Anyone Else??
General forum
Posted on Dec. 13, 2017, 1:14 a.m. by NapoleonBonaparte
So I have a problem, and I really want to fix it. I, FOR THE LIFE OF ME CANNOT KEEP A DECK FOR MORE THAN A MONTH OR SO!
This happens to me with every format. I can't find decks that I love enough to keep. I keep thinking I'll find "THE" deck but it never happens. At heart I'm an extremely indecisive person.
By switching decks so often, I'm always inbetween decks and I lose so much time and money going through this cycle.
Anyone else have or have had this problem? If so, how are you coping/resolving it and how did you get yourself out of this cycle? Its very frustrating continually going through this process. Please help friends!
P.S. I'm currently on the hunt for an EDH commander. I have a very wide history of playing various strategies and archetypes. To give you an idea, my top 5 favorite magic cards are Bitterblossom, Voice of Resurgence, Dark Depths, Scapeshift, Thoughtweft Trio. I particularly like grindy "fight for every point of damage" magic or very uninteractive silly combo decks (i hate storm though). I don't really care for anemic fair "good stuff" strategies (Ive historically done poorly with these decks). But I've no clue what to do. I can't find much satisfaction in my decks and I just want to find decks I love enough to keep and enjoy for years.
Well you can use Contamination with Bitterblossom in any black EDH. Black having access to many omni tutors can make this easy to asemble. It also has the Vampire Hexmage and darkdepths combo. This can also be done with Mirage Mirror or Thespian's Stage
You can look at my list for a semi-competitive mono black deck The Descent Into Darkness.
Another cool idea could be an Omnath, Locus of Rage with Scapeshift. It really just depends on what your budget is, preffered playstyle. etc...
December 13, 2017 1:27 a.m.
myronrocks says... #4
I went through it for a couple months before the Portland GP.
Leading up to the GP I was in a lurch. My deck had rotated out. I wasnt sure what to do. I had most of the pieces for any of the standard top tier decks. But they didnt really inspire me.
I even tried to brew a blue Jund list, which I ended up dropping cash on. After a pretty dismal couple FNMs I gave up on it.
I was getting anxious leading up to the GP event. Lots of restlessness trying to decide what to play.
About a week beforehand all of a sudden I got inspiration to put a 4 color God Pharoahs Gift list together. Went to my office one night cracked a beer and cranked some tunes and put it together. I had experience playing a ton of emerge/ reanimator during the BFZ / SOI season. The UR/Grixis emerge zombies deck is fun to play especially when you splash white for gearhulk reanimator so figured what the heck lets splash gearhulks in a GPG shell. So I went for it and it felt pretty good. Based on a proven strategy but with my own input.
I ended up having an absolute blast with the deck the following weekend at the GP. Excellent matches with lots of action. Noxious gearhulk ended up being a top performer for me. Though I didnt make it to day two at the GP I did go 3-4 which I was happy with.
So for me it was the excitement and pressure of a big event. Even though I was stressing out a bit, I ended up putting a lot of work into considering and playing various decks until I found something that just jived with me.
Who knows depending on the set rotation next fall, Ill be in the same dang boat again. For now Ill be swinging with 6/6 flying lifelink vigilance zombie angels all day.
Good luck! I feel your pain. Your deck is out there somewhere!
December 13, 2017 2:20 a.m.
SteelSentry says... #5
On the Commander side of things, I feel you. My starting deck was the Kalemne precon, which I "upgraded" into a bad Iroas, God of Victory deck. I also made a goblin deck (my favorite 60-card deck for a while), and I still didn't have fun. Currently, my favorite deck is headed by Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper. Now I'm trying to find a #2, trying to decide whether to cut my losses with my existing decks or retool them (or rather, its a sunk cost and I need to finally let go).
December 13, 2017 2:47 a.m.
SteelSentry says... #6
oops, I forgot to include the suggestion before posting :/
Based on your last paragraph, might I suggest looking at Ghave, Guru of Spores as a starting point? Your favorite cards you listed (and similar cards) are in his colors, and he's a good grindy commander that has the potential to just combo off when you get the chance. Most of the cards that make him broken are pretty cheap too, so it won't cost you an arm and a leg for a good deck.
December 13, 2017 2:53 a.m.
I can second Angry Omnath or Ghave - both seem to fit well with the cards you like. Alternative Scapeshift commander is classically Titania, Protector of Argoth, but I am biased because I have Omnath, Locus of Rage elemental tribal :)
December 13, 2017 6:13 a.m.
Just like SteelSentry, but I managed to mess up the other way around!!
So... Yeah, I sympathise with the flitting from one project to another, I am the same but really it's because I just love deck building. Sometimes I find that if I stick with something I quite like, I can adjust a card or two at a time to force the issue and I come out the other side with something I am very happy I stuck it out with.
