I need trade/hold advice for Gae's Cradle.
Economics forum
Posted on May 15, 2014, 12:48 p.m. by Juxtapoisson
I have been in and out (mostly out) since revised and am now a returning player (latest gap has been since Mirridon).
I have been drafting for a few months, but am thinking about getting into Standard. (MBD, but really, specific deck doesn't matter).
Most of my old cards have no real value, or I won't part with the ones that do (misc dual lands).
But as a matter of accident, I have 7 Gaea's Cradle which means I have a playset +3, which means I have 3 I can part with.
In terms of value, 3 GCs easily covers the bulk of a standard deck. But I would only be trading for the big stuff (I have no qualms about buying the misc bits I would need).
I don't have a specific trade lined up, but I suspect I can make that part work.
The advice I need is, is this wise? Some part of me says it is dumb on my part to trade GCs for Mutavault
or other high price standard staples that will decline in value when they rotate out. Which is true.
But if I sell the GCs and buy the cards I need, or sit on the GCs and buy the cards I need, I am still investing in cards almost guaranteed to decline in value. So in that regard, does it make any difference?
Am I wasting my time sitting on 3 GCs I don't need (I am not even actually using the playset). Do I just have to "get over" my problem with investing in cards that loose value if I really want to play standard?
Magiclover318 says... #3
Mutavault wasn't used at all until it was printed in M14 to my understanding, and I doubt that will change post rotation.
May 15, 2014 1:07 p.m.
Magiclover318 It was in merfolk (both modern and legacy), vintage fish (not merfolk), the rock (modern) and other decks.... It wasn't legal in standard till m14 though (recently). and was demanding 40-60$ each before it's reprint.
May 15, 2014 1:13 p.m.
Magiclover318 says... #5
Ah okay, I just never see merfolk in tournaments, I can't rely on those for pricing as much though.
May 15, 2014 1:14 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #6
I wish I had what you needed, but I would hold them. It all depends on how much standard you plan on playing in the next couple months. I would not trade for any theros block stuff for a Cradle though.
I would just start drafting theros, and build that way. Use the Cradles to trade for some eternal staples.
May 15, 2014 1:23 p.m.
ChiefWannaHacka says... #7
Gonna have to echo what everyone has already said, Only trade those Cradles for Legacy or Modern Staples, unless you plan on really playing Standard a lot in the near future.
May 15, 2014 2:13 p.m.
inserting this: NEVER EVER EVER trade an eternal card with high value for something that is only important n a format that rotates. Honestly my personal thing is if I have a card as old and rares as your I wont trade it for something that didn't come out around the same time give or take a year. Cards like that are just too hard to get a hold of to like trade it for a stack of Dual lands even if they are really useful
May 15, 2014 4:11 p.m.
strateupjee says... #9
Honestly I would say hang onto them until rotation hits, then invest in a deck or two, because then you wont be losing immediate value to rotation, and you can see what decks become prominent and make one of those to start winning haha. That is just what I would do xD
May 15, 2014 5:11 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #10
Also what do you like to play? Are you stuck on standard? Have you tried modern? EDH? There are so many options.
May 15, 2014 5:24 p.m.
actiontech says... #11
I just traded a NM cradle for 2x NM foil Deathrite Shaman s. I feel like it was a fair trade for both of us because the shamans are played heavily in legacy and if they ever get unbanned in modern, wow did I just hit the lottery.
One issue with Gaea's Cradle is that with the new legendary rule if it starts to be abused it could potentially be banned. I think it would've happened by now if it was going to but it's certainly something I thought about when considering the trade.
I'd say if you're going to unload cradles (which I support; they aren't climbing fast enough to hold) be sure you're getting legacy/modern staples in exchange. Don't ever trade stuff like this for standard.
May 16, 2014 11:10 a.m.
jpgcoleman says... #12
My suggestion would be to try and trade up rather than down. You may be able trade up for something even better! Maybe a Mishra's Workshop or something? I would use cash for standard and just start off drafting.
