Primers are threads intended to be provide the basics for a deck archtype or genre; this thread is to provide general instruction on how to write a primer for the casual (link) forum.
First, and foremost, understand that a primer is intended not only to be the thread that describes a deck archtype and its strategies, but also be holding place for all casual forum decks and discussion around that type. This includes tribal themes (angels, goblins, faeries), as well as normal archtypes (MUC, White weenie, burn), as well as popular deck-types (Land Destruction, Discard).
Be certain to put due diligence into writing a primer with sufficient information; it goes without saying that you should have plenty of personal knowledge and experience with a deck-type in order to write a primer in the first place :). Further writing a primer demands more dedication than the mere writing, you should be able and willing to keep it updated as well as participate in it.
The primer should be detailed and contain all relevant information to that archtype, including:
Introduction, History, General Strategies and Synergies, Usual Card choices, Sample Decklists, Relevant Links/References, (other nice-to-haves)
Casual means different things to different people, take care to write your primer with this in mind. While most will tell you that casual means “having fun”, its really up to each group to decide. Casual is typically some combination of the following:
- A variety of ban/restrictions lists from Standard (Type2), to Extended (Type1.5), to Vintage (Type1), to none.
- Competitiveness ranging from very competitive (Extended tourney caliber), thru moderately competitive, to very relaxed decks.
- Budget of decks is also highly variable...consider both low and higher budget.
- Original/different/experimental ideas for builds, and sometimes “janky” decks using cards or synergies that would never make it competitively.
- Experience. Everyone from newbies (with a pre-constructed deck and two boosters) to veterans spend time here.
Consider these things while writing your primer, so it’ll relate to all rather than some :).
For more on “casual”, see *link*
If you’d really like to make a primer, have almost-but-not-quite-enough knowledge about it, feel encouraged to start a thread seeking input...entitled “[Seeking Input] Primer: Apocalypse Chime” including your draft to solicit input to make it complete. Cite your key helpers in the primer if you get help.
Sections: Introduction
This section describes the theme of a deck. Add style points for pictures/banners or witty titles regarding the theme.
Dragons – the iconic fantasy creature of fire and destruction. Many people encounter dragons in generic fantasy, and when they're introduced to magic, they think about making a dragon deck. And then they plow right into that, since that's what Red does. We’ll rage on about all sorts of dragons and how to fry your enemies to ash. There's no time for thinking or worrying about others, THE FIRESTORM IS HERE!
This section should include a brief history of the archtype, including time period or sets that started that type of deck, and significant sets/expansions that evolved the archtype. This section may be brief or more detailed based on the archtype and your knowledge of it.
Mill was originally devised of the original Millstone, from the original core set (Alpha/Beta/et.al). Thus, the concept of “milling” your opponents library to 0 was born. Over the years, whetstone and other superior cards have replaced millstone, but the name has lived on.
The original “sligh” was built by Jay Schneider, though popularized by Paul Sligh. From the start, it focused more on efficient 1drops (9-13), 2drops (6-8) and 3drops (3-4) in the way of Goblins of the Flarg, Brass Man, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lighning, Incinerate, Orcish Artillary, Ball Lightning. Visions and Tempest Block highly accelerated Sligh with the great Fireblast, Jackal Pup, Goblin Cadets, and broken Cursed Scroll…allowing fairly consistent 4-turn wins.
General Strategies and Synergies
This section should describe what overall strategy the deck uses, as well as synergies of typical cards. The strategy should be explained in enough detail that mostly-regardless of cardpool available, the concept should be clear and how the deck might operate (say, in type 2 cardpool, or “eternal”). Also, synergies of certain cards should be discussed as how they interact, the order of play, and any reactionary strategy you might use (cards should be
IMPORTANT: Before I even begin, it is essential you read this article written by Magic great, Brian Wiseman, regarding Card Advantage written some 13 years ago. I don't care if you are a novice or a veteran at Magic, this is a great article that no magic player should miss out on. It has everything to do with our topic.
