I like to play standard because its always changing and I can afford it. I could play the other formats but I prefer my money to be invested. That’s why I own real land instead of card board lands, but what do I know I only have rental properties.

I agree on the “I like pretty cards” sentiment, and that’s speaking as a competitive player.

I especially like to play pretty cards in my decks. I like Rebecca Guay’s artwork, so I play the WPN promo Path to Exile in my modern deck. I like the foil patterning on Elesh Norn, so I play that instead of the non-foil. And I really am not fond of the artwork on the RTR Steam Vents, so I play the original Guildpact printing.

When all is said and done, it means that if my modern deck gets lost or stolen, I’m out $1200 instead of $1000. And in the short term, that money is in cardboard instead of sitting in the bank or an investment portfolio. I guess I could save money by playing the cheaper, uglier versions of cards in my deck. But you know what else would save money? Not playing Magic.

I have a hobby, it makes me happy, and I’m willing to spend money on it. Isn’t that why we’re all here?

For every event I judge, I give myself a small cut of my compensation to spend on cards for the deck. At GP New Jersey, it was a Beta Nevinyrral’s Disk. At GP Baltimore, it was a stack of the Arena foil Mountains I coveted (the Urza’s Saga ones, with the John Avon art). It’s a tangible reward for my hard work, and it feels good to play with such beautiful, valuable cards. (Not to mention, it’s a decent investment if I ever decide it’s time to get fully out.)

I should add that except for a few cards for Vintage I pretty much own whatever I would need to play competitively (in most cases barring a few cheaper, usually newer, cards that I’ll pick up at some point when I come across a deal). I tend to play casually though and like to have the cards I want for my decks available to me (storing away playsets of cards has also proven a pretty good investment strategy as casual and competitive cards tend to go up over the years).

I feel that high end cards are a good investment, so as such I don’t mind indulging in them as a finance minded person when the collector in me wants to get pretty copies (the player just wants copies, period). As I tend to play with a group of friends when I play I am less concerned with theft, while damage can mostly be prevented by sleeving well and being careful (I also tend to play EDH, so I usually only bring a few high end cards per deck).

As for those Vintage cards I’m missing: 5 of the Power 9 and 3 Shops. My finance minded side wants to watch my expenses, so I really prefer to trade for them (though I’ll buy if it’s a really good deal). I will accept more worn copies for the player to play with and the collector who really wants pretty copies can shut up for now (when I have them I might look to trade up towards better looking copies though).

This is a totally fair point, but I’m talking about owning/collecting here, not flipping.

The first is that “thrill of the hunt” that you mentioned. After I acquired a good collection of cards that allowed me to put together most Legacy and Extended/Modern decks that I had an interest in playing, there was nothing left to pursue. I was never a committed trader/binder grinder. It started with the occasional foil Inquisition of Kozilek, or Silvergill Adept that I’d see in a binder. I already had all the fetch lands and Cryptic Commands I would need, and I really wanted to get rid of [random overpriced standard card], so I started acquiring foils. Over time, I wanted my decks to become all foil, and the hunt was on.

The second thing is that I see expensive cards as a sort of investment market that I understand, which surrounds a game that I love. As I got older, I started to see the financial value that could be gained in foils/expensive cards. While I didn’t want to grind out a living from cards, I did know the market well enough as a player that I thought I could gain value in the long term. I don’t have the passion or the patience to learn the real stock market. I have no clue on whether five hundred dollars is better spent on a moderate mutual fund, or palladium shares. I DO have a clue on why I put that five hundred into foil Mercadian Brainstorms, rather than foil Goblin Welders. Now, I’m not planning to retire on Magic cards; it’s rather an investment hobby. I can put in a little time and money, forget about a solid investment for a while, and then when I’m interested again, I can look up prices again and see a nice chunky gain.

1)
Russian foil ktk polluted delta 800
english ktk polluted delta 12.50
you could feasibly have 64 deltas over one extremely rare one. It allows you to be liquid, trade play etc. The KTK may jump in value a few hundred but the regular delta could easily jump as well. Easy choice for me, go non foil

2) (1 month ago a decision I made)
4 foil judge noble hierarchs
4 noble hierarchs non foil + 160$

I went with the judge foil noble hierarchs b/c if any key pod pieces were banned or hierarch is reprinted, i can recoup a majority of my 360$. When pod got banned I offloaded them for $340 in trade credit instantly.

I usually am in the first boat, but i do like judge foils!

It’s why people want to own fancy cars, first print books, etc. Some people care to collect them. It’s crazy from some perspectives, but I’m sure all of us do crazy things from time to time.