Assistance?

[Dudecore]

http://imtgapp.com/forum/index.php?topic=6696.msg52445

Built this several years ago. It beat a Standard White Weenies deck once. Even conveniently included upgrades. $47.

[MisterJH]

I want a rock solid deck that just runs how i want i to. Idk how to make a deck that goes the way i want

[MisterJH]

I do my best, i think my next deck will be the kill all the creatures one i have posted in casual, if anyone wants to check it out

[Double-O-Scotch]

Exactly. You can make a solid deck without the pricey cards, but someone with equal deckbuilding skill and a larger budget will always have the edge.

I've heard people say this is why proxies should be allowed; because not everyone can afford a Hellkite. I wholeheartedly disagree.

I worked to earn the money to buy my Sol Rings, my Glimpse the Unthinkables, etc. I chose to spend money on drafts instead of a trip to Vegas, Disneyland, etc. You have your iPad, I have my Mox Sapphire.

I feel that if you choose to pay for the high cost cards, you have the right to use them. If you don't want to spring for it, then you don't have that right. You don't get to put a Ferrari logo on your Geo and call it a Ferrari, do you? 😏

(by the way, I don't have a {Mox Sapphire}...)

However you can put a Ferrari logo on a Pontiac Fiero and call it a Ferrari.

[Coffee Vampire]

If you want to get good at deckbuilding, don't waste money on the hottest rares in standard. Tossing 4 {Thragtusks} in every green deck will win you games. Really, it will. But you didn't learn much either.

Before buying expensive cards, play with less expensive replacements. And once you feel like you can build a halfway decent deck in an hour, given any reasonable pool of cards, still don't use all your money on cool rares!

Invest in a good mana base. Inferior lands hold back your deck building potential. With bad lands, it doesn't matter if you have good spells, because you will often have to wait longer to play them because
a) your land came in tapped
or b) your land doesn't tap for the right color
Once you have a good mana base *cough*shocklands*ahem*, you will be able to build a solid deck more easily, and instead of trying to work around your bad mana base, you will be focusing on how to win, and how you can edit the deck to win more.

Then you will have the experience to use the hottest new rares to their fullest potential! What good is a bow if you can't shoot? What good is a "chase" rare card if you don't know how to build the other 56 slots of the deck?

Just some deck building advice. btw if someone ever tries to sell you deck building advice, ask them if they would like to buy your FIST ADVICE!

Deck building is like learning to walk. It's free, yet only comes through trial and error, and a little help along the way.

[Dudecore]

Not "deck building" advice (or Fist Advice), but learn how to evaluate cards. My first bit of advice is called "Vanilla Testing". Basically a vanilla is a creature without any abilities.

So vanilla testing a creature would be like {Ash Zealot}. You spend 2 mana, you'd like at least a 2/2 (because that is what you'd like in return for 2 mana). 1/1 for every mana spent. It passes the Vanilla test. But bonus round, if has 2 abilities attached to it? Passes the vanilla test + some. Some creatures fail vanilla test, but their stuck on abilities outweigh it ({Geist of Saint Traft})

[Spikepit]

You could go straight LD ... 😜 (Cue hate mail from Black Jester lol).

[Coffee Vampire]

Not "deck building" advice (or Fist Advice), but learn how to evaluate cards. My first bit of advice is called "Vanilla Testing". Basically a vanilla is a creature without any abilities.

So vanilla testing a creature would be like {Ash Zealot}. You spend 2 mana, you'd like at least a 2/2 (because that is what you'd like in return for 2 mana). 1/1 for every mana spent. It passes the Vanilla test. But bonus round, if has 2 abilities attached to it? Passes the vanilla test + some. Some creatures fail vanilla test, but their stuck on abilities outweigh it ({Geist of Saint Traft})

So true. DC is right, always do the vanilla test! {Thragtusk} is another creature that makes up for failing the vanilla test with abilities

[InfinitiveDivinity]

Not "deck building" advice (or Fist Advice), but learn how to evaluate cards. My first bit of advice is called "Vanilla Testing". Basically a vanilla is a creature without any abilities.

So vanilla testing a creature would be like {Ash Zealot}. You spend 2 mana, you'd like at least a 2/2 (because that is what you'd like in return for 2 mana). 1/1 for every mana spent. It passes the Vanilla test. But bonus round, if has 2 abilities attached to it? Passes the vanilla test + some. Some creatures fail vanilla test, but their stuck on abilities outweigh it ({Geist of Saint Traft})

So true. DC is right, always do the vanilla test! {Thragtusk} is another creature that makes up for failing the vanilla test with abilities

He pretty much passes it, and his abilities take him way over the top, for Standard at least.

[MisterJH]

{glutieus maximus} passes!

[Dudecore]

The vanilla test isn't the only tool in the card evaluators arsenal. Differentiating cards that are "Winmore" is useful too. A winmore card is just that, a card that makes you win "more".

{Rakdos, The Lord of Riots} is an example. There is something to be said about a card that has certain criteria to cast. He shatters the vanilla test, but dealing damage to cast him means you have to be dealing damage. Either your opponent has a way of dealing with him, or they're dead anyway and you're just winning more. If you're actually putting damage through, and your opponent is not responding, odds are you'd win with or without the creature.