Not too long ago, Beakman and I were in the Mega Comics store on University Avenue when they were having their huge clearance sale. The guy behind the counter said that he'd take a dollar off each pack of limited Premier that we bought that day. I was poor so I didn't buy any, but Beaks let me open one of the two packs he bought. He pulled a bunch of common crap. Here's what I saw in the first five cards in the pack I opened: Momaw Nadon, Kabe, Dark Jedi Lightsaber, a Corellian Corvette, and Darth Vader. Not bad, huh? That's pretty typical of the luck I have. Not that I get a main with every purchase, but I do pretty well for myself. Here's my theory on why.

In order to get what you need from a pack, you have to give the pack some lovin'. You have to show the pack a little respect -- let it know that you appreciate it no matter what. The most important part of lovin' a pack is not skipping directly to the rare. That shows zero respect for the pack's potential; it's a sign that all you want is instant gratification. A pack needs to know that you love it for exactly what it is, and that you're in it for the long haul. I try to find something nice to say about at least one of the first four cards in a pack and withhold final judgement about a pack until I've seen the whole thing.

Here's an example of my thoughts on a pack of Dagobah.

Card 1: There's another A Dangerous Time (avoid sarcasm with the word *another* -- it might upset the pack)
Card 2: Funny how Voyeur often follows A Dangerous Time (a neural thought)
Card 3: I can always use another light side Asteroid Field (definitely positive)
Card 4: Cool, a TIE Avenger (also very positive)
Card 5 through 7: Various neutral thoughts.
Card 8: Woo-hoo, it's a Dengar.

Do you see what I mean? Even when a card obviously sucks, you have to accept it as part of your overall pack-opening history. I mean you can't always pull Darth Vaders, Fetts, and Princesses -- the occasional Magnetic Suction Tube is to be expected and is necessary if you really want to complete those sets.

My theory also applies to the opening of boxes. When JP was released, I got to open a whole box all by myself. Even though the rare in the first pack that I opened was some unknown semi-useless dark side alien, I just reminded myself that I was just one card closer to Jabba or Max. Even after I'd unwrapped my 16th Devaronian, I was still trying to be positive. I've found that if you get angry at a box after only a few packs, the box is much more likely to turn on you and leave you with four Yaggle Gakkles and no General Veers.