Thanks a lot, this looks like good advice. I should probably forget about Melek, sadly enough. I was trying to shoehorn in too much scry because of him.
The maindeck is geared for aggro, so against control my plan is to bring in a bunch of counterspells from the board and go up to 28 lands. I'm looking at something like this:
4 Counterflux
3-4 Gainsay
3-4 Dispel
2 Island
1 Anger of the Gods (if there are not 4 main)
Essence Scatter for midrange?
For casual, I take the opposite approach. I try to put answers to everything in my decks, thus making them less focused. I find that the variety makes the games more fun.
When you're up against a very focused deck, don't be afraid to "go deep" in your sideboard. Those 1/2s for U could be exactly what you need against that deck with all the Akroan Crusaders.
If you're going to open packs, make them old packs. I personally prefer matches with commentary, but make sure you edit for length. Deck techs are also fun if the decks are interesting.
City and State : Highland Park, New Jersey
MTGS Screename: silasw
Powered: No
Un cards: Yes
Portal cards: No
Special theme: None
Number of Cards: ~400
Cube link: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/2671
This isn't that strange, but a "noob cube" would be nice to have. Regular cubes are always way too complicated to play with new players. Stick to simple effects, like on core set cards. There can still be cool cards like Day of Judgment or Sphinx's Revelation, as long as they're simple. It may be hard to balance though.
When talking about mana weaving, be careful not to directly accuse anyone of cheating. People will get defensive if you say things like that.
Deck size really isn't a big deal. As long as the decks can still be shuffled easily, let them play what they want. However, you can explain that they are still drawing the same amount of cards either way, so having more cards generally doesn't give them more options in a game.
If they just want to have a chance to use many different cards, you can suggest splitting a large deck into multiple decks.
If you want to compete at FNM without spending much money, it will take a lot of research and a lot of practice. Honestly I suggest you try drafting more. Read some articles and try to get better.
I'll say Riddle of Lightning. It's always a thrill to cast it, not knowing exactly what you'll get. (If you use library manipulation to set it up, you're lame.) Plus it's common.
Not 100% consistent, but should usually beat the decks posted so far.
Thanks a lot, this looks like good advice. I should probably forget about Melek, sadly enough. I was trying to shoehorn in too much scry because of him.
Core:
26 Lands
3 Melek, Izzet Paragon (and 1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius?)
4 Frostburn Weird
3-4 Anger of the Gods
3-4 Quicken?
3 Dissolve
~6 Steam Augury/Thoughtflare/Divination
~8-10 Burn Spells
Voyage's End?
Help me out! Right now I'm torn between Magma Jet, Lightning Strike, Mizzium Mortars, Izzet Charm and Turn // Burn for the burn spell slots. I also want to put in a couple Thassa, God of the Sea for the scry even though the devotion will be tough to achieve.
The maindeck is geared for aggro, so against control my plan is to bring in a bunch of counterspells from the board and go up to 28 lands. I'm looking at something like this:
4 Counterflux
3-4 Gainsay
3-4 Dispel
2 Island
1 Anger of the Gods (if there are not 4 main)
Essence Scatter for midrange?
He meant that there could be a bestow creature with 0 power that only grants toughness, not power.
MTGS Screename: silasw
Powered: No
Un cards: Yes
Portal cards: No
Special theme: None
Number of Cards: ~400
Cube link: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/2671
Deck size really isn't a big deal. As long as the decks can still be shuffled easily, let them play what they want. However, you can explain that they are still drawing the same amount of cards either way, so having more cards generally doesn't give them more options in a game.
If they just want to have a chance to use many different cards, you can suggest splitting a large deck into multiple decks.
4 Augur of Bolas
4 Krenko's Command
3 Molten Birth
4 Goblin Electromancer
4 Past in Flames
4 Reforge the Soul
2 Burn at the Stake
2 Izzet Charm
4 Faithless Looting
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Izzet Guildgate
2 Island
10 Mountain
I think it's under $100 even with the manabase.