Magic: the gathering, do I choose fun or upgrade?

[BlackCoatedMan]

Like anyone else, I like having fun. So do my friends. I have a pack rat discard deck. My friends have their vamps, mill, goblin, defender, burn, knights, and elves.

I have things like pack rat, inquisition of kozilek, thoughtseize, and surgical extraction. I mostly win but there are times when there are fun interactions. Because of the pieces in my deck, which I homebrewed as it didn't occur to me to use the internet before making a deck, people at my local card shop say I need to upgrade to eight rack. I tried it out online and it wins a lot, there's barely a chance for your opponents to win once you shut down their creatures. However, my friends weren't having fun. With the lack of interaction, neither was I.

I have an illusion deck as well. It is like a weaker version of a merfolk deck, as evidenced by people at the card shop telling me I need to upgrade to merfolk. There are fun interactions there, more so than my current rat deck. Sometimes I mana-screw an opponent with four spreading seas. Other times I get hit by Thunderous Wrath's miracle cost twice. Sometimes I get barraged with a set of relentless bloodghasts. Another end is just four phantasmal bears swinging away.

I understand that if I upgrade I can win FNMs and gamedays but it will make my interactions with my card group boring due to the the one-sidedness of the victories. On my rat deck as it is, I had a friend concede and clean up his cards on turn 1.

Should I choose upgrade or fun? Have you guys ever dealt with this? Does anyone here even play magic!? :smallconfused:

[Madfellow]

I vote fun. I mean, that's the whole point of the game, isn't it? It will also probably save you both time and money.

That said, there's nothing stopping you from having both power decks and casual decks and playing different decks in different groups.

[An Enemy Spy]

I guess it depends on the situation. After all, there's no need to dismantle your fun decks just because you want to compete in a tournament. Just have a deck for serious play and a deck for fun play.

[Eldariel]

That's easy: find a way to do both. Either have a separate tournament deck (I own about 50% competitive and casual decks myself) or build something strong that's still interactive and fun to play against. Having it all is the whole point of MTG. And of course, check out the MTG thread in the "Gaming (Other)"-forum.

[BlackCoatedMan]

Both huh? I guess that's what the internet meant when I saw "Magic isn't just a game, it's a lifestyle." Well I'll be working on the fun decks first as those are cheaper. The eight rack and merfolk will come later. Thanks peeps.

[Duck999]

I say fun. In my playing group, there was one person who always brought competitive decks no matter how much we emphasized we wanted casual. Bringing an FNM winning deck to casual playtime creates a lot of boredom among people who have no chance. Also, I can see how it would be no fun for the person with the competitive deck. They win too easily. It is only fun if you derive your fun from winning.

I later learned that that person did not have the capability to build a casual deck. If you want to keep having fun with the same play group, never remove casual from your play style, or at least do both.

[Starwulf]

Just as a quick FYI, GITP already has a thread entirely dedicated to MTG, and it's currently on it's 20th iteration: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?378996-Magic-the-Gathering-XX-KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!!! Enjoy!

[Jaxzan Proditor]

That's easy: find a way to do both. Either have a separate tournament deck (I own about 50% competitive and casual decks myself) or build something strong that's still interactive and fun to play against. Having it all is the whole point of MTG. And of course, check out the MTG thread in the "Gaming (Other)"-forum.

Seconding this approach. I think that having fun with your friends is very important when it comes to Magic, but you can also try to have decks with a bit more of a competitive angle.

[Psyren]

Give in to your Inner Spike. Give in to the Dark Side.

[BlackCoatedMan]

I say fun. In my playing group, there was one person who always brought competitive decks no matter how much we emphasized we wanted casual. Bringing an FNM winning deck to casual playtime creates a lot of boredom among people who have no chance. Also, I can see how it would be no fun for the person with the competitive deck. They win too easily. It is only fun if you derive your fun from winning.

I later learned that that person did not have the capability to build a casual deck. If you want to keep having fun with the same play group, never remove casual from your play style, or at least do both.


Give in to your Inner Spike. Give in to the Dark Side.

I would give in to my inner Spike but the Johnny is more powerful. Plus playing Johnny let's me have friends. Overall what I plan to do is to bring casual only decks with my buddies. The future competitive decks that I will make, will be brought to FNMs.


Just as a quick FYI, GITP already has a thread entirely dedicated to MTG, and it's currently on it's 20th iteration: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?378996-Magic-the-Gathering-XX-KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!!! Enjoy!

Yeah I'm going to post my current deck list and then my future planned deck list later.

[Sith_Happens]

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130312013032/random-ness/images/f/f0/Why_not_both.jpg

You already have the "fun" decks, so just build the competitive ones too and switch as needed. Assuming of course that you have some desire to play constructed at the card shop, if not then you don't necessarily need the competitive decks (although they're still nice to have for those times you find yourself playing with strangers whose "fun" decks are significantly better than yours).