Obviously MTGOTraders isn't "hoarding" - they're running a very legitimate business, one that pays literally the best 'buy' prices on MODO. They provide a sound service.
Yet, others who try to "speculate" are douche bags?
I've been playing vala too lately, awesome deck. A tip I found vs decks with seas is you wait on your khalni and hold valakut. Generally I try to do some dmg with bbe and burn to the face, then when I have 4 mtn in play, I drop valakut. Then use the khalni, fetch, harrow, etc. to burn out at that point. It may seem idealistic, but happens in reality all the time bc the control decks are so slow. Just sharing my experiences with the deck, cheers. As always great article LE
but buying 80 is like expecting allies to be the next big thing...which i doubt. so not only do i think hoarding is dumb hoarding cards they might not even crack tier 1 level play...lmao, casual players may or may not be willing to pay to play. So unless it becomes big in constructed....they lost
Because they were guaranteed to rise in price because wizards printed more good allies, particularly in white. Buying cheap things before they increase in value because they become more useful is not the same thing as buying all of something that is already used and artificially driving price. Anyone can see that Kabira Evangel will be more useful with worldwake, and so all those so inclined bought them up, but right now no one besides speculators even wants them, so it doesn't matter, and most of them will sell once they are useful. If they don't become useful, it won't even matter and they will have hurt themselves and no one else.
I think you guys are vastly underestimating the number of Zendikar rares that are floating around in the system. It is pretty much impossible for a single person to influence the price of a Zendikar rare card. You could do that with some mythics or harder to find cards from Classic sets but I can guarantee you that 80 rares is not even making a dent into the supply. The problem is that most people assume that bot or dealer prices represent the "true" value of a card. A dealer will of course raise the price of a particular card when he is out of stock and restocks but that is not a good representation of the supply in the general market. It's just a shortage in the supply of that particular dealer or bot. So they are, intentional or not, responsible for price spikes - people consult those price lists. Stay patient and post the cards you need on classified. I am sure you will get them for a reasonable price from drafters.
I don't mind speculators, but my feeling on hoarding is simple. I think that karma will eventually catch up to every hoarder who prevents a player, especially a new player, from obtaining a particular card, whether financially or due to lack of stock.
This is the pinnacle of pointless nerd rage right here. Reminds me of Yugioh TAS. "RAAAR. I hope you die for minorly inconveniencing people in an attempt to make a small amount of money in a completely legitimate way. That's how strongly I feel about this children's card game."
Yeah I agree with the blinding mage. The only other card worth considering was seismic strike but Pack1Pick1 it seems like a bad idea because it forces you to commit to the shallowest color in M10.
I ended up with a BW deck which I normally dont like because it has trouble getting in for the last few points of damage most times without a bomb creature or a bunch of flyers. With the crazy amount of BW removal going around though, it seemed like the best two colors to be in. Like the author said though, the double white and black in the spells hurts the deck somewhat.
^ShardPhoenix^ Stop please. Your making yourself and future History grads look bad. You shouldve majored in English. Stop posting ridiculousnessessess. Its horrible for you and think how people think of you. I dont care, however, as a future History grad I am taking pity on you. Did you major in American History? It seems all of your justifications are coming from studying on America too much.
Hi Fenix. Kelly Reid, kbreid on MTGO here. You might know me from such hit films such as "quiet speculation dot com". Just wanted to drop off my two cents.
You're wrong.
Why? Because, the free market allows me, and other such savvy individuals, to make purchases as they please, at the price the market dictates. If I, or anyone else who is smart enough to recognize an emerging trend in the market chooses to act upon these trends, and we are intelligent enough to recognize them as they emerge, then we should be rewarded for our capital outlay and risk.
You can't get upset at us for being smart businesspeople. After all, we use our proceeds to build our decks, pay for our drafts, or just support our cocaine habit...whatever the individual case may be.
Please don't misunderstand me. I understand that you may be annoyed that you can't buy an awful rare that's seeing an unsupported and unprecedented price spike (and if you followed the MTG financial blogs, you'd have seen that Russel Tassicker called this two weeks ago), but frankly, that is neither my problem nor my concern.
Either pay the two tickets - yes, TWO DOLLARS, a fourth of most state's HOURLY MINIMUM WAGE, for a playset, or, be smart enough to realize when hype and new set spoilers are going to cause a card to spike in price.
I'm not all that smart, nor am I especially talented, but it takes neither brains nor talent to identify these trends. I suggest you employ one or both of those traits if you plan to play on Magic the Gathering: Online. Otherwise, you will forever be at the mercy of smarter, more motivated, better-funded and better-connected individuals and you'll keep making asinine, poorly-punctuated screeds on internet forums.
To sum it all up, get a clue, learn your markets, and please stop whining.
