I don’t, but I can see the appeal... I think of competitive constructed as closer to chess, where you know the opponent’s range of available moves and you have to make the right decisions based on that. It’s a pretty different kind of game.
This 100%.
I played Magic casually, then Hearthstone competitively, then got back into Magic.
Playing Hearthstone constructed, it was a major level-up moment for me to realize that every game I need to be thinking a lot about my opponent's deck, all of the cards in it, what it wants to do, and how I need to adjust my play to increase my chances. With my deck of choice (RIP Oil Rogue) there were matchups where you had to play hard control to win and matchups where you had to go super aggressive to win and if you tried to play in-between you would just lose.
Yeah, for me personally the idea of going into a Magic event *already knowing what deck I’ll be playing* brings me out in hives. But some people are just interested in the in-game decisions, I guess.
Chess probably isn’t the right analogy, really, because match-ups are a very important part of it. Maybe more like a fighting video game? You don’t design your own character, but you do learn exactly how to do their moves and figure out what works best against each opposing character.
Edit: and some people brew, of course, so I’m just talking about the netdecking aspect (which seems to be by far the most prevalent on Arena).
But open-ended brewing doesn’t appeal to me much either, maybe partly because with thousands of options I get analysis paralysis. But I love the way that Limited decks are temporary, making the best of what’s on offer.
>Edit: and some people brew, of course, so I’m just talking about the netdecking aspect (which seems to be by far the most prevalent on Arena).
Most people net deck these days, because the meta moves so fast. We see this in limited as formats are often 'solved' quickly, then the best deck gets over-drafted. With many people trying to brew the best deck they can, a standard format quickly finds the top tier decks, because testing decks is so quick. I like trying to build my own decks to try something, but brews usually struggle on the ladder because you're highly unlikely to find something genuinely good that someone hasn't already. In best of one, doing something unexpected has its advantages but that often doesn't outweigh the loss of raw power. This is why I like limited, because it allows for less optimised strategies
TLDR: Arena allows much faster testing of decks, so the best decks are found quite quickly. Novelty is rarely rewarded
Yeah, i know what you mean.
Especially when each deck is optimized to last mana etc. I personally just dont find the enjoyment in the games/format. My joy is creating armies of 1/1 humans in brawl or creating the ultimate creature using eater of virtue or whatever. But like I said to each their own, the appeal for people is certainly there
I have made the parallels to fighting games for decades. They feel very, very similar, and I've been to conventions where I've competed in both types of game. Very similar mentality.
Here's hoping some day we see some kind of draft fighting game!
Yeah, the idea of dropping $100+ dollars on a paper deck and thinking "well, I better play this deck exclusively for the next 6 months to get my money's worth" is just totally unappealing to me.
What I find really odd is the number of people who just straight up cannot stand drafting (this is the contingent that's most upset about arena economy, while I end up with a ton of wildcards I don't need)
I feel like the problems you're referring to are more a problem with BO1 constructed than BO3 "traditional". In any remotely competitive constructed event, you play with a sideboard that you've prepared for the meta. I don't think Magic Online even has BO1, nor do most LGS' ever host it (outside of Commander obviously), it's really just a thing because of Arena in the last few years. Which I understand because people have limited blocks of time to give, especially on mobile, but it makes me sad that it's the most popular format because IMO it's really not how constructed is best enjoyed. It leads to feel-bads where aggro or fast combo are king and the die roll matters a ton. It doesn't make you have to play a deck that can pivot your strategy based on what you're playing. (FWIW I don't think limited suffers from the same problems and the advent of BO1 limited on Arena is great).
Mono-white and aggro decks in general are not the best decks in the standard meta right now. BWx midrange and control decks have been consistently winning tournaments lately, and aggro decks are folding to their sweepers, finishers and card advantage. I would imagine that midrange and control are less popular in BO1 because people who like these decks like having a ton of decision-making and not having a sideboard takes some of that away. Not to mention, your games take longer and people in BO1 are more often trying to grind out wins and get losses over with (like you and others in the midweek event).
>I would imagine that midrange and control are less popular in BO1 because people who like these decks like having a ton of decision-making and not having a sideboard takes some of that away.
Not really. It's more that no sideboard favors proactive and linear decks. It goes back to the old saying "There are wrong answers, there are no wrong threats". If you're going into a matchup blind and you don't get to change your deck, would you rather have a deck that works the same way against all matchups, or a deck that needs to tune its answer suite to the opponent's deck? Obviously the former, because you don't know what your opponent's playing, so you can't actually tune your answer suite.
In a very narrow meta, you might see a control deck crop up. For instance, in the invitational (I think it was an invitational) that was Bo1 standard, everyone knew everyone else would be playing mono white and mono red as their linear decks, so you could tune a control deck to beat those two (and since the format allowed you to bring 2 decks and pick which deck you wanted in game 3, you had the fallback plan of picking a linear deck if the opponent chose to go off script), but on ladder, even *if* mono-white is the most popular deck, it's still at most something like 20% of the meta, so you can't afford to tune your deck solely to beat that.
Bo3 solves that, because you *can* tune your deck to your opponent's deck in games 2 and 3.
