MtG deckbuilding

thinking of it for a while now, may switch out a storm chaser mage

Cut the Vexing Devil. Giving your opponent a choice will never work out well for you.

Y'know, netdecking isn't just copy pasting.

You can just like, look at the list and consider the card choices these people who have access to a vastly larger playerbase than I do have chosen.

Alternatively you can check out recent lists and look for developments in the meta if you so desired.

desu strictly non netdeckers are just as cringeworthy as netdeck only fags.

Forcing opponent's to make choices can often work out well.

I'd still cut the devil here unless you it's just there for style points.

You will learn how trash standard is soon enough.

I play to win, and though I try to pay attention to the decklists I use, I suck at it. So there's no point in wasting my time trying when I'd be better off net-decking.

At the end of the day, Magic is a competitive game, and from FNM up, I'm there to win, not prove what a snowflake I am.

>I play to win
>Magic is a competitive game
>from FNM up, I'm there to win, not prove what a snowflake I am.
You sound like a competitive asshole who can't understand the idea of fun.

This right here.

ESPECIALLY if you're not netdecking the tier I deck.

You might pilot a netdeck once, but then you'll have to make adjustments for your local meta, which will often take you in dfferent directions, unless everyone else is playing Tier I decks.

Quick somebody hand me a deck!

I don't have the luxury of time to think about how to play this game or experiment in deck brewing!

What's in the top 8 this week????????

I have crippling depression and must fuel my gambling addiction!

Just one fix! just one more collected company into reflector mage!

First of all, winning is fun. Second, my post is only about competitive play. Third, you sound like a crybaby faggot who complains about the big bad netdeck boogeyman.

I don't care how you play the game, you do you. I'm aware kitchen table is a thing, that's where I got my start. But people who complain about net decks in competitive are a bunch of pussies.

>I'm there to win, not prove what a snowflake I am.
This.

I generally take netdecks and tweak them to my liking. The only time in the last 5 years that I strayed from that is when Treasure Cruise was printed, I started on UWR Delver before it was widely played.

Sometimes brewing on the side is a little fun, but I learned my lesson after spending countless hours in 2005 brewing an extended deck for GP Seattle, only to have it pop up at GP Boston and become a netdeck.

If it's good enough to do well at big events, it will happen eventually. You're highly unlikely to discover the next Bloom Titan before the rest of the community does.

>winning is fun
I disagree with this. I find enjoyment in playing with people and having a fun time, not being super competitive so that I can win all the time. Fun comes from challenges, not from destroying other people in a game.
>you sound like a crybaby faggot who complains about the big bad netdeck boogeyman
I actually use netdecks as bases for most of my decks so you are quite wrong.
>But people who complain about net decks in competitive are a bunch of pussies.
Yes I definitely agree. I just don't agree with the adage that you have to win to have fun. You can lose and still have fun in a game of magic.

That being said, this is exactly the reason why I don't play competitive magic.

>Fun comes from challenges, not from destroying other people in a game.
When everyone is tier1/2, that's when you get the challenging matches. If you're just getting shit on with your brew, it isn't very fun. Likewise, round 1 might pit you against some kid with a garbage deck, and yes, wrecking the kid with your tier 1 deck isn't very fun, but that's what the later rounds are for.

>I don't have the luxury of time to think about how to play this game or experiment in deck brewing!
Most people don't have the time to work, go to school, manage a family/social life, take care of their property, play magic AND spend several hours a week brewing decks.

Something has got to give, and smart people realize that brewing is the least productive of those.

I don't quite get what you are trying to say. You can have very fun matches even if you are playing against a tier 1 deck with your homebrew one. It's all about attitude and sportsmanship.

>You can have very fun matches even if you are playing against a tier 1 deck with your homebrew one.
It is less likely that you're going to have an even matchup and more likely that you go down in flames. I don't play Standard, but if you go to a Modern with a brew, you're probably going to get wrecked for 2-3 matches until you get matched up with something else that isn't tiered.

That's not to say that you can't have a fun matchup with a brew, just that it's less likely.

Consider this hot garbage: With this brew, you have to get paired against similarly garbage decks before you get a fun match going. In my meta, you're likely to get swiftly curbstomped for 2-3 rounds before you get a fun match in.

