My approach to acquiring moving forward

 Playing the game magic is expensive. Its a hobby. Its part of the game name- GATHERING. (I kid, I kid, sorta)

The next part of the game was something WoTC self imposed- The Reserve list. Thus making some of the most powerful cards ever made really stupid expensive. For Legacy this means the mana producers for the most part. Add to that that people are now just simply collecting the cards as an investment because things like dual lands are beating the stock market in value. For reference, see the price of an Alpha Shivan Dragon vs. the price of Core2020 Shivan Dragon. Same card, slightly different price points.

I play kitchen table legacy, and weekly store based legacy. Thats 99% of my paper legacy play. The store I go to was of the "proxy whatever you want" to a "only 15 proxies" philosophy. I am totally fine with that as long as you aren't writing "Ragavan" with a sharpie on a land. I just want to play the game I like. I don't care if you show up with 75 cards printed that day, and slipped into a sleeve with a land behind it. Thats fine. Legacy has become more expensive that Vintage was when I got back in about 7 years ago. Its the format that WoTC doesn't plan for (and obviously doesn't test for), but barely apologizes that exists. I get it. Thats fine. 

My view on the paper game play now is- paper Legacy is local, maybe regional. To find players, feel lucky. If you want to play, find similar players. Use proxies, but know that they are. (Don't be a jerk about it)

    I refuse to buy reserve list cards anymore. I will only acquire them as a possible investment. I will not take real expensive cards out of my house anymore. There is no reason to leave my house with multiple car payments in my bag. 

I plan to keep trading for cards I want on Deckbox, and I will keep buying what I find good deals on. I will keep supporting my local shops where and when I can. However, due to the insanity that is the Reserve List and hyper inflation of magic cards, I am not putting money towards that. I can't. 

Maybe I should just go draft- thats always an option. Maybe I just go play Modern. Also an option. But finding $650 for a single land that I will need to get 3 more of is unfeasible. Oh, and by the time I have enough saved up for the 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th land, the prices will likely have increased so it will then be THAT much more each time. 

I've been back in the game for 7 years and SOMEHOW managed to acquire a grand total of 6 dual lands. 2 Volcanics, 3 Plateau, 1 Savanna. I've never played the last four. Never. They are officially investment pieces only. 

If I do manage to attend a comp-rel legacy event, and I need reserve list or pricey additions to make my deck real- I will borrow them from a friend or two, or I likely will have to play a different deck. Its the way the cookie crumbles.

If I somehow win the lotto, or wind up with a large windfall of cash- I will change my mind and invest heavily. However, thats not likely ever gonna happen because I don't play the lottery and large windfalls of cash never happen in my real life.