FNM STD $ investment
Standard forum
Posted on Feb. 26, 2015, 6:14 p.m. by Charioteer
I am new to the game and was working on a deck from cards that I have accumulated just buying some random items to learn. When I started to playtest it against decks made here, I found it would play okay against some for a hand, but most decks would stomp it. Most of those decks had cards that continually popped up that would counter well. Then I noticed that the $ amount of my deck vs the $ amnt of the other deck was substantially different. So, I guess my question is when I go to FMN for casual play and not to win money, does everyone play with $300 decks?
CommanderOfBolas says... #3
Another thing to consider is that you do get prizes at fnm, so to some people it is worth it to have a 300-400$ deck. And others do take their decks to bigger events and use fnm as practice
February 26, 2015 6:30 p.m.
Charioteer says... #4
makes sense for competition. I just was curious about most local casual games and what people here do. I find the decks created here fun to peruse and testplay and was curious if most magic folk spent that kind of cash for casual play. Guess the best way to find out is go. :)
thnx
February 26, 2015 6:34 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #5
Yeah, you won't ever know till you try. What deck will you be bringing to this FNM? And yes, commander is a more casual format(in the sense of not having tournaments), but people spend quite a bit of money on that. So yes, people will spend a lot of money even for casual play.
February 26, 2015 6:39 p.m.
Not me... Not willing to spend money (anymore) on commander
February 26, 2015 6:44 p.m.
Really don't play it enough.. Just made a tiny leaders deck but with cards I already have. And don't wanna spend on that either as it's just another random format.
February 26, 2015 6:45 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #8
Eh, I am a competitive player, so all my money goes to competitive decks. I would never put money into commander unless the format gets put into a GP, which I highly doubt. Yeah, for those formats I kinda just make a deck when I need one out of my collection. I never spend money on those 2 formats. But some people do. Usually an older, established group of Magic players. You know, I don't even like spending money to build a Standard deck either.
February 26, 2015 6:52 p.m.
omnipotato says... #9
The difference between a $50 and $300 Standard deck is not that big if the deckbuilders and pilots are around the same skill level.
February 26, 2015 7:16 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #10
omnipotato Well said, well said. I know people who I could throw a Abzan deck from Standard at them and they would lose the tournament, in dead last. So skill is a thing. It's why some people can just wreck with that weird budget homebrew.
February 26, 2015 7:19 p.m.
omnipotato says... #11
Plus in standard there aren't really cards that are so powerful they just win you the game like Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Tarmogoyf. If you can't afford Thoughtseize, big deal. Just stick a Despise in there. Not as good, but usually gets the job done. On the other hand, in formats like Legacy, there isn't really anything that comes close to the power level of a card like Force of Will
February 26, 2015 7:24 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #12
Yeah, standard is a much weaker format. Thoughtseize in standard isn't even as important as it is in modern or legacy, even. Also, modern and legacy are much faster, so the more powerful, cheaper cards are the ones that take over. Although budget in modern and legacy is almost non-existent.
February 26, 2015 7:40 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #13
FNMs in my area are pretty competitive. It's normally the same people in top 8 each week, myself included.
We all play $300ish decks, and many of us borrow and loan cards from/to each other just to try something new and different.
About half of the players (out of 32 or so) at FNM play budget or brew decks and they occasionally make it into top 8. We have some really good players that design decks to wreck the local meta.
I've always seen FNMs as a way to win prizes and get in tournament practice against different decks. My Jeskai Tempo deck has paid for itself in tournament winnings.
February 26, 2015 7:52 p.m.
I've played in multiple LGSs in multiple cities, and most of them have a generous mix of competitive players who will pay $300+ for a tier 1 deck and the rest of us (play tier 2-3, or brew).
Honestly, it needs to be a mix, or the player pool shrinks. Too many highly competitive players, and the more casuals will shy away, because it isn't fun. Too many casual players, and the highly competitive players wander away, because it isn't challenging. Unless there is a sizable player base in the area that can support a LGS only catering to one end of the spectrum, this can lead to events that stop being worth playing. I showed up to an FNM a few weeks ago that had 5 players (Hazards of a job that requires travel)
If you are planning on going to an FNM for the first time, it is definitely better build a budget-friendly deck that's fun (and as competitive as the budget allows) than to drop big bucks on a tier 1 build. Take the time to learn the local players and meta.
February 26, 2015 9:09 p.m.
omnipotato says... #15
Actually I disagree with Dracoson but I'm probably in the minority. I think your first deck at an FNM should be a netdeck, or something very close to a netdeck. Doesn't have to be the most expensive or dominant deck in the format, but get a deck that has won something.
The reason for this is so you don't blame your deck, as I see SO many newbies do. You think to yourself, "Ok I must be doing something wrong because the guy who built this deck won an SCG Open. I can at least get top 4 at FNM with it." Then you learn how to play and grow as a player instead of saying "I got mana screwed 2 games in a row, must be that I need more lands in here!"
February 26, 2015 9:18 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #16
A lot of people find it worth it to invest $250 to $400 on a Standard deck, since they can win close to $50 worth of prizes each FNM (depending on the store and event size). So for stores that run bigger FNMs you will see mostly "Spike"-type competitive decks at the top tables. Go to smaller events than have fewer attendees, and you'll see a more casual side to FNM. I go to more competitive events because I like to practice for higher-stakes tournaments. It's all about what you want. If you want to play lower-budget, more casual, find a smaller scene. That's my advice. :)
February 26, 2015 10:01 p.m.