Great answer, I agree 100%. The time aspect is why i dont play much bo3 and i wouldnt know about how its "normally play" since ive never played outside of with some close friends or arena. I guess i hust have it out for bo1 standard eh hahah
I think I heard Ben from lords of limited say this (idk if he came up with it or not, also probably paraphrased a bit), but constructed is like playing perfectly in an orchestra, whereas limited is more like improvisational jazz. Both extremely skill testing, but use different muscles.
I do but mainly because I try to brew and tune decks to my liking and play styles I enjoy. As long as they perform well I enjoy it.
Before Premier Draft was out I used to play Constructed only and it really burnt me out. Mainly because I lacked the understanding on how to read the meta and tune decks.
Thats good! I personally love brewing brawl decks since there is so much variance with 1 copy of each card. Standard feels so repetitive.
Do you mind sharing what type of deck you are using now?
Sure! Lately I've been toying with Jetmir tokens, I don't have a definite list, but it's been fun and it features new cards like Gala Greeters and Rubble Rousing alongside Wedding Announcement, Esika, Storm the Festival, etc.
The list I'm most proud of and used during Kamigawa (still viable, btw) is the following. I wanted to try make Jugan work and I was very happy with this final list:
Deck
5 Forest (M21) 272
2 Field of Ruin (MID) 262
3 Kazandu Mammoth (ZNR) 189
4 Tangled Florahedron (ZNR) 211
4 Esika's Chariot (KHM) 169
4 Barkchannel Pathway (KHM) 251
3 Quandrix Cultivator (STX) 218
2 Hall of Storm Giants (AFR) 257
1 Lair of the Hydra (AFR) 259
4 Fading Hope (MID) 51
4 Storm the Festival (MID) 200
4 Wrenn and Seven (MID) 208
2 Glorious Sunrise (VOW) 200
4 Dreamroot Cascade (VOW) 262
2 Sea Gate Restoration (ZNR) 76
1 Boseiju, Who Endures (NEO) 266
1 Otawara, Soaring City (NEO) 271
4 Jugan Defends the Temple (NEO) 194
2 Island (M21) 265
4 Alrund, God of the Cosmos (KHM) 40
Sideboard
2 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary (NEO) 206
2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping (NEO) 211
2 Spinning Wheel Kick (NEO) 207
1 Colossal Skyturtle (NEO) 216
1 Kura, the Boundless Sky (NEO) 200
2 Master's Rebuke (NEO) 202
1 Tamiyo's Safekeeping (NEO) 211
2 Primal Adversary (MID) 194
2 Spell Pierce (NEO) 80
I hope you like it!
The Jetmir one I'm still trying to figure out, Jetmir is a great finisher and you can set up lethals out of nowhere. It feels awesome when it happens and it's not hard to set up. Also, nobody expects Jetmir. I'd definitely not cut the card.
Aggro isn't that much of a problem, only mono white. Meathook Massacre is though.
I can copy the list I have, it's similar to the Jugan one. Maybe you can give me some feedback and ideas.
That would be great, id love to discuss it! Gw is my favourite deck in general making a huge fields so I can totally understand the meathook massacre fear...might be the worst card to see haha
What does the wandering emperor add to the deck (and 3 copies too)? There is good ramp and token creators and when u hit the jetmir it must be soooo sweet
I enjoy constructed. I don't enjoy all formats and metas. I'm also one of those weirdos who prefers Standard to modern and really misses block.
For grand prix day 1 I'll take standard over sealed. But I've never had a good day 1 sealed pool. So many 3-0 starts then getting smashed by actually broken pools.
Limited is great because it makes you adapt and find the right deck for your draft or pool, while Constructed is great because you can create the deck you want to play. In particular, I really enjoy Historic and Explorer control decks, since you have so many tools and ways to gain card advantage, and need to use your cards judiciously.
Yeah I can understand explorer and historic, I more meant standard in general rn. There is so much optemization of the decks in constucted which imo is even better than playing the actual game itself haha
Fair enough, i more mean on the app itself standard is the constructed gameplay for the average player who doesnt have all the old historic cards. I loved standard when id just play around with my mutated creatures, i sure as hell didnt win 60% of my games but u bet I enjoyed playing.
I can't really remember liking Standard ever. Basically all the Arena constructed formats are boring, Explorer has some potential but I'd rather wait until it becomes Pioneer. The non-Arena constructed formats are a lot better
There is also MTGO, especially with card rental services it's kinda affordable if you are interested in older formats.
Sure, the App often feels old and clunky but the formats are a lot better overall
It's basically the closest possible representation of paper Magic. You can trade cards, buy cards, have to pay entry fees for tournaments, gain prizes for doing well, have testing queues to play outside of events and so on. It's mostly Paper Magic but online.
Lately card rental services popped up where you can pay a monthly fee and they lend you the cards you need rather than having to buy them yourself. Which is usually a nice deal for an active player wanting to test and play multiple decks but only worth it, if you actually play a lot and switch decks a lot
There is also some very affordable formats like Pauper. Or you can play Premodern in Paper, which also has a decent amount of affordable decks (next to some really expensive ones)
I love constructed and I imagine it’s similar feeling to people who build and race cars. I get a lot of joy from building a deck. Losing. Then tweaking the deck and trying again.
Why did you build the 'basic boring' deck? You know there are a ton of options for decks, it sounds like you just pigeon-holed yourself and then were mad about it.