I agree, but I don't see that as a problem with the deck itself (or even the decks you are playing against) but moreso just the attitude of the people you are playing against. Everyone hates to lose but I just very much dislike the insanely competitive atmosphere that you see in a lot of LGSs.

You're right about one thing. One-sided games aren't fun, but casual Magic isn't the only measure of fun. I can and do have fun winning in competitive, especially if I struggle against a deck and finally end up beating it.

Hate tryhards all you want, but don't sit there and act like you have some kind of moral high ground.

>very much dislike the insanely competitive atmosphere that you see in a lot of LGSs.
Last Friday, I took Nahiri Control to my LGS and the matches were long, challenging and fun because everyone was at least tiered. It's just FNM, so it's not like my opponents were stonecold dicks, yet we had sufficiently complex boardstates and interactions that it was challenging and fun. Everyone wanted to win, but we had fun nonetheless.

Had I taken some brew, I would've likely just gotten my shit kicked in, and that's not fun.

>I can and do have fun winning in competitive, especially if I struggle against a deck and finally end up beating it.
This x1000.

I'm not trying to. It's just a matter of personal preference for me. I don't like competitive because I would rather sit down and have some fun in a casual game than get super serious and stressed out and only get temporary enjoyment in return. The connections made through casual magic are just more important to me.
And I'm saying that's a problem with the LGS and its community, not the brewed deck itself.

>And I'm saying that's a problem with the LGS and its community
It's a problem when someone is a complete dick at FNM, but at my LGS, we're competitive without being dicks about it. You can be very competitive without resorting to being a shithead.

But what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't have to have a competitive, top-tier deck in order to have fun at FNM.

But I'm a more casual player so I doubt my idea of fun aligns with yours.

>The connections made through casual magic are just more important to me.
I never seemed to get along with casuals. They seemed more likely to get assmad when they got routed. They often took shit too personally. It was like, "oh, trying to win, huh?... well fuck you for shitting on everyone's enjoyment!".

I'm there to play a game, not to network with scrubs.

>But what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't have to have a competitive, top-tier deck in order to have fun at FNM.
Well, that's just the way it is.

>I'm there to play a game
As am I. I'm just not there to win. I'm there to have a fun time. Winning or losing has nothing to do with it.
That doesn't justify it.

That depends entirely on your LGS and the competitive nature of your FNM. My FNM is probably PPTQ/GPT tier. The people who win play the best decks, and generally have the most skill. They're kind of small though, unfortunately.

If you can take a brew to your FNM and have fun and maybe win, that's great for you. Not everyone has that luxury.

>The connections made through casual magic are just more important to me.
Go join a hippy commune. I'm sure you could make lots of friends there.

>That doesn't justify it.
Like I said before, it's a tournament. FNM is the entry point for competitive Magic. Most people who play, play to win. You don't have to justify playing to win in a tournament you pay money for. It's how the game works. If you have a problem with FNM being competitive, then it isn't for you.

Like I said, I'm not worried about winning or losing. In actuality, I don't care if I win or lose. I care about having a fun time. Competitive games aren't the be-all-end-all for fun in magic and I seriously think people should throw away this idea of "winning=fun"
You are literally prioritizing short term gratification over long term happiness. How does that make you feel?

>Many Friday Night Magic events feature an organized tournament for players who are ready for a little friendly competition, but if that's not your thing, don't worry! There's still plenty of fun to be had just hanging out and playing casual pick-up games with players who love Magic as much as you do.
>playing casual pick-up games
Literally from the WotC website.

You have to be trolling if you think competitive players can't be friends with one another, or that you can't find friends playing competitively.

How about you dig a bit deeper into the pro tour and pro player scene before you make judgments about it?

I haven't met a competitive player I liked so until I do I have no reason to believe otherwise.

since you took the bait.

checked.

I was just poking fun at some of the extreme examples I've witnessed firsthand.

We all know the sorts that take the game way too seriously.

Not all netdeckers are like that though.

Somewhat related question: If I were to go to FNM for the first time, what deck should I play to get into competitive modern?

>Format: Standard
>Play group: Limited-Tier Deckbuilding
>Deck building strategy
Build what looks fun.

I've been working on Eldrazi Tron. Most tron decks don't focus all in on eldrazi and most eldrazi decks use cheaper things instead of going for tron. I learned how the decks were built then proceeded to begin designing my own. It's going pretty well so far, but I need a better way to deal with forced sacrifice.

