Magic the Gathering - Picking the Bulk - Oath of the Gatewatch Edition

by Richard Rowell, Gaming Successfully Staff

One of my favorite things to do in the world is pick through Magic the Gathering bulk. Strangely enough, you can actually make quite a bit of money by just knowing what commons and uncommons that lie in shoeboxes or on draft tables unwanted that store buylists do want. I actually came to learn this a few years ago when my local game store in Abington, MA, Battleground Games and Hobbies, started publishing their buylist online.

The incredible thing that I learned is that stores actually pay for commons and uncommons you’d never expect, not just ones in top decks. Being local, I could just place a sell order and bring it into the store rather than ship it. They are a great buylist and they pay a penny for a lot of cards most lists won’t even bother to include. Are they the best out there? It all depends on the day, but they pay well for what they actually need. I’m also not local anymore, but I definitely still recommend them as they can beat the prices of some major buylists.

When I’m picking the bulk, I love it when I can fill out my orders with a few extra dollars from cards I’d be packing into $5/per thousand bulk boxes otherwise. Half a cent vs a penny does actually add up if the store actually needs it. The reason I bring up Battleground is because this is how I know what cards I should be looking at. Tools like MTGPrice that give you the best buylist price for certain cards are useful, too. But using a local buylist that you don’t actually have to ship to can give you the actual cash value of the cardboard you have in your possession. An easy to use local buylist is the best. If you don’t have one, this is the one I would use to see what’s worth picking out.

There’s another method that I like to use, watching PucaTrade. It’s totally worth signing up for a free account for this info even if you never send a card! Seeing how many copies are traded per day tell you how “liquid” a card is, meaning somebody will want it at some point soon. Liquid cards are the best because someone actually wants to play them or have an easy way to trade them.

Without further ado, these are the cards I’m picking from my bulk to sort out for buylisting or PucaTrade orders.

Allied Reinforcements (Uncommon)

Token generators are definitely popular cards, and Allies are a very popular casual archetype. Making two 2/2 Ally tokens is pretty good for 4 mana. But it’s at sorcery speed, so a lot of people who only play competitive Standard, Modern, or the like will overlook this card after they have drafted it at Friday Night Magic. But this is wanted by casual Ally players because it sets off Rally triggers and other Ally triggers twice. That’s good value for 4 mana, even if a bit slow for Standard. This also trades once or twice a day on PucaTrade, another factor I use in knowing what cards people are looking for.

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Baloth Null (Uncommon)

While EDHREC doesn’t reflect this, I feel like there are a lot of Commander players that want this Zombie Beast. Yeah, he’s 6 mana to cast, but Black and Green are the right colors to abuse this guy’s ability. He has a 4 / 5 body and he can put two creatures back into your hand. Commanders like Meren of Clan Nel Toth (greatest C15 Commander by the way) can bring this guy back for free. There are some other Commander decks that have ways to consistent abuse this ability, too. There is a real demand for this card. In the right build, I would play it, too. Like Allied Reinforcements this trades at least once a day on PucaTrade.

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Baloth Pup (Uncommon)

I’m definitely a fan of Baloth Pup. He’s a 3/1 for 1G, so he’s already an aggressive creature. If he happens to have a +1/+1 counter on him, he gains trample. Magic has plenty of cards to enable this being a 4/2 with Trample for 2 mana as soon as you cast him. I don’t see him being a competitive sleeper or anything but there are plenty of casual players out there that obviously see the potential like I do.

On PucaTrade, only about 6 copies are traded per week, but that’s still almost 1 / day.

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Birthing Hulk (Uncommon)

I’m not excited about this 7-mana Eldrazi, but apparently casual players like him. I see this guy on a lot of buylists, oddly enough. He does bring two Scion tokens with his 5/4 body. You can also regenerate him for 1C (1 and 1 true colorless mana). He’s good in Limited, definitely. But a bit underwhelming to me. They’re also only traded about 5 copies per week on PucaTrade.

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Bonds of Mortality (Uncommon)

A lot of people compare this enchantment to a worse version of Glaring Spotlight without the ability to sacrifice it and make all your creatures unblockable until end of turn. But honestly, paying a single Green mana to make creatures lose hexproof and indestructible really is worth it. Not to mention, you essentially pay 1G to draw a card. And if you happen to “blink” it somehow, make it re-enter the battlefield, you draw another card. It’s a bit odd to do in Green, but it’s possible. Still, this enchantment is better than some people think and I can see why some casual players want it around. Indestructible is a BIG DEAL in casual play. Kudos to those who play this, kill their opponent’s indestructible behemoth, and top-deck for the win.

This card is actually fairly popular on PucaTrade: almost a playset traded per day!

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Devour in Flames (Uncommon)

To a lot of Magic Players, this is a worse version of Roast. But 2R to deal 5 damage to a creature or planeswalker is actually not that bad. Oh, but you have to return a land to your hand, right? Well, Landfall is yet another popular casual mechanic, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s good in Limited and being able to hit a planeswalker is actually not that bad. That can kill most planeswalkers out right. And planeswalkers rule casual play. On PucaTrade, 2 copies change hands per day.

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Immolating Glare (Uncommon)

If this looks a lot like Kill Shot from Khans of Tarkir for one less mana, you’d be correct. Celestial Flare is usually more playable in Standard, since it forces a player to sacrifice and doesn’t actually target a creature. But this lets you target something big and do away with it. It is, actually, borderline Standard playable. So why not have these around? It’s also the Oath of the Gatewatch full art Uncommon promo, so people are definitely aware of this card. At least 5 copies are traded on average per day on PucaTrade. So I want to collect these in playsets!

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Cards I’m Holding Onto

Reckless Bushwhacker and Reflector Mage are obvious pulls. Bushwhacker is playable in Modern and Reflector Mage could easily become a Standard staple also playable in Modern. So I’m not buylisting these, just holding onto them for awhile. Same with the common Slip Through Space, which is played in Modern Infect.

I also pull Expedite and Grasp of Darkness because I know people always want copies of these cards. They’re competitively playable, so I don’t mind just having them on hand. I’m also rather fond of Wall of Resurgence. Getting a 3/3 creature land with haste and a 0/6 defender for 2W seems awfully valuable to me.

While there may be individual buylists that pay more for certain cards, I use Battleground as a benchmark for what I’m going to keep from the bulk I acquire. I suggest you do this exercise with your favorite buylist or lists. I’d also find out what your local store always needs when it comes to commons or uncommons. You’d be surprised how quickly extra pennies add up. Your local store may not buy the cards I listed above, but they are very likely looking for others. It’s a fun exercise, and those pennies of store credit can turn into the last card or two you need for a deck very quickly.