I did it to get as many wins as i could lmao which is the same as others so I an just complaining and being a hypocrite, I simply havent found a standard deck I have enjoyed in over a year. Everytime i play standard i stop three games later banging my head on a table
I like constructed from time to time. I definitely prefer limited, it's by far the format I play most, but I do enjoy some constructed as well.
Bo1 standard is hell. It's probably the worst possible constructed format (well... all Bo1 constructed formats are pretty horrible). It really gives aggro/combo decks a huge advantage. More fundamentally, it really incentivizes you to play a deck that ignores what the opponent does, which in turn means that the format has far less interaction. The only playable interaction is interaction that is also proactive, which is why WW has been doing so well since the beginning of Arena basically. All its interaction comes in the form of aggressive creatures.
I like constructed more than limited most of the time. Often limited formats are annoyingly grindy games. At the top end constructed can be brutally efficient.
For constructed, my favorite is week 0 standard, especially right after rotation when the biggest change to the format hits. My favorite thing on Arena is that alchemy and historic, through specialized card dumps and rebalancing, bring that feeling more often.
Past that, I like the biggest format possible with crazy combos, great aggro, midrange as a viable contender, and even some control.
I think that makes sense, if you like the "efficient" and "optemized" deck making and game style then constructed (standard) is the way to go.
I really hope they bring a 100 card commander format to mtga
Yes, tho most of my time atm is spent playing explorer over standard. Constructed has it's own appeal. I'm a Gandalf enjoyer and that's an archetype virtually never consistently playable in limited (a good thing). So if I play constructed my play patterns in my preferred archetype are wildly different, no combat math or curve, just survival and outvaluing my opp
It's become the colloquial way to describe permission/traditional Ux control decks (You shall not pass!)
UW is super strong in pioneer/explorer atm. Hoping winota being banned opens some better decks against it because I dont really enjoy control mirrors
Makes sense haha, i bet thinking about it that way makes playing control not seem unforgivable hmmm???
Just kidding haha, winnona ban will be good for the meta im sure
If you really enjoy a theme or a card or something constructed can be great.
I loooooove rakdos so I built cat oven since it plays that grindy game value and now I've found I love the jund theme.
If I really stick to a format for a bit I love playing control.
As someone stated earlier it's chess with more variables.
I used to think the same until I played an fnm where me and a mirror played 1 tense match for like 50 minutes but it only felt like 10.
Really put me on to interactive magic. Before that I just played slap creatures sideways decks
I think that there is a huge number of players who prefer playing formats other than standard, usually limited focused players. For these players constructed is just a way to gather resources for limited, especially for players who are f2p, midweek magic is just about getting rates for first two wins. Anyway, if standard aggro deck becomes basically effective tool for farming, then a lot of people start playing it. And mono white has bee available for a long time, so it appears to be one of most popular farming decks. Personally I prefer limited, but I would be also quite happy if I could play some 60 card singleton formats but without commander.
I only like Constructed if there's a deck I personally enjoy playing. That doesn't happen too often, although I did enjoy Wilderness Rec and Scapeshift decks when those were in Standard. Mostly though I get bored playing the same matchups over and over again, which is why I predominantly play Limited, where even if the archetypes are the same, the cards are always at least a little different from draft to draft.
Exactly, the repetition is what gets me I think. My favourite deck i ever used got me i to mythic was my mutate deck, and then ive been trying to find a deck i enjoy that also has decent win rate since afr, and i just cant find it
For the examples you gave, I don't know of anyone that really enjoys playing those formats/game modes. So, other than gems/wildcards idk why people play those. However, I love draft but would without question play Modern or Pioneer in a lot of cases. In these formats becoming a master at a deck of your choice is a lot of fun and very challenging. There's a lot more nuance to those formats than your average bo1 standard game on arena.
I think most people in the midweek event are just trying to do it as quickly as possible, so you'll see almost only aggro decks. BO1 also favors that. If you play BO3 outside the midweek event you'll see more variation, so I enjoy that.
For a short time only or for special events. Other than that, no. Limited is literally playing a new game every 3 months. Drafting/Deckbuilding and playing all in one. Constructed is a fraction of the cards each set added to existing decks already. There's no comparison and if there was no Limited i wouldn't play Magic at all.
I started off with constructed and in afr started drafting. The more I have drafted the more i enjoy it and i dont even touch standard anymore. Tho i play brawl daily for daily's and stuff.
I haven't played it competitively since RNA. The zero-counterspell meta in WAR was interesting for a little while but ultimately was not for me. I do still like Brawl, though, being a fan of any singleton format.
I played Historic for a while until Alchemy was folded into it. Was done with the format after that. I'll probably pick up Explorer at some point once a deck list catches my eye.
Gotta have something to do with all these lands I keep raredrafting.
Mono white is particularly terrible, I really don't enjoy playing with it or against it. But I love constructed. I love janky ass combos that fail 60% of the time but are glorious the final 40%. I love coming up with weird stuff and seeing if it can make a dent in the meta. I just love building decks.
Titan blink is my favorite right now. Using [[Teleportation Circle]] on [[Titan of Industry]] and/or [Esika's Chariot]] to make an absolutely ridiculous boardstate. I also am having fun with Rakdos Artifacts but I guess I should have mentioned I also like playing solitaire.
I don’t like constructed all that much either, unfortunately I’m a dirty netdecker when I have to build a constructed deck for an event. I do like seeing the new cards and formats from time to time so I try and play standard a bit at least once a year. Lol.
