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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3977 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 21, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I liked the rules and aesthetics of pre-2003 MTG (last set I played with was Judgment). The game seems to have changed a lot in 20 years, so what are the latest sets I can play with that will still feel the same?

Bonus questions:

  • Can I just ignore Planeswalkers for casual play? They always seemed kind of dumb to me, I liked them much more as lore characters than cards

  • When did WotC start censoring stuff? I'd prefer to buy cards before then.

  • What's the best way to get bulk cards before a certain era? I don't care about value or quality, I just want to play some casual games

Laser printer and a proxy-making website. Pick up chaff left over from drafts for free, slip your proxy in front of the card using a sleeve, and you're golden. Once you start playing, you won't notice that the cards aren't "genuine", and you won't get into awkward conversations about "counterfeits".

It would be cool to get full older sets. From what I can tell, the most economical way to buy a whole set would be to do a mass entry of cards from a specific set on tcgplayer, weed out all the cards over 25cents, and then order proxies from makeplayingcards. I'm not really worried about how real they look since I'll only be playing with non-competitive friends and family.

Are MPC proxies more expensive than $0.25/card? If not, why not order everything from MPC?

Several threads on different sites say that MPC charges about $0.20 cents per card. I haven't checked the site yet to verify, but if it's cheaper than that I'd definitely prefer the convenience of getting all my cards from one source.

For feel, the closest experience I've had to kitchen table magic back in the day was shuffling together two packs of jumpstart and playing. The decks were built to a theme, but still janky. The look is modern but making new ones using old border bulk shouldn't be too tough.

Another option is just proxy them.

This is actually close to what I used to do with friends. Fixed amount of lands, then just randomize your creatures and spells and play with what you get. Not always "fair" but definitely always interesting and fun. Good suggestion.

Other commenters have given decent suggestions, so I’ll ask a related question.

What happened around 2003? Did they start branching out into new mechanics?

As for mechanics... they release new mechanics every set. Some of them have been pretty serious oddities, like double faced cards, cards you cast from weird places or at strange times, cards that do different things based on when or where you cast them.

EDH is the most popular casual format and it's eternal and encourages bringing the weirdest most powerful cards from the entire history of the game. I mean... I have a pet card that always has all the abilities of the top card of your library, that I like to use with a card that is always a copy of the top card of your graveyard.

Which is all to say- modern casual Magic can be as esoteric as... well. As modern casual Magick.

2003 had a literal aesthetics change - from the old card frame to the modern card frame. Occasionally Wizards of the Coast will print cards in the old frame as fanservice for nostalgic players (or for people who just like the old frame better, I guess).

The new card frame is generally better for legibility and cleanness, but the old card frame definitely had more atmosphere to it.

Sounds like Cube format might be the way to go?

You can find lists online for "budget" old border cubes in the range of $500 - $1500 range that you can then cube draft to get plenty of decks and games.

Less old school, but still keeping to the spirit and avoiding planeswalkers, the Ravnica Guild Kits are premade decks not adhering to any particular format made specifically for fun kitchen table play, with one themed for each Ravnica (2 color pairing) guild. I have a set and they are my go-to for truly casual magic that's still got enough juice for fun plays.

10 decks for all the kits, were $20 a piece for $200 total when they originally came out, looks like it is closer to $500 for the full set now. Obviously can also just get a couple of individual ones, value of cards in each deck has varied so some individual ones are as cheap as $30, while others are up by $60.

Thank you, these are fantastic suggestions. Really interested in checking out Ravnica.

It might be a good idea to download MtG: Arena and play a few games digitally before investing much money in physical decks, to decide if you still like it

I second this. I've played quite a bit and haven't spent a dime of real money on cards compared to the literal thousands my collection would be worth if bought physically (some of the mythic rares you need for the best decks go for hundreds of dollars each). I literally just crafted a deck rated at $300 an hour ago using wildcards I've been accumulating from just playing the game.

I can see the appeal on wanting to play physically, but it's definitely a very expensive hobby if you want to build remotely competitive decks.

I'm relatively new to MTG, and mostly play commander, which I think was much smaller then, and might play relatively differently from two player formats, so I don't know exactly what things will be comparable to older sets.

  • You certainly don't have any obligation to add planeswalkers to your decks. I wouldn't care for it if I had some in one of mine and you complained, but I don't have any anyway. It's not like they're a vital part of deckbuilding the way that creatures or instants or lands usually are, they're more optional things worth adding if they seem to go well with the deck, like enchantments.

  • Well, the actual removing of cards for cultural reasons was in 2020, so pretty recent. I can't speak to how their culture as to what designs were acceptable changed over time, though. Why does this matter?

  • I'm not actually familiar with this, I've only bought cheap singles for some commander decks off of tcgplayer, so someone else will have to answer this.

I wouldn't care for it if I had some in one of mine and you complained

I'm just going to play with fellow family members who are also casual, so I don't think I'll have to worry about this.

It's not like they're a vital part of deckbuilding the way that creatures or instants or lands usually are, they're more optional things worth adding

That's good to know. I like the idea of a match being between two self-insert wizards controlling a bunch of minions and territories. Wizard duel, basically.

Why does this matter?

There are definitely people here who can articulate this better than I can, but I want to enjoy old school nerd culture with all its classic tropes and fantasy stereotypes. It probably comes across as retrograde or lame or boring to gen z or people who've only gotten into fantasy in the last 15 or so years, but that's what I like because I grew up with it.

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