Hi everyone,

I am very much a beginner with Magic, having only played a handful of matches - four round's worth on my first FNM a couple weeks ago, and four round's worth at my first Star City Games Night last week. Plus maybe two other matches on top of that.

So, I want to attend my first game day this weekend, which as you all probably know will be BFZ. I know there is no way I'll match up to the other guys playing, but I want to at least be able to put up a good fight. ;) I guess what I'm asking for is help in general, both with anything I should be aware of, and especially with my deck.

I know very little about MTG. I mean, I understand basic gameplay, like mana costs and such, but I have no idea yet about advanced strategies. There's no way I'd know how to utilise searchlands, for example, so if anyone could explain some of this stuff to me at any point, I'd be really grateful. Anyway, I currently own two BFZ intro decks - Eldrazi Assault, and Zendikar's Rage. Of both of those, I definitely prefer my landfall Zendikar's Rage deck. But I'd really appreciate any help on upgrading either deck as I have literally no idea what I'm doing, especially when it comes to deckbuilding. I am happy to use either deck, basically whichever one will probably end up being better than the other. Or, of course, I am happy to make a deck from scratch (probably still landfall as I'm more comfortable with that at present), if you guys are willing to help out that much.

So yeah, suggestions on how to improve my decks/make a new one (I have about a deckbox worth of other BFZ/Origins cards from various booster packs and such, which I can use) would be greatly appreciated. I am more than happy to post a list of cards I have here, or all of my cards are in my deckbox inventory (finally).

Aside from that, I also have a deckbuilder's toolbox box full of older, illegal in standard cards which I have no idea what to do with.

Any help you guys can offer me before game day (I'll likely be going on Sunday rather than Saturday) would be greatly, greatly appreciated. I apologise in advance though - you'll really have to dumb everything down for me.

~Komm.

So a budget R/G landfall that might win a few games here or there... this is doable:

4x Monastery Swiftspear - it's a hasty 1-drop that is almost never a 1/2 and can sneak in tons of damage without too much trouble.
4x Scythe Leopard - your other 1-drop that needs little explanation. Seldom a 1/1, more likely a 2/2 or larger.
4x Snapping Gnarlid - same story as leopard, slightly larger edition.
4x Makindi Sliderunner - similar to the gnarlid, but more importantly with trample - gotta force that damage through.
2x Valakut Predator - this isn't a traditional choice, but from a budget angle, it's the only 3-drop you run, it quickly and easily becomes a 4/4, and will help get the job done. Odds are you don't want a full 4x, as it benefits you to keep the curve low, but it's enough to help.

This creature base really isn't that different from the R/G lists that just did quite well at the pro-tour. The idea is to drop a few creatures, keep triggering landfall, and use pump spells to finish the job.

Now the pumps:
2x Become Immense - stuff WILL hit the yard and the appeal here is to provide something sizable do do with all the cards in there.
4x Swell of Growth - here's your budget Atarka's Command. It helps pump one while allowing for a second landfall trigger to pump the whole team.
4x Temur Battle Rage - this is the bee's knees of pump spells. You can use it to force the last bit of damage through or for a really explosive hit. Note that you should almost never use this on anything that has less than 4 power, as you want the trample effect just as much as the double-strike.
4x Titan's Strength - pumps, scry, generally your all around-combat trick. This can turn into a MAJOR beating if you use it on the sliderunner, swiftspear, or anything unblocked (especially with battle rage backup).
2x Retreat to Valakut - it pumps, it makes blocks difficult, it generally just makes landfall that much better. Normally this would be the definition of a win-more card (one that's only good when you're already winning), but the ability to pump for battle rage r to push that last bit of damage through by stopping the opponent from blocking is actually the real deal.
1x Outpost Siege - here's the top of your curve. Odds are you're not going to need this, but you can select Khans mode to "draw" an extra card per turn. Just remember to play things exiled before stuff you draw, as the exiled stuff goes away.
1x Crater's Claws - you're going to be hitting landfall EVERY turn. Eventually, pending the game goes past turn 4-6, you will want something to sink all your mana into. This can be a surprise finisher if you stall out with the opponent at 5-6.

Please double-check my math, but that SHOULD work out to 36 cards. The remaining 24 should be lands. Now the idea to use fetch lands is to provide 2x landfall triggers per turn while still providing untapped sources to then use to cast the various pumps. Sadly, this is the expensive part of the deck, where, for a budget option, you're sort of in a lurch. But, all is not lost, as there are somewhat "workable" fetch options at your disposal. I would propose the following manabase:

3x Forest
11x Mountain
4x Rugged Highlands

These are self-explanatory. You want to ensure that you have some green at your disposal, but as the majority of the deck operates on red, you want to be sure you have access to much more red than green at any given point.

