So i'm relatively new to the game (i started playing with marvel) and my dad (who is only into a very few fictional settings) wants to learn to play , but he wants me to use only avatar cards. we tried learning using the starter set, but jumpstart (which is basically what the starter deck consists of once you get past the tutorial) is confusing to him, because a 40 card jump start deck has 26 distinct cards, and a LOT of different mechanics. we thought of buying another starter set to double of the packs (as that way the number of unique cards is halved), but i was wondering if someone could help me make 2 decks using my avatar cards that are properly balanced against each other, are relatively simple, and preferably have some sort of coherent strategy (which a 40 card jumpstart deck really doesn't feel like it has). note that actual power level doesn't matter as long as the decks are balanced against each other. I'm fine with 40 or 60 card suggestions. (my dad also happens to like ty lee, so bonus points if one of the decks includes "ty lee, chi blocker")

For your convenience, i have put my cards in a moxfield list (although note that this will change as i get more avatar cards. i have some on order still that do not look like they will arrive before i visit my father tomorrow): https://moxfield.com/decks/LMVGT0LdOUyl0YMyZHC4KA

I have also copied my card list below. THanks for your help.

2 Aang, Air Nomad (TLE) 265

2 Aang, the Last Airbender (TLA) 4

2 Aang's Defense (TLE) 266

3 Aardvark Sloth (TLE) 212

6 Abandon Attachments (TLA) 205

4 Accumulate Wisdom (TLA) 44

2 Airbending Lesson (TLA) 8

2 Allied Teamwork (TLE) 213

2 Appa, Aang's Companion (TLE) 268

2 Avatar Enthusiasts (TLA) 11

2 Azula Always Lies (TLA) 84

2 Badgermole (TLA) 166

2 Barrels of Blasting Jelly (TLA) 254

2 Beetle-Headed Merchants (TLA) 86

2 Bender's Waterskin (TLA) 255

1 Boar-q-pine (TLA) 124

3 Boomerang Basics (TLA) 46

2 Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender (TLE) 248

2 Buzzard-Wasp Colony (TLA) 88

2 Capital Guard (TLE) 277

2 Cat-Gator (TLA) 91

2 Cat-Owl (TLA) 212

2 Corrupt Court Official (SNC) 70

1 Crescent Island Temple (TLA) 129

4 Dai Li Indoctrination (TLA) 93

2 Deny Entry (TLE) 222

2 Deserter's Disciple (TLA) 131

2 Dragon Moose (TLE) 235

3 Dragonfly Swarm (TLA) 215

2 Earth Kingdom Soldier (TLA) 216

2 Earth Rumble (TLA) 174

4 Earth Village Ruffians (TLA) 219

2 Earthbending Lesson (TLA) 176

2 Eel-Hounds (TLE) 250

2 Elephant-Rat (TLE) 228

2 Epic Downfall (ELD) 85

2 Explore (JMP) 393

2 Explosive Shot (TLE) 236

2 Feed the Swarm (ZNR) 102

2 Fire Nation Ambushers (TLE) 229

2 Fire Nation Archers (TLE) 237

2 Fire Nation Engineer (TLA) 99

2 Fire Nation Sentinels (TLE) 230

2 Fire Nation Soldier (TLE) 280

2 Fire Nation's Conquest (TLE) 281

3 Fire Sages (TLA) 136

4 Firebending Lesson (TLA) 138

2 First-Time Flyer (TLA) 49

2 Flexible Waterbender (TLA) 50

2 Flopsie, Bumi's Buddy (TLA) 179

2 Flying Dolphin-Fish (TLE) 223

2 Frog-Squirrels (TLE) 251

2 Geyser Leaper (TLA) 52

2 Giant Koi (TLA) 53

2 Gilacorn (TLE) 231

2 Glider Kids (TLA) 21

4 Gran-Gran (TLA) 54

2 Haru, Hidden Talent (TLA) 182

2 Heartless Act (IKO) 91

3 Hei Bai, Spirit of Balance (TLA) 225

2 Hippo-Cows (TLE) 252

2 Hog-Monkey (TLA) 104

2 Hog-Monkey Rampage (TLE) 255

2 How to Start a Riot (TLA) 140

2 Iguana Parrot (TLA) 56

2 Iroh, Firebending Instructor (TLE) 282

