Pack to Power
Economics forum
Posted on Sept. 14, 2013, 2:43 p.m. by Unforgivn_II
I've read up on it and decided I'm willing to give it a shot. Although my goal will be an Alpha Wrath of God . Y'know, cuz its not banned in everything (and I want it for EDH). But there are still some things fuzzy for me.
The goal is to get a really big binder with a lot of stuff that has a total value of about 1.25-1.5x the cost of the card you're aiming for. But obviously, they can't be junk cards (if that was the case my commons and uncommon could get me the card now.)
My question is how the whole "splitting expensive cards into less expensive cards" is effective. Obviously, I wouldn't trade my Iona, Shield of Emeria for 20 dollar rares. But say I was able to get a play set of AEtherling s? The Aetherling has demand in standard, and I can possibly value the set as a whole and trade it for a singular card. But then I'm back at the value I had. So this is my issue. Should I keep those Aetherlings separate in order to do the same thing I'll presumably do with the rare in my pack (slowly trade up into better cards)?
If anyone has any experience, I'd love feedback. Also, I know Epochalyptik has had experience here, so I'm tagging him in the case he can help too...
Unforgivn_II says... #3
Thanks a lot. And that Death Baron example clears things up greatly. The biggest question is... Why would I trade into a Death Baron? Perhaps when I'm trying to gain value from a 2 dollar rare? (Which I would split into 3 dollar rares hopefully).
Anyway, I don't want to be a weenie, but I opened an Innistrad pack hoping for a decent rare and got Charmbreaker Devils and a foil Kindercatch . That's bad starting value, but I don't wanna be a quitter.
September 14, 2013 7:21 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
To be blunt, there are only two reasons I would ever own a card like Death Baron
:
- I bought a collection, box, pack, etc.
- I won on a trade.
If you can trade a $2 card for a $10 card, you should probably take the deal. Although the actual value of Death Baron is low, the economic value means you can still profit from it if you're a prolific trader.
List the entire contents of the pack. Also, remember that P2P is meant to be a challenge. The fun is turning trash into treasure.
Currently, your best bet is to trade the Charmbreaker Devils to an EDH player. That's the only real market for a card like that (besides casual). Unfortunately, the foil Kindercatch is pretty useless unless you find a foil collector or casual player.
Casual players are basically a godsend because you can offload low-AV cards and pick up better trade stock.
September 14, 2013 8:17 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #5
How does Pack to Power work? You simply buy a pack of cards then trade until you have cards of equal value to something expensive?
September 14, 2013 8:22 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
@UmbrotheUmbreon: Well, the goal is to actually trade for a piece of Power. But you understand the essential concept: buy a pack and trade up until you own something great.
September 14, 2013 8:25 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #7
I doubt I could ever do something like that. I'm not good with trading and I have bad luck with packs lol
Good luck Unforgivn_II
September 14, 2013 8:29 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #8
Midnight haunting is probably the best. And here's the list:
September 14, 2013 8:38 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
Forbidden Alchemy , Brimstone Volley , Inquisitor's Flail , and Charmbreaker Devils show the most immediate promise.
Forbidden Alchemy and Brimstone Volley are somewhat playable in constructed. Inquisitor's Flail and Charmbreaker Devils are EDH and casual cards.
Midnight Haunting might be tradable. Same with Purify the Grave (if someone needs it for a sideboard or something).
The foil Kindercatch could be traded to a casual player or foil collector.
September 14, 2013 8:42 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #10
Yeah. In retrospect, buying into standard would have been better. Or what would be standard still in 2 weeks. But as far as Commons go, I did like the playables.
September 14, 2013 10:11 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
You'll need to move quickly to capitalize on some of these cards, specifically Forbidden Alchemy and Brimstone Volley . It's probably already too late to pass them to Standard players, though. Forbidden Alchemy can sometimes see play in EDH, and Brimstone Volley could be used in casual.
Personally, I would have started with a pack of RTR, GTC, or DGM to avoid losing too much come rotation.
September 16, 2013 10:34 a.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #12
Yeah. Live and learn. I was too tempted by the thought of a Snapcaster...
September 16, 2013 12:08 p.m.
PtP... Pulls foil Thragtusk :D I didn't actually do that but if someone did that...
September 16, 2013 6:02 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #14
This is a rough challenge if you don't pull something valuable. I'm currently trying this as well, I was lucky enough to pull a foil Obzedat, Ghost Council (that I still haven't traded yet). But the rest of the pack was pretty rough. The rest of the pack is what you would expect from Gatecrash.... dem guildgates, I don't think it's in the cards for me to get rid of my Boros Guildgate . I at least had some basic playables like Cartel Aristocrat and Smite that I managed to get some value out of.
Best piece of advice I have for you: don't underestimate the value of full art lands.
September 17, 2013 2:43 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #15
Oh for sure. Those things are basically dollar bills. Or six dollar bills if they're Unhinged...
September 17, 2013 2:45 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #16
Also, velocity is everything, if it's seeing heavy play, it may as well be printed in gold...
September 17, 2013 2:50 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #17
The funny part about full arts is that you can sometimes get more out of the more popular ones.
Epochalyptik says... #2
You should be trading up all the time, so trading Iona, Shield of Emeria for four AEtherling s would set you back in both actual and economic value.
When you're considering a trade, think about the following things:
You should always try to increase the economic and actual value of your P2P collection. Your trade decisions should be predicated on maximizing your value.
Breaking Iona, Shield of Emeria into 10 or 20 different cards is not effective because Iona, Shield of Emeria is a desired card - it has both economic and actual value.
By comparison, I would make a trade that broke a Death Baron into several $1-3 cards. Death Baron has decent economic value, but little actual value - it's only casually playable and not in high demand.
As far as playsets go, careful about overvaluing the significance of a complete playset. While playsets can command higher prices than the sum of their parts, they really only become significant when you're selling cards or when you find a trader who needs an entire playset. Don't worry too much about holding onto a playset in the hopes of gaining a few extra dollars; break the set if you need to make a better trade.
In terms of more general advice, don't overlook the importance of the C/U in your pack. Good C/U can set you up well; they are more than throw-ins. Also, be careful about trading Standard stuff. You need to be very good at speculating and trading to avoid getting burned during spoiler season and release week. Modern/Legacy value is more stable and gives you more clout in trades.
September 14, 2013 4:10 p.m.