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By: Chaoticgamer17, Timothy Borgen
Apr 13 2011 12:13pm
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Hello! My name is Tim Borgen and I live in the small and quiet town of Rockwall, TX. I first became interested in Magic when my friend gave me a box of Akrasan Squires and Call to Heels and told me to build a 60-card deck, which he then proceeded to crush with Elspeth, Knight-Errants and Cryptic Commands. However, I developed a strong love of the game and I began to attend FNM's and even a few 5k's. I made the switch to the wonderful world of Magic Online after realizing that driving an hour to the nearest store just to go 2-3 on the night with my budget Naya Zoo deck was not worth the time, effort, or money. I have always considered myself a budget/casual player, preferring not to shell out $500 dollars to have a shot at $32 in store credit once a week. Magic Online was the perfect fit, with cheaper prices and easier accessibility. In this series I hope to make competitive decks while also maintaining a low price range, usually around 20 tickets. I will mostly concentrate my efforts on Legacy and Standard. Note: I do not claim to be a master of the game or a financial genius, but I hope my articles will help people have competitive fun without breaking the bank.

 

In this article, I will talk about getting into Legacy online while maintaining a low budget. For a wonderful introduction into the benefits of playing Legacy online, with prices of many Tier 1 decks, read this fantastic article by Sam Stoddard:

 

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/finance/21456_A_Foray_Into_Online_Legacy.html

 

I have recently started chipping away week by week at developing a small Legacy collection. The first item I purchased to start my collection was the Exiler Pre-Con. It a fantastic introduction to the power of Legacy and includes many useful cards, including Aether Vial, Swords to Plowshares, and Stoneforge Mystic.

 

Aether Vial

Legacy Powerhouse

 

Just the cards in the Exiler deck are enough to put up a fight in the Casual Room (though expect quite a few mirrors). I strongly recommend buying this deck to any budget player interested in Legacy. The approximate value of the deck is about 56 tix (a great deal more than its retail price of $29.99) and will provide useful staples of the format. For my first Legacy deck, I wanted to use cards from this deck, namely Swords to Plowshares, Aether Vial, and Umezawa's Jitte. I looked at many successful Legacy decks and realized that the creature base for Merfolk was relatively cheap online. I have played Merfolk in Extended, and it is capable of some crushing draws. Here is the list I have been playing for a while:

 

 

In total, minus the cost of the cards in the Exiler deck, the deck costs approximately $9.54.

 

Here is the price breakdown:

 

4 Cursecatcher: $0.08 each = $0.32

 

4 Silvergill Adept: $0.05 each = $0.20

 

3 Coralhelm Commander: $0.80 each = $2.40

 

4 Lord of Atlantis: $1.50 each = $6.00

 

4 Merrow Reejerey: $0.05 each = $0.20

 

3 Merfolk Sovereign: $0.08 each = $0.24

 

3 Spell Pierce: $0.03 each = $0.09

 

3 Terramorphic Expanse: $0.03 each = $0.09

 

Total: $9.54

 

The deck can also be run without the white splash, which may be better, as it allows the inclusion of more counterspells, and turns the deck into more of a draw-go style as it is able to Aether Vial creatures in at the end of turn while leaving up counter magic. However, the best counters, Force of Will and Daze, are expensive. While they would allow the deck to compete with many of the top decks in the format, the price tags push the deck out of the realm of budget possibility. If I were to play the Mono-Blue version, I would remove the white splash for Counterspell ($0.30 each for the MED 4 version), and Force Spike ($0.02 each).

 

 

I'm not completely sold that 22 lands is correct, but it has worked out for me so far. The sideboard for the Mono Blue version is also completely hypothetical. I have not tested the sideboard out, and there is definitely too much graveyard hate.

 

After playing the U/W list for a while, a Deck Tech was posted on Star City Games about a similar list, (although with significantly better upgrades):

 

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/legacy/21568_Deck_Tech_Swordfish_with_Taylor_Raflowitz.html

 

This list is the ideal version of the U/W Merfolk Deck. Stoneforge Mystic is able to get incredible powerful equipment such as Sword of Fire and Ice and Umezawa's Jitte. Complete with Force of Wills and Dazes for countermagic, this list is able to apply significant pressure to the opponent while still answering their most important threats (swords are also really good on an islandwalker).

 

Finally, here are a sample game with my budget version of the U/W Merfolk deck.

 

FIGHT!!