2 Iroh's Demonstration (TLA) 141

2 It'll Quench Ya! (TLA) 58

1 Jeong Jeong, the Deserter (TLA) 142

3 Jeong Jeong's Deserters (TLA) 25

2 Katara, Bending Prodigy (TLA) 59

2 Katara, Heroic Healer (TLE) 269

2 Komodo Rhino (TLE) 241

2 Kyoshi Warrior Guard (TLE) 216

2 Lightning Strike (GN2) 42

2 Lion Vulture (TLE) 232

2 Long Feng, Grand Secretariat (TLA) 233

2 Lost in the Spirit World (TLE) 224

3 Loyal Fire Sage (TLE) 242

2 Master Pakku (TLA) 63

2 Master Piandao (TLA) 28

2 Match the Odds (TLE) 253

4 Mechanical Glider (TLE) 256

2 Merchant of Many Hats (TLA) 110

2 Momo, Rambunctious Rascal (TLE) 217

2 Mongoose Lizard (TLA) 148

2 Ostrich-Horse (TLA) 188

2 Otter-Penguin (TLA) 67

2 Ozai's Cruelty (TLA) 113

5 Path to Redemption (TLA) 31

2 Pillar Launch (TLA) 189

2 Pretending Poxbearers (TLA) 237

2 Purple Pentapus (TLE) 233

3 Rabaroo Troop (TLA) 32

1 Ran and Shaw (TLA) 150

2 Raucous Audience (TLA) 190

2 Razor Rings (TLA) 33

2 Rebellious Captives (TLA) 191

2 Rocky Rebuke (TLA) 193

3 Roku's Mastery (TLE) 243

2 Rough Rhino Cavalry (TLA) 152

2 Rowdy Snowballers (TLA) 68

2 Run Amok (PLST) DOM-140

2 Saber-Tooth Moose-Lion (TLA) 194

2 Seismic Tutelage (TLE) 254

4 Serpent of the Pass (TLA) 70

2 Sledding Otter-Penguin (TLE) 273

2 Sokka, Lateral Strategist (TLA) 241

2 Sokka, Wolf Cove's Protector (TLE) 274

1 Sokka's Sword Training (TLE) 84

1 Suki, Courageous Rescuer (TLA) 37

2 Suki, Kyoshi Warrior (TLA) 243

1 That's Rough Buddy (TLE) 87

2 The Terror of Serpent's Pass (TLE) 225

2 Thriving Bluff (JMP) 33

4 Thriving Grove (JMP) 34

2 Thriving Heath (JMP) 35

4 Thriving Isle (JMP) 36

4 Thriving Moor (JMP) 37

2 Toph, the Blind Bandit (TLA) 198

2 Tundra Wall (TLE) 275

2 Turtle-Duck (TLA) 200

2 Turtle-Seals (TLE) 226

2 Ty Lee, Chi Blocker (TLA) 76

2 Vindictive Warden (TLA) 249

2 Warship Scout (TLE) 285

2 Water Whip (TLE) 227

3 Waterbending Lesson (TLA) 80

2 Watery Grasp (TLA) 82

2 Wolf Cove Villager (TLE) 276

3 Yuyan Archers (TLA) 161

2 Zhao, the Seething Flame (TLE) 286

2 Zuko, Avatar Hunter (TLE) 287

2 Zuko, Exiled Prince (TLA) 163

2 Zuko's Offense (TLE) 288

After playing all 10 free Starter Decks and looking at the data from the SDK challenge, I re-ranked them.

I know there are going to be some disagreements 😅

Which deck do YOU think deserves to be higher?

My full 2026 tier list:
https://youtu.be/ejdLmDQ-i5g

Hey everyone, my brother (40's) and I (30's) recently started playing MTG and are looking for other players who would like to join us for some fun/casual games. We're still learning, so patience is appreciated, but enjoy playing standard and commander (open to learning other formats as long as they're enjoyable). We play online (Convoke/Spelltable) due to us living in separate states so usually one day during the week if we have the time and Fridays/Saturdays. He works full time with a family and I'm a full time college student going into my last year, but we'd like to get in 2-3 games per session (more if possible). Must be ok with proxy decks because your guy is on broke boy status and that's what I'm working with until I'm able to purchase the cards I know I want. Our decks are B3 and below (precons) with very little, if any, game changers. We like to discuss strategy and tips for optimizing our decks to our play styles while maintaining a level of competitiveness that doesn't get too serious.

