Hey,

For some reason I have not been into Magic the Gathering recently. Sure, I'll hop on to forums to help players and check Twitter for news, but I don't have the spark to pump out posts like a card-slinging fool. Nowadays I just have other things to do like get a real job, go out with friends, and play another card game called Alteil.

I decided to check Twitter a few days ago and woke up to a series of startling posts. In summary, most of them are complaints that Magic the Gathering is just too expensive of a game to play competitively.

So I decided to do a little research here. Do their claims hold merit? Check out some price analysis here.


When the concept of Mythic first came out, people were saying that the idea is a marketing scheme to raise prices and make more money for the Wizards company.  The higher rarity justified higher power since they would be less common than other rarities.

More power means that there are more chances for a card to be broken, meaning that they are more likely to be played.  And that increases demand, allowing vendors to raise prices without losing customers.

An important note:  planeswalkers have been exclusively printed at mythic status.  This is not going to change anytime soon.

Here's a look at some of the prices of some popular mythics (note all prices are from Starcity Games):

Jace, the Mind Sculptor - $90.00

Vengevine - $44.99

Elspeth Tirel - $30.00

Venser, the Sojourner - $40.00

Primeval Titan - $40.00

Lux Cannon - $5.00

Playsets of most mythics are simply out of the price range of most players.

Seriously, $400 for four pieces of cardboard with pretty art?

You may recall that Tarmogoyf was the big money card of the past set.  With Future Sight's rotation out of Extended, Tarmogoyf will be restricted to Legacy and Vintage.  It's still $50.

There's not much you can do about these prices.  What you can do is noted in the list below:

What are some solutions to the high prices?

• Don't play Standard - Prices will deteriorate as cards become less used.  Since Standard is one of the most popular formats, players will have a high demand for the best cards in the format.  High demand equals high prices.  The main problem with other formats is that there is less official support for them from Wizards.  For the everyday player, this isn't much of a problem.
• Don't use the metagame cards - Cards that are in the metagame are higher in price since players have evidence that they are good.  Demand thus increases so price increases.  Players are less willing to take risks on cards that have yet to be proven.  
• Do play Limited - Limited give you a chance to play while having the chance to draft some rare cards.  Get good at limited and you can win more cards.
• Do trade - Trading can be good if you can get cards people want.  It's a decent way to complete playsets of cards, just do your research so you don't get ripped off too badly.

I've got to get around to the lab.

See you next time,
@shadowsketched