My mates introduced me to MTG Recently and I want to get my own deck. Probably just a starter deck and maybe ill get a fat pack later and make my own deck. I understand that it is most economical to purchase cards individually but thats gonna take ages and at this stage i wouldn't know what to get. So does anyone know the best value place to buy starter packs, booster decks, fatpacks etc? Retail stores in WA south of the river would be best then I can go grab one otherwise online..
Best place to buy Magic - The Gathering card game decks?
Riczter on 07/01/2015 - 15:14
Last edited 07/01/2015 - 15:57
Last edited 07/01/2015 - 15:57
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MTG can certainly be a money sink, but so can any other form of entertainment or hobby that you get heavily engaged in. I spent thousands on MTG over the years, but also spent just as much on my Transformers and board game collections!
If you like Dominion, you should check out Ascension and Star Realms!
I have a whole box of old cards that I've stored away. It's got all you need to start a deck. lands of every colour and 100-300 cards of each colour, artifacts and a few gold/holographic cards.
You'd have a blast just reading through the cards, then hours putting together decks. PM me if you want to offer me something for the box.
I spent a lot of pocket money on these cards back in the day hah… good old days
Eb games sells them, otherwise a comic store or similar. You may want to check the magic official website and look for Magic stockists. Some people get out of the hobby and sell their cards cheaply on Gumtree or similar. Someone was giving three decks of cards over here in Brisbane last year.
Definitely go online. You can get boxes on ebay of 1000+ (admittidely rubbish) cards for ~$50.
There is also Amazon and others.
Pretty much just search 'magic the gathering bulk' and you can get hundreds for cheap. Now, are they worth it? If you have a lot of time on your hands they are, as sorting through them takes forever.There are also websites where you can buy individual rare cards for ~$1-$2 (like mtgmint), although you need to know what you're looking for.
To get started I'd probably but a starter deck for ~$25, which will give you a feel for the game. In Perth you can go to Games World in most shopping centres (Carousel, Garden City etc) or if you're in the CBD try Tactics in London Court. Tactics also sells large dice, so you can laugh at your friends when they pull out their standard dice.
Cheers, looking at the Games world Website and EB Games it looks like they only have the booster packs in stock. I haven't been able to find a 2015 intro pack anywhere, any other suggestions, even online. I looked on ebay but only got them in US…
The Wizards store locator shows retail stores that sell Magic and run events:
http://locator.wizards.com/#brand=magic&a=search&p=Perth,+We…If you've just started, I'd suggest Intro Packs first then Deckbuilder's Toolkit. Hopefully your mates will share all of their excess commons/uncommons with you!
Also, M15 Duels of the Planeswalkers! http://store.steampowered.com/app/255420/
Cheers, just installed it earlier ;)
I have a big box of mixed cards as well. PM if interested.
I kinda want a new 2015 deck… the thrill of opening new booster packs and seeing what rares you get etc. Thanks tho.
Okay, so MTG can either be an affordable game if you just want to play on the kitchen counter, or it can be a huge money sink if you want to play competitively at your games store. I would suggest subscribing to "Tolarian Community College " on YouTube. The guy there has some really great videos to make you understand what's worth it or not. He makes videos of every new Magic item that gets released, and also shows some nice tutorials and some common deck building ideas.
Home play (Brand New Cards): 2x intro decks: $40-50 for two players but the cards are mainly junk if you want to play competitively (ie. you will spend so much more money to upgrade them to standard level decks). If fun with friends and learning how to play is truly what you want, may I suggest Clash packs?.. $30 for 2 decks that are specifically designed for fun. They are also popular with collectors due to alternative art, and old clash packs were limited run.
Home play (cheap): Buy second hand, most of the time they are old stashed away boxes of cards or old standard decks that are not current anymore. Worth checking out eBay bulks, or gumtree. make whatever you want.. might find some gems in there!
Competitive play: There are many ways to play MTG, but I will mention Standard, Modern, EDH (Commander).
Standard - I was in a very similar position to you, I was introduced with a clash pack, then I wanted whatever was new and shiny… got addicted to opening packs, then suddenly I spent $1000+ since mid-2014. My current standard deck is worth $600, and its value with fluctuate due to the meta-game, but will decrease as older cards will be rotated out. Be prepared to pay $50-$100+ per six months to remain current. This will get worse now that future releases will have a shorter turnover. Why is it expensive? The rare cards like fetchlands or rare cards that everyone wants can be $20 each! By having 4 of those in your deck, and getting together a 60-card deck.. you will see how it all adds up!
Modern - It is a bigger outlay to buy good cards to build a deck as you are buying older cards that are really good (think $500-$1000+).. of course, you can get cheaper options based on what type of deck.. and a smart option has been to purchase the 'Modern Event Deck' box ($60-90) but it depends if you want to play White/Black. Upgrading that with $100-$200 will give you a nice deck! You pay more first, but the deck does not need to be upgraded like standard decks.
EDH - Most of my friends actually like playing this the most… and now I agree too! Like modern, it accepts many cards in the last decade or so, and you can buy the Commander decks ($50) which are just so much fun to play and they cards don't rotate out either. making your own deck is fun too. price of decks vary depending on what you play.
