Budget Deck Help

Economics forum

Posted on Nov. 2, 2014, 10:18 a.m. by kamdead

Hi,

I just started MtG a few weeks ago and I'm looking at making my own deck. With a budget of $50 I was able to put together a $30 mono red aggro deck throught starcity games. When playing at my local shop with some of their decks I liked denial blue and token black/white but I couldnt seem to make one on a budge. Is it possible to make $50 blue or b/w deck for friday night magic, or should I go with red till I'm more committed to the game? one last thing international shipping will mean I get my cards end of November. Does starcity offer Christmas sales and would I be better waiting till then and getting my cards at the end of December?

slovakattack says... #2

Hey, man. It would be helpful to indicate what format you're playing in (although I assume standard/casual?) as some formats (mostly the eternal ones) can command large price tags for non-monored decks.

November 2, 2014 10:30 a.m.

kamdead says... #3

Oh sorry, I wilI be playing mostly standard/casual and possibly draft.

November 2, 2014 10:38 a.m.

juicytoot says... #4

For standard I have built a very budget friendly deck that is mono blue aggro. It uses devotion on master of waves to overwhelm you opponents. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/29-10-14-wave-mastery/

November 2, 2014 11:10 a.m.

juicytoot says... #5

URL was busted, let me try again. Wave Mastery

November 2, 2014 11:14 a.m.

It really depends on what you are hoping to accomplish. Do you want to be winning? Or are you just trying to have fun/learn more about the game? if you want to win, you are going to have to invest more into the game. good cards are pricey, but they have those price tags because they are really good. If you want to just learn more about the game/have fun, you could definitely build a budget deck that is playable. I would personally recommend becoming more familiar with the game before you make any more investments. Without a firm grasp on the way the game works (especially with rotations and what not), you could lose a lot of value.

November 2, 2014 12:34 p.m.

kamdead says... #7

Mostly looking for fun and just trying to learn and improve. I don't expect to be winning all the time but at the same time I do not want to be useless and have a terrible deck. I was looking at Budget WU - The $20 Hero of KTK Standard which cost me about $40 (some of the card appear to have increased in value) or the mono red aggro from The Mana Source which for $40 has:Creatures:4 Akroan Crusader , 1 Arena Athlete , 4 Firedrinker Satyr , 4 Foundry Street Denizen , 3 Frenzied Goblin , 4 Monastery Swiftspear

Lands:18 Mountain

Spells:4 Dragon Mantle , 4 Hammerhand , 1 Coordinated Assault , 2 Lightning Strike , 4 Stoke the Flames , 4 Titan's Strength , 1 Hall of Triumph , 2 Hordeling Outburst ,

Starting with one of these then adding to it and building up from there as I get more into the game and improve was my idea. Is this the right way to go and is it good value? Is it wise to have maybe two decks one red and one U/W? Wave Mastery is about $82.30 not including the side board which was I bit out of the price i was looking at.

November 2, 2014 9:14 p.m.

go with the red deck. they are always cheap if you keep it to the bare bones minimum, and they are pretty strong. it will give you the best of both worlds (competitive and will help you learn about the game more). I have a friend who won the last FNM with a mono red agro deck much like the list you just posted

November 2, 2014 10:04 p.m.

kamdead says... #9

Awesome thanks for the advice, does red as a colour go well with blue or white? If i decide to add aspects of those colour into it later on?

November 2, 2014 10:10 p.m.

So there are "enemy" colors and "ally" colors. generally speaking, ally colrs work better together. Enemy colors can still work well, but they are opposite in nature. For example, blue and green are enemies. Green is primal, and creature focused. Blue loves intellectualism, advancement, and control. this causes the playstyles to be counteractive (because green likes playing creatures while blue likes holding up mana for counterspells). if you look at the pain lands from M15 (they are each 2 colors. they tap for a colorless, or one of there colors and you lose a life) you will see the 5 enemy color combinations. How you want to play largely affects what colors you play. So, if you want to stay aggressive in the future, white would be a better addition than blue. If you want to play a slower control game, you should go with blue.

November 3, 2014 12:24 a.m.

BMpatrol says... #11

To elaborate further on what CommanderOfBolas I would recommend going with white as a better color to work with red. Especially when looking at budget.

For example, I was able to make a Standard Boros Aggro deck for about $10. I shop on TCG player if that helps, I've found it's intuitive interface and very cheap offers definitely overcome the rule of having to spend at least $1 at each store you shop from on the site.

If you would like an example decklist to check out, take a look at this: $10 Budget Boros Aggro

November 3, 2014 1:33 a.m.

kamdead says... #12

OK I've looked up some information on the colour and i like the idea of token deck. But I couldn't find one on my budget. I'm not to found of the idea of running straight aggro but it appears the only solid deck i can build for about $50. Is this the case or did I miss something?

November 3, 2014 1:46 a.m.

BMpatrol says... #13

$50 dollars can get you an amazing deck if you are okay with not having an expensive landbase. Like you could pick whatever kind of deck you want with that money

November 3, 2014 3:03 a.m.

kamdead says... #14

Yer at the moment I'm not after anything fancy. I was after a mass token/flying style white maybe a blue mix (for cancels if that's a thing?) Or is token W/R aggro the way to go like the deck you listed? Any recommendations on somewhere to look to base a deck around? All budget decks I find tend to be mono red or black.

November 3, 2014 3:15 a.m.

kamdead says... #15

Oh just to add I looked on TCG player but I am having issues with international shipping. I looked at Starcity Games which appear a few dollar more which is not anything extreme but are there NM/M singles good quality?

November 3, 2014 3:44 a.m.

BMpatrol says... #16

This site, TappedOut is a great place to find decks to base off of, I'd recommend checking out some of the W/R or even RWB (America) hubs. That should help. Otherwise I just search on Google for what kind of deck I'm looking for and usually that will do.

Oh okay I'm not familiar with what international shipping will look like but to answer your question yes their Near Mint singles are great quality. I've never had an issue with them.

November 3, 2014 4:28 a.m.

The color code for "America" is RWU (B=black, U=blue). Anyway, it is hard to build good multicolor decks on a budget because a lot of what makes them good is being able to cast all of their spells whenever they need to. I would say to just keep it simple for now. The expensive cards from r/w tokens are Goblin Rabblemaster s. without those, the deck will be much cheaper

November 3, 2014 10:07 a.m.

juicytoot says... #18

R/B is a really good aggro choice. Gnarled Scarhide , Tormented Hero , and Spiteful Returned can really enhance with red burn and Goblin Rabblemaster . Red can really be paired with any color to make a good cheap aggro.

November 3, 2014 6:22 p.m.

Black probably wont be as good of an addition if budget is a concern, though. The dual land is Bloodstained Mire , which would eat up nearly all of his budget by itself. Rabblemaster is also not a budget card.

November 3, 2014 7:03 p.m.

kamdead says... #20

Hey guys, after all the advice I was able to put together a mono red aggro deck. I found a good tgc player dealer the ships to me aswell. The aggro deck was extremely similar to the one I listed above with a few changes and sideboard additions for $25. Goblin rabblemaster was out of my budget but I hope to get one soon. I alsobsoon hope to make a multi colour deck (still unsure what colour to add looking at either U/W/G). Thanks for the advice, all made getting into the game a lot less terrifying on my wallet.

November 6, 2014 9:23 a.m.

This discussion has been closed