How to Know When It's Time to Put Down the Cards?
General forum
Posted on Feb. 14, 2023, 5:44 p.m. by Profet93
Hey everyone, I'm unsure how much if at all I want to be involved in MTG anymore. I haven't played with my actual cards since March 2020. Ever since Covid, I have had too many other priorities pile up, resulting in MTG going on the backburner. All of the new sets since then, the interactions, etc.... It's just too much an overwhelming majority of the time. Then finding time to play assuming I wasn't as busy is still tremendously difficult.
I spend every day using the Tappedout Playtester as a means to "play my decks" and predict opponents responses through mental magic. It has been fun, I've been doing so for several years now. I don't have time or $ for MTG and am unsure why I involve myself with it. I enjoy it, greatly, but making MTG a priority is not feasible/realistic until when/if I finish my main priorities.
Has anyone been in a similar situation either due to finances, medical issues, driving issues, etc.... Would love some feedback or advice.
Thank you, I appreciate you sharing your story and feedback. I should clarify that I wouldn't wanna sell them for a while due to my laziness/lack of time, the RL increase in value as well as the fact that I have a decent amount of alters that makes selling a bit more tricky/time consuming.
I am gonna give MTG a break for now and focus on other priorities. It just sucks to not be able to commit to something that I've already spent so much time, effort and $ in. I know it's most likely temporary, but sucks nevertheless.
February 14, 2023 6:55 p.m.
lespaul977 says... #4
I completely agree with Crow-Umbra. If it’s not working for you now, it’s more than okay to take a break. I’ve been playing on and off since the early 2000’s, and the off times happened because of time, money, and/or lack of people to play with. Life happens, and most of the time you don’t have much control over that. The game will still be there when the time is right to pick it back up (but don’t get rid of your cards if you can help it. I made the mistake of parting ways with about half of my collection, and I’ve regretted ever since).
February 14, 2023 6:56 p.m.
Yup this happens to me too... started just playing casually with classmates in elementary school with essentially piles of cards that could hopefully cast Serra Angel at some point lol... then in the days of m10 I played at the LGS all the time and did draft and it was great playing kitchen table magic too... then for reasons xyz I stopped going to the LGS... and my kitchen table magic was becoming less and less frequent... then I found tappedout and essentially theory crafted for years... then arena came out and that really reignited my playing time again and got more familiar with how the game is ACTUALLY being played in standard...then eventually like 6 months ago I broke back out into the LGS scene and using spelltable/discord and I'm actually playing with physical cards again.
TL;DR
I think its normal to fall in and out of the game... even if you aren't actively playing it's still normal to follow and obsess over it to a degree... let's be honest MTG is one heck of a card game with countless reasons to enjoy it whether its lore art or the aspect of collecting.
February 14, 2023 7:24 p.m.
Ultimately, Magic is a luxury product. If you want to re-prioritize your hobbies and obligations, or it's just not enjoyable anymore, it's absolutely okay to step back and take a break.
You don't need to spend money and keep up with the flood of releases to enjoy Magic. Play with the cards you have, if you get the opportunity. Talk about strategy with your friends, or on the internet. If you just want to take a clean break, put your cards on a high shelf, step away from TappedOut and other forums for a while, and focus on what you want or need to.
For my personal story, after my usual playgroup broke up, I put my cards into storage for a year, kind of kept a casual eye on what was going on, and came back after getting a lot of other projects in my life done. Since then, I've spent less money on Magic, but my buying has become more practical and directed. I took apart all but one of my decks, and realized that I wasn't having fun with some of them; I was just using them because they were there.
So if you need to refocus, take a break, or just walk away, I encourage it.
February 15, 2023 1:20 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #7
I spent practically every Friday night at my LGS for the past 6 years. I've seen many people come and go, and come back again. The people who deliberately returned after a long absence, have been the most enjoyable people to play with. They made the conscious choice to start playing magic again, they radiate that they want to be there. People who play magic because they feel they need to play, e.g. because of investing too much money already, give off a whole different vibe. They're more frequently sore losers or voicing frustrations about the game, usually bringing down the atmosphere a bit.
