I just got back into Magic after about a 10 year hiatus, and haven't really been around since the whole netdecking/trading thing began...I'm finding it's very slow putting a deck together. I'm not skimping on the money I'm puting out, and trading as quickly as possible...do I need to be patient, throw more money down, trade more aggressively...? Is there a trick to it? Any advice would be great.
One of the things I do is come up with a general idea for the deck. Whatever it may be play it a few times if its fun and you like it try to slowly improve on it. Sites like gatherer or here on Salvation. Also at your local shop maybe people can flip through the deck and suggest stuff or maybe give you stuff.
Keep in mind when your testing your not going to win very many games so don't get frustrated when you lose.
If you cant get the cards i'd reccommend that you get cards online. findmagiccards.com is my favorite. You probably want to make sure to check the feedback on thier site before choosing.
1. Shop for singles online- When you're essentially starting out from scratch, this is an amazing and cost effecient way to get exactly what you want, in a short period of time. You don't have to wait for trades or spend tons on packs for the small chance of getting exactly what you need.
2. Buy the staples - I can't stress this enough. Focus on the format of your choice and aquire the staple cards in that format which appeal to you. I used to be very thrifty about my purchases, but was so pleased once I invested in my dual lands and such. Now I make whatever deck idea I have without having to look for trades and such.
Now, I'm not saying go out and buy every card, but for example, if you are more interested in controll, go ahead and get 4x wrath of god or Damnation. If you focus on green, get 4x birds of paradise. It will make your life much easier in the long run.
I'm a casual player who favors :symu::symb::symr: so I made sure to have duals of these colors, and got staple creatures and spells in these colors as well. For me, it spans formats, but that's just me.
I usually build by first getting the idea, second by selecting what cards to use(usually skimming through complete set lists or using the tools on Workstation), third look up prices to see if I can afford it, then testing through Workstation or my local shop. Fortunately, I have good friends who love to test anything and everything with me.
I recommend buying as much as possible and trading aggressively. This sometimes means trading down. A whiel back I traded a Liliana Vess for 4x Chainer's Edict 2x Dark Ritual 2x Incinerate. The trade heavily favored the other guy, but I was trading one card I won't play for eight that I will, and I'd been hunting the edicts forever. If you're looking for T2 stuff probably just buy a box, then trade for as much of what you need as you can, then buy the singles.
also i would say, before you drop money on a deck you think might be good. I would use a program like magicworkstation and build the deck and test it. In the past i have made a few decks that i though would turn out to be good only to find out they were terrible. So that way you can save yourself a few bucks, not to mention its fun to making random decks like that to just enjoy playing for awhile and then delete.
I would recomend using MWS to build the deck first because it saves you so much time and money getting cards for a deck and then realizing the deck sucks. If you are just starting out i would recommend buying of Box if you play T2 because you can get good cards to trade out for cards you need. And then you have a good base of cards.
I'd suggest drafting. If you've read over the info about what sets you will be drafting, you will know kind of where you want to go and what to look for. Then just follow what you open. It is fun, and fairly inexpensive for what you will end up with. As long as you don't let anyone do that 'winners get the rares thing'. Unless you KNOW you will win, heh.
Legacy/Vintage GWREnchanted Eve (building) ~ BPoxy Pox
Standard WUMeow-Go~BU Infection
Casual BWAngel Doom ~ GRWWarpride ~ WGUStoic Control (ARG)
EDH BRGWUScion of the Ur-Dragon ~ BSiezan, The Perverter of Truth ~ W 8.5 Tails (needs work) All my Decks.
The ABSOLUTE best way to get a deck together is to borrow all of the cards for it just before or at the tournament. It's so much more fun than actually paying, either money or cardstock.
We live in a country were ~50% of the populace believe public schooling is a socialist conspiracy and that being called Einstein is an insult. We could try and fix it, but unfortunately the other 50% don't believe in euthanasia.
Keep in mind when your testing your not going to win very many games so don't get frustrated when you lose.
Hope that helped
1. Shop for singles online- When you're essentially starting out from scratch, this is an amazing and cost effecient way to get exactly what you want, in a short period of time. You don't have to wait for trades or spend tons on packs for the small chance of getting exactly what you need.
2. Buy the staples - I can't stress this enough. Focus on the format of your choice and aquire the staple cards in that format which appeal to you. I used to be very thrifty about my purchases, but was so pleased once I invested in my dual lands and such. Now I make whatever deck idea I have without having to look for trades and such.
Now, I'm not saying go out and buy every card, but for example, if you are more interested in controll, go ahead and get 4x wrath of god or Damnation. If you focus on green, get 4x birds of paradise. It will make your life much easier in the long run.
I'm a casual player who favors :symu::symb::symr: so I made sure to have duals of these colors, and got staple creatures and spells in these colors as well. For me, it spans formats, but that's just me.
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