[Budget] G/B Midrange - Building a deck for a new player

[troopatroop]

Calling all deckbuilders! Help me formulate a deck for a brand new player? Plz and thanks.


4 Llanowar Elves
3 Elvish Mystic
3 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Putrid Leech
2 Rakshasa Deathdealer
4 Kodama's Reach
2 Cultivate
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Nekrataal
2 Shriekmaw
3 Spiritmonger
3 Grave Titan
1 Baloth Null
3 Chainer's Edict
2 Dead Weight

14 Forest
8 Swamp


So here's the thing. I've been playing magic with someone trying to teach them the game, and they've chosen this as their color combination. I figure a strong, but fair line of play to build around is Turn 1 Elf, Turn 2 Cultivate, Turn 3 Spiritmonger. I'm mostly trying to keep the cost of the deck down, but any cards around 5 dollars or less are in play. Grave Titan seems really strong to ramp into, especially with Cultivate/Kodama's Reach fixing our swamp problem instantly. I'm trying to abuse the ability to grab two swamps for value, something like Haunting Echoes comes to mind, but for casual play. I'm beginning to think that Shriekmaw is 100% the card I need, for it's Evoke, and for being the 5 mana ramp target we deserve. Chainer's Edict helps outlet our extra mana, Baloth Null usually has great targets too. With Grave Titans to muck the ground up, I see this deck as a real test for other casual players. I just want this deck to have a consistent winning plan.

Any cards I'm definitely missing? I'm mainly hoping to "thinktank" this decklist before I buy the cards I need for it. I'm probably gifting them to the kid, so keeping prices down is key.

Thanks for any feedback/help you might reply with, What would your take on this decklist idea be?

[supremePINEAPPLE]

Would they be open to/capable of playing budget nic fit? Cabal therapy, veteran explorer, and green sun's zenith all have cheap versions now and would get the kid a lot closer to playing a real legacy deck if they really want to learn. You could add nevinyrral's disk for a fun budget pernicious deed replacement. They could also play fewer but better creatures so they wouldn't have nearly as many bad cards like the elves, g/b bears, or ramp spells and would instead have toolbox creatures like eternal witness, acidic slime, thragtusk, or whatever else they think is cool.

[troopatroop]

But how would it sweep the board in a cheap way? Disk? I don't think that's very good.

I would rather build around extremely inexpensive options, to get the most powerful outcome I can. Turn 1 Llanowar Elf, Turn 2 Cultivate seems about right, in that regard.

[Megadeus]

Aren't Deeds like $5? They have been reprinted at least once. Yeah this looks like a bad Nic Fit deck.

[troopatroop]

It's a budget deck, for someone to play magic with for the first time.

Just for the sake of sakes, build a nic fit decklist right here that you wouldn't mind gifting all the cards for.


I mean, off the cuff, giving all the cards to another human for nothing in return. That's what I'm doing with this deck.



You're all so caught up in the "Legacy" tag. This deck isn't getting paired up against The Epic Storm boys.

[troopatroop]

Pernicious Deed doesn't work with Elves, and the Elves help this deck do all its unfair things.

You've gotta take this deck in its context. It's going to be playing against Timmys bad elf and burn decks. I put creature removal over discard, because I'm targeting the fair decks over the unfair ones. Cultivate into Grave Titan seems like a strong plan against EDH decks and commander decks, and almost anything fair and casual. I'm trying to use as many cards that cost 25 cents as possible too, buying Obstinate Baloths and Grave Titans isn't going to be free, but I'd rather get him some great creatures, rather than some Pernicious Deeds

Here's the thing, I could build around Pernicious Deed and Innocent Blood, Play Explores and Tribe Elder, Rampant growth effect only, and give him board sweepers to play... But is that going to be fun for him? Is that what a brand new player should experience? Is that the brand of magic that I even want him to have to play right now?

Elves are powerful, they cost pennies, and they ramp out Cultivate, Ohran Viper, Courser Cruphix, Troll Ascetic...

If you HAD to build around that Idea, where you have to play the 1/1s, what cards would you play?

How would you win?

[Freggle]

Pernicious Deed doesn't work with Elves, and the Elves help this deck do all its unfair things.

You've gotta take this deck in its context. It's going to be playing against Timmys bad elf and burn decks. I put creature removal over discard, because I'm targeting the fair decks over the unfair ones. Cultivate into Grave Titan seems like a strong plan against EDH decks and commander decks, and almost anything fair and casual. I'm trying to use as many cards that cost 25 cents as possible too, buying Obstinate Baloths and Grave Titans isn't going to be free, but I'd rather get him some great creatures, rather than some Pernicious Deeds

Here's the thing, I could build around Pernicious Deed and Innocent Blood, Play Explores and Tribe Elder, Rampant growth effect only, and give him board sweepers to play... But is that going to be fun for him? Is that what a brand new player should experience? Is that the brand of magic that I even want him to have to play right now?

Elves are powerful, they cost pennies, and they ramp out Cultivate, Ohran Viper, Courser Cruphix, Troll Ascetic...

If you HAD to build around that Idea, where you have to play the 1/1s, what cards would you play?

How would you win?

Not sure if it's on theme, but using TCG Prices this is pennies under $25, and should have gas for days. I think the deck would be more consistent too.

4 Shaman of the Pack
4 Elves of Deep Shadow
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Sylvan Messenger
4 Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Elvish Mystic
4 Champion of Lambholt
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Lead the Stampede
4 Prowess of the fair

15 Forest
5 Swamp

[AngryTroll]

This might be too late-sorry if so. I love the look of this list. I understand the desire to build something strong but straightforward for a new player. Nic Fit is not a starting point for a new player-Cabal Therapy is terrible at the kitchen table-but a list like this should be easy to pick up, fun to play, and great for the kitchen table.

Spiritmonger is one of my favorite cards, and Rakasha Deathdealer looks really strong on paper. Spiritmonger, Grave Titan, and Baloth Null look great as curve-toppers. A tiny detail-I'd probably run more Cultivates over more Kodama's Reach due to the Arcane bit. Ohran Viper is about a dollar a copy and is good on a clogged board or an empty board. The list looks a bit heavy on ramp and light on those awesome plays with the mana. Maybe subtract the Sakura-Tribe Elders (leaving the full potential for turn two Cultivate) for Ohran Vipers, another solid turn two play after a mana elf?

[frafen]

I would play Pack Rat. They are really powerful, cheap, a good mana sink and a way to filter all the usless draw that you'll have in the late game (once you have 5-6 mana each land/mana elf/ ramp spell is a dead draw).

You should add a couple of dual lands to stabilize the mana base (like Llanowar Wastes).

[Blastoderm]

My first good legacy deck was GB Nic Fit and I played on a budget. Won a GPT with it when the meta was infested with Delver. It's super fun and has game against most decks out there!

[AngryTroll]

I would play Pack Rat. They are really powerful, cheap, a good mana sink and a way to filter all the usless draw that you'll have in the late game (once you have 5-6 mana each land/mana elf/ ramp spell is a dead draw).

You should add a couple of dual lands to stabilize the mana base (like Llanowar Wastes).

Pack Rat is a great idea. You could also mix up the LLanowar Elves and Elves of Deep Shadow to help with the manabase if Llanowar Wastes are a bit expensive for the budget; Jungle Hollow is the best of the super cheap dual lands, but that deck actually has a lot to do every turn.