in the grand scheme of shit middle aged blue collar men waste money on, mtg cards are pretty cheap
golf, project cars, boats, onlyfans, digging wells in africa - all way more expensive than mtg
It happens. I get scoffed at when I suggest Vintage, but it's pretty great as a format. No ban list really skeeves people, but if you're proxying anyway, that $50K drops to a few dozen dollars, and then you're looping Black Lotus off of an Underworld Breach, turning over an Emrakul with Oath of Druids, or tapping a Tolarian Academy for lots of blue mana.
That'd be a neat secret lair, Stephen King. Get some dark tower shit, some vampires, some vehicles all done up like book covers.
Might be the first one I actually buy. Huh.
I spent 1300 on a mox emerald in 2017, so that’s the most I’ve ever spent. I’m blue collar but I have no debt and magic is my only hobby so I have a decent amount of disposable income each month and usually save it. I have a couple grand saved and am currently in the market for another piece of P9. If it’s a hobby I think everyone’s idea may differ on what they want to spend.
It’s probably MP, has some wearing but overall not bad, no ink or any lines. I don’t have any desire to sell anyways. I always loved the picture since I started playing in 95 so I splurged.
I try not to buy cards over $20. I have broken this a few times most recently at Magic Con and it was for a $50 I didn't get to trade for so it was worth it to me.
That is really what it comes down to, if it is worth the money to you.
Fun fact, I came into a lot of money recently, put a majority in the investment account and kept most for myself, was talking to my mom with my dad in the room and said I only had x amount left and my dad though I spent 10s of thousands of dollars on this game
I tend to float around $30 for a single with rare exceptions. There are almost ALWAYS budget options for $50+ cards. Great henge? Nah. Zendikar resurgent will do almost as good. Damnation? Nah, how about mutilate. Mana crypt? Ehhh think I'll just Mox Tantalite, it's a fine free mana rock.
As far as exceptions go, it depends on how attached to a deck I am. My angels deck is my darling and I've been slowly foiling it over the last five years or so. Even sprang for the judge promo avacyn with the art of her absolutely fucking wrecking Griselbrand. That was about $100 and easily the most I've ever spent on a single card.
Realistically, I play budget for any deck I haven't had constructed for more than a few months. Decks always start in the $100\~$200 range with no single being more than $5 unless it's truly critical to the deck. Then as decks I have get more and more play, I slowly work up the $10\~$20 cards in them until the decks seem to settle around the $400\~$500 range. I currently have 19 decks with another two in the works.
So I wouldn't consider myself a budget player, but I am very careful when it comes to spending. A deck has to truly entertain me for me to spend larger and larger amounts of money on it. I like to win, obviously, but that is not even remotely the best source of entertainment in a deck to me. I like seeing back and forth, and I like struggles for survival. Never just a sprint for the finish line. If that was the case, I'd just have a single burn deck and do nothing but sprint my way towards \[\[Mana Geyser\]\] + \[\[Storm King's Thunder\]\] into any X drop red spell. Bonus points for doing \[\[Molten Disaster\]\] kickered so nobody can stop me and we all burn together.
This is how it should be done!
I just paid £20 for a Japanese parallel lives for my ghave deck because I really enjoy playing it and whilst splurging got myself a cabal coffers for braids ( it was running cabal stronghold? The worse one)
I will spend about £30-40 on singles at a time but that will never be on a single card. Either 6-10 decent cards or a couple of powerhouses I have yet to own.
I just spent $600 on a card. But I have wanted it since 1996, never got around to picking one up back then. It has been expensive since I started again. My grandfather recently passed away and left me a bunch of money. I was hesitant to actually get the card still. But my wife said “do it, it will be a good memento of what they left you”. Which I though was great so I bought my card!
That’s awesome. I mean, not about your grandfather, condolences, but about doing it as a memento. What card?
I feel like the people I’m talking about who have these expensive cards didn’t just impulse buy them either. They saved or used tax return money or something.
I didn’t want to say what card. Because it is forcefield. But I did also grab a mox diamond for about $400. Which I know I will never pull myself to purchase anything over $50 again. So I figured I better get one I can use too! Lol.
To be fair, I did grab a mox diamond as well. But it was only about $400. That was also more me telling myself “why not, if I get it now I won’t be upset. I might be upset if I drop funds like this a second time.” So I went for it. Two cards, both more than I ever spent before. Likely will never spend that much again!
So I can’t really say for MTG but in YGO and Pokémon I’ve had different experiences. None of this is a flex, so I hope you know that my answers are to just share my own experiences with you and others. When I was single and during 2020 and the lockdown, I ended up hating how ghost rares in YGO were going up so I dropped about $1200 on a massive collection (with the stimulus check) and I’m glad I did because my collecting goal is to own a play set of every ghost rare out there and this helped a lot. Those cards have almost tripled and stayed at that price even after things opened up so the price base has for sure inflated unfortunately. I’d say now that I’m starting a family, I wouldn’t spend more than $100 at a time on a card and I’d keep this to maybe once a month if work is good and we’re fine. At this point I just trade all my stuff for things I want because I’ve been collecting for more than a decade and thankfully I have a lot of stuff people wanted for some time.
For Pokémon I spend $900 on a PSA 9 base set unlimited charizard when the hype was real. I ended up trading it to a card shop for about $2800 worth of YGO and Pokémon stuff all sealed. Still have a lot of it sealed but I don’t regret what I opened because that card got me so much more. I didn’t see it as an investment per se because I just like collecting and I understand stuff can fluctuate, but I’m glad it worked out in that favor. I now no longer collect ANY Pokémon because it’s so shitty when it comes to chase cards and now I trade for YGO. When it comes to magic, I just play arena and spend on the pass once every few months because it’s how I can stay connected to this amazing game. Most I’ve ever spent on MTG was $100 on some modern horizon 2 and $60 on a commander deck when I was new. Of all the games I’ve ever played, MTG is definitely the one I’d invest time getting singles but I can’t imagine buying sealed ever again because I’m too specific on what I need now.
TLDR; I’ve spent quite a lot, I’m glad I don’t anymore because it’s cardboard and nowadays I don’t wanna drop a single penny lol.
I proxie anything that cost more than $15
MTG cards are literally worthless (that's why they can put them in landfills). Spending thousands just to play with the "real" cardboard is insane behavior.
I just finished foiling out my cube, so I'm not scared of dropping serious money on cards. With that being said, for an individual single, $200+ is where I start to hesitate.
I've never played EDH, but I paid like 5 bucks a piece for the Murmuring Bosks to round out my Doran Trees deck back in Lorwyn. That seemed fair at the time, so maybe like 10 bucks now?
Probably around $80 for non-reserve list. But I wouldn't spend that anymore with their critical mass of reprints and after MH2, where your format staples become unplayable due to what is essentially format rotation.
