I've done a lot of inefficient and uneconomical card acquisition for past sets, and I want to start buying smarter. My goal is to have a playset of each common/uncommon and at least 1 of each rare and mythic (maybe 4x "bulk" rares). I am focusing on the most recent sets and all future sets -- I consider older sets a lost cause, at least for now.

Here are the methods I'm considering:

• Complete sets: I recently discovered factory-sealed complete sets. I really like the *idea* of these -- you get exactly the number of cards you want, and they're guaranteed mint condition. I assume, though, that you pay a premium for the unopened condition and that you could get them cheaper if this doesn't matter to you? Complete sets seem to be anywhere from $100-150 for the more recent sets.
• C/U playsets: You can easily get playsets of all commons and uncommons for a set fairly cheaply. They seem to often be around $30 or so.
• Booster boxes: If you buy a booster box, you'll be getting ~360 commons and ~108 uncommons, so for a large set you'll be getting 3-4 of the commons and 1-2 of most uncommons. You'll get over half the rares, and 1/3 of the mythics. In a small set, you're almost guaranteed to get playsets of all the commons (6 of many), 2 of most uncommons, 1 of almost all the rares, and possibly 1/2 the mythics.
• Singles. Obviously.

I'm trying to decide which path is the most economical, both in terms of cost as well as least over-duplication. Please help me decide.

• Buy 1 booster box (more than one will get you too many commons), and fill out the missing pieces by buying singles.
• Buy 4x complete commons/uncommons, and buy the rares/mythics as singles.
• Buy 4 complete sets, factory sealed or not.
• Buy 1 complete set, and additional complete sets of commons/uncommons to make playsets.
• Buy the set in singles.

I assume that when it comes to commons/uncommons, buying singles will be more expensive than buying in bulk. The question is whether the complete sets are worth it. A booster box looks more attractive when it's for a small set than when it's for a large set, but for either, the ultimate cost of taking this path is harder to determine.

One consideration is that if I go with a more modular approach (so not complete sets), I don't have to buy every single card. I wouldn't be surprised if cards followed the 80/20 rule -- i.e. you can get 80% of the cards for 20% of the cost, and vice versa. Then I could choose how far above the 80% I want to spend. For instance, I like W, U, B, and G all to some extent.... but I can't stand red. I'd be perfectly fine not buying a $40 red card!

A final question: As I'm not a Standard player, I don't mind waiting to get a new set If it's worth it. Does a set's price, as a whole, drop significantly after rotating out of Standard?

I usually buy a box of a new set because you do get almost all of the commons and a large qty of uncommons. THere will be times you don't get some of the uncommons you want though. I got no arc lightning from my khans box for example.

I usually buy singles/trade to fill in the rest of what i need.

Some will say buy singles all the way, but part of the fun of the game is cracking packs. You can also do fun/practice things with them like draft with friends/sealed pools etc.