Our journey ends today...

As I was writing my article last week, I opened my bag to find that the Pack to Power binder was missing! I quickly picked up my phone to call the shop. With each ring my impatience grew, "Pick up the phone already!" A voice on the other end broke the monotonous ring, "Illuminaudi." Trying not to sound worried, I asked, "Hey, dude did you guys find a binder lying around Friday night?"

Let's stop here. This is what the introduction would have looked like, if I had not found my Pack to Power binder. Surely, weeping and gnashing of the teeth would have ensued, mainly on my part but yours too. To see this journey end in with a lost/stolen binder would have been a tragedy, thankfully my store owner is a really funny practical joker. Here's how the rest of the conversation went.

Our journey ALMOST ended, but thankfully tragedy was averted. Lesson learned; always make sure you have everything before you leave the store! This little binder SNAFU left me with little time to trade for the week. All I had was Tuesday night. I left my decks at home, jumped in the car and headed to the shop to do business. It's about a 15 minute drive, so let's do a Q & A on the way. We'll take Andrew's question from last week.

Binder 101

I could write a whole article on this topic and I will but not here and not today. Instead let's scratch the surface. Like everything in the world of trading, building a binder starts with questions. There are three questions that you must ask before building a binder.

Who is my audience?

If you follow my articles then you know that I always say, trade with everyone, but the answer to the question is not "everyone". "Everyone" at FNM might means that your audience is the type two tournament players. "Everyone" at Myriad Games in Salem NH, could mean the vintage crowd. You want to make sure that the first section of your binder displays cards that are relevant to your audience.

The reason that I keep the most valuable cards in front of the Pack to Power binder is because I want people to be drawn into the binder. Sometimes I tell people about my quest and it's important that when they open the binder they see that the quest is legit. They see expensive cards and think, "Man someone traded him this?" This gives them permission to trade me their expensive cards. In my regular trade, I don't even have the expensive cards available. I have them in a separate binder. I would rather force people to trade out of the crappy binder then offer them my best cards.

What are my resources?

Some people can't afford to have all their expensive cards in a separate binder; it's ok to get all hand on deck. This is part of the strategy for Pack to Power; I have everything in the binder. If you don't have many rares then you need to go through your cards for playable common and uncommons. I recommend that you take the bulk out of your trade binder, unless bulk is all that you have then by all means add it. The main point here is to use what you have to make the most relevant trade binder that you can.

What is my strategy?

This is where you define how you will separate your trade stock. For my regular trade binder, my strategy is to trade mid-range playable cards like Day of Judgment, M11 Duals, and Path to Exile for Legacy staples, mythics, planeswalkers and hard to find foils. I take the expensive cards and put them in the expensive binder. I gain enough value on my mid-range to mid-range trades that I never have to refill the binder. The life cycle goes like this, the binder grows from speculation and mid-range to mid-range trades and then the value gets removed from the binder and distilled it in cards that will hold value. When I need to sell cards or trade up for something big I go to the Expensive binder.

Because my strategy is to trade up, the more trades that I do, the better. My trade partner needs to be able to navigate my trade binder quickly. I always put the most relevant cards in front. At the moment my primary audience is type two tournament players with a minor in EDH and 'Pimp.' I have four sections each sorted by color: lands, artifacts/colorless, multi/hybrid, blue, white, green, red, black.

1. New M11 Cards
2. Type 2
3. Other Formats
4. Foil, Foreign, Textless

I keep one copy of each card in the binder and the rest in a penny sleeve in a box. This allows people to see what I have quickly and efficiently.

I don't want to go too much deeper on the topic of binder development because I am so excited about this week's trades that I can hardly contain myself!

Trades

Trade 52

I made a move on Fauna Shaman and it resulted in a sick run for the night. Fauna Shaman has been featured in many of last weekend top 8 lists. The frenzy for these little guys is starting to erupt and the mood in the room was that the Shaman was worth around $15. I could hear people talking about the card and the different decks it went in. I am going to share more of my conversations in these trades, use this as a way to pick up on language and ways to approach trading.

I spotted a Fauna Shaman while I was thumbing through a kids binder. I passed him my Pack to Power binder, "Let me know if you see anything that you like." I said. The kid tossed my Pack to Power binder back at me, "I didn't see anything." I said, "Nothing? I need the Fauna Shaman." We kibitz about the card for a minute or two and he wasn't budging. I knew that Maelstrom Pulse is usually valued at about $20 at this store. So I shot him a last ditch offer. "How about the Pulse for the Shaman?" He tilted his head a bit; I knew I had his attention. I went in for the kill. "You know Pulse is worth more than the Shaman!" That's code for, "Do you really want to look like an idiot in front of your friends by turning down this offer!? " As I pulled the Shaman out, I also took out some Ember Haulers, "Throw these in, so I don't feel like I am getting ripped?" He obliged and I slid the Shaman into my binder. I may have lost money on this trade but the hype value alone was worth the virtual loss. Not to mention that I checked out Maelstrom Pulse on ebay two days ago and they are going for about $8.

