Hey, look at me! I’m the only guy on the ‘net who’s not writing about Prophecy! I was planning to, but I didn’t want to bore you all with just someone else’s opinion about the set. And, I especially didn’t want to subject you to MY opinion. (Just a little humility there, that’s all.)
Well, I attended a Prophecy sneak-peek tournament at the good ole’ homebase itself, Star City. The $20 I shelled out (and $24 I loaned) were well worth it to see the set. And WHAT a set! Prophecy is a Limited player’s dream! There’s SO much strategy involved. Now, I COULD give you a tournament report of how I did, and how Minion of Shauku, Steal Strength, and Spur Grappler were some of my greatest cards (Spur Grappler is SO much more than it seems!). However, many a tournament report will be written about Prophecy.
"So, what’s the big deal?" you’re asking, if you didn’t read the title of the article. If you did read the title, however, then you could probably guess that I’m going to be talking about trading.
Trading is one of the greatest parts of Magic. You get to meet new people and improve the quality of your collection. Trading is an excellent means of socializing, and you might even get a deck idea or two. However, the main purpose for trading is getting cards you need or want.
I could write an article about the finer points of trading: What to do and what not to do and so forth. Or, I could spew out some opinions about traders and cards. Though these are good ideas (foreshadowing?), I thought that I’d try something different. For some reason, I recorded all of the trades I made at Star City. Now, I know why! My subconscious wanted me to write an article about it! The prices I’ll list for the cards is what’s listed on this website’s online store. Prices may vary in your area. However, with trading, what’s more important is the card, not how much the card costs. So, here we go!
Trade #1:
3 Morphlings ($12) FOR 1 Rishadan Port ($20), 1 Thrashing Wumpus ($5), 1 Glorious Anthem ($6), and 1 Stroke of Genius ($12).
Already, I’ve made a $7 profit. But, Morphling’s some good. This trade, when seen from an objective view of prices, is good for me, and from an objective view of quality, is good for the person I traded with. But, what’s important is what’s good for me and my collection. I needed all four of those cards to help complete decks. Although the Morphlings were in a deck already, I was essentially trading three cards for four. Plus, what made this deal even better for me at the time was that I was going by Star City’s old Morphling price of $8. Nevertheless, this was my second favorite trade of the day.
Trade #2:
1 Volrath the Fallen($6), 1 Midsummer Revel ($2), 1 Recantation($2), and 1 Fault Line($5) FOR 2 Opposition($5), 1 Dust Bowl($12), 1 Cosmic Horror($2)
I tell you, this guy had EVERYTHING! He didn’t actually have a binder, but looking through his long box of rares was like taking a stroll through Magic wealth. Simply clumped in there were four Grim Monoliths, four Rishadan Ports, FIVE Cities of Brass, and SIX Oppositions (which rather interested me). I must have pulled out over 25 cards that I wanted from him. The only reason I traded him anything besides Fault Line was because they were vague Saga rares that intrigued him because he didn’t know what they are. This was a really nice guy who was willing to trade good cards to get things that interested him. This trade was great for me because I got rid of four cards I wasn’t using to get three more valuable cards that I needed and a Cosmic Horror which just plain interests me. (Actually, he, being the nice person that he is, wanted to be "fair" and sweeten the pot with the Cosmic Horror that I had remarked upon. Like I said, he was a great guy!)
Trade #3:
1 Bribery($7), and 1 Skyshroud Behemoth($5) FOR 1 Deranged Hermit($5) and 1 Cho-Manno, Revolutionary($5)
I’m not too pleased with this trade, but I did it anyway. The guy didn’t have a lot of cards that I wanted (in the rares I looked through, I only saw a Cho-Manno which I thought I could put in my rebel deck for kicks). However, he did have a Deranged Hermit in a deck that he got after I showed him the list of cards I wanted. I know how it feels to not have anything that the person you’re trading with wants, and he’d picked out quite a few cards from my binder. I wasn’t using the Bribery or Behemoth, so it was a harmless trade. My conscience was happy, at least.
Trade#4:
1 Parallax Nexus($5) FOR 1 Pack Hunt($4)
This was a simple enough trade. I had an extra Nexus, and I needed a Pack Hunt. One for one is fine for me.
Trade #5:
1 Rootwater Thief($7) and 1 Reverent Mantra($5) FOR 1 foreign, foil Thran Weaponry($10+) and 1 Opposition($5)
The key to this trade: FOIL SPANISH GOODNESS! I can’t STAND the Spanish language, but it makes this particular card look like some barbed weapon. I’m a sucker for foils, and this lured me right in. To ME, a foil foreign card is worth WAY more than $10. (However, actually finding out that this card wasn’t what I thought it was (it cost one more mana and helped ALL creatures) was a bit of a disappointment.) And, about the Rootwater Thief. I had it in my binder for this exact purpose. It’s a great card that I don’t have an IMMEDIATE use for. Thus, it’s EXCELLENT trade fodder. I almost got a LOT for the Thran Weaponry, but we were cut short and never got back to the trade. Maybe next time.
Trade #6:
2 Phyrexian Negator($5), 1 Overlaid Terrain($3), 1 Two-Headed Dragon($7) FOR 2 Ring of Gix ($5) and 1 Stroke of Genius($12)
I KNEW I had those Negators for something! I wasn’t too keen on a four for three trade including my Two-Headed Dragon, but the Overlaid Terrain was pretty much nothing for me, and the Negators were part of a long-abandoned attempt at a black deck. The only card I miss is the Dragon, but the Stroke was worth it.
Trade #7:
1 Avatar of Hope($8) and a bunch of Prophecy commons and uncommons FOR 1 Dust Bowl($12), 1 Opposition($5), and 1 foil Sizzle($1.50)
This was by FAR my favorite trade. I LOVE the Avatars, Winds, and Spellshapers in Prophecy, but my least favorite Avatar is the white one. So, to trade it for a Dust Bowl (which I was drooling over) was an excellent trade for me! I had no use for the commons and uncommons he picked from the cards I received in the Sealed Deck tournament, so they were basically negligible. We made this deal before the tournament ended, so I couldn’t trade the cards just then. After the tournament, when I went to get the cards, he said, "So, you’re sure that a Dust Bowl and Opposition are enough?" You guessed it; this is the guy from Trade #2! I had completely forgotten about the Opposition (which I’d thought I’d needed but later found out that i’d gotten all I required). Again, to sweeten the pot, he threw in something. After seeing my four+ pages in my binder devoted to foils, he must have figured out my passion. So, he threw in a random foil. SCORE! Pretty much, I got two free cards that I like. That’s some good.
Well, that was my day of trading. Overall, I think I did very well. Perhaps in a later article, I can talk about some more personal stuff involving trading. Or, here’s a novel idea! I can write about Prophecy! Intriguing concept…