New again
July 26th 2011 06:03
"I believe in your Zanarkand."
-- Yuna, in Final Fantasy X
It may surprise you to hear that I’m a connoisseur of repacks and very large mixed sets of cards. Technically, I do have the resources and connections to get any specific card I wanted, or indeed any deck that exists; but I find those aforementioned random purchases a lot more fun and interesting. In my opinion, they’re one of the best inventions of the secondary market, and deserve a lot higher regard than they sometimes get. They combine the fun of exploring random groups of cards with an overview of Magic’s history – the two greatest strengths of this game of ours.
You do need to be careful when buying them, as you sometimes don’t get quite what is promised. For example, I purchased a large set last year that was mostly M10, M11, Rise of the Eldrazi, Zendikar block, and Shards of Alara block. This may not entirely have been the seller’s fault – what probably happened was that a bunch of people bought lots of boosters looking for chase mythics and then sold off the commons and uncommons – but it was a slight letdown. The best repacks I ever bought came from an online store called Black Ninja, and contained a well-mixed range from Unlimited through Rise of the Eldrazi with very few duplicates.
Repacks are, of course, of little help if you’re trying to get into a specific tournament format. On the other hand, they are the perfect way to do things that are probably more fun in the long run, and perhaps even better for the game overall. Throughout Magic's history, plenty of people had plenty of fun playing with what they had, rather than what they thought they should have. Saying this nowadays evokes ideas of weak and/or inconsistent decks, but it also helps you see the value in every card, not just the rare ones or the famous ones or the expensive ones. If that brand of Magic still exists, repacks and bulk sales are its ideal entry point.
-- Yuna, in Final Fantasy X
It may surprise you to hear that I’m a connoisseur of repacks and very large mixed sets of cards. Technically, I do have the resources and connections to get any specific card I wanted, or indeed any deck that exists; but I find those aforementioned random purchases a lot more fun and interesting. In my opinion, they’re one of the best inventions of the secondary market, and deserve a lot higher regard than they sometimes get. They combine the fun of exploring random groups of cards with an overview of Magic’s history – the two greatest strengths of this game of ours.
You do need to be careful when buying them, as you sometimes don’t get quite what is promised. For example, I purchased a large set last year that was mostly M10, M11, Rise of the Eldrazi, Zendikar block, and Shards of Alara block. This may not entirely have been the seller’s fault – what probably happened was that a bunch of people bought lots of boosters looking for chase mythics and then sold off the commons and uncommons – but it was a slight letdown. The best repacks I ever bought came from an online store called Black Ninja, and contained a well-mixed range from Unlimited through Rise of the Eldrazi with very few duplicates.
Repacks are, of course, of little help if you’re trying to get into a specific tournament format. On the other hand, they are the perfect way to do things that are probably more fun in the long run, and perhaps even better for the game overall. Throughout Magic's history, plenty of people had plenty of fun playing with what they had, rather than what they thought they should have. Saying this nowadays evokes ideas of weak and/or inconsistent decks, but it also helps you see the value in every card, not just the rare ones or the famous ones or the expensive ones. If that brand of Magic still exists, repacks and bulk sales are its ideal entry point.
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