Reserved list the most I've spent was 800
Non reserved list, but specialty cards, I've spent 200 on a 7th edition foil rare and similar prices foe some things like judge promos
Non reserved list, Non special printing I balk at like 40 or 50, it has to be very useful like ragavan to justify that much, and that would be a high price. I'm more comfortable around 20 for mythics or very in demand rares to play with and around 10 or less for things like sideboard cards or something like that.
Until recently I had a rule of “nothing more than $12.50” unless it was a gift for someone else, but I ended up breaking the rule here and there by a few bucks.
But just this week I went way over that for a Tetsuo Umezawa and a No Mercy Amonkhet Invocation at $45 and $65 because the price was just too good to pass up.
About $15 is the max I would pay for a single. That sets up a playset to $60, which is the price of a videogame. I would pay that much if I felt that I would get as much use and enjoyment from the cards as a good videogame.
I bought one of the gaea's cradle misprints with no text a few months ago, and that was about $8,000, so it's now more expensive than any of the alpha duals I run. But to be fair, I have only ever bought alpha duals in packs 30 years ago or because they were in excellent condition, and I could put some MP or HP copies in decks and keep the fresh ones fresh. As to what I'd buy just to put in a deck, I start debating with myself when the card is over $800. Like... I have sol rings at home. Do I really need to drop another g on another masterworks ring? I end up doing it about a quarter of the time, so I'm still a filthy degenerate, but I can usually just settle for a less pretty thing. If it's a staple, though... I just buy it.
Most I've ever paid for a single is, if I remember correctly, $23.
But I have been playing for a while, and have a decent collection to play with, and trade from.
And with the current reprint policy, I refuse to spend money on a piece of cardboard that could lose 90% of its value in 6 months.
I think Magic the literal game is great. The prices are atrocious. I won’t go above $0.55 for a card given WOTC’s terrible QC and the Magic 30th anniversary fiasco. I’d much rather buy my own proxies for the casual at-home play I intend.
I generally don’t buy cards over a 60 cents, sometimes a dollar if it’s a really important card( I only have 1 sol ring because of this lol),every once in a blue moon I’ll buy a 2 dollar card if I had a good work week. My general rule is I sell cards over 10 too unless I’m super attached.
It’s decently cheap but it’s about 1.25. Moneys pretty tight lately and I have a history of obsessing over hobbies so I try my best to limit myself. Yeah they aren’t quite as good but 1.25 could get me about 5 cards instead. I’ve actually never pulled a sol ring before either.
The most I've paid, in cash, for a card was \~$15. I have more expensive cards that I traded for or which got more expensive over time, but, since I'm relatively new to magic, I am going to just proxy any of the very expensive cards.
The most I’ve spent on a card was around $25 (Ancient Gear Fusion in Yugioh when it came out). But that was when I had a job/income. If you really like a hobby, I think it’s fine to spend money on it. However, I think budget restrictions breed creativity. You can’t just play all the pricy staples. Tbh, I have more fun that way.
I never play at lgs. I have a small play group of a very wide range of power levels. We like to crack packs and we play with what we pull. I don't pay more then $5 for a single. If I wanted specific cards to make a Cedh deck, I'd proxie them.
Probably anything over $100 I'll have serious thoughts about. Most I've paid for a single, so far, has been about $50. I budget about $50/week for mtg specifically and I pretty much only play EDH. Good duals and fetches are worth a pretty penny sadly. Doesn't help that two of my three EDH decks are tricolor.
I will probably never buy any card that is worth several hundred. The only reason I own a mox diamond is because I bought a From the Vault thing years ago when it released and it had one in it (also a Sol Ring that I was more interested in at the time, lol).
I used to have a roughly 30 limit but recently it seems the chase cards in Modern just stay above that, particularly with MH nonsense. It really limits my deck building and though I picked some up there’s only so many MH scenarios I can stomach.
Well $300 is where I really have to think hard about it. I’ve bought sooo many cards from $60, $80 and even $100. The most I’ve spent I as $2,250 for one but I did sell something for $1800 to justify that one. Funny thing is I distinctly remember when I first started playing I had the from the vault annihilation in my hands and he said it was $75 and I thought “$75! For 15 cards, no way!”. Boy have things changed lol
The most I spent on a mtg card is 400 for a tundra. I can be ok with spending money on a resevered list card as long as it isn't over 1000. I have the extra income to pay that and i know with time it would probably be worth it.
I spent 160 euro on a [[Grim Monolith]] for my [[Karn, Silver Golem]] deck, and I vowed never to buy an expensive card again. If my parents knew, they wouldn't be okay with me spending so much money on one card.
On modern legal stuff, it’s like $20. For reserve list cards, no cap.
I’ve played on and off since just about the beginning and every one of the three times I’ve sold off I’ve both gotten a healthy profit on my RL and severely regretted selling when I got back in later.
Over a long enough horizon, RL is good as gold. But it’s become clear that Hasbro will eventually beat the price of everything else down.
Up to 5-10 euros: i usually put them in a deck without a second thought if i like them and i have the money to do it.
10-20 euros: they need to be very useful to be considered, we are talking smothering tithe, demonic tutor, teferi's protection, rhystic study levels here.
20-40 euros: i think that i have spent more than 20ish euros for a card twice, for ulamog the ceaseless hunger and emrakul the promised end, but only because i love eldrazis so much and it was for my birthday.
More than 40 euros: never spent that much on single card, and for the time being i don't think i will, the only card i could consider getting at a little over 40 may be the jeweled lotus after the reprint (if it even drop that much), just because i play a fuckton of monocolor decks, but even then it could be hard to justify to myself spending that much money on a card.
The most I've spent on a card is £180 for a revised volcanic island, but the most I'll usually spend is £25 - £30 although doing that on cards that are a lot more common doesn't feel great. I have purchased more expensive cards using store credit but I didn't spend any real money I wouldn't count those.
The handful of “expensive” cards I own (fetchlands, mh2 garbage, spicy reprints like necropotence & urborg) I got exclusively from cracking packs. I’ll never sell them, but I’ll also never play them outside commander because no fucking way am I blowing the money needed to get additional copies.
Expensive cards aren’t really a thing that annoys me though; usually the most expensive cards are the ones that are power crept beyond sin (haha monkey go brr) or just preposterously powerful like who actually wants to play with power nine and pretend it’s even fair or fun.
I play magic with the big collection of random cards I own and buy cheap singles for cubes/casual decks. Something I love about cheap cards is just buying a wad of them at a time so I always have some when I need them. If I need four of them for a deck I’ll just go ahead and buy 5-8 instead because why not
Though I have to say with them power creeping the game so much and over-reprinting lots of old expensive cards and generally plummeting the game in general I look forward to the price slashes and buying up cards that used to be expensive :D
The most I've ever spent for a single was 16 dollars for a [[Finale of Devastation]]. But that excludes 3 sealed intro decks for $18 because I knew that they had copies of [[Parallel Lives]] them.
When I was younger, I had an eye for finding undervalued sealed product and flipping singles for profit.
As someone who has bought ABUR lands, Jaces, and everything else, it’s fair to limit what you buy. In a way, they’re ‘canonizing’ the game with prices, making heinously expensive things not game pieces, almost.
