A lot of questions on the economy, rotation, leagues...from a returning player
Online Magic forum
Posted on Oct. 20, 2016, 11:29 a.m. by lillumultipass99
Hi to all,
well, before starting, a bit about me. I started playing MTG for the first time around 1994-1995 (a bit before Ice Age if I recall correctly). Then, I played quite a bit un high school with a few friends, but stopped playing in college. I tried many other games over the years (such as VS, Netrunner (1st of his name), L5R, Highlander...), but always came back to playing MTG. The last time I did so was around 2008-2009 where I found a few friends to play with. They gradually stopped playing, and so did I as I met my wife-to-be. Since then, i jumped on the digital CCG bandwagon, and I started with Solforge in 2013 and then Hearthstone (HS), as well as trying Hex and now elder scroll legends and Duelyst.
I think the conclusion is that I cannot settle on one particular game because none of them can fully replace MTG. I recently fell upon an article about Pro Tour Kaladesh and, as a perennial control player, was drawn to Yosoota's deck, which I found marvellous. Most other games I am playing put the onus on creatures' battles, something which I don't dislike, but I prefer control decks where your win conditions are few but your "counters"/AOE spells...are numerous. I am also a combo fan and saw the aetherworks deck, which I found intriguing. Hence, my interest in MYG has been rekindled.
Anyhow, all that being said, the main issue I have right now is that my time is pretty limited now that I have grown up. I have a demanding job, a wife, and a beautiful but demanding 23-month old daughter. Hence, playing paper magic is out of the question, but I have anyhow never been that much into the social aspect of the game (although I did make a few friends back when I was younger). Hence, MTGO seems the way to go. I remember dabbling with it around 10 years ago but it was a mess.
So, before committing time and money to a new endeavor, here I am with a bunch of questions :
- How is the client ? I have seen that it is still lacking in some areas. But what are its main weaknesses? Does it really make the playing (and trading) experience less enjoyable (like slower) ? My laptop is rather new and able to play COD 4, so that should be enough. Is it playable on a Mac though (I guess through virtualization)?
- How is the economy like ? For instance, do prices of cards that rotate out of standard really fall significantly ? In other words, how do standard players manage their collection each time a set rotates out of standard ? In other words, if say, in 2-year time I finally find that my playing time is too limited, will I recoup a good share of my investment, or only the very newest cards will still hold value ? Also, let's say I want to invest a few hundreds of dollars today. What would be the optimal way to do so ? Buying singles ? Or boosters and maybe selling them ? Also, if memory serves, there are 3 sets per year, right?. If I want to be competitive in standard (having at least 3 different decks I can try), how much am I supposed to spend on average ?
- I have read about recent treasure chests as well. How did it impact the economy ? Not well it seems. What do you think ?
- In terms of format, is Modern well supported ? Are Modern leagues well-populated ? Because I am starting to think that maybe playing modern might be less expensive in the long term
- How long do games and tournaments last on average ? As I said, my playing time is rather limited, above all continuous time...so I don't see myself doing many 3-4 hours tournaments. However, I have heard about constructed leagues (I am not much of a limited player) which seem to be perfect for me as it would allow me to play games at my pace. Have I understood correctly ? Is it "easy" to break even in those leagues, or is player level very high?
- Also, what are European peak hours ? How is matchmaking ? Do we have to wait a long time to get a game ? I could see my playing in the morning (like 7am paris time) or in the evening after 9am.
- Anything else I should be made aware of ?
Thanks a lot for your time and for your help!
Modern on MTGO is significantly cheaper (99% of the time) than it is in paper, and your cards won't rotate out, wasting less of your time and money. Yes there is a higher buy-in price, but after that, you don't have to spend anything. From what I know, leagues are fairly well populated in Modern on MTGO.
As for deck considerations (not sure if you have already given this thought) you have already mentioned you like combo and control, so Combo/Control might be a good idea for you! There are U/W/R (Jeskai) control decks that run Nahiri, the Harbinger to fetch out an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with its ultimate ability. There is also a more fringe deck that involves the extremely powerful synergy between Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek, which was recently unbanned. This same deck sometimes runs Gifts Ungiven and has a secondary combo involving Unburial Rites and another large creature such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, but not all Thopter Sword decks contain that (I have a thopter gifts deck on my profile, if you wish to see it).
A single match from a two-man queue will always take less than an hour, more often near the 20 minute mark (depending on the matchup, control mirror games can go really long). Leagues often take a lot longer.
Hope I could help!
The_Raven says... #2
I've never played Magic Online, but I've heard quite a lot about it.
The platform is nothing like playing Magic in real life. The game is just not as fast, because you need to go through every step and accept every priority. However, many people still like playing online. I like to play services like Cockatrice, since it's much more similar to real life magic.
I believe MODO is updating a lot more now than it used too. I've heard it's a little better than it was before.
I think MODO is only for Windows. However, you can download different programs to make windows games playable on Mac.
Standard is expensive. When cards rotate out, most cards lose all value. Every year, 4 sets are made, and standard rotates every 1 year (I think....). If you want to invest in standard cards, you will be able to sell some of the cards a couple of months before the rotation, so they still hold value. However, this can be time consuming and difficult.
If you are buying a deck, ALWAYS buy singles. It's the only way to go. I think you can build a competitive standard deck for around 100$.
Treasure chests are nothing. There is a VERY small chance of getting anything of value.
Modern is well-populated in real life, and I believe it's a thing on MODO. I live Modern, since you only need to buy a deck once. If you are playing standard, you should be able to adjust every 3 months when a new set is out. Everything can change, and so can your deck. Modern is more expensive (3-4 times as expenaove), but you ever only need to make one deck, and you are almost garuanteed to get back your investment. Modern prices are pretty stable.
I know nothing about leagues, unfortunately.
I hope it helped, even though I'm quite unsure of certain points..
October 20, 2016 4:49 p.m. Edited.