Magic the Gathering: Arena |OT| Tapped Out of Witty Titles

[Volimar]

I took a screenshot as an example in case someone could help me. I realize mulligans may get more mana, but in practice that doesn't work for me either. This is how virtually every run ends. I've gone 1-0 MAYBE twice, and literally never 2 wins out of 8+ tries with that control deck that was posted.

Almost every game, I don't get enough mana (the deck has 24 lands) and the opposing deck has a high number of 1-3 mana cards that just rolls. In this example, I even explored and scry'd something like 4 times attempting to get another land, without any luck.

If someone has a reliable 5-0 singleton deck with a lower curve I'd love to try it.

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Do you have exactly 60 cards in the deck? I remember the rumors about 61 or more card decks messing up mana distribution, but I don't know if that was actually ever a thing.

 

[cluto]

This is the singleton deck that got me 4 Ghaltas. I tried a bunch of other decks for hours (which only resulted in me getting assblasted) before throwing this together and getting two 5-1s and two 5-0s. It's a pretty simple deck: play mana-ramp creatures early, burn off any of your opponent's threats if you can, then bring in the big boys. There are plenty of cards in there that didn't accomplish anything or just never came up, so I imagine there's plenty that can be substituted out. Guardian Project and Amplifire earned their keep, and Gravitic Punch won me a game or two. Just make sure you have enough big boys.

1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger (RIX) 130
1 Carnage Tyrant (XLN) 179
10 Forest (XLN) 276
1 Llanowar Elves (DAR) 168
1 Vivien Reid (M19) 208
1 Regisaur Alpha (XLN) 227
1 Risk Factor (GRN) 113
1 Etali, Primal Storm (RIX) 100
1 Draconic Disciple (M19) 215
10 Mountain (RIX) 195
1 Rootbound Crag (XLN) 256
1 Rhythm of the Wild (RNA) 201
1 Drover of the Mighty (XLN) 187
1 Stomping Ground (RNA) 259
1 Charging Tuskodon (RIX) 97
1 Merfolk Branchwalker (XLN) 197
1 Amplifire (RNA) 92
1 Druid of the Cowl (M19) 177
1 Prey Upon (GRN) 143
1 Lava Coil (GRN) 108
1 Rabid Bite (M19) 195
1 Dryad Greenseeker (M19) 178
1 Banefire (M19) 130
1 Verdant Rebirth (XLN) 212
1 Jadelight Ranger (RIX) 136
1 Gravitic Punch (GRN) 105
1 Rekindling Phoenix (RIX) 111
1 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma (M19) 186
1 Guardian Project (RNA) 130
1 Reckless Rage (RIX) 110
1 Vine Mare (M19) 207
1 Ripjaw Raptor (XLN) 203
1 Timber Gorge (M19) 258
1 Cindervines (RNA) 161
1 Adventurous Impulse (DAR) 153
1 Grand Warlord Radha (DAR) 195
1 Sunder Shaman (RNA) 210
1 Fervent Strike (DAR) 117
1 Thud (M19) 163
1 Shock (M19) 156
1 Lightning Strike (M19) 152
1 Lightning Mare (M19) 151

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Then again, I was told in this thread that MTG isn't the game for me, so you should probably ignore this.

 

[Boogiepop]

Speaking of cosmetics, was this the first event with custom card backs? First I've seen them willing to ditch the "iconic" old school jank card back.

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Yeah, I think so. I probably should've thought it sooner, but this is totally them testing out alternate card backs and avatars with the playerbase.

 

[filkry]

The Christmas Pauper event also had custom card backs, but not custom planeswalker avatars.

Got two Ghaltas with Superfriends but I think I'm done for now. Any event with rewards is too stressful for me now, would rather just hit the Play queue.

 

[bunbun777]

Sorry Blizzard that it's not working out for you, not sure if you use streamdecker but there's been a lot of singleton decks posted there and reddit usually has lists posted that folks have had success with.

 

[jph139]

My UG Merfolk deck was like slamming my head against the wall, but my Boros Mentor deck cut through that Singleton Event like butter.

