Since i'm playing with other 3 friends, i'm looking for 4 decks that are balanced each others and fun to play.
Everyone has his main deck built booster after booster but that's not the point cause our main decks can never be really balanced each others.
I wanna find out sets of 4 decks that are balanced each others and fun to play.
We bought the planechase 2012 set and it is exactly what i'm looking at. 4 decks, with good cards, each with a strategy and each with the same (more or less) chances of winning.
Of course i know the planechase 2009 and it's another good set.
What i'm asking is if you know other sets to buy with 4 decks like the planechase ones (or even without a set, 4 decks to buy that are good against each others even if they don't belong to a multiplayer set) or if you can link some constructed deck (with all cards as possible options, to play for fun in 4 i can also print what i lack) made by users (not important the format and each deck can also belong to different standards or different formats)studied for playing in 4 (we play free for all, 2v2 or even 1v1).
I don't need you to suggest ONE good deck for multiplayer, the point is having 4 decks (if they are themed also better)to compete each others.
Hope you can help me!
pucatrade
big receipts
alpha mox emerald
beta time walk
4 goyfs received
3 liliana of the veil
4 karn liberated
3 force of will
4 grove of the burnwillows
snapcaster mage
3 horizon canopy
2 full art damnation
we are also going to buy commander 2016, but that's not this case.
We still prefer the normal 60cards deck with doubles allowed and no commander.
The format isn't important. Each deck coul also be from a different block, but not commander.
The duel deck anthology is good for balance i think but each deck seems very poor and weak.
Compared to the planeschase decks we own they just suck, i mean, in planechase each deck is themed and it has very good cards that also requires you to "think"...there is one deck with ninjutsu (with the best ninjas and good enablers), one 5colors deck cascade-based (with almost the best cascade spells and nice 5 colors spell like last stand or the fusion elemental), one token deck that can combo with devour creatures or with replacing token spells or buff token spells and an aura deck with very good enchantment and every creature that does something when enchanted.
I'm not saying that this set is "competitive", but it is REALLY well made in terms of fun and balancing.
It is just the best thing we found to play in 4, we are looking for variety, but i wanna keep the QUALITY.
The duel deck anthology seems more a stupid basic deck with one random legendary in which you just play what you have in hand and even if there is balance, it seems no fun.
It seems like Magic didn't release any other good set of 4 decks like planechase, but is it possible that there aren't decks "user-made" studied to play in 4? It's a lot since i'm searching something like that but i find nothing. I olny find posts/threads/lists of single decks built to smash, but nothing studied for a 4-men MagicTG night...
EDIT: i looked better at the duels anthology decks and they are not that bad as i remembered, still looking for something else, but that can be an option if i can't find anything better
Explorers of Ixalan might also be worth a look. Although I'm not sure whether it's worth the MSRP which is really the issue with these types of sets. Although the decks may be fairly balanced, they usually aren't worth the money invested and are practically useless outside of their intended purpose. I say all of this to simply ask why not just build four decently competitive decks that each of you could use?
why not just build four decently competitive decks that each of you could use?
Nice point, but simply we are not expert deckbuilders and it ends with unbalanced decks.
It's pretty "easy" to build a deck by choosing your best options, but it's not so easy to build FOUR decks that are perfect to compete each others.
Maybe it sounds stupid cause one in magic just wants to win, but the way i get more fun isn't having the best deck, but having a totally fair matchup in which the skill is the most important element.
Let's say we have deck A, B, C and D and that each deck has a power given by a number when he fights another deck.
What happens to poor deckbuilders is that "A" is "7" against "B" and 9 against C and 4 against D. Then B will have his different power and so on, you understood what i mean.
Good deckbuilders can create decks that are all "7" against everyone, more or less of course, perferct balancing is UTOPIA, i know that.
Thijs1301 has a point. Not sure anyone here has the time to work on a deck for you, submit it here, only to have you say "Nope, not my style." Wat?
Are there guidelines of preference you like? If nothing, start putting in cards you WANT to play with, balanced with answers to common card types ie lands, creature hordes, artifacts, enchantments, planeswalkers, etc. If your deck is balanced to handle many card types and filled with cards you LIKE to play, then balance isn't so much a problem, but it then gives us something to add advice to. Just a thought.
