if you want white cards the red white event deck (forgot the name) has some good cards, thalia, silverblade, clifftop retreat.  If you can find one at MSRP ($20-25) then the cards inside are really good value for the money.

In my experience, most FNMs (depending on your area) are at least moderately competitive.  You'll see at least a couple top tier decks and probably some tier 2 decks that will give the top tiers something to think about.  I know people in my area use FNM as a training/testing ground for their PTQ and SCG Open decks. So just tapper your expectations if you show up with a home brewed deck or a netdeck that's not finished.

also the cost can look overwhelming, but in the long run it is theoretically cheaper to buy single cards if you want to build a specific deck.  opening packs will get you some things and things to trade, but will be a more significant investment, I only buy packs when I don't know what I want, or just want to scratch that itch smile

I'd cut the black, it's not doing a lot for you.  If you want a burn spell like rakdos return then aurelia's fury is on color and has more beneficial effects to the type of deck you're trying to play.

I'd cut some of the spells in favor of some more creatures.  Boros elite is good. Stromkirk noble is a good one drop as well. Legion's initiative is a strong card for a deck like this I'd try to find a way to maind dec at least a couple.  See if you can pick up some lightning maulers and boros reckoners as well.  Tajic is a srong card, but I think blaze commando cost to much for what he gives you.  Burning tree emmissary can work too, she enables lightning mauler on turn 2 and you could pump up with a madcap skills or volcanic str.  Aggro decks are like pyramids, 1 drops make up the base, then 2 drops, then 3 drops,  and you want to top out at only a few of the high cost cards.  I see you have vexing devil, he's technically a 1 drop, but 90% of players aren't going to let him stay in play, and getting creatures on the board is what you need to do with a R/W aggro deck.

Ideally you want to end the game on turn 5ish.  Going to a FNM with an aggro deck that doesn't shoot for at least a turn 4-5 win will probably be too slow.  Most tournament worthy decks can stabilize around turn 5 putting them out of kill range for you.  So, you either need to go full aggro, or take it more mid-range.  the mid-range version of the deck I posted on bottom has  little more reach a bonded thundermaw to a silver blade can be devastating.

tldr: too many 4-5-6 drops, not enough 1-2-3 drops for an aggro deck.

One of the best things to do if you're interested in decks is to look up videos of people streaming matches playing decks similar to what you want to play.  Youtube and twitch etc.

If you try to do a little of everything your deck will excel at nothing...

There's nothing particulalry wrong with extort it just takes a lot of setup.  It could work casually but isn't a particularly stron mechanoc outside of limited formats.

I think this would be my sideboard, just My .02

Rest in peace x 3 - completely shuts up any reanimator strategy.  Also stop undying.
volcanic str x 4 - +2/+2 and mountainwalk with tajic against anyone else running mountains?  Yes pls.
Skull Crack x 4 - Good against thragtusk, sphinxes/life gain combos.  When they play a thrag or sphinx you simply play skullcrak in response.  It stops them from gaining life and does 3 damage.  You're deck would have a hard time recovering from someone who gains a lot of life.  This helps even the odds so they don't regain all the damage you do.
Oblivion Ring x 2 - removes plains walkers, creatures, enchants, etc... there are some bad enchants out there
Warleader's Helix X 2 - good vs midrange/agro, kills bigger creatures gains life, kills plains walkers.

The deck really doesn't "need" one drops.  Legion loyalist is an okay card, has haste and a decent ability there are a few token decks out there right now. If you are in an area with a whole lot of agro fiend hunter is going to do most of your work in that area.  I'd even consider burning tree emmissaries instead of the traveler.  LIke I said frontline medic or boros reckoner would be peferable.  you're not going to be doing a lot of blocking (hopefully) so that line of thought should be on the back burner, ideally you want to be on the offensive.

typically to be consistent with your plays you'll want to add more land the more cards you have over 4 cost.  IE: a land a turn.

In your case running an auriela or 2 isn't bad but you'd need to have 25 or so lands to make sure when you get her you draw land consistently enough to get up to 6.  A deck running 22-23 lands might consistently hit 5, but 6 would be stretching it.  You might consider going more midrange or more aggro.  Below are examples of both you could try.

