Has the meaning of "Budget" changed?

[WillD]

Hello, my name is Will and I used to play Magic about two years ago. When I played Type 1 I played powerless Landstill. Hardtimes hit in real life and I sold all my cards. Things are good again though and I'm thinking about starting Magic again.

I've noticed however, that the prices of cards are insane now. Force of Will which I bought for 12, is now 25. Mana Drains I got for 60 each are 120 or more. Dual Lands I paid 15 for are 30. Is it possible to play Type 1 without spending 700 dollars? How do people play on a "budget" now? Has the ammount that "budget" decks cost simply increased?

[LotusHead]

Has the ammount that "budget" decks cost simply increased?

More people want to play T1 because A) It's a very fun format and B) with 10 proxies (at least in America), anyone can play T1.

Sure, you got to have some cards, namely your mana base of Dual Lands or City/Gemstone Mines, etc, or maybe a playset of Force of Wills...

but with 10 Proxies, you can assemble almost anything.

Welcome to modern Vintage!

[Namingway]

Man, I'd like to be able to go to the States once in a while. Your 10-proxy tournaments seem awesome! Here in Sweden, most Magic store owners see no future in Vintage, so Vintage tourneys are basically held 2-3 times a year. Though there has been some 10-proxy tournaments in Stockholm lately. It's about 250 miles from where I live, but it's at least closer (and cheaper to travel to) than the U.S.

[vroman]

you can play 5 proxy dread return ichorid for like $20.

[Zarathustra]

Hello, my name is Will and I used to play Magic about two years ago. When I played Type 1 I played powerless Landstill. Hardtimes hit in real life and I sold all my cards. Things are good again though and I'm thinking about starting Magic again.

I've noticed however, that the prices of cards are insane now. Force of Will which I bought for 12, is now 25. Mana Drains I got for 60 each are 120 or more. Dual Lands I paid 15 for are 30. Is it possible to play Type 1 without spending 700 dollars? How do people play on a "budget" now? Has the ammount that "budget" decks cost simply increased?

Compare this to most decks in Standard.  You can easily spend $500 on cards that will depreciate and then you have to spend more on new cards the following set.  Vintage is eternal.  It's also getting more popular.  Let's face it though, these cards are not gonna die out and you will get your money back and even make money on them in most cases.  The extra investment is worth it.

-DShell

[jcb193]

Inflation sucks.  When I started playing Magic, Gas was $.90 a gallon.

Anyway, I think you should proxy up some decks, or play some other people's decks for awhile (or go online).  Once you find a deck you like, start working towards that.  There are plenty of threads here that talk about the "core cards of Vintage".  Just make a list and start getting them one by one.  If you are patient, you can find many of them cheap.  Just stay away from ebay before Christmas. 

The good news, if you find a basic deck (like fish) you can play it for a long time. 

[Tha Gunslinga]

I've noticed however, that the prices of cards are insane now. Force of Will which I bought for 12, is now 25. Mana Drains I got for 60 each are 120 or more. Dual Lands I paid 15 for are 30. Is it possible to play Type 1 without spending 700 dollars? How do people play on a "budget" now? Has the ammount that "budget" decks cost simply increased?

You can get played Forces at $60/set, played ITL Drains at like $200-250/set, and played blue duals for 20-25 each.  It's not that hard to find cheaper cards.

However, as more people are interested in older playable cards, their prices will rise, and while you can proxy power, you will inevitably need the blue control basics such as Polluted Delta, Underground Sea, Volcanic Island, Force of Will, and Mana Drain, which pushes the price of those higher.

[technogeek5000]

Pretty much the best thing you can do now is try to get a hold of playsets of some of the vintage competitve cards that are still in print... that way the confidants you bought for ten each wont come back to haunt you when they are 25 each.