Part I
The Archetype
{snip}
The first thing you have to do when playing discard is to understand what your goals are. The purpose of a discard deck is to disrupt your opponent and limit his or her resources as quickly as possible. Combo decks need cards, and more importantly, specific cards to go off. Discard stops this from ever happening. Control also thrives on card advantage and Discard's ability to negate this makes life very rough on a control player. One of the Control's biggest threats is a turn one Hypnotic Specter. Even WotC acknowledges this in it's Xth edition core set Player's Guide where they write, "Once this flying terror starts randomly ripping apart your opponent's hand, the game is practically over." Agro decks, on the other hand, don't have a lot to fear from discard decks. This is because their goal is to empty their own hand as quickly as possible and burn you away before you can stabilize. Agro, by it's very nature, packs a lot of removal and burn spells that are designed to kill your creatures. This typically means that utility creatures like Hypnotic specter, Dark Confidant, and others have a short life expectancy. Most agro match ups that Discard will face are usually won in games two and three after side boarding. In casual though, players typically don't side board. Also, many casual player prefer to run agro decks. This is why discard is a less popular casual deck in my opinion.
Discarding your opponents cards, however, is not the only thing a discard deck needs to do to assure victory. Disruption is the name of the game when playing discard, and in this vein, we tend to look to land destruction. Many people have argued that Black should never have even gotten LD. That Land Destruction doesn't fit the theme of the color. I disagree. Black is the color of death and even in the fiction of Magic the Gathering, Black is the color of true evil power. While Red will destroy land in it's chaotic rampage, Black destroys land methodically in a much more cold and calculated manner.
“So what is being a Reanimtor about?” “A Reanimator uses black magic to turn the dead into undead and force them to do his gory bidding.” “So we prey upon our enemies with walking bones and rotten flesh? I mean, even I would have ethical problems beating up a farmer with parts of his granny.” “Hell, no! Usually Reanimators don’t target some corpses but the ones of the mightiest and deadliest beings that the multiverse has to offer. You must know the very first Reanimator’s name was Timmy.” “Now why would the creatures I’ll summon be slumbering six feet under my feet in wet, worm-ridden earth if they are so mighty?” “You placed them there.”
“What did you expect? We’re not just dissecting volunteers.” “So it’s that easy, bury my minion, stitch it together and make it beat faces?” "Yes and no, you know there are grave robbers, zombies and all other sorts of vermin feeding upon the dead, not to forget the magic of people fearing what we do.” “So we must just be faster than those haters.”
“Now you begin to understand.”
I tried to illustrate the three main problems Reanimator has to solve:
1) How to get the right creatures into your graveyard? 2) What are the right creatures?
Please include typical choices, budget choices, etc. Be sure to include a wide range of cards and options as applicable, to prevent the primer thread from stifling creativity (“these 18 cards MUST go into every single deck”) and becoming a “netdeck”.
This section should be split logically into sections. Each of those sections may vary based on the arch-type, and how each type is played…for example:
- MUC: Counters, Notable Draw, Board Control, Speedbumps, Win Conditions
- Dragons: Legendary, Mono color (W/U/B/R/G), Ramp, Support, Lands
- Reanimate: Putting creatures into the grave (discard), The right creatures (fatties), Hate/Reanimation (getting the buried into play).
- Angels: 1cc, 2cc, 3cc, 4cc, 5cc, 6cc, 7cc, 8cc, 9cc, Support, Mana
Clearly there’s more than one way to kill a cat. The point is to keep it organized and easy to follow.
Each section should be hidden in spoiler text, to keep the primer size/readability manageable. This can be done by putting [spoiler] and [/spoiler] around each section.
This section should also discuss, if possible, ratios of cards that a typically played for example:
Quote from Blut »
Due to the enormous flexibility and a generally efficiency, counters are the core and backbone of MUC. A deck should at least contain 15 counters and at most about 25, the majority should be among 2 or 3 mana and as definite as possible.
Each MUC needs ways to handle permanents. You should dedicate about 10 slots to this. It is recommended to have at least 3 board sweepers that destroy, so you draw one in each game.
You should at least fill two slots with good unconditional non-land wincons; agressive speedbumps can be added.
This section should contain some decklists (and cite the source, of course). Ideally, at least one reasonably competitive and a budget version of the deck should be included.
