Should I foil out my deck?
General forum
Posted on March 21, 2016, 10:20 p.m. by TheAnnihilator
Hey everyone! I'm currently debating a very important question... Should I foil out my deck? /sarcasm
Ok, so I know... First world problems, blah blah. Anyways, I finally found a deck I'm 100% in love with -- and that deck is modern Esper Draw-Go. I have all the cards, and I'm proud of it. In addition, the deck isn't specific like a combo deck, so it's unlikely to get "banned out" since it's just a general UWx control deck, and anything controlly will fit.
Thus, I have naturally come to making this thread. I know I can't afford it now, but I may be able to work the process out for the long term. However, I typically don't care for foils, and it represents a lot of time and money. Does anyone have input on this?
My current opinion is that it's unnecessary and expensive, so I shouldn't do it. But still, interested to hear the community's thoughts on it.
GlistenerAgent says... #3
I wouldn't. Do that with your Legacy deck, i.e. cards that will hold value for a really long time.
March 21, 2016 10:29 p.m.
DERPLINGSUPREME says... #4
well, If you'd rather get it pimped rather than another deck, sure.
in order of things to do, I'd say land is first. and I'm not talking boring old zendikar pimp, I mean the good pimp- foil onslaught lands! the really old and foil lands are beautiful, especially when combined with that of zendikar.
March 21, 2016 10:29 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #6
I wouldn't either. For Modern, I like my promos and choosing the artwork, but not foils.
March 21, 2016 10:30 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #7
@bijschjdbcd I really don't mean to brag, but I have options for other decks already. XD
All of Twin if it ever gets unbanned except Scalding Tarns (and all of Blue Moon, inadvertently). UWR Control, most of Abzan Company too. I'm not really big on other colors -- it's odd for me to have even AbCo since I'm my LGS's staple blue player. So, I feel satisfied so far.
Perks of Altering cards. lol
March 21, 2016 10:39 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #9
Not into Legacy yet tho, but after finding Landstill, my interest has been increased. I still hate the reserve list.
March 21, 2016 10:42 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #10
What I mean is, don't. Your Modern cards are nowhere near valuable enough to justify spending the time and money foiling.
March 21, 2016 10:49 p.m.
Esper Charm
= HNNNNNG
The cheapest you could get your current build foiled out would be ~$2000.
Personally, I'd rather own another deck (or two), but if you do foil it out, make sure to get good art (Ghost Quarter, Thoughtseize, Hallowed Fountain etc). Of course, this would bring the price to well over $3000, but it would be one goddamn beautiful deck.
March 22, 2016 2:48 a.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #12
In terms of value, foils can be a roller coaster. Not even high demand cards are safe, with cards like Snapcaster Mage and Tarmogoyf having large swings. However, the greater the demand, the slower the changes are. Fringe playable cards can spike and fall like none other (Pull from Eternity anyone?) Foils in general tend to go up in value more than regular cards. I can almost guarantee that Spell Pierce was at least 2 dollars early on, but the regular versions have only gone up 2 dollars while the foil has gone up a supposed 26 (heck, it was a $50 foil about a year ago). So the foils will appreciate over time. The difficult part will be offloading them in the future, as only people in a similar situation will be actively seeking them. Otherwise, you'll just have to sell for a discount
March 22, 2016 4:47 a.m.
mathimus55 says... #13
As someone who has a fully(minus 2 cards) foiled out merfolk deck and has talked to several other head judges at events: don't foil out just the lands first. Since foils can curve and to a trained eye you can visually see the difference it could lead to judge calls and be considered marking you cards. Even during deck checks I've see people given loses/DQ's over the land base being foiled vs the rest of the deck not. If you do start to foil it out make sure you double sleeve not just for protection but to minimize the amount of curling shown with the deck.
Also, make sure you have a healthy and noticeable(to anyone doing a deck check) mix of foils in the lands/nonlands so it doesn't appear as marking. It's up to the head judges discretion(at smaller events/FNM it shouldn't be a problem) but for anything where you don't know the people running it it could come across shady. Every judge that's been goin for a while has a couple stories of people using thin sleeves and foils on older lands as a way to get around variance and knowing of/when to mull. This especially comes to sideboard cards to where people will have regular or foils of the main board and the opposite for the sideboard so they can almost see but definitively feel the spacing between the cards.
Finally, it's totally up to you about foiling your deck. I also have the options for whatever deck I want to move between, and chose to foil merfolk since it is my pet deck that I've done well with over the years. It takes time and effort just as much as money to foil a full 75 but it's super fun and satisfying once you do.
TheAnnihilator says... #2
As a side note, I will not be investing in textless cards, since I want the cards to be easily read and understood. This means pack-foil Cryptics and none of the expeditions (they're too busy).
March 21, 2016 10:23 p.m.