Aether Revolt – Me Vs. Myself and I

In my last entry, I spoke about how I had gone to the card shop and picked up a box of boosters for the new Magic: The Gathering set, Aether Revolt. I thought that for the money, this was one of the best ways to get a large selection of cards. With 36 packs in a box, that’s a total of 540 cards. There are 184 cards in the set, but with the rarity of some cards, buying more packs theoretically increases your odds of getting some of the rarer cards, including inventions, which I ended up getting out of one of the packs (but have since found out that these cards aren’t standard legal, which kind of sucks!). You would think that picking up that many cards would be detrimental, due to the fact that it’s about double the amount of cards in the set, but because of the way the game is played, it’s advantageous to have a lot of cards. Having up to 4 copies of any one card means that buying a box can net you multiple copies of good cards that you’ll need to build decks. Having extras also bring up trade opportunities with friends. Either way, there are many options to acquire cards, you just have to choose which method works best for you.

That was the question that kept coming to mind as the set’s release date approached. Previously, I had entered back into the world of MTG during a time when 2 blocks had already been finished, and Kaladesh was still the newest set, but only part one of a block. This release, Aether Revolt, finished off the Kaladesh block, and rounds out the 3-block standard format. Because I had multiple sets to work with, I decided that picking up some of the starter sets (Planeswalker Decks) and boxes (like the Booster Bundles) was the best way to get a collection going. From there, I bought handfuls of boosters at a time, mixing and matching from the available sets. From there, I used sites like Troll & Toad to order singles when I knew what I was working towards with my decks. I did miss the original launch of Kaladesh (and the older sets) though, so I didn’t have any pre-established collection to work with. Theoretically, I could have just purchased singles that I wanted to improve my existing Standard legal decks. You could too. Or you could take a path similar to what I did previously. Or, you could buy a box.

I can’t break down what money I spent or what I received with my prior experience. I can estimate that I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 on cards, probably around $300 if you count all of the accessories like deck boxes, card sleeves, dice, tokens and a carrying case (these things aren’t necessary but essential if you want to protect your collection, and have some handy ways to deal with game mechanics). That was obviously an expensive way to amass my collection, but it was more of an initial investment. At this point I don’t have to buy more protective gear nor do I have to buy from multiple sets. At this point, it’s just buying stuff from the new set. And considering I got 540 cards out of one box for $100, I’d say that was a good start. It seems that buying a box nearly eliminates the need to buy further boosters. Really, you’ll get all of the common cards (and for the most part, 4 copies of each) plus you’ll get a few dozen uncommons, rares, mythic rares and foils. The only cards you can’t get in boosters are the unique Planeswalkers and a few other cards that are included in their decks, and there are usually 2 of those per set, so you’re looking at an additional $30 for those, but you’ll also get more copies of cards you might need as well. From there, you can buy singles of the rarer cards and copies of others you might need, and you’re good to go. So it seems like the best route to take, and I did just that.

To provide some further analysis, I broke down the 540 cards into categories, mostly to sate my own curiosity.

Black
47 commons
16 uncommons
6 rares
1 foil

Red
52 commons
16 uncommons
5 rares
1 mythic rare

Blue
51 commons
15 uncommons
4 rares

Green
54 commons
15 uncommons
7 rares
2 foil

White
51 commons
13 uncommons
3 rares
1 mythic rare
1 foil

Artifacts
92 commons
11 uncommons
5 rares
1 alt art promo
1 foil

Vehicles
9 commons
6 uncommons
2 rares
1 mythic rare

Multi-Color
17 uncommons
2 rares

Mythic Rares:

With this breakdown in mind, there are a total of:

356 commons
109 uncommons
34 rares
3 mythic rares
5 foils
1 alternate art – this is the promotional card that comes with buying a box

This is likely to be the spread when buying a box, or buying a similar amount of booster packs individually over time. If you want to get more Rares and above, you’ll have to buy singles. That isn’t a problem with stores and online merchants, but sometimes cards are expensive, so you might be spending a lot more money on individual cards. For instance, the nifty super rare invention I got out of a pack sells for $60 by itself on Troll & Toad. Other cards sell for $20-30 a piece. Most are more affordable, and I’ve spent upwards of $10 or $15 on a single card, so it really depends on how deep your pockets are, and if you’re the gambling type. If you want to gamble, buy more packs. If you want what you want, spend the money on singles. Or do what I do, a little of both. Objects are only as valuable as you make them.

What’s up everyone? It’s been a while since I’ve talked about my recent obsession with Magic: The Gathering, which is really an old obsession that was revitalized in the last few months. The reason I haven’t had much to report is because I wasn’t playing the game quite as much. I built 5 decks that were standard legal, and had honed those down mostly to where I wanted them, just to realize that in a month the new set to finish of the Kaladesh block, Aether Revolt, would be releasing. At that point my friends and I sort of said that we would just wait for that day and then get back into it.

Yesterday was the release of the new set. Aether Revolt builds upon the ideas presented in Kaladesh. That set was very Artifact focused, along with adding in Vehicles and the mechanics Fabricate and Energy to an already complicated game. AR brings two new mechanics called Improvise and Revolt. Improvise is more artifact love, because artifacts on the battlefield can be used to pay for the casting cost of cards with that mechanic listed on them. So, if I have a card with a casting cost of 1 blue & 6 colorless, I must have an island to play the blue cost, but could theoretically use 6 artifacts to cover the colorless casting cost, and keep other mana around for other uses. It’s a neat trick and I’ve had some success building around it. Revolt is a new bounce mechanic, in that if you have any sort of cards that can bounce something, or if you have anything on the battle field die or otherwise enter the gave yard, the new card with Revolt on it will get counters. Basically, if you have a bounce (target card leaves the battlefield and then reenters the battlefield) you can play that, then play a card with revolt and it will get +1/+1 or +2/+2 (whatever it says on the card). It’s not something I’ve used yet but I have some ideas how it could work. Apparently a new white creature card in conjunction with one of the Planeswalkers I have from Kaladesh has created a new infinite combo that will win you the game. I plan to try that out.

After work yesterday I drove out to a local card shop and picked up a Booster box for the set. 36 packs, and a 1 in 4 chance to snag an invention, which are the super rare cards from this block. I didn’t get one, but I was happy with what I pulled out of the deck. When all was said and done I amassed a handful of Mythic Rares, a ton of regular rares and some decent uncommons. Even some of the commons this time around are pretty good. We also decided to have our own mini-tournament, which we played in Limited (sealed deck) format. This is the thing that happens when you go play at a pre-release event or a Friday Night Magic tournament. My friends have gone to this, I have yet to do so. I’d like to do pre-release stuff for the next set later this year.

Anyway, we all bought some cards last night, and we decided to roll with 6 packs each. We open those packs, and then make a deck of 40 cards, then played best of 3’s against each other. Next thing I knew it was 2 in the morning, but hey, it was fun. I ended up doing fairly well, despite having zero experience with this format. I beat one of my friends 2-0, then he played my other friend and lost 2-1, and I played the same friend losing 2-1 as well. He took the cake as he usually does, but it was fun all around. I feel like I have a good grasp of the mechanics of the set, and I’m looking forward to upgrading my constructed decks and making some new ones. My interest has been revitalized, and I’m thankful that new sets come at a time when your interest starts to wane.

So I’m sure I’ll have some new deckbuilding ideas and more reports from the field to share with you guys soon. Until then, happy gaming, where ever you find yourselves!