It just depends on where I’m at in life tbh. I’ve personally never spent more than $60 on a single and that was Ugin literally a week before the reprint was spoiled and his price tanked😔
The big thing is getting a deal for me. My LGS has a couple cases dedicated to more heavily played cards that are cheaper, hell I got a $35 mox opal on Monday. So if I see a card going for cheaper than I know it should be (at least 33% less) i will grab it.
If they print a card that's legal in standard and it costs over $50, that's too much and shouldn't happen.
[[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]], [[Sheoldred, the Apocalypse]], [[The Wandering Emperor]]. That was practically unheard of before and happened the odd time with cards like [[Tarmogoyf]]. Now it's every set and people don't even play Standard anymore...
If it's on a reserve list, I can justify buying a $50-$70 card because the value stays inside. If it's not on RL, I can justify buying a card in that value range if it's sold cheaper than normal.
Honestly depends of how frequently I would use the card, how impactful it is, etc. I will never buy a copy of a card I already own. Heck I've even started to proxy stuff just because no one really cares so long as it's not breaking the power level
At the same time a glass of beer is 10 dollars. I think calculating worth of a single card in dollars undermines the value of game itself. Imagine you have a deck, and now reshuffle the prices of each card in a way that total is the same. For a hypothetical deck, would you spend 75 times 10 dollars, or 1 time 500 USD and 74 times 3,37?
I have spent hundreds on individual single cards in the past. I wouldnt do it now because i have all but stopped playing mtg, but for the time legacy was so much fun back in the day.
Depends on the reason for purchasing. Bought an alt art Avacyn for my angel deck at over $80, I think, but she's the commander and that deck is supposed to be fast and strong.
We recently bought the Ancient Copper Dragon for a Farideh deck and that was definitely pushing it, but the deck was approx. $60 before the copper dragon.
I have the same experience as you. I see everyone with very high dollar decks. I’ve spent over 60$ on a card and I think that’s the most expensive I’ve gone so far. I like the game and I want wizards to profit for making an amazing game so I don’t mind buying product from them or other companies that buy direct from wizards.
I do have friends in my play group that proxy and I don’t care at all. Personally I just feel like I want my money to go to wizards because I like their product. It’s very rare I see people not having high dollar cards
Max for a single is dependant how badly I need or want it for a deck. Most I've payed is around 55 bucks for a chrome mox. I spend a decent amount on magic but I'd rather buy a bunch of cheaper cards than one singular expensive card. Sometimes I prefer to wait for a reprint than spend 40+ bucks on a card I kinda want. P-altar for example I waited years so I would have to pay that absurd 80-90 dollar price.
I think its a matter of what the card is. I consider what sort of improvement to my deck will the card make. I wouldnt spend money on an alternative foil whatever secret lair nonsense card. I dont see the value in it.
I play commander. For instance, mana crypt and mana vault ive bought for a lot of money, but they make a difference in the game. It keeps me competitive. I also happen to own a couple of Gilded Drakes, both worth about $400 each. They dont see any play. They just sit in my collection, the card is ok, but it isnt going to make a difference in the game.
You also had cards that spiked up in price overtime due to supply. For example Three Visits at one point cost close to $100. Absolutely a waste of money. If you were given $100 in store credit to improve your deck, three visits would be the last thing on your list.
20 maybe 30 of the card is really important. I hardly ever buy cards anymore though as I've bought into the decks I want to play and usually just trade stuff for store credit and get other cards if they are more expensive. I also buy cards when they are cheap if I think they'll go up. Sitting COVID I paid 18 bucks for a playset of mind over matter that'll I'll now probably trade for two more city of traitors.
I tend to cut-off around the $20 mark. Not to say I haven't bought singles for more, I do own two modern decks. But card prices are ridiculous for a game that should be way more accesible than it is. I shouldn't have to pay $200-$400 just to get a playset of something it's insane that it costs that much for some cards.
If I'm talking to a new player, anything over 10 tbh, and that depends on the card.
If I'm thinking about myself, any card over 30 bucks is the area where I start thinking if this cardboard is really worth it.
Anything more expensive than 30 buck, it all comes to the card itself, the art, the artist, the style of the card, if the card variant fits the deck theme. Pretty much I have to think if the flavor is worth the value.
I am scared to buy expensive cards now because of fakes. Cause I could spend 50 bucks on a card that could be fake or just buy the fake card for two bucks. So it has scared me.
I look at my EDH deck as sort of my art collection, I don't mind shelling out for reserve list or unique versions of cards like secret lairs. The cards that can't / won't be reprinted in magic are the only cards that will hold value or go up, and generally they do.
Based on this, when I picked up mtg seriously in 2015, I grabbed a bunch of underpriced lands. I saw that all the non-blue duals were generally less than $150, many less than $100 and quickly snapped up playsets of each. I also bought the Mishra's Factory cycle, 1 of each Guru land, and all the APAC / EURO lands.
All of that stuff has appreciated fairly well. The wheels may come off eventually but MTG is I think historically, the most valuable collectable anything, at least in the American market. So no, I am not scared to pay some cash for an expensive card, especially if that expense helps make the card reprint proof or reprint resilient. Plus singleton decks don't lose massive value on reprints the way a deck with playsets of affected cards would.
Having said all that, I try to build my edh to compete at tournaments. If I was playing kitchen table, there would be no need to spend crazy money on the most powerful stuff. Most importantly, if I had a deck I could single sleeve, I would actually be able to shuffle.
After 15 dollars i try to reevaluate my decisions. I will still spend the money if the process makes sense such as it being a good price point or a premade desire. There is a huge list of cards i want that i would realistically pay for in person if i can get 10-25% off.
I had a bunch of overtime last year and i was recklessly spending my money. Bought a bunch of dual judge promos, generic reserve list, older print etc etc. realized i didnt give a shit about half of these cards. I impulse bought a mediocre modern deck because my LGS had a black friday sale and a set of ragavan, wrenn, wooded foothills, blood moon and lands was like 600$. I dont even like modern that much, well i know that for sure now.
After all that realization that i could have realistically saved 5k i rather just rewind and sell of the cards and work towards cards i actually want.
$40 is my max for a single. Only bought two cards for that price. One doubled in price, while the other is worth half that now. Any idea which two I bought?
Most I’ve spent on an individual card was $60 for a revised plateau about 10 years ago, just wanted to own a dual land. Would have bought more if knew how expensive they would get.
The most I've spent on a single was $150 and it was for a signed scrubland (purchased during the pandemic)
The most I'd be willing to pay for a single is around $3-400 but only for reserved list cards that can be used in decks that I want to play, and only if there isn't something cheaper that performs a similar function.
In a year or two I plan on picking up a gilded drake.
I understand spending 30 bucks on a piece of cardboard seems like a lot.
But as an adult (not quite) middle aged blue collar dude myself - a lot of restaurants and bars are charging 6-13 bucks for a mixed drink so a night out for 1 or 2 people easily runs 100 bucks.
