That's my plan. Keeping non-valuable (trade-in wise anyway) pieces with good sculpts of characters I like. Maybe a dozen or so at most.

I will ditto what Roy said; I simply could not keep up. I went off to college and when I’d come home, I’d go back up to my local venue and see some of the usuals there. I’d try to play, but I would get sick of people using the Gauntlet and the Utility Belt every match. I just thought those were so dumb and took out the fun of the game.

On top of that, Wizkids/NECA seems to be producing a set every 2 months or so. That is far too often for my taste and gets too expensive. I’ve since switched to playing mainly board games, including Star Wars: Imperial Assault, or other games that you don’t have to buy something every two months to keep up with the meta. I also play Magic on occasion, but I only play draft style, never constructed. I like everyone being on a level playing field and I also don’t like playing people with $800+ decks because I will never spend that much on cards.

I wish I had picked out some pieces, but my wife coaxed me out of it. Mainly because they don't fit standard battlemat grids, so there was no re-using them for other stuff. I've used Heroclix figs for D&D minis before, and it's always met with groans at the table. At best they would have ended up as chew toys for my cats.

I still have my promo Day of M Mystique fig from Armor Wars, and that's about it. And the only reason I still have it is because I can't remember to put it in my bag before I head to the store.

Which I've actually stopped going to, because between work and going back to school I have like zero free time now.

Legitimately the only way I'll play Magic in a store.

Last time I played was a 2-headed giant draft tournament, and my friend and I had a blast with it.

I’ve never played 2-headed giant, but I’ve heard that they are a blast. I have loads of fun playing draft and sealed events. There can be times where you get screwed and other people get lucky with what they open, but I like the idea of the skill behind building a good deck on the fly compared to building the “deck that won the last regionals”.

Have you looked into any of FFG's LCGs? I'm a Thrones guy but Legend of the Five Rings is also quite popular. The buy-in is getting a little high for thrones (although if you're patient you can get a collection for a good deal), but it's a pack a month (~$12) plus a couple bigger boxes a year (~$20), and there's no rarity, you get a full set with each purchase (except the core set). May not fit with what you want out of a game, but for anybody that enjoys card games but doesn't care for the heavy spending of Magic it's at least worth a look! Plus it's a great community, somewhat older than the normal Magic crowd, which can also be nice.

No, I haven’t, but I’ve seen them at my store. I really like FFG and I’m a big fan of Thrones and a bigger fan of LoTR. I might take a look into them. I’ve been thinking of getting out of Magic for a little while and that might feed my need. I’ve noticed that they have a Star Wars one as well, which is probably a little more up my alley. Been on a bit of a Star Wars hiatus after TLJ, though...

That's always a risk with sealed events of any kind. It's much better to lose to someone who got lucky with a pull than to lose to someone in a constructed tournament because they were able to spend more money than you. It's one of the reasons board games are so much more appealing to me. Level playing field.

Same with me. You also don’t have to continue to buy product to keep the game fun. It is nice when there are expansions, though.

Plus, I find it much easier to bring in new players to a board game compared to a game that you have to continually have to buy more product for.

In the 2-headed giant tournament I was in, it was part of, I think, the Theros deck promo stuff. So both of us got to pick a color, so we got a special large booster that had mostly cards of that color, and then a bunch of random boosters to use with it. I don't think you were required to use that color, but as I recall it was in your best interest to do so.

So I picked Red, and ended up with a Red/White soldier deck with a lot of Akroan Hoplites and an Anex and Cymede card, while my friend picked blue, and got a Blue/Black deck with a ton of cancel and removal. We didn't go far, but we at least made everyone sweat when those Hoplites were swinging for big damage and they couldn't field anything to respond with. Fun times.

Too bad my friend is kinda swearing off Magic now, he just gets too pissed off when he gets land-hosed. It's like getting excited to play Mansions of Madness and finding out your tablet is broken after everyone has sat down to play, for him.

I moved to Medford from Locust Grove, Oklahoma to be with Kedryn. Best move I ever made.

I dabble with Magic, always have. Currently building a Dinosaur themed EDH deck because OBVIOUSLY.

Very true. One of the benefits of a regular Board Game night is that I get to try a lot of different stuff effectively for free since everyone tends to own different games. It's very accessible and affordable. Then I only buy games that fit my style and end up getting fantastic value from the replay-ability.

There are still some of the same pitfalls as with clix like playing with a person I don't care for. Luckily, most folks are tolerable so that's not a huge issue. No hygiene or temper issues, unlike when I used to play clix. A bigger recurring issue is folks who will only play their games and then act butthurt when the group decides to play something else.

I enjoy having a regular Game Night group. It is relatively inexpensive, especially if you have the games and do not plan on drinking during (I’m fine with or without). However, my friend that usually hosts Game Night is very competitive and will do his best to plan out his starategy for games before we even play a game. I like to bring different games to keep him on his toes.

I mean, I love winning as much as the next person, but I would rather play more thematically and lose than the opposite. For example, I would rather play a full team of X-Men and try to win, whereas my friend would try and win without having any sort of cohesion in his team and just play purely meta characters. Just personal preference I guess. My girlfriend isn’t really into the really thematic games like Setters of Catan, Betrayal, or Dead of Winter. She will usually sit out if we play one of those. I’m still trying to decide if that’s a good or a bad thing

Well, the store I play at is dry, so it's water to drink. And that friend you speak of is one of the reasons for no more clix (not that friend specifically). Unless it's a game that one person has played before and the rest of of haven't, it's very difficult to plan it out and win. Board games typically don't allow the option of building a min-max team in the pre-game.

My issue is more with some players. They buy a game. They learn the game. They really want to play it and the group obliges. They teach us the game. We play, we review, time generally well-spent. Flip to another player in the group buying a game. Player learns the game and wants to play with the group. The group as a whole again obliges but the first player who bought/taught a game refuses to play because it's not their game. They don't like learning from others, they only like their games. It's very discourteous in my book. To be fair, it's only a few players, but they tend to take it very personally when their games are not chosen. It baffles me and sours the mood quite a bit.

As for your GF, you like her for other reasons beyond gaming I presume. As long as you're both open-minded and know each others' triggers and game preferences, shouldn't be an issue. Now, when you go through pre-marital counseling and both say that you like games. Then you realize that one of you meant Dominos and Uno while the other meant Axis & Allies and Heroclix, then you may have a conflict. I'm still banned from playing canasta with my in-laws.