Throughout building many decks with varying degrees of success I have finally came to this conclussion: I must figure myself out as a player. Although this seems to be a 'duh' conclussion there are deeper implications to this simple statement, allow me explain:
1. There will always be cards that you, personally, believe are playable.
2. What playable means to you may not be what the world defines it as.
3. You might feel better playing bad cards (not top dollar) due to the fact that they are not what is super popular.
4. Path to Exile is a good card, theres nothing to add there. However, it is an amazing card due to its effect nothing else...whereas Dispatch is a card that in a deck with Metalcraft seems like a suitable 'upgrade'. This example leads me to my next point...
5. Do your research and figure out what it is you're looking for. There are so many cards and the popular choice is not ALWAYS the best choice.
These are the 5 steps I try to follow when constructing decks but there will always be one thing in the back of my mind that I know I have to address if I want people to take my home brews seriously, and that is: Homebrews do not mean weaker or unable to win with, they simply offer an unpopular approach to the same goal of the game (to win) then usually thought of. But with less support going into making home brews you will find less resources (other players and articles) to help you on your journey. This fact will lead to loses but remember that losing the matches you should makes winning those you shouldn't feel better. Be humble and be ready to lose to the bulk of the Top-Notch/Net-Deck Decks (Recently Top at a GP) or those with money jammed into them.
6. Respect has to be gained so if you truly believe a card to be good you will have to annoy people on countless occasions in order for them to value that card's spot in your deck.
The times I have successfully swayed the popular opinion based on sheer results were with these cards:
-Blood-cursed Knight (Origins / favored wings the turn after seems bad but for the time period and the meta when Origins was Standard it did fine) Knight placed me Top 3 every FNM.
-Seed Guardian (Oath of the Gatewatch / still an incredible card with draftable stats and a buddy dropped which only gets bigger) Made my emerge deck using Grapple with the Past (and Corpse Churn) and Vassel of Nescency SUPER dangerous.
-Slag Fiend (New Phyrexia / Currently running in a Eggs like shell alongside Salvage Titan and O-Naginata) Dumps on Affinity and is weak to removal that other Top Tier staples are weak to (Path, Fatal Push and Terminate).
-Ashmouth Hound (Innistrad / In combination with Nightshade Peddler this would take down anything in the Standard Innistrad format spot removal was not as amazing as it is today).
Cards I am trying to prove are valuable:
-Riftmarked Knight (Planar Chaos / Decent card)
-Shivan Sand-Mage (Future Sight / In combination with Riftmarked)
-Stonecloaker (Planar Chaos / Super clutch removal card with good stats easy to cast and evasion; able to target itself if need be)
-Gremlin Mine (New Phyrexia / Affinity matchup sideboard option...extremely cheap and playable to all)
-Extricator of Sin // Extricator of Flesh (Vialed in or flashed in by other means gives you sac outlet and a very powerful flip side; great stats)
But theres more to figuring yourself out. You also while playing, have to be conscious of *how you are playing. By that I mean the difference between, what you are aiming to do and what you are actually doing.
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1. There will always be cards that you, personally, believe are playable.
2. What playable means to you may not be what the world defines it as.
3. You might feel better playing bad cards (not top dollar) due to the fact that they are not what is super popular.
4. Path to Exile is a good card, theres nothing to add there. However, it is an amazing card due to its effect nothing else...whereas Dispatch is a card that in a deck with Metalcraft seems like a suitable 'upgrade'. This example leads me to my next point...
5. Do your research and figure out what it is you're looking for. There are so many cards and the popular choice is not ALWAYS the best choice.
These are the 5 steps I try to follow when constructing decks but there will always be one thing in the back of my mind that I know I have to address if I want people to take my home brews seriously, and that is: Homebrews do not mean weaker or unable to win with, they simply offer an unpopular approach to the same goal of the game (to win) then usually thought of. But with less support going into making home brews you will find less resources (other players and articles) to help you on your journey. This fact will lead to loses but remember that losing the matches you should makes winning those you shouldn't feel better. Be humble and be ready to lose to the bulk of the Top-Notch/Net-Deck Decks (Recently Top at a GP) or those with money jammed into them.
6. Respect has to be gained so if you truly believe a card to be good you will have to annoy people on countless occasions in order for them to value that card's spot in your deck.
The times I have successfully swayed the popular opinion based on sheer results were with these cards:
-Blood-cursed Knight (Origins / favored wings the turn after seems bad but for the time period and the meta when Origins was Standard it did fine) Knight placed me Top 3 every FNM.
-Seed Guardian (Oath of the Gatewatch / still an incredible card with draftable stats and a buddy dropped which only gets bigger) Made my emerge deck using Grapple with the Past (and Corpse Churn) and Vassel of Nescency SUPER dangerous.
-Slag Fiend (New Phyrexia / Currently running in a Eggs like shell alongside Salvage Titan and O-Naginata) Dumps on Affinity and is weak to removal that other Top Tier staples are weak to (Path, Fatal Push and Terminate).
-Ashmouth Hound (Innistrad / In combination with Nightshade Peddler this would take down anything in the Standard Innistrad format spot removal was not as amazing as it is today).
Cards I am trying to prove are valuable:
-Riftmarked Knight (Planar Chaos / Decent card)
-Shivan Sand-Mage (Future Sight / In combination with Riftmarked)
-Stonecloaker (Planar Chaos / Super clutch removal card with good stats easy to cast and evasion; able to target itself if need be)
-Gremlin Mine (New Phyrexia / Affinity matchup sideboard option...extremely cheap and playable to all)
-Extricator of Sin // Extricator of Flesh (Vialed in or flashed in by other means gives you sac outlet and a very powerful flip side; great stats)
Any thoughts? Feel free to disagree!
-Andrew