 

Game 1:

 

I keep a strong hand of Swords to Plowshares, Stoneforge Mystic, Aether Vial, Merrow Reejerey, 2 (Islands), and Plains. This hand allows me to use Aether Vial to cheat my creatures into play while keeping up Swords to Plowshares and a counter if I draw one. I lead with Island, Aether Vial and he matches my Aether Vial off a Flagstones of Trokair. We play draw-go as our vials charge until I play a Coralhelm Commander I have drawn on Turn 3 and level it once. In response it gets hit by a Swords to Plowshares. However, he falters on land drops on his turn, and I Vial in a Stoneforge Mystic and fetch Aether Vial. Aether Vial is very potent at helping deal with mana screw as you are still able to play creatures at a consistent speed. This is shown as he is able to drop a Leonin Relic-Warder on my upkeep to snatch my Aether Vial. I play Jitte, equip it to my Stoneforge Mystic, and swing, killing the Relic-Warder after it block by removing a counter from my Umezawa's Jitte. Jitte is incredibly powerful once it gains a couple counters, and completely change the flow of a game. He is still stuck on land during his turn, and on mine I drop Merrow Reejerey. In response, he Vials in a Phyrexian Revoker, naming my Umezawa's Jitte.

 

Phyrexian Revoker

Very powerful in Legacy now. Shuts down Aether Vial, Equipment, and other annoyances.

 

I Swords to Plowshares his Revoker, but can't re-equip the Jitte. On his turn, he finally draws a Swamp to go with his Flagstones of Trokair and casts another Revoker naming Umezawa's Jitte. I draw Lord of Atlantis on my turn and attack with the Merrow Reejerey, hoping he will block and allow me to vial in my Lord of Atlantis and kill his guy, thereby freeing my Jitte. Unfortunately he sees through my plans, and I settle for 2 damage (22-19). I don't Vial in Lord of Atlantis because I am willing to trade it for a Revoker if he attacks. On his turn, he casts Tidehollow Sculler, but I Aether Vial in the Lord to save it from being taken. He then passes the turn. I draw Cursecatcher, cast it, and use the Reejerey's tapping ability to tap down his Tidehollow Sculler so his only blocks can come from the Phyrexian Revoker. He thwarts my plans though by adding a Serra Avenger to the battlefield.

 

He plays a Marsh Flats, cracks it for a Swamp, and passes the turn. On my draw step, he Vials in another Tidehollow Sculler hoping to steal my newly drawn Merrow Reejerey. My own Aether Vial saves me, and adds another lord to my side of the board. I bash with a 4/4 Cursecatcher and elicit a block from both Tidehollow Scullers. He bashes with his vigilant Avenger on his turn, and on my upkeep he Swords to Plowshares my Reejerey (20-18). I draw a Silvergill Adept and am forced to hardcast it, drawing a Reejerey and using the my other Merrow Reejerey to tap the Serra Avenger, allowing me to bash with my squad after I Vial in the freshly drawn Reejerey. I hit with my 4/4's, bringing the score to (20-10) in my favor. He once again hits with the Avenger and passes the turn. I draw Spell Pierce and attack with just the Silvergill Adept. He lets it through after putting a Serra Avenger into play (17-5).

 

He swings with his vigilant fliers on his turn (11-5) and puts a Sculler into play on my draw step, taking my new Stoneforge Mystic. I attempt an all-out attack on my turn, putting him in a tough position against my aquatic legion of 4/4's. He puts Revoker and Sculler on my 5/4 Silvergill Adept and an Avenger each on my Merrow Reejereys, letting my Lord of Atlantis through (11-1). I cast my Stoneforge Mystic after getting it back from the Sculler. He concedes on his turn.

 

This is just one example of the power of the U/W Merfolk deck. Having so many lords ensures your army will almost always outclass your opponents. I am a bit doubting of the Spell Pierces though, and I don't know if they are effective enough to warrant a spot in the deck. I am considering replacing it will Counterspell.

 

Bonus: Pick of the Week

 

Each week I will try to include a thought on what I consider to be a solid investment for budget/casual Legacy. I make no claim to being a financial visionary, this is just my thoughts. This week I have chosen the Exiler Pre-Con. As explained earlier, this is a great start to Legacy.

 

This is just a short introduction to the wide world of Legacy. It is full of possibilities to be explored. I hope to explore a new option each week or improve upon a deck. I welcome any constructive criticism.

 

Until Later,

 

Tim B.

 

Chaoticgamer on MTGO. Note: I hope to have an accurate picture up soon.

