MTG Online Legal Sets question

[Cavius The Great]

I'm just curious. I was thinking of getting into MTG:Online and want to know exactly which sets are legal and the list of legal sets. I also want to know if they have out of print sets readily avaliable through dealers. Any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated. Thanx ahead of time. 

[LordHomerCat]

Straight from Wikipedia:

"Card sets available
Currently about two-thirds of all physical Magic cards ever printed are available for use in Magic Online. The earliest set available upon release was Invasion, which had been released in printed form in the fall of 2000; all sets moving forward were made available online as well, with the exception of the Unhinged self-parody expansion.

Wizards of the Coast has since attempted to release more pre-Invasion cards online. In the fall of 2005, Mirage was released online, nine years after its 1996 print release.[6] This set was chosen as the earliest set usable on Magic Online because it was the first to be designed with both Limited and Constructed play in mind and the first to be intended as part of a three-set block. Additionally, Wizards unambiguously owns the rights to the artwork in Mirage block, and Mirage block contains no ante cards (unlike Ice Age and Homelands). It has been confirmed that the eventual goal of the developers is to have every expansion set from Mirage onward available online.[7] In April 2006, Visions, the second set of the Mirage Block, was released online. The third set, Weatherlight, was released Wednesday, December 12, 2007.[7] For cards released before Mirage, a special MTGO-exclusive set called Masters Edition was created. It features selected cards from earlier sets and was released on September 10, 2007."

However, as far as packs you can purchase, its pretty much only the most recent couple blocks, plus if they release an out-of-order set like MiViLight, it will be available for a few years.  Packs to eventually go off sale (forever), at which point aquiring those cards is often a bit tougher.  Invasion block cards tend to cost a lot of money, and are basically the Power of magic online, so I'd recommend caution if you are looking to get a lot of those.

[Cavius The Great]

Thanx for the reply.  Another question, are Mirage, Visions and Weatherlight cards readily avaliable through dealers and/or packs? To be more clear, Can I get any card ever printed on MTGO if I had the cash for it?

EDIT: Are fetchlands also legal?

EDIT2: And just how expensive are Invasion block cards?

[LordHomerCat]

Thanx for the reply.  Another question, are Mirage, Visions and Weatherlight cards readily avaliable through dealers and/or packs? To be more clear, Can I get any card ever printed on MTGO if I had the cash for it?

EDIT: Are fetchlands also legal?

EDIT2: And just how expensive are Invasion block cards?

What do you mean legal?  Online play allows a variety of formats (Extended, Standard, Block) including some online-only events (altho PEs are not really going at the moment).  These include 'Classic' (All online sets are legal), Tribal Standard, etc.  Every card that has ever been printed online (invasion forward plus MiViLight) can be had for the right price, as there are lots out there and lots of bots and dealers around who will sell them to you.  If you are willing to invest the cash, you can get that playset of Deeds or LED's or Fetchlands or whatever else.  Packs of out of print sets can usually be found too, for a price like everything else, altho the longer the set has been out of print, the more expensive the packs as expected.

I *believe* visions and weatherlight packs can still be purchased from the official MTGO store, altho I am not sure on Mirage (I think they are OOP but not 100%).

Also, I just checked now and saw Orim's Chant for sale for 31 tickets (1 dollar ~ 1 Ticket), Vindicate for 31, Pernicious Deed for 41, Onslaught Fetchlands for around 10 each, Meddling Mage for 41.  Those are most of the highest price cards (plus of course Tarmogoyf who is also around 30-40).  Hopefully that will give you an idea of some of the prices.  Otherwise, anything that is in print and isnt incredibly popular is usually really cheap, and even the most popular cards tend to drop pretty fast (Bitterblossom at 13 or so, compared to like $30 IRL).

[Nefarias]

I don't play on MTGO, so I can't answer the prices question...I think I recall seeing an ebay auction for a foil Meddling Mage for like $150 though, but that was a while ago so I really have no idea.

Yes, they are dealers online that will sell you any card in the form of "tickets," basically the MTGO currency. Tickets are used to buy packs and pay for entry fees to tournaments. Dealers have programmed bots that you can basically just trade tickets to at any time in exchange for cards.

And yeah, fetchlands were in Onslaught, about two years after Invasion, and are available on MTGO. As far as their legality, depends on the format.

EDIT: Someone beat me to some of this stuff.

[Cavius The Great]

Thanx for the replies guys. And I do plan on playing the 'Classic' format. If the availability of out of print cards are like you said, then that definitely encourages me to play. Is there any instance, in the long run for example, that a dealer won't have the cards you need? I'm pretty sure that the deck I want to build includes alot of out of print cards.

EDIT: Is it easy to purchase from dealers and find the right card you're looking for? I have no experience with the MTGO interface.

[ErkBek]

Invasion block cards should be dropping in value quickly if they haven't already. Once extended rotates cards like Deed and Chant probably will settle around $15-20.