For example, my Crash and Burn r/g, Kaladesh artifact u/r/b, Orzov b/w extort, and mono-b Dark Depths decks all play VERY differently, yet all four handle multiple card types and are thus balanced enough to bash together in a FFA. Start with basic deck structure first, expand from there for theme.
Well, you are right, i didn't give indication of preferences, but simply cause there are no real preferences.
My preferences are simple and not restrictive:
1) colours: each deck should have different colours and can be mono or bi. One of the four can be penta (or tri) but NOT all 4.
2) themed or ability-based. I like if each deck is built around a tribe or an ability or something that links things, i think this gives a soul to the deck. There can be a "samurai deck" or a "beasts deck" or a "flying deck" or a "exert deck" or a "transform deck" or dunno, everything else. I just don't like something like "this looselife demon is good, let's pick him with this reanimator zombie and this goblin that fires damage and yes let's also pick this embalm creature and whynot let's put this good delirium creature!" cause the final result can be good but it's not what i prefer. In few words i like decks i can identify with few words and not a mix of stuff here and there.
3) no preferred cards, no restrictions of cards, budget or anything else (as i said, to play for fun with friends we can also print cards, it's for fun not a tournament). And no commander (some cards can be in single copy of course, but it has to be a regular 60cards deck, not the 100cards with everything single like in commander)
4) most important but also obvious: no decks with stupid tournament combos that wins the game in t1. I mean, the objective is "playing for fun with friends and have fun", not create decks that are based on "tournament combos".
I've found the best multiplayer decks are ones BUILT for multiplayer. This may seem obvious but it is often missed by people. A deck that tops out on its fourth turn isn't going to be useful nor fun in a multiplayer match. That being said, here are my pitches:
Monoblack "Twoheaded Giant" deck:
This is straight up an extort deck barely using the extort mechanic. It is rarely matched early game and uses its time to ramp up for it's finishers Exsanguinate, Grey Merh, BCA, and Cryptborn Horror (who's smallest has come in at 6/6, typically between 13/13-19/19).
This deck is an absolute rattlesnake. Piloting this deck you are laying down the law of the battlefield. Retribution is assured (and also an underrated card that I'd be running in this deck if my only copy wasn't in another deck). This deck is 99% incapable of "going wide" and is typically the winner due to the fact that few are willing to attack knowing the deck's unforgiving nature, hence it is typically one of the last two at the end of the game. Sure, a Tranquility and a Wrath of God will end its existence, but surprisingly, that has yet to happen in my meta. Go figure.
Before anyone else suggests powerful add-ins: I know. I built this deck with cards I opened and only sought out the Eye and the other 3 Conduits. If you want to play this deck on more of a budget, you can drop the Temple and Eye and add in some other 2 cmc or less (Sol Ring?) in their stead. The Wastes are sadly mandatory to utilize the Walkers. This deck is polar opposite of the Two-Headed Giant deck: it ramps early to get out its bruisers late game, but is typically able to get them out fast enough to both attack and defend. Deceiver of Form and Conduit of Ruin are also must-haves, as they accelerate the deck.
I called it Aluren due to it being the entire basis for the deck, but was the last card I was able to get for the deck (happily right before the price explosion). That being said, Aluren is surprisingly not even vital, nor is Fastbond or Pharika(though all are greatly beneficial). The Grim Guardians make it very possible to go wide. Feel free to sub a Pact for a Rancor as I just realized this has none. Fastbond, and Recycle essentially let you play your whole deck, but with each being 1-ofs, the chance is statistically low enough to not ruin consecutive games for your play group.
I have a list for a near-impossible-to-win group-hug style Chaos deck, but I've found most people enjoy having a chance of winning. If you want the list though I'm more than willing to share it.
Well, so I have the four decks I've just made recently or refined which I just mentioned in my last post, but am including one more. None of them are going to walk into a store and rock the scene, but they all can mess with each other relentlessly. Depending on how each person played, they could match up very well against one another, too. Whether 2v2, 2-HG, 4 person FFA, and other smaller games, or even five person star, all have the same basic structure, and so their relative power levels are largely not an issue. Based on this, feel free to clarify some more on what you like. I'm only including decks I already built because I'm just not amibtious enough to design a deck for you and other folks here are much better at competitive decks. I just know what I like to play with!
Basic Red/Green stompy + burn deck I put together to teach people play rules, built around the simple theme title of "crash" (green stomp) and "burn" (red burnination).