46 Comments

this is whiffy. by Clan Magic Eternal at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 12:31
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so, i am kind of confused. Is your article targeted at legay players or budget players? if your aproaching real legacy players you may be wasteing their time, as these 2 decks are pretty terrible for competitive play. if your approaching budget players, then your lying to them. theses decks again, can not compete in a comp environment. I liked your article, its just that it feels wrong, as you showcase a deck that lives on the back of wasteland, force of will and daze. with out those cards it functionally does not work.

if your targeting the comp crowd you have to forgo budget as it is a waste of everyones time. if your targeting budget players, then maybe you should expand to other formats, as legacy has expensive cards for a reason and those cards while not in your deck will be in opponents and they will mock these builds as they force of will and daze your cards.

good luck finding your niche'

Hmmm.... Quote from the by Nagarjuna at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 05:00
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Hmmm....

Quote from the abstract: "In my first article, I introduce my budget deck series. This week I take a look at U/W Legacy Merfolk and present Legacy options for a casual/budget player. This is for you budget players!"

So yea his header may say by Clan Magic Eternal at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 11:44
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So yea his header may say budget, but his intire article smacks of playing competitivly. maybe i should be able to read his mind? cause i walked away from the article confused.

"I looked at many successful Legacy decks and realized that the creature base for Merfolk was relatively cheap online. I have played Merfolk in Extended, and it is capable of some crushing draws.

While they would allow the deck to compete with many of the top decks in the format, the price tags push the deck out of the realm of budget possibility.

This is just a short introduction to the wide world of Legacy. It is full of possibilities to be explored. I hope to explore a new option each week or improve upon a deck. I welcome any constructive criticism."

these are just the 3 most blatant of the " here is a competitive article for budget players"

again mr author, i liked it and its good for a first time, i was just confused.

I want to start by saying by Cownose at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 12:47
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I want to start by saying that I liked the article, but I do have a bone of contention:

I think your purpose in writing this article needs to be a bit more apparent early on to the reader. Is your goal to get people to play Legacy in the cas/cas room? If so, I think you need to be a bit more explicit with that at the outset. When you say that exiler is a good starting point for a competitve budget legacy deck--that is true to be competitve in cas/cas...but if you want to play in TP or in actual tournaments, then I feel this article can be misleading. None of that is in any way competitive in TP or in Tournaments, and showing up to a match in TP with a modified budget exiler or budget Merfolk deck will only get you flamed and blocked for wasting people's time.

Legacy is a great format and I highly recommend people play it, but if you are on a tight budget then the best way to approach a format is to find an inexpensive competitve deck (even goblins can be competitive), rather than find a good deck that is expensive and make it bad by taking out the costly cards which make it tick. There is no replacement for Force of Will or Daze, so If you cannot afford those cards, then find a deck that does not use them (there are a lot of good decks that don't), but please dont try and build a competitive Fow deck without Fow...it shall only lead to heartache =).

I have to say I don't quite by Paul Leicht at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 15:55
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I have to say I don't quite get the why of flaming/blocking someone with an inferior deck. Are people just that selfish and angry? What is wrong with merely telling them to bring something more competitive or pointing out where their decks could improve? Sure some won't want to hear it but most people bringing "weak sauce" to the tp are looking to be competitive. Flaming them and or blocking them only reduces the chances they will seek to improve thus increasing the likelihood you will face more weaksauce decks/players.

I am not saying you are in anyway responsible for this behavior or telling an untruth by the way. It just seems almost entirely illogical (and thus not a trait I expect of true competitors.) I am of the opinion that the tp room is not where to go to improve in general as from all reports it is merely a more verbally cut-throat (but not in game) casual room. I am surprised this attitude still prevails. It reminds me of the ratings bs from back in the day.

I agree about the $$ cards. One reason I rarely venture into classic or legacy even in cas cas is my collection does not support that level of play. There is really no point in bringing white weenie for example to a turn 1-4 I win party. It can have some momentum as can elves or gobos but usually it dies off to combo before it can even achieve threat of lethal. Particularly against the more resillient decks in that format. Hence you need to either build a combo deck yourself or get the fows/dazes and bring control. Not that aggro can't win but it seems the short straw.

While I certainly don't by Cownose at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 10:30
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While I certainly don't condone the behavior myself, I do understand it. When you are in a room labeled "Tournament Practice" and 4 of every 5 decks that join your game are complete rubbish...it does tend to get frustrating...which is why TP is so useless for actual Tournament Pratice and ppl test with clans instead.

It does not have to be that way, but I think it is because the people in cas/cas are whiny and so terrible about playing against anything that is not terribad and they force the middle of the road players (with decent, but not tournament quality decks) into TP where they don't belong. And then they get flamed there. There is no place for the 'serious casual' player, but there should be.

