Magic: The Gathering - What kind of deck is best for me?

Question

Okay, so I know tons about MTG, because ALL my friends play it ALL the time... but I've never actually played the game myself. I'd like to start building a deck so I can play, but I need some help.

Question One:

First I was looking at just building a two-color deck on my own, but is it better to get a theme deck and "enhance" it?

Question Two:

What color (or color combination) is best for me? I'm the kind of person that hits hard and fast impulsevly. Pretty chaotic and random. On the other hand, when I have the time to think things through I'm extremely careful and thoughtful. (Hence this long process of choosing a deck. lol)

Thanks everybody!

Answer 1

I really don't know

Answer 2

I'll answer Question two first.  Impulsive bashing and attacking is very characterestic of fast red cards.  In this sense, your playing style is near identical to that of a Goblin deck or a Burn deck.  Goblin decks will sacrifice anything and everything, including health, to win quick and fast.  Burns do the same, but with spells, not creatures.  Both decks will demand a high level of thought as you will often be just stretching to kill your opponent before he gets the upper hand.  The downside to this play is the fact that both Goblin and "Pure" burn decks are always Red, so you can't play 2 colour.  In addition, a good fast red burn deck will require you to hunt down 4 copies of Rift Bolt, Lava Spike, Sonic Seisure, Shard Volley, and Fire Blast.  The time involvement required to get all that is very scary at times (I'm still at a 40 card deck, as I'm hunting for Flame Rifts, Final Fortunes, Mogg Fanatics, Spark Elementals, and Ball Lightinings, my personal additions)

Onto question one.  If you want a tactical deck, you probably want a spell based one.  Control decks require careful planning.  Blue/White or Blue/Black are very good for this.  Blue will often involve you using Counterspells, Remove Souls, Boomerangs, Unsummons, and Force of Will.  After this, it depends on where you want to go with your game.  If you want a slow attack pattern, go white.  You will end up using some flying creatures (Often, having the Blue Card Wonder will help) or get into a pure slugging match (Ancesterial Tribute to build up your life) or just chipping away with unblockable damage (Garreth, the Lionine Titan is good at it, though hard to find).  If you go black, you'll be doing some reckless fighting.  Black tends to destroy, as you should know.  Terrors, Faceless Butchers, Dark Banishings, Mesmeric Fiends, and Diabolical Edict will likely be your best friend if you play a two coloured tactical deck.  

Hope that helps.

PS - I play quite a bit, so you can contact me at [e-mail] for some more thoughts on your deck construction.

Answer 3

Well, it depends. but if you're just starting, then its better to get a theme deck, play with it, edit it. this helps you gain experience in the colour you are playing. i would advise against building a deck from scratch as it is a costly and time consuming matter.

red green. (actually its up to you, but i think this suits)

red: red has been a fun colour to play with. red spells are mostly burn. which you don't have to think much! all you have to do is keep playing spells till you enemy is dead!

examples of burn spells: incinerate, shock, rift bolt, flame javelin

green: green always plays aggressively in the late game. Early in the game, you focus on building up mana with cards like llanowar elves and wall of roots. after tat, you start playing creatures like tarmogoyf, imperiosaur, grizzly bear, spectral force. green is also about creature growth, examples are quirion dryad, vinelasher kudzu.....

post shadowmoor green red cards: tattermunge maniac, boggart ram-gang.

combine these 2 colours, you'll get a great deck! check out shadowmoor and guildpact green red decks!

hope this helps! :)

enjoy!!

Answer 4

You could do red and green. Then you can get the burn, haste cards of red while having stomp, and fast mana cards in green. It's also really easy to put together a effective fast all black deck. White and blue tend to make the most complex colors to make a deck with.

Answer 5

if i were you id go with black/red or black/green or red/black..personally i play blue/black rogues (they are freakin awesome) they hit fast,hard (if you play the deck well), and can end a game shortly..if you have any questions about MTG e-mail me and ill help you out =]

Answer 6

i actually when through the same thing about two years ago myself.

id say start off with booster packs those that contain like 25 mana 5 of each color and then whatever is left in regular cards.

then get a pre con deck to enhance.

best color theme for quick strike/heavy strike no doubt is red/black

for slow blue/black.

one color deck yeah green is easily the best for begginers but its also really good if you have the proper cards.

i run a pure green deck that focuses on high mana and high strength/toughness.

Answer 7

if you're feeling random, get a burn deck, the order in which you do things really doesn't matter as long as you just keep pinging them, but if you want to take it slow and plan everything out, get a combo deck

if you really want a color combo deck, a red/black is makes a great burn deck, and be sure to stock up on rackdos ickspitters (not sure i spelled that right).  not sure what colors make up a good combo deck, because i dont have one of my own.

Answer 8

Because of the fact that you have two playing styles you should have at least two decks.  Every color has certain traits.  I don't remember what they are because I haven't played in a few years, but if you know what they are than you can use those traits to your advantage and to your opponents disadvantage.  If you want information on Magic: The Gathering go the the Wizards of the Coast website.

Answer 9

The two types of approach you a describing (aggressive/random vs careful/thoughtful) are polar opposites in mtg just as they are in real life, and are common philosophies of red and blue respectfully. If Ravinca was still the current block I'd suggest you buy an 'Izzet' guild pre-built deck, even now you may still find them floating around one store or another and may not be such a bad idea.

Even better however (since you are brand new to the game), would be to buy a tenth edition deck as the cards in them are designed for newer players. Please ignore that the box says 'advanced set' on it, its a misnomer; there used to be 'beginner' level sets that changed all kinds of terminology from the rest of the sets and they quit making those years ago. The cards from sets that are truly for more experienced players are marked 'expert'.

Welcome to the world of MTG, hope you enjoy it!

Answer 10

A great starting color for new players is green most creatures are cheap and its just as cheep (mana wise) to buff them up alot of people dont realize that a simple Llanowar Elf could be quite a monster with a simple card as Monstrous Growth

As for enhancing a deck you might want to hold off till you have your own deck its better to build your first deck yourself that way you know whats in your deck and will work better with the cards you selected but if you wanted to try that route theres nothing holding you back.

I play the game quite diligently and if youd like any other advice im more than willing to help you you can email me at

[e-mail] if you have questions or need advice. ^.^ goodluck

Answer 11

For the first one a one color deck is easier to build than a two color deck. For now I would sugest using a one color deck until you get used to building and more sure of what you want to do.

For the second question both Red and Green would be good for you. Red is more of a "ping" type of deck, which lets you do damage to either opposing creature or player. Green elf decks can be very fast if you use the right cards. They are best in getting alot of "token" creaturs out in a hurry. For your thinking and careful deck look for a blue or white deck. Blue has alot of couter cards to where you can stop any magic card used. Remember all cards except land cards are considered magic cards. Blue also lets you tap opposing creatures. I suggest a merfolk deck if you go blue. White lets you prevent damage and remove opposing cards from the game. Kithkan decks are the best here. I hope this helps a little.