Quick question before prerelease

[krakked]

Since the reprints in some of the commander precons are so good, should I just have up my money to get a precon or should I go to the prerelease? I've been to two in a row and it's been underwhelming. The only card I really liked from the both of em is Spiteful Hexmage, from the WOE prerelease. Plus because of the new play boosters its going to be more expensive anyways.

[DirkGently]

What are you goals?

If your goal is to have a fun sealed experience, then I think prerelease is great. I try to think of it mostly as paying for the event, and then the cards are just a bonus. Sealed (and draft) are really fun imo and I'd always recommend people giving them a try. It is unfortunate that the costs are going up though.

If you want to get some useful cards for a commander deck, then a prerelease isn't a good way to go. Either buy a precon or buy singles. Sealed packs might give you your "money worth" but they won't give you cards you actually need for a particular deck, at least not very often.

Why would you want a Spiteful Hexmage btw? That card is very bad in commander, if that's the best card you got in your packs then you must have gotten exceedingly unlucky. And it's only decent, not great, in sealed/draft too afaik.

[Mookie]

I'll second the 'what are your goals?' question.

Prereleases are fun, but I wouldn't expect to make your money back unless you're particularly good at sealed. It's possible to open up a chase card and make your money back, but generally unlikely. If you enjoy sealed, go for it. If you don't, then skip out. I'll call out 2HG as a related option if you can wrangle a friend into joining you.

If you just want to acquire specific cards from the set, then buying singles is the way to go - opening packs to get a specific card is generally going to be much more expensive.

If one of the precons appeal to you, that is also totally reasonable. They usually have good value relative to the price, and high replay value means you can get more mileage from it than a single prerelease event. I wouldn't buy one just for a couple of cards (particularly since precon card prices tend to fall significantly), but it will pretty much always be cheaper to buy a precon than to put together the decklist yourself.

[krakked]

What are you goals?

If your goal is to have a fun sealed experience, then I think prerelease is great. I try to think of it mostly as paying for the event, and then the cards are just a bonus. Sealed (and draft) are really fun imo and I'd always recommend people giving them a try. It is unfortunate that the costs are going up though.

If you want to get some useful cards for a commander deck, then a prerelease isn't a good way to go. Either buy a precon or buy singles. Sealed packs might give you your "money worth" but they won't give you cards you actually need for a particular deck, at least not very often.

Why would you want a Spiteful Hexmage btw? That card is very bad in commander, if that's the best card you got in your packs then you must have gotten exceedingly unlucky. And it's only decent, not great, in sealed/draft too afaik.

When your commander is already a two drop with one power it doesn't make a difference
But you are right I did get very unlucky during those
Plus if you have a turn one creature and have it in your hand, it's a pretty good turn two. But again it helps better if you already have a commander that does that.

[DirkGently]

@krakked Ha, there are a lot more 1-power 2-mv black commanders than I would have guessed, so I'm still unsure who your commander is. (Dina, Soul Steeper?) That said, I don't think spiteful hexmage is a card you should play in any of them. A 1 mana 3/2 would be bad even with no downside, and even though you maybe get a "freeroll" with a 1-power commander, needing to delay casting it until turn 3 is a major, major downside. By that point 3/2 in stats is basically irrelevant. If the aura was an upside somehow maybe it could have a use, but I don't think that's true for any possible commanders in that color/power/mv.

Of course feel free to post up your list so people can give more detailed feedback! (if you want it ofc)

[ISBPathfinder]

If you are going to a pre release with the intent of obtaining cards for commander I think you are probably not spending your money where you should. Pre release is fun and you will get potentially more packs for your money at pre release than just buying packs but that said buying packs is a horrible way of collecting cards for commander. Buy singles and pre constructed decks. Maybe if you really love gambling then some of the premium products that are more geared to commander and other eternal formats but buying new standard packs is not a good return on investment if your goal is building up your collection.

On the other hand if you look at the event of a pre release like buying a movie ticket and the value is in the experience then I think its fine. If your end goal is what is the best bang for your buck though I wouldn't do it. Pre release events and buying standard release packs is generally geared for playing standard format magic.

[duducrash]

I think Spiteful Hexmage is playable in Braids, Arisen Nightmare because you get to sac the token for value. but every card is playable if we look hard enough

[TheAmericanSpirit]

but every card is playable if we look hard enough

Ah the inverted @Dunadain method of evaluating cardboard. Rare, but always nice to see