I got a chance to trade for Power this weekend at GP Columbus.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), these trades were from my personal trade stock. Why would I show you my personal spoils from the GP? Was it to remind you that I am a BAMF? Perhaps, but there are definitely lessons to be learned here. It's been a while since I have actually traded for power. I forgot how much of a kick in the stomach it is. It's not like trading for a Primeval Titan. The people who have Power know what they have and they want to trade it down for massive value.

The game is simple. They have a Mox Sapphire that they can sell for $375 cash. They will trade it to you for $425 in trade. That doesn't seem so bad right? Well the catch is that they will take your cards at worst case scenario sales prices. For example, a Goblin Guide might be worth $1 in a trade for power. This allows them to make even more on the cards with the downside being that they sell it for the absolute low. The deals this weekend really reminded me that I need to step up my game. I got a chance to do that via an email from Trick.

On Friday morning before the GP, Trick sent me an email. I am not going to share the contents but it was from a Pack to Power reader who was offering a pretty serious trade. The trade requires that I get a full set of Ravnica Block dual lands. This was my mission going into the GP. I drove up Friday afternoon and was looking to get my trade on.

There is a lot to talk about so, I am going to break the GP into two separate articles. I didn't trade on Saturday because I played in the main event. It's always tough when you are stuck between being a magic player and a trader. I believe that playing is an important part of speculating and card valuation. Understanding decks and the metagame will help you see openings for cards. Becoming familiar with older cards can help you build this skill as well. For example when Time Reversal was spoiled Michael J Flores posted something on twitter about how he would love to short selling them. When someone asked him why, he reminded us that there was a card that did the same thing for one less mana, Dimishing Returns. Even Flores knew that Time Reversal would tank. Speaking of tanking, let's dive into my day one trades.

Trades

Trade 69

After studying the dealer tables, I sat down at a table to take a break. A guy wandered over and I asked if he had any trades. He said yes and I introduced myself, "Hello, my name is Jonathan." He responded, "Hey I am Mo." Mo and I flipped through binders and I told him about my quest for Power. Much to my delight, Mo already knew about Pack to Power. He pulled a binder out and said, "You actually inspired my friend and me to do pack to power." Apparently his friend was already whooping him by picking up a Baneslayer Angel at FNM. We made our first trade. It was his Foil Abyssal Persecutor for my Inferno Titan. These type two Titans are seeing all kinds of play!

My (9.99) Inferno Titan 9.99 His (19.99) Abyssal Persecutor 19.99 Net +10.00

Trade 70

After the trade he called his friend, "Yeah, THE actual guy is up here with me! We are trading right now." I made a trade with him to help him along in his quest and while we were waiting for his friend I asked, "Hey, what can I do to score one of those Lion's Eye Diamonds?" Freakin Mo had a page of these things! He flipped through the binder to find some stuff. For our trades we didn't use pricing, we just "eye-balled" them. Eye-balling trades is a great way to gain value because looking at a trade can be deceiving. I have seen sharks use this technique to rip off people to great effect. They will say something like, "Oh, I don't use numbers since everyone uses different ones. Let's just find a trade that works for both of us."

That wasn't the case with Mo and I, numbers really never came up. We just set the cards by each other and agreed. Here is what our second trade looked like:

My (29.48) Tombstalker Foil 24.99 Sword of Vengeance 4.49 His (39.99) Lion's Eye Diamond 39.99 Net: +10.51

Trade 71

The next trade was with a pretty popular twitter personality. He was a tough cookie to crack. He wanted to make sure to get his value worth, but I got him with the Vendilion Clique. Clique is one of those cards that has always been underpriced until recently. My trade partner valued it at about $3 and I accepted the value. Iona sees play in reanimator and dredge in legacy, I can never have enough of these. They never stay in the trade binder long.

My (12.43) Leyline of the Void 2.99 2x Ember Hauler .49 2x Terastodon .75 2x Temple Bell 2.49 Crystal Ball .99 Relentless Rats .99 His (19.97) Vendilion Clique 8.99 Iona, Shield of Emeria 8.99 Runed Halo 1.99 Net: +17.54

Trade 72

I knew that the Clique would move. This trade is the first trade that I actually got some shock lands toward my mission. We valued the Clique at $9 and the Lodestone Golem at $3. I got him to throw in an assortment of random garbage like foil Explores. The tough part of this trade was valuing the Shock dauls. I put the Watery Grave at $5 the Steam Vents at $3 and the Temple Garden at $2. He was very resistant but I told him that they were not in Extended and that they have been doomed to the depths of 100 card EDH decks. He obliged and this was the full trade:

My (10.24) Vendilion Clique 8.99 Lodestone Golem 1.25 His (46.15) 3x Explore Foil 1.49 Temple Garden 9.99 Watery Grave 12.99 Steam Vents 11.99 Harrow Textless 2.99 Tectonic Edge .99 Khalni Garden Foil .99 Restore Balance .75 Voltaic Key .99 Net +35.91

Trade 73

This was my final trade of the day. It's pretty anti-climactic, so I apologize for that. I should have checked for a Charlie Brown image on this Medallion before trading it. Some of the blue and green Medallions were some printed with a Charlie brown outline in the card art. These versions are worth a bit more than the normal one. This might be the first, dead even Pack to Power trade. I got a kick out of that.

My (4.49) Emerald Medallion 4.49 His (4.49) Sunpetal Grove 4.49 Net: 0

Day one of the GP had me pretty discouraged. I only had three shock duals and the trades were pretty mediocre. On paper I am up $63.96 on the day but that's not based on the cards' Power trade value.

Next week I will talk about Day Two at the GP. I can't promise any blockbuster trades for day two, but I will be talking about the new way that I am organizing the Pack to Power binder and the acquisition of a new white bordered card for the binder.

I will be at GenCon this week. Be sure to track me down. See you next week!