Describe in (at least brief) detail some other various archtypes if applicable, including types with other various colors splashed in. Some primers choose to have this in a separate section for convenience, it probably depends on the archtype. Some good examples of this are:
In this section, skeletons to different Elf decks will be provided. Because Casual is very meta dependent (what's popular in one group might not be played at all in another, kitchen table card bans, ect) I will only provide skeletons to these decklists, but will also provide suggestions on how to fill the remaining slots.
Elf Ball
Elf Ball is a combo deck, and an old one. Elf Ball got its name from running lots of mana Elves and killing the opponent with a large Fireball. However, splashing in Elf Ball is largely dead, since there are enough Mono-Green ways to kill the opponent.
Elf Ball needs lots of mana to function. Enter the best Elves has to offer: Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, and Priest of Titania as 4-ofs. As you want their mana as soon as possible, Concordant Crossroads is a must, but not neccesarily a 4-of, as extra copies sit in your hand doing nothing. To make even more mana, playsets of Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote are needed. Finally, you're going to need to draw into your combo. As the final must-have, a playset of Skullclamps.
For lands, Gaea's Cradle is perfect for this deck. Wirewood Lodge continues the untapping theme. The rest should be basic Forests, and you don't want too many. With so much mana, the deck can run off as few as 17 total lands.
From here, it's more of a matter of choosing your own path. Elf Ball can kill in a variety of ways, since it has so much mana. Timberwatch Elf is an excellent choice, and adding Heedless One gives a great target to use Timberwatch on. If there's a lot of targeted removal in your meta, or you are looking for Multiplayer, you could also use Staff of Domination to go infinite, gain infinite life, and draw into and cast a Hurricane that will kill everyone else at the table.
The deck has a few weaknesses. For one, mass removal, even Pyroclasm, can really hurt, as only Wirewood Symbiote can really help against that, so you may want to consider Caller of the Claw. Removing Skullclamp before it has a chance to do its thing can really take the gas out of the deck, so an alternative card drawer is advised. A burn deck would be able to kill off most of your mana and then go for the dome, while you can do nothing.
Aggro Elves
Rather straightforward deck with a simple goal: reduce the opponent's life from 20 to 0 as fast as possible by smashing face.
Start with 4 of Wren's Run Vanquisher and Llanowar Elves. From here Timbewrwatch Elf is a necessity, turning any unblocked creature into Good Game. Impervious Perfect is a great Lord for this deck, and the extra 2/2s are amazing. Once again, Skullclamp proves itself useful, giving a power boost to the equipped creature and providing card advantage and recovery vs mass removal.
For the lands, be sure to use a Pendelhaven. The rest can be basic Forests. Since this deck has fewer mana producers than Elf Ball, the land count will have to be upped.
The additional spaces can be anything, as long as it helps you win faster. Umezawa's Jitte is a great card for any Aggro deck. Elvish Champion provides an additional Lord. Nettle Sentinel is a 2/2 for a single mana, and doesn't have a huge drawback in a Mono-Green deck. Viridian Zealot can hit for 2, and can kill off any bothersome artifact or enchantment.
This deck, too, is weak to mass removal, but not as weak to Pyroclasm as it's Elf Ball brother. With enough Lords, Pyroclasm doesn't have much of an effect. The deck has no disruption vs combo decks, making those the hardest matchups, unless it can kill fast enough
Don’t branch too far out with archtypes though, a separate primer may be warranted. Angels including multi-color variants is okay. Mono Blue Control should be separate from Mono-Black Control.
Relevant Links and references
Include a section for relevant links if you can. This should at least include a link to the vintage and extended forum version of the deck for ideas/competitive reference, as well as other articles (wizards.com, starcity, magic deck vortex, etc) as applicable. It should also include links to significant old casual threads related to the deck. Also, if your primer is intended to replace a now-dead primer, reference the original(s).
Some folks play with sideboards, some don’t. If you do, discuss sideboard options as it will be helpful to some.
Matchups
While this isn’t a Type1/1.5/2 forum, feel encouraged to discuss matchups with other sorts of deck archtypes, and strengths/weaknesses of your subject archtype in various matchups.