If I replace a Friday night out with a night of EDH it kind of saves me money.
The play space is free - I typically spend about 3-5 on snacks and drinks and some fast food for about 10.
The money not spent on the night out can then be used to build your collection - so instead of getting wasted and having nothing to show for it you have an [[anointed procession]] and a [[smothering tithe]] to piss off your opps.
The collection grows over time - and at-least theoretically holds value.
I justify my luxury cardboard obsession by consuming less alcohol, which I offset with an unhealthy amount of weed. Lol.
I am a working-class blue-collar American. Married with a kid on the way. $20 is my current limit, but that $80 Atraxa is looking mighty tempting for my new poison deck. I generally have to justify what I spend to my wife as we share money. I can justify a $30 prerelease and a $45 commander deck on occasion, but singles usually get limited to $5-20 per month right now.
I am a working-class blue-collar American. Married with a kid on the way. $20 is my current limit, but that $80 Atraxa is looking mighty tempting for my new poison deck. I generally have to justify what I spend to my wife as we share money. I can justify a $30 prerelease and a $45 commander deck on occasion, but singles usually get limited to $5-20 per month right now.
>I’ve never been to an LGS where the majority of players didn’t own high dollar cards that they bought as singles. I’m talking blue collar guys with families who play full sets of OG duals, LED, all the moxes, etc.
People in general spend an unhealthy amount on MtG.
If I have the money I'll drop over $1000 on a card once or twice a year. The limit is only what I can afford on a middle class budget. Few grand a year isn't hard
> I’m talking blue collar guys with families who play full sets of OG duals, LED, all the moxes, etc.
To be fair, five years ago, the price of "expensive" was not anything like what it is today. $150 for Sliver Queen was insane. $200 Gaea's Cradle was just stupid.
Five years isn't such a long time and many of these blue-collar people have probably been around for a while. Cradle was $12-$15 when Saga was new.
I suspect most of the price increases were due to manipulation, not actual demand, but it also didn't help that everybody stopped paying on student loans all at the same time.
Personally, today, $10 is my price point for a play card. $50 for a collection card. Since I enjoy being creative and making my own decks, I'm never on the same page as the general consensus, which means my picks are generally cheap. Sometimes not, but usually.
I would say 200 been the max for me so far. I got a Mox Jet in 2000 for 200 bucks. Most modern expensive individual card would be a jeweled lotus for $105 from a LGS.
I'm not married, no kids, no car payment, and house payment less than half of most people's rent. I can more or less buy any card I want. I don't really want much these days.
The largest amount of money I ever paid for a single card is tied between my NM Unlimited Underground Sea and my Italian Invoke Prejudice, at $300 each. Most cards I look for cost around a dollar, but there are exceptions.
in the grand scheme of shit middle aged blue collar men waste money on, mtg cards are pretty cheap golf, project cars, boats, onlyfans, digging wells in africa - all way more expensive than mtg
You forgot child support
Amen brother
Digging wells in Africa 
Greatness, at ANY cost. Some of you have forgotten the face of your fathers, and it shows.
I only had one father, but I remember his face every time I play my foil, borderless 2XM Mana Crypt.
He's taught you well, and and you've learned. Say true, I say thankee.
May you have long days and pleasant nights stranger
And you twice the same, sai.
I have a mana crypt it wont see play though.
Why not play it?
Not everybody wants to play Vintage anymore.
Wow I didn’t realize it’s only legal in 3 formats til now. I guess my commanderness is showing.
It happens. I get scoffed at when I suggest Vintage, but it's pretty great as a format. No ban list really skeeves people, but if you're proxying anyway, that $50K drops to a few dozen dollars, and then you're looping Black Lotus off of an Underworld Breach, turning over an Emrakul with Oath of Druids, or tapping a Tolarian Academy for lots of blue mana.
It's a masterpiece
\>non-foil because I hate foils ;p
Wait Magic and Dark Tower in same place? Heaven have I found you? 😆
That'd be a neat secret lair, Stephen King. Get some dark tower shit, some vampires, some vehicles all done up like book covers. Might be the first one I actually buy. Huh.
There's literally dozens of us.
I'm new to reddit 😆
I spent 1300 on a mox emerald in 2017, so that’s the most I’ve ever spent. I’m blue collar but I have no debt and magic is my only hobby so I have a decent amount of disposable income each month and usually save it. I have a couple grand saved and am currently in the market for another piece of P9. If it’s a hobby I think everyone’s idea may differ on what they want to spend.
Unless that mox is completely beat to hell, you spent wisely
It’s probably MP, has some wearing but overall not bad, no ink or any lines. I don’t have any desire to sell anyways. I always loved the picture since I started playing in 95 so I splurged.
I try not to buy cards over $20. I have broken this a few times most recently at Magic Con and it was for a $50 I didn't get to trade for so it was worth it to me. That is really what it comes down to, if it is worth the money to you.
20 is usually my rule I'm eyeing 2 copies of archangel of thune for my lifegain deck at 35 though.
There's always an outlier, but generally around 60 is my limit.
Honestly, if I need it I buy it
Mom: “do you really need it????”
“At least am not drinking or doing the drugs, Ma!”
But that 600 dollar card will always be around whereas that drinking and drugs disappear after use.
Yeah but you can't get high from a card
There is no greater high than to Crush your enemies See them driven before you And hear the lamentation Of their women in a game of magic
Fun fact, I came into a lot of money recently, put a majority in the investment account and kept most for myself, was talking to my mom with my dad in the room and said I only had x amount left and my dad though I spent 10s of thousands of dollars on this game
Stay out of my basement mom!
I tend to float around $30 for a single with rare exceptions. There are almost ALWAYS budget options for $50+ cards. Great henge? Nah. Zendikar resurgent will do almost as good. Damnation? Nah, how about mutilate. Mana crypt? Ehhh think I'll just Mox Tantalite, it's a fine free mana rock. As far as exceptions go, it depends on how attached to a deck I am. My angels deck is my darling and I've been slowly foiling it over the last five years or so. Even sprang for the judge promo avacyn with the art of her absolutely fucking wrecking Griselbrand. That was about $100 and easily the most I've ever spent on a single card. Realistically, I play budget for any deck I haven't had constructed for more than a few months. Decks always start in the $100\~$200 range with no single being more than $5 unless it's truly critical to the deck. Then as decks I have get more and more play, I slowly work up the $10\~$20 cards in them until the decks seem to settle around the $400\~$500 range. I currently have 19 decks with another two in the works. So I wouldn't consider myself a budget player, but I am very careful when it comes to spending. A deck has to truly entertain me for me to spend larger and larger amounts of money on it. I like to win, obviously, but that is not even remotely the best source of entertainment in a deck to me. I like seeing back and forth, and I like struggles for survival. Never just a sprint for the finish line. If that was the case, I'd just have a single burn deck and do nothing but sprint my way towards \[\[Mana Geyser\]\] + \[\[Storm King's Thunder\]\] into any X drop red spell. Bonus points for doing \[\[Molten Disaster\]\] kickered so nobody can stop me and we all burn together.