It was a good first start to by Raddman at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 14:07
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It was a good first start to a first article, but I agree with Cownose and my fellow clanmate up above. Awhile back I wrote several articles detailing cheaper decks and how to competitively enter Legacy with a deck not running Force of Will.

I suggest reading these articles and like Cownose suggested, find a more financially competitive deck that is competitive such as goblins or even the GW lists that were being previously ran.

There are no substitutions for cards like Wasteland and Force in a competitive market, so building decks without them will simply lead to people blowing off the format and becoming highly frustrated.

If you want to play competitive legacy, you need to start with a target deck you wish to build, buy the landbase first as it will never go down in value. Then take your monthly budgeted amount and slowly piece by piece buy the cards you need.

Good luck on future articles, good first effort. I love legacy stuff so I hope you continue writing about the format.

Thanks for the comments by Chaoticgamer17 at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 14:24
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Thanks everyone for the comments. I do agree that i was unclear in my purpose. My purpose is this: I want to build budget decks for the casual crowd. These decks are mostly for play in the casual room, but with a little help could make the next leap into the tournament practice room. I am going to stretch the series out into multiple format, not just legacy. I think I put too much of an emphasis that I would be doing legacy articles with this series, but I am not. From now on if I do a legacy deck, I will shy away from decks that rely on expensive cards such as FoW and Wasteland. Merfolk without these cards is incredibly different. I may start out with a few legacy decks, but i will expand to other formats, especially standard, where most "budget/casual" players I have met play the most. Once again, these decks are mostly for the casual decks room. You are certainly right: There is substitute for Force and Wasteland. I will try to make financially competitve decks without these cards, but it is a difficult task. As a result, the decks I post most likely will not match up to these decks. I think the next deck I have in the working will be a better example of a solid yet financially minded deck that is perfect to run in the casual room and with a better mana base and some minor card upgrades, could make a splash in the TP room. These decks are ment to be played for fun, rather than heavily compete for prizes. I hope this makes my approach to these articles clearer. Thanks again for the comments, they definately help me write better and scuplt my next articles

If this is your goal, then by Cownose at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 09:43
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If this is your goal, then you did a good job with the article. My only question is what response do you get bringing Merfolk or Exiler to the cas/cas room? In my experience they tend to freak out about anyting involving a counterspell or a "lame combo" like Mangara/Karakas....

...or discard

...or LD

...or Dual Lands

...or... ah, forget about it

I disagree with the 3 by this isnt the n... at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 14:45
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I disagree with the 3 comments above. I thought it was clear you were making a budget deck, and nowhere did you say you were trying to make a competetive tourney deck. Seems like an excellent budget deck for the casual room, though a bit boring (how many merfolk lord decks do you need to see before youve seen em all)

I agree that merfolk decks by Chaoticgamer17 at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 16:54
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I agree that merfolk decks can get a bit monotonous, I only decided to do this one because I thought the white splash was interesting and added a different twist to the deck. The deck I am working on now is something you probably haven't seen for a while though :)

Keep your head up man! by Longshot356 at Wed, 04/13/2011 - 16:43
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I for one found your article's objective perfectly clear. Maybe that was because I read it rather than skimming it, I dont know...

And generally I think your ideas a good one; not everyone wants to play "competively". Some people just want to have a bit of fun. Your article could do with a little tightening up, sure, but keep at it and you're bound to improve.

Oh, and as for getting flamed for playing a "budget" deck in the TP room? Utter nonsense. I come across loads of people playing "budget" decks in there. Perhaps Cownose is assuming everyone else behaves the way he does...

The confusion for me came by Raddman at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 09:28
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The confusion for me came with the following sentences.

"However, I developed a strong love of the game and I began to attend FNM's and even a few 5k's."

- In my opinion, typically casual players don't attend 5k's

"I have always considered myself a budget/casual player, preferring not to shell out $500 dollars to have a shot at $32 in store credit once a week."

- Ok, so here he talks about being budge/casual

"Note: I do not claim to be a master of the game or a financial genius, but I hope my articles will help people have competitive fun without breaking the bank."

- Competitive fun......not casual, there is a difference in wording here.

I never said the article was bad, just needed a clearer message. I hope he continues to write about Legacy as the more we write, the more passionate we get about the game and the more chances he might one day play Competitive Legacy thus increasing the player base online.

All of the 5k's I attended by Chaoticgamer17 at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 16:55
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All of the 5k's I attended were with the friend that introduced me to Magic. Often times I borrowed some of his decks. I also went for the experience and fun I had not just playing the game but being with other players that enjoy the game. Sorry about the variations in words, I will try to tighten it up in later articles. It occurs the most in this as it is an introductory article. Thanks for the helpful comments.