I don't even use Ghalta in any of my decks but still nice to have him. I wish Singleton was permanent (or even better, Brawl) - I'd probably play a lot more often.

 

[Volimar]

This is the singleton deck that got me 4 Ghaltas. I tried a bunch of other decks for hours (which only resulted in me getting assblasted) before throwing this together and getting two 5-1s and two 5-0s. It's a pretty simple deck: play mana-ramp creatures early, burn off any of your opponent's threats if you can, then bring in the big boys. There are plenty of cards in there that didn't accomplish anything or just never came up, so I imagine there's plenty that can be substituted out. Guardian Project and Amplifire earned their keep, and Gravitic Punch won me a game or two. Just make sure you have enough big boys.



Then again, I was told in this thread that MTG isn't the game for me, so you should probably ignore this.

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Yeah I had some success with R/G too.

 

[BigJeffery]

2 Ghaltas and a 4-2 using this Boros pile. It's about as caveman as a deck gets: play your stuff on curve and hope to god you win before turn 5. Honestly, I've yet to cast the Lyra and not just have it die immediately, and that slot is probably better spent on a random bear or something, but it's singleton so who cares lmao

EDIT: I took out Lyra and Ajani and added Triumph of Gerard and Bugler, we'll see how things shake out.

 

[jon bones]

i am struggling with this event :(

 

[voOsh]

Here's a link to a red deck for the singleton event. I ran it once so far, 5-1.

https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/8dRxpMa6MJ

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I used this deck to get the playset of Ghaltas. It took me somewhere between 8-12 runs but I didn't count. Thanks! Super easy deck to pilot for anyone struggling to get 5-x.

I didn't have Dire Fleet Daredevil or Captain Lannery Storm so I just threw in Bombard and the 3/3 mentor can't attack/block alone red creature. There are prob better options but I didn't look through my cards much.

 

[Ultron]

I'm disappointed that the Petitioner decks dried up the moment I put a Gaea's Blessing in.

 

[Xequalsy]

I'm disappointed that the Petitioner decks dried up the moment I put a Gaea's Blessing in.

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I got tilted when I lost at 4-1 to Petitioners so I did the same haha. It's funny to see them auto concede to it though, when they can mostly still win if I accidentally draw it :(

 

[BigJeffery]

I feel like mandating sideboards for this event would have been a good way to acclimatize new players to Bo3 while diminishing a lot of the variance Singleton brings.

 

[bunbun777]

Here is a golgari singleton deck ripped from reddit that I took for a spin and went 5-1. There may be a few cards I switch out but for the most part it was very dependable.

Spoiler: GB Singleton

1 Moment of Craving (RIX) 79
10 Forest (RIX) 196
1 Kitesail Freebooter (XLN) 110
1 Deadeye Tracker (XLN) 99
1 Seekers' Squire (XLN) 121
1 Cast Down (DAR) 81
1 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 77
1 Ravenous Chupacabra (RIX) 82
1 Spawn of Mayhem (RNA) 85
1 Doom Whisperer (GRN) 69
1 The Eldest Reborn (DAR) 90
1 Vraska's Contempt (XLN) 129
1 Llanowar Elves (DAR) 168
9 Swamp (RIX) 194
1 Dryad Greenseeker (M19) 178
1 Druid of the Cowl (M19) 177
1 Incubation Druid (RNA) 131
1 Merfolk Branchwalker (XLN) 197
1 Thorn Lieutenant (M19) 203
1 Wildgrowth Walker (XLN) 216
1 Deathgorge Scavenger (XLN) 184
1 District Guide (GRN) 128
1 Jadelight Ranger (RIX) 136
1 Nullhide Ferox (GRN) 138
1 Thrashing Brontodon (RIX) 148
1 Biogenic Ooze (RNA) 122
1 Tendershoot Dryad (RIX) 147
1 Vivien Reid (M19) 208
1 Carnage Tyrant (XLN) 179
1 Foul Orchard (RIX) 188
1 Golgari Guildgate (GRN) 249
1 Overgrown Tomb (GRN) 253
1 Woodland Cemetery (DAR) 248
1 Status // Statue (GRN) 230
1 Assassin's Trophy (GRN) 152
1 Find // Finality (GRN) 225
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen (GRN) GR8
1 Izoni, Thousand-Eyed (GRN) 180
1 Underrealm Lich (GRN) 211
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker (XLN) 232
1 Karn, Scion of Urza (DAR) 1
1 Memorial to Folly (DAR) 242
1 Golgari Findbroker (GRN) 175

