The Trade Up Challenge: Out of Blood Moon’s Shadow

In my previous post , I kicked off my Lotus project. The goal is simple enough. Trade up from a Fourth Edition Birds of Paradise all the way to a CE or IE Black Lotus. A few months in, I have to admit things are not exactly going according to plan.

The project got off to a fast start right after launch. Tony from Tampere opened things up by trading that bird for four French FBB Lightning Bolts. Jumping from a roughly five euro card to a set worth about fifteen euros felt more than promising. Just a couple of days later , I managed to line up a deal on Discord with Hannu , the great champion of Eastern Finland. The Bolts moved on to him, and I received an Italian Blood Moon in return.

At the end of November I got a very welcome surprise. During the Team Unified tournament, Hannu showed up with the FBB Bolts I had traded him, neatly cut and arranged in to a framed piece of art. Absolutely fantastic. Thanks again!

The Bolts unexpectedly took on a more artistic form.

I was also optimistic about the Italian Blood Moon. After all, it is a format staple and sees regular play both in casual games and in tournaments. That did not pan out. Things completely stalled, and for two months I tried to peddle the Moon both during live games and over on Discord.

The stalemate was finally broken by Mozzie, who arrived at the Aiiieeee 7pts tournament in Helsinki in early February with his tradebinder in tow. In the end, I found myself trading the ill fated Moon for an Alpha Swamp. Every one needs lands, and even more so the ones with rounder corners, right? From a value perspective , the trade was a wash. A roughly twenty five euro card became another card in the same ballpark. Still, at least the project could move forward again.

Three months in, I am now holding a card worth around 25euros. That is not ideal, especially given the one year timeline I set for myself, but the project is alive. Despite a few moments of frustration along the way, it has been fun, and people in the old school community have been interested in following the journey so far.

If some one feels like helping the project along, the Alpha Swamp is available for trade. No pressure. The Lotus is only slightly out of reach.