New player. Questions. (Of course!)

span_argoman

Joefitts63 said:

Thanks. And extra thanks for the links!

You're welcome and hope you find them useful! The  link with the analysis for Trial of the Planes badly needs updating but the end conclusion is still not to participate in Trial of the Planes for the foreseeable future. The other two are fairly updated.

Joefitts63

Thanks! Next up... Is the Across Ixalan event worth the entry fee for a new player?

AzraelCB

Joefitts63 said:

Thanks! Next up... Is the Across Ixalan event worth the entry fee for a new player?

You do get a pack for 20 crystal, so it may be worth it to you. Who knows if Across Ixalan will be an active event once DOM launches... I don't think it will be, so getting some cheap packs of a standard set is not a horrible idea.

babar3355

Joefitts63 said:

Thanks again. Is it worthwhile to get the 50 gem PWs in order to complete story nodes in all five colors? Or is the reward too small? Google again fails to find the reward amount. Is there a comprehensive FAQ somewhere that I am missing?

Hey Joe,

I will give you some slightly different answers to questions you haven't really asked

1. If you beat a story mode challenge with a dual or tri-colored PW (Nicol Bolas is the only tri thus far) it will count as all 3 colors.  So if you get NB you can get R/B/U with just 1 win.  Pair him with Huatli, Radiant champion (the best W/G PW) and you only have to win each story mode twice.  I personally don't think the base PWs are worth getting. 

2.  Have you found Octal9's site yet?  You should!  https://beta.mtgpq.info/cards   You can search cards, look for PWs, determine optimal PW levels, etc.

3.  You should definitely join one (or more) of the many communities in game.  @Sarahschmara or @bken1234 could help you get connected with some knowledgeable communities who chat in real time.  Much better than gathering info off of the forums. They can also get you in a coalition that is appropriate for your current state.

4.  If you are prioritizing where to spend crystals, I would advocate spending on RIX premium packs.  The cards are strong, drop rates are decent, and it won't rotate out any time in the near future. (Probably change that to DOM when it arrives, depending on the strength of the set).  Obviously you need to build out your PW suite too.. you want at least 1 good PW in each color so you can be competitive in PvP events soon.

5.  Once you get to the point where you can use booster crafting... I would focus on Origins Mythics.  Some really game changing cards like Gaea's Revenge, Hixus, Alhammearret's Archive, Avaracios Dragon, Thopter Spy Network, etc that are really good and are not supposed to ever rotate out of standard.  They are also priced at 3000 rather than 5000 or 7500.

Joefitts63

Thanks for the info.

Kinesia

Across Ixalan gives a pack of cards for 20 crystals, cheapest way to get one and a fun event. You could do it till you have most of the Ixalan commons and uncommons potentially. (Need to balance with saving for other things!)

Never ever touch Trial of the Planes though, it costs more and is _worse_, avoid like the plague.

span_argoman

Joefitts63 said:

Thanks! Next up... Is the Across Ixalan event worth the entry fee for a new player?

As some others have weighed in, it's a good and fun way of obtaining some Ixalan boosters to collect some Ixalan cards.

The issue is that Ixalan boosters have barely half the drop rates on higher rarity cards compared to the other sets. Hence, it makes the boosters only half as valuable if you are chasing Rares and Mythics.

So it's probably good for collecting some commons and uncommons from Ixalan, but once you start having a notable number of duplicates show up in your Ixalan boosters, you might want to direct your Crystal spending elsewhere. Especially with Dominaria expected to be releasing within the next two weeks.