As of this point (Sunday, September 15, 2013) I have completed one set of DKA. I am waiting for a few cards to rotate to make sure I buy them at their lowest price, and may have to wait a lot for Liliana of the Veil because it is still a $40 card!
Here is a helpful summary from MTGGoldFish, an awesome pricing web site. This is an awesome web site, and it is saving me a ton of time to figure out what cards I should buy as I get to completion.
( http://www.mtggoldfish.com/ )
Post-Rotation Final Planning
The Innistrad block and Magic 2013 rotate from Standard September 27, 2013. The paper pre-release is this coming Saturday the 21st beginning with the midnight pre-release, and the online pre-release takes place October 7, 2013. I have been slowly yet steadily getting to completion on the online redemptions, and also thinking about which play sets I would like to have as paper cards once those cards have rotated. Here are the cards I have been looking at as categories:
1. Liliana of the Veil: This card deserves its own category because at $40 online it is holding up my redemption of an entire large set. From all that I have read so far, those who know more than I do say that this card will go down to as low as $30 in the next month, and then slowly increase in price. Because it can still be redeemed online, and because it is considered in the same select company as Jace the Mind Sculptor (JTMS), it can go up online to as much as $60. The paper card looks like will be at $40 for a while, perhaps going up a lot from there. I am only interested in making a cube with this card, and therefore don't see the point of forking out so much money to redeem a play set. This one card is guiding my decision to redeem one set of ISD before the end of October, and leave myself the option of redeeming a second set later in the year. There is also the possibility that this card's price online will NOT go down below $40. If that happens, I will likely NOT redeem any Innistrad sets and conform myself with redemptions of the other three sets.
2. Geist of Saint Traft and Snapcaster Mage: I have one of each right now. If I redeem two sets (see previous item) I will have three of each. If I decide to play paper Modern at a later point, I could always buy one more from ebay. Some forecast both of these cards to go up a lot in the next few years. I am leaving myself the option of getting a copy of each from ebay by the end of this year.
3. The enemy color buddy lands of Innistrad and the allied color buddy lands of Magic 2013: These are going to tank post-rotation and will see no Modern play. Modern already has the Zendikar block fetch lands, and the Ravnica block shock lands. In addition, Modern has the Shadowmoor block filter lands. I can always buy play sets of the buddy lands off ebay as I am building up a cube.
4. Cards I want to play in casual: Tamiyo, Temporal Mastery, Hellrider, Griselbrand, DKA Sorin, the other planeswalkers, and a few others. If I do double redemptions I can rescue pairs of some of these cards I had purchased to play with, such as Tamiyo. I can buy additional pairs from ebay any time, since none of these cards are "a thing" in Modern Constructed.
In summary, double redemptions make sense given that I already have several pairs online of the more expensive cards.
RTR block is a completely different story. Even though from Gatecrash on each set redemption costs $25 instead of $5, RTR and GTC have shock lands. Play sets of those would be nice. I am better off spending money on RTR block redemptions to get the shock lands than I am on ISD block redemptions to pay $40 for a digital Liliana of the Veil that is also costing $40 on paper!
Wizards, can you please reprint Liliana of the Veil in Magic 2015? Thanks!
September 18, 2013 update: $23 to complete Avacyn Restored (first set).
Here is what I am missing for the second set.
September 23, 2013 update: Liliana of the Veil went back to $50. The ISD redemption is off until further notice. I have been following the price of this card every day and I want this time to be the last time I do this for a virtualized piece of cardboard. I will be completing the other three sets (2nd set for DKA and AVR, 1st for M13) as I get money for redemptions in the next coming weeks. If ISD had shock lands, I would be trying harder to redeem it!
September 25, 2013 update: Liliana of the Veil went to $57!!! That is just crazy! Spent $20 to complete the first set of M13, and bought three cards for the second redemption of DKA.
I am missing six cards for the second DKA set.
..eight for AVR
...and ten of M13.
... and I am at the end of this quest. If I go for second sets, it will have to be further down the road.
October 3, 2013 update: $10 to the bots. Here are the second set statuses (no ISD, of course!!!)
As of this update a complete DKA is $19, AVR is $28, and M13 is $41.
October 16, 2013 update:
We have successfully processed your Redemption Request for Order Number XXXXXX. We have removed the Magic Online set(s) listed below from your account and will ship the corresponding physical set(s) shortly. Please allow at least ten business days for delivery of your set(s).
Thank you,
The Magic: The Gathering Online Team
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Sets Redeemed:
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Set Name: Avacyn Restored Redemption Request (Standard)
Qty: 1
Set Name: Dark Ascension Redemption Request (Standard)
Qty: 1
Set Name: Magic 2013 Redemption Request (Standard)
Qty: 1
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