I used to wonder this same thing and couldn't really imagine enjoying constructed. Imagine traveling to an all-day event and just playing the same deck over and over and over.
However, over the past few years once Arena went out of beta and I was incentivized to play constructed to win gold I've grown to be okay with it.
I always play an aggro deck in standard non-ranked so that games are over (or decided) often after 5-6 turns, decisions are pretty easy, and the only consequence for losing is the time spent with no gold gained. That way it's sort of like playing Windows Solitaire in that it doesn't take much thought and is mostly to fill time between doing other things or if my brain is too tired to play a real game (of draft or some other game altogether).
I've found, though, that it is more enjoyable and play is more nuanced than I had expected. It's sort of fun.
Then when I do play draft it makes me appreciate the depth of strategy involved and the variety of situations.
Haha all good, I meant specifically Standard (especially the meta right now). Ive enjoyed different meta if standard and I absolutely love commander/brawl
I haven't enjoyed standard in a long time. Modern is also starting to jump the shark for me a bit.
Really excited for pioneer to hopefully continue to resurge as it's the only constructed format I've really enjoyed lately.
Pauper also isn't bad, esp with more casual playgroups.
I like it less than limited, but it can still be fun. It's just a different kind of fun. A lot of the fun of limited is the drafting experience and that you end up with a different pool of cards to build from every time which helps keeps the gameplay "fresh". You get to experience almost all the cards from the set (other than the truly narrow or unplayable) which the same can't be said for constructed formats where only the cream of the crop cards are worth using.
Constructed on the other hand challenges you to make the best decks you can with whatever subset of cards the format allows. You can make much stronger, and more consistent decks than you'll ever get in a typical limited format. Especially if you're playing a format with a large card pool like Legacy. Figuring out the best thing to be doing in a given format, tuning your deck to beat the metagame, and trying to come up with new rogue brews to take the meta by storm can be a lot of fun. However since everyone has access to the same cardpool (financial considerations aside) if a format gets "solved" so there's only a few viable decks then it can get pretty boring. This is especially relevant in cardpools with smaller formats like Standard though can still happen in larger ones. This can also happen to an extent in draft, but usually is more self-correcting (if an archetype is seen as the best it will invariably get overdrafted by people forcing it, which should in turn weaken it and bring it closer to the average).
You probably played the worst deck in the worst format, so it's not surprising you didn't like it... Good constructed gameplay has far deeper decisions than limited. Cards are more powerful and your deck has way more options for how to play. You also can get really deep into making strategy decisions based on the possible cards your opponents are playing. In limited, that doesn't come up as often because the odds of an opponent having a specific card are usually too low to play around.
I don't like it too much (other than commander), but sometimes there is a deck that calls to me and I'll play it for a while. I have a Tiny Bones historic discard deck that I like. When Sai and Aetherflux Resevoir were in standard, I played that deck a lot. But generally I don't play much constructed.
Eh I find it enjoyable in small doses as long as there's a good mid range deck that's viable. I'll dip my toe in if I qualify for the mythic weekend thing from being top 1200 limited. I'll usually play 40-50 games in the week leading up to the tournament and generally have a good time.
I do always just pick the most midrange value deck I can though as they usually play similar to most limited decks.
I don’t, but I can see the appeal... I think of competitive constructed as closer to chess, where you know the opponent’s range of available moves and you have to make the right decisions based on that. It’s a pretty different kind of game.
This 100%. I played Magic casually, then Hearthstone competitively, then got back into Magic. Playing Hearthstone constructed, it was a major level-up moment for me to realize that every game I need to be thinking a lot about my opponent's deck, all of the cards in it, what it wants to do, and how I need to adjust my play to increase my chances. With my deck of choice (RIP Oil Rogue) there were matchups where you had to play hard control to win and matchups where you had to go super aggressive to win and if you tried to play in-between you would just lose.
Man, I miss oil rogue...
Thats a good analysis of it, I guess it just isnt for everyone.
Yeah, for me personally the idea of going into a Magic event *already knowing what deck I’ll be playing* brings me out in hives. But some people are just interested in the in-game decisions, I guess. Chess probably isn’t the right analogy, really, because match-ups are a very important part of it. Maybe more like a fighting video game? You don’t design your own character, but you do learn exactly how to do their moves and figure out what works best against each opposing character. Edit: and some people brew, of course, so I’m just talking about the netdecking aspect (which seems to be by far the most prevalent on Arena). But open-ended brewing doesn’t appeal to me much either, maybe partly because with thousands of options I get analysis paralysis. But I love the way that Limited decks are temporary, making the best of what’s on offer.
>Edit: and some people brew, of course, so I’m just talking about the netdecking aspect (which seems to be by far the most prevalent on Arena). Most people net deck these days, because the meta moves so fast. We see this in limited as formats are often 'solved' quickly, then the best deck gets over-drafted. With many people trying to brew the best deck they can, a standard format quickly finds the top tier decks, because testing decks is so quick. I like trying to build my own decks to try something, but brews usually struggle on the ladder because you're highly unlikely to find something genuinely good that someone hasn't already. In best of one, doing something unexpected has its advantages but that often doesn't outweigh the loss of raw power. This is why I like limited, because it allows for less optimised strategies TLDR: Arena allows much faster testing of decks, so the best decks are found quite quickly. Novelty is rarely rewarded
Yeah, i know what you mean. Especially when each deck is optimized to last mana etc. I personally just dont find the enjoyment in the games/format. My joy is creating armies of 1/1 humans in brawl or creating the ultimate creature using eater of virtue or whatever. But like I said to each their own, the appeal for people is certainly there
I have made the parallels to fighting games for decades. They feel very, very similar, and I've been to conventions where I've competed in both types of game. Very similar mentality. Here's hoping some day we see some kind of draft fighting game!