Having a mode that is fun to play and free that gives out 20 gems for a 5 win seems really nice.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Variance does play a huge role in the event. I stole some time this afternoon to take another crack at it and got horrifically mana screwed at 4-1 which was annoying. But hey - I'm still up four Duresses and a free Ghalta which is nice.

 

[Lemstar]

19-3 with this so far; three Ghaltas in four runs (edit: 0-1, 1-1, 5-0 for my fourth copy)

https://i.imgur.com/565dO4p.png

parts of the manabase that isn't shown are the remaining duals of the three color pairs (shock, check, guildgate, tapland), Evolving Wilds, and Field of Ruin or Arch of Orazca

there's plenty of good stuff that I couldn't find room for - Fungal Infection, Mass Manipulation, Syncopate, Mirari Conjecture, Karn, Tezzeret, Murmuring Mystic, Cannonade, Beacon Bolt, but the basic premise doesn't change much - run a bunch of removal and trade 1:1 or 2:1 long enough to run them out of threats and for your card advantage engines to start operating

 

[Izzy]

Wooo! Just managed to go 7-2 in the Guilds of Ravnica Draft. I though I was putting together a bunch of nothing for pretty much the entire draft, but ended up picking 2 Cosmotronic Waves in desperation and they carried hard. Nobody expects the second wave. LRR was right, you can practically see your opponent being banished to the shadow realm.

 

[jon bones]

damn went 3-2... so close at that last game

stressful event - sucks you only get 1 duress for it

 

[Draggyrider]

The biggest thing is the same problem Hearthstone ran into: Fun events, or single player stuff, is typically supposed to be silly and fun. If there's a reward that's hard to get then that silly novelty rapidly runs out and becomes frustrating as everyone switches to the most miserable hardcore decks possible, and every near win is agonizing as you have to grind a bunch of games again.

I'll be happy if I can get just one 5-run win, but first I have to figure out how to get 2 wins again since giving up on the Boros deck.

In Hearthstone I guess people got even more sick of any time being invested though, since virtually every week someone would comment "all brawls are terrible but this one is worse than most".

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Wouldn't the simplest solution be to reward participation instead of wins? ie. every 2 games played gives you a Duress and every 5 games played gives you a Ghalta

 

[fuzzyset]

Wouldn't the simplest solution be to reward participation instead of wins? ie. every 2 games played gives you a Duress and every 5 games played gives you a Ghalta

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Then you'd just have people auto conceding at the beginning of a match. They could do it like the ICRs are done. Give an increasing % chance to get the Rare special card in addition to the Uncommon, but still require at least 1 win.

 

[Draggyrider]

Then you'd just have people auto conceding at the beginning of a match. They could do it like the ICRs are done. Give an increasing % chance to get the Rare special card in addition to the Uncommon, but still require at least 1 win.

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You could always have a X number of cards played requirement for a match to count

 

[Deleted member 733]

After trying that earlier deck a long time, I never got more than 2 wins max. I had 4 wins from an old boros deck but the cards were outdated.

I tried rats, 3 wins max.

This is the singleton deck that got me 4 Ghaltas. I tried a bunch of other decks for hours (which only resulted in me getting assblasted) before throwing this together and getting two 5-1s and two 5-0s. It's a pretty simple deck: play mana-ramp creatures early, burn off any of your opponent's threats if you can, then bring in the big boys. There are plenty of cards in there that didn't accomplish anything or just never came up, so I imagine there's plenty that can be substituted out. Guardian Project and Amplifire earned their keep, and Gravitic Punch won me a game or two. Just make sure you have enough big boys.

Then again, I was told in this thread that MTG isn't the game for me, so you should probably ignore this.