I don't flame people, but it by Cownose at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 10:26
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I don't flame people, but it does upset me after a while. When you bring a non-tournament quality deck to the TOUNAMENT PRACTICE room you are wasting someone else's time. Yes, I know my deck CAN beat your pile'oburn.dec or your 24discardspells.dec, but the reason ppl play in the tournament pratice room is to...like...practice for tournaments. Joining a game with a substandard non-tournament deck is rude and immature. The room is not labeled the "less casual than cas/cas" room.

That is not to say that there is no room in TP for testing new ideas, there certainly is and I am always glad to see a new competitve deck idea there, but when a deck is clearly not a tournament deck then speidng 20+ minutes beating it is a waste of my time. The correct course of action is to open a game in cas/cas and specify that this is a serious deck, rather than bring that deck to TP. I do this all the time with my more casual serious decks (like Trix, Stasis, etc.), I dont want to demolish an elves deck in cas/cas, but I also don't want to waste people's time in TP...so I go to cas/cas and adda comment so ppl bring their good mid-tier decks.

Here is the thing about by Paul Leicht at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 12:51
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Here is the thing about 'Practice'. Everyone starts somewhere. To ME going to a room like the TP speaks of one thing: intent to improve. If I go into the TP room with a bad deck, aside from your upset at not finding good competition I hope you will say something like: "Oh exiler. That deck isn't really up to snuff for this room. Take out all the x and put in the y here to improve it." Some sort of direction for the player to go in.

I think a lot of people (a vast majority in fact) have no clue how to start a deck or even take a deck like Exiler and make it mean enough to compete. By the way Mangara/Karakas IS too mean for cas cas. I had one deck with ONE of each (a humans tribal wars deck) and got blocked by 3 people for bringing it in my own queue a few years ago. Not that I mind being blocked but it definitely ends any possible interaction.

I wish I knew what mid-tier meant for fringe formats like TWL and Kaleido. I'd be a lot happier if there were some actual guidelines people would actually listen to and be familiar with. Also I am pretty sure Trix is seen as (if it isn't actually) a serious serious deck. It was the top dominator of extended back in the day and people who have been around awhile know it. Even newer people know of it as it has a strong lineage being a necro descendent.

Thats just the thing. Trix by Cownose at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 15:14
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Thats just the thing. Trix was a competitve deck 8 years ago, but it is not a compettive deck in any format anymore. I'd love to relive my glory days with the deck (that and prosbloom) but TP is the wrong place to do that.

I just played 4 games in the by greyes3 at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 16:53
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I just played 4 games in the casual room with Mangara/Karakas without any complaints. Is it too mean for that room because...you say it is? At least half of your posts indicate to me that you do not have a clue what subjective opinion means.

As for the article, I looked at the decklist and thought the deck looked like a joke. It is in no way viable for any kind of legacy tournament, petty much ever. I get you're trying to write for the casual/budget crowd, but how many more articles do we need on here filled with writers swapping out all the expensive cards from specific TOURNAMENT DECKS, with sub-par, inferior card choices; just to get a few kicks with in the casual room?

Yes I was stating my observed by Paul Leicht at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 17:57
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Yes I was stating my observed empyrical experiences and my responses to them. Thank you for clarifying that for anyone who might have been confused.

As for the criticism of the decklist, well obviously you would never play with it so it must not be playable. I am not sure that means it is worthless. In fact I bet there are some people who found decent value in this article aside from myself. At the very least it is a start.

Concerning the content management of this site: You have a beef with it? Talk to Josh. He's the one who decides what gets posted.

You're an adequate writer...where are your tech articles? Still waiting for another prismatic tourney to come up? Lets see more professional content from you if you think the site needs it. Otherwise your complaint is just whistling into the wind.

Now I have to publish tech by greyes3 at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 19:15
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Now I have to publish tech articles here if I want to have an opinion. I would respond to each of your points, but they are so off-topic and misconstrued that I'm not even going to bother addressing them. I stand behind what I said. Expensive cards are part of this game whether you like it or not. If we're going to just start copying tournament lists and swapping the expensive cards for cheaper variants and claiming that provides decent value for an article...well then I don't really know what else to say.

I do not think I am the one by Paul Leicht at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 19:46
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I do not think I am the one misconstruing things. In fact if I didn't know better Id think you were deliberately doing so to see if you could get a rise.

