Where do I start?

[twault]

I am slowly trying to get into playing competitive vintage, and I'm looking for some advice on where to start. I have built budget versions of Oath, Food Chain Goblins, Landstill, and Kobold-Clamp. I have a lot of the cheaper Vintage staples....such as Force of Will, Dual Lands, Bargain, Will, etc.

When I heard Starter and Portal were going to be Tournament legal, I raided my local hobby shop and picked up 2 Grim Tutors for $1.00 each!

I don't really use them, and it seems like they are only good in GrimLong and other Tendrils-based decks, that I don't really have an interest to play. I was thinking about selling them or trading them for some other useful cards while the value is high, however, I need some advice.

What card(s) should I try to acquire by trading or selling my Grim Tutors? I know it sorta depends on the deck that I want to play, but in general, what's my best plan of action?

If I value the Grim tutors at about $200 (which is what I've seen 2 sell for on E-bay) I may be able to get a Workshop. However, is one Workshop really going to help me? I doubt I'd be able to drop another $250 a piece for 3 more.

There is a slim chance that I might be able to pick up a beat-up Mox. I've seen them sell for $200 and under occassionally.

I can probably get a Timetwister.

I could get 2 Mana Drains and pick up the others later, since they aren't uber-expensive.

I'd like to get a couple Bazaars, but they are pretty much over $100 a piece now.

 I have a limited budget, so this is kinda a luxury for me to be able to do this. I wouldn't think that the value of the Grim Tutor is going to increase that much more. In fact, I think it will start dropping, so I need to make a decision.

What card(s) would give me the best "bang for my buck" and are the most versatile (meaning not just primarily played in one deck type).

Any help would be appreciated.

[Moxlotus]

All I can say is good luck selling them at $100.  The average on ebay over the past month has been $65.  If your rating is excellent you will be able to get more than that, but judging from what you said with Bazaars (they're at least $150 from good rating ebayers) I'd suggest getting acquainted with prices better.

http://www.apathyhouse.com/mtg/pricelist/pricelist.php?card=grim+tutor

[mgouthro]

Heh, except for sellers from the UK. One guy tried a Buy-It-Now for > $400CAD. I think they are trying to work some mojo to push the price over $100 easy. They must have a secret cache of them over there!   :lol:

Aside from that, you could be able to trade a Grim Tutor straight up for an Italian Mana Drain. If you are lucky, maybe someone would trade an English one, but either way, that's what I'd suggest trying to do. Mana Drains are pretty versatile and go in many decks.

[Harlequin]

You might be able to work out a deal for 3 italian drains for 2 grim tutors (plus a bit extra maybe a blue duel or 2).  Try and trade for 3 cards that you would normally proxy.  I don't think it would be too outragous to ask for 2 Itallian Drains and a Mana Crypt.  If you look hard enough you'll find a fairly good deal for them.  Personaly, I would try and hold out for more than just 2 Italin Drains.  I dunno, going 2 for 2 is not all that appealing to me.

Also you can never have too many fetchlands and wastelands. It sucks not playing a deck you want to play because you are short on fetches, wastelands, or duels.

[Largent]

definatly get a few drains and build up a gifts deck, cant go wrong.

[Gabethebabe]

I´ve sent you a PM, since I´m interested in trading for your Grims.

My (objective) suggestion is: get a P9 card for your Grims and some $.
Drains get you nowhere without P9.
A Walk, Ancestral or Sapphire is a very good addition to Fish. A Ruby or Emerald is very good with FCG.
Try get beat power, of course.

Also it really depends on what kind of decks you like to play.

[twault]

All I can say is good luck selling them at $100.  The average on ebay over the past month has been $65.  If your rating is excellent you will be able to get more than that, but judging from what you said with Bazaars (they're at least $150 from good rating ebayers) I'd suggest getting acquainted with prices better.

http://www.apathyhouse.com/mtg/pricelist/pricelist.php?card=grim+tutor

Well, according to this:

http://search-completed.ebay.com/grim-tutor_W0QQcatrefZC5QQfbdZ1QQfclZ3QQfisZ2QQflocZ1QQfromZR14QQfrppZ50QQfsclZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQfssZ0QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQnojsprZyQQpfidZ0QQsacatZQ2d1QQsacqyopZgeQQsacurZ0QQsadisZ200QQsargnZQ2d1QQsaslcZ0QQsaslopZ1QQsofocusZbsQQsorefinesearchZ1?GetResult&catref=C5&fbd=1&fcl=3&fis=2&floc=1&from=R14&frpp=50&fscl=1&fsoo=1&fsop=1&fss=0&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&nojspr=y&pfid=0&sacat=-1&sacqyop=ge&sacur=0&sadis=200&sargn=-1&saslc=0&saslop=1&sofocus=bs&sorefinesearch=1

There has been only 10 ebay auctions for Grim Tutor since April 6th, 2006. Currently, a search on Ebay today yielded "0" Grim tutors. The least expensive price on these 10 auctions was $79.95. Two of the auctions went $199 for 2.

