I stumbled into a tiny twitterstorm by lending support to Marcel of the Brainstorm Brewery Podcast. He seemed a bit worn out by being the lone man arguing from the players perspective while the other hosts are in favour of a free market. #MTGFinance folks get a little defensive at any criticism as they do get blamed for a lot of stuff and cop some vile abuse.
While I enjoy #MTGFinance podcasts and dabbling on Pucca Trade I do believe that there are some negative consequences for the game. People hoarding particular cards restricts liquidity and stops them getting into the hands of players. When a fun new deck gets camera time at a big event the new cards featured are often bought out from online retailers by speculators. People excited to put together that deck can't do it straight away and will have to wait until vendors restock (at a higher price). Being able to purchase the cards you want straight away rather than wait a week (and pay more) means there is a good chance the fire goes out from that player and the new deck isn't put together at all.
That's sad and leads to less diversity at events and people not playing the deck they really want to.
#MTGFinance does make the game more affordable for the participants but lets not pretend it isn't a largely zero sum game. It doesn't have to have a huge impact on the Magic player base but finance folk have to show some restraint. I believe tiny leaders was severely hurt by finance folk going too hard too soon and increasing the barrier to entry for a format that was still trying to establish itself and build a player base.
If you are the guy that has 10 Eidolon of Great Revels and don't want to sell until they are $20 then at least consider lending them out to your LGS regular looking for them to play in an upcoming tournament. That way your future earnings aren't hurt and the player base isn't negatively affected. A huge part of #MTGFinance is networking and giving back and being a positive participant is great for the games future. The future growth and health of the game is the underwriting force that maintains the value of our collections.
This is not a new concept, 10 years ago I remember Michael Buckler was the number one binder grinder in Brisbane and had a huge collection. He saw the deck I had put together for an upcoming extended PTQ and lent me 7 fetch lands (I had zero) to use without me even thinking to ask. They made my first extended tournament a much happier experience and I went on to become a pretty serious grinder for several years.
While I enjoy #MTGFinance podcasts and dabbling on Pucca Trade I do believe that there are some negative consequences for the game. People hoarding particular cards restricts liquidity and stops them getting into the hands of players. When a fun new deck gets camera time at a big event the new cards featured are often bought out from online retailers by speculators. People excited to put together that deck can't do it straight away and will have to wait until vendors restock (at a higher price). Being able to purchase the cards you want straight away rather than wait a week (and pay more) means there is a good chance the fire goes out from that player and the new deck isn't put together at all.
That's sad and leads to less diversity at events and people not playing the deck they really want to.
#MTGFinance does make the game more affordable for the participants but lets not pretend it isn't a largely zero sum game. It doesn't have to have a huge impact on the Magic player base but finance folk have to show some restraint. I believe tiny leaders was severely hurt by finance folk going too hard too soon and increasing the barrier to entry for a format that was still trying to establish itself and build a player base.
If you are the guy that has 10 Eidolon of Great Revels and don't want to sell until they are $20 then at least consider lending them out to your LGS regular looking for them to play in an upcoming tournament. That way your future earnings aren't hurt and the player base isn't negatively affected. A huge part of #MTGFinance is networking and giving back and being a positive participant is great for the games future. The future growth and health of the game is the underwriting force that maintains the value of our collections.
This is not a new concept, 10 years ago I remember Michael Buckler was the number one binder grinder in Brisbane and had a huge collection. He saw the deck I had put together for an upcoming extended PTQ and lent me 7 fetch lands (I had zero) to use without me even thinking to ask. They made my first extended tournament a much happier experience and I went on to become a pretty serious grinder for several years.
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