating it might be time for me to cash out of those at least... If Eternal Masters does what I hope it does and it revitalizes some older formats, then reserved list cards (especially duals) will become the bigger barrier for entry.
To be fair Quacker they might have also just been making an educated guess. There had been lots of waves about Eternal Masters before it was confirmed including someone saying it was a thing and predicting the twin/bloom banning. I DO think SCG found out about the official article a little bit ahead of time (for reasons Morphling points out very well below)... but there is no way of knowing how (which would be the important part to me) and no way it is ever confirmed or denied. I doubt people will find a lot of proof of it.
This shouldn't erode your confidence in WoTC or the game (as they are doing a great job with new sets and eternal masters will help a struggling format a lot)... but maybe just your trust in SCG. I for one don't mind one way or the other as no matter what someone was going to make out with all the cards quickly and there is no hard evidence yet.
MaximumC has got it mostly covered. The more interesting bit will be what is rare vs mythic. Wasteland at rare for example is huge and will put a lot of downward pressure on it. I see lots of people unloading stuff like show and tell etc but we can't know what will be mythic vs rare yet so it might be premature (but if you wait until it's confirmed it is too late for ones that end up rare... ahhh the lovely catch 22)
I just noticed Snapcaster Mage is $80 and Blood Moon is at $50. Damn Modern speculators making it harder and harder for us to quietly play some Legacy.
I extremely dislike how a format I have no interest whatsoever in has such a pull on the Legacy marketplace. Any relatively powerful card in Legacy that is even fringe playable in Modern is going to be a pain in the ass to buy, because Modern was meant to be relatively affordable right? /s
Actually spiking modern prices have been the reason that I was able get deeper into legacy. I could finally trade for alot of the stuff I needed.
Indeed. I haven't noticed it much this time around... but in the past... large spikes in modern cards were often followed with legacy card spikes as people started trading/selling modern cards for older legacy reserved list cards. This was especially evident in dual lands as they also drew lots of COMM players attention. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. I have a feeling it will but to a lesser extent as many people already did this... and some legacy cards have already been pushed high enough that it is not as easy to do.
Based on your thoughts... it also seems to me that the TCGP buylist price is just not an accurate/realistic measure then for most stores. Definitely good to know.
* I have avoided ebay as it is easier to be scammed. It is still rare but you just have more risk so I don't bother.
* TCGP is great but charges additional fees to go through them on top of the paypal fees... but you likely will sell things faster through them. I instead sell on the two sites mentioned above and in general I charge right around what I would make selling it on TCGP for TCGP low. Cards sell... but slowly.... but it's nice knowing I am giving others better deals than TCGP and still making comparable money if not slightly more (we're talking a couple dollars so that's not why I'm doing it... I like giving deals to players).
* You MUST send in a bubble mailer and top loader if doing decent values cards. Tracking is expected. Send out quickly upon payment (next day generally) and PM tracking the same day you ship out. It's good practice and buys you a lot of good will if something goes wrong. Not to mention you should treat them like you would want to be treated. Expensive cards are big investments for many people. In my 80+ transactions I've only had 2 issues (both not my fault... but when shipping things happen in the mail) and both were very reasonably resolved and all parties were happy.
* Always send people pics/scans and have them okay them prior to confirming a deal and having them pay. Many bad experiences/issues stem from improper expectations. People define played/NM differently to the point I almost never list things as NM even though I take very good care of my cards. Meanwhile I once got a bent card from someone who described it as played. I was pissed but that is techinically played. They offered me like $5 back. Augh... These type of things catch up with sellers eventually though.
* And yes plenty have bad experiences. These generally result from bad descriptions of conditions, biting on things too good to be true, or shipping issues. To protect yourself... do what I listed above (good communication, sends scans prior to payment, ship in bubble mailer with top loader, use tracking, etc).... and also do NOT do international shipping. Extra potential fees/customs... more likely to have shipping issues.... language barriers... etc. There are TONS of good people internationally but I just wouldn't risk it. Be clear about this too so you don't waste peoples times.