Do what feels right, don't force yourself. Maybe look up the sunk cost fallacy, and then make a decision based on how applicable it is to you.
February 15, 2023 3:56 a.m.
I've fell into the same boat here. I mainly play Pioneer since other formats have been scarce in my area. I collected playsets of all the lands for the format in binders (a hefty investment) as well as maintaining 4 to 5 decks while playing RCQ's. It was a lot. Recently I haven't had time to play physically and don't have the means to play digitally. I've seen that I need to pull back some, instead of getting new cards for all the decks including the lands of the set I need to wait a bit because I just don't have the time to play with them. It's more of needing to tone back due to other responsibilities and lack of time commitment. The game will still be there when I have time but not at the capacity I was playing before.
February 15, 2023 8:34 a.m.
If you still want to play Magic, but not spend cash, try playing on Cockatrice. The user base is pretty varied in skill, but the games are free and you will have a lot of skilled opponents to play against.
February 15, 2023 8:47 a.m.
I think it's healthy and normal to take a break from a hobby/habit, I've noticed that my brain may seem to learn 'at the time', but in actual practice it takes time for it to restructure around new ideas. As a result, with things big and small, it tends to be helpful to take breaks and do something different for a time. You'll be rusty when you get back to something, but I tend to come back improved, and activities that I didn't take breaks from I didn't keep progressing properly in, I'd just stagnate. Some of this might be age, but it's more complex than that I'd say. I think there is a neurological basis to this, because our brain is complex and slow to change, even having had sufficient stimulus to change, the brain can't do it in an instant.
Anyways, I wouldn't hesitate to take some time off from Magic, very few people play continuously for more than a few years at a time, especially at a fairly competitive level (where you have to keep up to date, which is a big and ongoing investment of energy). Some people sell off all their cards when they quit, others put them in a safe place and forget about them for awhile. It's very normal to get burnt out on Magic, and if it's a hassle/struggle to play games it might well be time. As people have said, don't keep playing because you feel some obligation/are forcing yourself to, play because the game is still fun. It's too expensive to be a chore!
One thing that I found helped reignite my interest was building some weirder decks, stuff that's going down the less well trod paths. It seems like everyone has a busted Atraxa deck, but how many people build Anax and Cymede, let alone make it a Vorthos Stax deck? Not saying you should if you're done with the game, it's easy to get burnt out with this game (and WotC makes it so much worse), but getting creative/playing with a handicap can be a different, possibly fresher/more satisfying experience.
February 15, 2023 9:36 a.m.
FormOverFunction says... #11
I second most of what’s being said here; I’d recommend storing your cards, though, unless you absolutely need to sell them. The times I’ve quit (I think the first one was shortly after weatherlight) it was really nice to go back through my cards however many years later. It’s like combining time-capsule fun with long-lost-friend reunions.
February 15, 2023 9:58 a.m.
I think that because all us players have different passions and different things that we want out of a game, we all have different cut offs as to where to end it. Someone more competitive might get frustrated with the pace of new cards, someone more casual might not like the "new kung fu grip Jace" direction of what they do with characters, and there's probably a million ways that people view the game, so it's all just kind of personal I guess.
The thing to keep in mind is that the game works for you the player. What you've invested in cards over time never goes away, and you can always pick them up a year from now and have fun. It may feel like something you've invested in, but there's always time, you can invest time and energy into anything you want, so might as well do it in something that makes you smile, and then if you come back to the game, do it when you want to.
Personally, I'm on a break from the game until it really engages me again. I've bought one single since kami neon (which I really liked) and I think I'm just at a divergence from the game where the characters and stories that they want to represent just don't do it for me. Honestly, I want to love a new set that comes out, but it's crept up on me that a lot of the time I just won't feel that connection anymore, and maybe that's okay. So, for me I don't think I'd ever say it's a solid break, but I'll only get passionate about the new sets when they make things I really like.
