I am working on building my first deck (I've only played MTG 3 times so far) and so pulling cards from my meager collection of maybe 1500 cards. I am just concentrating on playing the game and learning how cards work, the mechanics of the game, turn play, etc. But hope this is a fairly decent starter deck of sorts and would love feedback. I am only using Shadows of Innistrad and Eldritch Moon for this deck. I've not yet created a sideboard.
Welcome to magic! The world could always use more planeswalkers
Looks like you already have a good sense of the land / creature / spell ratio and mana curve. So I guess any suggestions you need will be more about card optimization.
INB4 obligatory NETDECK METADECKS TO GIT GUD.
I see that you have a mini Delirium theme going on, so let’s try to build towards it. To build around a delirium theme, you’d want to have more than half your deck either helping to achieve the theme or being able to benefit from it. In budget terms, you could consider the following:
Delirium Enabler Warped landscape (or Evolving wilds if you can find them) – This adds lands into your graveyard without relying only on Grapple with the past
Mind rot isn’t a fantastic card, for hand discard effects you’d usually want to go for cards that allow you to select the card to be discarded (harsh scrutiny, transgress the mind etc). Since you choosing a key card > your opponent discarding 2 cards that they don't need anyway (you need to be careful of madness too). Luckily, we do have one in SOI/EMN: Pick the Brain (which incidentally benefits from delirium too) and Whispers of Emrakul (since random card is good too. Sometimes.)
Alms of the vein is not really a good card. Even in a madness theme deck, its purpose is debatable. This is because you want any spell you cast to have some effect on the board. A card that only deals damage to players would be useful only as a finisher and is a terrible card to play early game as your opponent would just continue attacking you to close the gap.
Thank you! I know I have some of those cards in my collection, but probably not enough. Will search through, see how things look and then we have a local store that sells loads of MTG single cards, along with everything else MTG, so I should have good luck in acquiring what I need! I really appreciate it!
The ones you mentioned aren’t too efficient in terms of mana costs, even with the delirium discount. In fact most of the other delirium C/U cards aren’t too good, other than the ones I mentioned.
Sideboards are largely based on the decks you expect the other players in your area to be playing. As a general guide, you could go for some artifact removal for artifact heavy decks, more hand disruption for control decks, some sweepers for servo decks and more instant speed removal for the Saheeli combo. Maybe 2 or 3 for each category.
Lastly, once you get a feel of the deck and game, you may wish to start sourcing for some rares or cards from other sets to improve this deck further.
Thank you so much! I truly appreciate your guidance and advice. There is so much to learn but I am having a blast in the process! I was able to pick up all the cards you had recommended. I will add these two new ones to my shopping list later this week. Then I will write up my new deck. After I play it a bit I will start getting all funky and rummage through cards from other sets. Right now I only have cards from Kaladesh, Aether Revolt, Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon. I figure if I am playing Standard right now I don't want to purchase much in the way of older sets, especially since new ones are on the horizon. Does that make sense or should I step a little further back in case I play Modern against someone? Personally I would love to spend all day looking at these cards and learning about them!
I wouldn’t worry too much about playing against Modern players. If you really need to, technically a Standard deck is ALSO a Modern deck, albeit a lousier one. Nevertheless, if you do decide to play modern, you should build a dedicated modern deck instead of trying to convert your current standard deck.
With regards to older sets: Shadows Over Innistrad, Eldritch Moon, Battle for Zendikar, Oath of the Gatewatch rotates in September 2017, so do consider this if you’re planning to get cards from these sets.
I mentioned the other sets and rares because a deck comprising only C/U cards from one block can only get you so far in magic. You can win some games with sensible deck building, but you won't be placing well in an FNM or Gamesday. Eventually you’d want to slowly expand your card pool and options to fully enjoy the game.
So, at this point, in purchasing from older sets, is my best bet to just buy singles cards of things that look like they would work and concentrate on collecting rares? There are so many sets and so many cards that it is overwhelming for someone like me who is completely new to the game! I am sorry to see older sets go. I actually really like the themes in SOI and EM. I'll just have to keep tweaking this deck and play it as often as I can between now and September, though I do feel by then I would long since be ready for something more powerful and different to play.
Around here we have a few stores to play at. One that is very serious and holds tournaments. Another that is more about FNM,Commander and Casual Magic. Mostly we are all in it for the fun, not the competitive nature. Sure, we want to win and beat each other when we can, but we chat, we laugh, we munch on food while playing and get into deep discussions over books and movies. It is a family owned business that has loads of other gaming (D&D, board games, etc.) going on at the same time, so a very relaxed atmosphere. Maybe some day I will want to try out the other place for a competitive style, but that is far off!