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I tried this deck, but I have 9 games won, 14 games lost with it now. :/ I have 3-4 different runs with 2 wins I believe, including 1 with 3. I'm sometimes trying to mulligan to have 2-4 mana and maybe a low-cost creature or two.

I appreciate all the suggestions, but I'm still not having much success. Typically I can't play most cards until late because of no mana of one type, or I have too much mana. I just want that one chance at 5 wins for a card. I have played a variety of competitive and casual decks in limited and constructed modes since release with zero issues, but this is one of the most frustrating things I've ever had in Arena, trying to get a single card over 2-3 days thus far with time running out. Multiple decks, multiple play styles, multiple times of day, no success.

It doesn't help when I have limited time to play and every other opponent deck is a blue deck with 5+ counterspells + multiple destroy all creatures + eldest reborn and the game takes ages if I don't lose early.

I'll try the newly posted Boros deck next if possible.

 

[Deleted member 733]

Thank goodness. In the end I went 5-0 with the boros deck BigJeffery posted, with maybe 3 card substitutions for things I couldn't craft.

It was still 6 wins and 6 losses overall though, so all the wins were at once. Also, the final win had both me and my opponent lag out of the game for like 2 minutes straight, which seemed to make them skip an attack round by accident, but it hopefully wouldn't have affected that particular final result.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

I'm pretty stubbornly not crafting anything for this event - I figure that defeats the purpose. So I've only been able to make one deck that's competitive (mono white aggro). I did build a few different ones though. There's something fucky with matchmaking. When I play mono white, probably 50% of my matches are against mono white. When I play anything else, I never see mono white. Is it doing that casual matchmaking thing where it's counting rates or whatever?

 

[Quzar]

Hey all, just started this game up after being a long time paper player and getting tired of keeping up with standard. I saw that there was a promo for buying a physical booster pack and getting 3 mtga packs, so I was wondering if every booster pack came with a code or is it random?

 

[Izzy]

Hey all, just started this game up after being a long time paper player and getting tired of keeping up with standard. I saw that there was a promo for buying a physical booster pack and getting 3 mtga packs, so I was wondering if every booster pack came with a code or is it random?

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If you mean the PLAYALLEGIANCE or PLAYRAVNICA codes those are one time per account.

Edit: wait I think they are case sensitive. PlayRavnica and PlayAllegiance

 

[Deleted member 29682]

I'm not bothering with the singleton event. Not a huge fan of the alt arts and I'm no good at it anyway. It would be nice in the future if cosmetics could be purchased though (with gems probably), at least for people who missed such events. Only managing to get 2 alt Llanowar Elves from the pauper event a couple of months ago can make a lot of my green decks quite messy looking.

 

[AzVal]

Green red is a good combinatuon as it has pretty good redundancy so decks are pretty consistent.
Got a ghalta an wild probably try to get another

 

[BigJeffery]

I'm not bothering with the singleton event. Not a huge fan of the alt arts and I'm no good at it anyway. It would be nice in the future if cosmetics could be purchased though (with gems probably), at least for people who missed such events. Only managing to get 2 alt Llanowar Elves from the pauper event a couple of months ago can make a lot of my green decks quite messy looking.

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I agree entirely, but I suspect that there's an Excel spreadsheet somewhere that shows people panic buying packs to make a 5-0 capable deck to avoid FOMO generates revenue than just having cosmetics available all the time.

 

[Volimar]

The last in the playset is always the hardest to get.

Green red is a good combinatuon as it has pretty good redundancy so decks are pretty consistent.
Got a ghalta an wild probably try to get another

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Yeah that's what I've been using. The deck posted above https://www.resetera.com/threads/magic-the-gathering-arena-ot-now-in-open-beta.69503/post-17988174 is pretty good even if you have to sub a few cards you don't have.

 

[BigJeffery]

After like 3 false starts (no reason not to just redo the event from the beginning if you lose the first game) I managed to eek past Rats, Petitioners, Rats, Petitioners, then some Temur control deck that probably would have spanked me if my opponent didn't mull to five and get mana screwed. So glad I don't have to play this stupid mode for another few months lol.