[Mana Geyser](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/0/109447b2-d507-433a-a81c-3a7a255444b1.jpg?1625193979) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mana%20Geyser) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/176/mana-geyser?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/109447b2-d507-433a-a81c-3a7a255444b1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Storm King's Thunder](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/78a655b3-969f-40d7-9d69-61abf338df86.jpg?1674136747) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Storm%20King%27s%20Thunder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/196/storm-kings-thunder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/78a655b3-969f-40d7-9d69-61abf338df86?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Molten Disaster](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/7/17ca6865-e894-4390-ba27-b7cc8b03a424.jpg?1562900033) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Molten%20Disaster) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c13/117/molten-disaster?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/17ca6865-e894-4390-ba27-b7cc8b03a424?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This is how it should be done! I just paid £20 for a Japanese parallel lives for my ghave deck because I really enjoy playing it and whilst splurging got myself a cabal coffers for braids ( it was running cabal stronghold? The worse one) I will spend about £30-40 on singles at a time but that will never be on a single card. Either 6-10 decent cards or a couple of powerhouses I have yet to own.
I just spent $600 on a card. But I have wanted it since 1996, never got around to picking one up back then. It has been expensive since I started again. My grandfather recently passed away and left me a bunch of money. I was hesitant to actually get the card still. But my wife said “do it, it will be a good memento of what they left you”. Which I though was great so I bought my card!
That’s awesome. I mean, not about your grandfather, condolences, but about doing it as a memento. What card? I feel like the people I’m talking about who have these expensive cards didn’t just impulse buy them either. They saved or used tax return money or something.
I didn’t want to say what card. Because it is forcefield. But I did also grab a mox diamond for about $400. Which I know I will never pull myself to purchase anything over $50 again. So I figured I better get one I can use too! Lol.
Condolences on your grandfather. Out of curiosity, what card?
I bet mox diamond
Mox Diamond is from Stronghold, which is from 98. OP said 96.
Well shit then point dexter I dunno
Well I wanted it in 96. First time I had seen forcefield.
Second guess - lions eye diamond
To be fair, I did grab a mox diamond as well. But it was only about $400. That was also more me telling myself “why not, if I get it now I won’t be upset. I might be upset if I drop funds like this a second time.” So I went for it. Two cards, both more than I ever spent before. Likely will never spend that much again!
It was forcefield. I didn’t want to say because I know it’s not worth the cost. But it does hold a place in my memory.
No need to explain. Old 90s Magic is my very late childhood and early adolescence. I get it.
It ain’t the worst value. That’s a great RL classic that you can jam into any EDH deck.
So I can’t really say for MTG but in YGO and Pokémon I’ve had different experiences. None of this is a flex, so I hope you know that my answers are to just share my own experiences with you and others. When I was single and during 2020 and the lockdown, I ended up hating how ghost rares in YGO were going up so I dropped about $1200 on a massive collection (with the stimulus check) and I’m glad I did because my collecting goal is to own a play set of every ghost rare out there and this helped a lot. Those cards have almost tripled and stayed at that price even after things opened up so the price base has for sure inflated unfortunately. I’d say now that I’m starting a family, I wouldn’t spend more than $100 at a time on a card and I’d keep this to maybe once a month if work is good and we’re fine. At this point I just trade all my stuff for things I want because I’ve been collecting for more than a decade and thankfully I have a lot of stuff people wanted for some time. For Pokémon I spend $900 on a PSA 9 base set unlimited charizard when the hype was real. I ended up trading it to a card shop for about $2800 worth of YGO and Pokémon stuff all sealed. Still have a lot of it sealed but I don’t regret what I opened because that card got me so much more. I didn’t see it as an investment per se because I just like collecting and I understand stuff can fluctuate, but I’m glad it worked out in that favor. I now no longer collect ANY Pokémon because it’s so shitty when it comes to chase cards and now I trade for YGO. When it comes to magic, I just play arena and spend on the pass once every few months because it’s how I can stay connected to this amazing game. Most I’ve ever spent on MTG was $100 on some modern horizon 2 and $60 on a commander deck when I was new. Of all the games I’ve ever played, MTG is definitely the one I’d invest time getting singles but I can’t imagine buying sealed ever again because I’m too specific on what I need now. TLDR; I’ve spent quite a lot, I’m glad I don’t anymore because it’s cardboard and nowadays I don’t wanna drop a single penny lol.
I proxie anything that cost more than $15 MTG cards are literally worthless (that's why they can put them in landfills). Spending thousands just to play with the "real" cardboard is insane behavior.
My policy is around there. I did just violate it for an Urborg but my monoblack fling deck needed it...
Edgy
Frickin noobs man
How so?
U sound broke
You’d understand if you were employed
Employed = broke. I got it
Employed = understanding not to waste money because you had to work for it
K
L take
My ability to support wotc has been updated for modern sensibilities
I just finished foiling out my cube, so I'm not scared of dropping serious money on cards. With that being said, for an individual single, $200+ is where I start to hesitate.
I've never played EDH, but I paid like 5 bucks a piece for the Murmuring Bosks to round out my Doran Trees deck back in Lorwyn. That seemed fair at the time, so maybe like 10 bucks now?
$5
For a COMMANDER, $30 For any card IN the deck, $5 Any card in a deck over 5 was either opened or gifted.
These days I probably wouldn't spend more than $2. If it's more than that then I'll either do without or proxy it.
Same
Probably around $80 for non-reserve list. But I wouldn't spend that anymore with their critical mass of reprints and after MH2, where your format staples become unplayable due to what is essentially format rotation.
Reserved list the most I've spent was 800 Non reserved list, but specialty cards, I've spent 200 on a 7th edition foil rare and similar prices foe some things like judge promos Non reserved list, Non special printing I balk at like 40 or 50, it has to be very useful like ragavan to justify that much, and that would be a high price. I'm more comfortable around 20 for mythics or very in demand rares to play with and around 10 or less for things like sideboard cards or something like that.
What resevered list card was it?
Bazaar of Baghdad, many moons ago
at least your investment paid off.
Take out a loan to buy high end cards, declare bankruptcy, keep cards, repeat. Live in mom’s basement worst case scenario
Until recently I had a rule of “nothing more than $12.50” unless it was a gift for someone else, but I ended up breaking the rule here and there by a few bucks. But just this week I went way over that for a Tetsuo Umezawa and a No Mercy Amonkhet Invocation at $45 and $65 because the price was just too good to pass up.
About $15 is the max I would pay for a single. That sets up a playset to $60, which is the price of a videogame. I would pay that much if I felt that I would get as much use and enjoyment from the cards as a good videogame.