I built it to play with fun Kaladesh-block themes such as energy, vehicles, gearhulks, and Gonti himself. Lots of fun synergies, life gain, and creature control options.
Built around Karlov as an Orzhov-centric theme, only borrowing two Tsabo's Decrees to help with crowd control, also allowing me to play extort heavily.
Wanted an off-beat frog theme that can endlessly mould combat to my advantage. Probably my best deck of all five here simply because I added counter to the mix to stop spells that might mess with the deck's board position, and it can literally affect and/or destroy all card types pretty easily. But it doesn't have lifegain, which could be taken advantage of by something like the extort theme above with help from something else.
Built around Dark Depths and Vampire Hexmage synergy, I went with the Marit Lage cult/quasi-HPLovecraft-Cthulu theme for vampires and rag tag Phyrexian forces trying to summon the ancient monster. I even threw in a couple demons (after all, you need demons and vampires to have those tutors, right?) for good measure. And, the hexmages use Hex, because, well, it's a hexmage.
Any combination of these decks can work in a group ffa because they are built for smaller multi-player games, have mass creature elements without being oppressive mass control, and handle different types of cards well.
Everyone has his main deck built booster after booster but that's not the point cause our main decks can never be really balanced each others.
I wanna find out sets of 4 decks that are balanced each others and fun to play.
We bought the planechase 2012 set and it is exactly what i'm looking at. 4 decks, with good cards, each with a strategy and each with the same (more or less) chances of winning.
Of course i know the planechase 2009 and it's another good set.
What i'm asking is if you know other sets to buy with 4 decks like the planechase ones (or even without a set, 4 decks to buy that are good against each others even if they don't belong to a multiplayer set) or if you can link some constructed deck (with all cards as possible options, to play for fun in 4 i can also print what i lack) made by users (not important the format and each deck can also belong to different standards or different formats)studied for playing in 4 (we play free for all, 2v2 or even 1v1).
I don't need you to suggest ONE good deck for multiplayer, the point is having 4 decks (if they are themed also better)to compete each others.
Hope you can help me!
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
pucatrade
big receipts
alpha mox emerald
beta time walk
4 goyfs received
3 liliana of the veil
4 karn liberated
3 force of will
4 grove of the burnwillows
snapcaster mage
3 horizon canopy
2 full art damnation
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
We still prefer the normal 60cards deck with doubles allowed and no commander.
The format isn't important. Each deck coul also be from a different block, but not commander.
The duel deck anthology is good for balance i think but each deck seems very poor and weak.
Compared to the planeschase decks we own they just suck, i mean, in planechase each deck is themed and it has very good cards that also requires you to "think"...there is one deck with ninjutsu (with the best ninjas and good enablers), one 5colors deck cascade-based (with almost the best cascade spells and nice 5 colors spell like last stand or the fusion elemental), one token deck that can combo with devour creatures or with replacing token spells or buff token spells and an aura deck with very good enchantment and every creature that does something when enchanted.
I'm not saying that this set is "competitive", but it is REALLY well made in terms of fun and balancing.
It is just the best thing we found to play in 4, we are looking for variety, but i wanna keep the QUALITY.
The duel deck anthology seems more a stupid basic deck with one random legendary in which you just play what you have in hand and even if there is balance, it seems no fun.
It seems like Magic didn't release any other good set of 4 decks like planechase, but is it possible that there aren't decks "user-made" studied to play in 4? It's a lot since i'm searching something like that but i find nothing. I olny find posts/threads/lists of single decks built to smash, but nothing studied for a 4-men MagicTG night...
EDIT: i looked better at the duels anthology decks and they are not that bad as i remembered, still looking for something else, but that can be an option if i can't find anything better
Nice point, but simply we are not expert deckbuilders and it ends with unbalanced decks.
It's pretty "easy" to build a deck by choosing your best options, but it's not so easy to build FOUR decks that are perfect to compete each others.
Maybe it sounds stupid cause one in magic just wants to win, but the way i get more fun isn't having the best deck, but having a totally fair matchup in which the skill is the most important element.
Let's say we have deck A, B, C and D and that each deck has a power given by a number when he fights another deck.
What happens to poor deckbuilders is that "A" is "7" against "B" and 9 against C and 4 against D. Then B will have his different power and so on, you understood what i mean.
Good deckbuilders can create decks that are all "7" against everyone, more or less of course, perferct balancing is UTOPIA, i know that.