 

[Volimar]

After like 3 false starts (no reason not to just redo the event from the beginning if you lose the first game) I managed to eek past Rats, Petitioners, Rats, Petitioners, then some Temur control deck that probably would have spanked me if my opponent didn't mull to five and get mana screwed. So glad I don't have to play this stupid mode for another few months lol.

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I've been fortunate enough not to have to deal with rats or petitioners yet. That's a handsome dino.

 

[Volimar]

Bah, I give up. That last Ghalta will forever elude me. Back to struggling through platinum.

 

[BigJeffery]

Can a loremaster confirm Ghalta's gender? Idk why but I just assume she's a female dino.

 

[Deleted member 29682]

So do people generally prefer pauper to singleton, or does it depend one what kind of singleton decks are possible (rats, petitioners, etc.)?

 

[Boogiepop]

Eh, like the regular art Ghalta better and effectively getting nothing for 4 wins is pretty lame. Settled at just ultimately getting 2 out of the set. Also, you can tell I don't play Banefire often, as I didn't realize/remember the uncounterable thing had that condition on it. Thought I had the game locked up using it to kill them for 4, and was like "the hell?!" when it got countered, then read the card and was sad.

 

[BigJeffery]

So do people generally prefer pauper to singleton, or does it depend one what kind of singleton decks are possible (rats, petitioners, etc.)?

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I haven't played the MTGA pauper, but MODO pauper is a super legitimate and fun format.

Singleton is just a meme. It's a little more bearable once you introduce commanders, but it's still too random for me.

 

[Deleted member 2652]

so i tried to follow a mana curve guide (i think it was the one Yeef recommended a couple pages back) for draft and actually won two games! i kind of messed up because i didn't have enough 5+ drops.

i think i want to put my first netdeck together for ranked play (to get gold), i have 2 mythic rare, 6 rare, 14 uncommon and 16 common wildcards. i also have all the of the free decks unlocked. should i keep playing with the free decks for now or is it a good time to make craft something?

 

[AzVal]

got 2 ghaltas from this plus the one you get with the decks, I think thats enough I dont think I would ever need more than 3 for what little Ixalan has left in standard.

 

[Volimar]

I thought I'd enjoy pauper a lot, but it turns out I really like my rares and mythics. I prefer singleton tbh.

 

[Yeef]

got 2 ghaltas from this plus the one you get with the decks, I think thats enough I dont think I would ever need more than 3 for what little Ixalan has left in standard.

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Ixalan is still in Standard for 7 more months, give or take.

 

[AzVal]

Ixalan is still in Standard for 7 more months, give or take.

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yep thats too litle for me, when the newest will be on for almost 2 years, thats why on paper was always my most neglected format and only played it when there was an upcoming GP in my country.

Anyway, I started a run only to show the avatars to a friend and the other guy conceded faster than me, continued the run for a 5-0 and completed the set, the regular and the 3 promos. Gruul can get merciless sometimes

 

[BigJeffery]

7 months is such a long time lmao.

I'm not particularly interested in the card right now either, to be honest, but I think if Arena Extended every becomes a thing, I could see her being a role player. Her effect is very unique and powerful, so if she becomes a staple it will be cool to have the unique alt-arts. I'm already kind of mad I missed the promo Llanowar Elf even though I have no desire to play that card in Standard any time soon.

 

[Draggyrider]

so i tried to follow a mana curve guide (i think it was the one Yeef recommended a couple pages back) for draft and actually won two games! i kind of messed up because i didn't have enough 5+ drops.

i think i want to put my first netdeck together for ranked play (to get gold), i have 2 mythic rare, 6 rare, 14 uncommon and 16 common wildcards. i also have all the of the free decks unlocked. should i keep playing with the free decks for now or is it a good time to make craft something?

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I started last month and got gold using pretty much the precon decks, so don't feel like you need to craft anything just for to get gold. The GU merfolk deck is good, you can also use GB Ramp and RG Dino Ramp (basically toss all the mana generators + good expensive creatures like Carnage Tyrant + removal into a deck).

From what I have heard, rare wildcards are usually the ones in highest demand, so be careful where you spend those. A gates deck is probably one of the cheapest craftable decks on a budget since most of the good cards are uncommon, so a couple of drafts should let you get most of them.

