Y do people play Standard?
Standard forum
Posted on June 28, 2013, 3:22 p.m. by APPLE01DOJ
As a brand new player, I don't get standard at all. Y would u play such a restrictive format.
I understand Y legacy isn't appealing. The cards are old, the entry rate for a decent deck is expensive. But Modern allows for a huge variety of cards while not blowing your budget at the same time. I guess what I'm asking, is what is the appeal for a new player to play standard?
The appeal is the availability of the cards... walk into any LGS and you can purchase packs of Standard Legal cards. And if you don't like the deck you built, you'll have a base for many other deck types that you can switch to, with minimal cost and effort in trading. And you can even Draft current sets, to have fun while building up the cards you need.
If you are just starting, and you are getting into Modern, you have to learn about different deck types, select one or 2 decks you like... then hunt down the cards at great cost and effort... Then, if you play and decide you don't like the way the deck works and you're not enjoying it, you have to start over. Because the cards aren't in print, it can be hard to find even the commons you need.
I've spent months working on a budget Modern deck, and still haven't gotten everything I need... though I haven't bothered purchasing from online stores, which would save some effort.
June 28, 2013 3:33 p.m.
I think people like the challenge of constantly upgrading their decks. It keeps the game fresh. Plus people like the thrill of playing with new cards and archetypes as well. It is also the format with the most support. By that I mean that most tournament events and FNMs are all focused on the standard format so if you want to do more than play with some friends it is the easiest format to get into.
June 28, 2013 3:34 p.m.
Although Standard is typically cheaper to get into, it often becomes more expensive in the long run, as cards cycle out, and new sets are printed.
Once you have the land base, and a few key cards, there's little to invest in the way of "new cards"
That being said, you are correct, it's the "cost of entry" that prevents many players from starting into other formats.
June 28, 2013 3:36 p.m.
Smith_and_Tonic says... #6
It is a lot easier to get into standard when you are a new player. You go to a few drafts, build up your card stock, then you can build a standard deck. When it comes to the other formats, you need to spend more money and put a lot more time into building decks. Also, the standard environment is not as technical as the modern or legacy environment. You only have to worry about 2 blocks and a core set of cards when you get into magic while the other formats draw from a much larger time period.
June 28, 2013 3:38 p.m.
Kirtanian also has some good points.
Adding to the archetype concept... I know a few people who have left Modern because after working out their deck, getting all the cards they need/want, some card got banned, making their deck much less competitive and/or fun.
This is not common in Standard, as if a card is making too much of a disturbance in the format, they simply have to wait for the card (or it's supporting cards) to cycle out. The cycling is expected by Standard players so any investment made has an expectation that it is not permanent.
For some, I expect that Standard also provides a "story-line" that they can get into. For example, RTR contains the storyline of the guilds and the Dragon's Maze... etc, and M14 contains Chandra and a conflict with another Planeswalker... - While the Cards in Modern come from some story line, they don't necessarily "tie together" well, and the story may not seem as evident or clear.... so it may not be as engaging to some players.
June 28, 2013 3:46 p.m.
As a relatively new player myself, I can attest to the fact that new players will simply default to playing Standard as those are the newest, most accessible cards. It took me a month or two to even realize there were different formats at all. Also I think it keeps the complexity down as the sheer number of available cards for Modern is overwhelming.
June 28, 2013 3:58 p.m.
Get into standard and eventually, after picking stuff up here and there, you will have a decent modern deck as well. Standard is also typically more balanced in the card interactions. The older the format gets, the more options someone has to abuse cards and break the format. In standard, you pretty much know what to expect and can build your deck accordingly. In modern... there are a lot more viable strategies and it's hard to prepare for all of them.
June 28, 2013 4:23 p.m.
Actually the biggest part that standard has is it's player base, in comparison to all the other competitive formats there can be 2 times to ten times the number of standard players to other format players (this includes players who overlap). In most areas one can always expect a standard tournament to have enough people to start while other formats can often have trouble getting enough players to start.
There are also a lot more standard tournaments going off at any LGS than any other format (though limited can sometimes be more often) again this can be mostly due to there being more players for standard, but it's also because Wizards supports standard the most, because in the end it's a business and standard makes the most money for them.
In the end if you really want to make another format more fun than standard in your area your best bet would be to build around 20 really good decks for that format and loan them out, they can't be bad budget decks either and it'll likely require that many to have a hope in working, hopefully after awhile people would be more willing to pay the huge initial barrier to enter a new format, people who play mtg tournaments go to play mtg tournaments often, spending so many hundreds of dollars on a game doesn't make sense if you're not going to play it often (sort of like paying a XBox live subscription and only using it once every few months).
June 28, 2013 4:24 p.m.
I think the number of available playable cards in modern is underwhelming, that meaning the availability is not as much as needed to support a lot of players, drviing price up.. My melira pod deck is about 815$ (tcgplayer low) with sideboard and I could trade for very few of these because no one had them in their binder or willing to trade for them with what I had (mostly standard playable cards). Standard is simply the easiest format to get into right away, especially with 4 sets being released a year, providing 4 pre-releases and gamedays and different types of drafts to play in. It's just easier (and more available) to get standard cards than modern.