Aggro RW Humans


Creatures (27)

    4 Ash Zealot
    4 Boros Elite
    4 silver Blade Paladin
    4 Champion of the Parish
    4 Frontline Medic
    4 Hellrider
    4 Lightning Mauler


Lands (22)

    7 Mountain
    6 Plains
    3 Clifftop Retreat
    4 Sacred Foundry
    2 Slayers' Stronghold

Spells (11)

    3 Madcap Skills
    2 Boros Charm
    4 Searing Spear
    2 Gather the Townsfolk

Midrange W/R - article covering the strategy of the deck as well

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11146

2 Aurelia, the Warleader
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Hellrider
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Silverblade Paladin
3 Tajic, Blade of the Legion
4 Thundermaw Hellkite

3 Boros Charm
4 Legion's Initiative
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Searing Spear

4 Clifftop Retreat
8 Mountain
6 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Slayers' Stronghold

you might be able to do 3 colors casually with guild gates but really you want the rare lands to help with mana. 

Best suggestion is to trade off some of your cards to get some multiples of others.  Looks like you have some decent white cards. Start there.  Try going mono white.  You want to get some 4 of's in the deck to help smooth things out, right now you're going to have trouble drawing and playing your cards consistently, that can be frustrating even casually.

Trying going with some cheap creatures like Boros Elite, Champion of the parish, Daring Skyjack, Frontline medic.  do a white aggro deck.

it is standard, deck box just isn't showing it for some reason.

your deck looks a lot better from your original post. IMO drop wear and tear and move an oblivion ring main-deck.  Oblivion ring hits so many more things than wear/tear.   

sideboard cards to consider.

  • warleaders helix - makes a good sideboard card, against an aggro/mirror.  Nuking one of their dudes and gaining 4 life can be a big deal in that matchup. It also hits lots of midrange creatures.

  • skull crack -  against people that will play sphinx's revelation and thragtusk.

  • oblivian rings - againts mid range decks.

  • Rest in Peace - While you're trading see if you can get a couple rest in peace.  Or borrow them for the tournament.  they will shut down reanmiator.

  • Volcanic strength - can go in the deck against anyone else playing mountains.

The doomed travelers don't seem right... not sure what you could put in it's place though.  Frontline medic would be good, if you could get ahold of those.  Boros Reckoners for sure.  If not that then any of the more aggressive drops would work imo.  boros elite, daring skyjack, wojek halbadiers.

You've got some decent cards in your inventory.  i'm going to suggest you try one of the re-animatorvariations like the one listed in the link below.  It's very resilient and can make use of some of the golgari cards you have.  Deathrite shamans, lotleth trolls, abrupt decay are all great options for it.

If you're not familiar with the deck google re-animator videos and you'll see it in action.

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat … ckID=55767

If that doesn't suit your fancy you can try something called golgari control that's had some moderate success in a tournament environment.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=490883

710

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

champion of the parish works well, with cheap human creatures.  Think boros elite etc.  The more humans you put into play the better.  Cheaper decks are usually called "aggro" decks.   For $$ reasons unless you want to drop some serious cash sticking with an all white strategy is probably good for now.  See if maybe you can trade for some frontline medics, and try to stay under 4 for your creature casting costs.

I've been working on a guide you might read through (attached). If for some reason you can't get the attachment. Here's a bit of what's written in it.