"And yes I'm serious and no I won't feel bad if this actually happens, so don't waste time posting about it."
Sounds like your "hyperbole" was more like post hoc justification. (Latin this time. A tip from a fellow scribbler - don't patronise your readership please.)
i would not call mtgotraders a hoarder. they buy for reasonable prices and are very helpful in getting you something but may be out of stock on their site. in the course of three years ive yet to have any unpleasant business relationship with mtgotraders. honestly bringing them into this discussion is kind of a low blow.
Come on dude - the most important reason to be in business is to make a profit, right? "Hoarding" is either a.) good business or b.) bad business. If it's (a) then you can't be mad - if it's (b) they'll get their own punishment, and you won't lose out (because it's unlikely one guy can "corner" a market, at least no more than MTGOTraders does, and obviously you're not mad at them, right?
Soooo . . . you're being sarcastic? Because it's increasingly less clear as you go along. Perhaps your general forum persona adds to this - apparently JXC is the best editor alive, because your articles are at least readable.
obviously you missed the quote of hyperbole, and i lost a friend in a car wreck back in my junior year of high school. I know how much it hurts, hence why i wasnt serious. Maybe if you retook an english class or two you would learn the concept of hyperbole.
Hyperbole, from ancient Greek "ὑπερβολή", meaning excess or exaggeration) is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally. With the word hyperbole it can also mean an exaggerated feeling about something.
See it isnt truly serious. Do i hate the actions of hoarders? yes. Do i hope they all die in car wrecks? no if you think that then you are an idiot.
I don't mean to be a jerk about this but . . . Blinding Mage is commonly considered a top common, while Seismic Strike is actually only marginally playable.
The reason why the Strike is awkward is that it is situational removal in a color with the shallowest commons. In fact, red is hard to draft unless you're wide open, or pull many of the best uncommons (which Dragon Whelp is admittedly one of the best, with Goblin Artillery) or rares.
Think about it - Pyroclasm underperforms in this format - it's slow, prone to stalls, and has defensive creatures in most colors. That means Strike is only meaningful with 3 or 4 Mountains in play - a tall task early, and made doubly difficult by the fact that decks that want to play 10 Mountains are few and far between.
Seismic Strike is a fringe card in M10 draft, and doesn't really add to any strong strategy. Taking it over Blinding Mage is a pretty big leak.
shardfenix: "I seriously hope you get involved in a fatal car wreck on your way home." Saying this kind of stuff about someone for hoarding a junk rare is the most extreme thing i have heard in magic. it seems you don´t know what means to loose someone in a car accident.
I understand that both are a result of a free market...however there is a large difference between speculating and hoarding. Speculating falls more into the range of this is obviously a good buy. Good speculations can be found through Kelly Reid. Also Legacy cards are a good specualtive buy. Buying 80 of a card that will probably never become more than a casual card...thats just idiotic. Not only does it deprive at minimum 20 players of a playset it also raises the price for no purpose. I mean lets be honest people...are allies going to be good enough to compete with boros, jund, Grixis, UWR, Eldrazi? I doubt it. I may be proven wrong but i think allies will always remain tier 1.5 or 2.
Hmmm, I don't think I have ever seen Blinding Mage taken as a first M10 draft coverage. I can see where it could be better than White Knight, but Seismic Strike is the card I would actually take if this were a draft on MTGO.
I have only done a handful of M10 drafts but is Blinding Mage not the clear-cut first pick here? It seems head and shoulders above White Knight and Seismic Strike to me.
Valakut is a virtual bye(for most versions, creature heavy RG is more of a problem. And taking brave out of the main, are you MENTAL? I can see cutting down to 2 or 3 so you mise it and don't have to worry about it slowing your hand down, and at the present moment, I see either mine or Rhythmik's lists being the few viable ones until worldwake. UW is a huge drag, vampires you usually get there... winning the die roll vs either of the matchups ups the chance of winning by 25% ;/ It punishes bad hands, bad mulligans, multiple mulligans and doesn't tax your brain too much.... when you're grinding out rent money for 8 hours of the day you don't want to have to make really intricate decisions during all 12 of your matches during the day.
You missed the entire point.
Obviously MTGOTraders isn't "hoarding" - they're running a very legitimate business, one that pays literally the best 'buy' prices on MODO. They provide a sound service.
Yet, others who try to "speculate" are douche bags?
