What’s the biggest difference between Vs. System and poker? For once, this isn’t a trick question or part of a cunning, long-winded introduction.* While those of you who pointed out that you can play Vs. in Las Vegas under the age of twenty-one without a false moustache and shady fake ID are entirely correct, I was actually thinking of something a little more straightforward.
In poker, you can only have four aces. At the same time, you are forced to play with four twos. While there are lots of clever things going on, the deckbuilding happened a long while ago with a pack of playing cards,** and I think we’re all pretty used to the deck whose construction predates the idea of netdecking by some number of centuries.
Vs. System is a TCG. Those three letters are bandied about quite a lot, but there is no real reason to believe that everyone knows what they stand for. The last two, which stand for “card game,” are pretty easy to guess. But depending on whom you play with and how you play, you might not really make as much use of that first letter. It stands for (depending on who you listen to) either “trading” or “tradable.”
The difference between those two words tells one a little about the person who told you the definition. Trading cards with other players is a game entirely unto itself, and one that many don’t necessarily indulge in—while such players’ cards are, strictly speaking, tradable, trading isn’t something that they are likely to do.
I think this is a little bit of a shame. Ultimately, Vs. is a game. It’s designed to be fun, but also to be collectible, customizable, and ever-changing. Trading cards with other players can be all these things too, and if you do it well, then you can be all the better equipped to build whichever decks you would like.
Sure, trading can be daunting. How are you supposed to know the relative value of the ever increasing numbers of cards in the game? Nobody wants to feel like they are being ripped off, and we are far enough away from the barter economies of yore that the skill of haggling has largely fallen by the wayside. I think that almost every trader has a few stories of trades they made in the early days where they thought they were getting a good deal that, with hindsight, seemed to be lopsided in the other person’s favor.
Well, lucky readers, it’s been a while since I put together an overly alliterative list of tips with over-the-top English-isms, and with an impending Sneak Preview tournament, it is my pleasure to present . . .
Tim’s Top Trading Tips! (In no particular order.)
1. Decide What You Want
There are a dizzying number of cards in Vs. System, and if you go into every trade simply looking to improve the overall “value” of your collection by trading up cards, then you will need to have a very keen eye for the market and a good memory for numbers. Even with all that, if you are trading for more cards just to trade on again, then you aren’t really gaining a whole lot of value (unless you are truly ripping other players off). You are spending a lot of time without stopping to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I would recommend that you decide what deck or decks you are trying to build and go into any trade with a few specific cards that you’re looking to pick up. That way, when confronted with a few busty trade binders at a tournament like a Sneak Preview, it shouldn’t be too daunting.
2. Decide What You Can Afford to Trade Away
At a busy event, when you are in a trade with another player who has something that you decide (rightly or wrongly) that you need, that person will obviously want to get something back of similar value on a broad level and (ideally) of higher value to that player in particular. “Spare” cards tend to be great to trade away, as while others might value them highly, you can get rid of them without feeling the pinch later when building decks.
For those with more modest collections, deciding what can be easily traded may be a little tougher than just pulling out spare rares. Often, it will come down to a decision about what teams hold no real attraction. In my local shop, there is a group of players that each picks up a box of a new set and then picks a preferred team. Immediately, they trade off rares from other teams to another one of the players and quickly get together the cards to make a competitive deck. Back when DC Origins came out, I immediately knew that I wanted to play Teen Titans and actively made the decision to trade off all of my Gotham Knights cards until I could build the deck I wanted. It didn’t matter that I was short on Alfreds and tall on Garths, as I ended up with more cards that I would actually play with.
3. Work Out the Rough Value of the Cards Concerned
These days, the cash value of most rares is relatively easy to find out. At most tournaments, there will be a dealer who sells individual cards. Alternatively, various magazines publish individual card prices. One way or another, having an independent eye on the value of your cards can be a great tool to ensure that neither player gets in too disadvantageous a trade. My absolute favorite option for working out trade values is to find a Knowledgeable Friend. These people are kind of like magical card trading computers, able to calculate the values of trades and pull you out of trouble if you ever get in too deep.
4. Bring Your Cards with You to the Event!
There is no way that you can trade cards with people without having them available. More than once, I have been stung at a big event because I was too lazy to pick up my binder and bring it with me for a bit of saucy trading between rounds. Binders of cards sorted in pages tend to be the best way to display what you have to offer, but a deck box full of goodies is a slightly lighter alternative for the traveler. I would warn that it is harder for people to look through a pile of cards, and you are also more likely to find that if there is a shady individual around, he or she will be able to purloin your hard-earned cards easier from a box. Which brings me on to . . .
