Quarter Card Magic
By
John Ramos
So, you are just starting Magic the Gathering. You don't have a lot of cash to put into the game right now, but you want to have some fun and be competitive. You talk to other players, look on the Internet, read the Scrye, Top Deck and Inquest. You read about how the pro's and local tourney guys are chewing up the competition with their killer deck. There is only one problem. You can't afford or find the four Morphlings for your deck! You can't afford or find even two Masticore's! You went out and bought a starter deck and a few booster packs and spent nearly $25.00 and the deck you have constructed loses almost every time you play it. Everyone is telling you that: "you need *this* (fill in any card that someone has suggested and you can't find or afford) for your deck." I am going to try to help you have fun playing Magic, winning a few games, and not going broke in the process.
I have been playing Magic since 1995. My whole family plays. We have spent a lot of money on cards. We own a lot of cards, over 10 three row long boxes full! Of course all of these cards are not rares or uncommons. When you buy packs and starter boxes you get a lot of commons. Most Magic players put them in boxes and never look at them again. I am going to show you how to use those commons to the advantage of all Magic players.
If you are just starting in Magic talk to the veteran players and ask them if they have any extra commons that they don't want or need. Tell them you are just starting out and show them your deck (no offense, but this will prove you are just starting. There aren't many veteran Magic players that play with Craw Worms/Hill Giants/Personal Incarnation or Leviathan). Ask them if they have any ideas for your deck, but you don't have a lot of money or no money to spend. Most often the guys or gals will just give you a few commons they think you can use.
Veteran Magic players this paragraph is for you. Throw some decks together using only common quarter cards. This is more of a challenge then you might think. Build a couple of decks and then dual with your buddies. Try to build competitive decks, just don’t throw some commons of the same color together. Build to beat the other quarter card deck. Since they are quarter card decks we allow you to use cards from any set. After you have a couple of decks, take them with you when you go gaming. When you find a new Magic player who is just starting out, play a couple of games with him with your quarter card deck and then ask him if he wants it and then just give it to him. You have just made this new Magic player majorly happy, given him a larger card pool to choose from, given him a deck that is ready to play, and you just freed up some space for more RARES!!!!!!
Back to the rookies. When you opened up your packs you will have gotten some uncommons and some rares. Depending on how many packs you have bought. Pick at least two of the colors you like and possibly a third. Now you are going to have some uncommons and possible some rares in the two other colors. You will use these to trade for cards you need in your deck. Now when you are just starting out, I hate to say this, it is better to have quantity then quality. You can't play with your deck if it's only 50 cards. You need to have a minimum of 60. So, you will not be trading straight up. In other words, uncommons for uncommons, or rares for rares.
You will most likely be trading 1 uncommon for 3-4 commons or a rare for 2 uncommons. But when you are first starting out sacrifices have to be made.
What good is an Avatar of Woe going to do for you if you are trying to build a green stompy deck and need two pouncing Jaguars, two Rancor’s, and two more Giant Growths.
I am going to build you some type II quarter card decks. I will then show you what the deck will look like once you get enough time and money to get the rare & uncommon cards that will fit into the tourney deck. I will be building a different colored deck every month for you so that you rookies can be competitive and have fun. And so you veterans can make some room in your card boxes.
Black speed. There are several different directions you can go here. One type of black speed is to use large thumping beat down creatures, with removal to clear the way for your creatures to get through. The second way is to use “disruption” in the form of hand destruction. This method is extremely effective and is one of the most powerful forms of the deck. The third type of black speed is to use enchantments and instants to pump up your creatures. I will show you different types in type II and type I.
QUARTER CARD BLACK SPEED
Black Beat Down:
Creatures:
4-Skittering Horror
4-Skittering Skirge
4-Spineless Thug
4-Whipstiched Zombies
2-Skulking Fugitive
2-Bog Wraith
Spells:
4-Dark Ritual
4-Terror
4-Snuff Out
2-Corrupt
2-Vendetta
4-Parallax Dementia
Land:
16-Swamps
4-Peat Bog
This deck is similar to Red Sligh. You cast a creature and then remove any threats in your way so your creature can get through. The corrupts are added in to assist in taking out other black creatures or for getting in the final blow to finish off an opponent. You will only need 20 land since most of your spells cost less then 3 to cast.
Black Hand Destruction
Creatures:
4-Abyssal Specter
4-Order of Yawgmoth
4-Ravenous Rats
4-Alley Grifters
2-Fog of Gnats
2-Wall of Distortion
Spells:
4-Dark Ritual
4-Peat Bog
4-Duress
2-Unnerve
2-Coercion
2-Mind Swords
2-Corrupt
Land:
20-Swamp
The hand destruction is more mana intensive then the other decks. You may even want to run as high as 26 to 28 total lands by removing one creature and one spell. You are going to lose life when playing this deck. By the time the game turns around you will be in single digits. But that’s ok, that’s how it works. By round 4 or 5 your opponent should have an empty hand.
Depending on the decks you run into, you may choose to run some creature destruction. The 2 corrupts are there to bring you back from the brink and put in the finishing damage.
Black Fly Boy Pump
Creatures:
4-Belbe’s Percher
4-Feral Shadow
4-Skittering Skirge
4-Misshapen fiend
2-Tethered Skirge
2-Fog of Gnats
Spells:
4-Dark Ritual
4-Twisted Experiment
4-Parallax Dementia
4-Snuff Out
2-Corrupt
2-Howl from Beyond
Land:
4-Peat Bog
16-Swamp
This deck is made to evade your opponent’s creatures by flying over them.
It is an aggressive attack deck, which pumps up the creatures you have. You have four “free” creature removal cards, just incase your opponent casts a threat. Most of your spells are just 2 casting cost, so 20 lands should be plenty.
Now as mentioned before, most guys will have extra common cards lying around. These commons will usually be from past sets. So the deck that you can construct will be type I or extended. That’s ok though, because you are just going to be using them for fun/learning, not tourneys. Just make sure when you do decide to play another player; you let him know what format you are playing with. You should also let him know that you don’t have any power cards. This way, more people will be apt to play with you.
Black Hand Destruction Type I
Creatures:
4-Abyssal Specter
4-Mindstab Thrull
4-Order of the Ebon Hand
4-Dauthi Slayer
4-Dauthi Horror
Spells:
4-Hymn to Tourach
4-Duress
4-Dark Ritual
4-Diabolic Edict
2-Unholy Strength
1-Lotus Petal
1-Drain Life
Land:
20-Swamps
This deck can is very flexible, as you will see. In this incarnation it uses hand destruction as a primary force to get rid of problems. It uses pro white creatures, which is blacks main problem. It also uses two common shadow creatures to do the main damage to your opponent. Diabolic edict gets rid of anything that hits the board and your non-shadow creatures can’t block.
Black Pump Type I
Creatures:
4-Erg Raiders
4-Order of the Ebon Hand
4-Dauthi Slayer
4-Dauthi Horror
4-Skittering Skirge
Spells:
4-Dark Ritual
4-Unholy Strength
4-Diabolic Edict
2-Parallax Dementia
2-Twisted Experiment
2-Howl from Beyond
1-Lotus Petal
1-Brush with Death
Lands:
20-Swamp
This deck uses two casting cost creatures to come out hard and fast. The advantage of this is that you will hardly ever get mana screwed or fall victim to land destruction. With one dark ritual, a Erg Raider, and a Unholy Strength, you have a 4/4 creature round one. The lone Brush with Death is included to get around Worship and Circle Of Protection Black, since it is loss of life and not damage.
Have fun and start building. See ya at The Tenth Planet.
John