I've been playing vala too lately, awesome deck. A tip I found vs decks with seas is you wait on your khalni and hold valakut. Generally I try to do some dmg with bbe and burn to the face, then when I have 4 mtn in play, I drop valakut. Then use the khalni, fetch, harrow, etc. to burn out at that point. It may seem idealistic, but happens in reality all the time bc the control decks are so slow. Just sharing my experiences with the deck, cheers. As always great article LE
but buying 80 is like expecting allies to be the next big thing...which i doubt. so not only do i think hoarding is dumb hoarding cards they might not even crack tier 1 level play...lmao, casual players may or may not be willing to pay to play. So unless it becomes big in constructed....they lost
Because they were guaranteed to rise in price because wizards printed more good allies, particularly in white. Buying cheap things before they increase in value because they become more useful is not the same thing as buying all of something that is already used and artificially driving price. Anyone can see that Kabira Evangel will be more useful with worldwake, and so all those so inclined bought them up, but right now no one besides speculators even wants them, so it doesn't matter, and most of them will sell once they are useful. If they don't become useful, it won't even matter and they will have hurt themselves and no one else.
though somehow mtgotraders are completely out of evangels and price has gone from .10 -. 50 already
Hello everyone,
I think you guys are vastly underestimating the number of Zendikar rares that are floating around in the system. It is pretty much impossible for a single person to influence the price of a Zendikar rare card. You could do that with some mythics or harder to find cards from Classic sets but I can guarantee you that 80 rares is not even making a dent into the supply. The problem is that most people assume that bot or dealer prices represent the "true" value of a card. A dealer will of course raise the price of a particular card when he is out of stock and restocks but that is not a good representation of the supply in the general market. It's just a shortage in the supply of that particular dealer or bot. So they are, intentional or not, responsible for price spikes - people consult those price lists. Stay patient and post the cards you need on classified. I am sure you will get them for a reasonable price from drafters.
I don't mind speculators, but my feeling on hoarding is simple. I think that karma will eventually catch up to every hoarder who prevents a player, especially a new player, from obtaining a particular card, whether financially or due to lack of stock.
This is the pinnacle of pointless nerd rage right here. Reminds me of Yugioh TAS. "RAAAR. I hope you die for minorly inconveniencing people in an attempt to make a small amount of money in a completely legitimate way. That's how strongly I feel about this children's card game."
Yeah I agree with the blinding mage. The only other card worth considering was seismic strike but Pack1Pick1 it seems like a bad idea because it forces you to commit to the shallowest color in M10.
I ended up with a BW deck which I normally dont like because it has trouble getting in for the last few points of damage most times without a bomb creature or a bunch of flyers. With the crazy amount of BW removal going around though, it seemed like the best two colors to be in. Like the author said though, the double white and black in the spells hurts the deck somewhat.
Here is what I ended up with:
Removal (8):
3 Pacifism
2 Doom Blade
1 Weakness
1 Divine Verdict
1 Assassinate
Creatures (13):
1 Blinding Mage
2 Dread Warlock
1 White Knight
1 Gravedigger
2 Zombie Goliath
1 Cemetery Reaper
1 Child of Night
2 Kelinore Bat
1 Razorfoot Griffin
1 Drudge Skeletons
Misc (2):
1 Mind Shatter
1 Safe Passage
Notable Sideboard Cards:
1 Mind Rot
1 Weakness
2 Undead Slayer
1 Deathmark
1 Tempest of Light
1 Dragon's Claw
^ShardPhoenix^ Stop please. Your making yourself and future History grads look bad. You shouldve majored in English. Stop posting ridiculousnessessess. Its horrible for you and think how people think of you. I dont care, however, as a future History grad I am taking pity on you. Did you major in American History? It seems all of your justifications are coming from studying on America too much.
Hi Fenix. Kelly Reid, kbreid on MTGO here. You might know me from such hit films such as "quiet speculation dot com". Just wanted to drop off my two cents.
You're wrong.
Why? Because, the free market allows me, and other such savvy individuals, to make purchases as they please, at the price the market dictates. If I, or anyone else who is smart enough to recognize an emerging trend in the market chooses to act upon these trends, and we are intelligent enough to recognize them as they emerge, then we should be rewarded for our capital outlay and risk.
You can't get upset at us for being smart businesspeople. After all, we use our proceeds to build our decks, pay for our drafts, or just support our cocaine habit...whatever the individual case may be.
Please don't misunderstand me. I understand that you may be annoyed that you can't buy an awful rare that's seeing an unsupported and unprecedented price spike (and if you followed the MTG financial blogs, you'd have seen that Russel Tassicker called this two weeks ago), but frankly, that is neither my problem nor my concern.
Either pay the two tickets - yes, TWO DOLLARS, a fourth of most state's HOURLY MINIMUM WAGE, for a playset, or, be smart enough to realize when hype and new set spoilers are going to cause a card to spike in price.
I'm not all that smart, nor am I especially talented, but it takes neither brains nor talent to identify these trends. I suggest you employ one or both of those traits if you plan to play on Magic the Gathering: Online. Otherwise, you will forever be at the mercy of smarter, more motivated, better-funded and better-connected individuals and you'll keep making asinine, poorly-punctuated screeds on internet forums.
