So I'm starting afresh with modern (leaving standard :)), and I am thinking of playing Affinity. It looks cheap; under $500; plays well (most common top 8 aggro deck); and looks fun to play too! However as I am starting with a very small budget $60 so far, I am going to buy the cards slowly over time and gradually build up to the deck. However I have a few questions now;
1. How does Affinity fare against other competitive decks (I have read the primer but I want real persons experience)
2. What cards should I buy first with that amount of money in hand (I live in Australia so I will probably buy of SCG unless someone reccomeneds an alternative). And is there any order I should buy them in,(for example is one going to rise soon)
I'd actually like to suggest two other decks as options.
First, Bogles, aka Aura Hexproof. The two most expensive cards in the deck are Horizon Canopy, which isn't strictly necessary, and Daybreak Coronet, which you could probably work around if you needed to with additional copies of Unflinching Courage. It has a reasonably good track record, and with less Liliana in the format there are fewer sacrifice creature effects, making it a bit harder to deal with.
Second, Storm. Storm is a difficult deck to pilot and is very much an all-in strategy. However, excluding fetch lands the entire deck could probably be purchased for $60. Fetch lands aren't strictly necessary in the deck; they do help a lot but you may be able to get by without them. I'd be curious to hear what others have to say about that. Storm definitely has some hate cards much like affinity. You could probably run a couple copies of Cascade Bluffs and Sulfur Falls to help keep the mana coloration flexible.
I'm not sure how tricky it is to ship to Australia. I would strongly advocate Ideal808: http://www.ideal808.com. They're based in Hawaii, so the shipping times may not be too bad; geographically it's closer to you than anything stateside but who knows if there are weird shipping restrictions. I've purchased from them several times and they're awesome; great customer service and reasonable prices. Personally I HATE Star City Games because of their prices.
Buying cards at Star City Games is like buying food at an airport: the only reason you do it is proximity and availability, because otherwise you'd be insane to spend 1.5x to 3x as much on the same thing. Their commons and uncommons may be priced reasonably, but their rares and mythics are so much more than anyone else I never bother with them.
Honestly, I'd start by buying Opals. You've got just enough to get one right now, and they're going to go up as Affinity is the best "budget" deck in Modern. It's what I'm playing if I go to any tournaments, but most of the deck isn't even mine. If I were going to make a Modern deck, I'd make Affinity. Or maybe Bogles. Bogles is probably cheaper.
Affinity is a good deck, of you have your heart set on it you will do just fine. On of the locals won the Brisbane PTQ with it. It's strong.
As for decks and how they fair. My Rock decks loses game one and is very well matched games 2 and 3. This issue to Land destruction, art hate and sweepers. All are useful. Fish has a hard time unless it finds its sideboard cards but Elves, Elves are the standout. Elves can just draw and draw. Also they can tutor art hate maindeck. Elves can do very well.
Lastly, check out Good Games if you plan to buy in Australia. They can ship to you, they are active in a few states and if you can go to a store you can pick things up. They also run events so that's a bonus. Prices are about level with SCG. You can find cheaper, but no shipping costs and helping the store you play at can be bonous. I have also bought large amounts of cards before and haggled a discount.
1. How does Affinity fare against other competitive decks (I have read the primer but I want real persons experience)
2. What cards should I buy first with that amount of money in hand (I live in Australia so I will probably buy of SCG unless someone reccomeneds an alternative). And is there any order I should buy them in,(for example is one going to rise soon)
Thanks, here's the decklist
2 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Steel Overseer
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Etched Champion
1 Master of Etherium
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
2 Galvanic Blast
Lands:
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Glimmervoid
1 Island
First, Bogles, aka Aura Hexproof. The two most expensive cards in the deck are Horizon Canopy, which isn't strictly necessary, and Daybreak Coronet, which you could probably work around if you needed to with additional copies of Unflinching Courage. It has a reasonably good track record, and with less Liliana in the format there are fewer sacrifice creature effects, making it a bit harder to deal with.
Second, Storm. Storm is a difficult deck to pilot and is very much an all-in strategy. However, excluding fetch lands the entire deck could probably be purchased for $60. Fetch lands aren't strictly necessary in the deck; they do help a lot but you may be able to get by without them. I'd be curious to hear what others have to say about that. Storm definitely has some hate cards much like affinity. You could probably run a couple copies of Cascade Bluffs and Sulfur Falls to help keep the mana coloration flexible.
I'm not sure how tricky it is to ship to Australia. I would strongly advocate Ideal808: http://www.ideal808.com. They're based in Hawaii, so the shipping times may not be too bad; geographically it's closer to you than anything stateside but who knows if there are weird shipping restrictions. I've purchased from them several times and they're awesome; great customer service and reasonable prices. Personally I HATE Star City Games because of their prices.
Buying cards at Star City Games is like buying food at an airport: the only reason you do it is proximity and availability, because otherwise you'd be insane to spend 1.5x to 3x as much on the same thing. Their commons and uncommons may be priced reasonably, but their rares and mythics are so much more than anyone else I never bother with them.
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As for decks and how they fair. My Rock decks loses game one and is very well matched games 2 and 3. This issue to Land destruction, art hate and sweepers. All are useful. Fish has a hard time unless it finds its sideboard cards but Elves, Elves are the standout. Elves can just draw and draw. Also they can tutor art hate maindeck. Elves can do very well.
Lastly, check out Good Games if you plan to buy in Australia. They can ship to you, they are active in a few states and if you can go to a store you can pick things up. They also run events so that's a bonus. Prices are about level with SCG. You can find cheaper, but no shipping costs and helping the store you play at can be bonous. I have also bought large amounts of cards before and haggled a discount.
Current decks of choice:
Vintage: Shops.
Legacy: Lands.
Modern: Lantern.