Help for someone getting into MTG?

[Marril]

If you dont buy power 9, your playing 1.5 lol

:lol: :lol: :lol:

That's priceless. It's almost as rich as when you tried to tell me that the Lorwyn duals are staples in Legacy.

Red - Burn
Black Discard/Sacrifice for effect X. Look around M:TG sites (including the official one)

Red is also about hitting fast, hard, and without regards to longevity. In other words, you can get some fantastically low-costed effects as long as you don't mind potentially hurting yourself in the long game. Shard Volley is a good example of this. One mana and a sacrificed land for 3 instant-speed damage to anything. It's not worth it in any format with the real Lightning Bolt, but combined with Incinerate from Tenth and you've got the basis for some solid burn. Also red has the most fun card name to shout: "Release the Ants!"

I'm not very knowledgeable about black as it stands in Type 2, though. Just looking at Tenth Edition gives me as a list of good (to varying degrees) cards... Consume Spirit, Cruel Edict, Diabolic Tutor, Distress, Festering Goblin, Hypnotic Specter, Mortivore, Nantuko Husk, Nekrataal, Rain of Tears, Royal Assassin, Terror, and possibly Underworld Dreams. New players should definitely pick up Consume Spirit, Cruel Edict, Distress, and Terror as staples.

Red in Tenth seems to have, again to varying levels of playability... Beacon of Destruction, Furnace Whelp, various Goblins, Incinerate, Mogg Fanatic, Pyroclasm, Shock, Shunt, Spark Elemental (only in the most suicidal aggro decks), Squee, and the Viashino. New players should definitely pick up Incinerate, Mogg Fanatic, Pyroclasm, and Shock as staples. Also it's worth repeating Shard Volley as a staple.

EDIT: I should also point out that I'm approaching this with the mindset of a Legacy player, so I consider anything that costs more then 3-4 mana and that doesn't instantly swing the game to be pointless, because I'm used to a faster format. If I left out some expensive (mana-wise) Standard staples because of this, then oh well.

 

[dogma]

^^^ I can't belive I forgot to mention picking up Core Sets as a way to learn the game. That is definitely a really good way to learn the basic effects of the game. Marril's picks are also pretty good (though to be honest, haven't really looked at the 10ED list). Most cards should have at least some use in a core set and form a useful springing board to explore whatever sets are out (for Standard).

The new keywords in Lorwyn (Clash and Hideaway in particular) are pretty fun. People who don't like them because they're not necessarily tournament standard need to lighten up a little. (A keyword is like a code-word for an attack so they don't have to explain what the attack is over and over on all cards. Things like Flying, Vigilance etc. are keywords; those two are examples you will find in a Core Set like 10th Edition. Others like Clash and Hideaway are more specific and are usually confined to the two or three sets which make a 'block'.

A word for people beginning in the game: Lorwyn block is a lot simpler than Time Spiral, which brought back some fairly heavy keywords; Future Sight has a lot of them (and most people were like what the heck is this!?!?! because so much of it broke with convention). Start with Lorwyn block and then buy Time Spiral when you're more comfortable with how the games intricacies work.

Ravnica is an excellent way to understand how multicolour works - great for dual lands IIRC. Kamigawa was very... blah. It's not as bad as people say (and One with Nothing is a GREAT card), but yeah...

If you want to find out what the cards mentioned do, go to the official site (www.wizards.com/magic) and look for gatherer (there is a link on the top right). magiccards.info is another good site but has not updated for Morningtide

PS: Given that I think One with Nothing is a good card, you'll be pleased I won't try to give you suggestions for good cards :biggrin:

 

[Marril]

Marril's picks are also pretty good (though to be honest, haven't really looked at the 10ED list).

Unlike what certain posters will say, I do know good cards when I see them. Though as I said in my above post, I looked at it from the eyes of a Legacy player, so someone more acquainted with Standard might want to comb the Tenth Edition list and see if I missed anything good.

Another note on red that I'm going to say from my experience playing the colour: Don't be afraid to go the aggro-control route if you have enough reusable damage sources. You don't need to go all-out knees-to-the-wall (hey, "knees" is G-rated) if you don't want to. However, whichever route you go should be built around, and always stuck to. A deck built around pure burn should not burn any creatures unless absolutely required. A deck built around aggro-control shouldn't waste burn frivolously on the opponent's head (i.e. it should only burn the opponent directly when advantageous).

Also I don't know the metagame that well, but Chandra Nalaar is probably worth checking out. Five mana is heinously expensive to spend on anything, but consider that she will all but win the game if you use her third ability.

 

[dogma]

Unlike what certain posters will say, I do know good cards when I see them.

Yeah, but I don't, which is why I don't bother trying.

 

[pat460]

If you want to play red/black in type two, get Aunties Hovel. Its the red/black duel from lorwyn, and its only like $7-10 I think. I got a playset when i built reb black goblin.

 

[Marril]

Earwig Squad. That is all.

 

[pat460]

^ is bad. thats all. lolololol its too expensive. goblin is for rush. Mabey play like one or two in a 60 card deck.

 

[Marril]

Three mana for a 5/3 that Jester's Caps your opponent is bad? You can lower this mana cost as well with Warchiefs or Bannarets.

You don't know how to play goblins. Simple as that.

 

[pat460]

^ I t16ed nevada states with goblins. Yes it is bad, trust me. I play goblins, do you?

 

[Marril]

Lackeys, Warchiefs, Siege Gang Commanders, Sharpshooters, Matrons, Ringleaders, and so on are all goblins. At least they were the last time I checked.

 

[Lord Broly]

So what's good and cheap for Black and Red?

 

[Marril]

I listed a bunch of Tenth Edition staples above. Most of them are common or uncommon. I'm not repeating myself for those who can't be bothered to read.

 

[pat460]

For type two, play goblin rush. its like $100 total, if you buy every card in the deck at a higher end price, without buying damnations, extripates, thoughtseizes, and urborgs. Like I said, I t16'd NV states with it.