This past weekend was a whirlwind of fun, games, work, and theft. GenCon is the best place to be for any sort of gaming you could desire; this is precisely why I chose the event as my start and end point. The first trade, as I mentioned last week, was with my friend Jon Medina, and man, did he start me out right, giving me a good boost to start this quest. I will cover the details of this trade, and others, later in this article as examples of how to start trading with a small binder. I will also be covering how exactly to approach the trade floor when you are starting from nothing and looking to work your way up, as well as announcing our winners from last week’s comments contest!

As I am sure you heard, there was a great deal of theft this weekend involving Magic cards. I won’t cover this in depth, as many other writers already have; I will, however, say that it is very important not only to keep your belongings close but also to watch the floor for suspicious persons. If everyone was looking out for not only their stuff, but also for others’, events would be safer for everyone involved and thieves would be apprehended quickly. I was one of many targeted this weekend, and while my stuff was not in my possession when it was stolen, I still feel some level of responsibility and wonder if I could have done more to prevent such things. I cannot blame anyone, really, as a number of factors played into this weekend’s string of thefts, including, but not limited to, a lack of security combined with slow response time, and a large number of people making the lost goods hard to track. I truly hope that these thieves are caught and displayed in all public forums to deter future crime. I know the likelihood of getting my property back, but it is pennies compared to what others lost, whether it be David Williams’s Vintage deck, the vendor’s Beta P9, Kenta’s Legacy deck when he was win-and-in to Legacy Worlds, or any number of other victims’ items. All we can do is hope they slip up and get caught while they have these items still in their possession.

That is enough about the negatives of this weekend; now, onto the positives, and why you’re all here: Box to Extended. Luckily, the binder and box that contained all the cards for this quest were not in the bag that was stolen, so all of the weekend’s work was not in vain. As I mentioned earlier, my first trade was with Jon Medina, the original Pack to Power. I wanted to make sure I didn’t receive anything too crazy for my first trade and knew, although he would give me a great deal, he would not skew the entire quest.

Trade #1 Jon Medina

−1 Garruk, Primal Hunter Garruk Wildspeaker M12 34.99

Total: 34.99

+1 Frost Titan M12 4.99

+1 Sun Titan M12 4.99

+1 Silvergill Adept LWN 1.99

+1 Merchant Scroll HLD 0.99

+1 Beast Within NPH 1.99

+1 Merrow Reejerey LWN 3.99

+1 Manriki-Gusari BOK 1.99

+1 Nature's Claim WWK 0.55

+1 Timely Reinforcements M12 0.99

+1 Oblivion Ring SHD 0.99

+1 Oblivion Ring LWN 0.99

+1 Firestorm WTL 7.99

+1 Green Sun's Zenith MBS 4.99

+1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite NPH 5.99

+1 FOIL Mana Leak M12 4.99

Total: 47.42

When you first look at this trade, all you may see is a pile of mostly commons and uncommons for a high-dollar chase rare. While you are correct, it is also important to understand that, although Garruk is worth more than any of these cards individually, it is far easier to move and up trade any of these cards than it is the big green man. Downtrading is a key component, both when you are trying to build a collection and when you are working the trade floor in general. Looking at this trade on paper, we see a few five-dollar cards and a few dollar cards for a thirty-dollar-plus Garruk; however, if we investigate into the prices, we see a different story. Checking out the totals above (provided by CoolStuffInc.com), we quickly realize that this trade was actually heavily in our favor. Throughout the weekend, I was making such trades not only to make value, but also to diversify. If someone sees a binder full of mostly bulk and one or two high-dollar cards, either he may think you don’t have much experience and attempt to take advantage of that, or you may not be able to find a solid deal in his binder for the card’s price. I have found through my years of trading that when negotiating, people will typically attempt to devalue higher-end cards far more than lower-end ones; this means that although Garruk is worth $35+, people will attempt to get a deal at $30 to $32. On the flip side, if you tell someone $6 on Elesh Norn or $8 on Firestorm, you are likely to get the actual if not greater value.

