I have seen many people on the forums saying that they buy one case for every set. I'm sure that this will get them all the cards they need. But is one case worth it? How many boxes does it usually take to get playsets of all of the cards worth having? Money rares too, such as EomE and Beatdown. How many boxes of sets do you have to buy to get the good cards without trading? How many boxes do you need WITH trading? Please tell.

I find my method to be very cost effective. I go to the sneak previews, and usually do okay, getting almost a box worth of packs over the course of a weekend. Then, depending on how well I did, I order two or three booster boxes. Hopefully by now I have a playset of commons and uncommons, along with the rares that I accumulated along the way. From here on out, I play in PCQs, preferably sealed, and get more cards that way. After that, I just buy the singles of cards that I need. I don't go out of my way for a playset of everything. Each set has one money rare, generally, so you want to get 4 of that card right away. Other cards are often significantly less expensive, so picking up singles is more cost effective.

well, some simple math.

1 case = 12 boxes
1 box = 24 rares, ~96 uncommons, ~216 commons (usual pack contains 1 rare, 4 uncommons, and 9 commons. i think, i know that the foil tweaks that number a little, but i don't really care to actually figure what it should be)

that should mean that:
1 case = 288 rares, ~1152 uncommons, ~2592 commons

a play-set of cards would be
220 rares
220 uncommons
440 commons

2 boxes = 48 rares, ~192 uncommons, ~452 commons
that should get you a play-set of most commons and uncommons. so i would say that 3 boxes would get you a play-set of commons and uncommons.

a case would get you close to a play-set of rares, but with UDEs weird collation, you are likely still need a few rares.

I musst add, that its always fun to split a case with a friend. Trying to find such a good friend, is the harder challenge.

You could always make real good friends with the store owner that you buy your cards from as well :)

I basically buy a 3rd of a case, if I had the extra cash (extra ~100$) then i'd be able to split a case with someone.

I buy a case for every set. For the most part this works out pretty well. I end up just a few cards shy of a complete playset. And with my extra rares, it usually isn't that difficult to trade - especially at an event such as a PCQ.

But in the instance of Legion, it didn't work quite as well for me. I got 9 Need For Speed and only 3 Mobilize. Ouch! Also, since fewer PCQ players seemed to be collecting Legion, there was less to trade.

In general, I think buying a case is worth it if you have the extra cash, since the extra rares you pick up can make for some great trades/the occasional ebay sale.

However, if you only want a playset of commons, uncommons, and "the good cards" - and you're feeling lucky - you'd probably be better off getting 3 to 6 boxes, picking up extra cards in sealed events, and trading. It's a little more work, but you'll save some $$.

I'm already best friend with the guy, but we don't attract enough people to get a whole case at a time :cry:
Which isn't too bad because I end up buying about 4-6 boxes a set over the course of several paychecks rather than going nuts all at once.

how much are cases?

I find that 2 boxes gives me a playset of the commons, an average of 3 of each uncommon, and a decent selection of rares. There always seems to be some rares you get 3 of, unfortunately it usually seems to be the jankiest cards :) but anyway, two boxes seems to be a decent compromise between getting the good cards and a slim wallet.

I only bought a max of two boxes and came out ok. I'm guessing that you have to get 3-4 to get most of what you're looking for.

One of the most popular Vs. System on-line stores sell cases of new sets for $684 bucks. You can probably get older stuff cheaper. I think Avengers goes for $300ish.

As for the rares, it is hard. I've gotten close to a case of MOR (10 boxes) and am only missing a few cards that I would like. I got three Beatdowns but only 1 Reign of Terror.

MOR is a little differant. i think the set was like 76 commons, 72 uncommons, and 72 rares instead of the 110/55/55 it is now. so it was a little tougher to get everything. i dont really know how much MOR i have purchased, but i know there are a couple of uncommons that i either have pulled 0 or 1 of. the set had a wierd collation.

Tell me about it. Comman and uncommon wise, the card that I have the least of is Avalon Space Station. I only have nine of those. But I probably have around 40-50 Skrull Soldiers, as well as that many in Wild Sentinels. Another dissapointment was that out of 240+ packs I only saw one Longshot. I had to buy the rest ($0.99 each. Can't complain). I just wish it was better balanced. I might have the playset of Reign of Terrors that I need. Ah well. I have enough cards from there to keep me more than content.

This reminds me, I've seen some eBay store selling like 10 boxes of Spiderman for less $30. I wanna say it was $15 but definitely under $30. I'll see if I can find 'em again.

yeah that's pretty much what I do...