My main problem with Zen sealed is that you will never have enough stuff in 1 colour to go mono-coloured, but a substantial amount of the cards have double and triple mana costs, so you end up having to run loads of lands, or casting 3 drops on about turn 7 or 8.
I added up mtgo traders prices for all complete sets for standard and it came to 618 and change, which is 90$ cheaper than your chart. are they heavily discounting full sets?
Is there a reason for the sudden jump with regards to Crypt Rats? I see that they are up to $4.50 now. I know they are a part of a lot of pauper decks, but they have been for a long time and that's why a Visions/7th edition (un)common was $2.50 to begin with. Why the big step up now?
I really liked the RG Burn deck. I built it and play tested it a few times. I usually ended by turn 5. I had to change a couple things due to not owning them Fire bolt and Chain Lightning. I put in place of those, Lava Spike and Hellspark Elemental.
P.S. Thank you SpikeyBoyM for writing these articles. You are the reason I got into Pauper. I really love the format.
its kind of why I only occasionally draft/play sealed. The price of the event is the price of the event. it rarely goes up (too) much in the time I have to play them.
I like seeing digital cards have better values, but I hate it for when I want to get back into the game.
Singles prices are (almost) always cheaper because online play is driven by drafting and sealed. The ease of finding 3 packs and 7 other people online makes drafts very commonplace. Also, dedicated drafters sell their cards afterwards to help pay for the next draft. So the result is singles all over at low prices.
And online prices would be even lower if not for redemption, where you can take a full set of cards online and turn them in, to get a paper set mailed to you. But consider the exact system there - a _full_set_. That means 1 of every card, from commons through mythics. The result is that mythics get pulled out of the system, but each time there are commons, uncomomns, and rares left behind.
So Mythic prices tend to be fairly comparable online vs off. For example, Baneslayer is $30 in paper and $25.50 online, not a huge difference. If it was much less, then online dealers wouldn't sell, they'd just convert. However, Rootbound Crag is $2.50 online, $7.50 in paper, because every time a set is converted the lower rarities are left behind.
Not sure exactly about Siege-Gang Commander, but I can think of a couple of reasons...
Siege-Gang Commander was in M10, which was opened like crazy so there was a decent supply increase. In addition to this, the M10 rules update significantly weakened the card.
can someone explain to me why siege gang commander continues to go down in value? I understand it isnt being used in t1 decks right now, but .80?!!!?? That is ridiculous, and by far the lowest I have ever seen them.
One other question, Has anyone actually ever bought an avatar for 30? Maybe someone that works for mtgotraders can answer that. 30 seems ridiculously high for something so narrow.
I enjoy the play-by-play articles like this, especially when the player interjects thoughts such as 'he must have FoW in hand due to not casting cursecatcher'. It's the little things like that that make a good player, small details. Tactics with strategy.
For a more comprehensive article I would like to know what you sided in/out in each matchup, and a conclusion as to maindeck/SB changes post match.
This is another great article on the format. I too have suffered with the MTGO's deck editor when assembling decks. It's really a pain in the kiester to use for singleton formats. I would also suggest to to use Gatherer to find cards that have a certain effect you're looking for, or other "encyclopedia" style viewbooks.
I would also recommend that 100c decks start with at minimum 38 lands. This I've found to be the critical level to get at least to 5 mana without too much trouble. Some decks, like control, should supplement this with artifact or ramping spells; while aggro decks can skimp out on a few lands (such as the RDW variants).
100 Card Singleton is a rather brutish format to get into. Articles like this that helps break down the format in digestible bite sized chunks is a great way to help new players. As well as players like myself have a better understanding.
You comment that prices may come more in line if we get more PTQ events. I'm just curious, how does MTGO prices currently compare to paper? Are they generally cheaper or more expensive than paper? If i had to guess i'd say the cheaper ones are cheaper and the more expensive ones are more expensive...if that make any sense. Fewer Baneslayers online making the price go up...but also no need to keep a box full of that common Shock from 10 years ago so those would be cheaper online (if anybody really paid for paper commons IRL anyway that is).
Zendikar sealed is very similar to Alara sealed IMO. Luck >> skill.
Our discussion I thought put it pretty well:
First you have mana issues. In sealed you can easily draw too few or too many lands. Then you add in landfall guys and you not only can get mana screwed or mana flooded but you can get landfall screwed even though you drew well with land in the opening parts of the game. It adds a whole new 'landscrew' luck element to the game. Put on top of that the fact that very few guys are decent at blocking (aka Landscrew...I mean Landfall guys) and you have many degenerate blowout games where skill takes a backseat to luck.
lol i just got done having to deal with this in my organizational behavior class. only they narrow it down to four steps. Denial, Resistance, Exploration, and Commitment.
The decklist generator doesn't recognize MED 3 cards yet, as well as some others such as Daze and/or Strip Mine. I keep posting about this on the puremtgo forums but apparently no one hears me.
My main problem with Zen sealed is that you will never have enough stuff in 1 colour to go mono-coloured, but a substantial amount of the cards have double and triple mana costs, so you end up having to run loads of lands, or casting 3 drops on about turn 7 or 8.
I added up mtgo traders prices for all complete sets for standard and it came to 618 and change, which is 90$ cheaper than your chart. are they heavily discounting full sets?
Is there a reason for the sudden jump with regards to Crypt Rats? I see that they are up to $4.50 now. I know they are a part of a lot of pauper decks, but they have been for a long time and that's why a Visions/7th edition (un)common was $2.50 to begin with. Why the big step up now?
