So for some background, I've been playing MTG for 21 years. I played Standard for awhile, then quit just before Mirrodin block, taking a long but punctuated absence through the years before coming back to play Pauper recently.
That said, I've found it interesting to note some changes in magic lingo since I last played heavily, and I like to consider why those changes happened.
For example, when I played Standard before, it felt like the term "ramp" hadn't really entered Magic lingo. Back then it might just be called "mana acceleration" or "mana accel."
I think it wasn't until Mirrodin that ramp really started to be a tournament viable strategy, with Tooth and Nail decks. Before then it seemed like you'd only use 6+ CMC cards if you were cheating them into play via Oath of Druids, Natural Order, reanimation, etc.
Also, around this time WotC started making the CMC to power curve more exponential than linear. Before the difference in power of a 4 CMC to 7 CMC card was kinda minor (see rares like Archangel and Benthic Behemoth..their most recent versions are uncommons, but they used to be rares), but now cards at 5+ CMC start to be huge, game-shattering bombs.
And thus, now that ramp was more of a viable strategy, players needed a shorter, more concise word to call it.
Another difference: it seems "rogue deck" has gotten much less popular, while the term "brew" has risen in it's place. I think this might be effected by the internet making information much more quickly shared. Back in the days of the Dojo, there was a much bigger idea of "secret tech," and playing a rogue deck had the connotation of stealth and surprise. Now, after a single major tournament, information spreads much faster, so you can't keep it under wraps.
Rogue decks carried an implication of beating the system. Nowadays it's much harder to do that, and "brew" has the feel of something much more casual and friendly...you're not expecting to spike tournaments with you're secret tech, as that's unrealistic. Instead, you're just playing a non-tier deck for fun. Also I bet the "brew" term has been helped by craft beers becoming more popular in the last 15 or so years.
I wonder how much the etymology of ramp owes to Rampant Growth. The term makes more sense in a vacuum than, say, mill, though.
I've always seen the gap between homebrews and rogue decks to be one of performance. Any DIY decklist is a brew, but brews that can go toe-to-toe with the metagame are rogue decks. I've found this to be easier in modern than standard, where you can get away with some off-the-wall stuff.
One piece of lingo that I've paid attention to is the migration/permutation of "netdeck" to disparage players of CCGs who do not build decks from scratch. It can be tied directly to the lingo around brews, though, in my opinion, an exultation of creativity is healthier than looking down on people who create decks with internet research. Despite arising from the uneasy adaptation of an offline game to the internet, this pooh-poohing of internet-assisted deckbuilding is ironically more common in CCGs that exist entirely online, having been steadily abandoned by the MTG community as it became more accustomed to the web.
W may only be paid with white mana. U may only be paid with blue mana. B may only be paid with black mana. R may only be paid with red mana. G may only be paid with green mana. C may only be paid with colorless mana. 1 may be paid with white, blue, black, red, green, or clolorless mana.
I've always seen the gap between homebrews and rogue decks to be one of performance. Any DIY decklist is a brew, but brews that can go toe-to-toe with the metagame are rogue decks. I've found this to be easier in modern than standard, where you can get away with some off-the-wall stuff.
It helps that larger formats are easier to attack. Ultimately it's more helpful to think of it in terms of "Timmy and Johnny brew, while Spike pilots a rogue deck." More a statement on the nature/intentions of the deck than its results per se.
Timmy and Johnny players will play the decks that fits their play style, which are likely not the "best" deck in the format and they do so regardless of how actually good they are in a tournament metagame.
A pure spike player will always play the "best" deck even if they downright hate the deck, winning is more important.
A real rogue deck is often something that Johnny players will come up with as it requires to twiddle around with existing decks and figure out what the weakness is of the "best" deck and exploit it ; spike players will then jump the bandwagon and team up with the Johnny that made the deck and play it, if it promises better results.
----
In the end players have something of everything to some degree and other limitations like budget and such.
Traditionally, when Johnny gets involved, it's to come up with the idea or core interaction, while Spike makes the deck tournament-viable. Johnny's brew becomes Spike's rogue deck.
From my perspective a roguedeck is a homebrew that has gone off to war.
Netdecks run when a homebrew goes to war.
Dice will fall and show Blood Sun,
When a homebrew goes to war.
Friendship dies and the Spike lies,
Dice will fall and The Dark will rise,
When a homebrew goes to war.
Netdecks run, and check the cost.
The game's won but the match is lost.
That said, I've found it interesting to note some changes in magic lingo since I last played heavily, and I like to consider why those changes happened.
For example, when I played Standard before, it felt like the term "ramp" hadn't really entered Magic lingo. Back then it might just be called "mana acceleration" or "mana accel."
I think it wasn't until Mirrodin that ramp really started to be a tournament viable strategy, with Tooth and Nail decks. Before then it seemed like you'd only use 6+ CMC cards if you were cheating them into play via Oath of Druids, Natural Order, reanimation, etc.
Also, around this time WotC started making the CMC to power curve more exponential than linear. Before the difference in power of a 4 CMC to 7 CMC card was kinda minor (see rares like Archangel and Benthic Behemoth..their most recent versions are uncommons, but they used to be rares), but now cards at 5+ CMC start to be huge, game-shattering bombs.
And thus, now that ramp was more of a viable strategy, players needed a shorter, more concise word to call it.
Another difference: it seems "rogue deck" has gotten much less popular, while the term "brew" has risen in it's place. I think this might be effected by the internet making information much more quickly shared. Back in the days of the Dojo, there was a much bigger idea of "secret tech," and playing a rogue deck had the connotation of stealth and surprise. Now, after a single major tournament, information spreads much faster, so you can't keep it under wraps.
Rogue decks carried an implication of beating the system. Nowadays it's much harder to do that, and "brew" has the feel of something much more casual and friendly...you're not expecting to spike tournaments with you're secret tech, as that's unrealistic. Instead, you're just playing a non-tier deck for fun. Also I bet the "brew" term has been helped by craft beers becoming more popular in the last 15 or so years.
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
I've always seen the gap between homebrews and rogue decks to be one of performance. Any DIY decklist is a brew, but brews that can go toe-to-toe with the metagame are rogue decks. I've found this to be easier in modern than standard, where you can get away with some off-the-wall stuff.
One piece of lingo that I've paid attention to is the migration/permutation of "netdeck" to disparage players of CCGs who do not build decks from scratch. It can be tied directly to the lingo around brews, though, in my opinion, an exultation of creativity is healthier than looking down on people who create decks with internet research. Despite arising from the uneasy adaptation of an offline game to the internet, this pooh-poohing of internet-assisted deckbuilding is ironically more common in CCGs that exist entirely online, having been steadily abandoned by the MTG community as it became more accustomed to the web.
Yes, I know. Knowing that is the only reason the word makes sense as slang for the mechanic.
It helps that larger formats are easier to attack. Ultimately it's more helpful to think of it in terms of "Timmy and Johnny brew, while Spike pilots a rogue deck." More a statement on the nature/intentions of the deck than its results per se.
A pure spike player will always play the "best" deck even if they downright hate the deck, winning is more important.
A real rogue deck is often something that Johnny players will come up with as it requires to twiddle around with existing decks and figure out what the weakness is of the "best" deck and exploit it ; spike players will then jump the bandwagon and team up with the Johnny that made the deck and play it, if it promises better results.
----
In the end players have something of everything to some degree and other limitations like budget and such.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Dice will fall and show Blood Sun,
When a homebrew goes to war.
Friendship dies and the Spike lies,
Dice will fall and The Dark will rise,
When a homebrew goes to war.
Netdecks run, and check the cost.
The game's won but the match is lost.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)