Budget-Standard Format
Standard forum
Posted on Jan. 5, 2015, 3:03 p.m. by Borzi
With "Unified Standard" being played competitively at PTs, I thought that there was still a certain audience which is being excluded from making constructed decks - those who cannot afford spending hundreds of bucks to create a competitive deck, yet wish to do so. Hence, why is there no format that literally limits the resources in $, that a player can use for their deck. But let me explain how I intend the format to work.A certain amount of budget is determined, which each player cannot surpass when building their deck. Each card in standard is given a certain amount of value, which is based on their playability in the normal standard or their average pricing on card singles retailler stores. This ensures that the player with the most money is not necessarily the most successful at an FNM and gives new players or players who have avoided constructed due to the harsh pricing requirements a chance to enjoy the game, while also not being too punishing for experimentation etc.I am aware of the fact that this is probably something which has been brought up before, but I still think that it's something that has to be addressed, especially in a standard where most decks have 2 - 4 Planeswalker (each costing 30 or more bucks). While I respect those who are passionate enough to come up with such large sums and finance their hobby with them, we have to reconsider what Magic is: a game. Nobody wants to be disadvantaged in a game, just because their wallet is not big enough. Some people don't have the money to pay for the money needed to make a competitive standard deck, especially as the cards you buy are not going to be valid for a long time. This means that to most of these players, such a purchase would not be worth the money.A lot of hardcore magic fans don't know or have forgotten the obnoxious feeling of building a deck from 30$ and loosing terribly to another player, not because they had the smarter build or played better, but simply because they had a Siege Rhino and you didn't. Hence why I think that a format which addresses this problem would not only be profitable for various players and their wallet, but also allow for a lot of tactical fidelity. Will I add another Goblin Rabblemaster, or should I just stick to a playset of Mardu Hordechief as a 3 slot and boost my late-game? These are questions that players of budget standard would have to ask themselves, which makes it far more than an excuse to get a competitive experience for a cheaper price. Of course there are various problems for such a format that have to be addressed, and im sure that they will be if it actually turns out to be a thing. If a card in budget standard turns out to be a "bomb" in that format, it's price will slowly rise as more players enjoying the format will look towards that card. Hence why prices would have to be updated frequently, so as to keep the meta balanced.Would this be something that other people are interested in as well? I am curious to hear your thoughts.
Cards are expensive because they're good. Cheap cards are therefore usually not good cards. Therefore cheap decks are usually just worse than expensive decks. Siege Rhino isn't just expensive because someone said so. It's expensive because its awesome. Therefore cheap decks don't lose by virtue of the fact that they're cheap. They lose by virtue of the fact that they usually suck compared to expensive decks.
January 5, 2015 3:07 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #4
This would be almost impossible to regulate as the prices of cards fluctuate greatly, even on a day-to-day basis. Wizards of the Coast has absolutely nothing to do with the secondary market, and I seriously doubt they would make a sanctioned format with restrictions based on card value.
If I were you I would just play Pauper.
January 5, 2015 3:44 p.m.
Unforgivn_II says... #5
WotC gives zero fucks about the secondary market. The last time they did, they created the reserved list, and we all know how well that has worked out.
January 5, 2015 4:05 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #6
I am a big EDH player. (Before you say this is irrelevant, hear me out...) That said, I have a lot of friends who play and enjoy playing competitive standard and modern, but I don't have a lot of money. In fact, I don't have a single finished EDH deck. I've never had one. All of the EDH decks I've ever made has had proxies for some of the cards in them, with the slow, gradual process of trading for the cards in these decks. In standard, getting the cards would actually be slower than the speed of the format cycling out.
So, what do I do? I tell my friends that I can play those formats with them if they are okay with me playing basically a 100% proxied deck (the proxies are printed out in color to be less harsh on the eyes; and no i dont proxy basic lands). If they say no, fine I go back to playing EDH. If they say it's fine, TADA I get to play a super awesome amazing deck that I payed like a dollar for. Granted, you can't win stuff in a tournament with something you didn't pay for, but if you want to win stuff, you gotta make an investment comparable to your peers in the tournament (with some exceptions).
Rather than make a format where the usability of cards will fluctuate based on a different, more widely-played format is just asking for trouble. This is why pauper was a good way to tackle this problem, but then again, it's not as fun to play. Try asking around, maybe you will find an LGS that hosts pauper standard tournaments once a week or something.
January 5, 2015 4:21 p.m.
Yeh I agree with MagicalHacker. If you want to play with friends and have a few laughs, just proxy something up. Sure you can't enter like FNMs (although I have heard of more FNMs allow some number of proxies in modern or legacy events), but you can still play the game.
January 5, 2015 4:25 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #8
Another big factor in creating a competitive deck is simply smart trading. I'll make fun of myself as an example --- I traded off a Wingmate Roc at like ~$10, and it of course jumps to $16 the next week. Don't be like that! Trade the hyped-up stuff and things that don't fit into the deck archetype you're making (choose wisely). Then, sit on the good cards, and trade them when they're high. Voila... You have four Siege Rhinos.
Granted, there is some amount if initial investment, but you can keep the investment moving if you trade well and do well at some number of FNMs. I started out with basically nothing a year ago. I then traded gradually into Esper control, dominated a few FNM's, now I'm rocking some almost-finished Modern decks in addition to my two Standard builds (one's more budget than the other). Keep the flow of trades in the positive through good speculation and you will make your way into more expensive deck-building over time.
January 5, 2015 5:08 p.m.
Dalektable says... #9
Play Pauper. You can't play a competitive constructed tournament and expect the price to not be expensive for the good cards. You either have to be okay with playing on a budget, paying for the good stuff, or move on. I've been in both situations, and have done both.
January 5, 2015 5:44 p.m.
pokeyrabbit says... #10
you could also just do this when building a budget format: you can only use
1 of a mythic
2 of a rare
3 of an uncommon
4 of a common
this template forces you to use different cards you wouldn't normally use and can keep costs down as you have to buy sarkhan right out of the gate, yet it allows you to build a deck with some good cards and evolve it as you get money.
January 5, 2015 6:03 p.m.
MagicalHacker says... #11
I like that above setup. That is pretty cool... Running all mythics means you have horrible inconsistency, but all commons mean you are consistently not that powerful.
January 5, 2015 7:42 p.m.
And here I am... Reading this while playing my unhinged basic lands x)
February 11, 2015 10:40 a.m.
WotC isn't even 100% sure of play-value of cards when they print them. Some are obviously bad, others obviously good. They toe the line since some cards turn out to be fantastically broken. That's one of the things that makes the game so great: undiscovered possibilities.
Also, for every format, there are cards that are better for that format. That influences their values. By creating a new format, if it became popular, it too would affect the value of cards.
I understand your pain, but it is a situation best handled with a good printer (proxies.) If you want to compete on an official level, though, be prepared to spend some money. There are always budget ways to get your feet wet, but "budget" can mean $100.
ChiefBell says... #2
I like magic being pay to win. Its like American politics, or life in general.
January 5, 2015 3:05 p.m.