I'm looking for advice on starting to play competitive Standard in MTGO. Skip this first section if you want...
Optional background info on me:
I'm a longtime Magic player, but long distance and adult-life logistics keep me far away from the friends who I played with when I was younger. So for the past few years, I've been enjoying Magic Online. The problem was, I kept trying for a way to recreate the "casual" experience, and was never really satisfied with it. It's simply too hard to find other players whose concept of "casual" matches mine, and whose card pools are comparable.
I recently started playing Pauper, and I've really enjoyed it. For the first time ever, I don't feel dirty for playing counterspells or land destruction or discard effects, because it's such an even playing field. I'm enjoying the competitive thrill of simply constructing a better deck than an opponent trying to do the same.
The problem is, I don't really know where to start in Standard. There's such a wide variety of decks in the Casual room that I don't know if I'm winning because my deck is good or because my opponent is bad. I made one attempt to netdeck (copying this Anathemancer deck almost exactly) and played in the Tournament Practice room, but I did horribly.
The part where I ask for advice:
What is the most foolproof deck that I can build that doesn't rely too heavily on Lorwyn/Shadowmoor cards that are about to rotate out of Standard? Ideally, I'd prefer not to spend a ton of money. But I'd spend up to $40 to make a decent deck.
After the Tournament Practice room, what's the first step I should take to dip my toe in the waters of competitive Constructed play?
Any wisdom you can pass along would be greatly appreciated!
My advice? wait until Zen gets spoiled if you dont want to invest alot in Lor block cards. Basically every competetive deck will be loosing alot of cards so there's no way to tell what will dominate.
If you want to make something for now I would suggest a RBG Bloodbraid Aggro type deck. As for competetive online - I am just starting to get into the competetive scene as well so I'm not sure but you might want to check out this thread. http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=178027
I don't think $40 is going to get you very far. I looked though this week's decks of the week to try and find a cheap standard deck and this is the cheapest one I found:
The most expensive card is Regal Force, but I still don't think you could put this deck together for much less than $70 or $80.
The thing about constructed is that the initial investment is high and there usually isn't a way to get around that. On the other hand, you don't have to be a pro to make your money back. As long as you can play the deck reasonably well and you have time to play fairly frequently, you should get back whatever you spent.
I wouldn't bother with 2 man ques at all. You both pay a 2 tix and get 1 pack as a prize. When you get your deck situated play daily events 8 man ques and premire events when you can.
To play competative standard you are going to have to put some money in, but once you've made that investment you can stay there and it's only tickets you need to worry about.
There was an article on channelfireball.com last week about how to "go infinate" on block constructed. I have been playing ALA block for a while now waiting on zen, but at this point, If I were you, I'd just keep playing pauper until zen rolls out and then play zen block to get your card pool up.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Out of the blackness and stench of the engulfing swamp emerged a shimmering figure. Only the splattered armor and ichor-stained sword hinted at the unfathomable evil the knight had just laid waste.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Optional background info on me:
I'm a longtime Magic player, but long distance and adult-life logistics keep me far away from the friends who I played with when I was younger. So for the past few years, I've been enjoying Magic Online. The problem was, I kept trying for a way to recreate the "casual" experience, and was never really satisfied with it. It's simply too hard to find other players whose concept of "casual" matches mine, and whose card pools are comparable.
I recently started playing Pauper, and I've really enjoyed it. For the first time ever, I don't feel dirty for playing counterspells or land destruction or discard effects, because it's such an even playing field. I'm enjoying the competitive thrill of simply constructing a better deck than an opponent trying to do the same.
The problem is, I don't really know where to start in Standard. There's such a wide variety of decks in the Casual room that I don't know if I'm winning because my deck is good or because my opponent is bad. I made one attempt to netdeck (copying this Anathemancer deck almost exactly) and played in the Tournament Practice room, but I did horribly.
The part where I ask for advice:
If you want to make something for now I would suggest a RBG Bloodbraid Aggro type deck. As for competetive online - I am just starting to get into the competetive scene as well so I'm not sure but you might want to check out this thread.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=178027
RU Owling Mine (Runeflare Trap) RU
Recent FNM's
3-1 2nd
2-0 drop (Yeah, that is 2 wins and a drop...)
3-1 3rd
Suggested progression:
2-Man que = 2 Tix
8-Man que = 6 Tix
Daily Standard = 6 Tix
Premier Event = 6 Tix
1 Plains
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Wooded Bastion
20 lands
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 Devoted Druid
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Regal Force
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 Cloudthresher
4 Oversoul of Dusk
4 Path to Exile
1 Qasali Pridemage
The most expensive card is Regal Force, but I still don't think you could put this deck together for much less than $70 or $80.
The thing about constructed is that the initial investment is high and there usually isn't a way to get around that. On the other hand, you don't have to be a pro to make your money back. As long as you can play the deck reasonably well and you have time to play fairly frequently, you should get back whatever you spent.
http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1959
To play competative standard you are going to have to put some money in, but once you've made that investment you can stay there and it's only tickets you need to worry about.
There was an article on channelfireball.com last week about how to "go infinate" on block constructed. I have been playing ALA block for a while now waiting on zen, but at this point, If I were you, I'd just keep playing pauper until zen rolls out and then play zen block to get your card pool up.