How to pimp your deck, on a budget
Standard forum
Posted on Feb. 24, 2018, 7:10 a.m. by Argy
You might not have access to shiny promo cards, but that doesn't mean you can't make your deck look pretty, and unique.
Here are a few ideas to help you out.
Find older versions of current cards, that you like. At the moment I am running Journey into Nix Magma Spray in my Deck because I think they look a bit nicer than the recent printing. You can often buy old versions quite cheaply, or even trade for them.
If you find a version of a card that you like, hoard as many copies as possible. Move them around from deck to deck. I have done that with the Negate cards that were printed in Dragons of Tarkir. They amuse me, because they look like that meme of Batman slapping Robin.
I also love the DTK Evolving Wilds the best.Speaking of this, it is often quite cheap to buy foil copies of these cards, as they aren't really regarded as worth hoarding. This is often easiest to do a few months after the set has come out, but I just did a quick check and you can still find those cards I just mentioned fairly cheaply as foils.
If you win promo cards at Standard Showdown or FNM, use them.
Team with a theme. If you built your deck during the Rivals of Ixalan block, use only RIX lands. For an even more streamlined look, use only the same land.
I like to try to stick to lands that have buildings as part of their art.
If you have been lucky enough to get your hands on some full art lands, keep moving them to your current favourite deck.If you can draw or paint, cut some cardboard to size and design your own Tokens.
Tokens don't have to be the ones produced by Wizards. Try to make all the information on them clear (colour, P/T, type, etc.) so they impress your Opponents, but don't confuse them.
Feel free to add other ideas. Try to make them practical.
TheDevicer I deliberately put this in the Standard forum because pimping decks for another format is a completely different affair.
For Standard you often lack the time it takes to trade for foils, and people aren't as likely to trade them away.
February 24, 2018 8:30 p.m.
I dunno. If we're talking about standard, I'd actively avoid new foils. Maybe older stock is still fine. I live in Florida. Even with double sleeving, everything here curls.
February 24, 2018 10:55 p.m.
I try to keep the art of every basic land completely different. Lands have some of the best art in the game, spread across all artistic styles. It's pretty easy to find a full set of different lands that fit your own personal tastes.
February 24, 2018 11:09 p.m.
February 25, 2018 9:37 a.m.
dthoreson813 says... #7
For my modern 8 whack goblins deck Im using all of the same basic mountain art.
ATM I can't remember what set exactly, but it reminds me of a walk into Mordor, an endeavour that one does not simply undertake.
;-)
Good op!
Arvail says... #2
My suggestion is to figure out what you really want and aggressively trade up in value and into that segment of cards. My foray into spending serious time and actual cards in EDH began with selling and trading away my modern UW midrange list into a Grand Arbiter list years ago. After getting the base, I mostly upgraded the deck over time. Now I'm at a point in life where pimping out the deck through trades is no longer realistically possible since I need stuff like black-bordered Duals, Tabernacle, and Timetwister to do so.
February 24, 2018 1:44 p.m.