It’s that time again. I’m Power hungry so it’s time to put the skills to work. I currently have no Power; I am Powerless, if you will. This blog series is about me getting the Power I need and me making as many corny “Power” puns as I possibly can.
For those who don’t know, here’s a list of the nine most coveted cards in magic.
Black Lotus
Mox Sapphire
Mox Jet
Mox Ruby
Mox Pearl
Mox Emerald
Ancestral Recall
Time Walk
Time Twister
These range from $180 dollars to $800 per card. That’s a lot of cheddar. Thankfully, this is not my first day in the sandbox. I have owned Power before and I know how to get it. The surprising thing is that you get Power just like any other magic card; it’s one of two ways- Pay Cash Money or Trade for it.
Cash Money
This method is the one that I like least, but sometimes it has to be done. Here are my personal rules about buying Power.
Rule Number One: You do not talk about Fight Club!
Rule Number Two: I don’t spend money that isn’t generated by magic on magic. (This is a general rule, but has nothing to do with EDH).
Rule Number Three: Don’t buy Power on Ebay.
Rule Number Four: Only pay for Power when you can get a deal or when you have to even up a trade.
You might be perplexed by some of these rules so let me explain. Rule number one, that’s pretty obvious – you don’t want Brad Pitt to lay the beat down on your face. Rule number two was originally designed by my wife but It has turned me into a wheeling and dealing machine so I keep it. Rule number three keeps you safe- on eBay there is a lot of “dark” Power (not to be confused with Black Power which is awesome BTW, dark Power is counterfeit Power) being sold. eBay is the quickest and easiest way to get rid of a fake. I buy my Power from reputable sources (you’ll see who these are as the series unfolds). The fourth and final rule helps you keep the process going. Money is your most valuable asset because it allows you to get deals on cards that you cannot through trading. It also gives you access to opportunities that trading does not. Let’s say that someone is selling their collection and getting out of the game. How are you going to buy it when you spent all your money on Power? Pay attention to how I use money throughout the series. This will help you get an idea of the proper way or the improper way if I end up buying foil Japanese cards in a moment of weakness. Either way it will be a fun ride.
The other way to obtain Power (besides invading a country with your military –ha ha) is to trade for it. Trading for Power in not for the faint of heart; all you little FNMer can go home and let mommy and daddy (that’s me) have grown-up time. Understand this, nothing beats Power nine. Well, nothing except for extremely rare pieces of magic history like: Splendid Genesis or Summer Magic. Let me restate that since I lost momentum. Understand this, nothing beats Power nine. When you’re trading for Power remember the person with the Power makes the rules (should I keep pointing out every Power pun?). This means that each of your over priced T2 rares (or mythics) are reduced to down to their bare value (Jace ain’t got nothing on Ancestral Recall!). Be prepared to take a beating when trading T2 cards for Power nine cards. Typically you won’t find anyone who will trade Power for T2 cards. Usually trading for Power follows this hierarchy.
Power 9 – You will get the best value if you trade Power for Power. This is common when trading up Unlimited Power to Beta Power.
Power Level Cards- These card are on the same level as Power but not officially considered Power: Bazaar of Bagdad, Library of Alexandria, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Mishra’s Workshop.
Big Cards- These card are usually around a hundred bucks. They give you a good cornerstone for a Power trade, if you have them. Imperial Seal, Mana Drain, Grim Tutor, and Raveges of War.
Fodder – Tarmogyf, no really, when you are dealing with Power nine, a Tarmogoyf is fodder so are, Duals, Force of Will, Mox Diamond, Lion’s Eye Diamonds and cards of this nature.
Junk- Planes walkers, Fetches and other notables can be included in Power trades but are usually not valued highly.
Using this hierarchy we are going to create a “Power Trade Package (PTP)” ,this is a stack of cards that can respectably be offered for Power. The key is to take all the cards that don’t fall into these categories and trade them for cards that do fall into these categories. Trade you Bloodghast for fetches and your fetches for duals and your duals for blue duals (you get the idea). Try to get as high on the list as you can. As long as you keep the cards higher in the hierarchy and trade the ones that are lower "up” (more on this later) then you will be in good shape.
Kick the Tires and Light the Fires
Ok, enough of the semantics! Let’s get down to business. My first step is to put together a “Power Trade Package (PTP)”. After digging through my stuff I found these cards:
1 Lotus Petal (Korean)
1 Land Tax (Korean)
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria (Japanese)
1 Dark Depths (Japanese)
1 Abyssal Persecutor
1 Jace Beleren
1 Sorin Markov
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Force of Will (1 Signed)
As you can see, my package is pretty small (Oh man, I walked right into that one). Over time I hope that this will grow into an awesome piece of Power. You man notice some Korean and Japanese cards in there, typically when trading for power people don’t want foreign cards but sometimes these can be traded for fodder level cards. Tune in next time to see how much I got for the lot that I sold and how my first trades are shaping up. Thanks for reading.
JM Tweet this!