My (13.99) Maelstrom Pulse 13.99 His (14.97) Fauna Shaman 13.99 2x Ember Hauler .49 Net +.98

Trade 53

There was an on-looker who wanted the Shaman. He peered over my into my binder and said "I need that Shaman." I had to make up for the loss on Pulse. I told the guy up front, "You know I traded a Pulse for this, I need to get value for it!" I wanted him to prepare himself mentally for a lopsided trade. He readily handed me a pile of cards. As I thumbed through them another on-looker interrupted, "Hey! Whose card is that? The blue enchantment." I remember that I locked this guy out of an EDH game with Counterbalance/Top, ever since then he has wanted Counterbalance. I said, "That belongs to this guy but I will get it for you if you like." I find this to be more effective then "Mine Now, Punk!" He was happy. "Yeah get it and we can do some trading" he said as he sat down. This allows me to set the price and keeps him out of my trade. I pulled the Counterbalance and a Lim Dul's Vault, I figured that those two alone were worth the Shaman, but I still had to make up for the Pulse. I seen that some Naya list were running the Sword and people don't usually value them highly so I have been trying to pick them up. I also grabbed some stuff that I thought I could trade to EDHers.

My (13.99) Fauna Shaman 13.99 His (27.94) Counterbalance 9.99 Lim Dul's Vault 4.99 Voltaic Key 1.99 Serra Ascendant 2.99 Leyline of Punishment 2.99 Sword of Vengeance 4.99 Net +13.95

Trade 54

Counterbalance-boy (Nick) was chomping at the bit to get his hands on his saucy new enchantment, so we sat down to make a deal. The hardest card to part with was the Jungle Homies (Bestial Menace). This was the card that Big Head Joe from YO! MTG Taps reluctantly traded me out of the goodness of his heart. I have traded with Nick before and he's a good guy, so I know that it would be going to a good home. The trick was getting the price that would make BHJ Proud. Nick said, "I would trade for the Bestial Menace if it will help you out." I said, "It would help me but I need to get some hardcore value out of it." He responded, "How much, like a dollar!?" I said, "No, it would have to be above $5." Nick paused for a second. He was probably thinking, I am not seriously going to value a Bestial Menace at $5 am I!? I was ok with getting rid my Rofellos and Bestial Menace to get the two Fauna Shamans, the hype was live and I need to cash in before the opportunity passed. Nick added his Counterbalance and some EDH stuff to round off the trade. I valued the Leylines at a couple of bucks and the foils at three or four.

My (36.93) Hurkyl's Recall 1.49 Inkwell Leviathan 1.99 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary 11.99 Skill Borrower .49 Sphinx Summoner .99 Counterbalance 9.99 Bestial Menace BAMF Edition 5.00 Lim Dul's Vault 4.99 His (62.39) Leyline of Sanctity Foil 13.45 2x Leyline of Sanctity 5.99 Leyline of the Void 3.99 Leyline of Punishment Foil 4.99 2x Fauna Shaman 13.99 Net +25.46

Trade 55

I was talking with some players about EDH and then this guy opens his binder and says, "You know what card is really good in EDH?" and he pointed to Mind over Matter. I knew I wanted it, badly! If you have been following any magic card speculation lately you know that Mind over Matter is a hot pick for the next Legacy "It" card. It's getting increasingly harder to get and the estimate is that it will hit at least $10 in Columbus. I wanted it but I couldn't show it, "If Medina is desperate card, you keep that card. No questions asked." I said, "Hey did you want to help with the Pack to Power stuff?" He was happy to take a look. I took his binder and acted like I was looking through, I already knew what I wanted I was just thinking about how to spin it.

Someone else shouted from the corner of the shop, "Hey, Medina, when you are done did you want to trade?" This was perfect timing. I could act more interested in the other trade, as if I can't be bothered to look through his binder. I shut his binder and shouted back, "I'll be over in a minute." I looked over at him, "Did you find anything?" He answered back, "Yeah, the Red Leyline." I looked at him and paused as if I was thinking about the next trade. "That's like, what three bucks- If that?" My approach here is basically the, I-don't-care, approach. I act as if I am not trying to get value out of my cards because I am way too pre-occupied with getting to the next trade. My movements are quick and sentences are short, I don't want to be bothered with doing math I just want to trade and move on. At lease it appears that way. "Rather than search your binder why don't we just do the Mind over Matter and something small to close the gap?" He said, "Sure" I pulled out a Crystal Ball and threw it on the table with the Mind over Matter. I shook his hand, "Thanks bro" Then I shuffled over to the other trader.

I don't recommend that you go around trying to get an academy award at the trade tables, you should always try to be genuine but there are times that you just can't tip your hand.

