Monday, February 14, 2011

Standard Weigh In Part 1: Price Guide and the basics to look out for

So in this edition of the my articles i'll be weighing in on standard prices today and how they affect the average magic player, including what cards are super powerful and their costs as well as other things, so as always let's begin with a serious bang.

The first key word is price in this article as most standard casual cards range from 50 cents to about 2.50 depending on where you live, however here in ontario due to the Harmonized Sales Tax in effect costs of those cards are also taxed for single purchases as well as booster pack purchases let's say you are looking for a full playset of Memnite now starcitygames has it listed as a 2 dollar card while channelfireball has it also listed as 2 dollars in price and each foil memnite according to starcitygames costs 5.49 cents while the price according to starcitygames is listed as 5.99 so there is a difference in price for the foil versions of this card, though it's not that bad a difference by only 50 cents, if you purchase it from a store in ontario however you'll be charged 13 cents per dollar for each dollar of the cost of the product since it's a entertainment product and is charged under the manner, so in a sense you'll be paying a extra 78 cents per foil memnite and for a full playset you'll end up dishing out another 3.02 in price for the set along with the usual price of about 5.50 per so you'll be dishing out the cost of Koth of the Hammer for 4 cards which in the long run means you'll be basically buying 4 times the product for the exact same price as one of the other product.

Now i don't know how the taxes are in effect in other states/provinces here in north america but i do know that each card is priced a different range, espically cards which are out of standard, just the other week i ended up paying 4.50 for 2 Master of Etherium's when the card was 6 dollars per card when it was in standard at one point, so i was saving myself a good dollar and fifty cents easily by getting them out of the loop of course, those whom are looking to go for standard be warned it's not a cheap thing to get into, since the rise of prices in standard all thanks to M10 almost 2 years ago as of this point, card prices back then were quite expensive as you would end up paying out 50 dollars per Baneslayer Angel when it was first printed, nowadays though it costs about 12 dollars for a single copy of the card, so the price range has gone down since it has not seen a lot of standard play since it's inception, it may have won a tournament or two on the pro tour but it has yet to do anything to effect the game as a whole as of this point.

Another card in which to seriously look out for is Goblin Wardriver now you remember how it started as a mere 1 dollar uncommon well it's price as of this point has risen to a serious thing of about 2.50 since the last pro tour event which was this past weekend, now if that price turns you off then you'll hate the fact a full playset of Contested War Zone when they first came out was 16 dollars roughly, nowadays it's 20 dollars since the pro tour so standard events that are that big and influence a great deal of price points for the future of standard, which i think sucks but then again who am i to complain when i see Tezzert, Agent of Bolas who sits at 50 dollars as of right now, sorry copysix but i was right it would jump to higher then it started out as, for those whom don't pay attention standard itself is a costly thing and for those intending on getting into it, be warned it's not cheap and it has a huge price on it so start slow and learn your way round the game before going into a huge event like a PT or a GP, so till next time this is vergil signing off.

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