Which Deck Should I Invest In
Deck Help forum
Posted on May 17, 2013, 6:29 a.m. by Draos
Hi, I just started MTG, and currently have bought 2 budget decks.
My question is which deck has more potential for improvement if I buy better cards.
ShadowLand says... #3
Simic has some good builds, but you are going to have to splash some colors and by the time you are done you will have nothing that resembles your original deck and will have traded for or spent at least $150 to make it viably competitive.
Dimir is a lost cause, about the best hope you have with making that competitive is to go for an unblockable cipher deck, or go with the traditional millstone deck style and just have your only win con be to mill your opponent to death. And even doing that you're going to spend or trade for $100 or more in cards.
Not to be the eternal pessimist, but if you want budget competition decks, I would have gone with Boros or Rakdos, as both of those you can decent cards for fairly inexpensive and still do some pretty good damage as long as you're fast.
That being said, if you want to use one of the two decks you currently have, I would go with Simic, and splash either white or black and start building from there. Counters are your best option and you are going to want things that get big quick. Hope that helps a bit.
May 17, 2013 6:56 a.m.
Yeah, I think I may purchase a Boros deck. Do you have any ideas on how I can learn to build a deck, because my friend made these for me?
May 17, 2013 7:23 a.m.
if you want to stay with counters id say go with black and add stuff like Lotleth Troll or Varloz, the Scar-Striped
May 17, 2013 7:24 a.m.
if you want to learn how to build decks the first thing you need is to know your cards and the meta game. assuming we are talking about standard you need to know all the powerfull cards from sets from innistrad to dragon's maze, second you need to decide what you want to do. by either choosing a known architype (which you can find builds of online) or your own deck and finnally take the best cards for your deck (taking into account the current metagame) and build it! now, of course this is assuming you wanna play competetive magic, if you dont just make a deck that seems cool and have fun! dont forget magic is also about fun... (even though winning tournements is kinda fun :P )
May 17, 2013 7:29 a.m.
ShadowLand says... #7
And of course, Corpsejack Menace , but yes, plenty of advice if you are open and willing. This whole site is about helping people with their decks!! What is your budget for building? And how new are you to the game if you don't mind me asking?
May 17, 2013 7:29 a.m.
I am pretty new, I bought Magic The Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 because my friend who is an avid Magic player told me it would be a good way to learn the rules. I enjoyed the game, and so I want to get started. My budget is around $50, I know that $50 is a small budget but I don't want to spend a lot just in case MTG does not hold my interest.
May 17, 2013 7:34 a.m.
Your Simic deck is the stronger of the two, so I would play that one. It needs a third color. Red might be good, because that gives you Burning-Tree Emissary , Ghor-Clan Rampager , and Searing Spear .
May 17, 2013 7:34 a.m.
Preferably, I want a deck that I can take to FNM's and not get completely trounced, and one that I can adapt to make even more competitive once I have the money for it.
May 17, 2013 7:36 a.m.
well to FNM you dont need anything competetive... (well not to competitive) i think that that adding black for sort of a golgari/simic token deck would be a good way to start and after rotation it might even be a gateway to a competetive deck (since after innistrad goes away the format will probably slow down enogh for this sort of tactic to be competetive...)also the cards arent that expensive... black cards id definitly include: Lotleth Troll (this guy is awsome...) Corpsejack Menace varloz, the scar-stripped Putrefy
May 17, 2013 7:44 a.m.
Ok, sounds good. Do you think a Boros deck would be better though? Or would it be beyond my budget?
May 17, 2013 7:46 a.m.
Also, Troll, Corpsejack, and Scar Stripped all seem great, but why Putrefy? I know it must be good, but I dont really understand why.
May 17, 2013 7:52 a.m.
ShadowLand says... #15
Not beyond the budget, but I would stick with your simic and add black, like was suggested. I will post some more suggestions on your deck page later, I am headed to bed here soon as I am about to get off work.
May 17, 2013 7:53 a.m.
ShadowLand says... #16
Putrefy is good because of the ability to not be countered, and has huge potential for removal
May 17, 2013 7:54 a.m.
putrefy is unconditional removal that can also destroy artifacts and regenerating creatures... normally id recommend Abrupt Decay (or both if you are just 2 colors but you are not) but you are on budget and Abrupt Decay is like 12$ a piece...
May 17, 2013 7:55 a.m.
Thank you, I really appreciate the help and am looking forward to your suggestions.
May 17, 2013 7:55 a.m.