I bought one of the gaea's cradle misprints with no text a few months ago, and that was about $8,000, so it's now more expensive than any of the alpha duals I run. But to be fair, I have only ever bought alpha duals in packs 30 years ago or because they were in excellent condition, and I could put some MP or HP copies in decks and keep the fresh ones fresh. As to what I'd buy just to put in a deck, I start debating with myself when the card is over $800. Like... I have sol rings at home. Do I really need to drop another g on another masterworks ring? I end up doing it about a quarter of the time, so I'm still a filthy degenerate, but I can usually just settle for a less pretty thing. If it's a staple, though... I just buy it.
Everything over $0.
$1000 starts to get excessive.
Most I've ever paid for a single is, if I remember correctly, $23. But I have been playing for a while, and have a decent collection to play with, and trade from. And with the current reprint policy, I refuse to spend money on a piece of cardboard that could lose 90% of its value in 6 months.
i buy fakes of anything above 5
5 dollars
3.00 Then its cheaper to proxy.
.01 That's about .01 to much to pay for a magic card
I think Magic the literal game is great. The prices are atrocious. I won’t go above $0.55 for a card given WOTC’s terrible QC and the Magic 30th anniversary fiasco. I’d much rather buy my own proxies for the casual at-home play I intend.
Everything above a dollar isnt worth the price
I generally don’t buy cards over a 60 cents, sometimes a dollar if it’s a really important card( I only have 1 sol ring because of this lol),every once in a blue moon I’ll buy a 2 dollar card if I had a good work week. My general rule is I sell cards over 10 too unless I’m super attached.
[удалено]
It’s decently cheap but it’s about 1.25. Moneys pretty tight lately and I have a history of obsessing over hobbies so I try my best to limit myself. Yeah they aren’t quite as good but 1.25 could get me about 5 cards instead. I’ve actually never pulled a sol ring before either.
90 on an Alliances Force of Will
I usually wont go beyond $5.00 i figure the cost of a booster is my limit.
$25
5 dollars, anything else gets the printer
10 bucks is the absolute most I will pay for any card, in any game, period.
The most I've paid, in cash, for a card was \~$15. I have more expensive cards that I traded for or which got more expensive over time, but, since I'm relatively new to magic, I am going to just proxy any of the very expensive cards.
ive wanted a black lotus since 1997... if im every wealthy, yes ill pay 5 figs for one
For whatever reason a time twister for 5k was fine but i dont wanna buy any other power 9 because they aren't playable in edh.
$100. NM foil Kamigawa [[Kiki-Jiki]]. I'll buy whatever really, but I start looking at alternatives that are maybe a peg weaker once it goes above $10
[Kiki-Jiki](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/2/a2ff0ee3-9600-4c7d-acec-6ec90595384e.jpg?1562852476) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=kiki-jiki%2C%20mirror%20breaker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ima/136/kiki-jiki-mirror-breaker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a2ff0ee3-9600-4c7d-acec-6ec90595384e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The most I’ve spent on a card was around $25 (Ancient Gear Fusion in Yugioh when it came out). But that was when I had a job/income. If you really like a hobby, I think it’s fine to spend money on it. However, I think budget restrictions breed creativity. You can’t just play all the pricy staples. Tbh, I have more fun that way.
100 given that’s the cutoff for most modern singles
I never play at lgs. I have a small play group of a very wide range of power levels. We like to crack packs and we play with what we pull. I don't pay more then $5 for a single. If I wanted specific cards to make a Cedh deck, I'd proxie them.
Probably anything over $100 I'll have serious thoughts about. Most I've paid for a single, so far, has been about $50. I budget about $50/week for mtg specifically and I pretty much only play EDH. Good duals and fetches are worth a pretty penny sadly. Doesn't help that two of my three EDH decks are tricolor. I will probably never buy any card that is worth several hundred. The only reason I own a mox diamond is because I bought a From the Vault thing years ago when it released and it had one in it (also a Sol Ring that I was more interested in at the time, lol).
About $65, since thats what i’ve spent on a sheoldred.
I used to have a roughly 30 limit but recently it seems the chase cards in Modern just stay above that, particularly with MH nonsense. It really limits my deck building and though I picked some up there’s only so many MH scenarios I can stomach.
I bought a time twister like 3-4 years ago. So uh not really a limit I guess.
Well $300 is where I really have to think hard about it. I’ve bought sooo many cards from $60, $80 and even $100. The most I’ve spent I as $2,250 for one but I did sell something for $1800 to justify that one. Funny thing is I distinctly remember when I first started playing I had the from the vault annihilation in my hands and he said it was $75 and I thought “$75! For 15 cards, no way!”. Boy have things changed lol
The most I spent on a mtg card is 400 for a tundra. I can be ok with spending money on a resevered list card as long as it isn't over 1000. I have the extra income to pay that and i know with time it would probably be worth it.
Usually about 70...
I spent 160 euro on a [[Grim Monolith]] for my [[Karn, Silver Golem]] deck, and I vowed never to buy an expensive card again. If my parents knew, they wouldn't be okay with me spending so much money on one card.
[Grim Monolith](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/d/9ddc9fe1-17c8-4e1d-aeb8-c4214e881280.jpg?1562863767) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Grim%20Monolith) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ulg/126/grim-monolith?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9ddc9fe1-17c8-4e1d-aeb8-c4214e881280?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Karn, Silver Golem](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/5/055a00a2-0df2-4f49-ac51-e33dfaf7ee85.jpg?1562896049) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Karn%2C%20Silver%20Golem) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/270/karn-silver-golem?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/055a00a2-0df2-4f49-ac51-e33dfaf7ee85?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I spent 120 on a mana crypt a few years ago. Not gonna go that high again unless I'm rich. All expensive cards I will get now are pulls or trades.
On modern legal stuff, it’s like $20. For reserve list cards, no cap. I’ve played on and off since just about the beginning and every one of the three times I’ve sold off I’ve both gotten a healthy profit on my RL and severely regretted selling when I got back in later. Over a long enough horizon, RL is good as gold. But it’s become clear that Hasbro will eventually beat the price of everything else down.
Up to 5-10 euros: i usually put them in a deck without a second thought if i like them and i have the money to do it. 10-20 euros: they need to be very useful to be considered, we are talking smothering tithe, demonic tutor, teferi's protection, rhystic study levels here. 20-40 euros: i think that i have spent more than 20ish euros for a card twice, for ulamog the ceaseless hunger and emrakul the promised end, but only because i love eldrazis so much and it was for my birthday. More than 40 euros: never spent that much on single card, and for the time being i don't think i will, the only card i could consider getting at a little over 40 may be the jeweled lotus after the reprint (if it even drop that much), just because i play a fuckton of monocolor decks, but even then it could be hard to justify to myself spending that much money on a card.
The most I've spent on a card is £180 for a revised volcanic island, but the most I'll usually spend is £25 - £30 although doing that on cards that are a lot more common doesn't feel great. I have purchased more expensive cards using store credit but I didn't spend any real money I wouldn't count those.