I've been looking similarly for a Mod/Leg deck that I can put some commitment into for ages because nothing has floated my boat that is out there. ChannelFireball recently featured a Living End / As Foretold thing recently which looks like a blast so I am looking at that seriously now. myronrocks is right, your deck is out there somewhere!
December 13, 2017 6:20 a.m.
Bulldawg1310 says... #9
Im the same way and my friends and wife (especially) mostly because of the costs, hate me for it. All you can do is keep grinding, youll find your niche, and stick with it. What helped me was, keeping all of my new decks around the same price range as the old stuff so i could pretty much trade straight up for it. Also, and i think ive learned this lesson (finally) never give up your lands, until you know your consistent color combos, dont get rid of the fetches and shocks from the old stuff. Im still inconsistently building, but ive been playing the same 2 decks pretty much everyday for about 7/8 months. It took me two years to find them, but ill never give em up.
December 13, 2017 6:29 a.m.
landofMordor says... #10
I'm a habitual brewer -- I'll see random cards like Primal Forcemage and just decide it needs to be broken, and I'll brew up a quick list. However, I try to avoid the rotating decklist by never actually papering up the deck. I've saved probably $1K just by waiting a month to see whether or not I am still in love with the deck, or if it was just a cool idea. Most of the time I decide I can live without it (especially the non-interactive combo decks that aren't really that much fun to play in real life). If I still love the deck after a couple months, I paper out a budget list and play it enough to get a feel for it (my Dredge deck is in this stage atm), and slowly upgrade if it plays as well as I thought.
In other words, you might want to compensate for your known habit of indecision by building some patience with regard to deckbuilding.
I totally agree with Ghave. Very grindy and fun, but can be explosive.
December 13, 2017 9:18 a.m.
StardustDragon11 says... #11
I too had a problem with staying monogamous to a single deck. My problem was by the time I had gathered all the necessary cards to build a deck, I got bored of it. In order to combat this I took my mono-blue tron deck and literally took a sharpie and wrote "property of (my name)" on the back of them. Yeah I completely ruined their value but I kept that deck for almost two whole years before I eventually got rid of it.
My problem was that the deck wasn't the goal, the trading was. I enjoyed the hunt and thrill of seeking the next awesome deal or killer trade. Once I have made my piece with that I had to make myself a rule. I cannot trade things that go into my decks. If a card goes into my deck it stays in the deck and I am only allowed to trade other cards. This allowed me to stop trading my decks away.
Also, just like in human relationships, there is no "The One." The one is a process. You have to put in the time and effort into it. If you cannot stay committed to a deck, you might have to consider purposefully making yourself stay with just one for a set number of months or tournaments.
December 13, 2017 noon
I'd say this is a fairly common behavior for EDH players. EDH has an enormous card pool and sooner or later, all of us want to try something different. As far as suggestions go, I can only talk about my own experience playing EDH. I've noticed that linear decks tend to bore me faster than decks that have the ability to make use of several different strategies to win a game of commander. The only exception to this rule is my mono-red Grenzo deck (Grenzo Mono-Red Aggro-Control) because it allows me to play cards from my opponents' deck, so every game feels unique. There are other commanders that let you play with cards from your opponents (e.g., the 4 CMC dude with hexproof who becomes a copy of a creature put in the graveyard), so you might want to give them a try as well.
Personally, I think it's a good thing to try new decks, as this forces you to learn about different cards, interactions, and playstyles, which ultimately makes you a better magic player. I understand the money issue though, but hey, you can always use proxies before buying a whole bunch of cards that you might not use too often.
December 13, 2017 2:46 p.m.
I'm not trying to be funny (or a smartass) when I say this, but have you considered playing more than one deck?
I only mention this because I get the impression you are restricting yourself to a single deck.
...Which sounds insane to me, lol. No offense. =)
I could never have just one deck for each format. That's just way too confining. I like too many things about MtG to pick just one. If you liked some of the decks you played, but got bored of them after a while, then maybe you should maintain 2-3 decks (or more). You can rotate through playing them at whatever pace you like, and when you get bored, you can go back to something that you like, and get more enjoyment out of it as you focus on it for a while now.
Do you think something like that may help you out?
December 13, 2017 6:30 p.m.
NapoleonBonaparte says... #14
Thanks to all for the help and advice!! You're 100% right Gattison! I've always just been hung up on the idea of finding the "One". I've always wanted to have a "trademark" deck but perhaps that isn't my calling! Now, I just need to decide on the next deck to build!
December 13, 2017 8:22 p.m.
Glad to help!
And I don't know if anyone Ghave you a suggestion yet, but I could try and think of one, if you want. ;P
PierreThePlaneswalker says... #2
What's your opinion on Kaalia? /s
December 13, 2017 1:19 a.m. Edited.