The ban lists for the different tournament sanctioned, eternal formats seems to be updated regularly, so there's definitely a chance that your cards could become obsolete. I imagine it must be a nightmare trying to balance the thousands of cards of varying power levels in those formats. I agree that magic can be really daunting to get into when you see people spend $300+ on cardboard even in standard. Fuck that! I've been lucky since I have a few friends who were willing to dive in with me on a budget. Outside of drafts which I try to go to once a month I've not spent more than $25 on boosters this year. I would never be able to attend an event with my deck and be competitive, but I can still have a fun night with friends. Guess I'm not a Spike. :)