That's why i'm asking for 4 decks
There was some decent advice within. IIRC.
If that doesn’t help, give us something to work with.
Colors, preferred cards, amounts of those, preferred deck types, budgets, restrictions.
Edit, link to the thread (pretty thin though):
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/casual-multiplayer-formats/multiplayer/785510-building-4-ffa-decks-to-play-against-each-other
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
Are there guidelines of preference you like? If nothing, start putting in cards you WANT to play with, balanced with answers to common card types ie lands, creature hordes, artifacts, enchantments, planeswalkers, etc. If your deck is balanced to handle many card types and filled with cards you LIKE to play, then balance isn't so much a problem, but it then gives us something to add advice to. Just a thought.
For example, my Crash and Burn r/g, Kaladesh artifact u/r/b, Orzov b/w extort, and mono-b Dark Depths decks all play VERY differently, yet all four handle multiple card types and are thus balanced enough to bash together in a FFA. Start with basic deck structure first, expand from there for theme.
My preferences are simple and not restrictive:
1) colours: each deck should have different colours and can be mono or bi. One of the four can be penta (or tri) but NOT all 4.
2) themed or ability-based. I like if each deck is built around a tribe or an ability or something that links things, i think this gives a soul to the deck. There can be a "samurai deck" or a "beasts deck" or a "flying deck" or a "exert deck" or a "transform deck" or dunno, everything else. I just don't like something like "this looselife demon is good, let's pick him with this reanimator zombie and this goblin that fires damage and yes let's also pick this embalm creature and whynot let's put this good delirium creature!" cause the final result can be good but it's not what i prefer. In few words i like decks i can identify with few words and not a mix of stuff here and there.
3) no preferred cards, no restrictions of cards, budget or anything else (as i said, to play for fun with friends we can also print cards, it's for fun not a tournament). And no commander (some cards can be in single copy of course, but it has to be a regular 60cards deck, not the 100cards with everything single like in commander)
4) most important but also obvious: no decks with stupid tournament combos that wins the game in t1. I mean, the objective is "playing for fun with friends and have fun", not create decks that are based on "tournament combos".
Monoblack "Twoheaded Giant" deck:
4x Altar of the Brood
Creatures
1x Basilica Screecher
2x Cryptborn Ghast
1x Cryptborn Horror
1x Desecration Demon
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4x Mardu Shadowspear
2x Night Market Lookout
4x Pulse Tracker
1x Scythe Specter
4x Thornbow Archer
1x Zulaport Cutthroat
3x Bloodchief Ascension
1x Feast on the Fallen
1x Palace Siege
2x Retreat to Hagra
1x Words of Waste
Instants (if you want)
4x Dark Ritual
Land
4x Leechridden Swamp
17x Swamp
1x Blood Tithe
1x Exsanguinate
1x Tyrant's Choice
This is straight up an extort deck barely using the extort mechanic. It is rarely matched early game and uses its time to ramp up for it's finishers Exsanguinate, Grey Merh, BCA, and Cryptborn Horror (who's smallest has come in at 6/6, typically between 13/13-19/19).
Go Away, a Boros deck:
1x Portcullis
3x Thunderstaff
Creature
1x Anax and Cymede
4x Banisher Priest
1x Boros Battleshaper
1x Boros Reckoner
4x Fiend Hunter
1x Figure of Destiny
2x Forgeborn Oreads
1x legion Loyalist
2x Pride Guardian
1x Scourge of Geier Reach
1x Seraph of the Sword
1x Sworn Defender
1x Tajic, Blade of the Legion
1x Valor
1x Wall of Nets
3x Banishing Light
1x Captive Flame
2x Chained to the Rocks
2x Circle of Flame
1x Flamespeaker's Will
2x Impact Tremors
1x Lashknife Barrier
1x Mystic Barrier
3x Oblivion Ring
1x Suspension Field
Instants
1x Furious Resistance
1x Rouse the Mob
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Boros Guildgate
14x Mountain
11x Plains
1x Wind-Scarred Crag
Sorcery
1x Tectonic Rift
This deck is an absolute rattlesnake. Piloting this deck you are laying down the law of the battlefield. Retribution is assured (and also an underrated card that I'd be running in this deck if my only copy wasn't in another deck). This deck is 99% incapable of "going wide" and is typically the winner due to the fact that few are willing to attack knowing the deck's unforgiving nature, hence it is typically one of the last two at the end of the game. Sure, a Tranquility and a Wrath of God will end its existence, but surprisingly, that has yet to happen in my meta. Go figure.
