Well, it seems that Caw-Blade is back with a vengeance, if we’re to believe the results from SCG Seattle last week. Putting four decks into the top eight including first and second place! Let’s take a look at Nick Spagnolos’s first-place list and see what we can glean from it.

"Caw-Blade (by Nick Spagnolos, first place, SCG: Seattle)"

• Creatures (7)
• 4 Squadron Hawk
• 3 Spellskite

• Planeswalkers (5)
• 2 Gideon Jura
• 3 Jace Beleren

• Spells (22)
• 3 Dismember
• 3 Into the Roil
• 3 Spell Pierce
• 4 Mana Leak
• 2 Timely Reinforcements
• 4 Preordain
• 3 Sword of Feast and Famine

• Lands (26)
• 3 Plains
• 4 Island
• 3 Inkmoth Nexus
• 4 Celestial Colonnade
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Tectonic Edge

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Dismember
• 2 Flashfreeze
• 3 Mental Misstep
• 1 Despise
• 1 Timely Reinforcements
• 2 Day of Judgment
• 2 Revoke Existence
• 2 Ratchet Bomb

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This is the first time Gideon has seen some love in a while, and he seems to be hovering right around $20 over at CoolStuffInc.com, which seems spot-on in light of his recent reprint in M12. I don’t expect him to go much higher than this, but if you can find him for a good deal, I don’t expect him to lose anything until September, at which point we will have to reevaluate once the meta settles down.

We also have an example of a deck abusing multiple copies of the same Sword, in this case Sword of Feast and Famine, seeing three copies in this deck. While this one is sold out at CoolStuff, it is $25 at some other retailers, which is a nice jump from the $18 it was sitting at a few weeks ago.

Jace Beleren has also seen a nice little price bump as of late, due to its power in the control mirrors that were greatly overshadowed by his big brother. His jump from $10 to $13 on CoolStuff is no coincidence, and this guy will be hot until we can’t play with him in Standard anymore.

Speaking of price jumps, I think we have found Inquisition of Kozilek 2.0 in Dismember. Since when did $6 uncommons start becoming this, well, common? Either way, this guy is all that and a bag of chips in Standard right now, as it is the catchall for every deck in what is regarded as one of the top three decks in the format, Splinter Twin.

The last deck that I want to cover is an oldie, but one that is quickly making a name for itself as a top contender in the new format: That is Tempered Steel, or as some call it affectionately (myself included), “Hawkward.”

"Hawkward"

• Creatures (21)
• 1 Phyrexian Revoker
• 4 Memnite
• 4 Signal Pest
• 4 Spellskite
• 4 Steel Overseer
• 4 Vault Skirge

• Spells (19)
• 2 Dismember
• 4 Dispatch
• 4 Tempered Steel
• 2 Shrine of Loyal Legions
• 4 Glint Hawk Idol
• 3 Mox Opal

• Lands (20)
• 16 Plains
• 4 Inkmoth Nexus

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Leonin Relic-Warder
• 4 Kor Firewalker
• 2 Phyrexian Revoker
• 3 Act of Aggression
• 2 Revoke Existence
• 2 Shrine of Loyal Legions

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This list was piloted by SCG Open powerhouse Alex Bertoncini to a fifth-place finish at Seattle.

From a financial standpoint, there are only two things that stand out to me about this list:

1. This deck’s prominence has caused Tempered Steel to more than double in price over the last few weeks from around $3 to about $6.50 on CoolStuff!

2. We are still seeing the trend of Inkmoth Nexus. This card is still hanging around $12, which may be its perceived roof by most people, but once Innistrad comes out, and people continue playing Inkmoth as heavily as it has been played, it has the chance of gaining a few more dollars, up to maybe $15. These cards move so easily for me even now that I never feel that I have enough.

Gearing Up for GenCon

As everyone knows, this week is GenCon in Indianapolis, and this year, GenCon even has the added bonus of having Nationals run during the convention. This, combined with the normal GenCon tournaments of Legacy World Champs and Vintage World Champs, will create one of the biggest weekends in Magic of the year. As a trader, you need to know how to prepare for such a monumental weekend.

The Trade Floor

As GenCon has such a high quantity of high-level events going on over so many formats, there is a possibility that players will be looking for everything from Block-playable cards to Vintage staples, and as such your trade binders need to reflect that. Every staple from every format will be wanted by someone in the room this weekend, so there is no excuse to say, “Oh, I didn’t bring those with me.”

Splitting up your collection into different formats would be a wise way to start your weekend. Having all of your Legacy staples separate from your Standard and Commander cards will save you time looking when someone asks if you have a certain card, and it will also facilitate the ability to have multiple people looking at your trade collection at one time.

While we are on the topic of having multiple people look at your tradable cards at once, I want to talk about theft at big tournaments like these. The bottom line is that is happens, so protect yourself from it! Don’t leave your cards unattended, and if you are walking away from your cards for any reason, make sure that the person you are leaving them with is responsible, trustworthy, and not too distracted with other things to notice if your stuff goes missing. In my years as a player and a trader, I have heard of bags and binders being stolen during trades, from under the chair someone was sitting in, and in a plethora of other ways. While it would be nice to think we are in a community of honest, diligent people, there are a few bad apples who spoil it for everyone, and at a chaotic weekend like GenCon, these bad apples will be out in force.

This is also one of those weekends where networking with other sharks will pay off, because when you send some trades their way, they will begin doing the same thing for you when they don’t have a card someone is looking for, but you do. That is a good way to get these sorts of relationships built, as I am sure the number of grinders in this room will be very high; however, their density will most likely remain fairly low due to how many magicians will be in one place.

The Dealer Room

While GenCon is a gathering of gamers, it is also a large gathering of dealers and industry representatives. This will be the highest concentration of dealers in one place outside of a Pro Tour or Grand Prix, and with that many dealers in one place, it is easy to compare buy-list prices. I recommend bringing a notebook to write down notable cards that you can compare throughout the room, and you should also note which cards are sold out in a majority of the room to keep track of trends throughout the weekend.

If you find that a certain card is sold out at a majority of the dealers in the room, that means you can do a few things with that information. First, you will be able to get a better-than-average buy price on it until the dealers find more copies for themselves. The second, and most likely more profitable route, would be to take that information to the trade floor and dump your cards at the inflated price due to the shortage.

Other Things to Do at GenCon

The biggest mistake I see people making when going to GenCon for the first time is not exploring out past the dealer room and the card gaming hall. However, GenCon is a huge gaming convention, and restricting yourself to such a small part of it is a travesty. Take some time to go look around with your friends just to see what you can find. While you may not make any money during this time, and most likely you will end up spending it, the experience will be worth it. I know that I can’t wait to play Werewolf overnight in the lobby of the convention hall, but that is my own guilty pleasure.

Also, if you see me around, come say hello—you know that I love to network.

Happy grinding!

JR Wade

JohnRobertWade at gmail dot com

@THEJRRR on Twitter