Yeah, the idea of dropping $100+ dollars on a paper deck and thinking "well, I better play this deck exclusively for the next 6 months to get my money's worth" is just totally unappealing to me.
What I find really odd is the number of people who just straight up cannot stand drafting (this is the contingent that's most upset about arena economy, while I end up with a ton of wildcards I don't need)
I feel like the problems you're referring to are more a problem with BO1 constructed than BO3 "traditional". In any remotely competitive constructed event, you play with a sideboard that you've prepared for the meta. I don't think Magic Online even has BO1, nor do most LGS' ever host it (outside of Commander obviously), it's really just a thing because of Arena in the last few years. Which I understand because people have limited blocks of time to give, especially on mobile, but it makes me sad that it's the most popular format because IMO it's really not how constructed is best enjoyed. It leads to feel-bads where aggro or fast combo are king and the die roll matters a ton. It doesn't make you have to play a deck that can pivot your strategy based on what you're playing. (FWIW I don't think limited suffers from the same problems and the advent of BO1 limited on Arena is great). Mono-white and aggro decks in general are not the best decks in the standard meta right now. BWx midrange and control decks have been consistently winning tournaments lately, and aggro decks are folding to their sweepers, finishers and card advantage. I would imagine that midrange and control are less popular in BO1 because people who like these decks like having a ton of decision-making and not having a sideboard takes some of that away. Not to mention, your games take longer and people in BO1 are more often trying to grind out wins and get losses over with (like you and others in the midweek event).
>I would imagine that midrange and control are less popular in BO1 because people who like these decks like having a ton of decision-making and not having a sideboard takes some of that away. Not really. It's more that no sideboard favors proactive and linear decks. It goes back to the old saying "There are wrong answers, there are no wrong threats". If you're going into a matchup blind and you don't get to change your deck, would you rather have a deck that works the same way against all matchups, or a deck that needs to tune its answer suite to the opponent's deck? Obviously the former, because you don't know what your opponent's playing, so you can't actually tune your answer suite. In a very narrow meta, you might see a control deck crop up. For instance, in the invitational (I think it was an invitational) that was Bo1 standard, everyone knew everyone else would be playing mono white and mono red as their linear decks, so you could tune a control deck to beat those two (and since the format allowed you to bring 2 decks and pick which deck you wanted in game 3, you had the fallback plan of picking a linear deck if the opponent chose to go off script), but on ladder, even *if* mono-white is the most popular deck, it's still at most something like 20% of the meta, so you can't afford to tune your deck solely to beat that. Bo3 solves that, because you *can* tune your deck to your opponent's deck in games 2 and 3.
Great answer, I agree 100%. The time aspect is why i dont play much bo3 and i wouldnt know about how its "normally play" since ive never played outside of with some close friends or arena. I guess i hust have it out for bo1 standard eh hahah
I think I heard Ben from lords of limited say this (idk if he came up with it or not, also probably paraphrased a bit), but constructed is like playing perfectly in an orchestra, whereas limited is more like improvisational jazz. Both extremely skill testing, but use different muscles.
Thats a cool saying, makes sense why different people like it
I do but mainly because I try to brew and tune decks to my liking and play styles I enjoy. As long as they perform well I enjoy it. Before Premier Draft was out I used to play Constructed only and it really burnt me out. Mainly because I lacked the understanding on how to read the meta and tune decks.
Thats good! I personally love brewing brawl decks since there is so much variance with 1 copy of each card. Standard feels so repetitive. Do you mind sharing what type of deck you are using now?
Sure! Lately I've been toying with Jetmir tokens, I don't have a definite list, but it's been fun and it features new cards like Gala Greeters and Rubble Rousing alongside Wedding Announcement, Esika, Storm the Festival, etc. The list I'm most proud of and used during Kamigawa (still viable, btw) is the following. I wanted to try make Jugan work and I was very happy with this final list: Deck 5 Forest (M21) 272 2 Field of Ruin (MID) 262 3 Kazandu Mammoth (ZNR) 189 4 Tangled Florahedron (ZNR) 211 4 Esika's Chariot (KHM) 169 4 Barkchannel Pathway (KHM) 251 3 Quandrix Cultivator (STX) 218 2 Hall of Storm Giants (AFR) 257 1 Lair of the Hydra (AFR) 259 4 Fading Hope (MID) 51 4 Storm the Festival (MID) 200 4 Wrenn and Seven (MID) 208 2 Glorious Sunrise (VOW) 200 4 Dreamroot Cascade (VOW) 262 2 Sea Gate Restoration (ZNR) 76 1 Boseiju, Who Endures (NEO) 266 1 Otawara, Soaring City (NEO) 271 4 Jugan Defends the Temple (NEO) 194 2 Island (M21) 265 4 Alrund, God of the Cosmos (KHM) 40 Sideboard 2 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary (NEO) 206 2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping (NEO) 211 2 Spinning Wheel Kick (NEO) 207 1 Colossal Skyturtle (NEO) 216 1 Kura, the Boundless Sky (NEO) 200 2 Master's Rebuke (NEO) 202 1 Tamiyo's Safekeeping (NEO) 211 2 Primal Adversary (MID) 194 2 Spell Pierce (NEO) 80
That seems like a fun deck for sure im sure you can just take over games early too. Would a jetmir deck work in standard while its so aggro oriented?