Cards not-chosen (and why)
Again, while this isn’t technically a competitive forum, if there are subpar cards or conflicting synergies that may not be immediately obvious (ie: don’t play lifegain/control in white weenie, there should be no mid-game), discuss them. Consider though, with budget and recent vs. old cardpool availability, the absolute “best” card isn’t the only card that a deck can play. Decent cards should not be relegated to the “garbage, never play this” pile just b/c they’re not the absolute best (ie. Force of Will (Great) vs. Counterspell (good) vs. Cancel (decent) vs. Arcane Denial (never-play)
Card ratings
This is done nicely in some primers (the angel primer comes to mind). The forum has a “emoticon” for ratings, and feel encouraged to rate your card choices. Its done with or ::rate1: > :rate5:.
Above all, have fun, and good luck with your primer!
Hey I want to do a primer but I don't know how to do the spoiler thing where it hides the cards, how do you do that. The primer I want to do by the way is Changeling, I've got Red / Green , Red / Green / White and Red / Green / Black Changeling decks that are all competitive on Magic Workstation.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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"STAY CLEAR OF WHITE POWDER"
311 "Who's Got the Herb"
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This is probably a stupid question, but how do you write a link to a card? Like how you can click on a card name and the new window opens for the card rules and price?
Not a dumb question at all. Two ways really either type out [ card ] and [ /card ] (without spaces) around the card which is not recommended or type the card you want linked and then highlight it and click the picture of a single magic card (in the code menu above where you make your message) and it will wrap the code around that word.
Not a dumb question at all. Two ways really either type out [ card ] and [ /card ] (without spaces) around the card which is not recommended or type the card you want linked and then highlight it and click the picture of a single magic card (in the code menu above where you make your message) and it will wrap the code around that word.
Thank you so much! That helped alot! But another thing is, when I try to start the thread, the website won't let me :\ why?
Maybe. I use my iPhone most of the time so I don't have a mouse which may be the reason I haven't been able to figure it out yet. Lol. I need to get my laptop out I guess.
dunno in iPhone navigator, but in my Android phone (using default navigator or chrome) i just need to press and hold on the image, and choose to open in new tab, to copy the link.
Primers are threads intended to be provide the basics for a deck archtype or genre; this thread is to provide general instruction on how to write a primer for the casual (link) forum.
First, and foremost, understand that a primer is intended not only to be the thread that describes a deck archtype and its strategies, but also be holding place for all casual forum decks and discussion around that type. This includes tribal themes (angels, goblins, faeries), as well as normal archtypes (MUC, White weenie, burn), as well as popular deck-types (Land Destruction, Discard).
Be certain to put due diligence into writing a primer with sufficient information; it goes without saying that you should have plenty of personal knowledge and experience with a deck-type in order to write a primer in the first place :). Further writing a primer demands more dedication than the mere writing, you should be able and willing to keep it updated as well as participate in it.
The primer should be detailed and contain all relevant information to that archtype, including:
Introduction, History, General Strategies and Synergies, Usual Card choices, Sample Decklists, Relevant Links/References, (other nice-to-haves)
Casual means different things to different people, take care to write your primer with this in mind. While most will tell you that casual means “having fun”, its really up to each group to decide. Casual is typically some combination of the following:
- A variety of ban/restrictions lists from Standard (Type2), to Extended (Type1.5), to Vintage (Type1), to none.
- Competitiveness ranging from very competitive (Extended tourney caliber), thru moderately competitive, to very relaxed decks.
- Budget of decks is also highly variable...consider both low and higher budget.
- Original/different/experimental ideas for builds, and sometimes “janky” decks using cards or synergies that would never make it competitively.
- Experience. Everyone from newbies (with a pre-constructed deck and two boosters) to veterans spend time here.
Consider these things while writing your primer, so it’ll relate to all rather than some :).
For more on “casual”, see *link*
If you’d really like to make a primer, have almost-but-not-quite-enough knowledge about it, feel encouraged to start a thread seeking input...entitled “[Seeking Input] Primer: Apocalypse Chime” including your draft to solicit input to make it complete. Cite your key helpers in the primer if you get help.
