Also didn't play the Armor, since I had True Conviction, Steel Hellkite, and other 6cc bomb. Didn't have a ton of small guys, so I just left out the armor. Good call/bad call?

Lost Games 2 and 3 of my first round to a few smaller misplays on my part, as well as some nice draws by him (in one sequence, Wurmcoil Engine, Arc Trail, Galvanic Blast in order). Still, if I play optimally, I probably pull one of those games out. Didn't lose another game the entire night. I liked the format, ready to play again!

Thanks! I appreciate the tips. I do have a little better understanding of the format than I like let on, especially when I show up tonight for the first time in two months. I've watched/read a ton of Scars drafts online, so I think I feel pretty comfortable even if I've never drafted it.

We'll see, of course, and I'll post the results from tonight.

I think I'm going to avoid the gimmick decks (Celebration, Proliferate, etc.) and try to stick to a Metalcraft or Big Dudes strategy. I usually always end up drafting Blue/White (just can't help it) and I know LSV has been advocating going Blue fliers/no metalcraft, which I'm happy to draft. And R/G Dinosaurs seems fun.

Since you gave advice, here are mine for you.

From my experience:

1. Artifacts are important. Usually when it comes down to a color card vs an artifact, it is usually best to take the artifact.

2. Mana myrs are key. This one is debatable, but a lot great players support taking myrs early and going from there. They allow for metacraft and mana fix.

3. Two main archtypes : metacraft and infect.

metacraft: r/w most common, usually 15-17 artifacts needed

infect: fast and aggressive, suggest only playing the archtype if you open a rare.

4. Going off from advice #1, artifact removal is very good. I have seen people taking shatter pick one to show how good it is.

5. Hope to open a bomb, this is always the case in draft, but scars can be swingy. Hope to open Contagion Engine.

I think you are confusing price and value here Psilence6K. Value is much more dynamic than what you've made it out to be.

True story. And thanks! Writing that letter was a pretty cathartic experience, since I was pretty riled up at the time.

I think there are more than enough articles on this site explaining why value != value != value.

Here's a good one by one of my favourite writers: http://www.quietspeculation.com/2010/10/the-reven…

One other thing I do feel worth mentioning in your reply however, is that it seems as though you've typecast certain traders. It's an excellent mindset to target cards you feel they'd be interested in, but value = value = value. I'm also an EDH player, but a $14 Mutavault is still worth $14 to me, regardless of my preferred format. Just wanted to throw that out there in case we were rationalizing as an "excuse", heh.

Speaking of EDH… I think SOMEONE should write an article (*hint hint Corbin*)! With WotC now "quasi-supporting" it, I REALLY think it's going to start shaking up the MTG market!!

I'll walk through what happened in this trade to demonstrate why I don't consider that I "ripped" anyone off.

He pulled out some of my cards, and I pulled out a bunch of his. I had to take a phone call (small emergencies at home and all), and he started pricing out cards. He lined up what he wanted and I told him I could trade everything but the Cryptic Command because I thought its price would go up soon (it will).

I told him I valued the Thicket at $8, which he agreed to. After that, he literally set this trade up himself, with no pressure from me.

You are right I could have (and probably should have) thrown something else in, but it's just another example of how a player of a certain type (in this case, EDH) cares much less about value than he does getting the cards he wants.

So a player checks prices on the cards and sets the trade up himself, and I'm somehow ripping him off? I just don't understand this logic. In retrospect, I could have tossed in some extras to sweeten the deal for him, but he was happy with what we had. Either way, I'm certainly not acting unethical in this situation.

Hope that clears it up for you.

@Psilence6k

^^ Hope this assuaged your concerns as well. I don't know if you read my past work, but a common theme of mine is basically what you described, that how you trade is much more important than what you trade. I'm Glad you enjoyed the article!

Aside from that, I really liked this article! Great place to start when you're trying to get max cred out of your binder. I'm about to do a major sale of my collection and I'll be sure to use some of the tricks I've learned here when I do ;).

Cheers,

Carl Szalich

1. List what pricing source was used. If both people just used their own values, state so.

2. List the prices the cards were valued at.

3. Optional: List prices for the cards from a site such as MOTL. The prices people use vary because their system of arbitration will be different. for myself, MOTL and Ebay prices are best because I get my cards from both of those sources regularly.

EXAMPLE:

My trading partner agreed to use SCG prices.

His:

SCG: Card: MOTL:

3.99 Reveillark 2.84

4.99 Murmuring bosk 3.99

3.99 Ranger of Eos 2.64

=12.97 =9.47

My

SCG: Card: MOTL:

1.99 Sunpetal Grove x5 .74

1.49 Goblin Chieftain x2 .64

=12.93 =5.54

This shows that according to SCG, both partners received equal value and nobody was ripped off. But since you can pick up these cards on MOTL, you made about $4 using arbitration. Not only that, but the cards you picked up are more likely to go up in value than the ones you traded away.

One of the things we're working on here at QS is how to price cards in articles. I love Black Lotus Project but I have heard rumors that their info is choppy at points and inaccurate because MOTL has some glitches to it. Using just about any store's sell prices is kinda crazy, too. Input is welcome!

Yes, that does make it seem quite a bit better. When I trade, I try to keep in mind sell prices rather than just buy prices. For instance, the Elvish Piper and Elvish Champion I sold were likely throw-ins to a trade because my partner didn't realize they sold for non-bulk prices and valued them at bulk. It's something to keep in mind while trading.

Obviously this trade looks better on sell prices than retail prices (and I imagine most of mine do), but I'm sure if we looked at a large enough sample size some of my trades would look worse as well.

My numbers are slightly off.

Your $28 singles value gain represents a 248% gain

A $13.15 buylist value gain represents a 505% gain.

Even so, it still indicates a roughly double the realized value gain over singles value gain, in raw percentages.

I took a moment to figure it out:

SCG Buy List prices for the cards in your trade:

His:

Eldrazi Monument $10

Isochron Scepter $2

Wanderwine Hub $0.25

Scion of Oona $0.50

Glen Elendra Archmage $1

Bloodghast $2

Net SCG buylist price: $15.75

Your:

Oracle of Mul Daya $1

Primal Command $0.25

Foil Stalking Vengeance $0.25

Fire-lit Thicket $1

Dread Return $0.10

Net SCG buylist price: $2.60

For your original numbers of the SCG Singles purchase price, the total value gain you listed of $28 ($40 in total value) is a 348% increase over the $11.50 value you traded away.

However, the realized sell value to SCG is a net gain of $13.15 ($15.75 in value is a 606% increase over the $2.60 in value you traded away).

While the raw amount of money you'd be able to realize from this trade, the PERCENT VALUE of the trade is much, much greater than you thought.

Again, just another interesting metric, but in this case, it can be instantly monetized. If you do a high enough volume of trades, you make out roughly twice as well as you had first thought!

@Ben

Good catch. My girlfriend originally pulled prices from Ebay, and I went over them afterward to double check. Guess I missed that one. Thanks! And the sarcasm from my first reply was meant humorously, not negatively. I would have made the same offer you did had I noticed the discrepancy. Good work!