Yes, I am acquainted with the prices of cards. I check almost daily. I am aware that Bazaars are closer to $150, but my point was that Bazaars are over $100 and exceeds the value of my Grim Tutors, meaning that I'm not going to get a 2 for 2 trade, and getting 1 Bazaar is pretty much pointless.

Moxes, on the other hand, seldom go for under $300, but I have seen them under $200 from time to time, due to them being in poor condition. No, not lately, as it seems prices have been rising over the past few months. Regardless, if I manage to get $200, I could put another $50-100 towards a mox.

I think that Mana Drains may be the way to go. It would be the easiest "power" card to obtain, and then I'd have less to proxy.

I guess I'll have to wait until I sell my Vintage GiJoe, Transformer, and Star Wars collections before I can get some more power!

[Moxlotus]

Currently, a search on Ebay today yielded "0" Grim tutors

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&from=R10&satitle=grim+tutor&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&bs=Search&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=61252&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1

[twault]

You proved me wrong on that one! I totally missed those auctions, because I had the filter for "U.S. auctions only" when I searched. Regardless, as you can see, the price is starting to peak, so I need to move them quick. I don't think they are going to get much higher than that, so now is the time for me to move them.

I'm still not sure what deck that I want to focus on building. I thought about building a Gifts deck, because it seems like it would be very fun to play. I really wanted to build a workshop-based deck, but that is probably going to have to wait. Most likely, I will probably try to get some power for an existing deck. However, I want to get something that I'll be able to use in a different deck, if I choose to build something new later.

[Gabethebabe]

Buy a Sapphire. There are a couple of really bad ones from top sellers.

Ugly
Uglier
Ugly as well, but a tad expensive

[twault]

Sold them!

I got $225 for both via Buy-It-Now! Now I'm waiting on the money order to come. I still don't know what I'm going to get, but I'll be watching the market for a while. I can probably get a few Mana Drains with my money and hope to trade or save up to complete a playset. I'll definitely have to save some cash to put towards buying something big, like a Mox. I think the Sapphire would ultimately be the most useful.

[Hi-Val]

If you get Drains, you've eliminated 4 proxies from any Drain-based deck that you make. Getting a mox would only eliminate one slot. I really suggest getting Drains before power, because they'll always be good and you can play plenty of decks with them. Also, start setting aside some money to put towards buying other power cards. It'll give you something to put all that overtime pay at work towards!

This is all, of course, assuming that you have pretty much every Vintage staple (you mention some, but don't forget things like Twist, Academy, Wheel, etc.).

[Tha Gunslinga]

$225 turns into three Italian Mana Drains fairly easily on Ebay, and it can turn into almost 4 if you find played ones and get lucky.

[twault]

Yeah, I think I should be able to get 3 Mana Drains (maybe 4 if I'm really lucky), but I was really bummed when I got outbid for a Mox Jet.

Aside from the Power 9, Bazaars, Workshops, and Drains...I have pretty much everything else. Yes, that was supposed to be funny.

Among the Vintage staples, the only other things that I really need are Cunning Wish, Gifts Ungiven, Intuition, Orim's Chant, Fetchlands, and some dual lands to complete a few playsets.

[Glix]

I would get the fetchlands and duals first and foremost.  Those are key cards.  With those, you should be able to play in any 15 proxy event.  Win a few of those, and less proxies are required.

And welcome to the community!

btw, its spelled Power 8 (Ya hear that timetwister!?)

[mmathias]

Hello,

I've been an active reader here for a while, this being my first post, so Hello to all.

I just recently was asking the same question in Star City forums. I'm registered with the same name there, in case you want to look the thread up.

I've been playing magic for about three years now. I started with just casual play, after wanting to play more seriously I then played mostly standard. About a year ago I gave Vintage a try, got sucked more and more into the format, and now it's the only format for me.

After deciding that I want to invest to the format I also was asking the question where to start. After discussing in the forums and local Vintage players I sold almost all of my T2/ Ext stuff and bought Sapphire and Ancestrall.

I couldn't be happier with the decision. First I thought that a single piece of power will do me no good, and was thinking of getting either Drains or Bazaars. But the thing is, with either one you are locked into playing Drain or Bazaar decks. I realise that Ancestral and a single Mox won't really open that much possibilities, but they really give you an edge against other budget decks. If you are playing unpowered Drain deck I can imagine you are going to have rough time against fish strategies.

One by one when you purchase more power new stategies will naturally open up to you. After you have your set of power you have way more options on what deck to build.

If you are only getting one card I strongly advise getting Ancestral Recall. I just is that good.

Now comes a disclaimer type of thing: If you have a lot of proxy events then you maybe better off with something else, but if you play more sanctioned events, like I do, get the Recall.

[smeagol]

I agree with mmathis.

I've been playing for quite a while, so while I had drains and a Timetwister, I still found it "hard" to play vintage.

I (unfortunately) went the "get pimp stuff" route before I finished getting power. None of my decks really clicked with only moxen and drains until I got an Ancestral Recall. Since then I've got a Lotus, and it just gets better and better. But I feel that the drains never really did much for me, and I was far happier having an Ancestral Recall in my deck than the Mana Drains ever made me feel.

So my advice to all is get that Ancestral Recall first and foremost (And skip the pimp stuff until you have at least 5-6 power).