To sum it all up, get a clue, learn your markets, and please stop whining.
Hoping you'll grow the hell up,
Kelly B Reid
Editor, Quiet Speculation
http://www.quietspeculation.com
I quote...
"And yes I'm serious and no I won't feel bad if this actually happens, so don't waste time posting about it."
Sounds like your "hyperbole" was more like post hoc justification. (Latin this time. A tip from a fellow scribbler - don't patronise your readership please.)
Ted
Can someone please explain to my brain why i bought 135 kazandu blademasters @ 0.12 a piece ?
:D
i would not call mtgotraders a hoarder. they buy for reasonable prices and are very helpful in getting you something but may be out of stock on their site. in the course of three years ive yet to have any unpleasant business relationship with mtgotraders. honestly bringing them into this discussion is kind of a low blow.
My best friend is black.
Come on dude - the most important reason to be in business is to make a profit, right? "Hoarding" is either a.) good business or b.) bad business. If it's (a) then you can't be mad - if it's (b) they'll get their own punishment, and you won't lose out (because it's unlikely one guy can "corner" a market, at least no more than MTGOTraders does, and obviously you're not mad at them, right?
Soooo . . . you're being sarcastic? Because it's increasingly less clear as you go along. Perhaps your general forum persona adds to this - apparently JXC is the best editor alive, because your articles are at least readable.
obviously you missed the quote of hyperbole, and i lost a friend in a car wreck back in my junior year of high school. I know how much it hurts, hence why i wasnt serious. Maybe if you retook an english class or two you would learn the concept of hyperbole.
Hyperbole, from ancient Greek "ὑπερβολή", meaning excess or exaggeration) is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally. With the word hyperbole it can also mean an exaggerated feeling about something.
See it isnt truly serious. Do i hate the actions of hoarders? yes. Do i hope they all die in car wrecks? no if you think that then you are an idiot.
I don't mean to be a jerk about this but . . . Blinding Mage is commonly considered a top common, while Seismic Strike is actually only marginally playable.
The reason why the Strike is awkward is that it is situational removal in a color with the shallowest commons. In fact, red is hard to draft unless you're wide open, or pull many of the best uncommons (which Dragon Whelp is admittedly one of the best, with Goblin Artillery) or rares.
Think about it - Pyroclasm underperforms in this format - it's slow, prone to stalls, and has defensive creatures in most colors. That means Strike is only meaningful with 3 or 4 Mountains in play - a tall task early, and made doubly difficult by the fact that decks that want to play 10 Mountains are few and far between.
Seismic Strike is a fringe card in M10 draft, and doesn't really add to any strong strategy. Taking it over Blinding Mage is a pretty big leak.
shardfenix: "I seriously hope you get involved in a fatal car wreck on your way home." Saying this kind of stuff about someone for hoarding a junk rare is the most extreme thing i have heard in magic. it seems you don´t know what means to loose someone in a car accident.
Kazunda Blademasters are being cleaned out all over the place.
I think you hoarded the wrong card...
I understand that both are a result of a free market...however there is a large difference between speculating and hoarding. Speculating falls more into the range of this is obviously a good buy. Good speculations can be found through Kelly Reid. Also Legacy cards are a good specualtive buy. Buying 80 of a card that will probably never become more than a casual card...thats just idiotic. Not only does it deprive at minimum 20 players of a playset it also raises the price for no purpose. I mean lets be honest people...are allies going to be good enough to compete with boros, jund, Grixis, UWR, Eldrazi? I doubt it. I may be proven wrong but i think allies will always remain tier 1.5 or 2.
thank you paul, apparently some people missed out on the original hyperbole included in my post...such illiterates
Hmmm, I don't think I have ever seen Blinding Mage taken as a first M10 draft coverage. I can see where it could be better than White Knight, but Seismic Strike is the card I would actually take if this were a draft on MTGO.
I have only done a handful of M10 drafts but is Blinding Mage not the clear-cut first pick here? It seems head and shoulders above White Knight and Seismic Strike to me.
Valakut is a virtual bye(for most versions, creature heavy RG is more of a problem. And taking brave out of the main, are you MENTAL? I can see cutting down to 2 or 3 so you mise it and don't have to worry about it slowing your hand down, and at the present moment, I see either mine or Rhythmik's lists being the few viable ones until worldwake. UW is a huge drag, vampires you usually get there... winning the die roll vs either of the matchups ups the chance of winning by 25% ;/ It punishes bad hands, bad mulligans, multiple mulligans and doesn't tax your brain too much.... when you're grinding out rent money for 8 hours of the day you don't want to have to make really intricate decisions during all 12 of your matches during the day.