5. Only Do One Trade at a Time!
It can be tough to juggle even a single trade when there are lots of cards concerned. As soon as more than one person tries to swap things with you at the same time, it turns from juggling balls to juggling kittens. For those of you who have never tried to juggle kittens, they become a lot less cute and a lot more clawy when in mid-air.*** With lots of players looking at your folder, there is also the potential for those naughty, shady individuals (who are, in my experience, very much in the minority at well-run events) to run off with your stuff. A tournament is entirely the wrong place to go upside the head of any would-be pilferers, so I would instead advise that you simply be vigilant and not let any sort of naughtiness happen in the first place.
6. Trade Up
This can take a little bit of legwork, but it’s a great way for players on a budget to get hold of whatever cards they really need for Constructed. If you get an idea of what cards various players you know really need, it is possible to engineer a series of trades where you pick up things that you know you can trade on quickly and easily, getting good deals all the time as you sort people out with something they value possibly higher than they should. Sure, you might not need Null Time Zone, but if you know that John Q. Timezone will trade away a whole stack of cards for them, it would be foolish not to pick some up if you can do so easily enough.
7. Keep an Eye on the Metagame
For once, I’m not referring to this website (though it’s definitely a helpful place to visit to get an idea of what’s hot). If you can get a good feel for which decks are popular and potential tweaks that might be coming to those decks, then you can get more value out of your trades by anticipating demand before it causes prices to skyrocket. At the start of PC Indianapolis, John Ormerod bought a bunch of copies of Garth ◊ Tempest, Atlantean Sorcerer at a bargain basement price. At the end, he shifted on some of these at a happy little profit. This isn’t the stock market—insider trading can make you a winner even if you aren’t always at the top of the standings.
8. Decide if You are a Sneak Preview Speculator
The ultimate test of the metagame spotter is trading at the Sneak Preview tournament. Typically, there are always some cards at this event that are super-popular, be it because of the character, artwork, or playability. Some of these turn out to be somewhat less powerful and drop in price pretty quickly, while others slip under the Sneak Preview radar to become money rares later. If you can spot those low fliers and get in on the ground floor, you can do very well for yourself.
I would advise that, in general, the alternate art foil of the set is always at its most valuable right at the first release of the set. Some players collect them, and typically they will want just the one. If you can be the person to provide that one, then you could do very well. If you wait until a few weeks after release, you might miss the boat.
9. Remember, You Don’t Have to Trade Anything
At the Sneak Preview, I think this is particularly important. If you are ever unhappy with the way a trade is panning out, you can always walk away, and you probably should. When a new set is first in circulation, nobody has a clear idea of values, and if you are worried about making a less than stellar trade due to not knowing what’s going on with the new cards, then my best recommendation is just to hold on to what you have. You might miss out on some bargains, but at least you won’t have the horrible feeling of having let the chase rare of the set get away from you.
If you should choose to trade away new cards at the Sneak Preview, getting a “feel” for the consensus in the room about what’s popular might be just enough information to give you a bit of leverage on a trade. Be outgoing! Deals will be there to find.
Ultimately, just remember that if you are getting cards that you want and getting rid of cards that you want less, then no trade is ever too bad. Personally, I always try to juice up any trade I’m in for two reasons: I hate the idea that I’m ripping people off, and I love that various people will actively search for me now at tournaments to see if they can shift things on to me rather than somebody else down the street. It’s a win-win situation.
Have fun at the Sneak Preview, folks.
Tim “Will Have the Shirt off Your Back if You Let Him” Willoughby
timwilloughby@hotmail.com
* In fact, it’s part of a cunning, short-winded introduction.
** Don’t believe me? How about this: There are fifty-two cards in a regular deck of playing cards and fifty-two weeks in the year. Four suits, four seasons. Two colors, night and day. If you add up the spot cost of all the cards in a deck, you get 364, which with the addition of either one or both of the jokers, gives you the number of days in any year, leap or not. It continues . . . If you spell through the values of each type of card (ace, two, three, and so forth) all the way up to king, you’ll find that it takes exactly fifty-two letters to get to king. This works in English, French, German, Dutch, and various other languages. I could go on, but this is an article about Vs. System, and even hiding my introduction as footnotes will not let me off eventually getting to the point.
*** I haven’t actually juggled kittens, and I don’t know anyone who has. Save your complaining emails for another day, please.