Sections:
Introduction
This section describes the theme of a deck. Add style points for pictures/banners or witty titles regarding the theme.
Dragon’s Primer
Discard Primer
Reanimator Primer
Please include typical choices, budget choices, etc. Be sure to include a wide range of cards and options as applicable, to prevent the primer thread from stifling creativity (“these 18 cards MUST go into every single deck”) and becoming a “netdeck”.
This section should be split logically into sections. Each of those sections may vary based on the arch-type, and how each type is played…for example:
- Dragons: Legendary, Mono color (W/U/B/R/G), Ramp, Support, Lands
- Reanimate: Putting creatures into the grave (discard), The right creatures (fatties), Hate/Reanimation (getting the buried into play).
- Angels: 1cc, 2cc, 3cc, 4cc, 5cc, 6cc, 7cc, 8cc, 9cc, Support, Mana
Each section should be hidden in spoiler text, to keep the primer size/readability manageable. This can be done by putting [spoiler] and [/spoiler] around each section.
MUC Primer
Elves Primer
Don’t branch too far out with archtypes though, a separate primer may be warranted. Angels including multi-color variants is okay. Mono Blue Control should be separate from Mono-Black Control.
Include a section for relevant links if you can. This should at least include a link to the vintage and extended forum version of the deck for ideas/competitive reference, as well as other articles (wizards.com, starcity, magic deck vortex, etc) as applicable. It should also include links to significant old casual threads related to the deck. Also, if your primer is intended to replace a now-dead primer, reference the original(s).
Some folks play with sideboards, some don’t. If you do, discuss sideboard options as it will be helpful to some.
While this isn’t a Type1/1.5/2 forum, feel encouraged to discuss matchups with other sorts of deck archtypes, and strengths/weaknesses of your subject archtype in various matchups.
Again, while this isn’t technically a competitive forum, if there are subpar cards or conflicting synergies that may not be immediately obvious (ie: don’t play lifegain/control in white weenie, there should be no mid-game), discuss them. Consider though, with budget and recent vs. old cardpool availability, the absolute “best” card isn’t the only card that a deck can play. Decent cards should not be relegated to the “garbage, never play this” pile just b/c they’re not the absolute best (ie. Force of Will (Great) vs. Counterspell (good) vs. Cancel (decent) vs. Arcane Denial (never-play)
DRum
Old school group, sometimes more beer than cards. Revised thru Tempest block (and a little of Urza), sorry if I don't know all the new cards
Ye' Olde Schoole Casual Decks: BUReanimate -- GRAggro -- BWPestilence -- G10-land Stompy -- GRElfball -- GWEnchantress -- RAnkh Sligh -- BDiscard -- MUC "Draw-go" -- BRSuicide -- UWSkies -- UHigh Tide Mill -- WWeenie -- UMutated Bombers -- URThe great land-toss -- UB Molasass
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"STAY CLEAR OF WHITE POWDER"
311 "Who's Got the Herb"
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As written in the stickied thread under the [Primer] list: Forum Guidelines - PLEASE READ!
...
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Thank you so much! That helped alot! But another thing is, when I try to start the thread, the website won't let me :\ why?
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
Proud member of the Spirit of EDH
BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
WUB Dakkon Blackblade
GR Atarka, World Render
{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
Deck Building Primer - Casual
Sliver Primer - Casual Share your tips with us !!
Want To Buy List Please Check !!
Now Playing:
Excaliboros R(R/W)W / Maverick G(G/W)W
Bant Pro Excalibur (G/U)W(G/U) / Merfolk (W/U)U(U/B)
Maybe. I use my iPhone most of the time so I don't have a mouse which may be the reason I haven't been able to figure it out yet. Lol. I need to get my laptop out I guess.
Deck Building Primer - Casual
Sliver Primer - Casual Share your tips with us !!
Want To Buy List Please Check !!
Now Playing:
Excaliboros R(R/W)W / Maverick G(G/W)W
Bant Pro Excalibur (G/U)W(G/U) / Merfolk (W/U)U(U/B)