Money... the Implications

Back in 2012, I wrote about money and it's importance in this game. If you have no idea what I'm referring to, here's the post: http://skilloverluck.blogspot.ca/2012/11/money.html

For the TL;DR version of that post, here are the key points:

- Money has depressed people from playing this game.
- Players with money are more powerful than players without money.
- Spending money foolishly in this card game can be dangerous.

Since the rebirth of this blog, my posts have been inclined to the pure, competitive nature of this card game. Obviously, money is necessary if you want to become world champion, or if you want to generate brownie points. Today's post will explain this game's dependency on money and suggest ways to help provide additional to funds to support your competitive wishes for this game.

First, I'm going to start with a story from the recent past...

When the Secret Forces was released, I knew immediately that Nekroz was going to be the strongest deck in the format. Obviously, I had to obtain everything for the deck, and I knew it wasn't going to be cheap. I started by buying a few boxes of the set, and I didn't start off too terrible.

That Saturday, there was half a box left on display, and I knew that the cards pulled from that box so far were garbage. Mathematically, I felt I would have better odds of pulling something to complete the deck, and it would be less expensive. If I did not pull anything useful, then it wouldn't be as horrible as buying a full box and pulling nothing. Sure enough, I bought the remaining packs and pulled a Brionac. The weekend after, I did this again and pulled a Valkyrus. Then I proceeded to split a box with Raymond, and I pulled my 3rd Brionac.

Unfortunately, the worst was over, but I still didn't have the complete deck. I had to purchase 2 Valkyrus, and I know I spent $100 for both... In the end, the deck was complete about $500 later.

Was the way I went about this the smartest decision? Depends on how you look at it. If my boxes were all garbage, I would've been a sad panda. Fortunately, I got a little lucky with my boxes and half-boxes I purchased. Also fortunately, I already had everything I needed for the extra deck, so I didn't have to spend any resources obtaining those cards.

Now why did I use this story as my example? I'll explain...

Essentially, my maximum amount of money I set aside for this deck was $600. That number was determined based on an estimate of how much the individual singles would be (and it turns out my estimate wasn't too far off). Originally, I wanted to purchase the singles only and not the boxes (since the ratios of pulling the expensive cards was ludicrous).

In regards to this set, I decided to start investing in the deck by purchasing boxes. Occasionally, Konami provides with a set where you can purchase boxes and strike gold. With reprints like Emptiness and Abyss Dweller, as well as releasing the deck skeletons for Yosenjus, Ritual Beasts, and Nekroz, purchasing boxes was a worthwhile investment. I was able to complete my own Ritual Beast and Yosenju deck, and have spares of these skeletons to trade and sell away. I also got rid of quite a few Emptiness while they were above $10...

Ultimately, this was still nothing more than a gamble. Honestly, I was fortunate enough to pull all 3 Brionacs, and save a lot of money. If I pulled one less Brionac that I did, then I would've exceeded my budget to obtain one, and revert to sad panda stage. However, i would've resorted to selling off some of my pulls from the boxes so I can purchase or trade for that Brionac. That's why I decided to purchased boxes of this set. In simple terms:

- Best case scenario was I pulled all the deck, or at least most of it, so my additional expenses wouldn't have been outrageous.

- Worst case scenario was I pulled garbage, and traded off other pulls to get the rest of the deck, and I'm almost 100% sure that would work.

Typically, the best deck of any given format will be the most expensive deck. Burning Abyss used to hold that title until Nekroz were released. Mermails and Dino-Rabbit are examples of past tier 1 decks that were the most expensive because they were the best decks.

Players on a budget may have to settle for second-best, or lower. If you can't afford Nekroz, you can focus your spending on Burning Abyss and Qliphorts (these decks currently cost between $200-$300 to purchase, if you purchase all of the essential singles). These two decks are second-best, so they are the second-most expensive. If money is really a problem, then you'll have to settle for the worst of the best. Currently, those decks are Yosenjus, then Shaddolls, Satellarknights, Volcanics, and then everything else. These decks are solid (particularly Yosenjus if I had to pick one) but they are not the decks that provide the greatest chance of winning a large-scale tournament. In my opinion (and I've learned this the hard way), you need to do everything possible to guarantee yourself the best chance of winning, if you dream of winning competitive events. Obtaining the undisputed best deck of the format is the first step to increasing your odds, and this will always be expensive.

Unfortunately, the spending of money doesn't stop after you finish obtaining your deck. In order to win large-scale events, you'll have to do some travelling. Gas, food, tournament entry and sometimes hotels are factors you'll have to include in your competitive gaming budget.

Am I saying you should travel to every event possible? Not necessarily. Should you try travelling if you've spent a good amount of money into your deck you want to use? Probably. What's the point of spending $500 on your deck if you're only going to use it at Locals? Spending $500 on a deck you take to multiple higher-level tournaments is much more gratifying, and a proper use of money. Inevitably, the more you decide to travel, the more money you'll have to spend. I know I want to travel as much as possible because the best way to win events is by attending those events, so i'll have to budget accordingly.

Now... In relation to this wonderful card game, are there effective methods of building resources? Honestly speaking, after paying for life and bills, my paychecks are not enough (at least to me). There have been ways I've used this card game to build up resources. Here are some examples of what you can do:

1. Self Vending (AKA ripping people off) - Vendors buy and trade cards from players at half the value, then sell or trade them at full value. Clearly, this is a fantastic way of making money. This works really well in bigger communities. Unfortunately, my community is not big enough for something like that to be successful.

2. Store Credit - If your community has a tournament store credit system, this comes in handy. You can use this credit to purchase boxes, packs and singles. Years ago, I would use my store credit to purchase Effect Veilers, Maxx "C"s and Pot of Duality (this was when they only had one reprint, and they were over $10). All the buying/selling of those cards brought me raw profit.

3. Getting Cards Before they Increase in Value - Before the Secret Forces came out, Book of Eclipse was under $5, and now it's about $10. A smart idea is to do some research and pick up cards that will become expensive, while they are cheap. Sometimes, this is a gamble, but it takes practice until you get it right.

Once you use these methods to build resources (cards and money), you can use these resources to trade and buy cards, and set money aside for travel expenses. This is something that needs to be done in the pursuit of competitive glory.

One final comment: This post is not meant to convince you to drop your life's earnings on cards. Survival is obviously important if you want to play card games. Some people even play this game while raising a family. Just bear in mind that the more money you can properly invest, the better output you can expect.

That's all for today. Let me know your opinions, and thanks for reading!