Pack to Moat, week 7

Hello everyone! So after a couple really slow weeks for me, this week was INSANE for the project! I wound up spending the weekend at WPI, and in doing so I gained access to lots of people to trade with than I had before!


March 13, 2012

My:
4x Bloodbraid Elf (2.62, 10. 48)
Batterskull (14.13)

His:
Inkmoth Nexus (10.41)
Scalding Tarn (14.54)
Black Sun's Zenith (7.7)

Net: +8.04

I got a txt message saying "hey, are you going to be at FNM this week? I want to trade for you Bloodbraid Elves from the pack-moat. I want to build Modern Jund" to which I had to reply that no, I am going to WPI for the weekend and would be around. After a couple minutes of chatting we agreed to meet up at the same Dunkin Donuts as week 5 (in fact I was talking to the same guy), but this time he would try to see how many of his friends from around town he could get together. He wound up bringing two others and I got a good trade in with all three of them! In regards to this trade, I thought BSZ was only worth 4 or 5, and I was fine with the trade on those grounds. It being worth 8 only sweetens the pot a little!

My:
Skirsdag High Priest (1.6)

His:
2x Lord of the Unreal (1.8, 3.6)
FOIL M12 Mountain (0.50)

Net: +2.50

This trade was a little awkward because the only think he wanted was the High Priest, and the only thing I wanted was cards worth 6+. Eventually I decided I could settle for Lord of the Unreals as long as I could also get the foil mountain. I know the foil mountain should trade very easily as everyone wants to make their deck as flashy as possible nowadays. I don't anticipate the Lords moving very easily, but maybe I will get lucky with a casual market.

My:
Inkmoth Nexus (10.41)

His:
2x Honor of the Pure (2.62, 5.24)
Grafdigger's Cage (4.28)
Grim Lavamacer (3.33)
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (3.8)

Net: +6.24

I almost only got one Honor of the Pure out of this trade, but at the last second he decided that he could throw in the other one because it didn't matter to him much (we valued it at 1) and he wanted to see the project actually work out. This will be the third time I have acquired a Thalia. She is trading very easily, and the other two times I traded her out I got great profit (first got me 3 dual lands, second got me a Sorin). This is also Honor of the Pures #2 + 3, the first one didn't really get me anywhere, but Honor has gone up 50 cents since then as tokens has risen in popularity. I'm very satisfied with this trade as everything is fairly liquid.

March 14, 2012

My:
Honor of the Pure (2.62)

His:
Grafdigger's Cage (4.20)

Net: +1.78

This trade was kinda funny how it happened. I was considering playing Grafdigger's Cage in the sideboard of my Werewolves deck as an answer to Zombies, so I traded for 2 into my normal binder. Going for this third one, my trade partner didn't see anything he wanted in my normal binders, so he offered this trade, which I gladly accepted. It wasn't until after the trade was over did he realize I probably wouldn't be using the Cage if it was in the pack to moat binder, but I wasn't going to get in the way!

My:
Splinter Twin (4.08)

His:
Chandra's Phoenix (7.27)

Net: +3.19

For this trade, the other guy wanted 2 Splinter Twins, but I had one in my legacy binder, and one in my pack to moat, so we had to set up 2 different trades. Someone passing by identified Phoenix as a 6, so I went for it. Then instead of wasting my time finding a 4 for the normal trade, the guy just said for me to take a phoenix for the other one too! Sweet!

My:
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad (31.13)

His:
Thoughtseize (36.62)

Net: +5.49

This trade was awesome! First, it required no prompting from me, which makes the whole process go over so much easier and friendlier. In fact, when he said "hey, want a thoughtseize?" I thought he meant for normal stuff. But more importantly, you will notice how Sorin was 3.58 when I got it just last week, so the card has been losing about a quarter a day. Trading it into a serious eternal staple is big game! My trade partner even took the time to look at the other 4 Thoughtseizes he had in the binder to make sure I was getting the nicest one!