I agree that expensive cards (read: good playable cards) are a (necessary) part of the game but I do think there are more than a few levels of competitive play. Budget decks and articles about them are valid and perhaps this author needed to stretch a bit more but I don't think every writer needs to give content for the top tier players only. The fact is the author did not simply do as you say and slap a few cards on top of a prefab and call that an article. He provided a rationale for his changes. Even if you think the deck is weak sauce (because it is a budget variant of a known deck archetype) and not worth your time does not mean it is worth no one's time.

You don't have to do anything. But if you want your opinion to carry some weight you might want to contribute to the site rather than just knocking the content. Your complaint might very well be relevant. One reason I haven't written an article about magic in a while is I have not wanted to add to the glut of niche articles. But you seem to think you have some serious knowledge and perhaps you do. Why not share it instead of knocking authors for not giving you good free content?

I'm just saying: be a part of the solution. You have the skills. Show us what a good article for tech is like. Or are you too good for this site?

It's funny because taking by ShardFenix at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 20:54
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It's funny because taking good tournament played decks and replacing the expensive cards with budget replacements is what the main budget article on the main magic site does about 50% of the time....

Hello and welcome to the by Nagarjuna at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 05:01
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5

Hello and welcome to the board! Thanks from brimnging this up and I would like to read more about your casual decks!!!

Enjoyable Read by under_the_hammer at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 07:57
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5

I am actually going to disagree with George and my other clan mates at Magic Eternal. Whilst I normally hate these type of articles it was an interesting gateway article IMHO. I beleive that it is too easy to be black/white on the casual/competitive player phenotype. There are many players out there new and exploring or budget constrained that would love to play in the eternal formats and have a deck that they will not have to change every 6 months. The message in this article is clear and the value of the exiler deck and the highlighting of that is key to the success of this article. It says hey if you want to go play semi-competive magic the with a view to buying cards that will have a longshelf life and provide a solid base once I am ready to step up the quality of my deck and play level then this theme deck is good. It also shows how on a budget you can take the next step to start tweaking the deck and making it your own. It is this type of article that gives puremtgo its heart it serves the casual as well as the hard core. Not everyone that comes to this site or the associate store is going to be buying high-value tournament staples and thats a good thing and something which this article supports and promotes. It is about having fun in mtgo and i suspect that this article hits more of a demographic than one would assume.
- Dont fall into the trap of just listening an underpowered deck, talking about how you make it budget and play 1 or 2 tp games and make it an article - What was important to succeed here was the subplot of the exiler deck.
- Hammer Eternal and Under

Wtf? by krisinsane at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 09:00
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" I Vial in a Stoneforge Mystic and fetch Aether Vial"

I wish I could do this :(

Hmm, I hate to say it but by MMogg at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 19:03
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Hmm, I hate to say it but statements like that (i.e. Stoneforge Mystic getting Aether Vial) sound off alarm bells regarding the veracity of the entire game synopsis. MTGO, unlike paper, does not allow for mistakes that are contrary to the rules. It may be that the author was going by memory instead of taking notes in game or watching a replay, but nevertheless, it does sound the BS alarm.

It was just a typo actually. by Chaoticgamer17 at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 19:32
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It was just a typo actually. The next statement was talking about Aether Vial and in a lapse of thought, thinking ahead to the next sentence, I typed Aether Vial rather than Jitte. I was doing this by MTGO game replay and made a mistake. I am trying to tighten up my technical aspects and words for later articles. Sorry for the mistake.

It does bring up a good point by Chaoticgamer17 at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 19:38
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It does bring up a good point though and a question I have. In future articles I would like to include video replays of my games rather than wordy write-ups, and just touch on the hi-lights of the game rather than turn by turn. I think this would be more interesting and would eliminate sloppy errors on my part. Could someone e-mail me or post a way to include these videos in my articles? If so that would be great.

Googling "recording games on by Paul Leicht at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 19:51
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Googling "recording games on mtgo" resulted in this link:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=200974

Competitive cheap legacy decks by Dtrny at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 12:26
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You can actually play legacy with a cheap and competitive deck, you just have to be creative. Yes, I'm absolutely serious. I'm not sure how "budget" this would be on paper, but this is puremtgo, so who cares, and Bayou hardly breaks the bank online. Hilariously, a lot of legacy decks have more trouble dealing with Phyrexian Crusader than standard decks, since Swords is heavily leaned on in the format.

Before you critique the deck, it isn't my list, and it has pretty decent game vs most of the archetypes in legacy, and is quite capable of a turn 2 kill.