My (2.99) Leyline of Punishment 2.99 His (4.20) Mind over Matter 3.49 (Out of Stock at CSI) Crystal Ball .75 Net +1.21

Trade 56

I sat down for a trade break and started to sip my Gatorade. One of the kids had been trying to get my attention during the trade frenzy. I looked across the table at him, "Hey bro, did you need something?" He wanted to build a deck. I went through the meta game with him and tried to identify his play style. We ended up working on Next Level Bant. I traded him the two Sphinx of Lost Truth's at $3 apiece in exchange for six cards that I valued at $1. I picked up a Temple Bell to go with my Mind over Matter, this is the combo that is creating all the buzz? I also got some Destructive Force since they recently seen some top eight love. The other card that I got was Inferno Titan, I know that people trade these at a buck, but StarCityGames is buying them at $5 so they might be on their way up and I know I can get more than a dollar for them.

This is a good example of how helping people can create opportunity for nice trades. You should always try to be helpful to strengthen the community and sometimes it can pay off in trades.

My (.98) 2x Sphinx of Lost Truths .49 His (14.94) 4x Destructive Force 1.99 Temple Bell 1.49 Inferno Titan 5.49 Net +13.96

Trade 58

I feel like this trade was not, very good for me at the moment. Mosswort Bridge is currently part of the hot Show and Tell deck in Legacy. Lodestone Golem is at an all time low. This trade might be a good long term trade since I think Lodestone is a SOM plant, but I don't have the time to wait. I have to find someone who is speculating hard on these to recoup some value. The reason that I made such a poor trade was because I was so excited about the trade that I did before it. Let's talk about this trade first.

My (3.88) Mosswort Bridge Foil 3.88 His (2.98) 2x Lodestone Golem 1.49 Net -.88

Trade 57

This is the premiere trade of the series thus far. Earlier in the night I saw a kid with a Grim Tutor, I asked him to check my binder for it. He look and then passed it back, "You don't have enough." I asked "Is the Tutor for trade?" He said, "Yeah, but I need to get stuff I can sell for it." I said, "Give me some time."

There are few cards that hold any weight when trading for Power Nine, even stuff like Force of Will and Dual Lands do not impress. When you are trading for Power Nine there is a hierarchy of cards and where they are in relation to trading for power. Here is a very light look at the hierarchy.

Summer Magic (Edgar) – Summer Magic is the rarest magic set in existence. It was a printing that was ordered to be destroyed, but somehow was not. Isn't that awesome?! Summer magic cards go for thousands of dollars. These are they only type of cards that you can trade down to power.

Power Nine - Trading power for power happens when people want to upgrade to beta or downgrade to unlimited. Some pieces of power are worth more than others so you may trade up a Mox Pearl to a Mox Sapphire.

Power Level Cards – These cards carry the same power level as Power Nine and often the same type of price tag. These are cards like, Mishra's Workshop, Library of Alexandria and Tabernacle and Pendrell Vale among others.

Cornerstones – These are cards that you can use as the base for a Power trade. It's stuff like Mana Drain, Imperial Recruiter, FBB Dual Lands, and Grim Tutor.

Trade Fodder - These are cards that you can couple with the Cornerstone or Power Level cards to get to Power, cards like Dual Lands, Tarmogoyf, Force of Will and Mox Diamond among others.

Anything below the "Trade Fodder" section is usually not considered in a trade for Power Nine or it is valued extremely low. The thing that really makes this a defining trade is that we have our first cornerstone now. We have a way to approach a trade for Power Nine without looking like a chump. The next step is to get some trade fodder and maybe another Cornerstone and we can get there!

At the end of the night I asked the kid if he wanted to work something out for the Tutor. He was reluctant because he knew that I had been trading for value. I wanted to let him know that I was serious about the trade and that I wasn't going to try to handle him. I set the binder on the table and said, "Do your worst. I want that Grim Tutor and you can name your price." He was surprised, "So you want to see the sad story." I said "Yes." He went to town on my binder; this is what the trade looked like.

My (134.36) 2x Fauna Shaman 13.99 2x Survival of the Fittest 26.99 2x Nevinyrral's Disk 5.99 2x Cabal Ritual Foil 10.99 Leyline of Sanctity Foil 13.45 Leyline of Punishment Foil 4.99 His (99.99) Grim Tutor 99.99 Net -34.37

I said, "Done." He smiled and said, "Do you know how much I paid for that?" I said, "No", he formed a zero with his hand. I took a hit value wise but I needed to trade up to get the cornerstone. The more I trade up the more value you will see me lose; this is part of the strategy. You expand and break you cards into lesser value cards. Then you build by trading for value plus. Then you compress by trading up.

I am really happy about this week. I found my binder after it was lost and I got a cornerstone. I can't wait to see what next week brings!

Until then have a rockin weekend, Thanks for Reading.