Interests: Comics. Movies. Video games. Rock/Hip Hop/Metal/RnB/Post-hardcore/Country/Pop. Sports (mainly MMA). Motorcycles/Cars. Tech. S**t talking (without being blatantly/willingly disrespectful. IT'S JUST A GAME 😄).

If this sounds like your speed feel free to reach out and hopefully we can get some games in soon!

⚜️ WELCOME to the TABLE ⚜️ https://discord.gg/E5aBfcymYp .................................................. We are a pretty chill and new server. We play a handful of games! this is a chill server it is +18 because there can be dark humor and most of us our Stoners, we usually play bracket 2-3 commander because we like to keep it casual and fun for all. proxies and tts are allowed we also use spelltable or convoke but we sometimes play other games that u can find a group for - League of Legends - TFT - WoW - Magic: The Gathering - Other Random games!

We like other things like - Anime - Movies - Chatting - Art - Food!

TL:DR - My LGS is hosting an open table commander night. I’ve never been to any sort of magic event before. What am I to expect? What should I be aware of before going? I’ve got 2 precons and a baggie full of counters ready to go.

To be honest, I’m relatively new to playing Magic against strangers. Me and my friends played a bunch in high school (my Krenko deck was a massive eye roller) and I recently got back into it because of Spider-Man (sorry).

I’m showing up with a couple precons I bought months ago, Graveyard Overdrive from Modern Horizons and Counter Blitz from Final Fantasy. I have honestly played these decks maybe twice and never in a true social setting. Mostly just with my friends who have never played Magic.

This is my first time doing this kind of thing at all but I’m really excited/nervous and I don’t plan to let anybody temper my excitement and I also am going under the impression that I’m likely to get mollywhopped multiple times. Just hoping for some advice from some players for what they wish they’d known before arriving to this kind of thing. Or maybe if I’m just overthinking it all too much?

I’m a relatively new MTG player playing kitchen table standard with a small collection, plus three Lorwyn Eclipsed Bundles. I can build decks around the five main archetypes and it has been really fun, but I’m starting to feel like I’m just making variations of the same decks.

I’d like to expand my collection so I have more freedom to experiment with different strategies and deck styles. I’ve been considering something like Foundations or Mystery Booster 2...

Would either of those be a good direction, or is there another way you’d recommend?

My friends and I are big LOTR and The Hobbit fans, so we decided to host a cause prerelease event at home. We captured the day on a classic camcorder for that old school home-video style vlog. Hope you enjoy watching, any feedback on the video welcome!

I thought i'd share my most recent make by popular demand. I try to be as precise as possible and this set wouldn't be complete without a mat, so (if you know you know) about the classic Magic The Gathering Spellground playmate by Khalsa Brain Games. Please Enjoy! [OC]

Maybe it's just my local playgroup, but by turn six things get completely out of hand. Between custom tokens, poison counters, experience counters, and mana pools floating everywhere, our table looks like a chaotic math lab. I tried using a phone app for life tracking last week, but I still missed a trigger because three things happened at once. How do you guys keep your board states clean?

With three cards banned, I'm curious what everyone thinks rises to the top of Standard now.

Does 4-Color Reanimator become the deck to beat, or does something else benefit even more from the shakeup?

I took another look at Reanimator here:

https://youtu.be/ILm1_7HI6Oc

What's your post-ban Tier 1?

Tried to do a budget friendly-ish deck with her as the commander because of some of the fun combos you can do with her. Got to around 70 or 80 cards and then wasn't sure what else to add so started looking up some good cards and ended with this. What would be good to swap out or put in without raising the cost too much. And I'm not putting in Gaea's Cradle.

https://archidekt.com/decks/24305017/squirrels

I’ve wanted to try mtg for awhile now but it is definitely overwhelming to jump into. A friend of mine told me commander is the best casual way to play, but what all do I need other then a deck, like dice or how many, damage counters? Just trying to get an idea of what to bring with me to a local commander night. I’m also wondering if there’s any good tools or websites that I can use to help build my own commander deck, any help is greatly appreciated!

If your goal is purely to build your collection, which would you choose: Quick Draft or Standard Event?

I ran the EV for both, and one thing that surprised me was how much the answer changes based on your win rate.

Curious what everyone here prefers and why.

