It’s so painful to see a parent who is helpless to know what their child wants for Christmas or a birthday.  When buying any collectible card game (Magic the Gathering, Yugioh, etc.) as a present for someone it is very easy to buy them something they don’t need and won’t appreciate.  It’s also very easy to buy them something that they will appreciate by default. Here are a few simple ideas:

1. All card players need supplies.  When I say supplies I mean the things they use to protect, store, and display their cards.  Card Sleeves are always an appreciated gift, even by those of us who have every card we could ever need.  Binders, Deck Boxes, Card Storage boxes, and specialty backpacks are also a good choice.  This is an especially good idea for players that consider themselves tournament players, since they use new sleeves every 2-3 tournaments.
2. Every player can always use more cards of the game that they play, and they come in packs.  It is best to find the most recently released product, listed as a “Booster pack” or “Booster Box” on eBay.   Most players can never keep up with acquiring all of the cards from every release, so they are bound to get something good.  Careful, this is the equivalent of buying scratch tickets, the person you are buying packs for might not open anything that they want.
3. If you know that the person you are buying for has very few cards (Less than 1000, which is about a shoe box full), then it might be a good idea to buy them a starter collection on eBay.  Many vendors will list a “collection” or “lot” of 500 to 1000 cards for a very competitive price.  For example if you searched “Collection Magic cards 1000” you would find hundreds of listings that will cost around $25-30 including shipping.  Doubling the size of someone’s collection is always a boost, especially for someone who only plays casually. 

Happy gift hunting

Andystok from overtheedgegames.com