In looking to offer some advice, I have more questions than answers.
budget: Is your budget constrained or are you working with your existing collection because you just want to understand the game before you invest more? Do you want more of the best cards even if they are expensive?
competitiveness: Is your deck good enough for what you want? Do you want to make it better? Do you want to be competitive if you were to go to a tougher store? To win?
current deck: What does your deck look like currently? Sideboard? How is it working for you?
originality: Do you want to have a strongly original deck or are you comfortable melding in some concepts that have been successful in competitive tournament settings?
thematic consistency: You have a Delirium theme consistent with an Innistrad card pool. There are some quite affordable cards from Kaladesh that could complement what you are doing. Are you trying to stick to Delirium or would a melding of the Kaladesh +1/+1 counter emphasis fit with what you want to do?
In looking to offer some advice, I have more questions than answers.
budget: Is your budget constrained or are you working with your existing collection because you just want to understand the game before you invest more? Do you want more of the best cards even if they are expensive?
competitiveness: Is your deck good enough for what you want? Do you want to make it better? Do you want to be competitive if you were to go to a tougher store? To win?
current deck: What does your deck look like currently? Sideboard? How is it working for you?
originality: Do you want to have a strongly original deck or are you comfortable melding in some concepts that have been successful in competitive tournament settings?
thematic consistency: You have a Delirium theme consistent with an Innistrad card pool. There are some quite affordable cards from Kaladesh that could complement what you are doing. Are you trying to stick to Delirium or would a melding of the Kaladesh +1/+1 counter emphasis fit with what you want to do?
Hi! And thank you!
Budget~Not overly constrained, though my other hobbies are costly too! Mostly just wanting to get the hang of the game and make sure I have people to play with before investing too much more money into it. I'm a 54 year old female with non-gaming spouse, friends & family, so I am completely dependent on finding people at stores to play with.
Competitiveness~Again, will depend on regular play and how well I pick things up. I've only played three games so far. Not three tournaments or three rounds. Just three games! That being said, I want to go from a so-so deck, get familiar with the mechanics of the game and the various abilities each card/creature has, then start building from there to a more competitive deck.
Current Deck/Sideboard~Will let you know when it is complete. Doing a bit of tweaking and hitting up a store for some singles tonight, will tweak again, hope to have it ready for play on Friday for FNM, if I can find someone to play with me at the local store!
Originality~I would say a mix of the two. I like seeing what cards work well for other players, but not interested in a complete copy-cat deck. I like to mix it up and surprise people with things they may not expect or be prepared for, be it a big or small move!
Thematic~Right now I am just working with this block (SOI/EM) because they work well together and I want to be able to use them before they are rolled out of Standard. Once I play with this deck for a while I want to start incorporating my deck building skills by bringing in other cards from other sets for this deck to make it stronger and more effective, as well as build other decks and become familiar with cards of other colours/lands.
Overall, I love this game, the idea, the community, the artwork, strategy and social aspects. A lot rides on how often I will be able to play, how many games I can get in during a FNM or how that will all play out on a regular basis. When I go to stores everyone is already promised into another game of sorts, or Commander, or paired up with someone they play with regularly. I'm just starting to meet people so hopefully I will have someone to pair up with too, in time. I wish MTG would consider a beginner's night....something for 1st year players, to attend, match people up well, have some helpers on board for questions. I've known a lot of people from age 30 on who played MTG as a teen, but never got serious about it, left it, now want to come back and don't understand it. So they abandon it. I am working hard not to be one of those people! I want to learn as much as I can and play often!
Looking at your questions from two posts ago and your answers in the last post, it looks like you have things pretty well figured out. You have a set of changes that you are making to your deck and are trying to figure out how to get some regular play in. Without knowing your stores, I can't recommend anything specific. I do like your idea of a beginner's night.
I think that just asking at both the friendly and competitive stores will get you some suggestions about options for playing. The stores should have calendars of events. Going to a store and maybe not having a chance to play seems discouraging. One of the best ways to meet people and play with the cards is prereleases. The next one is for Amonkhet on April 22-23. Drafting is another way to meet people and get familiar with the cards. There are online simulators for draft and prereleases to practice with if you feel shy about jumping in.