* The other big pitfall is just straight up scammers. They will claim your card is fake or didn't come etc. So always use tracking to protect against one of those... the pics etc help protect against fake claims... and also if they don't have refs insist upon gift payment. Shady buyers etc will frequently switch accounts etc. So newer accounts are more dangerous. Gift payment protects you. It's also why I stuck to this site and FB groups. This site has very good feedback, reference system, and stringent rules (although not as much traffic now a days sadly). FB is tied to a person so seems less likely they would do something (and again has a reference system which is good).
Let me know if you have followup questions as I'd be happy to help.
This! Be very careful. If it was sealed boxes that would be one thing but I'd be wary of loose packs.
Yeah the the flatrate buylist based off an online store makes perfect sense. Easier to maintain and avoid spikes etc. Just the time it would take to maintain one would could be painful with standards cards alone. I guess I just expected some tiers to it as well. The one added layer seems reasonable and simple enough... otherwise I don't see why anyone would sell higher end cards to them... and if I was an owner I'd want them to as it should be good easy money. I guess the flip side is if people will still sell them plenty at the one flat rate (or they have plenty of inventory as is) why over complicate it I guess. I never questioned it for standard and modern but this is the first time I went in selling something like duals.
On the second one, why does it seem the TCGP buylist price then is so much higher than what stores tend to give? TCGP claim it is from stores/vendors. Is it just a couple stores are savy enough/willing to get cards and then repost them on TCGP or other similar sites where as most others just cater to local demand? Or maybe even it's jsut a couple of people who mainly do online and are vendors not brick and mortar? Because I totally get you would not be able to move duals quickly in many local stores... but I would think most owners would be invested enough to know about TCGP and selling online. I have read so many articles about how local stores operate on a very thin edge (with MTG usually being what saves them) that I would think more would up to speed on the game and the various retail options (both to know their competition and methods for them to sell/succeed). In fact its part of why I decided I was okay selling to them on the low end as they supported me in playing the game years back and I'd still be turning a profit over what I got them for years back. It seem almost ironic though as the one site in question is the one they are using for their buylist price. I would hope they at least would be familiar with that one (but I respect if they just don't want to sell online). I guess that didn't seem the case to me though as I even offered said duals to a couple larger stores I used to frequent (one of which even goes to shows with their collection etc) and they too were only giving 60% of TCGP low for NM duals... and had a couple (only a couple) in their store already. Really not trying to sound like sour grapes (I'm not upset at all. I have no issue selling them online). I just find this fascinating and if I were in that position I feel like I would be using online a ton (especially for anything that sat on my shelves for a few months. Get it out of there before rotation hits etc). It seems like an important tool in their tool box to keep merchandise moving. Is it more about moving sealed products for those stores then and not a combination of sealed and singles? Is that the piece I was missing?
Thanks again! I've always found the financial side of this game fascinating.
Second why are TCGP buylist prices so different than many stores? Case in point dual lands. For example a volcanic island is listed as $200 buylist in TCGP (I chose this example on purpose as it the TCGP buylist does seem high relative to TCGP low) but numerous local stores would only give me $120 to $130 and SCG says $150. Is it influenced by individuals trying to buy them cheaper (and not maintain margins but go for volume)? Or is it just some smaller shops are perfectly fine getting $20 or so per card to list them on TCGP and that is why they set their prices higher? The later makes some sense to me, especially for higher end reserved list cards. That's not a lot of effort to get some easy profit and cover rent etc.
Any shop owners care to enlighten me on what I am missing? I feel like my buy list policy would be one of the first things I'd nail down if I was opening a gaming store (knowing MTG and similar TCG are one of the main profit sources of those type of stores) so just curious what goes into it. I've seen/read plenty of interesting finance articles over the year but never anything on this topic. Thanks!
