I just recently got back into the game, so I mostly have just staple cards from Scars block and M12. I had a similar idea to what you are proposing, but I took more of a tribal theme.
Keep in mind this'll mostly see kitchen table casual multiplayer as a teaching tool until my buddies get the hang of the rules and are ok at managing board position and card advantage; then it'll probably see a FNM or two before it gets retired for new ideas.
One of my buddies said he'd learn to play if I built him something with 'creepy black dead things.' So here it is:
As far as changes go, I'd like to include a 4th copy of Time Reversal or find a way to increase the number of turn 1 and 2 plays but don't know what I'd cut. Maybe when he's ready to jump to FNM, I'll pull out the Call to the Graves for the last Time Reversal and a Go For the Throat.
I don't know about sideboarding strategy as this will be my first FNM in like 4 years and I have no idea whats going to be in the local meta because this will be my first competitive match in my college town. Probably Tectonic Edges at least, but I'd have to get those.
Thanks for the advice everybody. I think I'll be heading out to my first FNM in nearly 4 years this week. Best case scenario is one or two of them borrow one of my decks and tag along and get hooked, worst case scenario is I go by myself and pique their interests with stories of awesome battles, meeting new people, and seeing a highly diverse and balanced field.
So I recently got back into the game with Scars of Mirrodin after having played from Mirrodin 1.0 to Time Spiral, during which time I enjoyed a bit of (relative) competitive success at FNM, Junior Super Series, States, and even attended a PTQ.
The group that dragged me back into it are kitchen table casual players who have really expansive house rules for a free-for-all, first-to-kill-wins cutthroat style game with decks that usually have 100+ cards in them and come from every set, beta to current. There's an established 'best deck' that consists of acceleration, global effects like Mana Flare and Howling Mine, Fogs, Blazes, Forks, and burn to steal each others' kills.
They complain that our playgroup has become stale and they express an interest in meeting other players and trying other strategies, but the end result is they just beat on the new guys or beat on the guy who's trying something different because that's what our rules imply is the easiest way to win.
I also miss the aspects of the game from my competitive days that the kitchen table lacks - playing skill intensive decks, brewing new decks, playtesting, and seeing how my crew stacks up at FNM.
I think moving to a more competitive mindset would solve a lot of my current crew's blues by giving us more direction and pushing us to get better as players. They would have new concepts to learn about like mana curves, card advantage, tempo, and sideboarding, more people would join our playgroup because they're not being singled out in multiplayer games, there would be less stagnation in our kitchen metagame because we have to comply with rotations, and maybe they'd get good enough to enjoy FNM and come to embrace competition someday.
The most obvious solution is to just leave this playgroup and find a new one, but I'd really rather not; after all, they are my friends and I live with them.
Have you been in a similar situation? Do you have any advice on how to bridge competitive ideas to a casual group? What format is the easiest to use as a transition from casual multiplayer into competitive formats? How would you go about trying to get them out of the kitchen and into the local scene?
I proudly preordered Spellskites at $1.95 a piece.
I also just bought a full playset of M12 except mythics for $270. While I'm not sure if that'll come good investment-wise, it allows me to get back into the game fairly quickly with a full array of staple and utility cards that I've missed in the 4 year hiatus since the last time I played.
Keep in mind this'll mostly see kitchen table casual multiplayer as a teaching tool until my buddies get the hang of the rules and are ok at managing board position and card advantage; then it'll probably see a FNM or two before it gets retired for new ideas.
One of my buddies said he'd learn to play if I built him something with 'creepy black dead things.' So here it is:
4 x Darkslick Shores
4 x Drowned Catacomb
10 x Swamp
6 x Island
Creatures - 8
4 x Cemetery Reaper
4 x Vengeful Pharoah
1 x Grave Titan
4 x Adaptive Automaton
Artifacts - 4
4 x Manalith
Enchantments - 6
4 x Zombie Infestation
2 x Call to the Grave
Instants and Sorceries -14
4 x Ponder
4 x Mana Leak
3 x Time Reversal
3 x Go For The Throat
As far as changes go, I'd like to include a 4th copy of Time Reversal or find a way to increase the number of turn 1 and 2 plays but don't know what I'd cut. Maybe when he's ready to jump to FNM, I'll pull out the Call to the Graves for the last Time Reversal and a Go For the Throat.
I don't know about sideboarding strategy as this will be my first FNM in like 4 years and I have no idea whats going to be in the local meta because this will be my first competitive match in my college town. Probably Tectonic Edges at least, but I'd have to get those.
The group that dragged me back into it are kitchen table casual players who have really expansive house rules for a free-for-all, first-to-kill-wins cutthroat style game with decks that usually have 100+ cards in them and come from every set, beta to current. There's an established 'best deck' that consists of acceleration, global effects like Mana Flare and Howling Mine, Fogs, Blazes, Forks, and burn to steal each others' kills.
They complain that our playgroup has become stale and they express an interest in meeting other players and trying other strategies, but the end result is they just beat on the new guys or beat on the guy who's trying something different because that's what our rules imply is the easiest way to win.
I also miss the aspects of the game from my competitive days that the kitchen table lacks - playing skill intensive decks, brewing new decks, playtesting, and seeing how my crew stacks up at FNM.
I think moving to a more competitive mindset would solve a lot of my current crew's blues by giving us more direction and pushing us to get better as players. They would have new concepts to learn about like mana curves, card advantage, tempo, and sideboarding, more people would join our playgroup because they're not being singled out in multiplayer games, there would be less stagnation in our kitchen metagame because we have to comply with rotations, and maybe they'd get good enough to enjoy FNM and come to embrace competition someday.
The most obvious solution is to just leave this playgroup and find a new one, but I'd really rather not; after all, they are my friends and I live with them.
Have you been in a similar situation? Do you have any advice on how to bridge competitive ideas to a casual group? What format is the easiest to use as a transition from casual multiplayer into competitive formats? How would you go about trying to get them out of the kitchen and into the local scene?
Mike
Reno, NV
I also just bought a full playset of M12 except mythics for $270. While I'm not sure if that'll come good investment-wise, it allows me to get back into the game fairly quickly with a full array of staple and utility cards that I've missed in the 4 year hiatus since the last time I played.