I usually build the deck myself. But I look into synergies I wouldn't know about through gatherer and by looking at net decks.

I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of magic, so it's useful to see synergies that I would have missed.

>The people who win play the best decks, and generally have the most money.
Skill is literally not a factor. A fucking 10 year old can and has played as well as the Tier 1 deck players and has won just as often at my LGS. Test it for yourself by letting a newbie borrow your deck and watch him destroy everyone without a T1 deck regardless of "skill".

Yeah, it's called "Sealed" you idiot.

Sealed best format.
Second-best format is progressive sealed (basically sealed, but every card you've ever opened in the set with no bought singles allowed but trades are fine).

Oh, okay, you're trolling or stupid. Good to know.

Nice comeback. You really showed me.

>Sealed is better than draft

Whats the nastiest combo you've seen?

>play a Swamp, tap for Dark Ritual, play 2 Entombs
>put Painter's Servant and Iona, Shield of Emeria into the graveyard
>second turn, play another Swamp, tap both to play 2 Exhumes
>Painter and Iona are now on the field
>opponent can't play anything due to their combined effects

Thankfully, its not too hard to counter with Grafdiggers Cage, but you'd need to get it out first turn.

I usually come up with an idea, build a solid base structure, and then I pick up and slot in cool cards that I see/get from packs over time.

Now if I'm building a commander or modern deck, I think of my idea, get the cool cards that I like/want to use; and then get on the internet and check out some spicy meatballs and see how other people do it. A little bit if of both is truly the patrician's choice.

I'm so terrible at drafting. I always get distracted by good cards floating around and pick them up and end up with a directionless mess. How 2 gitgud?

What some draft videos. Read some draft guides. Research the set you are drafting and know what the good common picks are.

...

Why not just win on turn 1 instead?

>Research the set you are drafting and know what the good common picks are.
This bit is probably some of the best advice. Pay special attention to uncommons, especially multicolored ones, because these are where a lot of archetypes get laid out.
I got better at drafting by drafting a shitton of Eternal Masters, which has some pretty obvious archetypes once you've drafted it four or five times and seen what strategies work and what don't. For an example of the kind of uncommon I just told you about, look at Thunderclap Wyvern. It's a U/W flier that buffs your fliers that fits into the B/W fliers archetype. The G/B uncommon is an elf that makes your opponents lose life based on all the elves you have.

These cards are clear flags for their respective archetypes, because pic related is going to be an OK card at best in any deck except for one that plays a lot of fliers. Dropping a Shaman of the Pack and draining your opponent for 1 is mediocre for a multicolored uncommon, but if you have 5 or 6 elves besides this one it might sting a bit more. Tribal stuff in general is usually pretty easy to draft, but all archetypes work roughly the same way by including cards that suggest or support specific strategies.

> research the set you are drafting
> pay special attention to uncommons

Thanks a lot lads, research is a good idea and I've never had anyone explain the importance of uncommons to me.

Playing decklists you see online isn't always the best idea, but you can definately benefit from reading to learn about card interactions and card choice.

I have played the game on and off since Beta and I was glad I read about how Necrotic Ooze works with Tree of Perdition. There are so many cards that is impossible to consider all interactions all of thd time.

Tron Eldrazi is what I do, it's so much fun

Post your list?

Fuck net decking. Working on these two right now

tappedout.net/mtg-decks/thing-in-the-fire-and-ice/

tappedout.net/mtg-decks/rw-hanweir-1/

So I have this deck (pic related)....

But is this list a little better?

In casual matches on MTGO, I am 9-1 with the deck. I notice I do need something that gets rid of enchantments. I can't think of any Red or Black cards that do that in standard atm.

this is pretty much what I only do in magic, I can't stand just playing a deck that some other dude made. Even if the archetype has been done before, I like to start from scratch.

I only build custom EDH decks because I find it fun. I also play sealed and draft so that I can practice my deck building skills. It gets substantially easier the more you practice, I remember my first deck. It was a Mogis deck filled with nothing but little pingers. It was god awful, a single -2/-2 wipe would have killed the entire deck, except mogis. The only game I ever one with it, I was mistakenly allowed to twinflame mogis and swung for the game with commander damage. Fun times, fun times.