March 16, 2012

My:
FOIL Mountain (0.50)

His:
Blue Sun's Zenith (0.89)

Net: +0.49

This trade was the first at the FNM at That's E! to get the crowd acclimated to the pack to moat binder. After this trade, there were several others to follow.

My:
Honor of the Pure (2.59)
Grim Lavamancer (3.3)

His:
Mirran Crusader (5.42)
Lingering Souls (1.73)

Net: +1.26

Lingering Souls is a very surprising card as it is actually a valuable as Brainstorm, and is also very playable in Legacy (Tom Martel had 4 in his GP winning deck).

My:
Scalding Tarn (14.69)

His:
Lord of Atlantis (4.61)
Phantasmal Image (15.03)

Net: +4.95

I thought Phantasmal Image was at 13 all weekend until I finally found out the real price when I started writing  this post. Regardless, problem like that are not ones I will complain about!

My:
Divination (0.09)

His:
Evil Twin (0.54)

Net: +0.45

This trade happened at about 4am because Mark didn't feel like finding a place in his binder to put an Evil Twin, so he just gave it to me for the project.

March 18, 2012

My:
4x Daze (2.71, 10.84)

His:
4x Thoughtcast (0.56, 2.24)
2x Moorland Haunt (2.49, 4.98)
Graveborn Cabal Therapy (4.00)

Net: +0.38

This trade was a mistake.... This is the first trade across the whole project I really regret. The only reason I did it is because I figured I could move the Thoughtcasts at 1 a piece to an aspiring affinity player, but that requires finding an aspiring affinity player.... Just an overall bad trade....

My:
Thoughtseize (35.94)

His:
2x Elspeth Tirel (17.76, 35.52)
Goblin Guide (5.14)

Net: +4.28

This is another trade that could have been a mistake. As my binder was, I had the very expensive Thoughtseize, and the next most valuable card was half the value. I decided I wanted to have a bunch of fairly high value cards to help work the entire binder together up the chain. Overall I think this was a fine move, but we will see how mallable the Elspeths are.

My:
Phantasmal Image (15.03)
Lord of Atlantis ( 4.61)

His:
Maelstrom Pulse (10.58)
Counterbalance (7.35)
Blade Splicer (3.64)

Net: +1.93

This trade was done under the impression Image was at 13, which made it a much sweeter trade. But as is, this is still fine. Pulse is always a good card across different decks, and Counterbalance is a very attractive deck for people getting into legacy to want to build, thinking they can make the best control deck.

My:
Goblin Guide (5.14)

His:
6th Edition City of Brass (5.17)
Command Tower (2.24)

Net: +2.27

Command Tower is an interesting card. I think the Commander cards will all go up in value over time because they weren't printed in a huge mass, and several are very playable (Scavenging Ooze). I think Command Tower should be an easy car to move as every single player wanting to play commander immediately needs one.

My:
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (3.76)
Counterbalance (7.35)

His:
Blackcleave Cliffs (7.68)
Infernal Tutor (5.52)
Ad Nauseam (0.65)

Net: +2.74

Moving Counterbalance so quickly was awesome, and Blackcleave Cliffs is a very in demand card in standard. Also, now I have a couple more Legacy Staples to leverage.

My:
Divination (0.09)

His:
Worlds 1999 Wasteland (???)

Net: +???

I have no clue what this gold bordered wasteland is worth. If anyone has a clue, please let me know! The guy I did the previous trade with was sick of seeing this stupid wasteland in his binder that he could do nothing with, so he just felt like giving it to me. Some prices I have seen online include a set being sold on eBay for $5, $5 a piece on an online retailer, to $12 on a different retailer. Regardless, that is a lot prettier than a Divination, so I will take it!

16 Trades
Week 7 Net: +45.99

This week was incredible for the project, which after 2 fairly dry weeks was quite necessary. There is another local shop, Harrison's, that I have yet to do any trading at, so there are new lands to venture towards nearby. Thanks to this week, the project is doing very well, and the binder is about $130 in total value!

That's all I have for today! Remember, if anyone is interested in doing a by mail trade, just contact me and I would love to work something out with you. Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack