Disclaimer: ClockOneDrawTwo is not a financial advisor by any means. Everything posted here is based on pure opinion. ClockOneDrawTwo takes zero responsibility for your actions following your reading of this article. The below references an opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice.
When it comes to getting product, players have many ways to choose and different purchasing options to get their cards in hand. A majority of cards are placed within the booster packs with a variety of rarities within. If one is lucky, they may also pull a special pricey shiny signed card as well.
Ultimately the goal of a player is to be able to get their hands upon playable cards. But how one does so is up to their own discretion. People have their own different financial situations and how one chooses to spend their money can also greatly differ between individual.
Before I continue any further, I’d like to remind players that packs and any opening of product is purely randomised. Yes, despite the fact that boosters and other products have listed ratios, those ratios don’t specify which exact card you will get if you pull a card of that rarity.
For player’s references, I will give out the general ratios of what common game products contain:
- Trial Decks – Pre-built deck with possibility of a specialized foil or sign
- Trial Deck Case – 6 Trial Decks, guaranteed one sign or foil within one of the six trial decks
- Booster Box – 16 Booster Packs, variant between a combination of a signed card/foil/points card/additional extra RR card
- Carton – 18 Booster Boxes, guaranteed one super special signed print (SSP) and two SPs within the 18 boxes + extra rarities like OFR (unknown)
Within a booster box, there are a guaranteed minimum of four RR cards and four climax rare cards. Bushiroad lowered the number of booster packs sometime a few years back from 20 to 16, but added an extra slot in packs resulting in 9 cards per pack over the usual 8 with the middle slot now being a grab-bag between any rarity below RR.
Singles – Now the most common way to get cards is to simply order the specific cards from sellers or shops. This is called the purchasing of singles. It’s really straightforward and you get exactly what you order at the specific rarity you’d want that card. You pay the price that the two of you negotiate and you get your card.
Playset – Another way to get card cards is to purchase a playset which is 4 of every card in the set, but at minimum rarity (usually). This is usually cheaper than singles assuming you want to have access to every card in the set. They are usually in pre-orders as well from individuals or shops.
Packs/Boxes/Cartons – This is probably the most inefficient way to get the cards that you want because if you are doing this method, you are fully gambling with the system. The boxes and packs, etc., have preset ratios, but there’s no telling what card you may get with that ratio. It’s an unfortunate truth, but not all cards are judged equally on the secondary market. What I mean to say is that if by off-chance you pull a signed card, that signed card may or may not be the same value to say another signed card that you could have pulled, for better or worse. The further up you gamble, the more cards you will get. Unless you’re at the carton stage on minimum, very likely depending on your number of boxes/packs, you will be missing cards that you’ll have to single out as well.
So at the end of the day, which method of getting cards is worth it? The answer is fully dependent on you. If you want the chance of pulling shiny cards, then go for the last option. There is nothing wrong with people choosing to spend their money on gambling if they wish for it. If you want to spend minimally, I do suggest one of the two first options since they’ll guarantee you cards.
Good luck to those who pull and to those who buy their cards directly.