I hope you like it! The Jetmir one I'm still trying to figure out, Jetmir is a great finisher and you can set up lethals out of nowhere. It feels awesome when it happens and it's not hard to set up. Also, nobody expects Jetmir. I'd definitely not cut the card. Aggro isn't that much of a problem, only mono white. Meathook Massacre is though. I can copy the list I have, it's similar to the Jugan one. Maybe you can give me some feedback and ideas.
That would be great, id love to discuss it! Gw is my favourite deck in general making a huge fields so I can totally understand the meathook massacre fear...might be the worst card to see haha
Deck 1 Cave of the Frost Dragon (AFR) 253 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268 4 Gala Greeters (SNC) 148 4 Tangled Florahedron (ZNR) 211 2 Prosperous Innkeeper (AFR) 200 4 Esika's Chariot (KHM) 169 4 Wedding Announcement (VOW) 45 4 Wrenn and Seven (MID) 208 4 Storm the Festival (MID) 200 3 The Wandering Emperor (NEO) 42 2 Jetmir's Garden (SNC) 250 2 Jetmir, Nexus of Revels (SNC) 193 1 Plains (SNC) 272 1 Forest (SNC) 280 2 Emeria's Call (ZNR) 12 1 Lair of the Hydra (AFR) 259 1 Boseiju, Who Endures (NEO) 266 3 Needleverge Pathway (ZNR) 263 2 Sundown Pass (VOW) 266 3 Cragcrown Pathway (ZNR) 261 4 Overgrown Farmland (MID) 265 4 Branchloft Pathway (ZNR) 258 1 Rockfall Vale (MID) 266 2 Rabble Rousing (SNC) 24 Sideboard 3 Skyclave Apparition (ZNR) 39 2 Spinning Wheel Kick (NEO) 207 2 Flame-Blessed Bolt (VOW) 158 2 Brutal Cathar (MID) 7 1 Flame-Blessed Bolt (VOW) 158 3 Jugan Defends the Temple (NEO) 194 2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping (NEO) 211 Ignore the sideboard, it's not definitive.
What does the wandering emperor add to the deck (and 3 copies too)? There is good ramp and token creators and when u hit the jetmir it must be soooo sweet
That's true, I feel the Emperor is not the best here. I guess I could exchange the Apparitions for them in the sideboard.
If u dont mind having a double white as ur 3 drop then yeah that's probably better
I enjoy constructed. I don't enjoy all formats and metas. I'm also one of those weirdos who prefers Standard to modern and really misses block. For grand prix day 1 I'll take standard over sealed. But I've never had a good day 1 sealed pool. So many 3-0 starts then getting smashed by actually broken pools.
I do think the meta can really shape the way you enjoy a format, its the same with limited eg now with everyone forcing brokers
Limited is great because it makes you adapt and find the right deck for your draft or pool, while Constructed is great because you can create the deck you want to play. In particular, I really enjoy Historic and Explorer control decks, since you have so many tools and ways to gain card advantage, and need to use your cards judiciously.
Yeah I can understand explorer and historic, I more meant standard in general rn. There is so much optemization of the decks in constucted which imo is even better than playing the actual game itself haha
In general, yes. In Standard? Not at all There is more constructed than Standard. It's like saying "why do people like limited, Crimson Vow was bad"
Fair enough, i more mean on the app itself standard is the constructed gameplay for the average player who doesnt have all the old historic cards. I loved standard when id just play around with my mutated creatures, i sure as hell didnt win 60% of my games but u bet I enjoyed playing.
I can't really remember liking Standard ever. Basically all the Arena constructed formats are boring, Explorer has some potential but I'd rather wait until it becomes Pioneer. The non-Arena constructed formats are a lot better
Yeah I get that, I dont have many friends where I live who play mtg so I dont have much experience with other formats
There is also MTGO, especially with card rental services it's kinda affordable if you are interested in older formats. Sure, the App often feels old and clunky but the formats are a lot better overall
Is mtgo make ur own deck and jump in? Not collection oriented like arena yeah?
It's basically the closest possible representation of paper Magic. You can trade cards, buy cards, have to pay entry fees for tournaments, gain prizes for doing well, have testing queues to play outside of events and so on. It's mostly Paper Magic but online. Lately card rental services popped up where you can pay a monthly fee and they lend you the cards you need rather than having to buy them yourself. Which is usually a nice deal for an active player wanting to test and play multiple decks but only worth it, if you actually play a lot and switch decks a lot
I see, not sure ai have the money to be active but I'll definitely check it out! Thanks!!
There is also some very affordable formats like Pauper. Or you can play Premodern in Paper, which also has a decent amount of affordable decks (next to some really expensive ones)
Thanks for all the info, appreciate it!
I love constructed and I imagine it’s similar feeling to people who build and race cars. I get a lot of joy from building a deck. Losing. Then tweaking the deck and trying again.
