Haven't played in a couple of years. Only problem is I don't have any cards anymore. Not even a basic land to my name. What's the best way to get back in the game without breaking the bank?
It depends a lot on what formats you are interested in. Generally for legacy / modern the answer is usually playing whatever flavor of red deck is doing well since lots of the red staples tend to be much cheaper than the other decks out there.
If you want to play commander pick up a precon at the cost of $40 and slowly upgrade it as your budget allows.
I don’t know what standard looks like right now but some sort of red deck might again be the budget way to go.I hear that the extra turns, fogs, and walkers deck is doing well in standard but that deck is super expensive so I would focus on how to take that deck down assuming it’s doing well.
I got back in a couple of years ago via draft. If you have a store near you that does Friday Night Magic, you can pick up some cards just by doing that and then once you have an idea of what's there, you can always buy singles from the same place.
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I would second the idea of a Commander Precon. But, there are a lot of options so knowing what you want to do would be helpful in offering suggestions. Do you want to play Standard, Modern, Commander, Limited, Brawl, etc.? Do you just want to play among friends or try to go to FNM or something more competitive even?
Hopefully we can help with getting you going and welcome back to the game
I would also throw my hat into the ring for Commander precons, because... you should play Commander.
The good news is you CAN play competitively at the FNM level right out of the box with a series of products called Challenger Decks, although the only series of those that have been released thus far will not be Standard legal for much longer.
Another option to consider is Pauper. It's a great format that lets you use all Common cards from all of Magic's history. Fun stuff like Lightning Bolt, Counterspell, Delver of Secrets, Rancor, etc.
You can get a competitive deck for $30-$70, and there's no rotation so you can play that deck forever. As compared to Modenr, where you might have to spend $700 - $1,400 for a competitive deck.
It started on MTGO (Magic Online), but a lot of stores are hosting paper Pauper tournaments now. I go to one every Thursday night in Cambridge, plus a few others in the area on Saturdays and Sundays.
I've been playing Magic on and off for about 21 years, and had a long hiatus, but I've fallen in love with Pauper. It's such a good format, and such a bargain for people who like to build and play a big variety of decks. Enjoy!
The rotation in Standard is about to happen, so Kaladesh, Revolt, Amonkhet and Hours are leaving, and Guilds of Ravnica is coming in.
The top decks in standard are pretty reliant on Kaladesh and Amonkhet, so I would hold off on investing in a specific deck right now. Try building some janky budget decks using only Ixalan, Rivals, Dominaria and M19.
It depends on what you wanna do with the game. Play constructed? FNM? Commander?
You can go to the store and simply tell your story and ask for the newcomer's decks. Possibly all five. The new decks actually have cards you can use long term besides lands, so that's a start without dropping a penny. Drafting (and raredrafting and picking leftovers after the games) is also a good way to "justify" spending money on packs. You get fun, experience, and cards in one go.
If you can budget yourself, you can just buy the singles and proxy the rest/use alternative cards if doable till you get the deck if constructed is your plan. Keld Mono red for standard seems pretty good for the buck and probably will be doable after rotation. You could morph it to wizards if Izzet gets decent cards. Mono blue and mono green also seem potentially Ok after rotation. Probably not that good because the next sets will be multicolor focused, but you can slowly grind your way to a decent tricolor deck later.
Modern actually can be cheaper in the long term even if the deck is half a grand. Still lot of decks are actually cheaper than some of the most expensive decks in Standard and pretty decent overall. Storm, mono red, Soul Sisters, 8wackers are all $250 or less. Storm could be even cheaper if you use a budget land base and sideboard options. If you are fine with janky but fun options, you may find lot of sub-150 decks as well.
If you just want casual fun, just look for a commander precon (it doesn't need to be the newer ones, some of the old ones are still affordable) and slowly customize them to your liking.
I would say Red Deck Wins in whatever format you choose outside of Commander. RDW is pretty cheap. I built a Goblin deck for about $75 that will go 2-2 or 3-1 in most local events for modern. I have $150 Burn deck that wins plenty to be fun. I had an 8-Rack deck the was pretty good for around $100. These are all decks that are fun to play, cheap and competitive in modern (Not winning a lot of events but will win games). RDW works in Standard right now too.
This is coming from someone who got back into Magic just a couple years ago after not playing for 10 years.