ShadowLand says... #19
I'm sorry, not countered, regenerated. There are some pesky artifacts as well that this removes as well
May 17, 2013 7:56 a.m.
Here's what I would do then, with a budget of ~$50:
(it's your Simic deck with red)
4x Arbor Elf 4x Cloudfin Raptor 4x Ghor-Clan Rampager 4x Experiment One 4x Predator Ooze 4x Strangleroot Geist 4x Burning-Tree Emissary 2x Ulvenwald Tracker ============================30 Creatures
3x Simic Charm 4x Searing Spear ============================7 Other Spells
4x Breeding Pool 4x Hinterland Harbor 4x Stomping Ground 4x Rootbound Crag 7x Forest ============================23 Lands
4x Skullcrack 3x Pillar of Flame 2x Volcanic Strength 2x Negate 1x Silklash Spider 2x Naturalize 1x Grafdigger's Cage ============================15 Sideboard Cards
The goal is to smash face with Predator Ooze and get fast evolve triggers on turn two (Cloudfin Raptor or Experiment One into multiple Burning-Tree Emissary ). Ulvenwald Tracker and Searing Spear clear out any blockers, with the sideboard offering strong cards against graveyard recursion, other red decks, and control.
You'll notice I didn't add anything expensive to the deck, except the lands. Lands are always good to have, since you'll need Ravnica shock lands or Innistrad duals in almost every deck you play. Having a solid mana base available will let you play a plethora of decks. They also see play in Modern, which means buying duals now will be a decent investment since you'll probably use them a few years down the road.
May 17, 2013 7:57 a.m.
shadowland, putrefy can be countered... its Abrupt Decay you are thinking about...
May 17, 2013 8:01 a.m.
I like the idea sylvannos, but after pasting it in the deck builder it totaled up to $170, obviously I have some of the cards already, but my current deck is just $30 meaning there is approximately $140 worth of cards left to buy, unless I am missing something.
May 17, 2013 8:12 a.m.
the price thing is really innacurate... the option he put in is a viable one but i would just cut out blue out of it and make a gruul deck...
May 17, 2013 8:20 a.m.
So would you reccomend a gruul deck or a splash of black? In terms of both price and competitiveness.
May 17, 2013 8:23 a.m.
well im playing a gruul deck for and i think it can be adjusted to be under your limitations but i dont really know... the problem with that is that you will probably have to give up on Stomping Ground and Rootbound Crag which means you will find yourself either colour screwed at times or if you use Gruul Guildgate you will just be slowed down...my suggestion is that you just go with what sounds like more fun to you since its not like you are going to win a PTQ on that kinda budget anyway :P
May 17, 2013 8:28 a.m.
Yeah, in that case I think having to play a Gruul deck without shock-lands will leave a lot to be desired. Also I would like to make use of the cards I already have. I am gonna rework the deck and post it here, would you mind taking a look?
May 17, 2013 8:34 a.m.
Ok, so I tried adding a splash of Black as per your suggestion; however, I am finding it very difficult to keep my deck to 60 cards, have a good mana spread, and add in your suggested creatures. Any tips on what to remove. Also, I apologize for asking so many questions, I am completely new to this.
May 17, 2013 9 a.m.
just upload it here and we'll help you! thats what this forum is all about ;)
May 17, 2013 9:13 a.m.
this is my deck btw...
4 Rootbound Crag 4 Stomping Ground 12 Mountain
20 lands
4 Searing Spear 4 Pillar of Flame
8 spells
4 Rancor
4 enchantments
4 Stromkirk Noble 2 Vexing Devil 4 Ash Zealot 4 Burning-Tree Emissary 4 Flinthoof Boar 2 Lightning Mauler 4 Boros Reckoner 4 Hellrider
28 creatures
sideboard:
4 Volcanic Strength 2 Blasphemous Act 1 Nightbird's Clutches 2 Grafdigger's Cage 2 Mizzium Mortars and i don't remember the rest by heart (and im too lazy to check :P)
May 17, 2013 9:19 a.m.
Ok, so it is basically the same as my Simic Deck except I am going to add in
4x Lotleth Troll 3x Corpsejack Menace 3x Varolz, the Scar-Stripped4x Putrefy
I am not sure about Mana, and what to remove from the deck. Also, I am not sure if there are any more cards I need to add, as I just used the suggestions I got so far.
May 17, 2013 9:25 a.m.
id take out the Experiment One Young Wolf Zameck Guildmage Spell Rupture (maybie)... also maybie add golgari charm for sideboard against control (for its regenerating ability) also some more creatures so varolz can scavanage them... also maybie drop the Rapid Hybridization but thats up to you...
