Should I trade my volcanic island for...
Economics forum
Posted on Nov. 14, 2015, 8:08 a.m. by mikemega
I have a NM volcanic island from revised ($250 tcg). I'd love to finally break into modern. Should I finally trade it away? I can get 4 snapcasters and a Scalding Tarn. Will I regret this trade in a couple years?
lemmingllama says... #3
Volcanic Island is a fairly stable card from an economics point of view. It will slowly go up, and shouldn't see too many gains or losses. If you plan on playing Legacy, it might be better to hold this
Snapcaster Mage sees play in both Legacy and Modern, so you would get a lot more mileage out of these. They also will likely be going nowhere but up unless they get reprinted in Shadows over Innistrad or Modern Masters 2017.
Scalding Tarn does need a reprint, but it doesn't look like they are really focusing on trying to reprint them. You can play these in both Modern and Legacy.
Overall, I'd say to go with the Snapcasters and Tarn if you want to play modern. You'll have a lot more fun overall since you will have more formats to play. It also helps you are getting more value overall, the Snaps and Tarn are combined worth more. And if you do really want to play legacy but don't have a Volcanic Island, you can always substitute with Steam Vents.
November 14, 2015 8:27 a.m.
With SCG taking support for Legacy back, it's becoming increasingly hard to play the format. Volcanic Island is a really stable card and a decrease in organized legacy all around likely won't make the card plummet because price memory will likely keep it up even if there is significantly less demand for it. Even so, I think you should drop it. Yes, you'll lose value whenever snappy or tarn gets reprinted (and they will be within the next two years most likely), but this way you actually get cards you can use. You have to remember that just the experience of playing is worthwhile and if losing maybe $100 in value over two years lets you play modern consistently, I say that's still a damn fair exchange.
November 14, 2015 11:16 a.m.
Good points. I think I'll take the trade and play grixis delver. Snappy is a legacy staple after all and they are a bit low right now.
It's my most valuable card and I've had it since I was a kid. Just want to get second opinions.
November 14, 2015 12:41 p.m.
It depends on what you'd rather have. An investment in the game (Volcanic Island will never be reprinted, so you don't have to worry about losing value) or the cards for a deck you want to play.
Volcanic Island could also be used in EDH if that's a format you're interested in.
If you really want to get into Modern there's no harm in trading off your Volcanic Island for stuff you need.
November 14, 2015 2:53 p.m.
If it is a keepsake, then I would say do not trade it. The first rare I ever opened was bob from original ravnica, I traded him for standard staples the innistrad/rtr standard. I regret the trade, even though I won 2 separate cash prizes and a full booster box with the deck I made (more cash than the bob, especially now that he was reprinted 100x - ik it was 2x). It was sentimental, and a piece of my personal history with mtg.Now all I have left is the first mythic I opened... Karn.
December 10, 2015 12:53 a.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #9
If you're not a legacy player (or playing UR EDH) then the Volcanic Island is essentially an investment. The Snappies, otoh, are something you'd actually use.
If you had $250 in cash, would you buy the snaps? if so, then make the trade.
December 10, 2015 7:30 a.m.
These are all great points; thanks for the advice. I'm keeping my volc and I'll buy/trade into snapcasters slowly but surely.
If I'm not 100% hyped about a high-end trade, I shouldn't do it. There's a reason why people's eyes get big when they see a NM Volcanic Island. They aren't making any more of those! Plus trading a big card for a number of smaller cards is usually bad. I'd trade the volc 1:1 for something huge, perhaps. But in the end, I pulled it when I was nine and it's a relic from kitchen table games vs my dad.
They'll reprint snapcasters within a few years here, and tarns also. Meanwhile, I traded into aether vials for modern and I'll play Merfolk for awhile to see what the competition is like.
Thanks again, folks.
December 12, 2015 3:27 p.m.
Glad you are keeping it... Some things are worth more than the blue number on tcgplayer.
Epochalyptik says... #2
The Trading Posti is for organizing trades with other users. It is not for discussing whether a trade is economically advisable. Those kinds of threads belong in Economics.
This thread was moved to a more appropriate forum (auto-generated comment)
November 14, 2015 8:21 a.m.