Pack to Power

The Trading Post forum

Posted on June 14, 2013, 10:22 a.m. by gnarlicide

Hey guys. I am trying this pack to power thing on here. I posted the contents of 1 Modern Masters pack that I bought on the description of my trade binder, to keep it separate from the rest of my binder. I really wanna see if this can work. I heard its fun and awesome. Check out my contents.

Epochalyptik says... #2

From a personal standpoint, it kind of takes the challenge away if you tell people you're doing P2P. Some traders will automatically turn you down, and others may be inclined to make pity trades or take a hit to help you out.

I'd also say that opening MM could be cheating, but you didn't get a ludicrous pull. Good luck! It'll be interesting to see what you can do with it.

June 14, 2013 11:08 a.m.

ducttapedeckbox says... #3

I understand how telling people that you're doing P2P could affect trading experiences, so what would be a good way to "hide" the fact that you're attempting it?

June 16, 2013 6:58 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #4

Just don't mention it. I've done similar things in the past (started with an Elvish Archdruid and traded up to an Italian FBB Volcanic Island ) by being good at trading and not mentioning anything about P2P. The first couple trades may be obvious because you're starting with commons, uncommons, and a single rare, but everything changes after the first few trades.

June 16, 2013 7:06 p.m.

ducttapedeckbox says... #5

I was assuming that, but was thrown off by the fact it would be rather evident early on.

June 16, 2013 7:13 p.m.

gnarlicide says... #6

After a few attempts at my LGS, where there are many really hardcore players in attendance, I found it difficult to make any trade with the pack that I started with without them asking me, "whats in this trade for me?" or "This trade is a loss for me dude" and stuff like that. Trust me, Epochalyptik, I would rather avoid having to explain me trade as much as anyone else. When I decided to bring this to a forum like this one, it was because the collective "pool" would be bigger, there would be more informed traders on what I am trying to achieve and it would be easier for me to track my progress.

I am actually going to delete the contents of my trade binder and just add in the contents of my P2P and try to make trades that way. I dunno. I hope it will work. I feel like I almost need some advertising or something.

June 16, 2013 8:12 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #7

I must admit that I'm a savage trader in person, so I get away with a lot of deals others might struggle to make. That said, you just need to know who to trade with and what to look for. The first part is relatively easy:

In the beginning, you don't want to trade with hypercompetitive players. You'll often get nowhere, especially if you don't have a staple rare or any prized C/U. It's a waste of time and effort (as you seem to have unfortunately discovered). Look for semi-competitive or even casual players who might want the commons and uncommons. If you have a bulk rare, pawn it off on a casual player to get something slightly better.

Later on, the competitive players will be your lifeblood. If you can keep making small uptrades to competitive players who have all the format staples, you can keep yourself in the money and your binder stocked with popular cards. Trades with these players will be hard to make at times, and you have to have the mentality and personality to make the deals you need to make.

You don't want to go straight for value, either. Be careful about cards that are liable to lose value quickly. It's also a mistake to trade for cards that will be very hard to move. For example, trading an AEtherling for Obzedat's Aid , Deathpact Angel , and a bunch of other bulk rares may result in an increase in monetary value, but it's a decrease in actual value because those smaller, bulk cards are difficult to trade and hard to milk for anything worthwhile.

June 16, 2013 8:52 p.m.

gnarlicide says... #8

Jesus, man. Something tells me that you have done something like this before. Yeah, in all my years of playing (since '95 off and on) I have only traded based off of need. Recently I have been trying the value approach. Lately I have been doing really good (taking a crash course in economics and commodity trading) so I figured I would give this a shot. Thank you for the advice, Epochalyptik. I hope that maybe I can think the way you do in a market like this.

June 16, 2013 9:39 p.m.