No, I just listed it twice accidentally.

I asked support if newly created accounts will get the 35 phantom points and their replay was:

Thank you for contacting Wizards Customer Service. The only information we have about the account getting a Prerelease token and phantom points is what was in the article.

Are they really giving these to all accounts, even newly-formed ones? If so, it seems like a no brainier to open another account or two. Good call.

Good to hear that they are making improvements to the trade interface. That gives me more hope. The card size remains a major issue for me.

I think there is probably good money to be made in foils but I have never understood the foil market and have generally stayed away. There is a portion of the legacy and vintage community that puts a high premium on foils. However it’s not clear to me whether the VMA versions will be seen as the “pimp” versions of these cards.

Foil JtMS may be a special case since it has to compete with a large number of foil FtV20 versions.

I think it’s wise when you are looking to buy a card to check foil version as well. Often the difference is negligible and represents good value. Just be aware that it’s harder to sell foils–regulars are much more liquid. .

Personally I love the new client. The only problem I have with it is the small card size. I wish the cards were easier to see on an average sized laptop screen.

As to investments, I pulled a foil JtMS in a VMA queue and was surprised to to find it worth around 25 tix. Also, foil Dual Lands seem like a solid buy right now. Maybe I will wait for the client shift and buy in then. Still, some of the foils seem under valued right now.

Yeah… I have 150 accounts currently 😛

Opening as many new accounts as possible/you think you could ever possibly need.

Between the freeroll prerelease offer, and the New Player queues, you should easily be able to recoup the $10.00, if you actually enjoy playing at all.

Also, Bot Owners, don’t forget that all your bots will have a Freeroll!

You’re certainly right on a per-draft basis that VMA generates more revenue. But in terms of the big picture, Wizards likes to push its new products when it releases them and create a media buzz in which everyone who is talking about Magic is talking about the latest release. This also connects with paper interest, which is overlapping and reinforcing. Having people stream and write about VMA during M15 release events is “off message” and would take a way from that buzz.

In addition, core sets in particular tend to have a short shelf life, and Wizards wants to wring whatever revenue they can out of them before people get bored and the format expires. They know they can bring VMA back as an “evergreen” format and that people will be excited to draft it. In fact, having a break from VMA drafting will make people more excited to play it when it comes back.

I have no empirical data to back this so it’s just a hunch. But that would seem to be the best way for them to maximize revenues.

Thanks beaneau.