I have seen this discussed to some degree in threads on this forum, but I am still confused and looking for advice.
As a recently returning player (played many, many years ago), how do players typically build up a collection for trading, as opposed to one simply for playing.
I ask this because many players seem to frown on buying sealed products, and emphasize buying singles. In doing this, certainly one can build any deck desired, but there will be no cards for trading. Unless you completely dismantle your old deck and trade it away, you will never have things to trade.
On the other hand, if one buys sealed product, often you will obtain enough cards to trade some for what you need to complete a deck, but considering the average worth of your pulls from packs, it seems it would again, be difficult to amass extra cards of any value for future trading.
So my question really is this: when you see players with a whole binder (or more) full of multiples of valuable cards (not trash rares), how the heck did they get them all AND still have their own decks. Did they just buy hundreds of singles to trade, did they open hundreds of packs, did they shark other players in trades to amass more cards, or what? (i.e. what do each of you feel is the most efficient way to build a trading collection, while also maintaining a personal collection for use as opposed to just making a deck to play with?)
I ask this in all sincerity as someone who really enjoys the cards and would like to have a collection of decent cards, as well as just a deck or two. Thanks in advance for your advice!
To build up a collection, these are my personal suggestions:
1. Play limited. Prereleases/drafts/sealed events add to your card pool.
2. Buy some packs when you are bored. Don't buy them for money, buy them for fodder. Some people crack a box when they get a good price <90$ in a set with good expected value. Theros is one of those sets if you can find a good price on the box.
3. Sometimes your old decks rotate out. They may have some value in eternal formats. Now it is trade fodder.
As a recently returning player (played many, many years ago), how do players typically build up a collection for trading, as opposed to one simply for playing.
1. The biggest source of cards for your trade collection are sealed events like draft. These are really the only worthwhile times to open packs.
2. At some point you may get sick of playing your deck, and want to play something else. You trade some cards from your current deck for cards in the deck you want, buy the rest as singles, and whatever was leftover from your previous deck goes into your trade binder.
3. Sometimes you happen to find a ridiculously underpriced single that you don't have a particular need for (ie. a $30 Zen fetchland or a $10 Ensnaring Bridge that hasn't had its price updated for example). You might want to pick this up with a mind for trading it off later, though personally I wouldn't even bother with this unless the deal was grossly in my favor ($25 Tarmo? Sign me up!).
I would advise against actually making a concentrated effort to build up a trade collection. It's something that slowly builds up without you having to make a special effort.
I guess at this point it feels a lot like many players I have seen have binders full of cards for trade, and I was having a hard time seeing how they can have a personal collection AND all of the cards for trade as well. I will continue to draft when I can and I do sometimes buy some packs (it's a lot of fun, and my wife and I can make decks out of the new cards afterwards), and just see how it goes over time. Thanks again!
Draft. I hate Limited personally, but for most players it is quite fun and will build a collection of fodder
Look out for non-standard sets that sell at places other than your LGS, like Duel Decks, Commander precons, and stuff like that because they will always be at MSRP. They often have cards that players who do not play Standard want, but don't want to buy the whole product. You can do the same with Event Decks and other stuff that is relegated for LGS only, but only do so it if you get them at MSRP. You are never going to find any of these below MSRP unless you do some bulk order.
I generally buy a booster box of every set that looks decently interesting (I didn't buy BNG), and that also builds up your trade fodder.
Limited play is the best answer for this. But also, any amount of trading is likely to set you up for more. Trading is rarely clean-cut 1-for-1 exchanges .... Chances are in any given trade you are likely to pick up some amount of cards that you don't immediately need and that others can potentially have interest in. Trading 3 times between the rounds of a single FNM can create anywhere from 3-20$ worth of trade value in your binder that you're not immediately interested in using for constructed play, and parlaying that into cards that you ARE interested in playing on Constructed is not necessarily difficult. Drafting a lot won't help you very much in your quest to trade up to a playset of Polluted Deltas, but it sure will help you build a Standard deck.
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Thanks to Gabgabdevo for the awesome sig image!
I'm always looking for foil Madcap Skills and Ghitu Fire-Eater, [trade thread link forthcoming]
You can also buy people's collections. Avoid the cheap ones and go for the ones where people are looking to get $ now for their cards. I'd recommend that over limited/draft...