May 17, 2013 10:59 a.m.
Ok then, can you just tell me a land base I can work around, because I have no idea the proportion of each land I need to support everything. I think the spell rupture may be a good spell to have, although it is debatable. Rapid Hybridization just helps out with the evolve so I think I will leave it in. Is there any reason you suggested removing it? Other than that I agree with Experiment One, and Young Wolf, Zameck has some uses because it keeps my undying alive so I am unsure about that too.
May 17, 2013 11:49 a.m.
also by removing those cards the blue becomes completely irrelevant, so should I remove blue as a color and just go green black?
May 17, 2013 12:06 p.m.
This is probably really bad, but I tried:
I am not sure if I got the land right, also I am not sure if this is within my $50 limit.
May 17, 2013 12:29 p.m.
CrimsonKing says... #35
If you want to buy a cheap competitive deck you can always buy one of the event decks. Event decks are full of standard playables and offer new players a shot at their local FNM.
May 17, 2013 2:15 p.m.
actually its not bad at all, its rather good actually! i would probably want to add a stronger creature instead of the experiment one because thats value with varolz but aside for that this is really well doneabout the mana base id have less islands and shocklands over some of the duel lands (or in addition if you can afford it) to avoid mana screws...also the sideboard needs a bit of work but aside for that well done :)
May 17, 2013 2:55 p.m.
The reason it came out to $170 is because of the dual lands. However, they're going to go down in price really soon from $12-$15 to under $10. I really recommend you stick with a deck that's quick and aggressive, built upon strong commons and uncommons, and get shock lands. Any deck you build is going to use them.
May 17, 2013 3:10 p.m.
Thanks, oh and the reason I left Experiment One in is because I wanted to have some one drops for earlier in the game, and on top of that he has evolve which means he can work well with corpse jack menace. Do you have ideas for creatures that I can play for one mana to replace experiment one.
May 17, 2013 11:26 p.m.
Also, I know this is a stupid question but what do you mean by dual lands.
May 17, 2013 11:30 p.m.
Also, if you take a look at it again I replaced Experiment One with Slitherhead
May 18, 2013 12:42 a.m.
well if its down to Experiment One or Slitherhead id stick with Experiment One about dual lands i mean the cycle that came out during innistrad and M13 Woodland Cemetery Hinterland Harbor Drowned Catacomb etc.
May 18, 2013 12:52 a.m.
Ok, although I just tried out the red-green-blue deck that Sylvannos made, and I really liked it, although it seemed like the blue was pretty useless. I have come to the conclusion that I will up my budget to about $100.
May 18, 2013 1:04 a.m.
cool :)ill tell you the truth, now that we have wiggle room with the budget id advice you to just drop the whole simic thing and maybie do something a bit more compettetive. id go with either something like my deck only a litlle less rares or maybie a bant aura deck with just less than 4 Geist of Saint Traft (who is the most expensive card of the deck but i think you can make do for now with just 4 Invisible Stalker ) i have a friend who plays this deck and he can grow his creatures to redicilous sizes with the right enchantment...key cards: Invisible Stalker Geist of Saint Traft Ethereal Armor Detention Sphere or Oblivion Ring Unflinching Courage and there are probably a few enchantments im missing... all in all that can be a good solution since, as you might have noticed there is only one really expensive card here and thats the geist...
May 18, 2013 1:12 a.m.
Ok, I can try the Aura deck but do you have a link with an example, cause I dont know what it is.
May 18, 2013 1:16 a.m.
oh, i forgot Spectral Flight and Rancor ! also instead of the geist since its really expensive just put another hexproof creature maybie Ascended Lawmage since she already has evasion...
May 18, 2013 1:17 a.m.
the idea is that you have creatures with hexproof and you make them huge and scary with auras... in the case of the lawmage and stalker they also have evasion which is great since you will be able to hit your opponents for a lot of life...and what is it that you dont know what it is?
May 18, 2013 1:19 a.m.
this is a card you need in, its called Invisible Stalker , i mensioned it earlier... an aura is an enchantment that you attach to your creatures
May 18, 2013 1:20 a.m.
Yeah, I understand what an aura is, I just did not know what you meant by a bant aura deck. Thanks for explaining though.
idodo35 says... #2
well, when you say improve what do you mean? if you mean a competitive level deck id advice with starting over because neither simic nor dimir are competetive right now. however if you mean just a fun casual deck id advice you to just decide for yourself, which is more fun? which fits better in your playgroup? and go by that...
May 17, 2013 6:44 a.m.