Thanks for sharing about converting .txt into .dek.... always wanted to know how.
I bought mine for .70 each a couple months ago.
I really liked the RG Burn deck. I built it and play tested it a few times. I usually ended by turn 5. I had to change a couple things due to not owning them Fire bolt and Chain Lightning. I put in place of those, Lava Spike and Hellspark Elemental.
P.S. Thank you SpikeyBoyM for writing these articles. You are the reason I got into Pauper. I really love the format.
Has this been decided yet?
its kind of why I only occasionally draft/play sealed. The price of the event is the price of the event. it rarely goes up (too) much in the time I have to play them.
I like seeing digital cards have better values, but I hate it for when I want to get back into the game.
To expand on Hammy's explanation...
Singles prices are (almost) always cheaper because online play is driven by drafting and sealed. The ease of finding 3 packs and 7 other people online makes drafts very commonplace. Also, dedicated drafters sell their cards afterwards to help pay for the next draft. So the result is singles all over at low prices.
And online prices would be even lower if not for redemption, where you can take a full set of cards online and turn them in, to get a paper set mailed to you. But consider the exact system there - a _full_set_. That means 1 of every card, from commons through mythics. The result is that mythics get pulled out of the system, but each time there are commons, uncomomns, and rares left behind.
So Mythic prices tend to be fairly comparable online vs off. For example, Baneslayer is $30 in paper and $25.50 online, not a huge difference. If it was much less, then online dealers wouldn't sell, they'd just convert. However, Rootbound Crag is $2.50 online, $7.50 in paper, because every time a set is converted the lower rarities are left behind.
Not sure exactly about Siege-Gang Commander, but I can think of a couple of reasons...
Siege-Gang Commander was in M10, which was opened like crazy so there was a decent supply increase. In addition to this, the M10 rules update significantly weakened the card.
can someone explain to me why siege gang commander continues to go down in value? I understand it isnt being used in t1 decks right now, but .80?!!!?? That is ridiculous, and by far the lowest I have ever seen them.
One other question, Has anyone actually ever bought an avatar for 30? Maybe someone that works for mtgotraders can answer that. 30 seems ridiculously high for something so narrow.
I enjoy the play-by-play articles like this, especially when the player interjects thoughts such as 'he must have FoW in hand due to not casting cursecatcher'. It's the little things like that that make a good player, small details. Tactics with strategy.
For a more comprehensive article I would like to know what you sided in/out in each matchup, and a conclusion as to maindeck/SB changes post match.
Overall, great read. Please keep it up.
hmm i wondering what was going on...Zendikar cards are showing up on mtgotraders if you search them but they also arent linking...
This is another great article on the format. I too have suffered with the MTGO's deck editor when assembling decks. It's really a pain in the kiester to use for singleton formats. I would also suggest to to use Gatherer to find cards that have a certain effect you're looking for, or other "encyclopedia" style viewbooks.
I would also recommend that 100c decks start with at minimum 38 lands. This I've found to be the critical level to get at least to 5 mana without too much trouble. Some decks, like control, should supplement this with artifact or ramping spells; while aggro decks can skimp out on a few lands (such as the RDW variants).
Figure of Destiny has killed me.
Online prices are generally cheaper, and the rares are really going to be much cheaper for the forseeable future (thanks to Mythics).
However, as MTGO gets more and more constructed focused player get into MTGO the demand for chase Mythics and rares will improve greatly.
The new Limited Resources podcast up!
http://mtgcast.com/?p=2788
Marsh and I cover our first Zendikar live drafts, with in-depth discussions of allies, vampires, and more. Check it out!
Lots of great info here!
100 Card Singleton is a rather brutish format to get into. Articles like this that helps break down the format in digestible bite sized chunks is a great way to help new players. As well as players like myself have a better understanding.
Thanks for all your hard work,
Philip
You comment that prices may come more in line if we get more PTQ events. I'm just curious, how does MTGO prices currently compare to paper? Are they generally cheaper or more expensive than paper? If i had to guess i'd say the cheaper ones are cheaper and the more expensive ones are more expensive...if that make any sense. Fewer Baneslayers online making the price go up...but also no need to keep a box full of that common Shock from 10 years ago so those would be cheaper online (if anybody really paid for paper commons IRL anyway that is).
Thanks!
Right but online its only their own clock they burn. (Assuming they can't figure out how to do it efficiently.)
Even auto yield doesn't stop the divining player from taking up time to look at the 3 cards, decide their order and put them back.
Zendikar sealed is very similar to Alara sealed IMO. Luck >> skill.
Our discussion I thought put it pretty well:
First you have mana issues. In sealed you can easily draw too few or too many lands. Then you add in landfall guys and you not only can get mana screwed or mana flooded but you can get landfall screwed even though you drew well with land in the opening parts of the game. It adds a whole new 'landscrew' luck element to the game. Put on top of that the fact that very few guys are decent at blocking (aka Landscrew...I mean Landfall guys) and you have many degenerate blowout games where skill takes a backseat to luck.
-M
lol i just got done having to deal with this in my organizational behavior class. only they narrow it down to four steps. Denial, Resistance, Exploration, and Commitment.
Exactly why it pisses me off. How dare they make us suffer because of the inadequacies of Paper magic?? :(
The decklist generator doesn't recognize MED 3 cards yet, as well as some others such as Daze and/or Strip Mine. I keep posting about this on the puremtgo forums but apparently no one hears me.
You can correct that manually though.
LE