6.    Basic Strategies – There are constructed and limited strategies as well as deck building basics and more specific archetype strategies for the types of decks available.  I won’t be talking about specific cards here, because discovering what the cards do and how they interact with each other is part of the fun of the game.
•    Constructed - It’s important to note that there’s a bit of a rock, paper, scissors to mage with the constructed archetypes. Control usually has favorable matchups against midrange, midrange against aggro and aggro against control.
o    Deck Size - For mathematical reasons I won’t go into you want to stay as close to the minimum deck card count requirement as possible.  For standard that’s 60 + 15 sideboard, and for Commander that’s 100 + ?? Sideboard. This makes your decks and card draw more consistent.
o    Multiples – with some notable strategic exceptions (that won’t be addressed here) you want multiple copies of cards up to the 4 card limit for each card in your deck. Basic Lands don’t count.
o    Mana Base – As a rule of thumb you want a 1/3rd or more of your deck to be mana at a minimum.  See some basic guidelines below. Notes these are lands not count other mana sources.
    20-22 - Low cost aggro decks, usually topping out at a 4 cost card.
    23-25 – typical midrange setup with ramp, fetch, or mana dorks. This will support larger cost creatures and spells and fuel cards with X casting costs.
    25-26 – Some control decks will run this amount of mana to make sure they can consistently play their spells without mana fetching or mana ramp.
    Less or More – running less lands or more lands than what’s listed here isn’t recommended unless you have a fine tuned and perfected strategy for what you’re trying to do, and if you’re doing that you don’t need to read this anyway.
o    Archetypes – There are more specific strategies for building decks associate with one of the 3 main archetypes.
    Aggro – typically 26-30 creatures, a hand full of removal or burn spells and just enough lands to make sure you can cast your most expensive spells, usually a 4 or 5 cost creature will be the most expensive you’ll play in these decks.  These decks build on a pyramid of creatures with 1 drops making up the base, then 2s, 3s, and the top of the mana curve being 4 and maybe… maybe a 5 cost creature or 2.  Typical load outs will be as follows. 
a.    1 drops – 8-12
b.    2 drops – 8-10
c.    3 drops – 6 - 8
d.    4,5 drops – 4 - 6
e.    Lands – 20-22
f.    Spells – 6 – 8
Typically no spells with X in the cost you won’t have enough to cast them to any great effect.
    Midrange – most mid-range decks run between 12 and 20 creatures with some typically being mana ramping creatures.  The creatures that are played usually provide “value” they do more than one thing or are ability packed, provide some kind of combo or provide a measure of control in addition to being threatening on the battlefield. These decks will usually have lots of removal or stall, 12-15 spells, removal or life gain cards with x in the cost, and spells that help them draw or get them card advantage.
    Control decks – the only reason you’re allowed to play cards against a control deck is because they let you.  That’s the goal.  They pack cards that wipe the board and let them search their decks for the cards they need to defeat you.  The main goal here is to have the card they need when they need it to stop you from doing what you need to do to win. These are high level decks and require a lot of experience and thought to play.

I use this analogy a lot when explaining splashing colors to people.  Imagine your red/white deck is a chocolate chip cookie recipe.  You can add walnuts (green cards) to give it a different flavor but if you add one walnut what are the chances you'll get the cookie with the one walnut in it?   To go a bit further you don't want to make a oatmeal, raisin, chocolate chip, peanut butter, walnut, pecan, dark chocolate, sugar cookies either.  That's too much and it might just make you sick.

Like drgolovacroxby said, trade it for the cards you need.  Hanging on to one card isn't going to help you when you can get a set of something else.  Lands are a good investment to make.   Try to trade value for value.  Voice is still a $30 card.  That's 3 sacred foundry's or a set of hellriders plus value.  Voice of resurgence goes in a completely different style of deck. Same thing goes for some of the other cards in your inventory. There's lots of cards you can unload to build one solid deck.  Sorin, temple garden, godless shrine, deadbridge chant... someone will want these cards.  Trade them and get the things you need.

You should really also decide on a deck-list to build.  There's the one I posted early, that works well.  There's red/white (boros) aggro, Red aggro (RDW).  These decks are all different and will take you a while to build so you need to work towards one of them.

good luck to you then and I hope you win your match smile

Also, don't forget about limited events.  Sealed or draft tournaments help you expand your collection while still playing magic in a slightly competitive environment.  The strategies are different but the format is balanced and everyone is on an even playing field. 

ask your local store(s) about drafts.

Looks better IMO.  Still needs more multiples of cards to be consistent, but it's a work in progress, right?  have no idea why it's not showing up as standard. 

My next statement depends heavily on what kind of players you have in your area. 

In my experience going to a game-day or a FNM with anything less than a top tier deck or some of the wall tier 2 deck is usually going to make for a long night with frustrating matches.  That doesn't mean you can't go to play and have as much fun as possible.  Like any game or sport if you don't play you don't' get better.  I suggest going to game day and keep an open mind.   I might even save my money if I were you and just talk to the other players, watch the matches, and play some casual games.   Show up early and ask the players about the meta and see what they say about your deck and your chances at the tournament.  Nothing more frustrating that putting 15 bucks in the pot if you're not going to see any return on it.