4x Evolving Wilds - here's the "poor man's fetchland." You can use this to ensure you get any green you might need. But, more importantly, it provides you 2x landfall triggers in one turn OR a single landfall trigger when it enters and another one at instant speed whenever you really need it.
2x Blighted Woodland - I've yet to really figure out the optimal use of this one myself, but it can provide as many as 3x landfall triggers in one turn OR 2x landfall triggers at instant speed.

This SHOULD be a workable 60 that will score a few wins here or there (perhaps even 1-2 rounds at gameday). I'd suggest trying the deck out to the extent that you can, even if it's just goldfishing (playing solo) to familiarize yourself with the ins-and-outs of the deck, timing for the wilds and woodlands, sequencing of lands and plays, etc.

As for a sideboard, honestly, with a limited card pool to draw on and budget to work with, I wouldn't even really bother with it too much. If you want to have a few copies of Wild Slash to deal with other aggro builds, 2-3 Grove Rumblers in the event you need to go more mid-range, 2-3 Magmatic Chasm if the opponent has ways to flood the board and bog the game down, and some copies of Naturalize, Roast, and Goblin Heelcutter for other scenarios. The dash ability of heelcutter will help combat control decks.

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope this helps.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for giving me such a detailed reply! I'll work on somehow getting those cards that I don't have before Sunday, haha. Any ideas on where I'll be able to get them from quickly?

So, (and this might be a stupid question), all those Khans, Fate Reforged, etc cards would be legal in a standard gameday deck? I thought they were only legal for modern...

~Komm.

Standard is currently the entire Khans block, Magic Orgin and BFZ. The Theros block just rotated out.

Not a problem. Deckbuilding is a part of the game I don't really get a chance to do as much of as I want anymore, despite being the most amusing/challenging component of the game in my book.

Given that the majority of them are common/uncommon, you should be able to pick them up at any local game store or off pretty much anyone who has purchased a decent amount from the past few sets.

As for the standard question, valdor is 100% spot on. Rotation is getting a bit more complex for a few months given the transition to the three-block paradigm, but if you keep your eyes peeled, you're in the clear. But, in the event you ever have a question: http://whatsinstandard.com/

Thank you to both of you guys for helping me out. :)

TyWoo, I've saved the deck list you created for me into my Deck Ideas on this website, for later creation. I basically have two local stores, one of which is pretty poor for singles, and the other of which has way too many common/uncommon singles to look through in such a short space of time - and no way to tell customers which they have in stock, which sucks. So, I've decided to put aside your idea for now, but I'll definitely be creating it as soon as I can, because it's a pretty awesome sounding deck.

However, when I went to the store that's poor for Magic singles, there was a pretty experienced and knowledgeable Magic player there who was kind enough to edit my Zendikar's Rage Intro Deck so that it became somewhat use-able for Game Day, and so that I might actually be able to win a few games with it, haha. He also made me a side deck for it, which I pretty much immediately accidentally put right back into my massive card collection, and then neither of us could work out what it consisted of, so we ended up giving up. BUT, I do have my main deck ready for tomorrow, which is great. Apparently, cards from older sets are legal so long as they have been reprinted into currently legal sets - which is something I didn't realise, and am really hoping is true, haha.

So, the deck I will be using for Game Day tomorrow is a red/green Landfall deck, as follows:

1 Act of Treason
1 Akoum Stonewaker
1 Blighted Woodland
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Fertile Thicket
8 Forest
2 Grove Rumbler
1 Jaddi Offshoot
1 Looming Spires
1 Makindi Sliderunner
7 Mountain
1 Murasa Ranger
2 Natural Connection
1 Nissa's Renewal
1 Oran-Rief Hydra
1 Plummet
1 Reclaiming Vines
1 Retreat to Kazandu
1 Retreat to Valakut
1 Rolling Thunder
1 Rot Shambler
1 Scythe Leopard
4 Seek the Wilds
4 Snapping Gnarlid
1 Sure Strike
1 Swell of Growth
2 Sylvan Scrying
2 Territorial Baloth
2 Tunneling Geopede
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Valakut Predator

Any last minute sideboard suggestions would be great, although I'm not sure a sideboard would make too much of a difference if I don't manage to make one before Game Day...

Thanks again, guys.
~Komm.