Dalektable says... #17
Depends on the LGS, mine is prety competitive for the most part. Me and most of the guys (and gals) run 250+ competitive tier one decks
February 26, 2015 10:14 p.m.
Named_Tawyny says... #18
I couldn't disagree more, omnipotato. You're far better off brewing at first - it gives you an idea of what works and what doesn't, and how cards interact. It's also more fun.
February 26, 2015 11:20 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #19
If $$ is an issue, build something cheap and proven like RDW and play that for a while while you get some winnings. Don't ever take packs for prizes, and only purchase the cards you want for the deck you want to play. In the meantime, proxy up and playtest that deck so you don't buy expensive cards that end up getting cut.
February 26, 2015 11:24 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #20
It really depends on the player. Remember, there are the Timmys, the Johnnys and then the Spikes. Everyone is a little bit different. I personally am a Johnny/Spike, so I really care about having a Tier-1 deck, but with my own spin. Check this out. This sums it all up.
February 26, 2015 11:29 p.m.
Souljacker says... #21
Named_Tawyny, I think what omnipotato means is that if you can't play properly, you cannot draw accurate conclusions about your results (you cannot determine what works because you don't know if it's because of your own faults or the decks fault). If you take a net-deck, you can eliminate the option that the deck doesn't work, so you know when you make a mistake. Once you've learned how to play properly, you can start brewing, and then you can determine what works in deckbuilding because you can see when a mistake is because of your skill or because of the deck.
February 27, 2015 4 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #22
I can't speak for standard FNM, but at modern FNM, half the people are competitive, the other half play fun, gimmicky decks.
In the top 4, it's almost always the competitive players, because they have better decks.
February 27, 2015 5:29 a.m.
For starting out in standard (Theros/RTR) I played mono-red sligh. And for me that really helped getting to understand the game and how to play. I learned when to add creatures to the board and when to hold back, how to read my opponents plays and mana. But most importantly I learned how important it is for the 60 cards in your deck to work towards a common goal using different angles of attack.
I think that mono-red is truly one of the best decks to start with, it's simple to play but really hard to master. One mistake and you might lose the game since none of your individual cards are strong enough to swing the game back for you.
This is my RDW deck that I'm playing now whenever I dont feel like playing my 300$ pile of Jeskai. It's great and winns a lot, almost more then my Jeskai deck, but thats only because the peopple at my shop are sideboarding extra cards for my red deck now ;)
I think the deck cost me around 30-35$ to get all in all so it's a solid starter deck for a new standard player.
February 27, 2015 6:13 a.m.
I also don't spend my money per say on cards for a specific deck. I try to buy cards like lands that can be used in multiple decks and then buy a fat pack or whatever and get some random cards and then buy the extras to get the player I need for a deck shrug. I don't like not have any cards from khans of tarkir block and then decide I want to build this deck which uses a lot of khans block cards and buy those specific cards.
February 27, 2015 11:11 a.m.
Buying the specific cards will be a lot cheaper compared to buying packs. The problem with packs is that you probably won't get playsets of cards, but for a deck playsets of cards are in most cases ideal.
February 27, 2015 12:02 p.m.
Gorgosaurusrex says... #26
I don't buy packs anymore, outside of foreign language and special release (Modern Masters, etc). Buying the cards you need for your deck is a much more efficient way of getting them. I try to invest in Standard format staples early on so I can use them in multiple decks when loaning to and borrowing from my friends.
Borrowing or building other tier 1 decks besides your main to play at FNM is a great learning experience. It's hard to truly understand and beat a deck without playing it.
February 27, 2015 1:19 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #27
I wouldn't necessarily agree that a person needs to netdeck first in order to become a good deck builder. That said, you would certainly save money in the long run by taking that approach since there would be less trial-and-error, and as omnipotato inferred, it's probably better for the type of person who instinctively blames external factors for their shortcomings (trying to say that in as blunt yet un-judging manner as possible lol).
I have never piloted a netdeck in a tournament, but instead started off brewing horrible decks that had fun synergies but were demolished by board wipes. I got my ass handed to me several times before eventually learning how to build around the meta. The process took at least a few months and a handful of decks before I was starting to make Top 8's and such. So learning the ropes from your own brews can be done, just expect some whoopins in the beginning, and you'd probably be wise to avoid purchasing expensive cards until you can win with cheap ones.
February 27, 2015 1:23 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #28
I also second Gorgosaurusrex's comment regarding piloting tier 1 decks. That's something that can be done with proxies or on this site so $$ isn't an issue. But understanding what it's like to pilot a deck gives you great insight on how to defeat it. Whenever I build a new deck, I'll try to find decks on here that are close to tier 1 archetypes so I understand the matchup before it occurs in real life.
If you're brewing your own deck, this can really give you a leg up on the competition since you will know every card in your opponent's deck by turn 2 of game 1, while your opponent will probably be trying to figure out your deck on the fly.
February 27, 2015 1:31 p.m.
While netdecking is not necessary I think you should always be reading the most recent decklists. It keeps you updated on where the meta is and thus shows you what you should change in your deck to accomodate the new meta.
SoggyGecko says... #2
It all depends on the area. If you live in an area that has a lot of avid Magic players, I would expect the $300 decks. For the most part, FNM are more low key, so you shouldn't have to worry too bad about it. Do remember, a lot of the decks on this site are brews, and may not be the real deal.
February 26, 2015 6:25 p.m.