May 16, 2014 4:13 p.m.
Wizard of the Damned says... #13
Trade one to the wizard for he has many spells from modern and other trinkets from standard
May 16, 2014 5:50 p.m.
Wizard of the Damned says... #15
For they are wise words and that is all the wizard speaks
May 16, 2014 7:30 p.m.
Juxtapoisson says... #16
I'm the original poster, with some slightly different questions.
After a while of procrastination and hemming and hawing I still have my Gaea's cradles. I have decided I want to get into Modern Merfolk, but I can't seem to get any traction locally (the few people that have a good chunk of ModMer shell don't want cradles). I can't afford to get into ModMer on just cash, and really need to move 2 - 3 Cradles in order to make it come together.
I need advice on how to put this together. Do I sell them on ebay and buy the bits, do I sell them to an online retailer for store credit and get ModMer bits that way? Do I try to make online trades? I have to say that mailing $300 - $400 dollars worth of cards to a total stranger makes my stomach turn.
Frankly, I would have liked to keep them in the local community, but as I said, there's no traction there - and the dollar value loss I would assign to my want to keeping them in the community is only like $10 total.
I guess, what I need to hear is which of the above paths is going to get me the most value for my cards (i.e. the biggest portion of ModMer for my Cradles)? Is there another route I am missing?
August 21, 2014 11:44 a.m.
Didgeridooda says... #17
You could always try to sell them on a site like this, deckbox.org, or one of the many other sites like that.
You will have to send scans of both sides to the interested party, and you will prob not get TCG avg for it. It will most likely be something closer to TCG low price.
August 21, 2014 12:04 p.m.
WovenNebula says... #18
@Juxtapoisson Personally I rushed ahead after taking 10 year hiatus and traded my cryptic commands, gaea's cradle's, city of traitors etc.. aways towards standard and I regret it now and I have been recouping what I have lost. So if you were to do it I would recommend to use it towards anything that might have eternal value and everything else just pick up with cash. Patience is a virtue when it comes to standard these days cause the prices wildly fluctuate for quite a bit of the cards. I could get Mutavault s for 25 for the original print before the reprint but because of standard it shot up to 50 and now the reprint if back down 20. Master of Waves started at 3 went to 15 and now is back 3-4 dollars. Shocklands like people say are a good investment for longterm value. If you decided you were going into modern I would wait til after rotation to get any cards as they will drop even shock lands and Abrupt Decay . Just like every card in the past, most recently Liliana of the Veil after rotation 30, Snapcaster Mage after rotation 15 etc.. all dropped after rotation and now they are back up and will continue to rise. So just from personal experience ,regardless if you have extras, just choose wisely or you may throw hundreds of value away. At first its not too bad but later it feels like a loss you can't make up.
August 21, 2014 3:39 p.m.
if you want modern merfolk let me know. i would LOVE to get my hands on gaea's cradle(s) and have an already built modern merfolk deck we could discuss trading!
let me know if this interests you.
gufymike says... #2
Ok, Mutavault and shocklands have long term value because of the play they see in modern and legacy decks and are just not standard staples. So because you didn't address this, I would argue it's time for you to really look at the economics and learn where things really stand before you trade.
In most trades, I would advise using the GC's to get eternal value (Stuff played in legacy and vintage) or modern value (modern is a non-rotating format).
In this case, I would part with one GC for a Mutavault playset and any misc cards you want/need for your deck.
The other 2, I would sell to a dealer (you can find the best prices to sell at on mtgprice.com, abugames currrently will give 100 cash, possibly more in credit.) and get store credit to buy what you want/need, regardless if it's standard or not. You can then resell/trade away these standard staples before they drop for you next standard deck.... I know many people who do this, trade their current standard deck for credit to get their next standard deck every release or so.
May 15, 2014 12:57 p.m.