[easybox]This was meant to be reposted on Thursday, 12/24/2009 but due to a system glitch it didn't repost. It was originally published on Oct. 29th, 2009 and has been one of Kelly's most popular articles here on ManaNation.com[/easybox]

Welcome back to Quiet Speculation here at ManaNation! To those returning from Grand Prix: Tampa, I think I speak for everyone else when I say "It must be nice." [Trick Note: It is.] Thanks to everyone who left great comments on Twitter and on the site last week - goal-setting is so very important to your life no matter what your pursuits may be, so I am glad that my point was taken to heart by so many!

This week's topic is much more specific to the game of Magic - the logistics of managing a collection of Magic Cards can be overwhelming at times, and a poorly organized collection can cause loss, waste and missed opportunities. Ensuring that you have a system in place to manage every card for the duration of your possession will make it very easy to locate and trade your stock.

I use the word "stock" because no matter the size of your collection, you should be managing it like a business. If you've never worked at any kind of retail store, you probably have no idea how tight most stores manage their inventory. Your collection should be managed in much the same way. This doesn't mean recording every transaction and keeping a running tally of every common in your possession, but it does mean that every card should have a place and that every card is IN its place. The system I'm about to suggest is not gospel, but it's a good starting point for those who just keep their stuff in a big cardboard box. Having a system is more important than the system itself, so if you've got something that works, stick with it!

Your trade binders are the most important part of your collection. The majority of your wealth is concentrated in a small area, and the majority of your big deals will come from your books. The first thing you need to do - if you're not eager to trade it? Take. It. Out. Nothing pisses off another player like seeing the playset of Maelstrom Pulses they've been seeking only to be told "sorry, not for trade!" There are going to be expensive cards that you don't really want to trade but want to keep on-hand. We'll make a separate book or section for those.

The easiest way to organize your trade binder is by rarity, then format. Many players only care about Standard cards, so having them filter through your 50 pages of EDH rares from Legends is pretty counter-productive to closing a deal. Most people also hate looking through commons and uncommons unless they're specifically looking for something, so keep those in their own space. Your trade binder should start off with a few pages of your best Standard rares, then the rest of your Standard rares, then follow the same formula for older cards. It's not really necessary to separate Extended and Legacy, but feel free to if one is a popular format in your area and the other is not. You can also feel free to integrate valuable uncommons, foils, etc into the rares section, but it is better to move them to the back of the section.

As a rule, the larger your stock gets the more specific your filing system needs to be. If you have 20 rares for trade, you can just throw them in a 2x2 binder and hand it to people. When you have 6 copies of every rare in Standard, you need to be a little more organized.

One of the most important logistical factors to consider when building your magical Travel Bag is how you transport yourself and your cards to events, and what events you're attending. If you live in a suburban area, you can leave a lot of cards in the trunk of your car and avoid the 50 pound shoulder bag issue. If you're in a big city and using public transportation, your goal should be to condense as much in-demand material into as little space as possible. In that case, it's probably OK to leave the commons and uncommons at home and just bring a few decks and your trade rares.

Now that you've got your travel bag packed with some dice, a score pad, your decks, and enough trade stock to get you through the day, we need to figure out what to do with new acquisitions and the stuff you leave at home. In my personal collection, I keep playsets of commons and uncommons in binders in a drawer. That way it's easy to ensure that I never trade away my last 4 copies of anything. This method of sorting is more expensive and time consuming at first than keeping them in a box, but in the end it's much easier to maintain. You can keep 2 playsets side-by-side or just keep 5 of a card. The 5th card acts as a placeholder and looks far better than a slip of paper! Once you have a playset or two squirreled away in the binders, grab any extra copies of popular cards and throw them in a small cardboard box for your travel bag. That way, when someone randomly needs a playset of Blightnings for their tournament, you can help them out and possibly even make a buck or two. The true bulk cards - the Mindless Nulls of the universe - can live in a "Bulk Box" in your closet. These are great for proxying on, throwing at friends, or just selling away to dealers in bulk.

Some cards don't really belong in any binder. For this, I suggest a "Keeper Box". This is where old cards in low demand can reside. Random Legacy uncommons that you might need for EDH go here, as do random things from your cube, foils that you're not going to trade, and so forth.

Now that you have a few areas designated for your cards, it's time to build an "In-Box" for when you acquire cards at events. So far, you have your Trade Binder, a Keeper Binder for rares you really don't want to trade but don't want to leave home, maybe a common/uncommon binder or box that you trade, a bulk box, common/uncommon playset binders, and possibly a Keeper Box. Those zones should be sufficient to classify almost any card you own, but feel free to customize your system to your own needs. Identifying and naming these zones is important because the final step in the organization process is locating a label maker and a box you can sub-divide. I use a 4-section plastic case, and I bring the In-Box every time I go play magic. As I acquire cards, I file them into the relevant section for sorting when I get home. If I have down-time at a tournament, I'll file away everything for trade so I can keep trading my new stock, but in general I spend about an hour after each event just managing my stuff.

Keeping your cards organized will give you control over what you do and don't bring to events, and will ensure that you always "stock" the important cards. Nothing's worse than losing a good deal because you left something at home. It will also help you to resist the entropic forces that seem to act upon Magic cards - namely the law of the universe that says that Magic cards will end up everywhere unless acted upon by an outside force. A well-organized trade binder facilitates trading by ensuring that all your cards are visible and easy to find. Implement these little things into your Magic eco-system and sound off in the comments to let me know what's working for you!

Oh, and one piece of parting advice? Keep a written log of everything you're borrowing and lending. Just trust me on that one.