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to discourage you, new players are magics best resource, but I want you to have realistic expectations.  Competitive magic can be a rewarding experience, but if try to enter the arena before your ready you'll end up getting frustrated and you might even quite playing. Losing a player that's obviously interested in the game and trying to improve themselves and their play would be unfortunate for everyone.

715

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Nothing wrong with black/red.  There's some cards you should look into.  Search Star City deck-lists for tournament competitive decks. 

More RDW like (red deck wins)

  • Hellrider
    Boros Reckoner
    Thundermaw Hellkite

More BR Zombie like

  • Gravecrawleer
    Geralf's Messenger
    Falken Aristocrat (name?)

New untested cards from Dragon Maze

  • Spike jester
    Exava, Rakdos blood Witch

716

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Looking at all your cards you don't have a complete deck of anything.  You have a one of's and two of's which aren't going to make a coherent competitive deck for FNM.  The best thing you can do is try to trade for some cards.

you have the start of a RG aggro deck (see link below).  Stomping ground, hellriders, you need to trade that cavern of souls and a few other cards to get some more R/G lands and some more cards.  The decklist below is competitive and not terribly expensive now.  You could drop a few of the more expensive cards for some cheaper substitutes.  Make sure you trade card value for card value.  Cavern is a 20+ dollar card, I wouldn't trade it for anything less than a couple stomping grounds.

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat … ckID=54990

Honestly... If money is tight try to find a shop that does  budget drafts, a lot of stores will do 10 dollar drafts on off nights.  Try to find one of those and do that.  right now you can draft from packs of all 3 RTR sets and you have a chance to play magic while expanding your collection.  Competitive FNM can set you back a couple hundred bucks if you just jump in head first.

You're deck is half aggro half mid range.  W/G is a viable combination on its own. 

Champion of the parish usually goes in a deck called "Naya Blitz"  a RWG deck.  It's very aggressive it uses Burning tree emmissary, experiment one, and lots of low costs creatures to get damage in quick. Then some burn spells like searing spear.  You can end the game on turn 3 potentially.

Trostoni and some of the other cards in your list seem more "midrange" which usually means you ramp up mana on your early turns by playing mana elves (aka: mana dorks) and/or farseek.  These decks typically want cards like loxodon smiter and centaur healer to come out turn 2.  turn one mana dork turn 2 3 drop.  You can do a viable token deck now with things like advent of the wurm and voice of resurgance.

Don't be afraid to look at deck lists from tournments on SCG and TCG player.  These decks have been tested and proven and if you want to do competitive standard it's hard to do better than the bets players out there.

@ty , dang you beat me to it tongue

rg = red green, most people especially in text will abbreviate colors to letters (White = w, Blue = U, Green = G, Red = R, Black = B).
fnm = friday night magic, it's a tournament environment where magic players come together.  Prizes and such.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Night_Magic

most comic shops have them every friday.  As a new player I'd also suggest looking into drafts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The … ng_formats)  they can help you build your card pool and you get to learn card interactions and deck building strategies. 

also, most knowledgeable players will refer to color combinations by their acronyms "bug" "rug"  or "shard" (from a previous set, shards of alara, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shards_of_Alara).

depends on how you plan to play in the future.  if you want to go to FNMs and such this deck won't get you far there, but for casual play your fine. 

As far as improvments. Try to find more creatures that can lower your curve.(http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Mana_curve). If you're doing RG you gotta pick up a set of burning tree emissary, experiment one, rakdos cakcler, ghorclan rampager.  These cards are fairly inexpensive and will go a long way to getting where you want to be with your deck.  Budget rares to look for are Rubblebelt raiders and the newly minted Savageborn Hydra.  Try to stay under 4-5 cost for your highest cards.

Take a look at the list I have together for a jund (Red, black, Green) aggro.  A lot of the creatures still apply to you.  The mana is the most expensive thing in the deck but once you have it you have it.

http://deckbox.org/sets/349197

I'm not sure about modern, I play standard, but card advantage is key to winning in a lot of decks.

For most midrange/control decks the only life total that matters is "0".  Life is a cushion to be used to stall the game and most decks that make use of cards like dark confidant, dusk mantle seer, underworld connections, blood scrivener as part of a plan to get to the things they need to end the game. 