Next up is Colorless, nonlegendary Eldrazi:
1x Lens of Clarity
Creatures
1x Artisan of Kozilek
2x Bane of Bala Ged
4x Conduit of Ruin
1x Deciever of Form
2x Eldrazi Devastator
1x Endrbringer
3x Hedron Crawler
2x Kozilek's Channeler
2x Kozilek's Pathfinder
1x Matter Reshaper
1x Opaline Unicorn
1x Ulamog's Crusher
4x Walker of the Wastes
3x Warden of Geometries
1x Scour of Existence
1x Spatial Contortion
1x Titan's Presence
Lands
1x Eldrazi Temple
1x Eye of Ugin
2x Ruins of Oran-Rief
30x Wastes
Before anyone else suggests powerful add-ins: I know. I built this deck with cards I opened and only sought out the Eye and the other 3 Conduits. If you want to play this deck on more of a budget, you can drop the Temple and Eye and add in some other 2 cmc or less (Sol Ring?) in their stead. The Wastes are sadly mandatory to utilize the Walkers. This deck is polar opposite of the Two-Headed Giant deck: it ramps early to get out its bruisers late game, but is typically able to get them out fast enough to both attack and defend. Deceiver of Form and Conduit of Ruin are also must-haves, as they accelerate the deck.
Lastly the deck I dub "Aluren":
Artifacts
1x Helm of the Gods
1x Tablet of the Guilds
Creatures
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Doomwake Giant
1x Eidolon of Blossoms
4x Gnarled Scarhide
4x Grim Guardian
1x Leafcrown Dryad
3x Oakheart Dryads
1x Pharika, God of Affliction
1x Spirespine
2x Aluren
3x Ancestral Mask
1x Bow of Nylea
1x Fastbond
2x Mourning
3x Nyx Infusion
1x Recycle
2x Unhallowed Pact
1x Whip Silk
1x Cankerous Thirst
1x Dismember
2x Naturalize
Lands
11x Forest
2x Llanowar Wastes
12x Swamp
Sorceries
1x Extinguish All Hope
I called it Aluren due to it being the entire basis for the deck, but was the last card I was able to get for the deck (happily right before the price explosion). That being said, Aluren is surprisingly not even vital, nor is Fastbond or Pharika(though all are greatly beneficial). The Grim Guardians make it very possible to go wide. Feel free to sub a Pact for a Rancor as I just realized this has none. Fastbond, and Recycle essentially let you play your whole deck, but with each being 1-ofs, the chance is statistically low enough to not ruin consecutive games for your play group.
I have a list for a near-impossible-to-win group-hug style Chaos deck, but I've found most people enjoy having a chance of winning. If you want the list though I'm more than willing to share it.
Crash and Burn
Basic Red/Green stompy + burn deck I put together to teach people play rules, built around the simple theme title of "crash" (green stomp) and "burn" (red burnination).
Gonti's "All I Do Is Win, Win, Win!"
I built it to play with fun Kaladesh-block themes such as energy, vehicles, gearhulks, and Gonti himself. Lots of fun synergies, life gain, and creature control options.
Life, Death, and Taxes
Built around Karlov as an Orzhov-centric theme, only borrowing two Tsabo's Decrees to help with crowd control, also allowing me to play extort heavily.
"ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!!!"
Wanted an off-beat frog theme that can endlessly mould combat to my advantage. Probably my best deck of all five here simply because I added counter to the mix to stop spells that might mess with the deck's board position, and it can literally affect and/or destroy all card types pretty easily. But it doesn't have lifegain, which could be taken advantage of by something like the extort theme above with help from something else.
The Cult of Marit Lage
Built around Dark Depths and Vampire Hexmage synergy, I went with the Marit Lage cult/quasi-HPLovecraft-Cthulu theme for vampires and rag tag Phyrexian forces trying to summon the ancient monster. I even threw in a couple demons (after all, you need demons and vampires to have those tutors, right?) for good measure. And, the hexmages use Hex, because, well, it's a hexmage.
Any combination of these decks can work in a group ffa because they are built for smaller multi-player games, have mass creature elements without being oppressive mass control, and handle different types of cards well.
I like your lists and i can't wait to test em, especially the boros' ones that seems better to fight each others.
thank you guys