I'm really new to Magic. Never owned a deck before in my life. I'm a big fan of the Experiment Kraj General card that they use in ECD formats but am aware that they aren't allowed to be used in standard formats.
Anyways, I play pretty casually (with friends on the kitchen table), usually multiplayer and I was wondering what people thought was the best color combination for a multiplayer deck in the standard format. I know that it really depends on what I'm trying to go for so I'll give a description of what I'm shooting for with my first deck.
Since it's gonna be multiplayer (would be nice if it could hold its own in a duel also) I don't want anything that will make me an early game target from the other players. I was thinking of going red for the burn spells but figured that burning people would only get me killed quicker.
I'm really split between going aggro or control or combo. I dislike swarming, however, if there were a combo that worked well with control that swarmed late game I'd be open to that.
Any suggestions? I kind of strayed from the original question, so to surmise
tl;dr --> What color combo is good for multiplayer? Which is best for first deck of a somewhat knowledgeable magic player who has been using borrowed decks? And which is your favorite deck strategy (aggro, control, combo, burn, etc..)
Thanks and sorry for what is most likely a very common and repetitive question posted on this forum
I once farted during the final match for prizes at an FNM. It was a tense moment, everything was quiet, control vs control, I was about to mana leak, thought about it.. and farted. Then mana leaked.
The trick with Multiplayer is not to make yourself a target you need something on the field that your opponents will not want to try and go through you to kill you but at the same time isn't a massive threat to their life totals.
You also need a good late game plan because multi player is slower.
My first through is G/B colour combo.
Because 1 card your opponents are not going to want to attack you through is Glissa, the traitor since she wins almost all attacks and returns useful cards to your hand.
Black gives you just enough control to end a troublesome creatures or force discards.
Green gives you naturalize and Acidic slime for artifact and enchantment destruction.
G/B also has a lot of deathtouch and undying mechanics which also discourage attacking.
You have some nasty options for finishers as well although mostly in black.
G/W and B/W are also good options for staying under the radar but they are the swarming type.
I once farted during the final match for prizes at an FNM. It was a tense moment, everything was quiet, control vs control, I was about to mana leak, thought about it.. and farted. Then mana leaked.
@Narvuntien - Thanks. You're totally right. I need creatures to prevent myself from taking damage and I love the idea of the deathtouchers with some control aspects as well to keep my tied over and safe until my late game engine is running. I'd have to come up with some finishers for said late game situations but I like the anti artifact ideas (my friend runs a pretty diesel artifact deck that needs a proper ass whooping).
@Spicay - I feel like the board wipes would piss everyone off and I'd start receiving attacks earlier than I'd like. Thanks for the site suggestion, once I start getting accustomed to the cards I can use it to easily look up stuff. But I LOVE Wee Dragonauts and Gelectrode. Such great additions to any control deck, especially with the untap ability allowing you to ping ppl for a damage repeatedly.
The only thing I worry about is that a control deck like that may have too many weenies and not enough solidly strong creatures (2/2 , 3/3 with abilities) to hold me over until the late game.
But again, I'm a novice at this so I could most definitely be wrong. It's hard to pick one strategy when there are hundreds upon thousands of cards out there.
Right now I'm leaning towards the Green/Black deck. I played vampires before and found them quite fun (pinging people and having a bit of life gain was awesome, not to mention the creature control).
Thanks for your quick replies I'll wait for a few more before I make my decision and will definitely be posting a prototype for suggestions before buying. I really only have the money to invest in one decent deck that I hang on to and replay quite often (not trying to sink my pension in magic cards :p)
so having said that I want to add that replayability is also a huge concern with this deck creation journey I am embarking on.
Again thank you for your opinions. All advice/types/hints are welcome
You did say you wanted a standard legal deck right? If so, most of the cards Spicay suggested are not legal in standard. Day of Judgement and Fireball are the only cards he suggested that are legal in standard.
You did say you wanted a standard legal deck right? If so, most of the cards Spicay suggested are not legal in standard. Day of Judgement and Fireball are the only cards he suggested that are legal in standard.
I didn't read that part.
I'd suggest to your friends that you play multiplayer games with more than just Standard legal cards..otherwise you may as well just be playing Standard games.
I once farted during the final match for prizes at an FNM. It was a tense moment, everything was quiet, control vs control, I was about to mana leak, thought about it.. and farted. Then mana leaked.
G/B Ramp gets to field solid ramp such as Rampant Growth, Viridian Emissary and Solemn Simulacrum only to start powering out a ton of awesome fatties such as Grave Titan, Primeval Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull and Karn Liberated. It can keep the field clear with Black Sun's Zenith, which is a fantastic way to hose aggro decks. Glissa, the Traitor is amazing as well, since she can constantly recur Solemns/Wurmcoils/Batterskulls but is also a defensive powerhouse. People can't attack into an untapped Glissa very easily. Green Sun'z Zenith provides some good utility, since being anything from an Emissary to a Glissa to a Primetime can be extremely powerful. I'd probably also throw in a Mountain and Kessig Wolf Run to the deck just to tutor up with your Primetime to add another level of inevitability to the deck. It will turn all of your creatures into powerful game-enders over time. On that note, Exsanguinate probably deserves a few slots in the deck. It outright ends games once you build up enough mana (which a deck like this easily can), but can also just be used to stabilize your life total in the mid-game to ensure that you don't suddenly die from anything.
