slot-based deck building microformat
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:47 pm
I've got so many mid-early cards and they never make it into decks; I don't have much of the super expensive reserved list pieces but I have a bunch of commons and uncommons from 4th, Ice Age and Mirage, plus choice cards from The Dark, Fallen Empires, Legends etc, etc. I kinda set up a template for constructing sixty card casual decks based on edition slots, goes something like this:
01-10: Cards from Fourth Edition, (or reprints/preprints of such)
11-20: Cards from Ice Age or Alliances (or reprints/preprints of such)
21:30: Cards from Mirage or Visions (or reprints/preprints of such)
31-35: Cards from terminally old sets that DON'T appear in 4th Edition: ABUR, Antiquities, Arabian Nights, Legends, The Dark or the book promos (or reprints of such)
36-40: Cards from Fallen Empires or Homelands
41-60: Wildcards from any of the above sets or Portal 1
The thing about 4th Ed is that it's the first reprint set, with lots of AQ, AN, LEG and DRK in it, so it's a cool focus for that kind of time period and it removes most of the OP stuff from Revised. (if you squint at Mana Vault, Balance, Channel and Winter Orb, I mean) Chronicles and 5th Edition also reprint a lot of these cards, and 5th ed has its own basic lands with new art, so it's not TOO strict or inaccessible to make something like this. I've got a headstart with an old if patchy collection, but the idea is to make CASUAL decks just out of what I have, not buying any extras and especially not buying any reserved stuff.
one I'm happy with (insanely low-power, if you hate looking at unoptimized kitchen table stuff then look away now)
Spirit Linking an Orcish Artillery is so classic and sweet, but Spirit Link on the Embermage is just as cool. Castle and Scars also make Embermage big'n'strong and also makes Orcish Captain activations more academic. Generally it's a creature-based pinger control thing with absolutely no utility besides that; trying to work out where I'd slot in bolts or pillages without making the typical Draw 7 even worse. there's no card drawing either, giggle, just classic zero power do-your-thing-and-hope design.
Hematite Talisman or Jandor's Saddlebags might be smexy in terms of untapping an enchanted Artillery or double-dipping on a Witch Hunter?
the deck kinda needs help but I think it's the best assortment of cards for this theme that I can find to fit the template! more decks around this concept later!
01-10: Cards from Fourth Edition, (or reprints/preprints of such)
11-20: Cards from Ice Age or Alliances (or reprints/preprints of such)
21:30: Cards from Mirage or Visions (or reprints/preprints of such)
31-35: Cards from terminally old sets that DON'T appear in 4th Edition: ABUR, Antiquities, Arabian Nights, Legends, The Dark or the book promos (or reprints of such)
36-40: Cards from Fallen Empires or Homelands
41-60: Wildcards from any of the above sets or Portal 1
The thing about 4th Ed is that it's the first reprint set, with lots of AQ, AN, LEG and DRK in it, so it's a cool focus for that kind of time period and it removes most of the OP stuff from Revised. (if you squint at Mana Vault, Balance, Channel and Winter Orb, I mean) Chronicles and 5th Edition also reprint a lot of these cards, and 5th ed has its own basic lands with new art, so it's not TOO strict or inaccessible to make something like this. I've got a headstart with an old if patchy collection, but the idea is to make CASUAL decks just out of what I have, not buying any extras and especially not buying any reserved stuff.
one I'm happy with (insanely low-power, if you hate looking at unoptimized kitchen table stuff then look away now)
Spirit Linking an Orcish Artillery is so classic and sweet, but Spirit Link on the Embermage is just as cool. Castle and Scars also make Embermage big'n'strong and also makes Orcish Captain activations more academic. Generally it's a creature-based pinger control thing with absolutely no utility besides that; trying to work out where I'd slot in bolts or pillages without making the typical Draw 7 even worse. there's no card drawing either, giggle, just classic zero power do-your-thing-and-hope design.
Hematite Talisman or Jandor's Saddlebags might be smexy in terms of untapping an enchanted Artillery or double-dipping on a Witch Hunter?
the deck kinda needs help but I think it's the best assortment of cards for this theme that I can find to fit the template! more decks around this concept later!