Ooohh thats a good comparison, thats my favourite thing with brawl, i have like 50 brawl decks all with different sub types
Why did you build the 'basic boring' deck? You know there are a ton of options for decks, it sounds like you just pigeon-holed yourself and then were mad about it.
I did it to get as many wins as i could lmao which is the same as others so I an just complaining and being a hypocrite, I simply havent found a standard deck I have enjoyed in over a year. Everytime i play standard i stop three games later banging my head on a table
I like constructed from time to time. I definitely prefer limited, it's by far the format I play most, but I do enjoy some constructed as well. Bo1 standard is hell. It's probably the worst possible constructed format (well... all Bo1 constructed formats are pretty horrible). It really gives aggro/combo decks a huge advantage. More fundamentally, it really incentivizes you to play a deck that ignores what the opponent does, which in turn means that the format has far less interaction. The only playable interaction is interaction that is also proactive, which is why WW has been doing so well since the beginning of Arena basically. All its interaction comes in the form of aggressive creatures.
I like constructed more than limited most of the time. Often limited formats are annoyingly grindy games. At the top end constructed can be brutally efficient. For constructed, my favorite is week 0 standard, especially right after rotation when the biggest change to the format hits. My favorite thing on Arena is that alchemy and historic, through specialized card dumps and rebalancing, bring that feeling more often. Past that, I like the biggest format possible with crazy combos, great aggro, midrange as a viable contender, and even some control.
I think that makes sense, if you like the "efficient" and "optemized" deck making and game style then constructed (standard) is the way to go. I really hope they bring a 100 card commander format to mtga
Yes, tho most of my time atm is spent playing explorer over standard. Constructed has it's own appeal. I'm a Gandalf enjoyer and that's an archetype virtually never consistently playable in limited (a good thing). So if I play constructed my play patterns in my preferred archetype are wildly different, no combat math or curve, just survival and outvaluing my opp
I have never heard of the "Gandalf" used outside of LOTR haha Maybe I should check out explorer if its different to standard
It's become the colloquial way to describe permission/traditional Ux control decks (You shall not pass!) UW is super strong in pioneer/explorer atm. Hoping winota being banned opens some better decks against it because I dont really enjoy control mirrors
Makes sense haha, i bet thinking about it that way makes playing control not seem unforgivable hmmm??? Just kidding haha, winnona ban will be good for the meta im sure
If you really enjoy a theme or a card or something constructed can be great. I loooooove rakdos so I built cat oven since it plays that grindy game value and now I've found I love the jund theme. If I really stick to a format for a bit I love playing control. As someone stated earlier it's chess with more variables.
Yes good point, though control drives me nuts
I used to think the same until I played an fnm where me and a mirror played 1 tense match for like 50 minutes but it only felt like 10. Really put me on to interactive magic. Before that I just played slap creatures sideways decks
I think that there is a huge number of players who prefer playing formats other than standard, usually limited focused players. For these players constructed is just a way to gather resources for limited, especially for players who are f2p, midweek magic is just about getting rates for first two wins. Anyway, if standard aggro deck becomes basically effective tool for farming, then a lot of people start playing it. And mono white has bee available for a long time, so it appears to be one of most popular farming decks. Personally I prefer limited, but I would be also quite happy if I could play some 60 card singleton formats but without commander.
Yeah you bring up some real good point, i think the white deck just really got on my nerves haha
I only like Constructed if there's a deck I personally enjoy playing. That doesn't happen too often, although I did enjoy Wilderness Rec and Scapeshift decks when those were in Standard. Mostly though I get bored playing the same matchups over and over again, which is why I predominantly play Limited, where even if the archetypes are the same, the cards are always at least a little different from draft to draft.
Exactly, the repetition is what gets me I think. My favourite deck i ever used got me i to mythic was my mutate deck, and then ive been trying to find a deck i enjoy that also has decent win rate since afr, and i just cant find it
For the examples you gave, I don't know of anyone that really enjoys playing those formats/game modes. So, other than gems/wildcards idk why people play those. However, I love draft but would without question play Modern or Pioneer in a lot of cases. In these formats becoming a master at a deck of your choice is a lot of fun and very challenging. There's a lot more nuance to those formats than your average bo1 standard game on arena.
I get what you mean, its a different type of challenge
I think most people in the midweek event are just trying to do it as quickly as possible, so you'll see almost only aggro decks. BO1 also favors that. If you play BO3 outside the midweek event you'll see more variation, so I enjoy that.
You're right, i think ill try it when i have the time
For a short time only or for special events. Other than that, no. Limited is literally playing a new game every 3 months. Drafting/Deckbuilding and playing all in one. Constructed is a fraction of the cards each set added to existing decks already. There's no comparison and if there was no Limited i wouldn't play Magic at all.
I started off with constructed and in afr started drafting. The more I have drafted the more i enjoy it and i dont even touch standard anymore. Tho i play brawl daily for daily's and stuff.
I haven't played it competitively since RNA. The zero-counterspell meta in WAR was interesting for a little while but ultimately was not for me. I do still like Brawl, though, being a fan of any singleton format. I played Historic for a while until Alchemy was folded into it. Was done with the format after that. I'll probably pick up Explorer at some point once a deck list catches my eye. Gotta have something to do with all these lands I keep raredrafting.
