Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The Outsider's Journal 3 - Part Eight. - by CPN

[Streetz]

This thread is reserved for the dicussion of the following article:

http://www.magicdeckvortex.com/mdvarticle0374.htm

Please read it, enjoy it and discuss it here.

What did you like about the article? Was it inspiring, informational, ingenius? Was it inappropriate? Was there anything you really liked or didn't like about it?

Let the author know here!

Thanks!

**NOTE: This thread is posted before the article goes live. If the article isn't up yet, please check back later.

[Ryuzaki]

If I have this right, this is the Finale!

I loved the ride home, and the ending was great; you would expect that part was made up for how crazy it was.

I hope to hear more stories sometime.

[DazBoot]

I agree with Ryu, this was such a great series. I would love to hear more MOMP in the future!

[SirLawnGnome]

wonderful story. Loved every installment. Quite the ending. Nice chase scene into the (way past) sunset.

[Oblivion]

Evading the law Tyn? My-oh-my, what an infraction!! LOL

All's well ends well eh? Really great surprise at the end, i mean....60 packs!!!!!

Memories to last a lifetime.

With still enough gas to jump a State Trooper.

Priceless

[EpilepticCricket]

I have to say, that whole series was one of the best I've ever read here at MDV. It's certainly the best Magic related story I've ever read among other sites.

Bravo and Encore!!

I look forward to what you have in store for your future articles.

[3nd3r]

amazing ending to an amazing series of articles. if you have any other good experiences as a magic player i'm sure we'd love to hear them.

oh and if no one else does then i'm going to nominate this for the best series of articles at the end of the year.

[Tynion]

Thanks guy
I had a pretty rough day yesterday fighting with my car (that could make a for a long winded story too...). Reading your encouraging words launches me into a new day with a smile. I appreciate it.

What other stories would you guys like to hear. I started playing back in 1994, FE and Dark were the main sets out then. I played competitively from around 96 to around 2003. I am sure I have some good stories left in me, I just need some of the creative juices jump started

[3nd3r]

i didn't start playing until the end of scourge but i love older sets so i'd be interested in hearing stories from your older games, especially invasion block.


#300 oh yeah i'm getting there.

[FuDaWg45]

Wow, you got so much for 31st place. No wonder the top guys never have to buy new cards.

[Tynion]

Originally Posted by FuDaWg45

Wow, you got so much for 31st place. No wonder the top guys never have to buy new cards.

Top guys don't buy cards for other reasons.

Namely, the weeks following a sets release, we all had collected the cards we knew we would need from you guys who were un-sure as to the value of the cards. *No Offense Intended*

You know you have seen it happen, you go to Pre-Release tournaments and you see guys with hordes of people around him. Why? Because he is unloading his Odyessy rares and top cards at the Mirroden Pre-Release. Non-top guys are clamouring around, trying to pick up Call of the Herd, Haunting Echoes, etc, and this guy is picking up Affinity stuff like it is going out of style. Point being, by the time the Pre-release is over, he already has his playset of all the top cards of the next set.

So when the next set becomes legal, he is mugging people with the top rares he got at dirt low prices, and everyone else is paying $10-$20 for a Broodstar that he gave someone a Call of the Herd to get three of.

As to expansion sets, normally, the top players are also top drafters. So they know that a normal draft guy is going to rare draft at the pre-release tourney, so they just hard core draft, and smoke people in the flight, and then walk away with 6 or so more packs. They most likely don't even open their packs at the pre-release. They quickly get into another draft flight and continue on. They probably leave with 20-50 boost packs, plus the cards they got in the drafts, plus they only paid $12 to get into a draft. 12 bucks to get the cards they draft, plus 6 boosters, not too shabby.

Top player collections are what we call "Infinite". They just turn over the old stuff for the new stuff through great trades with not great players.

Yes, winning all of those packs was really awesome for me, but I already had playsets of all the cards I possibly could have gotten from those packs. So I held those cards in my waiting bind at home... waiting for the release of the next expansion set, so I could trade my 7th copy of Oblivion Stone for Ravagers and new cards like that

[underpaidslave]

Freaking fantastic. Hands down one of the best article series i have EVER read on this site. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GIVE US MORE!