So I am a long time MTG player (and fairly active trader/poster here years back) who doesn't get to play as often since I had kids. I decided to sell of some revised duals and offered them to a few local stores for TCGP buy list pricing. Both offered me substantially less stating that have a policy to buy at X% of TCGP. Now as someone who followed the market heavily for years I totally understand this approach. You need a strict margin like that to protect yourself from the volatility of the market, reprints, and many other considerations. I just question why stores don't have separate margins for higher end stuff. I am talking reserve list, sealed product level stuff. Using the same percentages for standard/modern just makes no sense as there is a lot less risk... and the price differences are far larger when dealing with high end staples. Yes the margin is the same but the actual $$ differences becomes huge.
Without stating specific values I was offering them my cards for more than 25% off TCGP low (yet alone their actual market value as most were NM) and was matching TCGP buylist prices. They proceeded to offer me a price hundreds of dollars less. How does this make any sense? If they bought them off me at the offered TCGP buylist price and turned around and sold them on TCGP at TCGP low, then they would have made hundreds (even after fees). Instead they say no thanks I want a couple hundred dollars more out of this deal.
Any shop owners care to enlighten me on what I am missing? I do not mean for this to be salty. I am confident I can sell the cards and for more than I was asking at the stores. It will just take some time waiting for a buyer to come along. I have to assume I am missing something but just wanted to know what? This wouldn't be a question to me if the cards has reprint risk etc... but these are revised duals.
When I first heard about it I was hoping it would be something a bit more unique (even though I fully expected it to be exactly what it turned out to be). For example just the new cards from all the commander decks over all 4 years.... or maybe a set where they gave one of each card in any of the decks throughout the years (but not multiples) and a bunch of land so you could construct each of the decks... but not all of them. Kind of a big commander starter set. By eliminating duplicates it would bring the card count way down but allow them to make this a true anthology.
Either way this is a neat product/concept. Just not sure it will drive down prices too much given it's cost and selected sets. A lot of the target audience will have some of these already (so even if they want the Kaalia deck why would they buy a set with other decks they already have from recent years?) and another set of people who don't have the decks will be scared away by the price tag. I like that they are doing products like these but it made more sense with planechase since it was full of the entire earlier planechase decks.
Beginner Tips to letting the pool tell you what to do:
1) Open all cards and while doing so sort them into 9 piles. One pile for rares/mythics, one pile of all remaining Blue cards, (similar pile for other 4 colors), Gold card, artifacts, and lands. Doing the sorting while opening saves some time and will immediately give you good info on where you likely will go. Then place the rares/mythics on the top of the appropriate piles
2) Whichever color you have the most of... (regardless of rares/etc)... skim through. Separate it into 3 piles... Definitely would play (planeswalkers, removal, bombs, etc).... Maybe (decent filler and/or sideboard type cards)... and definitely will not. As long as you have 12+ playable cards in this color... 9 times out of 10 this needs to be one of your two colors. I often put the definitely not playable ones into my box to save space as they are not happening
3) Quickly do the same for the other 4 colors
4) Now time to picks your colors. Any color that has 12+ playable cards can be one of your primary colors. Any that has 6+ can be a splash candidate... anything less toss the whole color and forget about it. (advanced players can potentially splash these smaller pools but I avoid it for beginners as it's tough to balance).
5) I generally pick one color first... Pick whatever you think is your overall best color (doesn't mean most cards... but best pool of cards)... This is where BREAD comes into play. You want the color with the best combination of bombs and removal first as you NEED to play that color.
6) Then add playable gold cards to the other 4 colors stacks to determine the 2nd color that will compliment it best. Compliment is the key word. If you pick a blue control style for the best set of cards... you likely don't want to pair it with red if it's all aggro rush cards. Won't jive well. This is where knowing the arechtypes mentioned above by Kyuuki helps.
Now on to actual deck building!
1) Plan to go for 24 cards and 16 lands. More advanced players will know when to tweak this ratio but for beginners I usually say stick with it... unless you have a knowledgeable friend who can assist.
2) Plan to go dual colored. Even if you have one VERY strong color it is often smart to splash another color for more removal as it's always tough to get in limited.