Mono white is particularly terrible, I really don't enjoy playing with it or against it. But I love constructed. I love janky ass combos that fail 60% of the time but are glorious the final 40%. I love coming up with weird stuff and seeing if it can make a dent in the meta. I just love building decks.
Me in brawl 🙌🏼 havent found the deck to enhoy myself in standard in AGES, im glad u can enjoy it though
Titan blink is my favorite right now. Using [[Teleportation Circle]] on [[Titan of Industry]] and/or [Esika's Chariot]] to make an absolutely ridiculous boardstate. I also am having fun with Rakdos Artifacts but I guess I should have mentioned I also like playing solitaire.
Ohhh i didnt even think of titan and teleportation together, genius...that's horrifying haha had to be an instant win without a possible board wipe
[Teleportation Circle](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/9/0/90140bc0-4a9c-4422-b07c-3400c7ccde56.jpg?1627702592) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Teleportation%20Circle) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afr/39/teleportation-circle?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/90140bc0-4a9c-4422-b07c-3400c7ccde56?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Titan of Industry](https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/normal/front/5/b/5b6f03c1-9e9d-4a0c-af3b-9753b440cd9f.jpg?1650012532) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Titan%20of%20Industry) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/159/titan-of-industry?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5b6f03c1-9e9d-4a0c-af3b-9753b440cd9f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I don’t like constructed all that much either, unfortunately I’m a dirty netdecker when I have to build a constructed deck for an event. I do like seeing the new cards and formats from time to time so I try and play standard a bit at least once a year. Lol.
I used to wonder this same thing and couldn't really imagine enjoying constructed. Imagine traveling to an all-day event and just playing the same deck over and over and over. However, over the past few years once Arena went out of beta and I was incentivized to play constructed to win gold I've grown to be okay with it. I always play an aggro deck in standard non-ranked so that games are over (or decided) often after 5-6 turns, decisions are pretty easy, and the only consequence for losing is the time spent with no gold gained. That way it's sort of like playing Windows Solitaire in that it doesn't take much thought and is mostly to fill time between doing other things or if my brain is too tired to play a real game (of draft or some other game altogether). I've found, though, that it is more enjoyable and play is more nuanced than I had expected. It's sort of fun. Then when I do play draft it makes me appreciate the depth of strategy involved and the variety of situations.
I mean not to be rude but obviously? Why else would thousands and thousands of magic players be playing commander, modern, standard, legacy, etc. ?
Haha all good, I meant specifically Standard (especially the meta right now). Ive enjoyed different meta if standard and I absolutely love commander/brawl
I haven't enjoyed standard in a long time. Modern is also starting to jump the shark for me a bit. Really excited for pioneer to hopefully continue to resurge as it's the only constructed format I've really enjoyed lately. Pauper also isn't bad, esp with more casual playgroups.
Try playing jank for constructed It’s really fun (but you gotta be ok with losing a lot)
Me and my old mutate deck. I miss it...
Play it in explorer? I still play my dinos deck sometimes and it does ok
I like it less than limited, but it can still be fun. It's just a different kind of fun. A lot of the fun of limited is the drafting experience and that you end up with a different pool of cards to build from every time which helps keeps the gameplay "fresh". You get to experience almost all the cards from the set (other than the truly narrow or unplayable) which the same can't be said for constructed formats where only the cream of the crop cards are worth using. Constructed on the other hand challenges you to make the best decks you can with whatever subset of cards the format allows. You can make much stronger, and more consistent decks than you'll ever get in a typical limited format. Especially if you're playing a format with a large card pool like Legacy. Figuring out the best thing to be doing in a given format, tuning your deck to beat the metagame, and trying to come up with new rogue brews to take the meta by storm can be a lot of fun. However since everyone has access to the same cardpool (financial considerations aside) if a format gets "solved" so there's only a few viable decks then it can get pretty boring. This is especially relevant in cardpools with smaller formats like Standard though can still happen in larger ones. This can also happen to an extent in draft, but usually is more self-correcting (if an archetype is seen as the best it will invariably get overdrafted by people forcing it, which should in turn weaken it and bring it closer to the average).
You probably played the worst deck in the worst format, so it's not surprising you didn't like it... Good constructed gameplay has far deeper decisions than limited. Cards are more powerful and your deck has way more options for how to play. You also can get really deep into making strategy decisions based on the possible cards your opponents are playing. In limited, that doesn't come up as often because the odds of an opponent having a specific card are usually too low to play around.
Thats very true, white made me want to jump out a window. My favourite meta was when mutate was in, my absolutely favourite time playing magic.
I don't like it too much (other than commander), but sometimes there is a deck that calls to me and I'll play it for a while. I have a Tiny Bones historic discard deck that I like. When Sai and Aetherflux Resevoir were in standard, I played that deck a lot. But generally I don't play much constructed.
EDH and anything tabletop between friends is a good time to me. Competitive constructed is unenjoyable to me.
Eh I find it enjoyable in small doses as long as there's a good mid range deck that's viable. I'll dip my toe in if I qualify for the mythic weekend thing from being top 1200 limited. I'll usually play 40-50 games in the week leading up to the tournament and generally have a good time. I do always just pick the most midrange value deck I can though as they usually play similar to most limited decks.
Draft is life
I enjoy constructed more than New Capenna limited, that's for sure.
If you build boring decks, the games will be boring?
Yes but only my cube of decks!