Best way to get started in Standard?
Standard forum
Posted on July 3, 2016, 7:21 p.m. by IcyLightning
So a friend and I have been playing mtg semi regularly for the past few years, but we've never played Standard... anything. I'm kind of interested in playing in standard just because the environment seems interesting, more room for innovation and surprising new decks since its all new.
But I was wondering what everyone thinks the best way to hop into standard on a budget is? Drafts, Attend a Prerelease, or just show up at FNM with whatever deck I can cobble together from the few packs I've cracked?
I'm not looking to be super competitive or anything, more just dip my toes into the format and see if I like it.
ducttapedeckbox says... #3
Standard is currently white: the format. The top 3 decks make up 50% of the meta at the competitive level. However, FNM attendance won't reflect this unless the players are largely spikes.
I recently got back into the format with a budget deck of my own, which to me is ~$100 in cards that I already own and traded for. Here are a few decks that I researched and can be built on a budget:
- Mono-white weenies. This is one of the top decks in the format. The money cards include playsets of Thalia's Lieutenant ($12) and Always Watching ($10), in addition to some Declaration in Stones ($6 ea). Other than that, the deck is mostly commons and uncommons, and can be improved as you expand your budget (should you decide to do so).
- UW Clue Flash. This deck was recently featured on MTGGoldfish and can be built on an ultra-budget. A friend recently put this together and loves it. Great if you're a control player.
- Mono-blue brains. This is another MTGGoldfish deck that is super cheap and is for the control player. It's less effective and interactive than the above decks.
- I'm currently playing Mardu Control/Midrange. It does ok against the current meta, but runs upwards of $100 at the base level. You can check out my Meh, Standard list if interested.
- Ramp is also valid. The ramp spells in the format (Nissa's Pilgrimage, Nissa's Renewal, etc.) are cheap and you can dump whatever fatties you want on the field. Goggles ramp with Pyromancer's Goggles and Fall of the Titans is another idea.
I hope you can find something in that list above. Those are just some decks that I came across as I looked to play Standard. I would definitely try to build something with the help of this community and then sleeve it up. Prerelease events are a great way to get some experience on a completely even playing field where money isn't a factor, but cracking packs is not a good way to assemble a deck. Let me know if you have any questions!
July 3, 2016 8:28 p.m.
IcyLightning says... #4
Awesome deck suggestions, and yeah I don't crack packs with the intention of building decks really. I just enjoy opening a pack here and there and tend to have pretty good luck I guess, since I've opened maybe 6 packs of SOI and pulled a Archangel Avacyn Flip and an Ob Nixilis Reignited and a Mardu deck began forming in my mind. That's pretty much what spurred this really.
I'm really thinking about attending the Eldritch Moon Prerelease and just going from there. Thanks for the advice
July 3, 2016 8:48 p.m.
IcyLightning,
Like ducttapedeckbox, I recommend MTGGoldfish for starting out. They keep a list of the current Top Tier decks, plus a bunch of solid budget options here.
I love pre-release events, but I think the best way to get into Standard is to pick a deck you like and then buy or trade for singles.
July 3, 2016 9:01 p.m.
IcyLightning says... #6
Meh, I'd prefer to develop my own deck instead of just netdecking. Sure, there may be a lot of crossover, especially if I build into Mardu, but half the fun of Magic to me is creating a deck I can really call my own. Like I said, I'm not too concerned about being super competitive, I just want to experience what Standard has to offer before I leap into a $150 deck for a format that rotates every year.
July 3, 2016 9:07 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #7
I completely understand your reluctance to netdeck, but I think it is important to play with something that has already been established (at least in some sense) in order to gauge the format. From there you can explore your own builds.
At the very least, I encourage you to test established decks online through Cockatrice, untap.in, or XMage to get a feel for the decks you'll play against. This can help develop a sense of what's good or bad, and what weaknesses certain decks have in this meta.
July 3, 2016 9:32 p.m.
Drafts and Pre-releases are a great place to get some value cards. Standard might be kinda cheap right now, but in the long run 90% of the cards will be useless and you'll be better off dropping a little more money on a modern deck. When all the fetches were in standard and Origins Jace was like 80$ those decks were stupid expensive. Now 80$ Jace is down to 25-30 LOL. If you play standard I'd go white weenie though, I built a deck and never felt like playing it so I just traded it for modern cards.
July 3, 2016 10:07 p.m.
IcyLightning says... #9
ducttapedeckbox I understand what you're saying, but I'm not going to really invest in cards unless I really want to play them, and I have so little motivation to play established decks card for card. That being said, you're suggestion to play common decks on Cockatrice or something is a good suggestion, and something I'll do before I commit to any deck.
July 3, 2016 11:39 p.m.
Another suggestion is just to pick a theme a build around that. You can play Eldrazi (ramp or aggro) Humans (white and/or green) Vampires (black red) Zombies (Black and/or Blue) Spirits (Blue and/or White) are examples of what i see in my local meta. (Casual FNM)
I usually pick a theme then work around that. I ended up making a elemental landfall deck (Omanth) and a white humans mid-range (Sacrificing cultists to Ormanthal) based around story themes. They are reasonable decks against other home brew but get crushed by most T1's.
But yeah definitely attend a per-release as everyone is on a level playing field and people are just excited to see the new cards.
July 4, 2016 2:14 a.m.
Actually building a deck in Standard that is even somewhat competitive will take you a long time to achieve.
It's a very difficult art to master.
If I were you I would make some decks then playtest them a hell of a lot against decks on this site that work.
At the moment on my profile I have some low tier decks that would help you playtest, Ingest/Proces, and 
Unblockable, and also a Tier 2 
Control deck that is brutal.
If you can beat at least the lower tier decks, you'll know you are on the right path.
You will also get help with building on this site if you deckcycle and post your deck list in the Standard help forum.
The best way I have found to get help is to feature your deck(s).
One other route you could take is to buy an Intro pack and tweak the hell out of it. I believe there is a 
Vampire Intro deck that is fairly easy to modify.
If you build a deck and want me to have a look at it, post a link to it on my Profile.
Good luck.
July 4, 2016 3:24 a.m.
I would avoid building a deck for standard now. What others have not mentioned is that the current standard rotates out with Kaladesh coming out in three months.
Steps to take would be:
1/ Go to prereleases for EMN and Kaladesh, see what exciting things you get. Prereleases are good value and are fun, as well as everyone being on an equal level.
2/ Build a deck after Kaladesh comes in. If you use cards in Innistrad-Kaladesh, your deck will be valid for the whole next year.
3/ ???
4/ Profit!
July 4, 2016 3:50 a.m.
Be aware that although in theory everyone is on an equal level when playing in a prerelease, because they are limited by the cards they open, experience in deck building in a Limited environment means that some players are going to be a lot better at building and playing at a prerelease than people who are playing for the first time.
I also wouldn't be too shy about building a deck to play now. Otherwise you'll have to wait until three months before you can play.
You really need to build a new deck after each rotation, as the meta changes so much.
July 4, 2016 4:34 a.m. Edited.
IcyLightning says... #14
Yeah I'll probably start building a deck, at least brew one up here, just to get an idea of how what I want to play with and trade for. But I probably won't seriously start building it until closer to Kaladesh as Boza suggests, probably just play a few drafts to build up a base and better learn the cards through limited.
RegisteredDecksOffender says... #2
Subbed for similar reasons. Play a lot of Modern and EDH. I love those formats to bits, but sometimes they can get a bit stagnant.
July 3, 2016 8:04 p.m.