Life loss isn't always dangerous especially if they can regain it with other cards.

building your first standard deck is a goal to work towards.  I Just started when RTR came out.  I played previously, but wanted to get back into standard.  I chose Jund for my first deck.  A very expensive deck. No one starts out with all the cards they want/need.

I now have a fully functional tournament ready deck.  I traded, bought a few cards when I could, but mainly it was just about being persistent in what I wanted to work towards.

You have stuff you can trade.  Find a deck you like... and start working towards it.  Don't let prices become an obstacle.  Be persistent and make sure you make fair trades.  Don't let someone trade a $20 card from you for 10 $dollar cards.  It will work out in the end I promise smile

for standard you need to obtain multiples of cards to have a consistent deck.  Take the list below from the article linked on TCG player.  The author of the article does a good job explaining the cards.  A friend and I tested it and it works pretty good.  You want the hasty creatures to enable tajic.  We used a couple assemble the legion to sub for a couple hellkites. Worked out okay.


I think you could get most of the way there with some of your trade stuff + a little cash.  I know you said you don't want to buy singles, but it's really the most cost effective way to get what you want.  Buying packs is too random, you might get trade stuff, but for that 4 bucks you can guarantee the card you want, or multiple cards.  Remember that building a deck doesn't have to be a sprint.  The cards in standard aren't changing for a few months so you can acquire them as you get time. 


http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11146

2 Aurelia, the Warleader
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Hellrider
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Silverblade Paladin
3 Tajic, Blade of the Legion
4 Thundermaw Hellkite

3 Boros Charm
4 Legion's Initiative
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Searing Spear

4 Clifftop Retreat
8 Mountain
6 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Slayers' Stronghold

mizzium mortars is an okay solution to clearing their board.  I've seen some of the more recent aggro decks running bonfire, but it's still pretty expensive at 20ish.  Both of these spells are still (imo) more midrange type spells, most aggro decks don't have the mana to get up to 6 to overload mizzium or hardcast bonfire for more than 2 damage.

Most aggro decks would prefer to have burn to go to the dome or work as removal, searing spear, pillar of flame.  That way if it gets down to it you can just finish them off with direct damage.

Could not agree more your mana curve needs to be pretty low, and include multiple copies/varieties of those kinds of cards to ensure you pull them when you need them.  Think of an aggro deck as a pyramid, with one drops making up the base, and topping out at the peak around 4 mana cost creatures (maybe 5,hellkite anyone?). 

stone something shaman is good too for a one drop?  someone help me with the name.

I can see you're a newer player.  You don't aggro and control in the same deck.  Especially with red.  Ditch the control idea all together.  Trust me. Work towards a deck like the one below.  I know some people shy away from "net-decking" and really want to build their own deck, but consider if you build the best deck you can, it will probably only be a card or two different from what the best deck builders out there have already thought of.

There are some cheaper substitutes you can make, for the more expensive cards.  They aren't as good but they still work. The important thing to keep in mind is that if you do a substitute the card needs to have the same cost or cheaper, have about the same power/toughness, and have a similar effect. I made note of a couple below.

In general for an aggro deck anything that cost above 4 is unreasonable.  You won't have the mana to cast i if you only run 20-22 lands.  You want to make sure you hit your 1 drop through 4 drop on your first 4 turns. 

Also, vexing devil isn't that great of a card.  It has it's uses, but has generally fallen of the radar because it doesn't provide a consistent board presence.  Chandra and plainswalkers in general don't belong in an aggro deck with the exception of maybe Domri Rade.

Creatures (27)

    4 Ash Zealot - Burning Tree emissary
    4 Boros Reckoner - splatter thug
    4 Hellrider
    3 Lightning Mauler
    4 Rakdos Cackler
    4 Rakdos Shred-Freak - Chain walker (works well with emissary)
    4 Stromkirk Noble - Legion Loyalists

Lands (21)

    21 Mountain

Spells (12)

    2 Volcanic Strength
    2 Brimstone Volley
    4 Searing Spear
    2 Skullcrack
    2 Pillar of Flame

    Sideboard
    2 Grafdigger's Cage
    2 Pyreheart Wolf
    4 Reckless Waif
    1 Volcanic Strength
    1 Skullcrack
    2 Blasphemous Act
    2 Mizzium Mortars
    1 Pillar of Flame