February 15, 2023 1:02 p.m.
All of you made excellent points, I've taken them to heart. It's always a pleasure to see your names pop up on the site. I look forward to our continued discourse in the hopefully near future. Looking to come back refreshed and better than ever when the time comes.
February 17, 2023 12:26 a.m.
I've gotto get ready to sell my house. I'm starting to put in extra time at work to specialize in IV team. And as Niko9 says, A set has to really strike me to buy singles. Some of this is a personal viewpoint that MtG is becoming too expensive to stay a casual hobby. It fills a larger space in your life, competes with important obligations, takes up a larger footprint - think of how much $/hour more you have to work to make up for the ridiculous cardboard tax since time=money. Fortunately, if you have a few decks that play with variance & stay fun every time you play them, then you can put them away for a while & also narrow your view of what interests you every so often.
What you are doing is just being a smart consumer in regards to a luxury-hobby (no longer a casual hobby). If WoTC wants to make it a luxury-hobby, then it is wisest to treat it like that. Step away (set a budget & time constraint) & only come back if you feel like you are easily able to adhere to that & step away again.
I've found a bunch of joy in personal improvement with MtG being a distant backburner item. I did use cards as motivation to renovate my gazebo into a mancave of sorts with a meat-smoker & card room where once every 2 months or so all the guys will play.
February 17, 2023 12:04 p.m.
Crockosneef says... #16
Going through a bit of that, myself, just feeling incredibly disenfranchised with the evolving business model. Been cutting myself off from buying new cards as a New Year Resolution and it's not that hard to do it still hurts quite a bit. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the cards because I still have friends who want to play. I just don't really feel much of anything from the game and I honestly want to stop pouring money into it, too.
February 21, 2023 7:33 a.m.
Crockosneef I know some of that, I'm less disenfranchised, but downsizing nonetheless. I want to sell some of my cards without feeding the "murder-machine". I sold some of mine on Facebook Marketplace & felt pretty good about my direct markdown (which was still profitable to me & was a price that made sense for the buyer too). But, it takes time to cut out the middleman like that & sell singles. I hope to keep doing it as I get more time off... Otherwise, I will just end up giving up eventually & feeding the middlemen some more.
Fortunately, I've long-stopped pouring money into the game. I've learned to only buy if I know that I will put a card in a deck & my decks tend to have a less popular theme, so alot of the cards I am interested in still are <$5.
Crow_Umbra says... #2
I first started playing MtG during my 2nd year of college, around spring 2013. My now bestfriend got me into it during Return to Ravnica. Theros was my first full block, and it got me absolutely hooked.
Playing table top jank on Friday nights with those friends in college were truly special. I marvel at how we were able to get through games with 6 people playing a free for all with 60 card jank decks.
Once we all graduated from college, started getting full time jobs, and moving to different parts of CA, it became much more sporadic to get together and play like we used to. From like 2015-2018, I got together with my friends maybe a handful of times to actually play. There were times I thought of selling the small collection I had, but could never bring myself to do it, in part because I knew I wouldn't get much for it lol. I kept up with new set releases from a distance, mostly focusing on the lore, and brewing/play-testing jank with newer stuff I'd likely not play in paper.
Even now, my friends and I mostly live within an hour or two of each other, and are lucky to get together maybe twice a month to play if we can. It's those Saturdays we set aside to play all afternoon that make me glad I held onto my collection.
I know all of our circumstances are different, but I guess this is a long way of saying it's perfectly okay to step back from a hobby if you are not capable of giving it the time and financial investment you were once able to. Maybe don't immediately sell off your collection, or at least not all of it. I bought some of the commander precons in 2013, years before my group made the switch to EDH, and I'm glad I held onto it.
Maybe it's time to put your cards away for a while and leave yourself in a position to return to MtG when circumstances are better for you. Better to leave yourself in position to return to the hobby as seamlessly as possible once you are able to.
February 14, 2023 6:24 p.m.