Oversoul
The Tentacled One
I've been thinking that it might be a good idea to put some decks together for introducing people to Magic...
If you haven't already seen them, every year WotC produces decks called variously "welcome decks," "sample decks," "demo packs," and probably some other things. These are simple, monocolored decks containing cheap cards and are intended to be given away free to get brand new players started. There's really nothing wrong with them and I'm not trying to do exactly what these decks do. Instead, I want to design decks with the assumption that I'd be there to explain things and answer any questions, so there'd be more freedom to introduce things that the official welcome decks can't pull off. But despite that consideration, it's best to apply the principle of keeping it simple, not overwhelming people by throwing too much at them at once.
I don't expect to get it right the first time. This is going to be an iterative process. I just sorted my Modern Masters 2017 cards, so I picked through them as a starting point. So far, I have some possible starts for a white deck that employs EtB effects and flicker-type effects for value with damage prevention to stall for time, a blue deck that uses card selection spells and flying creatures, a black deck that has discard and board control, an aggressive red deck, and a defensive green deck. But I've been going about this too haphazardly and need to plan it out more (instead of just pulling cards). So here's what I'm thinking...
If you haven't already seen them, every year WotC produces decks called variously "welcome decks," "sample decks," "demo packs," and probably some other things. These are simple, monocolored decks containing cheap cards and are intended to be given away free to get brand new players started. There's really nothing wrong with them and I'm not trying to do exactly what these decks do. Instead, I want to design decks with the assumption that I'd be there to explain things and answer any questions, so there'd be more freedom to introduce things that the official welcome decks can't pull off. But despite that consideration, it's best to apply the principle of keeping it simple, not overwhelming people by throwing too much at them at once.
I don't expect to get it right the first time. This is going to be an iterative process. I just sorted my Modern Masters 2017 cards, so I picked through them as a starting point. So far, I have some possible starts for a white deck that employs EtB effects and flicker-type effects for value with damage prevention to stall for time, a blue deck that uses card selection spells and flying creatures, a black deck that has discard and board control, an aggressive red deck, and a defensive green deck. But I've been going about this too haphazardly and need to plan it out more (instead of just pulling cards). So here's what I'm thinking...
- These decks should be monocolored. They should be 60-card decks, which is the right and true number of cards for a deck.
- These decks should have some recognizable themes. Still not sure how far to take that, but it seems like something desirable.
- They should exemplify important aspects of the colors of Magic.
- They should be reasonably balanced against each other. I want a new person to be able to pick any color and be able to play it against any other color without be having to go out of my way to lose on purpose or anything like that.
- They should keep things simple. Advanced mechanics can come later.
- They should showcase cards from sets in different eras (I wouldn't want to teach someone to play strictly with new cards and have that person be completely confused upon first seeing a card with the old frame).
- They should have some exciting cards. I think that part is obvious.
- They should have ways to keep the game from becoming drawn out in a stalemate situation.