3) Take all playable cards, the artifacts, and the lands... sort them out into 2 rows of 6 piles. Top row is creatures with the first column being 1 CMC creatures, 2nd column being 2, etc (with the last pile being all 6+ CMC). Bottom row is the same only for spells. With some rare exceptions you want at least 1/2 of your cards to be creatures (or spells that generate bodies)... and you only want a couple cards in the 6+ pile... and most of your creature cards in the 2-4 CMC piles.
4) start trimming down your deck in front of you until you are at 24 cards (not counting lands). Note it's not a big deal if you are at 25 as using 41 cards is not bad. Do not go to 42 though!
5) Finally look at the cards in front of you. Let's say its blue and white. Take 12 islands and 12 plains. Put 8 of each into the deck and hold onto 4 of them. Now compare the different colors. If you have a lot more blue cards than white cards... take away a plains and add another island. Same is true in reverse. Then focus on what color you want more of early. If all your blue cards are more expensive... and all your 2 CMC creatures are white... you want more plains (by the time you get to higher casting costs you are more likely to have both types of lands.. and you want white early). If lots of cards have triple UUU in their cost you might need some more islands... There are no hard rules... but these are what you look for when determining your land split between the two colors.
6) Leave it on the table like this (in the 12 piles with lands seperate)... and ask a friend to review (and you can review theirs at the same time)... leaving any playable cards you cut off to the side so they can see other options. A second opinion always helps :- )
Okay... this is plenty long already but I hope it helps!
EDIT: Sorry... a couple more things. Since you are worried about your friend (not yourself) I would have them do all the card sorting mentioned... then have her pick what she thinks is the best color. At this point you should go over and see if you agree. This is valuable for her to learn how to do it... but not waste time (yours and hers) moving onto deck construction etc. So hopefully you can both sort out at same time... pick colors... and you can confirm you agree with hers... then both do the deck construction (again I would encourage she does it to learn it) and then you can swap places and review eachothers decks. I do this all the time with my friends I go to prerelease with anyway. It helps.
And if you have time after all this... play against each other for the first 5 turns... then reset and do it again. It gives you a great idea how your deck will do and if your land balance is right.
Ensaring Bridge
Goblin Guide
Lingering Souls
Deceiver Exarch
Viridian Corrupter
Will Not Be Reprinted
Scalding Tarn
Thoughtseize
Gitaxian Probe
Aether Vial
Exploration
If you want to be economical your best bet is to buy just the singles you need... and not buy into the pre-release hype. If you are savy enough to pick up on some underrated cards and pre-order them, then great... but the majority of the time you are better waiting until MTGO redemptions hit and buying in then. Most cards will be near their bottom at that point.
This is all assuming you don't need the cards to play with quickly and you are going for the economical route.
I think it depends on the card somewhat. I think this is very applicable to FOW. Some other cards though (like show and tell) I'm guessing this is less a factor. Still this is an interesting angle I had not thought of.
On my end I am debating whether or not to sell some of my reserved list cards into the hype. Specifically my duals as I only use them for casual commander anyway... where my friends don't mind me proxying. It is cool to own the cards but after the spike I'm anticipating it might be time for me to cash out of those at least... If Eternal Masters does what I hope it does and it revitalizes some older formats, then reserved list cards (especially duals) will become the bigger barrier for entry.
This shouldn't erode your confidence in WoTC or the game (as they are doing a great job with new sets and eternal masters will help a struggling format a lot)... but maybe just your trust in SCG. I for one don't mind one way or the other as no matter what someone was going to make out with all the cards quickly and there is no hard evidence yet.
Indeed. I haven't noticed it much this time around... but in the past... large spikes in modern cards were often followed with legacy card spikes as people started trading/selling modern cards for older legacy reserved list cards. This was especially evident in dual lands as they also drew lots of COMM players attention. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. I have a feeling it will but to a lesser extent as many people already did this... and some legacy cards have already been pushed high enough that it is not as easy to do.