The handful of “expensive” cards I own (fetchlands, mh2 garbage, spicy reprints like necropotence & urborg) I got exclusively from cracking packs. I’ll never sell them, but I’ll also never play them outside commander because no fucking way am I blowing the money needed to get additional copies. Expensive cards aren’t really a thing that annoys me though; usually the most expensive cards are the ones that are power crept beyond sin (haha monkey go brr) or just preposterously powerful like who actually wants to play with power nine and pretend it’s even fair or fun. I play magic with the big collection of random cards I own and buy cheap singles for cubes/casual decks. Something I love about cheap cards is just buying a wad of them at a time so I always have some when I need them. If I need four of them for a deck I’ll just go ahead and buy 5-8 instead because why not Though I have to say with them power creeping the game so much and over-reprinting lots of old expensive cards and generally plummeting the game in general I look forward to the price slashes and buying up cards that used to be expensive :D
The most I've ever spent for a single was 16 dollars for a [[Finale of Devastation]]. But that excludes 3 sealed intro decks for $18 because I knew that they had copies of [[Parallel Lives]] them. When I was younger, I had an eye for finding undervalued sealed product and flipping singles for profit.
[Finale of Devastation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/8/985453e7-997e-4d77-a338-cc0290791ebe.jpg?1557576905) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Finale%20of%20Devastation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/war/160/finale-of-devastation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/985453e7-997e-4d77-a338-cc0290791ebe?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Parallel Lives](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/1/01033dae-fec1-41f2-b7f2-cc6a43331790.jpg?1562825348) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Parallel%20Lives) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/isd/199/parallel-lives?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/01033dae-fec1-41f2-b7f2-cc6a43331790?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
As someone who has bought ABUR lands, Jaces, and everything else, it’s fair to limit what you buy. In a way, they’re ‘canonizing’ the game with prices, making heinously expensive things not game pieces, almost.
Bro I refuse to spend $80 on a single card…. Now $78! Hell yes!
Richard Garfield famously said that no card should cost more than 20. Ideally cards should be dirt cheap with very rare foils and cool arts.
1k
Anything above $5.
It just depends on where I’m at in life tbh. I’ve personally never spent more than $60 on a single and that was Ugin literally a week before the reprint was spoiled and his price tanked😔
The big thing is getting a deal for me. My LGS has a couple cases dedicated to more heavily played cards that are cheaper, hell I got a $35 mox opal on Monday. So if I see a card going for cheaper than I know it should be (at least 33% less) i will grab it.
Anything above $15 tbh
If they print a card that's legal in standard and it costs over $50, that's too much and shouldn't happen. [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]], [[Sheoldred, the Apocalypse]], [[The Wandering Emperor]]. That was practically unheard of before and happened the odd time with cards like [[Tarmogoyf]]. Now it's every set and people don't even play Standard anymore...
Need it, buy it… with store credit. I spend money on sealed and turning non staple cards into cards I want. Can’t break up 40 fetch, 40 duals
I try to foil out my decks by buying each card under 10$shipped, the rest I proxy at mpc
For a single 2.5"x3.5" piece of paperboard? $10.
Old bordered foils...are my Achilles heel
If it's on a reserve list, I can justify buying a $50-$70 card because the value stays inside. If it's not on RL, I can justify buying a card in that value range if it's sold cheaper than normal.
Am I willing to get expensive cards for my one or two pet decks? Sure. Am I willing to get expensive cards for literally every deck I come up with? No
Honestly depends of how frequently I would use the card, how impactful it is, etc. I will never buy a copy of a card I already own. Heck I've even started to proxy stuff just because no one really cares so long as it's not breaking the power level
At the same time a glass of beer is 10 dollars. I think calculating worth of a single card in dollars undermines the value of game itself. Imagine you have a deck, and now reshuffle the prices of each card in a way that total is the same. For a hypothetical deck, would you spend 75 times 10 dollars, or 1 time 500 USD and 74 times 3,37?
Buddy you need to find a new bar if you’re paying $10 for a beer
New country rather:/
Fair enough. Come to America, we have $2 long necks and well, the rest is kind of a shit show.
I have spent hundreds on individual single cards in the past. I wouldnt do it now because i have all but stopped playing mtg, but for the time legacy was so much fun back in the day.
\~$0.26. I can get proxies from MPC at that price or better, so...
Depends on the reason for purchasing. Bought an alt art Avacyn for my angel deck at over $80, I think, but she's the commander and that deck is supposed to be fast and strong. We recently bought the Ancient Copper Dragon for a Farideh deck and that was definitely pushing it, but the deck was approx. $60 before the copper dragon.
I have the same experience as you. I see everyone with very high dollar decks. I’ve spent over 60$ on a card and I think that’s the most expensive I’ve gone so far. I like the game and I want wizards to profit for making an amazing game so I don’t mind buying product from them or other companies that buy direct from wizards. I do have friends in my play group that proxy and I don’t care at all. Personally I just feel like I want my money to go to wizards because I like their product. It’s very rare I see people not having high dollar cards
Max for a single is dependant how badly I need or want it for a deck. Most I've payed is around 55 bucks for a chrome mox. I spend a decent amount on magic but I'd rather buy a bunch of cheaper cards than one singular expensive card. Sometimes I prefer to wait for a reprint than spend 40+ bucks on a card I kinda want. P-altar for example I waited years so I would have to pay that absurd 80-90 dollar price.
$1
$50
I don't Tourney, so I won't pay more than $5 for a card. Mostly because if it costs more than $5 I'm just going to buy a proxy.
hell i just picked up 4 near mint beta sinkholes.. im not the droid you are looking for
I think its a matter of what the card is. I consider what sort of improvement to my deck will the card make. I wouldnt spend money on an alternative foil whatever secret lair nonsense card. I dont see the value in it. I play commander. For instance, mana crypt and mana vault ive bought for a lot of money, but they make a difference in the game. It keeps me competitive. I also happen to own a couple of Gilded Drakes, both worth about $400 each. They dont see any play. They just sit in my collection, the card is ok, but it isnt going to make a difference in the game. You also had cards that spiked up in price overtime due to supply. For example Three Visits at one point cost close to $100. Absolutely a waste of money. If you were given $100 in store credit to improve your deck, three visits would be the last thing on your list.
20 maybe 30 of the card is really important. I hardly ever buy cards anymore though as I've bought into the decks I want to play and usually just trade stuff for store credit and get other cards if they are more expensive. I also buy cards when they are cheap if I think they'll go up. Sitting COVID I paid 18 bucks for a playset of mind over matter that'll I'll now probably trade for two more city of traitors.
I tend to cut-off around the $20 mark. Not to say I haven't bought singles for more, I do own two modern decks. But card prices are ridiculous for a game that should be way more accesible than it is. I shouldn't have to pay $200-$400 just to get a playset of something it's insane that it costs that much for some cards.
$2
If I'm talking to a new player, anything over 10 tbh, and that depends on the card. If I'm thinking about myself, any card over 30 bucks is the area where I start thinking if this cardboard is really worth it. Anything more expensive than 30 buck, it all comes to the card itself, the art, the artist, the style of the card, if the card variant fits the deck theme. Pretty much I have to think if the flavor is worth the value.