Bumping up your cards by a slim margin can be a great way to produce a large binder quickly. This doesn’t mean you have to overvalue every card in your binder, but you should look out for when you can upvalue slightly to gain an edge in the trade. A great example of what I am talking about can be found in the following trade:

Trade #3 Dan

−1 Zombie Infestation M12 0.49

−1 FOIL Sorin Markov M12 15.99

−1 Time Reversal M12 0.99

Total: 17.47

+4 Despise NPH 1.49

+2 Grave Titan M12 9.99

+4 Beast Within NPH 1.99

+1 Counterspell RSD 0.99

Total: 34.89

In this trade, we are dealing with what I like to call an oddity in the foil Sorin. Although he has a set price at $16, on the trade floor, he is worth much more to the right person. Holding onto cards like this can net you a great value if you manage to find that right guy. In this case, we place the Sorin at a little over $20 while he valued his Grave Titans at $8 each. When a card is first reprinted, many people panic and trade them away for far less than they should or undervalue them due to an influx in the market. Although in general the prices do drop, it is not as significant in most cases as many people believe; this is a great example of where you can take advantage of such knowledge.

Another valuable lesson can be learned from the above trade, and that is the value of commons and uncommons. In a typical weekend at a major event, I would say at least 10% of my trades are to people needing commons and uncommons to complete their decks; bringing a box of chase Standard and Legacy commons can be invaluable. At the same time, many people have them in their binders as throw-ins of sorts, meaning you can obtain them at a relatively cheap price. The Despises in the above trade he valued at a quarter each; given the potential of this card, that is a deal. Counterspell is always a card people are looking for; whether it be in casual circles or competitive play, you can usually net two or three in trade for one, which can usually be obtained at around fifty cents. Beast Within is another card that people have been undervaluing since the hype has died down; taking advantage of the fact that Mental Misstep and Dismember have overshadowed it in value can net you some for cheap.

As you can see thus far, I have been downtrading to diversify and have a more respectably sized binder. Next week, I will be covering a few uptrades I made later in the weekend as well as (I hope) posting the entire list of cards I have obtained in a spreadsheet so you guys can track the progress at home! There is a lot to record; the binder is now forty-plus trades in and easily valued at over $400 just in the rares alone, with the total value of the project closing in on $1K. The Box to Extended may be done before we know it, allowing me to start on the truly difficult quest, with any luck by year’s end.

This past week I asked you, the readers, to describe how you got started in your trade game, or what was keeping you from trading. I had an amazing number of responses, both in the comments and on Twitter, making this a very difficult decision. After some deliberation, I have selected the two winners for the best comments. First, Mark M Paulson described the difficulty of starting as a young trader and working his way up in the local trade environment. I really felt that his story was extremely relevant, not only because he is doing what people twice his age can’t, but because he is also primarily a player, using trading as a way to fund his hobby. This is important, and I will have an entire article explaining how to do so in the future. We must remember first and foremost that this is a game, and without the players, there would be no vendors or traders.

The second winner is Steve, who described his long trek in the world of Magic. I truly applaud people who take the initiative to organize both trade and playgroups, while at the same time acting as a liaison, collecting cards for the group. I also really like how he mentioned his interest in casual play even though he has a competitive history. I feel that he has a very well-rounded trade game from his description, not only using his skills for himself but also to help his community.

Ben Lindquist said:

On that note, I’d be very interested in reading more specifically about how having a business degree translates into trading or what trading has taught you about business. I imagine that fundamentals run through many of these types of articles but few ever talk about them.

This was just one of the comments Ben contributed. He has also helped by creating the spreadsheet I will be using for recording the Box to Extended. His advice has been extremely helpful to me and the other readers—he’s a true community player. On a side note, his above comment has brought about a great article idea, which I will be using in the future. Great work from everyone! I really appreciate the comments, and I am glad to see the community so involved in this journey.

Winners: Please contact me with your full names and contact information, and I will enter you into the raffle. I really appreciate the feedback from the whole community and, although you may not have been chosen, please don’t let that deter you from future comments. From now on, there will be random contests and giveaways. However, unlike last week, I will not tell you when or what is up for grabs. This will encourage community involvement week in and week out. Please don’t just do this for the prizes; instead, do this to help your fellow players. Whether it be to fund their hobby or to make some extra income on the trade floors, we all have a lot to learn, and many have just as much to teach. I leave you all this week with a simple question: What would you like to see as a topic of discussion in this article chain? Please describe your ideas in detail and comment on others’ ideas to narrow down the topic, or combine some of the topics discussed. This week’s comments will likely shape the future of these articles, so throw as many ideas out there as you like.

Until next week, keep tracking, keep trading!

@CryppleCommand on Twitter

Ryan Bushard