Trying to wrap my head around standard
Standard forum
Posted on Sept. 27, 2015, 8:57 p.m. by guessling
Context: There is an mtg club at the school where I teach. It is highly encouraged to play standard and support the local partner lgs. This looks to be affordable in the near future.
However, up to this point, I have been a singles-buying edh (sometimes modern) person.
Tentative plan: When extra funds start coming in:
Buy 4 packs of: bfz, origins, dragons of tarkir, and fate reforged - also do a few bfz drafts over time
Hope to make: goblin aggro / burn, simic stompy, and golgari reanimator (maybe b/w tokens - gotta do something with W) - and / or a gauntlet with a few OBVIOUS proxies purely for testing.
Am I way off base to think I could pull what I need for these decks? I haven't tried to approach the game this way for over a decade!
Since this is standard, it feels like building decks around commons should be feasible using packs somehow.
I think you are right for the most part.
Question: Are there standard decks that rely mostly on commons and maybe a few non-commons?
I think there might be, and if there are, then sealed product should be able to take you most of the way toward making them.
Examples:
Rdw goblin burn tokens - most of this is built from commons
Stompy green splash - lots of efficient dorks, stompies, ramps, and combat tricks are commons
Black sac/return-to-hand splash - I saw that many bfz black commons are sac / r2h cards - insert things to sac / r2h here as your splash -
I agree that if I were to go get a pack in hopes of pulling some $ cards - not gonna probably happen - but if I WANT common cards ... it seems like that should be different ...
I'm not trying for grand Prix - just local games with a quick start
September 27, 2015 10:02 p.m.
Another q: It seems assumable that packs are unreliable sources of value rares - but could they be reasonably reliable sources of commons?
September 27, 2015 10:04 p.m.
nobodygaming says... #5
I wouldn't go with boosters for bulk in specific commons or uncommons. Expecting to see certain cards just because they are common isn't as reliable in larger sets like BFZ. I opened up 18 boosters this weekend and I only pulled a single non-rare Eldrazi with CMC of 7 or higher. The price of a playset of any common should be a dollar, with most uncommons being 50 cent to a dollar each (with minor exceptions depending on the set)
I built 5 budget decks using just commons and uncommons in the previous standard block, and the decks value ranged from $10 to $20. A couple of them even won a few rounds of FNM with minor upgrades. And those prices were only from buying specific singles at my local card shops
September 27, 2015 10:38 p.m.
@nobodygaming aha! Data! Love it!
Question: How many goblins did you pull? How many stompies and ramps? How many burn spells? And how many sac engine / r2h black cards?
I'm just asking because atm, I am basing decisions on research on commons using gatherer - and only 1 of the eldrazi at common was 7cmc.
I am all about starting with a solid budget build - or maybe a few even - and I can always top them off with a small number of hand picked rares if the commons hang together well enough to be "a deck".
You do make a good point about larger sets making the pulling of specific commons unreliable ... maybe you are right ... I can think of little use for a pile of eldrazi drones.
September 27, 2015 10:59 p.m.
Do a search on this site for budget decks to see what builds are working (check their Updates to see how they have done at FNM).
Opening packs will most likely get you SOME of the cards you want, but nowhere near enough to complete your decks. You can either trade for the ones you want, or sell and buy them. Or just buy the ones you want without cracking any packs, which will be the cheapest option in the long run.
If you do decide to crack packs see if you can buy left over BFZ pre-release packs from your LGS. That might give you the most value for money right now.
September 27, 2015 11:40 p.m.
Good call on the leftover packs - part of me just wants building from packs to be a thing in standard somehow - and I might on the edges of a heavy trading zone, which will make a search for commons like these more likely to succeed.
September 27, 2015 11:47 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #9
Don't open packs. Just... don't. I guess if you can get the BFZ ones it's ok, but it's basically gambling.
For getting the commons you need, a lot of LGSs have a donation box where people leave cards they don't want after opening packs or that they aren't playing with anymore. If your LGS doesn't have one, suggest they start; it's a good way to get people in the door and get people into the game so they will be more likely to spend money at the store.
September 28, 2015 12:19 a.m.
ComradeJim270 if he's got a strong trading community he'll be OK opening packs.
The only thing I would caution against is trading away Rares and Mythics as it rarely goes well.
September 28, 2015 12:22 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #11
I'd usually advise against opening packs even then; the odds of getting your money back are very poor. Singles are always the most affordable option, if not the most fun.
September 28, 2015 12:35 a.m.
nobodygaming says... #12
@guessling This was all just from BFZ pre release weekend, so in terms of what I pulled that you are inquiring about I didn't get very many. BFZ favours allies more than most actual creature types, meaning I didn't see many elves or goblins that would be of use in their own tribal decks (exception being Zada, Hedron Grinder could work with Goblins, but he was the only goblin I opened).
I pulled 3 Kozilek's Channeler and a couple of the uncommon mana fixing elf that costs 2G (can't recall names atm). Aside from the Channeler I had no eldrazi in my packs to ramp into for either day of pre release, only seeing Ruin Processor in my prize boosters later. But even not worrying about power levels of the commons and uncommons I pulled, I would estimate I had maybe 4-5 playsets of commons for constructed play. You might have more or less luck than me, but you probably wont get the bulk that you want to build with
Dalektable says... #2
As you said you have been buying singles for modern and EDH, and that should be no different in standard. If you want to play standard, the most cost-efficient and effective way is to buy the singles you need to build a deck. You certainly will not pull the cards you need to build a standard deck with packs, and building a deck around commons will not be effective, especially not feasible.
September 27, 2015 9:32 p.m.