I think you are confusing findmagiccards.com with magictraders.com. The former uses store prices to get its "price guide" while magictraders price guide is derived ONLY from completed ebay auctions. In fact, its probably the MOST accurate representation of what you should be paying if you understand basic statistics and sample size.

Greetings.

  I am hoping to attend my first tournament sometime in the next couple weeks.  I haven't played a competitive game of magic in about 7 years, although living in Mass, seems I'm favored with the amount of them that take place. So, I am going to take the plunge, but have a few questions:

1. I was thinking of playing Dragon since that is the closest competitive deck I am to completing (need a couple more animate deads). Is this an Ok choice? What I mean by that is, outside of what I have read, I am absolutely unfamiliar with magic decks in general. I need a deck that I can concentrate on my own strategy and not have to worry to much about what the opponent is doing because frankly, with my inexperience, I wouldn't know what to do about it anyways. I am not looking to t8 or anything anytime soon, just want something halfway decent that allows me to gain experience in the local meta and learn how other decks work.

2. Outside of older core t1 cards, I am not that familiar with a lot of cards post Mirage, except for the major ones that appear in a lot of deck lists. Will opponents get annoyed if I constantly have to look at their cards to see what they do? I am kind of wary of being matched against someone with a pimped out asian deck or something, because then I will need them to explain to me what the card does. Will oppoents get annoyed or is this semi-common?

3. What do I need to take? Something to keep track of life, things for counters, anything else?

4. Going back to question 1, I have a decent t1 collection (p9, playsets of bazaars, workshops, duals etc). Would I maybe be better running something like TNT at first? I am trying to stay away from decks that use counters/duress because I wouldn't know what to counter or take from their hand anyways, unless they are laughing hellishly while playing a particular card.

Well, next tourney that I can find in Mass, RI, or NH I plan to attend. So if you see some scrub asking what your asian cards are, be nice and say hi .

Nitelite

Greetings!

As the title suggests, I used to play Magic almost exclusively in the mid 90s. As my friends went away to college, my interest in the game diminished to the point where I packed up my cards and forgot about them for 5-6 years (Mirage/Alliance was last set I bought, not sure when they were released).

About six months ago I almost sold my collection to my brother and his friend who had started playing again.  I thought it over and decided that I would much rather keep the cards then part with them because they had been so much a part of my teenage years.  Thinking of them kind of revitalized my interest in the game again and I have started to collect some of the staple t1 cards from the later sets and have considerably grown my collection.

Here is my dilemma: I don't know a single person that plays. I have tried to meet people, but I feel a little awkward at 27 hanging out at hobby stores.  I noticed in Worcester MA that there was a place (That's Entertainment) that is having a t1 tourney with 5 proxies in a couple weeks. The prize structure is nothing extreme, so I am assuming they usually get like 15-20 people.  My girlfriend says I should just go for it, but I don't know a lot of the newer cards and am not confident in my knowledge of the rules (I've read through them on wizards site a couple times, and am pretty sure I know whats going on, after all, I have played this before, but I am probably below average at this point, primarily due to the fact that I have no one to play).

I feel slightly embarassed showing up at something like this with p9, bazaars and a tricked out old deck, and having to ask people what exactly their Oblivion Stone or Morphling is. I also will not be able to recognize deck types, and am sure to make an ass out of myself in decisions on what should be countered and what shouldn't, duressed, etc.

What do you guys think of my predicament? Should I leave my pride behind and suck up a few embarassing tourneys, or should I not be contemplating entering one at this point? If I do play, should I maybe not play power so I don't look ridiculous? Comments appreciated!

Nitelite

  I am not sure what is meant by this.



This is a great argument.  You're absolutely right.  But by the same token, if there wasn't people playing the format in the beginning, there would be no train to hop on now.  All I am saying is: You want to copy cards I have because you started late? Thats fine. Just allow me the same considerations and copy cards you have because I wasn't playing when they came out.



First, I am not complaining. I don't know if you have taken my argument personally, but discussion is hardly complaining. Second, I don't know a single person that plays magic.  I have no connections outside of the Net with people involved in this game. Therefore, I have to do the same amount of work no matter what I want to aquire, the only difference is the price.  Which brings me to my last point.

Many of you have brought up the costs of the cards.  When exactly does a card go from affordable to expensive? $20? $50? $100? It's kind of relative isn't it?  I don't have much money now, so kicking out $30 for a playset of fetchlands is expensive to me.  And if cost if the fundamental quantifier of why cards should be proxied, instead of using a set as the cutoff, use a price.  I don't see why you can proxy a mana crypt and dual lands, and I can't proxy morphlings and cursed scrolls.

Nitelite

  As a returning player, I totally disagree with this.  I haven't played in 5-6 years and have all the power and core t1 cards pre-Mirage.  I have been thinking about getting back into things and have been throwing together a few decks.  Obviously, it's the newer cards I need to proxy. They didn't have pitch lands when I collected, or cunning wishes, or Morphlings.  And while they are inexpensive (relatively), if proxies are being allowed, by instituting any type of time-sensitive restriction, you penalize the players that helped get this game off the ground and reward the people hopping on the late train. "We can proxy the cards YOU have, but you can't proxy ours." Doesn't make much sense to me.

  It comes down to supporting WoTC. As I get back into the game, I will surely start buying product from them again, but they no longer produce Urza Saga boosters. Why is proxying from that any different then proxying from any of the "older" sets?

  5 Proxies is the right amount, as long as they are from any set.