 

[Boogiepop]

Oh man, so we've got like 2 months left till prerelease for War of the Spark? I'm already decently set on most of the cards I actually want (in theory there's still definitely some stuff in Allegiances, but I'm going to let the weekly packs help fill that in), so I guess I'll probably put my gold for a while to see how close I can get to 100% completion by buying packs rather than drafting (since I've hit some real diminishing returns and have a solid collection in most of the sets). First up I'll tackle my real weak point: the Ixalans. (I already have like 20 rare wild cards and 6 mythics stockpiled, too, so not too concerned about needing to save up for War too much more then what I'll do with this.)

 

[AzVal]

Oh man, so we've got like 2 months left till prerelease for War of the Spark? I'm already decently set on most of the cards I actually want (in theory there's still definitely some stuff in Allegiances, but I'm going to let the weekly packs help fill that in), so I guess I'll probably put my gold for a while to see how close I can get to 100% completion by buying packs rather than drafting (since I've hit some real diminishing returns and have a solid collection in most of the sets). First up I'll tackle my real weak point: the Ixalans. (I already have like 20 rare wild cards and 6 mythics stockpiled, too, so not too concerned about needing to save up for War too much more then what I'll do with this.)

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Id be lucky to complete Sultai aggro by then. Is there any incentive or prize to complete entire sets?
I only have 2 common wildcards but I wont pay even for the starting pack.

 

[Boogiepop]

Id be lucky to complete Sultai aggro by then. Is there any incentive or prize to complete entire sets?
I only have 2 common wildcards but I wont pay even for the starting pack.

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I don't think so, but I mean, I've pretty much got nothing else to do, so may as well. And I did admittedly put like $40 in for Guilds because I was REALLY enjoying playing Sealed/Draft, but honestly most of this is just from playing the game each day. The thing is frankly shockingly generous IMO, and unless something drastically changes, I don't see myself ever needing to put in a single cent more, even to have complete playsets of every card in the game.

 

[fuzzyset]

I don't think so, but I mean, I've pretty much got nothing else to do, so may as well. And I did admittedly put like $40 in for Guilds because I was REALLY enjoying playing Sealed/Draft, but honestly most of this is just from playing the game each day. The thing is frankly shockingly generous IMO, and unless something drastically changes, I don't see myself ever needing to put in a single cent more, even to have complete playsets of every card in the game.

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How long have you been playing? I'm at a similar point where I'm comfortable with my collection % but I definitely put in more than 40$ :O. I also have deck/archetype ADD where I want to play basically every color combination.... There's too many neat/unique cards in MTG.

 

[Boogiepop]

How long have you been playing? I'm at a similar point where I'm comfortable with my collection % but I definitely put in more than 40$ :O. I also have deck/archetype ADD where I want to play basically every color combination.... There's too many neat/unique cards in MTG.

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I jumped on right when the switch to open beta/the release of Guilds happened. Then I went ahead and pushed right away for the basic Mono-red aggro and actually did some pretty intense grinding on Constructed Event for a while. And then ever since I've just stuck to using my gold and gems for either drafting or sealed, which I seem to have a decent record at. Has given me a pretty meaty collection by this point.

 

[fuzzyset]

I jumped on right when the switch to open beta/the release of Guilds happened. Then I went ahead and pushed right away for the basic Mono-red aggro and actually did some pretty intense grinding on Constructed Event for a while. And then ever since I've just stuck to using my gold and gems for either drafting or sealed, which I seem to have a decent record at. Has given me a pretty meaty collection by this point.

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Ah OK. I started right before Allegiance so that makes sense. Yeah, by the time WAR releases, my gold/gem coffers should be pretty loaded. I might buy more gems to do Sealed, but I think I should have close to 100k gold by then if I don't blow it on old packs.

FYI for those newish to the game, https://mtgahelper-app.azurewebsites.net/ came across this on reddit yesterday. If you upload your collection, it'll tell you what packs give you the best bang for the buck, given the "meta". You can customize what meta means if you want to avoid certain decks too.