![1534795197771.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/cryptoctopus/vWga2K4h-1534795197771.png)

I'll be completely honest with you, up until recently, I didn't completely buy into the idea of @SteemMonsters. But then something magical happened...

From there, I drank the cool-aid and bought around 800 booster packs! 

Now, in this post, I want to share with you WHY I didn't it, WHAT I should have done instead and WHO you should follow to understand SteemMonsters better.

## My Collection

Now this is not for bragging (well maybe a little bit) but check out my gold foil collection:

![1min.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/cryptoctopus/rb3pnFJk-1-min.png)

I am almost complete at this point and I fully intend to get them all before Alpha is closed!

## What Happened?

Well, I wasn't following very closely what was happening with @SteemMonsters to be honest. I didn't know that gold foil were a thing and that I could know exactly how many of each cards are in existence. 

So yesterday, **[after watching their kickstarter video](http://kickstarter.com/projects/526764488/steem-monsters-a-digital-role-playing-trading-card?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=steem)**, I decided to buy a few more booster packs. 

Lo and behold! I got a Gold foiled Angel of Light! There are only 17 of them in existence as we speak, which makes it one of the rarest card in the game at this point.

![screenshotsteemmonsters.com2018.09.06112555.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/cryptoctopus/vUMjRvc6-screenshot-steemmonsters.com-2018.09.06-11-25-55.png)

I went into the "Market" and saw that people were selling theirs for $1000 up to $5000! 😲

![steemmonsters.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/cryptoctopus/yo3VQT5h-steemmonsters.png)

No jokes, at that precise moment I got the bug and realized how much potential this game has at making people addicted to it. I feel like I'm not going to feel "complete" until I get ALL the gold foil card and I would be willing to spend quite a bit of SBD to get my hand on the complete set.

## Speculation

#### Can collectible cards be worth that much?

Many might think it's crazy and that there is no way a digital collectible card can be worth that much but let me tell you...it definitely can! For example, in Magic the Gathering, the Black Lotus can go for as much as a quarter million dollars in mint condition in the **Limited Alpha Edition**. 

**And guess what...STEEMMONSTERS IS THE LIMITED ALPHA EDITION!**

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[Check out MoneyInc's article on the 10 most expensive Magic The Gathering Cards ever to be sold.](https://moneyinc.com/the-10-most-expensive-magic-the-gathering-cards/)

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#### This Is Your Chance

After October 1, those cards won't spawn anymore and only those who bought the booster packs **right now** would be able to get them on the cheap if they are lucky.

Also, there are special cards that will [only be available through the Kickstarter campaign](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/526764488/steem-monsters-a-digital-role-playing-trading-card), this is yet another chance for you to get very limited cards that might go for a hefty price in the future.

## The Fighting Engine

If this was only a collectible card speculation game, it would already be pretty cool but not only can you make money by trading cards on the market, you can also fight to gain levels, amass equipment and spells!

This feature is not yet released but I've been told that it might be out within the next 2 weeks. Here is a demo of what it will look like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vk9cRCsVRM

[You can get more details on the fighting engine here.](https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@steemmonsters/steem-monsters-gameplay-mechanics-revealed)

## What You Should Know & Who You Should Follow

I made a few mistakes when I joined the game. Here I will share with you what I should have known beforehand:

#### 1. Know what you want

Do you simply want to build a deck to fight or do you want to get gold foil cards in order to speculate on their value?

To be honest, I didn't know...I just dumped a large amount of SBD into booster packs and I've let the chips fall were they may.

I realized that I should have been more intelligent with my money and simply go to the market and buy the cards I wanted to have. There are, of course, certain cards that I wouldn't buy on the market and at this point, only booster packs give me a chance of getting them...such as the gold foil legendary dragons.

Who knows, maybe even those are worth paying for if they end up being super rare in a few years.

#### 2. Don't Combine Just Yet

If your goal is to speculate on the future value of the Early Alpha Release cards then combining may not be the best idea. Keep them with you for a while and keep track of their value of the market. 

#### 3. Follow the Right People

I would definitely follow @steemmonsters account as well as @peakmonsters. @peakmonsters has really good videos and tutorial to understand the trading aspect. 

If your intent is to understanding the cards better, check out this series of article @palasatenea is building around evaluating the value of each cards according to their set. It's pretty interesting.

Finally, you would do well to [join the SteemMonsters discord chat](https://discord.gg/W4H2rXY) and start chatting there. You can swap cards, talk decks and get an insider point of view on what's happening in the SteemMonster's world.

## Conclusion

I am pumped about @Steemmonsters and I am going to participate and give my time and energy for this game to become successful. 

What do you think of the SteemMonsters project? Have you bought your Starter Pack yet? Have you pitched in the Kickstarter?