When I first started this article series, I had a few goals in mind, many of which I have already accomplished. Others I likely won’t accomplish for many years. One of those goals was to create an article series that was both entertaining and educational. Allowing a new player to start from the beginning, read through the series (even years down the line), and become a proficient trader was one of my hopes. As far as the entertainment aspect, that is where the Box to Extended came in. While it’s the central point of the series, I did not want this to mimic Pack to Power and become Box to Extended: The RPG. I have, however, been getting complaints that the series has been focusing too much on teaching and not enough on the actual trades. Well, that is all about to change!

Last week, I discussed the different ways to approach trades based on what price guides your trade partner is using. This week, I will be covering a topic that is far more relevant to those who travel to major events than to the casual store traders: the buy-list. Learning how to use a buy-list to make maximum profits at any particular event is typically the easiest and quickest way for a floor trader to turn cards into cash. Memorizing buy-lists gives you a great idea of what is hot for that weekend and what vendors are running low on. Almost every event provides a new list of cards that you should be picking up, so memorizing one list at one event does not actually prepare you for future events in most cases. Many times, if a vendor is running low on a card, they will buy for a higher premium than anyone else in the room. Those are the cards to watch out for. When Box to Extended first started at GenCon, there were quite a few vendors buying Chandra's Phoenix at an inflated price of $3 to $4. Most people valued theirs at about that rate, so I was picking them up at close to 100% cash value, and was able to convert them to actual cash by selling them back to the vendors. Knowing the card was not a high-caliber card, I knew I would have to unload them that weekend, so although I was looking to pick them up, I was not looking to overstock. Since the following trade occurred a while ago and the prices have changed, I will give the approximate value at the time:

Robert

• −4 Beast Within 2.00
• −2 Grim Lavamancer 6.00
• −1 Go for the Throat 2.00

Total: 22.00

• +4 Chandra's Phoenix 5.00

Total: 20.00

Net: (−2.00)

Although this trade looks bad on paper, these are the scenarios you have to watch out for when attempting to liquidate your cards into cash. With this trade, it appears that I lost $2 in value, and while that is true in trade terms, the cash values tell a different story. This is what the trade would have looked like if we were doing buy prices, or “ins,” if you prefer the trade lingo.

Robert

• −4 Beast Within 0.50
• −2 Grim Lavamancer 3.50
• −1 Go for the Throat 1.00

Total: 10.00

• +4 Chandra's Phoenix 4.00

Total: 16.00

Net: 6.00

As you can see, if you look at this trade from a cash perspective, it tells a very different tale. Many times in trade, no one can be declared the clear “winner,” for lack of a better word; instead, each person gains what he is looking for, both coming out ahead. During this trade, I was looking to make some cash for the project in order to have capital to pick up future collections. On the other hand, he was looking for solid trade-fodder and a couple of cards for his deck. In the end, we both came out ahead.

There is, of course, a negative aspect to buy-lists as well, one that can be minimized with the proper memorization and homework. Typically, I will devote a solid portion of my Friday evenings to memorizing the buy-lists handed out by the major retailers to gain an idea both of what is high, such as in the trade above, and what is on the low end—or overstocked—that weekend. This is necessary because these buy-lists are in fact public at most major events now; many retailers have begun printing off copies to hand out. You will come across a multitude of people each weekend using these buy-lists as trade resources, looking to turn their cards into pure cash only selecting cards from your binder that are on the list. Some people will even be so blatant as to have the buy-list out during trades. To me, this shows laziness; usually, these types of people are hard to trade with for any sort of value, and I will stay away from such traders. However, if you have done your homework and you know you are trading with a buy-list trader, you can still find yourself great deals. Knowing what is high on the buy-list is just as important as knowing what is on the low end or left off, something most fail to take into account.

Zach

• −1 Solemn Simulacrum 12.00
• −2 Tempered Steel 8.00

Total: 28.00

Before I continue, I should mention that Zach was one of the traders I just mentioned; although he did not pull out the buy-list, he obviously had it memorized. His prices on my cards were close, almost to the penny, to the Strikezone buy-list I spotted in the front of his backpack, and knowing this, I in fact had the advantage, having memorized the list myself. He placed the Solemn at $8, even though the current value was $10 to $12 across the room, and the Tempered Steels at $6 each knowing they were at $8 everywhere. So far I was already down $6 to $8 dollars before I had even begun to search, but such trades offer great opportunity.