But I did go out and buy a modern deck after a few months, because of MMA and my lgs pushing it a lot.MMA helped availability, but only in a few cards and for a few decks. FTR, in my melira pod deck, the 4 Voice of Resurgence and 4 Thoughtseize make up about half that 815. With the 8 fetches costing around 240, 4 of which are Misty Rainforest . The lands are not as expensive as the mandatory staples in rare. With Thoughtseize in every deck playing B .So reality is it comes down to availability and what one can trade for, or even buy at their lgs normally. I bought 6 of my fetches off tcgplayer because my store didn't have them. same with Thoughtseize , Voices They didn't either, but I got lucky and pulled 3 during pre-release and in my box and bought the last one at 25$.
Anyone investing in eggs, should just play solitaire for a living ftr.
June 28, 2013 4:27 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #13
So the only good argument any one has offered in this thread is "because that's what most other people play". I think this price barrier people have is more of an illusion.
I built a modern deck (which I've been buying over the last month and it's less than 150$) but I personally don't think that spending 40$ on a playset of shocklands is outrageous, especially if this is for a hobby u love.
Expensive cards in Modern either happen to be ancient cards that were good when they came out, that people still play & pay too much money for. IE Thoughtseize or Dark Confidant or cards that are also expensive because they're in standard IE Voice of Resurgence or Liliana of the Veil .
I think it's a better format for NEW players because you have access to everything in standard and then several blocks back. As new things are released, they're still modern legal so u can still constantly update your deck, it'll just hold value longer.
June 28, 2013 5:03 p.m.
Modern is terrible for new players as they often have no clue as to what colors they like the most and often would prefer to explore over many different decks also it takes time to absorb and memorize many cards, all these aspects makes modern a terrible format for new players.
June 28, 2013 5:32 p.m.
There are lots of viable strategies in Standard and what works best is constantly in flux, plus most of the tournaments at my Meta are standard.
June 28, 2013 6:20 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #16
The downside to that too is people need to play standard to learn the game. When I was a new player I didn't see why I would want to invest in rare lands (for example.) The downside to this is by the time the players get familiar with a good eternal card vs a good standard card the price of the good eternal cards they want have skyrocketed.
To go back to my example, I'm glad by the time I was playing Zendikar standard that I recognized 8 dollars/fetchland was a reasonable price. There's no way with my current budget I'd be acquiring them now, whereas at the time it was feasible to get a playset of each. (almost...I need 3 Arid Mesa s...)
Modern is great for players who have been playing awhile and recognize what their archetype is. You need to know your niche to invest a lot of money into you deck, because yes, it's a long term investment but you don't want to be blowing a whole bunch of money because you got bored...
June 28, 2013 6:25 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #17
It's FRESHER. Modern changes at a glacial pace. Standard forces you to be constantly brewing and analyzing the metagame, whereas in modern, everything's well in place and well-established.
I actually preferred Extended to Modern; it felt like the right balance between Standard and Legacy. Modern errs way too much on the Legacy side, in my view.
June 28, 2013 7:48 p.m.
pumpkinsword says... #18
@capriom85 Even infect isn't cheap. You'll want at least 4 fetches for UG and at least 8 fetches for BUG, as well as Noble Hierarch . The pump spells can even run as high as 3.5 dollars each (Might of Old Krosa ), etc. A cheap modern deck is soul sisters and goblins which I have made on this site. Soul Sisters is actually competitive, while goblins are more of just for fun. For some reason I can't link it right now, probably my phone.
June 28, 2013 8:14 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #19
The appeal is the ease of entering standard competitions, they are everywhere with FNM's.
June 28, 2013 9:26 p.m.
Alechilles says... #20
The biggest reason I play standard is probably just the fact that FNM tournaments are in standard format. Those are really the only thing I get a chance to attend aside from getting together with some friends to play. I also like the ever-changing meta of standard. With new cards coming in, and others going out so often, there's a lot of change going on. I hate it at the same time though, because I end up having to buy more and more cards, but oh well.
June 29, 2013 10:50 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #21
Another point I just thought of is that it's the most beginner friendly - new players only tend to know about new cards, so having standard be very popular is a good thing for MTG; it ensures accessibility.
June 30, 2013 5:37 a.m.
the reason i started standard was simple? to lazy to learn thousands of new cards vs the like 300? that are standard
June 30, 2013 6:01 a.m.
HarbingerJK says... #23
Modern is a very fast format and sometimes seems unfair lol
June 30, 2013 10:21 a.m.
all i hear ever bout modern format speed is it being a turn4 format. dont know if its true though.(could just be post of ppl whining)
following this statement how does control(or any non-aggro deck) do out there?
June 30, 2013 12:07 p.m.
HarbingerJK says... #25
in modern control basically tries to screw over the turn 4 victory
June 30, 2013 12:11 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #26
Hence cards like Thoughtseize causing people to break the bank. Even good uncommons like Path to Exile and Inquisition of Kozilek are worth more than most rares available in the format because of the role they play for control.
@ Sagi007 you'll probably notice control hasn't really been able to get a foothold since it really has to be proactive in its approach. No Draw-Go or Permission here
June 30, 2013 1:33 p.m.
GreatSword says... #27
Restriction with objectivity breeds creation. There's a certain "any given Sunday" aspect to Standard at the moment; any kind of creative deck properly prepared and wielded can do well at any given event. Loads of cards, even entire mana bases shift every year, shaking up everything all the time. Combine that with something new to look forward to every 6 months and generally cheaper cards than Legacy formats, you have a pretty fun format.
pumpkinsword says... #2
It is cheaper and the cards are readily available. Modern is actually quite expensive (mostly lands) - some of the cheapest competitive decks are mono colored, but still cost around 140 dollars at least.
June 28, 2013 3:27 p.m.