Treasure Chests: Crack Them or Bot Them?
Hello everyone, Treasure Chests were first introduced on 29th September which upset the online community badly. Everyone on the digital realm was dissapointed with the system because it replaced previous prize payouts which were paid out in boosters. This is a move to reduce the volume of excess Booster Packs in the economy and to stabilize their prices but it has caused a lot of unhappiness.
Most players were disappointed with the cards they opened from their chest but they didn't really have a choice at that time. Most of the time, I feel like I am opening a "Boompile".
That's right, a pile of boom.
Only on rare occasions where you'll get to walk away with some curated cards for a chance of profit. Some of the good curated cards are Liliana of the Veil, Black Lotus, Tarmogoyf etc. You can see the full list of curated cards here.
Decisions, Decisions...
However, things have improved ever since Treasure Chests have been made tradeable. It now has a market value of about 3.5 - 4 tickets. Online Grinders have the option to choose between a guaranteed value, or to take a gamble. There are always players out there who are playing Magic Online for fun or for the short run and don't mind opening Treasure Packs once in a while. This is where the demand comes from. However, as a Magic Online grinder, what should I be doing with my Treasure Chests?
Do I crack them or bot them?
The main ways to farm Treasure Chest are same like before. You can either take the "Go Friendly" route and join Standard, Modern or Vintage Leagues. With a low entry of 80 Play Points, you can win up to 8 Treasure Chests. Alternatively, if you want to be more competitive, you can join Daily Events or larger tournaments.
And of course, if you want to get some Treasure Chests, you can always go to a bot and buy some of them. As of last week, they averaged 4 - 4.5 tickets but have since dropped to 3.5 - 4 tickets. I decided to do some experiments so that I can decide what to do with all my Treasure Chests in the future.
Join me as I crack open 24 Treasure Chests to see what I get and whether I make a profit or loss! Once again, please take note that the prices I quoted were based on last week's bot prices and they might have fluctuated over the weekend.
In my first 8 Treasure Chests, I managed to crack these notable value cards out Saska the Undyielding (5.95), Vial Smasher the Fierce (4.57), Tectonic Edge Expedition (4.16), Sacred Foundry (3.19), 1 Kaladesh Booster (2.38) and Malestrom Pulse (3.36). Adding all that up, I made a loss of 12.39 tickets!
Total value from 8 Treasure Chests: 23.61 tickets.
Total Loss: 36 – 23.61 = 12.39 tickets
Of course, this might be a one-time isolated incident so I continued with my experiement, cracking 8 more Treasure Chests.
On my second attempt, I opened Deepglow Skate (4.33), Lightning Greaves Masterpiece (3.33), Crystalline Crawler (2.76), 2 Kaladesh Boosters (4.76) and Faerie Artisan (1.56). This means that I've made a loss of 19.26 tickets!
Total value from 8 Treasure Chests: 16.74 tickets.
Total Loss: 36 tickets – 23.61 tickets = 19.26 tickets
Lastly, I made an attempt to see if third time's the charm. Surely things cannot be so bad all the time!
Unfortunately, it didn't go well either. I cracked Gemstone Mine (9.26) Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix (5.52), Sias Renn, Seeker Adept (2.75) and 2 Kaladesh Boosters (4.76) for a loss of 13.71 tickets!!!
Total value from 8 Treasure Chests: 22.29 tickets.
Total Loss: 36 tickets – 23.61 tickets = 13.71 tickets
Conclusion
Assuming that I had sold each lot of 8 Treasure Chests to a bot, I would have gotten a value of about 30 - 32 tickets, which is better than any of the value above. This is a pretty conclusive experiment for me and I have made up my mine to bot all my future Treasure Packs during my grinding.
The chances of profiting from Treasure Chests is not impossible, but it is not a consistent way to ensure your Magic Online longevity. Unless you truly believe you're lucky or you've got a hunch, it is always better to get back a guaranteed return rather than gamble away your efforts. By all means, there is nothing wrong with buying and cracking Treasure Chests, it is just not my style if I intend to continue "going infinite" on Magic Online.
I hope that you enjoyed my analysis of the situation and I hope that you will find great cards in your Treasure Chests all the time, if you choose to open them!
Regards,
Soh Weng Heng
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