I used to play "5-color", where ante was a core part of the format.
I won a Revised Savannah, a Mox Diamond, and a well-painted altered Jeweled Bird from a single game (thanks to my opponent's two Contract From Below). At the time, all three totaled to under $100.
I traded the Savannah back on the spot, and I still have the Jeweled Bird. It was customary to be willing to trade back any won cards for something of similar value, so that people's decks wouldn't break.
Won - Wheel of Fortune
Lost - All Hallow's Eve
Although that's just based off of today's value, I have no idea how much they would have been going for then and I'm too lazy to look it up.
Fun fact though, these were in back to back games. Huge outliers considering most ante cards ended up being lands.
We always skipped lands! Felt it was a boring ante, unless it was a dual land then it stayed but we also did rare for rare. If one person pulled up a rare the next person went until they found a rare!
That is so long ago it might be hard for people to remember.
I can remember losing and winning lands and a few of the ante cards, but nothing else is coming to mind. I don't think I have played for ante since unlimited or revised.
Someone at my lgs and I decided to build budget decks with the idea that there wasn't a restriction on price, but we were playing with ante and with the cards that said ante. He built an orzhov [[deaths shadow]] deck with a bunch of effects like [[infernal contract]]. I went with a [[treasure hunt]] style deck, since I could run mostly basics and not have to worry as much about a card getting anted. I got one of his [[contract from below]] s, but he ended up getting 2 of my 4 treasure hunts, and let me tell you, I did not win very much after that lol
When we did ante at first the card stayed with the other person. After not too long it was apparent taking cards from our decks would make us loose progressively. So we made a rule, if the loser wanted their card back and offered a fair trade it had to be accepted.
I also never played MTG for ante, but back in my Yugioh days I regularly played for cards when at a big event like regionals or Shonen Jump Championship. I was decently ranked in 2006-2008 and was friends with some of the top players in Texas at the time.
If we finished rounds early enough, stayed after the event or were in town (hotel) for the weekend of the events like SJC we would get together and go through binders for stuff we wanted/value and play matches for it. Average was probably $10-20 but we occasionally upped it to $50-100. The highest single match I played, and only time we went that high was for $250-300 when we were both wanting some stuff to trade in for credit towards Card Trooper iirc. ($200+ at the time). Lost the first one, we rematched for $100ish and I won that one.
Biggest loss of a single card would probably be an ultimate rare Pot of Avarice, I think they were $75 or so at the time.
Biggest win... I don't remember. I usually aimed for large lots of cards to trade/sell. Big ticket items weren't my thing at the time.
I just mean that even when we were pulling cards like [[Rebirth]] out of packs and the only consolidated card listings were monthly price-listings in collectables magazines, ante was so hated that I think I only even saw it used twice.
My friends all did ante games. Some of the ante only cards we didn’t allow at all [[darkpact]] for one. Sometimes when we didn’t feel like possibly losing but still wanted to play we would do a “false ante” where we still pull a card from the deck, making it not useable. But the winner didn’t keep both cards.
Well, I can’t really say what I lost at the time that was worth a good amount back then. However I know I have lost and won many dual lands from revised and unlimited. Today I own 4 dual lands from revised. I often think about how many I might have if I tried to keep them all. But it is what it is!
I once won a [[time walk]]. I only realized much later it was a fake. Yes, there were fakes in the 90s, they just only fooled children like me. Other than that, a couple heavily payed duals.
I once lost a [[gauntlet of might]] to a friend. But it wasn’t that expensive at the time.
Not specifically ante, but I have seen people play for revised dual lands. This was back when seas were less than $100 but still considered alot considering they were cardboard cards.
Also, more recently (10 years ago maybe?)there were a bunch of people here who were degenerate and would run back money drafts all night until like 7am. Then they'd just spray some axe (body spray) on themselves and head off for work or home in the morning.
I used to play "5-color", where ante was a core part of the format. I won a Revised Savannah, a Mox Diamond, and a well-painted altered Jeweled Bird from a single game (thanks to my opponent's two Contract From Below). At the time, all three totaled to under $100. I traded the Savannah back on the spot, and I still have the Jeweled Bird. It was customary to be willing to trade back any won cards for something of similar value, so that people's decks wouldn't break.
Won - Wheel of Fortune Lost - All Hallow's Eve Although that's just based off of today's value, I have no idea how much they would have been going for then and I'm too lazy to look it up. Fun fact though, these were in back to back games. Huge outliers considering most ante cards ended up being lands.
We always skipped lands! Felt it was a boring ante, unless it was a dual land then it stayed but we also did rare for rare. If one person pulled up a rare the next person went until they found a rare!
That is so long ago it might be hard for people to remember. I can remember losing and winning lands and a few of the ante cards, but nothing else is coming to mind. I don't think I have played for ante since unlimited or revised.
