Magic the Gathering

[Proxyt]

@KittyPuff
Certainly, if you only have like 10 dollars and want to try out Magic, you can build, or get a more experienced player to build you a deck of commons and uncommon cards that runs decently, for pretty cheap.

However, if you want to build experience at the game, you need to play against good players, I gained experience from playing competitive type-2, but a cheaper way to do it without having to spend 200+ dollars, is just to play 15 dollar drafts, you get to play against good players, how colors work, and you learn which cards are useful, and how to build a deck.I think drafts are simply the best way to learn and improve the game, in a fair environment where having 200 bucks or 15 bucks doesnt matter. And imo are simply the best format to play.

As for the current block- it's only bad in the sense that in competitive tournaments you need at least 50 dollars just in your mana to do well. Mono-colored decks are out, and you need powerful rare mana cards like rugged prairie and reflecting pool to get the mana you need. Making 2-3 color decks isn't hard, but to maintain competitive-tourny worthy speed you need great manafixing and the proper mana curve in a deck. (AKA- expensive lands T__T)

but I think the shards themselves are fine, playing shards/conflux/reborn drafts recently have been fun, not too hard to make draft decks that are 3-4 colors, even with only basic lands, and gives people who have a 'fear' of certain colors a chance to play em. I know I used to go 'I'm never playing black or blue' ever and now I'm more comfortable with them, I usually run blue/black actually nowadays in draft since everyone else loves to draft ban'ts white/green colors, so I get all the awesome grixis and esper cards people pass up.

@Avalon
Jund Manaramp is good, I believe your main hitters are tokens + chameleon colossus + burn/jund charm right?
I'm not sure how Cascade can fit too well into most decks in competitive, I've only seen the Bloodbraid elf in burn decks since they have so many awesome 3-mana stuff it can bring out.

@Kirby
If you don't have to play in standard, then black decks rock.
I play casually (and have a fun casual deck) at my university against some others, and this one guy has this super annoying zombie deck. A lot of -1/-1 cards, reanimating zombies, zombies all get +10+10 late game, and deathtouch, and often players have to sac a non-zombie creature each turn.

In multiplayer we alllll hate him. So much. Sooooo much. When I know he's playing his zombie deck, often I fish out my mono red burn and basicially kamikaze to kill him. Damn zombies