The public has spoken.

[Tresserhorn]

I'd like to hear your stories about your experence with "The Black Summer" ahh the good old days

[Neuromancer]

Originally Posted by Tynion

Top guys don't buy cards for other reasons.

Namely, the weeks following a sets release, we all had collected the cards we knew we would need from you guys who were un-sure as to the value of the cards. *No Offense Intended*

You know you have seen it happen, you go to Pre-Release tournaments and you see guys with hordes of people around him. Why? Because he is unloading his Odyessy rares and top cards at the Mirroden Pre-Release. Non-top guys are clamouring around, trying to pick up Call of the Herd, Haunting Echoes, etc, and this guy is picking up Affinity stuff like it is going out of style. Point being, by the time the Pre-release is over, he already has his playset of all the top cards of the next set.

So when the next set becomes legal, he is mugging people with the top rares he got at dirt low prices, and everyone else is paying $10-$20 for a Broodstar that he gave someone a Call of the Herd to get three of.

As to expansion sets, normally, the top players are also top drafters. So they know that a normal draft guy is going to rare draft at the pre-release tourney, so they just hard core draft, and smoke people in the flight, and then walk away with 6 or so more packs. They most likely don't even open their packs at the pre-release. They quickly get into another draft flight and continue on. They probably leave with 20-50 boost packs, plus the cards they got in the drafts, plus they only paid $12 to get into a draft. 12 bucks to get the cards they draft, plus 6 boosters, not too shabby.

Top player collections are what we call "Infinite". They just turn over the old stuff for the new stuff through great trades with not great players.

Yes, winning all of those packs was really awesome for me, but I already had playsets of all the cards I possibly could have gotten from those packs. So I held those cards in my waiting bind at home... waiting for the release of the next expansion set, so I could trade my 7th copy of Oblivion Stone for Ravagers and new cards like that

But in order to "go infinite" you need to get a critical mass of good, tradeable cards, and passing that barrier is the hard part for most people. And even the top players sometimes have to buy cards, but not as many or as often as the grunts. And Eternal players (like myself) are royally screwed because some of the older cards can only be obtained if you shell out for them, 'cause no one is willing to trade for them or are just very hard to obtain.

[Tynion]

Then you do what they do, make yourself smarter than the normal player. I am actually surprised that you would ask this question Neuro, as you showed me the article about limiting your thinking. This is the exact same thing, except that instead of limiting your thinking in regards to the way the game is played, the top players have expanded this principle to encompass the entire game, its environment, and the media that represents the game and its community.

Don't think so? Then how do you explain normal guys suddenly owning nice houses and all they do is buy and sell cards? How do you explain the sudden surge of Vintage / Eternal when those formats were left for dead years ago.

These players decided that they were going to succeed. They decided that instead of being on the bad ends of deals, they were going to find the dopes first, and get the cards from them before the other guys did. They figured out that it is easier to go infinite on MTGO than it is with real cards, therefore they could go online, win a TON of drafts very quickly, get infinite in that spectrum, and never put money into the account from thier pocket. They then sell the excess digital cards on Ebay or sell them for tix, which they could sell for like 87 cents each on ebay and turn the digital cards into real life cash. That cash then turns into real life cards when you then turn around snipe an auction online and poof, an instant set of cards.

Again, it is all about making yourself think outside of the box. I have taught that lesson ever since I came to this site. I learn that lesson watching the Matrix, and when you really look at the world, I mean REALLY look at the world, you will see it for what it really is. You just have to change the way you think. It is all about how the world has trained you to think about things.

Trust me bro, if I didn't have a son and woman who require every extra minute of my day, I would be treating Magic like a stock market. I'd be on MTGO in the evenings, teaching myself to draft like a pro. I would make myself a draft shark and would pay all my bills like that, and my pay check would be money in the bank.

Have a kid some day and you will see how fast you begin seeing the value of a dollar vs the value of a minute.