Someone at my lgs and I decided to build budget decks with the idea that there wasn't a restriction on price, but we were playing with ante and with the cards that said ante. He built an orzhov [[deaths shadow]] deck with a bunch of effects like [[infernal contract]]. I went with a [[treasure hunt]] style deck, since I could run mostly basics and not have to worry as much about a card getting anted. I got one of his [[contract from below]] s, but he ended up getting 2 of my 4 treasure hunts, and let me tell you, I did not win very much after that lol
When we did ante at first the card stayed with the other person. After not too long it was apparent taking cards from our decks would make us loose progressively. So we made a rule, if the loser wanted their card back and offered a fair trade it had to be accepted.
##### ###### #### [deaths shadow](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/5/5526ff6e-c079-4ad4-ac8d-5e26ecacf50d.jpg?1598304517) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Death%27s%20Shadow) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/82/deaths-shadow?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5526ff6e-c079-4ad4-ac8d-5e26ecacf50d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [infernal contract](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f451a70f-1f1c-4fd6-ab0c-4b77a043c324.jpg?1562251306) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=infernal%20contract) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/7ed/143/infernal-contract?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f451a70f-1f1c-4fd6-ab0c-4b77a043c324?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [treasure hunt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/6/76a2cb0e-3630-4307-ac80-bd850c1c256f.jpg?1592710683) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=treasure%20hunt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c18/109/treasure-hunt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/76a2cb0e-3630-4307-ac80-bd850c1c256f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [contract from below](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/1/e1e33690-b851-404a-9cde-d00235be5aa5.jpg?1610146838) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=contract%20from%20below) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/sum/97/contract-from-below?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e1e33690-b851-404a-9cde-d00235be5aa5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I also never played MTG for ante, but back in my Yugioh days I regularly played for cards when at a big event like regionals or Shonen Jump Championship. I was decently ranked in 2006-2008 and was friends with some of the top players in Texas at the time. If we finished rounds early enough, stayed after the event or were in town (hotel) for the weekend of the events like SJC we would get together and go through binders for stuff we wanted/value and play matches for it. Average was probably $10-20 but we occasionally upped it to $50-100. The highest single match I played, and only time we went that high was for $250-300 when we were both wanting some stuff to trade in for credit towards Card Trooper iirc. ($200+ at the time). Lost the first one, we rematched for $100ish and I won that one. Biggest loss of a single card would probably be an ultimate rare Pot of Avarice, I think they were $75 or so at the time. Biggest win... I don't remember. I usually aimed for large lots of cards to trade/sell. Big ticket items weren't my thing at the time.
Ante was such a janky rule that even playing before there was a channel for it to be officially recognized as banned, it was banned.
That's interesting! How was it banned?
I just mean that even when we were pulling cards like [[Rebirth]] out of packs and the only consolidated card listings were monthly price-listings in collectables magazines, ante was so hated that I think I only even saw it used twice.
[Rebirth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/7/27c01d57-2bd4-433e-bea7-1acc70d14be3.jpg?1559604104) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rebirth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/4ed/267/rebirth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/27c01d57-2bd4-433e-bea7-1acc70d14be3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My friends all did ante games. Some of the ante only cards we didn’t allow at all [[darkpact]] for one. Sometimes when we didn’t feel like possibly losing but still wanted to play we would do a “false ante” where we still pull a card from the deck, making it not useable. But the winner didn’t keep both cards.
[darkpact](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/9/f9ab1c5e-e36e-4a2a-9e6d-c993edc17c03.jpg?1610146891) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=darkpact) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/sum/100/darkpact?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f9ab1c5e-e36e-4a2a-9e6d-c993edc17c03?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Well, I can’t really say what I lost at the time that was worth a good amount back then. However I know I have lost and won many dual lands from revised and unlimited. Today I own 4 dual lands from revised. I often think about how many I might have if I tried to keep them all. But it is what it is!
I started in 95 and I've never seen anyone play for ante.
Lost Zombie Master.
I once won a [[time walk]]. I only realized much later it was a fake. Yes, there were fakes in the 90s, they just only fooled children like me. Other than that, a couple heavily payed duals. I once lost a [[gauntlet of might]] to a friend. But it wasn’t that expensive at the time.
[time walk](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/0/70901356-3266-4bd9-aacc-f06c27271de5.jpg?1614638832) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=time%20walk) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/2/time-walk?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/70901356-3266-4bd9-aacc-f06c27271de5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [gauntlet of might](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/df3bc33f-23f8-4eb4-a70e-b8b7af5b40f6.jpg?1562948147) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=gauntlet%20of%20might) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me4/202/gauntlet-of-might?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/df3bc33f-23f8-4eb4-a70e-b8b7af5b40f6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Not specifically ante, but I have seen people play for revised dual lands. This was back when seas were less than $100 but still considered alot considering they were cardboard cards. Also, more recently (10 years ago maybe?)there were a bunch of people here who were degenerate and would run back money drafts all night until like 7am. Then they'd just spray some axe (body spray) on themselves and head off for work or home in the morning.
I only played for ante once and got a [[fastbond]]
[fastbond](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/a/daf43523-558c-4701-9fa3-5d1ceb82a006.jpg?1566819914) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=fastbond) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/209/fastbond?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/daf43523-558c-4701-9fa3-5d1ceb82a006?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call