60 cards

4 Bayou
1 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Marsh Flats
5 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
22 lands

4 Dark Confidant
4 Necropede
4 Phyrexian Crusader
4 Plague Stinger
16 creatures 4 Berserk
4 Dark Ritual
4 Invigorate
4 Rancor
2 Snuff Out
4 Virulent Swipe
22 other spells
Sideboard
3 Engineered Plague
3 Extirpate
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Nature's Claim
1 Tormod's Crypt
15 sideboard cards

I agree with you that there by Raddman at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 18:20
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I agree with you that there are ways to be competitive at a lower financial rate. The deck you posted is around 200 I'd say and his deck was 40, so there is a big difference in the eyes of certain people.

Personally, I think if you are worried about spending 200 on a competitive magic deck for the main formats, you probably need to find a new hobby.

The cool thing is, your deck is less than the cost of 3 Force of Wills.

"So yea his header may say by Jackscifi at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 17:22
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"So yea his header may say budget, but his intire article smacks of playing competitivly. maybe i should be able to read his mind? cause i walked away from the article confused. "

Clan, you seem confused that although he's made a budget deck he talks about playing competitively. Budget players can play competitively, can play at level of a competitive player; not likely to win with their budget deck but they can still compete and learn to play in a tournament style.

Terramorphic? by spg at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 20:26
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Why are you playing Terramorphic Expanse in the mono-blue version?

Raddman, you are correct, and by Dtrny at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 20:55
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Raddman, you are correct, and budget means different things to different people. I don't think a deck could be built for less that I would feel comfortable running in a daily event. Dredge, Burn and Goblins are other reasonably cheap decks, although I would personally not run burn, ever.

I also think playing Merfolk without Mutavault is criminal, and playing terramorphic instead of Wanderwine Hub is a complete headscratcher. Playing Aether Vial without countermagic like Daze kind of defeats the point. I can see not including force, but Daze is at least somewhat reasonable. Obviously without wasteland it is worse, but just running Daze, and some number of Counterspell and Spell Pierce is decent for casual.

Wanderwine Hub definitely by Chaoticgamer17 at Thu, 04/14/2011 - 21:07
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Wanderwine Hub definitely should have been in the list, I did not realize it was only 1.50. Mutavault and Daze would be included if I wanted to extend the price limit higher, which I am considering doing for future articles, since 20 dollars is not much. I am thinking of raising it to 30-45 dollars. Also, at the end of each article from now on, I will list the upgrades the deck could use to elevate it to tournament practice room level (in the case that I do a budget spin off of an established deck, I may not include this as the changes should be quite clear from a non-budget list, but I am working on building off the radar decks from now on, rather than highly played ones.

i dont normally comment, but by senorbob00 at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 17:19
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i normally just read the boards without responding, but i think alot of the complaints on this article are flimsy at best. I am a pretty successful player on mtgo and i dont come to puremtgo for really high level competetive articles, thats not to say that there arent some of those now and again, but anyone could tell from the start this article was not one of those. i dont play casual magic, however i enjoy reading about the various formats and will probably play some at some point. I wouldnt play the discussed deck because I am at the point where i no longer like playing decks that arent competitive in tournements, but everyone started somewhere and most people didnt start playing with an unlimited budget and 4 fow's. If the article isnt for you move on, why waste time complaining about free content without offering anything of value. Their were some things the writer could improve on, but most of this criticism was not constructed or warrented.

So because people don't come by Raddman at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 18:44
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So because people don't come to Pure to read competitive articles means that we should just settle for casual ones?

You see, to me, that is one of the problems with this site. There is so much casual stuff that when we do get a writer willing to put competitive articles up it either doesn't get the views or the comments and that writer seems to go somewhere else to write.

Isn't the point of this game to have fun and while having fun improve our skill level at magic?

So shouldn't we also expect the same from the writers on this site?

Shouldn't we expect them put their best foot forward each time they hit the submit button? And I'm not talking about this article, because for a first one I thought it was pretty good, except for the points I previously made.

As readers, don't we want great content? Again, not necessarily talking about this article, but many comments have been made on other articles in the past regarding this subject.

As readers, if we aren't vocal about what we want then we should just expect to keep getting what we get.

I said in one of my comments that I hope he continues to write about the subject, not because I want to play casual Legacy or read about casual Legacy, but because I hope the more he writes, the more passionate he will be about Legacy thus increasing the Legacy content here, which will hopefully lead to more competitive Legacy players.

When I write an article here, I expect to receive criticism either positive or negative. You see, the criticism he received was warranted when he hit the submit button.

I think pure needs more competitive content.