It does! Thank you! I have learned that to get a game, I just need to stand in front of the entire gang, holding up my deck and let it be known that I am looking for someone willing to play someone new, and who may have to help me with a few things along the way until I have things figured out on my own. I am learning the names of people at both stores and everyone is being very nice and helpful. Commander is big right now, and I do hope to get into that shortly, but right now I like playing one on one. (Duels?) I'll check each store about their prerelease date and event for Amonkhet. I have been sitting in on Commander games and whomever I sit next to has been explaining things as they go, so I am having fun both watching and learning at the same time. I also watch all the tournaments on Twitch, which I am now addicted to! What I can't watch live, I watch later on! I consider myself very fortunate for this area to have two store options within 15 minutes of my home. All events are at night, some are not MTG related, others are very specific nights: Commander, Modern, and FNM. Others have gaming nights in general where people are playing all sorts of things, where there may or may not be MTG of any sort going on. And one store hosts a lot of tournaments and such on weekends, so no place to play on those days. The place is full to the brim! Now I must agonize over my sideboard because I have too many cards and need to whittle it down!
Okay, so here is my deck after some tweaking and my first attempt at a sideboard. Please let me know if you would switch anything around to make it better. If not, this is what I hope to play with tomorrow to get in more practice!
Okay, so here is my deck after some tweaking and my first attempt at a sideboard. Please let me know if you would switch anything around to make it better. If not, this is what I hope to play with tomorrow to get in more practice!
I don't really like the main deck hand disruption spells (Pick the Brain, Whispers of Emrakul). They can be good against control and combo decks, but against creature decks they get you behind on board early and may not have anything to take later. To the Slaughter is good against planeswalker decks once you have Delirium, but that isn't going to be applicable a lot of the time. So, sticking with this version of the deck:
From side to main: 3 Obsessive Skinner; 2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
From main to side: 2 Pick the Brain; 2 Whispers of Emrakul; 1 To the Slaughter
I would put both the Observer and Soul in your deck ahead of Alms of the Vein. I would put Soul in the main deck in place of the second To the Slaughter.
Advice for down the line:
I thought this series of articles on the Wizards site was really good. Sort to "oldest first" and read from oldest to newest for best effect.
There are a lot of good spells that have BB in their casting cost. With one more B source, you could be able to cast BB spells by turn 4 90% of the time. There are lots of ways to do this: swap a Swamp for a Forest, more Hissing Quagmires, Blooming Marshes, Foul Orchards, Unbridled Growth, Renegade Map. If you want to just do yourself a favor, I would recommend you just get the Blooming Marshes, as they are fantastic and will be in Standard for a long time. Since you have Bloodbriars and want to get Delirium, I would also remove a Swamp and a Forest in favor of two Renegade Maps.
Get some Mindwrack Demon. These are playable, on theme, help you get delirium and are quite affordable for mythic rares.
If you are going to run Mournwillow, it needs some help. Rancid rats can be good on defense against ground creatures, but don't do much damage on offense or protect you from flyers. Get some Winding Constrictors, the fourth Obsessive Skinner and either Verdurous Gearhulk (expensive!) or Ridgescale Tusker (budget).
Obsessive Skinner and Bloodbriar are a combo with Winding Constrictor. Look for other cards that are good with Winding Constrictor. You don't have to look at the current best decks that run expensive cards like Walking Ballista and Rishkar, Peema Renegade if you don't want. Animation Module, Yahenni, Undying Partisan, Fretwork Colony are more offbeat and affordable, though probably not as competitive. You should get at least one Walking Ballista just to learn from a card with incredible options for use. Yahenni combos with Animation Module and Bloodbriar amusingly.
Can Ishkana, Grafwidow and The Gitrog Monster be in a deck at the same time? I am not sure how many Legendary Creatures you can have in one deck or what someone I know meant when they said I will have to sacrifice one of my Gitrog Monsters. I'm confused. Is there a limit to how many you can play? Also, if I take out a lot of sorcery cards in my main deck and switch them with creatures, doesn't that make my deck rather unbalanced and creature heavy? If I want Delirium and to be able to get good use out of it, I need to have 4 different kinds of cards in my graveyard. If I don't, they become half useless to me. The people I play with come at me with all kinds of decks. Not always creature heavy decks, like mine. They have been playing for years and have had a lot of time to learn and build creative decks. Some are full of artifacts, others full of tricky little spells that nip at my life! So far, luckily, no one is attacking me with vehicles!
