Which is more valuable

[Grand Inquisitor]

I recently came into a box of darksteel.  I was wondering which is more valuable (obviously an estimate), the singles I would get from it, or the unopened packs (if I were to eBay it or something).  Anyone got an idea?

[JACO]

Without a doubt, the sealed box would fetch more than the singles from it. You should be able to get at least $65-75 minimum for the box. Let's say you pull one of each of the rares worth anything out of the box (Arcbound Ravager, Darksteel Colossus, Blinkmouth Nexus, Death Cloud, Furnace Dragon, Pristine Angel, Memnarch, Pulse of the Fields, Pulse of the Forge, Sword of Fire and Ice, Viridian Zealot), then you are looking at about $45-50. Pawn the sealed product off while you can.

[dandan]

How do you people get a box of Magic cards and not open them? I've never managed that. Organise a sealed deck night with friends, draft, play for ante and everyone can have some cards for cheap plus a lot of fun.

[Mykeatog]

The way to maximize your profits is to convince your friends to play a draft in which they buy the packs from you.

Even if you charge 3 dollars per pack that is 108 dollars. This number is far greater than selling the singles or the box. The only problem is, this is the hardest of the three to accomplish.

Steve, honestly-- just bring them to events for the next month or so, and trade the packs to poor drafters who want draft sets. They will usually give you 10-12 worth of cards for a set.

[rozetta]

On the same note as Draft, Sealed, etc. there's minimasters and then there's this game that the Finns play with unopened packs which looks like a lot of fun. You can, again, sell packs to people to play this. Here are the rules (as far as I remember them - please correct me if I'm wrong):

- There can be two or more players (more is better).

- Each player starts with an unopened booster pack (note they should be from a similar-sized booster, so if you play with a smaller booster like FE or AQ, all others should have the same). I don't know if there are rules saying the packs should be from the same set, but that would probably be the most fair.

- Each player opens the pack face down and shuffles the pack face down so as to not see the cards.

- Each player takes the top card of the shuffled pack and places it in the center of the table face up.

- The player with the highest casting cost card in the center wins all the cards in the center.

- If two or more players are tied for highest casting cost, all players *not* in that tie place one additional card *face down* in the middle. The tied players put one more card from the top of their pack in the center, face up. The winner amongst those face up cards gets all the cards (but can't see the face down cards until the round is over). If there was another tie for highest cost, repeat this step, eliminating again the players who didn't tie for first. (The more players involved, the more often you'll see this and it can repeat a few times. This is when things get exciting).

- If you flip a land card, roll a 6-sided dice to determine the casting cost. Zero cost artifacts are still worth zero (a reason to not play this with A/B/UL packs).

- Continue until all 15 cards from the face-down pack have been played.

- Cards that you win go into a separate pile and are not played - you only play with the booster itself. Once all the cards have been played, the winner is determined by the person who got the most cards (or the most value of cards). The person in question will probably know who they are

They actually have a world championship of this game every year at the Finnish nationals. If I remember right, there are 8 players and they play with 5 packs (all from different expansions). I couldn't find a report about this year's, and since I wasn't there, I don't know if they played it or not. Apparently, the same guy won it a few years in a row and also there's always, for some odd reason, one player who gets absolutely no cards. So I guess there is some skill involved

[hulk3rules]

All you had to say was:

They play war

[Jacob Orlove]

War is probably the worst card game ever.

[Dr. Sylvan]

War isn't a game. It's a physical therapy exercise for people with wrist and finger injuries. Anyone who plays it without that excuse should instead sit there and contemplate the emptiness of his life. It's gotta be one of the dumbest ways to waste time ever.

[rozetta]

True, I forgot what the American name was for it. I suppose "money" being on the line makes it more interesting. Let's face it, people do less interesting things involving betting (like roulette or slot machines). This one is actually fun to watch, especially if decent value rares enter play (so, not the case with 5th Dawn). Rolling dice for cards is still somewhat interesting to watch/play is something with value is on the line (like duals or above).

[Grand Inquisitor]

thanks guys, it turns out my girlfriend opened them looking for 'shiny' stuff while we were drinking one night.  good times were had.

[CF]

*chuckle*

[dandan]

Note to Grand Inquisitor - there are better things for drunk girlfriends to do that molest your unopened packs!!

[KandyKid]

War is probably the worst card game ever.

Pack Wars are the NutHigh. When I got first in the Seattle Vintage Thingy at the PT, I used up all my packs for packwaring all night, was fun, waste of money, but lots of fun regardless.

Blinkmoth Infusion Pwns in Packwars.

[Jebus]

War is probably the worst card game ever.

Pack Wars are the NutHigh. When I got first in the Seattle Vintage Thingy at the PT, I used up all my packs for packwaring all night, was fun, waste of money, but lots of fun regardless.

Blinkmoth Infusion Pwns in Packwars.

No, he's talking about just "War", not PackWars.

[rvs]

@Kandykid: let stinky threads die plz thx.

[DavidHernandez]

Oh man Steve, "...drunk girlfriend...".

LOL.  Here ya go: http://www.zacheverson.com/Images/Flask/Ex_tie_one_on.JPG

Dave

[Bram]

thanks guys, it turns out my girlfriend opened them looking for 'shiny' stuff while we were drinking one night.

When my girlfriend goes out looking for 'shiny stuff', it usually ends up costing a helluva lot more that a box of Darksteel does...

[Grand Inquisitor]

Since this thing refuses to die, I might as well update it.

I got lots of packs of mirrodin and legends for playing like an ass-munch at gencon.

The question is, should I let her open the packs of itl legends?

[Kerz]

DO IT.

I opened mine on the plane ride home. I got a Eureka. Woo!

[stijndon]

And basically, you want to open a legends pack.

What would the money matter? So you can buy food? Just be hungry and open the legends pack...

[Grand Inquisitor]

I think my top card was a Glyph of Destruction (at least Molly liked the picture).  I didn't recognize much else, except bad reprints.  Maybe I will eat them.

Never-the-less, it was fun, and Molly had a great time.

Product 4L.

[Gandalf_The_White_1]

War isn't a game. It's a physical therapy exercise for people with wrist and finger injuries. Anyone who plays it without that excuse should instead sit there and contemplate the emptiness of his life. It's gotta be one of the dumbest ways to waste time ever.

I totally agree, but remember some people would say the same thing about magic also (and it costs money, too).  It's like playing "who can get the highest roll on the die?"

[rvs]

If anyone wants to take 2 legend pax off my hands, LMK :p