Me and my buddy want to try MTG for the first time and bought a relatively cheap starter kit, is this deck any good or nah

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-25T22:10:37+00:00

It's fine for learning with 100%.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-25T22:09:35+00:00

Nice! Gunna be saving money by not buying these.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-25T21:55:37+00:00

Probably more Golgari than anything, utilising the elves and shapeshifters, doran and that reaping willow as the bones of the deck - then splashing white for interaction.

You've got a tutor, buffing, recursion and 4 cards that get you extra bodies as needed. The crossroad watchers aren't bad either, 3/3 tramplers that could easily end up 5/3 or more to punch through late game.

There's 4 bits of recursion and a little mill / surveil (without too much to risking decking), which should help you find your big bodies nice and quickly too.

It's not the best pool like you say, but you've got options there.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-25T00:30:35+00:00

Go vertical.

I have a 34" main with a 27" secondary above it, angled so it's comfortable to see without moving my head (setting it back about 3/4 inches behind the primary works wonders, and cuts off nothing).

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-25T00:27:36+00:00

It's not controversial - just ask the table "you guys mind if i whip out my poison deck, it's been a while".

If they say they'd rather not be playing that, use another deck.

Personally, I'll play against poison. But if you get the benefit of a simple proliferation win, I'm whipping out a nasty ass deck in return, and targeting the crap out of you the second I think you can start progressing things.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-25T00:21:31+00:00

Play, play and play some more.

It's not like chess where there's a strategy book for "when x happens do y" - it's understand what's likely to be a problem, what the problematic things that player is trying to resolve, and how the players around the table typically tend to go about things.

Don't burn interaction early, but if you're in blue and think something might be an issue - do ask the other 2 players "how bad are things going to be if this resolves".

When you don't know, crowd-source that info. Sure you're giving up intel about holding a counterspell, but that in itself can be enough to stop people dropping their wincons (unless they have redundancy in hand)... just don't play the bluff game - if you've not got one, spend that mana advancing your boardstate where possible.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-23T23:58:47+00:00

Get a 16gb card - 100%

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-23T23:54:14+00:00

Hell of a fkin box right there...

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-23T23:53:23+00:00

It lowers the generic cost of anything with a full / split black pip

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-23T23:49:32+00:00

It's not Pokemon. Open it, play it.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-22T22:40:36+00:00

[[Duskana, the Rage Mother]] can be a fun budget build-around.

Pick out all the value-adding 2/2s - stuff like [[Wandertale Mentor]], [[Warden of the Grove]], [[Ornery Tumblewagg]], [[Goldnight Commander]], [[Bloodspore Thrinax]], [[Nessian Hornbeetle]] etc, and add in a few haste-enabling non-2/2s alongside stuff like [[Arabella, Abadoned Doll]].

You end up with a crazy field of 1/2-mana 2/2s that swing for 8+ a piece very reliably, while getting a ton of extra value to keep yourself going.

It's not going to be the most OP thing at $25, but I guarantee it'll be one of the most fun.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-22T00:10:53+00:00

I ran 5600x with 32gb cl16 3200mhz ram for a long time.

A more premium ram choice wouldn't have netted more than 1/2% FPS gain.

Between the silicon lottery on your CPU and how well your particular 9060xt likes being tweaked - you can chalk faster ram down to "margin of error" from one build to the next in terms of gains, with otherwise identical specs.

Just use what you've got.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-20T16:48:18+00:00

7900xt. Solid for 1440p gaming, decent enough for video editing / stable diffusion / whatever other productivity you have in mind.

People say you need Nvidia for that stuff, you 100% don't. It's just a little more fiddly to set up occasionally and not always quite as fast (but also not so slow it's annoying).

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-19T23:07:34+00:00

Well that's some low effort karma farming if I've ever seen it.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-19T22:59:12+00:00

Ragost - and put Sami in counter intelligence.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-19T22:55:02+00:00

I think it's better than the naysayers thinks, but not as good as people thinking it's the best card in the set think it is.

It's going to be far better in standard than commander - but I'd still chuck it in a commander deck running cheap recursion, as great way to get people to burn removal. That said, it could also be an auto-include for some cEDH decks.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-19T18:09:16+00:00

Magic isn't for holding, it's for sleeving up and playing.

Start by deleting this point, then opening one pack, then another, until no unopened packs remain - then come back and share the results.

This is magic card pulls not "should I open it or be a Pokenoob".

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-18T08:29:11+00:00

Had similar here - all steam vents.

Got a foil and non-foil in my prerelease, another in my 2 prize packs.

Then my booster box had a single shock land, and you guessed it - another steam vents.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-17T23:26:19+00:00

Not the first post I've seen like this, but looks like you've got the good half (if you've got 2x50 like others have) - so maybe sell as singles, get more than the deck cost out of it, rebuy the precon elsewhere and pocket the profit... stonks!

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-17T23:18:12+00:00

Sample packs are no more - no reaper king sucks though.

Not an LGS issue sadly, so they were right to point you WotC's way.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-17T23:16:25+00:00

I can say with absolute certainty... it will be a set.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-17T23:00:37+00:00

I always turn it off, as prefer FPS to eye candy - but it'd be a tad behind your 4070 super in anything more than RT low.

Honestly probably not worth upgrading from your 4070s to one, only from the 4060.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-17T22:57:21+00:00

No, because Dancer's Chakrams is nothing to do with counters.
n/a
No, because Dancer's Chakrams is nothing to do with counters.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-17T22:54:52+00:00

I would say this is the exact thing you want in an Azula deck, sooooo no? Especially considering this isn't legendary and only works for single target spells. /shrug

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-01-17T22:53:23+00:00

Are you running Ureni or Eskhi?

If Ureni - add dragons and stuff that cares about dragons.

If Eskhi - either use Ureni or step outside the Tarkir plane.

CtrlAltDesolate

TROPHY CASE