Can Ishkana, Grafwidow and The Gitrog Monster be in a deck at the same time? I am not sure how many Legendary Creatures you can have in one deck or what someone I know meant when they said I will have to sacrifice one of my Gitrog Monsters. I'm confused. Is there a limit to how many you can play? Also, if I take out a lot of sorcery cards in my main deck and switch them with creatures, doesn't that make my deck rather unbalanced and creature heavy? If I want Delirium and to be able to get good use out of it, I need to have 4 different kinds of cards in my graveyard. If I don't, they become half useless to me. The people I play with come at me with all kinds of decks. Not always creature heavy decks, like mine. They have been playing for years and have had a lot of time to learn and build creative decks. Some are full of artifacts, others full of tricky little spells that nip at my life! So far, luckily, no one is attacking me with vehicles!
Legendary only limits what can be on the battlefield as thoqqu said. It doesn't matter what is in the deck. Different legendaries are also independent as thoqqu said.
You are right about my suggestions making Delirium less likely. Artifact creatures like Scrapheap Scrounger or Walking Ballista are great because they count as two types. Traverse the Ulvenwald would be a generally useful way to add sorceries. Live Fast would be another. The Renegade Maps I suggested will help, as would Vessel of Nascency. Crop Sigil is not the most competitive card, but could also help with Delirium.
-Welcome to Magic! Personally, I've always recommended people just play the game a lot, then go competitive if they want. FNM is a good place to learn, and getting in side games is good practice. A better, more cohesive deck is an enormous help, but sheer practice is an important thing too, depending on the deck. That is, until you can play the deck pretty well as it is, you don't need to keep buying more cards. That'll come soon anyway, when you're good and addicted to the game (I don't mean that as criticism, merely in the sense of 'we all start somewhere'; Magic's complicated and takes time to learn to play or play well.)
-In a deck like this, with an average curve, a few other things to keep track of (the graveyard), and some disruption (meaning your spells that affect your opponent, like the Pick the Brains), you'll want to especially focus on sequencing, which is playing things in the most efficient way possible. For instance, questions of when to play Hissing Quagmire and a cheaper spell, or a Forest and a more expensive one; or when to cast a discard spell like Whispers of Emrakul. There's a lot to be learned here, both from articles and from sheer playing.
-Please, for your own sake: Don't play Modern. It's hard, it's usually absurdly expensive for a tournament-worthy deck, and for casual or lower-level play a Standard deck is just as good while also being upgradeable to a competitive level.
-Have you ever heard of Commander, also known as EDH? I wouldn't buy a deck yourself, as they're expensive and frankly just plain hard to play sometimes, but after you have some experience you might try asking to borrow an EDH deck if you see other players playing it at your local shop. It's a format with 100-card decks, 40 life, max 1 of any given card, and a 'Commander' you can always cast over and over again. It also can use cards from any time period and is 4-player, so a range of player ability and deck quality can exist at the table -- the focus is on multiplayer rather than merely competition.
On the deck:
-Definitely play the Ishkanah, Grafwidows. They're expensive (money-wise), so no need to buy more, but if you've got 'em they're one of the strongest payoffs for the Delirium strategy.
-Make sure you've got a good mix of card types so that you can turn on Delirium. You need 4 card types in grave to make lots of your cards good, so -- ignoring eg Grapple with the Past -- this could happen with, say, an Evolving Wilds for land, a creature dying, a sorcery (eg Whispers of Emrakul) and an instant (eg To the Slaughter). This can be a bit hard to do consistently, which is why I'd recommend a full 4 Grapple with the Past to help 'mill' yourself. ('Mill' is a term for putting cards from a library directly into graveyard, coming from the old card Millstone.)
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"It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes... Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
For most constructed formats the limit on a single card is 4 pieces. You can play multiple legendary creatures and it's perfectly fine to have Ishkana and Gitrok on the table at the same time. Should you have a second legendary with the same name (say Ishkana) enter the battlefield you have to sacrifice one due to "the legendary rule".
Thank you for this! I looked it up and read it and now it makes sense. So I can have a Gitrog and Ishakana on the battlefield at the same time but not more than one, so I am curious as to the point of having 2 of them in my deck. Just for the sake of upping the chance that they will actually be drawn out of the 60 cards before I die?
