Designing beginner decklists
Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 5, 2016, 12:24 a.m. by Unenlightened
I'm hoping to be teaching a lot of people Magic in the near future, and i wanted to get a deck of each color to use for instructional games.
I want to avoid too much complexity and things like counters and tokens, but I still want to have a couple of cards with the potential to create a 'wow' moment.
I'll have cards in each deck to teach the basics: combat, casting instants, etc. but I want each deck to showcase the playstyle and flavor of its particular color as well.
What I'm wanting to know is, what are the most important abilities, keywords etc. for each color? What should a given deck use to showcase that flavor? Are there specific cards that I should use?
you could also make tribal decks that are two colors but still simple like werewolves or humans.
August 5, 2016 4:26 a.m.
The best deck to teach Magic with is a green deck. Lots of vanilla creatures, a few creatures that have evergreen keywords (like trample or vigilance), a couple of artifacts (creatures, ramp, as long as it is not complicated it doesn't matter) and then some sorceries of varying effects.
It's simple, fun, and not complicated. You don't have to worry about priority, turn phases, or the stack, which can overwhelm newcomers (can I get a "untap upkeep draw main phase combat (beginning step declare attackers declare blockers first strike combat damage end of combat) second main phase end step cleanup"). You just tell them 'One land per turn, you play things, you attack, you pass the turn".
After they get the hang of it, splash some blue for fliers and instants, and replace some vanillas for creatures with reach. Now you can teach them the proper turn order, the stack, and priority, and once they get the hang of that you can let them play anything.
August 5, 2016 8:38 a.m.
i think you need to keep in mind how quick you think these people will learn. Epidilius has a point when hes talking about overwhelming players with priority, phases etc to start. i think his plan is a fairly good one. but if you think that these people will pick up the decks pretty fast i'd go with DaftVaders plan
August 5, 2016 11:10 p.m.
titanreaver says... #6
Every time I build a deck to teach a new player, I talk to that person to determine what they are looking for in the game. Some people instantly understand counter magic, but never quite understand beatdown, other people pick up on combos easily but don't like interacting with another player's cards. So it all depends on the person. In general however, I build decks around a theme. Simple synergies that won't confuse anyone but are interesting enough to be fun. I agree with LiadG tribal decks are great for this. Especially because people inherently like fantasy races so getting a goblin or elf army is fun for many people. Then add in combos or less obvious synergies that while required to understand to play the deck, make it more fun as the player begins to learn more about the game. Example Umbral Mantle+Elvish Archdruid+Immaculate Magistrate+elf+elf equals infinitely large creature, or what ever. Then put at least one thing in the deck with slightly more complicated rules interaction, like Rite of Replication kicked+Halimar Excavator to determine how many cards you mill. I agree with DaftVader having show stopper in the deck can also be a good idea. Especially in a group because then everybody at the table gets that aww moment when they play it. As for teaching them the game, instead of dumbing down the rules, I give them a check list on a laminated sheet and a dry erase marker to keep track of where they are in the turn, their mana pool, the stack, or spell count, and then some blank space for notes and such. The biggest thing is really what deck you are playing while you are teaching them to play, ensure no cards in their deck are dead against you, and normally I set up the match so that they are favored to win by a large margin, at first then a small margin, then equal, but I will wait a long time before I play a match up that is better for me. So long as they need the check list for their own stuff, I will use it to show them mine. Allow them time to understand everything you are doing. I have a whole bunch of decks on this sight, and most of them were built for this purpose, including all of the casual ones and a few of the competitive ones.
DaftVader says... #2
Green: Reach, Trample, Big vanilla bodies
Blue: Counterspells, Spell-themed
Black: Deathtouch, Sacrifice, Removal
Red: Haste, Burn, 'Can't block' effects
White: Vigiliance, Flying, Anthem/Overrun effects
You probably want some high cost rares as the 'poster girls' of the decks, e.g. Terra Stomper for the green deck and Linvala, the Preserver for the white deck.
As you said, I think the best way to go about them is to build the decks with fairly simple cards that have (generally) low power levels so that games don't end too quickly.
August 5, 2016 3:36 a.m.