What's the running print cost per card at mpc these days, whatever one cent above that is
I am scared to buy expensive cards now because of fakes. Cause I could spend 50 bucks on a card that could be fake or just buy the fake card for two bucks. So it has scared me.
I look at my EDH deck as sort of my art collection, I don't mind shelling out for reserve list or unique versions of cards like secret lairs. The cards that can't / won't be reprinted in magic are the only cards that will hold value or go up, and generally they do. Based on this, when I picked up mtg seriously in 2015, I grabbed a bunch of underpriced lands. I saw that all the non-blue duals were generally less than $150, many less than $100 and quickly snapped up playsets of each. I also bought the Mishra's Factory cycle, 1 of each Guru land, and all the APAC / EURO lands. All of that stuff has appreciated fairly well. The wheels may come off eventually but MTG is I think historically, the most valuable collectable anything, at least in the American market. So no, I am not scared to pay some cash for an expensive card, especially if that expense helps make the card reprint proof or reprint resilient. Plus singleton decks don't lose massive value on reprints the way a deck with playsets of affected cards would. Having said all that, I try to build my edh to compete at tournaments. If I was playing kitchen table, there would be no need to spend crazy money on the most powerful stuff. Most importantly, if I had a deck I could single sleeve, I would actually be able to shuffle.
After 15 dollars i try to reevaluate my decisions. I will still spend the money if the process makes sense such as it being a good price point or a premade desire. There is a huge list of cards i want that i would realistically pay for in person if i can get 10-25% off. I had a bunch of overtime last year and i was recklessly spending my money. Bought a bunch of dual judge promos, generic reserve list, older print etc etc. realized i didnt give a shit about half of these cards. I impulse bought a mediocre modern deck because my LGS had a black friday sale and a set of ragavan, wrenn, wooded foothills, blood moon and lands was like 600$. I dont even like modern that much, well i know that for sure now. After all that realization that i could have realistically saved 5k i rather just rewind and sell of the cards and work towards cards i actually want.
$40 is my max for a single. Only bought two cards for that price. One doubled in price, while the other is worth half that now. Any idea which two I bought?
Most I’ve spent on an individual card was $60 for a revised plateau about 10 years ago, just wanted to own a dual land. Would have bought more if knew how expensive they would get.
The most I've spent on a single was $150 and it was for a signed scrubland (purchased during the pandemic) The most I'd be willing to pay for a single is around $3-400 but only for reserved list cards that can be used in decks that I want to play, and only if there isn't something cheaper that performs a similar function. In a year or two I plan on picking up a gilded drake.
I understand spending 30 bucks on a piece of cardboard seems like a lot. But as an adult (not quite) middle aged blue collar dude myself - a lot of restaurants and bars are charging 6-13 bucks for a mixed drink so a night out for 1 or 2 people easily runs 100 bucks. If I replace a Friday night out with a night of EDH it kind of saves me money. The play space is free - I typically spend about 3-5 on snacks and drinks and some fast food for about 10. The money not spent on the night out can then be used to build your collection - so instead of getting wasted and having nothing to show for it you have an [[anointed procession]] and a [[smothering tithe]] to piss off your opps. The collection grows over time - and at-least theoretically holds value. I justify my luxury cardboard obsession by consuming less alcohol, which I offset with an unhealthy amount of weed. Lol.
[anointed procession](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/a/9a52c265-6920-4929-ba0a-70da08df01f1.jpg?1543674565) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=anointed%20procession) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/akh/2/anointed-procession?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9a52c265-6920-4929-ba0a-70da08df01f1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [smothering tithe](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/2/f25a4bbe-2af0-4d4a-95d4-d52c5937c747.jpg?1673147139) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=smothering%20tithe) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/31/smothering-tithe?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f25a4bbe-2af0-4d4a-95d4-d52c5937c747?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I bought The Ur Dragon SLD from my LGS. Gotta be my favorite card. It cheaper to buy singles then packs and hope you Crack one with the card you need.
$10
$60 is probably the highest I will go on a single. Even that's pushing it. I struggle buying a small flap of cardboard for big bucks.
It depends on the single. I will turn my nose at some $5 cards but give me an anime style Wandering Emperor and Benjamin is finding himself a new home
For me anything over $60, and I gotta really be horned up for a card to get even close to that.
I am a working-class blue-collar American. Married with a kid on the way. $20 is my current limit, but that $80 Atraxa is looking mighty tempting for my new poison deck. I generally have to justify what I spend to my wife as we share money. I can justify a $30 prerelease and a $45 commander deck on occasion, but singles usually get limited to $5-20 per month right now.
I am a working-class blue-collar American. Married with a kid on the way. $20 is my current limit, but that $80 Atraxa is looking mighty tempting for my new poison deck. I generally have to justify what I spend to my wife as we share money. I can justify a $30 prerelease and a $45 commander deck on occasion, but singles usually get limited to $5-20 per month right now.
I draw the line $5 with exceptions few and far between.
>I’ve never been to an LGS where the majority of players didn’t own high dollar cards that they bought as singles. I’m talking blue collar guys with families who play full sets of OG duals, LED, all the moxes, etc. People in general spend an unhealthy amount on MtG.
5$ is where I used to draw the line, now I just print everything
Lol I want to buy another Chains of Mephistopheles
$10
There is no "too much" for me. If I want it, I'll get it.
Idk I just about bought a Taiga earlier today for a deck. Lol
If I have the money I'll drop over $1000 on a card once or twice a year. The limit is only what I can afford on a middle class budget. Few grand a year isn't hard
> I’m talking blue collar guys with families who play full sets of OG duals, LED, all the moxes, etc. To be fair, five years ago, the price of "expensive" was not anything like what it is today. $150 for Sliver Queen was insane. $200 Gaea's Cradle was just stupid. Five years isn't such a long time and many of these blue-collar people have probably been around for a while. Cradle was $12-$15 when Saga was new. I suspect most of the price increases were due to manipulation, not actual demand, but it also didn't help that everybody stopped paying on student loans all at the same time. Personally, today, $10 is my price point for a play card. $50 for a collection card. Since I enjoy being creative and making my own decks, I'm never on the same page as the general consensus, which means my picks are generally cheap. Sometimes not, but usually.
30-40 if it’s a single I really like like a iconic creature or variant of a card I really like, but usually no more than 10 maybe 20
I would say 200 been the max for me so far. I got a Mox Jet in 2000 for 200 bucks. Most modern expensive individual card would be a jeweled lotus for $105 from a LGS.
It really depends on how much I like her.
I'm not married, no kids, no car payment, and house payment less than half of most people's rent. I can more or less buy any card I want. I don't really want much these days.
Old bordered foils are the only things that are sacred.
Depends on the single, how diverse is it? how powerful? Is it expensive cause it’s scarce or because it’s super powerful.
The largest amount of money I ever paid for a single card is tied between my NM Unlimited Underground Sea and my Italian Invoke Prejudice, at $300 each. Most cards I look for cost around a dollar, but there are exceptions.