-Welcome to Magic! Personally, I've always recommended people just play the game a lot, then go competitive if they want. FNM is a good place to learn, and getting in side games is good practice. A better, more cohesive deck is an enormous help, but sheer practice is an important thing too, depending on the deck. That is, until you can play the deck pretty well as it is, you don't need to keep buying more cards. That'll come soon anyway, when you're good and addicted to the game (I don't mean that as criticism, merely in the sense of 'we all start somewhere'; Magic's complicated and takes time to learn to play or play well.)
-In a deck like this, with an average curve, a few other things to keep track of (the graveyard), and some disruption (meaning your spells that affect your opponent, like the Pick the Brains), you'll want to especially focus on sequencing, which is playing things in the most efficient way possible. For instance, questions of when to play Hissing Quagmire and a cheaper spell, or a Forest and a more expensive one; or when to cast a discard spell like Whispers of Emrakul. There's a lot to be learned here, both from articles and from sheer playing.
-Please, for your own sake: Don't play Modern. It's hard, it's usually absurdly expensive for a tournament-worthy deck, and for casual or lower-level play a Standard deck is just as good while also being upgradeable to a competitive level.
-Have you ever heard of Commander, also known as EDH? I wouldn't buy a deck yourself, as they're expensive and frankly just plain hard to play sometimes, but after you have some experience you might try asking to borrow an EDH deck if you see other players playing it at your local shop. It's a format with 100-card decks, 40 life, max 1 of any given card, and a 'Commander' you can always cast over and over again. It also can use cards from any time period and is 4-player, so a range of player ability and deck quality can exist at the table -- the focus is on multiplayer rather than merely competition.
On the deck:
-Definitely play the Ishkanah, Grafwidows. They're expensive (money-wise), so no need to buy more, but if you've got 'em they're one of the strongest payoffs for the Delirium strategy.
-Make sure you've got a good mix of card types so that you can turn on Delirium. You need 4 card types in grave to make lots of your cards good, so -- ignoring eg Grapple with the Past -- this could happen with, say, an Evolving Wilds for land, a creature dying, a sorcery (eg Whispers of Emrakul) and an instant (eg To the Slaughter). This can be a bit hard to do consistently, which is why I'd recommend a full 4 Grapple with the Past to help 'mill' yourself. ('Mill' is a term for putting cards from a library directly into graveyard, coming from the old card Millstone.)
Yes, the more I play the more I will become familiar with how cards work and interact with each other, both on my side and with an opponents cards. We do have EDH at our local stores and I have sat through a few times watching it. It is confusing, especially when you are just starting out with MTG, but I still enjoy watching and learn a bit each time. Eventually I plan to invest in a deck and hop on in. They are very helpful and will help me along the way. It is a very casual atmosphere. We are there to play and have fun, not compete or anything of that sort. One store plays with groups of 4-6, others only pods of 4. For now I will be sticking to Standard until I see how things go and have plenty of cards, as well as buying resources nearby to tweak things up, and have enough to keep me quite busy for a long while. But if all goes as plans, I will also enjoy future sets and trying out different things. One step at a time! One thing I am certain of is that no matter how fun it is to win, right now I am in it to learn and just get down the mechanics of the game and cards. It is a lot of fun, and yes, a very intricate game. I learn fast, once something gets settle in my busy brain! But I also want to have fun playing different cards and decks. Not just the ones that will be more certain to win, but because I just want to play them. I own them now, I don't want them sitting around collecting dust! I am willing for forfeit wins just to get in practice and have fun!
So, I changed up my deck and have played it several times now. It is serving me well, at present, with 3 out of 4 wins. My goal is to play it until I have used everything and am very comfortable with it, though I have not yet dipped into my sideboard yet and feel it is a tad weak. I also want to start working towards either a stronger deck which would include cards from AER and KLD, and prepping this weeks shopping list for singles I don't have. I now have 4 Winding Constrictor and 4 Fatal Push to bump it up. As I play Standard I am trying to find ways to best utilize my EM and SOI cards before they are knocked out of rotation and how to slither in AER and KLD. I do like the idea of a B/G Delirium, but also interested in a B/G Constrictor deck. Is there a such thing as a Delirious Snek dek? I have so much to learn! Suggestions, critique, always appreciated!
I am glad to hear that your start seems to be going well. Here is our thread for competitive snek decks, delirious and otherwise. I recommend the Opening Post and the later pages. Seeing the cards used seems helpful for ideas, even if your intent is more educational than competitive.
Thank you so much! I ended up finding that section late last night after having written the post and favourite placed it for study today! Much appreciated! It is exactly what I need!