The other deck that I like is a Heartless Summoning + Havengul Lich combo deck. It uses Priest of Urabrask and Perilous Myr to do an arbitrarily large amount of damage to your opponents. Remember, Summoning gives your creatures -1/-1, so you don't have to work to sacrifice them or anything. Mimic Vat, Rune-Scarred Demon and Solemn Simulacrum are all featured in the deck as well. It's important to note that Mimic Vat and Havengul Lich are just plain powerful cards on their own, even if you're not doing anything "unfair" with them. So yeah, this deck has a lot of warm bodies that will keep people off your back, but it also has a solid plan to outright win the game given enough time.
I'm really new to Magic. Never owned a deck before in my life. I'm a big fan of the Experiment Kraj General card that they use in ECD formats but am aware that they aren't allowed to be used in standard formats.
Anyways, I play pretty casually (with friends on the kitchen table), usually multiplayer and I was wondering what people thought was the best color combination for a multiplayer deck in the standard format. I know that it really depends on what I'm trying to go for so I'll give a description of what I'm shooting for with my first deck.
Since it's gonna be multiplayer (would be nice if it could hold its own in a duel also) I don't want anything that will make me an early game target from the other players. I was thinking of going red for the burn spells but figured that burning people would only get me killed quicker.
I'm really split between going aggro or control or combo. I dislike swarming, however, if there were a combo that worked well with control that swarmed late game I'd be open to that.
Any suggestions? I kind of strayed from the original question, so to surmise
tl;dr --> What color combo is good for multiplayer? Which is best for first deck of a somewhat knowledgeable magic player who has been using borrowed decks? And which is your favorite deck strategy (aggro, control, combo, burn, etc..)
Thanks and sorry for what is most likely a very common and repetitive question posted on this forum
Hope to become as smart as ya'll eventually.
You should use this site to look up cards: http://gatherer.wizards.com
The trick with Multiplayer is not to make yourself a target you need something on the field that your opponents will not want to try and go through you to kill you but at the same time isn't a massive threat to their life totals.
You also need a good late game plan because multi player is slower.
My first through is G/B colour combo.
Because 1 card your opponents are not going to want to attack you through is Glissa, the traitor since she wins almost all attacks and returns useful cards to your hand.
Black gives you just enough control to end a troublesome creatures or force discards.
Green gives you naturalize and Acidic slime for artifact and enchantment destruction.
G/B also has a lot of deathtouch and undying mechanics which also discourage attacking.
You have some nasty options for finishers as well although mostly in black.
G/W and B/W are also good options for staying under the radar but they are the swarming type.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
@Spicay - I feel like the board wipes would piss everyone off and I'd start receiving attacks earlier than I'd like. Thanks for the site suggestion, once I start getting accustomed to the cards I can use it to easily look up stuff. But I LOVE Wee Dragonauts and Gelectrode. Such great additions to any control deck, especially with the untap ability allowing you to ping ppl for a damage repeatedly.
The only thing I worry about is that a control deck like that may have too many weenies and not enough solidly strong creatures (2/2 , 3/3 with abilities) to hold me over until the late game.
But again, I'm a novice at this so I could most definitely be wrong. It's hard to pick one strategy when there are hundreds upon thousands of cards out there.
Right now I'm leaning towards the Green/Black deck. I played vampires before and found them quite fun (pinging people and having a bit of life gain was awesome, not to mention the creature control).
Thanks for your quick replies I'll wait for a few more before I make my decision and will definitely be posting a prototype for suggestions before buying. I really only have the money to invest in one decent deck that I hang on to and replay quite often (not trying to sink my pension in magic cards :p)
so having said that I want to add that replayability is also a huge concern with this deck creation journey I am embarking on.
Again thank you for your opinions. All advice/types/hints are welcome
I didn't read that part.
I'd suggest to your friends that you play multiplayer games with more than just Standard legal cards..otherwise you may as well just be playing Standard games.
-Mathochism
Check out my expected lands table at:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Airj6A6lYAz_dG05T2JETnVTak1xQ0tqOHNSdEJLWVE&hl=en_US#gid=0
G/B Ramp gets to field solid ramp such as Rampant Growth, Viridian Emissary and Solemn Simulacrum only to start powering out a ton of awesome fatties such as Grave Titan, Primeval Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull and Karn Liberated. It can keep the field clear with Black Sun's Zenith, which is a fantastic way to hose aggro decks. Glissa, the Traitor is amazing as well, since she can constantly recur Solemns/Wurmcoils/Batterskulls but is also a defensive powerhouse. People can't attack into an untapped Glissa very easily. Green Sun'z Zenith provides some good utility, since being anything from an Emissary to a Glissa to a Primetime can be extremely powerful. I'd probably also throw in a Mountain and Kessig Wolf Run to the deck just to tutor up with your Primetime to add another level of inevitability to the deck. It will turn all of your creatures into powerful game-enders over time. On that note, Exsanguinate probably deserves a few slots in the deck. It outright ends games once you build up enough mana (which a deck like this easily can), but can also just be used to stabilize your life total in the mid-game to ensure that you don't suddenly die from anything.
The other deck that I like is a Heartless Summoning + Havengul Lich combo deck. It uses Priest of Urabrask and Perilous Myr to do an arbitrarily large amount of damage to your opponents. Remember, Summoning gives your creatures -1/-1, so you don't have to work to sacrifice them or anything. Mimic Vat, Rune-Scarred Demon and Solemn Simulacrum are all featured in the deck as well. It's important to note that Mimic Vat and Havengul Lich are just plain powerful cards on their own, even if you're not doing anything "unfair" with them. So yeah, this deck has a lot of warm bodies that will keep people off your back, but it also has a solid plan to outright win the game given enough time.
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