I generally prefer to build up a collection through Limited events, and it just so happens the Guilds of Ravnica Prerelease is coming up in a few weeks (weekend of Sept. 29th I believe but I'm not sure). In terms of bang-for-your-buck Prereleases are one of the best value. For about $25 you get 6 packs worth of cards plus a date-stamped promo of a random rare or mythic from the set, and then you get to play a tournament of potentially win more packs as prizes.
For example, a booster box is ~$100 and contains 36 packs. If you do 2 Prereleases at $25 each you'll get 12 packs, 2 promos, as well as any prizes you might win. If you win at least 4 prize packs total between 2 tournaments, you've essentially opened half a booster box worth of product in addition to the enjoyment you got out of playing a full days worth of fun Magic.
My vote definitely goes to playing Limited to start building up your collection, then if you happen to open sweet card that inspires you to make a Standard deck, you'll have a decent card pool to work from and can buy singles as necessary to fill it out.
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If you want to play commander pick up a precon at the cost of $40 and slowly upgrade it as your budget allows.
I don’t know what standard looks like right now but some sort of red deck might again be the budget way to go.I hear that the extra turns, fogs, and walkers deck is doing well in standard but that deck is super expensive so I would focus on how to take that deck down assuming it’s doing well.
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Hopefully we can help with getting you going and welcome back to the game
The good news is you CAN play competitively at the FNM level right out of the box with a series of products called Challenger Decks, although the only series of those that have been released thus far will not be Standard legal for much longer.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
You can get a competitive deck for $30-$70, and there's no rotation so you can play that deck forever. As compared to Modenr, where you might have to spend $700 - $1,400 for a competitive deck.
It started on MTGO (Magic Online), but a lot of stores are hosting paper Pauper tournaments now. I go to one every Thursday night in Cambridge, plus a few others in the area on Saturdays and Sundays.
I've been playing Magic on and off for about 21 years, and had a long hiatus, but I've fallen in love with Pauper. It's such a good format, and such a bargain for people who like to build and play a big variety of decks. Enjoy!
Corrupt Control B | Burn R | UG Turbofog UG | White Weenie W | GW Tethmos WG | BG Cycling Combo BG
Enchantress GBW | Colorless Tron C | Red Deck Wins R | UG Madness UG | Mono-G Tron G | UR Puzzlehorns UR
Rhystic Tron WU| WU Prowess WU | BR Reanimator BR | Mono-R Control R | Stompy G | Temur Tron URG
Mardu Infinite Priest WBR | 85-Card Dredge BRG | Elves GU | Boros Bully RW | Jeskai Familiars RWU
The top decks in standard are pretty reliant on Kaladesh and Amonkhet, so I would hold off on investing in a specific deck right now. Try building some janky budget decks using only Ixalan, Rivals, Dominaria and M19.
You can go to the store and simply tell your story and ask for the newcomer's decks. Possibly all five. The new decks actually have cards you can use long term besides lands, so that's a start without dropping a penny. Drafting (and raredrafting and picking leftovers after the games) is also a good way to "justify" spending money on packs. You get fun, experience, and cards in one go.
If you can budget yourself, you can just buy the singles and proxy the rest/use alternative cards if doable till you get the deck if constructed is your plan. Keld Mono red for standard seems pretty good for the buck and probably will be doable after rotation. You could morph it to wizards if Izzet gets decent cards. Mono blue and mono green also seem potentially Ok after rotation. Probably not that good because the next sets will be multicolor focused, but you can slowly grind your way to a decent tricolor deck later.
Modern actually can be cheaper in the long term even if the deck is half a grand. Still lot of decks are actually cheaper than some of the most expensive decks in Standard and pretty decent overall. Storm, mono red, Soul Sisters, 8wackers are all $250 or less. Storm could be even cheaper if you use a budget land base and sideboard options. If you are fine with janky but fun options, you may find lot of sub-150 decks as well.
If you just want casual fun, just look for a commander precon (it doesn't need to be the newer ones, some of the old ones are still affordable) and slowly customize them to your liking.
Pauper is also an option if your LGS hosts them.
This is coming from someone who got back into Magic just a couple years ago after not playing for 10 years.
For example, a booster box is ~$100 and contains 36 packs. If you do 2 Prereleases at $25 each you'll get 12 packs, 2 promos, as well as any prizes you might win. If you win at least 4 prize packs total between 2 tournaments, you've essentially opened half a booster box worth of product in addition to the enjoyment you got out of playing a full days worth of fun Magic.
My vote definitely goes to playing Limited to start building up your collection, then if you happen to open sweet card that inspires you to make a Standard deck, you'll have a decent card pool to work from and can buy singles as necessary to fill it out.