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10 Swamp
10 Forest
2 Foul Orchard
2 Hissing Quagmire
Creatures
4 Gnarlwood Dryad
4 Rancid Rats
4 Bloodbriar
3 Mournwillow
2 Swift Spinner
1 Sengir Vampire
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 The Gitrog Monster
4 Dead Weight
4 Grapple with the Past
4 Murder
2 Alms of the Vein
2 Mind Rot
Welcome to magic! The world could always use more planeswalkers
Looks like you already have a good sense of the land / creature / spell ratio and mana curve. So I guess any suggestions you need will be more about card optimization.
INB4 obligatory NETDECK METADECKS TO GIT GUD.
I see that you have a mini Delirium theme going on, so let’s try to build towards it. To build around a delirium theme, you’d want to have more than half your deck either helping to achieve the theme or being able to benefit from it. In budget terms, you could consider the following:
Delirium Enabler
Warped landscape (or Evolving wilds if you can find them) – This adds lands into your graveyard without relying only on Grapple with the past
Benefits from Delirium
Obsessive skinner
Kindly stranger
Mind rot isn’t a fantastic card, for hand discard effects you’d usually want to go for cards that allow you to select the card to be discarded (harsh scrutiny, transgress the mind etc). Since you choosing a key card > your opponent discarding 2 cards that they don't need anyway (you need to be careful of madness too). Luckily, we do have one in SOI/EMN: Pick the Brain (which incidentally benefits from delirium too) and Whispers of Emrakul (since random card is good too. Sometimes.)
Alms of the vein is not really a good card. Even in a madness theme deck, its purpose is debatable. This is because you want any spell you cast to have some effect on the board. A card that only deals damage to players would be useful only as a finisher and is a terrible card to play early game as your opponent would just continue attacking you to close the gap.
With the Gitrog Monster being your only sacrifice outlet, I would suggest removing Bloodbriar.
Having said all that, my suggestions to the deck are
-4 Bloodbriar
+4 Obsessive skinner
-2 swift spinner
+2 kindly stranger
-2 alms of the vein
-2 mind rot
+2 Pick the brain
+2 Whispers of Emrakul
-1 swamp
-1 forest
+2 warped landscape
Lastly, you may wish to replace the Gitrog Monster for some other large creature to top your curve, since you’re lacking a way to fully utilize him.
Esper - Sydri - Alternate take on the Artifacts meta
Orzhov - Regna and Krav - Tokens and Lifegain and +1/+1 counters
Mono Green - Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar - Land Matters
WURG Kynaios and Tiro Grouphug/Fistbump
Strange Augmentation
Backwoods Survivalists
Might Beyond Reason
Stallion of Ashmouth
You could consider the following if needed:
Sideboards are largely based on the decks you expect the other players in your area to be playing. As a general guide, you could go for some artifact removal for artifact heavy decks, more hand disruption for control decks, some sweepers for servo decks and more instant speed removal for the Saheeli combo. Maybe 2 or 3 for each category.
Lastly, once you get a feel of the deck and game, you may wish to start sourcing for some rares or cards from other sets to improve this deck further.
Esper - Sydri - Alternate take on the Artifacts meta
Orzhov - Regna and Krav - Tokens and Lifegain and +1/+1 counters
Mono Green - Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar - Land Matters
WURG Kynaios and Tiro Grouphug/Fistbump
With regards to older sets: Shadows Over Innistrad, Eldritch Moon, Battle for Zendikar, Oath of the Gatewatch rotates in September 2017, so do consider this if you’re planning to get cards from these sets.
I mentioned the other sets and rares because a deck comprising only C/U cards from one block can only get you so far in magic. You can win some games with sensible deck building, but you won't be placing well in an FNM or Gamesday. Eventually you’d want to slowly expand your card pool and options to fully enjoy the game.
In terms of rares, it’d be really tempting at first to blow hundreds of dollars into Metadeck cards such as Ishkanah, Grafwidow or Grim Flayer. However, simple $1 rares such as Traverse the Ulvenwald, Deathcap Cultivator and To the Slaughter can already improve the deck significantly.