Summary: Find out what you like to play, and how much your budget is.. check out what your friends play. As you are at the stage where you're excited to open boosters.. Fat Packs are nice.. I would go against buying booster boxes unless they are a good deal (<~AUS$120) and you can afford it. If you do want to play current standard, the smartest way is not to buy boxes/packs but to BUY INDIVIDUAL CARDS that you need!! 90% of the packs you buy will be junk, and out of that 10% remaining, 5% will be ones that you want for your deck.. the rest just good for trades.
Good places: Mtgmintcard , channel fireball, TCG Player.. the aforementioned stores are overseas.. it gets cheaper if you buy $100+ due to postage. If you are buying from Australian shops.. I found that the 'Dice Spot' in north brisbane sells boxes for cheap on their ebay shop which they post! The most economical way to play magic without buying cards from online sources, is to go to your local game shop and attend prereleases.. Pay $40, and you will get your money's worth in booster packs! If you win games, you win more stuff! Also, going to OzComicCon or Supanova is great too.. The stalls have great specials, and Wizards of the Coast always have a presence to get new players in by giving away decks, or special discounts on the day!
eBay/gumtree and facebook groups (MTG market) are always worth a look!
Study what you want/need first, play test online with Cockatrice, read the forums/articles on MTGsalvation or TCG, watch youtube videos, and go to places like Mythicspoiler to read and study the latest cards leaked.
Legend, cheers for the good reply :)
So re-read your original post: If you want a good competitive deck to play like the pro's or at the game shop I would suggest not buying any starter packs or intro packs. Only buy boosters to satisfy your craving, and fat pack/booster boxes if you have money (not an ozbargain way!).
Find out what colour/style you like to play best. http://promos.wizards.com/chooseyourclan/ this was a fun quiz if you have no clue.
Then go and see what pro decks people use with that clan/colour or go to these sites to start designing your own deck http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/27-11-14-temur-ascendancy-com…
buy singles.
Hi there,
Best bet for you would be Good Games in St James (I'm from WA too). They would have stock, reasonable and are friendly. For some bizarre reason you can't buy sealed product online - no joke. So you won't be able to buy (anyway, probably not a great deal with the dropping US dollar).
Other than Good Games (which is more accessible for you), Tactics is also good. Great range and friendly service. Probably more expensive and you have the issue of getting there with it being in Perth (London Court, it's easy to miss too as it's LITERALLY in a dungeon, no joke!). Everywhere else (like EB and Games World) will have a poor range and be expensive.
As for those saying that Magic is a giant money sink - it's whatever you want it to be. I agree games like Dominion (which I own too!) are great and are a fixed price (offering some expansions) but with a fairly limited cost. Still, you can spend as much as you want. You can also play for free with some online programs (totally legal) and pay to play online.
As for the "wiseness" of magic - I can tell you now, the best investment I've ever made is my older magic cards. I've spent maybe $4,000 on my cards over many years - I can sell them today for over $15,000. Yes, maybe I could have used this cash in some other way to earn a similar amount of money - but considering this is a hobby I do for FUN, I've had fun AND earned an amazing amount. Granted some of this was dumb luck (older cards are hard to find) but eventually if you have decent cards they all go up in value as supply is fixed and demand ever rising (at least for the last decade or so).
Please feel free to PM me if you would like to be put in touch with any playing groups or want to know more about either board games or MtG.
Hi I am in Perth as well,
And the best place I've found to play magic is GamaGori in the northern suburbs. They typically sell booster packs cheaper than Tactics/Good Games/Retros. Their store is also much much bigger and can have up to 70 people seated. If you are south of the river then GG St James is your best bet. But North of the river I'd look no further than Gamagori. I usually go there for Friday night booster draft.
Also they are great if you like table top games etc.
rip gamagori :(
my mates who've been playing MTG for years introduced me to http://www.gameology.com.au/
their prices are very reasonable and i find their delivery very timely. they do other board and card games too, jusst copped myself some cards against humanity! :Don another note, would anyone be keen to join a group MTG sesh in melbourne? :)
My vote would be Facebook or gum tree or eBay..usually better deals and more physical face to face contact for gumtree and usually more personal contact for Facebook instead of just buying from a face less corporation.
Ozbargain also has a classifieds buy and sell or wanted and selling section so maybe also check some out there I think I saw magic the gathering cards along there a few times for like a large used stash for a decent bargain.
As always use all of the resources here and research your deals then get out there and bargain like a mad Ozbargain.
As an Ozbargainer I would suggest avoiding MTG all together. I have had friends spend thousands of dollars on it over the years. It can be tough to find people to play with after a little while, leaving you with a big collection of cards.
A much more economical investment might be in some board games which are similar to MTG. I'm a big fan of board games, and the most similar to MTG is a game called Dominion. It's a deck building game, but everyone starts with the same hand, and can obtain cards from a common pool (of which there are 10. The game comes with 25 sets of these cards, so there are 3,268,760 different game combinations in just the base game alone, up to 14 Quadrillion with all the expansions)
Here is a review from youtube
It doesn't require any future investment (unless you want the expansion packs, which are pretty cool) and is signficantly cheaper over the long term, and, it is incredibly simply in it's mechanics that you can teach people really easily, but has great strategic depth!
Incredibly great value for money entertainment.