That's just it. For formats like Legacy that don't rotate, where you can make one deck and be done with it for life, it's a little easier. And even then, depending on how much that deck costs, it could be a good 6 months to a year or more before you even start playing.
For Standard, it's a different animal because the format changes so often. If you're dirt broke and it takes you a year to put a Standard deck together, what's the point? It's going to be obsolete before you can blink an eye anyway.
Staying competitive in Standard by trading and selling is extremely hard to do. I'm actually in a situation now where that's what I have to do and let me tell you something. Nobody wants your Thragtusk that's about to rotate in 3 months.
I'm at the point where I'm going to have to sell a lot of my old cards. And then, after that, then what? Eventually it just gets harder and harder IF you want to stay competitive. Now, if all you care about is just hanging out with your friends on a Friday night at FNM and don't care if you go 0-4 or 1-3, a $25 event deck is all you need.
But please, can we stop with how easy it is to stay competitive in Standard because it's anything BUT easy.
I'm just thankful that my Legacy decks are all put together and I can play that format until it eventually dies. But Standard? I am going to someday have to kick it to the curb as there is no way I can keep up.
I topped a fnm with an izzet blitz deck that cost a total of 10 dollars, so you don't need good cards to win you just have to know how to build a deck on a budget and know not to spend money on things like intro packs or boosters
But please, can we stop with how easy it is to stay competitive in Standard because it's anything BUT easy.
We can't stop because for many of us, it IS easy to stay competitive in Standard, and it doesn't cost as much as many of you advertise.
Back in February, the Friday before the Cincinnati SCG Open, I was watching the Pro Tour Gatecrash stream and I noticed Sam Black and Tom Martel playing the original version of Aristocrats - and I LOVED the idea behind the deck.
This could have discouraged me, but instead I showed up early at the SCG Cincy event and started going around asking for trades. Eventually I got everything I needed, and playing the deck for the first time I went 7-3 finishing just out of the money.
I spent $0 to build a competitive deck in less than 24 hours, and I didn't even have that substantial a collection to trade.
And I played that deck for almost 5 months.
Saying it is too hard, or too expensive, is just an excuse - unless you're literally jobless with no collection at all to trade with.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Old enough to know better, much too young to care.
I'm going to make a moderator decision here and go ahead and close up the thread. We've had many threads about this in the past, but since there was some solid discussion going on for a while, I decided to leave it open. At this point, the thread is really running in a circle and the discussion has whittled down to "You can do A"; "No, because B", repeat. Everyone has different circumstances. My advice if you can't afford Magic is to learn to be comfortable in being sociable -if that's an issue you face- and then learn how to trade. Evaluate what is important to you in the game, and if you're not able to play for a given reason, perhaps ask one of the many players at your local game shops if they can relate and for their advice on how they manage.
Another reason I'm closing this, is that many people saying they can't afford whatever aspect of Magic aren't asking for advice on how to - they're too busy repelling advice and having a "Can't" attitude instead of a "Can do" attitude. You're not a special snowflake - there are many people in your shoes who manage. If you can't, that's a personal issue, and not one with the game.
That's just it. For formats like Legacy that don't rotate, where you can make one deck and be done with it for life, it's a little easier. And even then, depending on how much that deck costs, it could be a good 6 months to a year or more before you even start playing.
For Standard, it's a different animal because the format changes so often. If you're dirt broke and it takes you a year to put a Standard deck together, what's the point? It's going to be obsolete before you can blink an eye anyway.
Staying competitive in Standard by trading and selling is extremely hard to do. I'm actually in a situation now where that's what I have to do and let me tell you something. Nobody wants your Thragtusk that's about to rotate in 3 months.
I'm at the point where I'm going to have to sell a lot of my old cards. And then, after that, then what? Eventually it just gets harder and harder IF you want to stay competitive. Now, if all you care about is just hanging out with your friends on a Friday night at FNM and don't care if you go 0-4 or 1-3, a $25 event deck is all you need.
But please, can we stop with how easy it is to stay competitive in Standard because it's anything BUT easy.
I'm just thankful that my Legacy decks are all put together and I can play that format until it eventually dies. But Standard? I am going to someday have to kick it to the curb as there is no way I can keep up.
We can't stop because for many of us, it IS easy to stay competitive in Standard, and it doesn't cost as much as many of you advertise.
Back in February, the Friday before the Cincinnati SCG Open, I was watching the Pro Tour Gatecrash stream and I noticed Sam Black and Tom Martel playing the original version of Aristocrats - and I LOVED the idea behind the deck.
So what did I do? I gathered up all the cards I had that I saw them playing, realizing that I was 1 Boros Reckoner, 2 Falkenrath Aristocrats, 2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, and a few Shocklands away from having the deck.
This could have discouraged me, but instead I showed up early at the SCG Cincy event and started going around asking for trades. Eventually I got everything I needed, and playing the deck for the first time I went 7-3 finishing just out of the money.
I spent $0 to build a competitive deck in less than 24 hours, and I didn't even have that substantial a collection to trade.
And I played that deck for almost 5 months.
Saying it is too hard, or too expensive, is just an excuse - unless you're literally jobless with no collection at all to trade with.
Another reason I'm closing this, is that many people saying they can't afford whatever aspect of Magic aren't asking for advice on how to - they're too busy repelling advice and having a "Can't" attitude instead of a "Can do" attitude. You're not a special snowflake - there are many people in your shoes who manage. If you can't, that's a personal issue, and not one with the game.
Thread Closed.
(Also known as Xenphire)