Choosing a single deck

[apistat_commander]

I have a variety of decks that I am able to build, but I am playing much less Magic now and I figure I will benefit from spending more time with one deck. What deck would you choose and why?

[Holly]

The one I'd have most fun with - for me that would've be T.E.S. .

[Koby]

If I had to pick exactly one, I would not go for any of these decks. I would choose Combo Elves.

[Quasim0ff]

The one with lightning bolts and delvers obviously. :)!

[Einherjer]

Either RUG or UWx - simply because they are the best decks - choose the one that fits your playstyle the best.

Greetings

[apple713]

Currently i play s&t cause its the best IMO but out of the decks u have listed I would pick tempo. One of my pet projects is just UB tempo. Very similar to team America without the green.

Tempo opens a lot of doors too as the format changes with minimal deck updates. Combo decks can get completely hozed by bannings or rulings or a widespread use of a card.

[force_of_phil]

As snoozeworthy as it is, I would say Stoneblade because it's the most flexible. You can run esper, deathblade, american, UW, or even BW if that's your thing. The other decks are pretty optimized and will wax or wane depending on future printing and metagame trends.

[TsumiBand]

Gotta go with Tight Sight.

[guelahpapyrus]

If I had to pick exactly one, I would not go for any of these decks. I would choose Combo Elves.

What about combo elves elevates it above the rest for you?

[Koby]

What about combo elves elevates it above the rest for you?

Strong Tempo matchup
Decent control matchup
Strong Tribal matchup
Even Slow-combo matchup (S&T, High Tide, Painter, etc)
Weak Fast combo matchup (Belcher, TES, ANT, etc)

The Fast combo category is one of the smaller of developed metagames, so while it's weak, it has the right tools to help out. Even to positive matchups against the rest of Legacy makes it a strong choice. It still have a good chance of winning by Turn 3 too.

[Bobmans]

ANT. Go all-in or nothing at all, ASAP. Rinse and repeat.

[alphastryk]

If I absolutely had to choose one of those, stoneblade. None of those are single decks I'd want to be all in on though.

[phazonmutant]

I think TES is the most rewarding deck on that list. If you only have time to get good at one deck, the one that you'll have the most satisfaction with looking back and seeing your improvement will be TES. It also has the raw power to fight through hate, despite what many people think about storm combo.

For those that say tempo is great but then talk about how combo is easily "hozed", get real. Tempo is just as vulnerable to strategies designed to beat it as storm combo. Both have a powerful, proactive game plan that can lose to opponents who come into the room with the intent to crush them.

Honestly though, all are fine choices. Results have shown that pilots who are good with their decks tend to do well regardless of quibbles about positioning.

[Megadeus]

I'dgoteam america just because of the fact that it is a good stuff deck and.you will retain alot of staples along with it.being a fun deck

[apistat_commander]

To clarify: I can build everything in the list. It isn't "What deck would you build in an ideal world?" it is "what would you stick with out of these decks?" I am playing much less Magic than I used to and I realized that I won't be able to change decks with my local meta like I used to. I am also tired of putting money into the game, so I wanted something that was going to update infrequently.

RUG - I like the way the deck plays and outside of ~4 slots in the main nothing much changes besides the sideboard. It cycles in and out of being the "best" choice, but even when the meta is hostile to it, it has a fighting chance.

Team America - These are my favorite colors, but I even now I don't feel like the tempo lists are really set in stone. RUG feels like a better tempo shell to me, but I feel like the deck will need more tweaking than I am interested in doing. On the other hand DRS, Abrupt Decay, and Hymn are all pretty awesome.

Stoneblade - I am wary of Stoneblade because the lists change a whole lot over time. Given how long games can go (opportunity for more mistakes) having a subpar deck list can really bite you in the ass. However the JTMS/Stoneforge package is pretty powerful.

ANT/TES - These are quick and powerful and almost always viable. I don't think combo is my style.

[ThomasDowd]

ANT/ TES. But I am a combo degenerate. I played tempo thresh for a while but hated fighting through stoneforge/ batterskull. also my decisions are better with combo.

I also have kept pretty much kept all my storm cards while departing from a lot of others.

Also there are a ton of varieties of storm combo that have good and bad times in the metagame and TES / ANT have a lot of overlap.

I am personally in somewhat similar of a postion and selling off high tide, dredge, tin fins pieces(maybe)

Also with a lot of the storm cards you can play: all flavors of DD, the multiple versions of ANT, TES, some versions of belcher (i kind of really like black belcher once the rule changes happen).

[Mr. Safety]

I prefer Junk, because it's infinitely customizable. I feel the same way about Esper Stoneblade. That would be the one that I would concentrate on playing. It is also a fairly strong skill-tester, giving you the chance to sharpen your game.

[Humphrey]

ANT/TES because its the strongest deck and needs dedication

[Megadeus]

If I were a player who played just to win Id say give me TES/ANT. But I get bored of the decks after awhile.

[kingsey]

I really enjoy team america myself,

great colors, Uses underground sea, Force of will. brainstorm and Tarmogoyf. Whats not to love.

[Zombie]

Strong Tempo matchup
Decent control matchup
Strong Tribal matchup
Even Slow-combo matchup (S&T, High Tide, Painter, etc)
Weak Fast combo matchup (Belcher, TES, ANT, etc)

The Fast combo category is one of the smaller of developed metagames, so while it's weak, it has the right tools to help out. Even to positive matchups against the rest of Legacy makes it a strong choice. It still have a good chance of winning by Turn 3 too.

Also, the deck is just plain fun, and can play many kinds of styles - you can gum up the board, play big, immediately game-winning spells, draw cards like a madman while making tons of mana, put the opponent between a rock and a hard place with a repeatable draw engine. To to it off, it's an engine deck so there's a ton of fun synergies and interactions to find out and apply, whether you're playing fair or doing something ridiculous. The only thing it really lacks is the ability to be highly disruptive Thresh-style outside of vs. combo matchups, but just about any constructive thing you can do in Magic, Elves can do. That includes playing Ancestral Recall because you can.

I don't think it's quite the best deck in the field necessarily, but it's very good, very fun, very varied and fits my style like a glove. What's not to like? <3

Out of more normal decks, I'd probably play Shardless BUG. Gotta have that actual card draw.

[Admiral_Arzar]

TES, for power level, entertainment value, and intricacy of play. It's also at least moderately good no matter what the meta looks like.

[goblinsplayer]

TES, for power level, entertainment value, and intricacy of play. It's also at least moderately good no matter what the meta looks like.

Unless it's all miracles and MUD

[Zombie]

TES, for power level, entertainment value, and intricacy of play. It's also at least moderately good no matter what the meta looks like.

Small pointy-eared gits are more fun! :P
Just not a fan of how often TES hands seem to tell me "T1, 12-14 Goblins, pray*". That wins ridiculously often, yes, but it just doesn't feel like playing Magic. Matters of taste, though.


*Sometimes "pray" is to be interpreted as "cackle maniacally as the opponent desperately tries to find his 1-of out".

[boneclub24]

TES, because if you're going to be playing just 1 deck for a long time, it might as well be the most complicated one that has a lot of learning to it.