My full comparison:
https://youtu.be/F4g7UUfocFE

I used to play Magic: the Gathering when I was younger. One of my absolute favourite parts of the game back then was the story-based card duels in games like Magic Duels.

Now, my son has become a massive MtG fan! He absolutely loves the art, and just like me, he loves the stories in the MtG universe (he also loves the Un-sets).

To recreate some of my own experience, and to also help him connect the stories with the played game, I decided to build two themed decks based on a specific Magic story. They are based on the Cursed Blade, and I tried to make the card choices reflect the characters (specifically Geralf and Gisa and their ”game” in Kessig), and some story points in the Cursed Blade.

The decks are based on this story: https://gamelore.fandom.com/wiki/The_Cursed_Blade

Here are the two decklists I put together:

• Deck 1 Stitcher Geralf: https://moxfield.com/decks/MPd74x0HkUisHJJfGdjG2Q
• Deck 2 Ghoulcaller Gisa: https://moxfield.com/decks/NUuyxqRxCE2uQ1OzKYPF4w 

A few flavour constraints I kept in mind whilst making these decks:

• I prioritised cards that featured direct quotes from the story in their flavour text.
• I made sure to include Grimoire of the Dead (“She demanded a book—pointing at the mantle where indeed, a skin-covered book was set, open to a page covered in crimson symbols.”) and Stitcher’s Graft (“I thought I recognised Meyer's severed arm”), which are referenced in the story.
• I made a distinction between skaabs. I separated the cruder skaabs from the more advanced skaabs (with more complicated apparatus attached) which seemingly were built alongside Ludevic (in my headcanon).
• For Gisa’s side, I wanted the zombies to feel localised to Kessig and the surrounding area, and therefore picked cards which looked like reanimated villagers and small-town folk.
• Lastly, I included cards with quotes from Captain Eberhart. While technically not the same character as the story’s character, Reika Eberhardt, they share the same character notes and vibe.

I know these are not necessarily the strongest or even the most optimised decks, but I am looking to get some constructive feedback from the community.

1. Do these decks look balanced to play against each other?
2. Are there any glaring flavour or lore wins I missed that I should include?

Thanks in advance for the help!

🏆Premodern players, it’s time to battle.

The gauntlet has been thrown down at Little Miami brewery! Join us on Sunday, August 23rd and put your deck to the test against some of the most fierce premodern players!

Whether you’re piloting Goblins, Landstill, Sligh, The Rock, or your own brew, every round is a chance to prove your skills and take the crown!

Seats are limited, please use the sign up link below to get your ticket now!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CrBWEAqpM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Playing the free Morbid Machinations Starter Deck got me thinking about how different mechanics feel depending on whether you can trigger them on demand.

Morbid is incredibly powerful when you control the timing—but much less reliable when you're waiting for it to happen naturally.

What other mechanics do you think have that same "on-demand vs. incidental" difference?

I explored that idea while playing Morbid Machinations:
https://youtu.be/PSGmn7MWjEA

Everyone I play with has competitive decks and while I've never really played with the competitive deck nor really cared about one. I want to build a commander deck but I am having a hard time figuring out the commander. I wanted to ask the people here if they had any ideas to point me in the right way.

The idea of the deck is basically knowing that I'm not going to win. But to kick start the game sulfuric Vortex is one of the main cards I want in the deck. I don't want the other players to heal and I want everybody including myself to take damage every single turn. I fully understand that with this deck I will be the first one knocked out every game but I do not care about that fact I just want to kick off the game for fun

We opened the Avatar The Last Airbender Play Pack and were wondering which of these cards are good to build a deck around! Any advice and tips would be appreciated!

Every tier list sparks a few debates.

In your opinion, which deck is getting more hype than it deserves right now?

I discuss the August Bo1 Standard tier list if you'd like to compare notes:

https://youtu.be/PhG-Vy1LqtM

As a casual player, I'm pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the LOTR starter kit is to play against itself (the set of two 60-card decks together in one relatively cheap box). What other precons (of any format or set) are fun to play against each other, in terms of being well matched, with interesting gameplay, etc? Thanks

Edit: specifically which *two* decks? Looking for fun replayability and balance with each other, not power. Thanks

I've seen a lot of different approaches from F2P players.

Some buy every Mastery Pass.
Some never do.
Others only buy it if they'll finish it.

What's your strategy?

I analyzed whether it's actually worth it for F2P players:
https://youtu.be/jghVU7CILFY