• +4 Plow Under 2.00
• +1 Phyrexian Metamorph 6.00
• +2 Phantasmal Image 6.00

Total: 26.00

Net: (−2.00)

This is another great example of where the numbers on the paper fail to tell the whole story. This trade occurred at GP: Pittsburgh, where at the beginning of the weekend, these were the prices on most major websites. However, given the knowledge I was obtaining on the trade floor and the fact I was on a major call shot for Plow Under, I knew this trade would end heavily in my favor. His buy-list method ended up losing him a great amount of value in the end, since the prices were almost two days old, and while that may not seem like a long time, on the trade floor that can be an eternity. Of course, now it is common knowledge that Plow Under has jumped closer to the $8 to $10 range, and by the end of that weekend, Phantasmal Image was about the same. While I was aware of this, his buy-list told him that Plow Under wasn’t even on the radar and Phantasmal Image and Metamorph were being bought for a mere $3 each. This is an example of what to watch out for when using a buy-list: Don’t assume all the information is up-to-date; most retailers print those off days before the event, and just because they are buying them for that price does not mean that is what they are worth.

Zachary

• −2 Ethersworn Canonist 5.00
• −2 Chain of Vapor 2.00

Total: 14.00

• +1 Blade Splicer 5.00
• +1 Grand Architect 2.00
• +1 Goblin Chieftain 1.00
• +1 Tempered Steel 7.00

Total: 15.00

Net: 1.00

I felt that although this was an unexciting trade overall, it was worth mentioning because I was picking up cards for post-rotation. Once a year, as we all know, the format rotates. Out with the old and in with the new, and as this time approaches, it is important to make sure your trade binder is prepared. When a new format comes out, there are always a few constants that you should be aware of that may help you on the trade floor.

1. Aggro is always a format staple to begin with. While everyone else is trying the cute new combo deck, aggro is always consistent and therefore will typically steal a few events before the format settles.

2. Look at the Block results from the past season. This is usually a good indicator of what people may use as building blocks for a new format.

3. Watch for cards that may have been stifled by cards that are now rotating; if the answer is gone, expect the value to rise.

As we approach rotation at the end of the month, and with these keys in mind, I feel that picking up cards such as Tempered Steel and Blade Splicer can only mean profit. Although both have a reasonably high price tag now, I can see a spike shortly after rotation as the format speeds up before it smooths out after Champs. Grand Architect is one of those cards I feel deserves another look as we approach rotation as well; with Bolt rotating, I expect an influx of Architect-style decks in the coming months. Although we still have Dismember, I feel that that card alone does not discredit such a powerful effect as that found on Grand Architect.

As for the art contest, we have a few new additions to the prize pool, which is continuously growing! First, CoolStuffInc. will be donating a $25 gift certificate to the winner along with the prizes I will be handing out. In addition, Kelly Reid from QuietSpeculation.com has offered a yearlong free subscription to the winner and a six-month subscription to the runner-up. QuietSpeculation features one of my favorite up-and-coming financial writers, Corbin Holser. Check out his work along with some of the other talent that can be found on one of today’s leading sources for financial MTG news! More prizes are being added weekly, and if you or anyone you know would be interested in donating to the prize pool, feel free to contact me. I will be featuring all of the sponsors’ logos on the shirts when they are produced with the art from the winners!

Well, that’s all we have for this week. I hope you all enjoy the new formatting for the articles and still find enough information to suit your needs. Join me next week as I discuss Innistrad in depth, which cards I am looking to pick up, and which cards I feel will be major flops. Please leave comments as always. Let me know if you like the new style; would you like to see even more trades and less content? more content and less trades? or is this week’s article a happy medium? I look forward to hearing from you all and hope I will see some of you this weekend in Montreal!

Until next week, keep on keeping on.

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand