Comments on: Maximizing Your EDH Trade Value

By: pi

pi — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:20:37 +0000

I wouldn't mind doing a proof read for such an article and give you feedback from the point of view of someone familiar with a different kind of group? I can be found in the forums and reached by Private Message there if you like.

By: Ryan Bushard

Ryan Bushard — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:51:19 +0000

Yep I definitely agree with you, I did make poor examples for what I was trying to cover, my group is slightly more competitive and we usually stick to 4 player games at most so I suppose alot of it is also based on playgroup. I will come back and cover EDH in the next few months as I expect to have a good article devoted to FTV Legends and the new commander decks and I will give a more in depth example of exactly what each group is seeking, thanks again for your input 🙂 Glad you guys like it and I cant wait to get the next installment out. Hope you enjoy that just as much.

By: pi

pi — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:58:29 +0000

I can see reasons for the cards, but those all seem plays for quite cutthroat players. Weren't the more casual ones your best bet or at least more common? On the official EDH forums I get the impression 4-6 player games are more common and the same holds for my own playgroup, though I reckon at a tournament between matches you'll see more smaller games. Maybe you'll find more cutthroat players there as well.

Don't get me wrong I think it was a great article, just thought this tiny part of it might have been slightly improved.

By: Ryan Bushard

Ryan Bushard — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:34:44 +0000

Also Mike did I meet you in Chicago? Your name sounds familiar but I saw a good handful of Mikes and you mentioned skipping a PTQ and that was the last one I recall being at in this area.

By: Ryan Bushard

Ryan Bushard — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:33:51 +0000

Thanks for all the positive input guys I really appreciate it. As for the EDH cards to pick up on the cheap commons and uncommons are always a good way to go and many players who dont want to invest much will start with a mostly Pauper style EDH deck and work thier way up from there. As the above poster mentioned Capsize is great for this.

I do see your point on the cards mentioned in the article as far as examples and I suppose it just depends on who your trading with. With 10+ fetchlands around now many players have turned to cards like Brainstorm in their 3-5 color decks and yes Lotus Petal was for combo powering out that Zur T3 can make a huge impact on the game. As for Cao Cao he was the first one I flipped to in my binder and although Discard does paint a target he can be a devastating general for those 2-3 player games.

I will certainly post a followup after a few more articles and can even include examples of trades if anyone would be interested in reading those. Its one thing to talk about but seeing examples can really paint a broader picture of how exactly to profit from there trades.

On a closing note does anyone have any other kinds of traders they would like covered? Eventually I feel like almost every base will get covered but if there are some people would like to see sooner rather than later let me know and I will move those to the top of the list

Also you can find me on twitter @Crypplecommand

and on Facebook as the only Ryan Bushard

By: pi

pi — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:18:54 +0000

Split because of length:
– On a 99 card deck, with few shuffle effects, is drawing 1 extra card really all that helpful? Capsize would have likely been a better common blue sample.
– Do you really want to accelerate by 1 mana, basically just a 1 turn boost at best, being able to play what you normally would have played next turn now? Unless you are playing combo I highly doubt that's going to do much when playing against a fair number of opponents. Any cheap graveyard remover like phyrexian furnace might have been better, bojuka bog if you want it to be common, or something like the spellbombs.
– Few things paint a bigger target on your head than making people discard a bunch of cards; would you really want to play a general / regular card that clearly identifies you as wanting to do just that? (I will grant you that this is the most likely of these 3 to be played, casual players have always liked their megrim decks after all). Most p3k legends would fit here, many a little better though.

By: pi

pi — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:18:07 +0000

Spilt because of length:
I quite liked your article. I'm probably one of those competitive EDH players myself and have been since before the format, when it was just competitive multiplayer in general. I think you make a lot of good points and see a lot of casual players exactly like you describe, in my playgroup. Just last weekend I traded a Zhang Fei, Akroma, Sneak Attack, legends Dakkon and a whole stack of mostly crap rares towards 3 wastelands, a grim monlith, an unlimited cyclopean tomb and a number of other interesting cards.

One comment I want to make though is that some cards you mention as examples are somewhat poorly chosen, I don't think very many people will want to play with Brainstorm, Lotus Petal or Cao Cao.

By: mike lanigan

mike lanigan — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:13:06 +0000

Anyone who has the guts to skip a ptq to trade is an ok guy in my book. Look forward to reading more from you. One follow up that I would be interested in are the EDH cards that you move the most. When I am trading, I have a hard time figuring out if I should trade for EDH type cards because they do move so infrequently. I suppose that cards on the linked list is a good place to start but a lot of EDH players build on a tight budget and need the low end stuff. I'd say there are as many people trying to foil out their EDH deck as their are just trying to find enough cards to build one. Are there any specific cards you would recommend for that type of player?

By: Wade

Wade — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:00:37 +0000

Interesting article. I am a very unlucky player so playing a deck filled with 1s is the worst idea ever to me. It does seem to have gained an amazing amount of popularity though. I am greatly appreciative for the list of staples and the info regarding how to trade with EDH players. I buy collections as much as possible so this is a great bonus because all those bulks used to be useless but now they are a bonus.