Esper - Sydri - Alternate take on the Artifacts meta
Orzhov - Regna and Krav - Tokens and Lifegain and +1/+1 counters
Mono Green - Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar - Land Matters
WURG Kynaios and Tiro Grouphug/Fistbump
Around here we have a few stores to play at. One that is very serious and holds tournaments. Another that is more about FNM,Commander and Casual Magic. Mostly we are all in it for the fun, not the competitive nature. Sure, we want to win and beat each other when we can, but we chat, we laugh, we munch on food while playing and get into deep discussions over books and movies. It is a family owned business that has loads of other gaming (D&D, board games, etc.) going on at the same time, so a very relaxed atmosphere. Maybe some day I will want to try out the other place for a competitive style, but that is far off!
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Hi! And thank you!
Budget~Not overly constrained, though my other hobbies are costly too! Mostly just wanting to get the hang of the game and make sure I have people to play with before investing too much more money into it. I'm a 54 year old female with non-gaming spouse, friends & family, so I am completely dependent on finding people at stores to play with.
Competitiveness~Again, will depend on regular play and how well I pick things up. I've only played three games so far. Not three tournaments or three rounds. Just three games! That being said, I want to go from a so-so deck, get familiar with the mechanics of the game and the various abilities each card/creature has, then start building from there to a more competitive deck.
Current Deck/Sideboard~Will let you know when it is complete. Doing a bit of tweaking and hitting up a store for some singles tonight, will tweak again, hope to have it ready for play on Friday for FNM, if I can find someone to play with me at the local store!
Originality~I would say a mix of the two. I like seeing what cards work well for other players, but not interested in a complete copy-cat deck. I like to mix it up and surprise people with things they may not expect or be prepared for, be it a big or small move!
Thematic~Right now I am just working with this block (SOI/EM) because they work well together and I want to be able to use them before they are rolled out of Standard. Once I play with this deck for a while I want to start incorporating my deck building skills by bringing in other cards from other sets for this deck to make it stronger and more effective, as well as build other decks and become familiar with cards of other colours/lands.
Overall, I love this game, the idea, the community, the artwork, strategy and social aspects. A lot rides on how often I will be able to play, how many games I can get in during a FNM or how that will all play out on a regular basis. When I go to stores everyone is already promised into another game of sorts, or Commander, or paired up with someone they play with regularly. I'm just starting to meet people so hopefully I will have someone to pair up with too, in time. I wish MTG would consider a beginner's night....something for 1st year players, to attend, match people up well, have some helpers on board for questions. I've known a lot of people from age 30 on who played MTG as a teen, but never got serious about it, left it, now want to come back and don't understand it. So they abandon it. I am working hard not to be one of those people! I want to learn as much as I can and play often!
I think that just asking at both the friendly and competitive stores will get you some suggestions about options for playing. The stores should have calendars of events. Going to a store and maybe not having a chance to play seems discouraging. One of the best ways to meet people and play with the cards is prereleases. The next one is for Amonkhet on April 22-23. Drafting is another way to meet people and get familiar with the cards. There are online simulators for draft and prereleases to practice with if you feel shy about jumping in.
I hope this helps!
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
9 Forest
9 Swamp
4 Evolving Winds
2 Hissing Quagmire
Creatures 20
4 Gnarlwood Dryad
4 Rancid Rats
4 Bloodbriar
2 Kindly Stranger
4 Mournwillow
2 Gitrog Monster
4 Dead Weight
2 Grapple with the Past
2 Whispers of Emrakul
2 Pick the Brain
2 To the Slaughter
4 Murder
3 Obsessive Skinner
2 Autumnal Gloom
2 To the Slaughter
2 Alms of the Vein
2 Swift Spinner
2 Demon's Grasp
2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
I have a few cards I wish I were able to fit in but don't see how. I only have 1 each at the moment.
Ulvenwald Observer
Soul of the Harvest
Thoughts?
From side to main: 3 Obsessive Skinner; 2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
From main to side: 2 Pick the Brain; 2 Whispers of Emrakul; 1 To the Slaughter
I would put both the Observer and Soul in your deck ahead of Alms of the Vein. I would put Soul in the main deck in place of the second To the Slaughter.
Advice for down the line:
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
You are right about my suggestions making Delirium less likely. Artifact creatures like Scrapheap Scrounger or Walking Ballista are great because they count as two types. Traverse the Ulvenwald would be a generally useful way to add sorceries. Live Fast would be another. The Renegade Maps I suggested will help, as would Vessel of Nascency. Crop Sigil is not the most competitive card, but could also help with Delirium.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
-Welcome to Magic! Personally, I've always recommended people just play the game a lot, then go competitive if they want. FNM is a good place to learn, and getting in side games is good practice. A better, more cohesive deck is an enormous help, but sheer practice is an important thing too, depending on the deck. That is, until you can play the deck pretty well as it is, you don't need to keep buying more cards. That'll come soon anyway, when you're good and addicted to the game (I don't mean that as criticism, merely in the sense of 'we all start somewhere'; Magic's complicated and takes time to learn to play or play well.)