I think as readers we should want it and expect it.

for every by JXClaytor at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 19:03
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1 competitive based article that is submitted we get 10 casual article. The site skews heavily towards the casual side.

well by senorbob00 at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 20:07
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When i am looking for competetive top flight strategy and deck building articles i usually go to the places where i can read the opinions and thoughts of the best players in the world, channelfireball and starcity both have tons of that content. But at the same time you will never read a article about kalidoscope, or some of these PRE formats, that you will find here. The audiences are different, it seems like to me that you must know that that is not the typical type of content on this site. As i understand it this site operates like an open site where anyone can write an article and submit it to be published, these people who take the time to write the articles are doing so to meet a certain niche that isnt filled on some of the other sites, and the people who read those articles appreciate this fact, so to complain about the budget nature of the decks and the lack of competeiveness seems ridiculous, if you want to read about legacy you can go read some of alexander sheers work or any number of other top flight players, but none of those people are going to write about $20 legacy decks. Like i said i would never play these decks either but to try and denegrate it, as if the person who is playing with a $20 deck isnt competetive is wrong, they can be just as competetive as the person with the $2000 legacy deck, but if you cant afford a 2k deck then you just cant. And frankly anyone who plays in the tourney practice room and complains about the decks is kidding themselves, every competetive player i know that is playing a top flight deck takes it to the two man ques(2 tickets). Everyone has a different idea of tourney practice and casual, maybe the person just wants to get better, to play against the better decks, to learn how the decks play out, to learn how not to make mistakes so that when they get a more competitive deck they arent starting from scratch. If LSV wrote this article then you could feel free to flame him, but if an amatuer writes an article on a heavily casual site and you arent interested you should either pass on it, or provide some kind of encourgement and constructive advice so that he can improve and come back stronger. That is of course just my opinion.

It doesn't have to. If casual by greyes3 at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 22:18
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It doesn't have to. If casual articles keep getting published, writers will keep submitting them. If you crack down on publishing them, people won't send them in anymore. There is a reason SCG and CFB have such great website traffic. It's because their tournament quality articles appeal to a bigger audience than the Faerie-Elf tribal ones we keep reading about on here.

(Obviously there are other reasons they generate great traffic but I think the point still stands.)

I still dont understand why by ShardFenix at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 23:41
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I still dont understand why you have an issue that there is a site that features casual content. You have already listed great sites for competitive magic. Go enjoy those. Or you know quit complaining and write the type of articles you wish to read. Maybe others will follow.

Casual content is not as by greyes3 at Tue, 04/19/2011 - 11:50
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Casual content is not as appealing as competitive content. I do enjoy the articles on those other sites. I can't enjoy similar content here as well? I'm not looking to start writing any articles, but I think as a regular reader here I'm entitled to share my thoughts on the issue.

THats understandable, but by ShardFenix at Tue, 04/19/2011 - 12:32
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THats understandable, but plenty of others enjoy casual. Im sure if people wanted to write competitive articles here they would. It's not like Josh is against publishing competitive articles, quite the opposite actually. But he publishes what he gets submmitted. If you enjoy the competitive articles on here support them, the authors might write more. Saying that the casual articles are pointless though is just ignorant seeing how many people enjoy them. Not everyone is a spike. And not everyone wants the competitive. THough again there are plenty of competitive sites out there if you are feeling slighted.

meh competitive content has by ShardFenix at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 20:03
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meh competitive content has plenty of sites already. So having a site that skews casually is actually pretty fantastic. Sadin has killed 98% of any casual content on SCG.com so thats dead. The BoaB and FtL articles on the main site are hit or miss and rarely discuss any of the formats on here. As far as people wanting to improve? I dont really have a reason to improve. I have no desires to ever get into competitive play, and I like the people I play with now. Its like an online playgroup. I mean ive played for 17 years now...you cant teach an old dogs new tricks. ut the casual article s are fun and enjoyable. If you want more tournament reports, write them. Otherwise I guess your complaints dont matter that much if you arent willing to offer solutions such as the articles you so want to see

I think, you can teach old by Paul Leicht at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 23:06
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I think, you can teach old dogs new tricks...but will she remember them in the morning? Also give a dog a bone and he forgets everything else. I agree with most of your commentary here. Where are your articles Shard? Finish school already and do some more writing darnit.

I'll write an article about by ShardFenix at Mon, 04/18/2011 - 23:43
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I'll write an article about the thrills and adventures of writing a 20 page paper on Russian Military Reform after the fall of communism and how it sucks the joy out of everything around you till youre lifeless husk just looking forward to the next time you can sleep. Sounds about as entertaining as the tournament reports everyone is clamoring for.