I guess I'm on of 'those' people with a stupidly large trade-binder. I have two trade binders right now, one for standard, and one for modern/legacy/edh, so I don't come off as a show-off mixing duals with standard jank. Most people at FNM won't even look at the non-standard binder. I got most of my stuff buy buying multiple collections online (off here and ebay). Paying $400 for $900 in cards is always a winning proposition, so even once the standard values drop in half you're still coming out ahead. The only time I buy sealed product to open is when a new set comes out and I'll buy a fatpack, just so I have some stuff to trade that day (though I have broken this rule before).
Buying collections and lots is the most effective way to build a collection, so long as you know what to look for (I wouldn't buy a collection that is all scars of mirrodin block, for example). That's been covered a hundred times on these forums I'm sure, but you don't have to buy entire collections - I frequently see small lots of $100 worth of cards for $75 or whatever, sometimes being the choicest standard cards. Those deals add up when you start trading, allowing you're edge to marginally grow into noticeable amounts.
As a recently returning player (played many, many years ago), how do players typically build up a collection for trading, as opposed to one simply for playing.
I ask this because many players seem to frown on buying sealed products, and emphasize buying singles. In doing this, certainly one can build any deck desired, but there will be no cards for trading. Unless you completely dismantle your old deck and trade it away, you will never have things to trade.
On the other hand, if one buys sealed product, often you will obtain enough cards to trade some for what you need to complete a deck, but considering the average worth of your pulls from packs, it seems it would again, be difficult to amass extra cards of any value for future trading.
So my question really is this: when you see players with a whole binder (or more) full of multiples of valuable cards (not trash rares), how the heck did they get them all AND still have their own decks. Did they just buy hundreds of singles to trade, did they open hundreds of packs, did they shark other players in trades to amass more cards, or what? (i.e. what do each of you feel is the most efficient way to build a trading collection, while also maintaining a personal collection for use as opposed to just making a deck to play with?)
I ask this in all sincerity as someone who really enjoys the cards and would like to have a collection of decent cards, as well as just a deck or two. Thanks in advance for your advice!
1. Play limited. Prereleases/drafts/sealed events add to your card pool.
2. Buy some packs when you are bored. Don't buy them for money, buy them for fodder. Some people crack a box when they get a good price <90$ in a set with good expected value. Theros is one of those sets if you can find a good price on the box.
3. Sometimes your old decks rotate out. They may have some value in eternal formats. Now it is trade fodder.
1. The biggest source of cards for your trade collection are sealed events like draft. These are really the only worthwhile times to open packs.
2. At some point you may get sick of playing your deck, and want to play something else. You trade some cards from your current deck for cards in the deck you want, buy the rest as singles, and whatever was leftover from your previous deck goes into your trade binder.
3. Sometimes you happen to find a ridiculously underpriced single that you don't have a particular need for (ie. a $30 Zen fetchland or a $10 Ensnaring Bridge that hasn't had its price updated for example). You might want to pick this up with a mind for trading it off later, though personally I wouldn't even bother with this unless the deal was grossly in my favor ($25 Tarmo? Sign me up!).
I would advise against actually making a concentrated effort to build up a trade collection. It's something that slowly builds up without you having to make a special effort.
I guess at this point it feels a lot like many players I have seen have binders full of cards for trade, and I was having a hard time seeing how they can have a personal collection AND all of the cards for trade as well. I will continue to draft when I can and I do sometimes buy some packs (it's a lot of fun, and my wife and I can make decks out of the new cards afterwards), and just see how it goes over time. Thanks again!
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!
Thanks to Gabgabdevo for the awesome sig image!
I'm always looking for foil Madcap Skills and Ghitu Fire-Eater, [trade thread link forthcoming]
Buying collections and lots is the most effective way to build a collection, so long as you know what to look for (I wouldn't buy a collection that is all scars of mirrodin block, for example). That's been covered a hundred times on these forums I'm sure, but you don't have to buy entire collections - I frequently see small lots of $100 worth of cards for $75 or whatever, sometimes being the choicest standard cards. Those deals add up when you start trading, allowing you're edge to marginally grow into noticeable amounts.
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!