-In a deck like this, with an average curve, a few other things to keep track of (the graveyard), and some disruption (meaning your spells that affect your opponent, like the Pick the Brains), you'll want to especially focus on sequencing, which is playing things in the most efficient way possible. For instance, questions of when to play Hissing Quagmire and a cheaper spell, or a Forest and a more expensive one; or when to cast a discard spell like Whispers of Emrakul. There's a lot to be learned here, both from articles and from sheer playing.
-Please, for your own sake: Don't play Modern. It's hard, it's usually absurdly expensive for a tournament-worthy deck, and for casual or lower-level play a Standard deck is just as good while also being upgradeable to a competitive level.
-Have you ever heard of Commander, also known as EDH? I wouldn't buy a deck yourself, as they're expensive and frankly just plain hard to play sometimes, but after you have some experience you might try asking to borrow an EDH deck if you see other players playing it at your local shop. It's a format with 100-card decks, 40 life, max 1 of any given card, and a 'Commander' you can always cast over and over again. It also can use cards from any time period and is 4-player, so a range of player ability and deck quality can exist at the table -- the focus is on multiplayer rather than merely competition.
On the deck:
-Definitely play the Ishkanah, Grafwidows. They're expensive (money-wise), so no need to buy more, but if you've got 'em they're one of the strongest payoffs for the Delirium strategy.
-Make sure you've got a good mix of card types so that you can turn on Delirium. You need 4 card types in grave to make lots of your cards good, so -- ignoring eg Grapple with the Past -- this could happen with, say, an Evolving Wilds for land, a creature dying, a sorcery (eg Whispers of Emrakul) and an instant (eg To the Slaughter). This can be a bit hard to do consistently, which is why I'd recommend a full 4 Grapple with the Past to help 'mill' yourself. ('Mill' is a term for putting cards from a library directly into graveyard, coming from the old card Millstone.)
--Buck v Bell, 1927. This case, regarding the compulsory sterilization of inmates at mental institutions, has -- somehow -- never been overturned. Just a wee PSA for ya.
Thank you for this! I looked it up and read it and now it makes sense. So I can have a Gitrog and Ishakana on the battlefield at the same time but not more than one, so I am curious as to the point of having 2 of them in my deck. Just for the sake of upping the chance that they will actually be drawn out of the 60 cards before I die?
Yes, the more I play the more I will become familiar with how cards work and interact with each other, both on my side and with an opponents cards. We do have EDH at our local stores and I have sat through a few times watching it. It is confusing, especially when you are just starting out with MTG, but I still enjoy watching and learn a bit each time. Eventually I plan to invest in a deck and hop on in. They are very helpful and will help me along the way. It is a very casual atmosphere. We are there to play and have fun, not compete or anything of that sort. One store plays with groups of 4-6, others only pods of 4. For now I will be sticking to Standard until I see how things go and have plenty of cards, as well as buying resources nearby to tweak things up, and have enough to keep me quite busy for a long while. But if all goes as plans, I will also enjoy future sets and trying out different things. One step at a time! One thing I am certain of is that no matter how fun it is to win, right now I am in it to learn and just get down the mechanics of the game and cards. It is a lot of fun, and yes, a very intricate game. I learn fast, once something gets settle in my busy brain! But I also want to have fun playing different cards and decks. Not just the ones that will be more certain to win, but because I just want to play them. I own them now, I don't want them sitting around collecting dust! I am willing for forfeit wins just to get in practice and have fun!
If I put in 2 more Grapple with the Past and my Ishkana,Grafwidow what would you take out?
9 Forest
9 Swamp
4 Evolving Winds
2 Hissing Quagmire
Creatures 22
4 Gnarlwood Dryad
4 Rancid Rats
4 Bloodbriar
2 Kindly Stranger
4 Mournwillow
2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
2 Gitrog Monster
4 Murder
4 Grapple with the Past
4 Dead Weight
2 Pick the Brain
3 Obsessive Skinner
2 Swift Spinner
2 Autumn Gloom
2 Whispers of Emrakul
2 Alms of the Vein
3 To the Slaughter
1 Soul of the Harvest
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.