How To Start Playing Standard Magic The Gathering |Intro To Deck Building, Card Selection And Events 

How To Make Your First Pioneer Deck | A Magic: The Gathering Guide: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yoPEYBQd2x0.html

Play Mono-Red. In every format. All the time. It's always a budget option and has a lot of recycled cards (like lightning strike and monastery swiftspear atm)

TCC is making Standard content again, nature is healing.

As much as I wanna say commander is my favorite format, I actually really like set constructed formats. It's surprisingly fun to play with cards from a single set and work out basic synergies and combos that you can take to other decks and formats down the road.

I miss Standard being based on blocks rather than this years thing! That is new information to me. I knew it had to be different but didnt know the cut off.

“…and that includes, by the way, Commander.” Love it. Commander is great and all, but I think the community needs to push harder for a bigger spotlight on 1 on 1 formats. Huge shock to me when I came across a player who was drafting for the first time ever but had an incredibly expensive collection and only played commander.

For all the flack it gets with it's economy, I do think one of the best ways to introduce someone to the standard formant is telling them to download Magic Arena. Standard is by far the most popular on there compared to my couple of LGS in my area, were it is mainly modern and commander, and honestly it's a great way to feel out if the standard format is worth investing into paper since most of the decks are $100+

Omg I needed this lol I just started playing about a week and half ago. I’m a yugioh player so Learning to build was so confusing

Thank you, professor. I am new to MTG and have been looking to understand how to start playing standard. This is a great guide

With wizards dying, and standard all but gone, it's definitely heartwarming (or perhaps heartbreaking) to see the professor make this video

no standard events at LGSs in Fortaleza, CE.

I don’t know if this is different in your region but you said standard was the most popular event for Friday Night Magic. Where I live I almost never see standard it’s always modern or commander.

Hey Prof, super grateful for your contributions to the Mtg community. You made my learning the game and deck building so much easier. I appreciate all the hard work you put into your content and love your vibe in all the crossover stuff you do with other creators. Thanks again for making the last year of my life so much easier when it comes to Mtg and tcg channels. You rock!!!

Professor's response to "Oh no, the most viewed video on my channel in a Pokemon video!"

I love Standard, it's honestly my favorite format. I love the rotation, and trying to make janky but workable decks with a small cardpool. But alas nobody I know plays it in paper anymore. All the games stores in my area have stopped doing Standard events and the de facto Friday Night Magic event is Draft (which I also enjoy). I've realized that Standard has moved to Arena and have made the adjustment myself. A little disappointing but it's understandable when you take into consideration the price of some of the most competitive cards (Sheoldred in particular) and the rate at which sets are coming out in this current economy we are experiencing.

Great vid. Former paper MtG player and (briefly) MTGO. I occasionally think about getting back into the game and this is a joyful reminder of how fun the game is, though the big stopping points for me are the insane power creep I see and the cost (not helped at all with the insane pace of product releases). Started playing during the Revised/4e era and left paper MtG with the Urza block. Got into MTGO for the Invasion/Odyssey blocks, then left again after Time Spiral. It's a damn fun game. I'll never say otherwise. The game I started with definitely needed to be changed, and for quite some time, it changed very much for the better (colour pie realignment, power levels, card interactivity/combos, etc)...all good. Unfortunately, it gained so much momentum it never really stopped. What would happen is you'd get just insane power levels (like in Urza block), and they'd "correct" it by releasing a block that was just, generally, awful (Masques). And this cycle repeats, though lately...it seems to be stuck at Spaceballs "ludicrous speed". The game has changed so much since my last time playing, I barely recognize it anymore. I'd never dissuade anyone from wanting to give it a go, it was and imagine still very much is fun...just know what you're getting into. The Prof here is most assuredly a great resource for that. :)

As someone looking to get into MTG this is really helpful! Great video filled with helpful info

I'm getting back into magic, and honestly kind of blown away at how hard it is to find Standard events any more. I live in a large metro and could easily play Modern or Pioneer at any number of local shops but none of them seem to be doing Standard as their FNM format any more. /shrug

I really appreciate how you push going to an LGS - a small business. I support my LGS with a comic subscription and cards. Thanks again!

Im truly blessed at my LGS here in Colorado, we run a rotation of pioneer, standard, and draft each month for fnm, with most of the same regulars and even new people showing up for each. Often times those who have built for standard will tweak their lists to adopt some of what pioneer has to offer since we only fire pioneer once a month and for our RCQ’s!

Nice to see someone promoting standard play. Standard is really fun right now, bans have calmed down, and the variety is so good! I see a lot of doom and gloom about how it's expensive, but playing competitively in every format is expensive, and standard cards that cost a lot are almost always played heavily in other formats as well

Pioneer is where it’s at imo 💪🏻💪🏻 standards fun tho

The main barrier to entry for Standard is the amount of LGS that no longer host standard stores! None in my area in the UK do any, it's all Modern, Pioneer, Commander and Drafts!

I will also add, the mono white version of soldiers slaps quite hard, I lent it to a buddy last friday and he plowed through the midrange and gruul piles to go 4-0, even beating my upgraded dimir draw two which im trying to tech to beat the growing soldier menace at my FNM 😂

I'm about to have 1year into MTG, I started with arena, I play a lot with my friends in Italy even tho I'm in Venezuela through MtgArena. And I think standard it's a cool way to start playing since the pool of cards it's lower to historic, but as I'm improving, I'm getting the hang of EDH so.. that path it's a cool way to learn for new people

What a strange time it must be to get into Magic... Enjoy the art, and enjoy the game. Make sure to buy cards and play at your LGS. If it weren't for my LGS, I would be boycotting Wizards right now. Great community getting raked over the coals by Hasbro.

Thank you for making this video. I always get looked cross-eyed when I tell people "I like to play standard". I don't care that a new set is released every 3 months, they fact is everyone that is playing Commander is still buying each set multiple boxes at a time. Why don't we all use these cards we have to play the game the way it was intended. Multiple fast games, with 0 turn 1 infinite combo CEDH deck! Thanks

Just started playing again after taking a break since like 2016 and mono blue is exactly what I built for standard. I love the deck it's super fun to play

Commander is Eden on Earth but i LOVE Standard when Standard is "good". new cards and new mechanics, always refreshing.

mono blue is just good and I would argue competitive against the meta. Everyone is playing 3 color midrange so, already tempoing themselves.

I'm brand new to magic but I've really been enjoying Alchemy on mtg arena. Draft is super fun too.

I don't care about standard, but I care about you prof, so I'll watch the video

Favorite Format with my favorite Deck: Commander: Chandra Tribal Foil deck!!!! Yep ALL Chandra and Jaya planeswalker in the deck :D

"Playing Standard" in 2023 sounds like a grim irony. Truly a time to be alive.

Thank you Professor for having content for all MTG players, even if I wouldn't touch Standard with a 10ft pole. lol

Thank you Professor! I'm doing my best to learn!

Wish you made more of the Tolarian Tutor videos... They are my favorite and are usually excellent.

Thank you very much, I don't have any friends that play this and have wanted to learn for a long time.

My old LGS pre-release prize support was a flat 2 packs + 2 packs per round win. So, you always got + 2-8 prize packs, which most everyone liked.

It should be noted: they RECENTLY announced the change of standard sets will rotate out every 3 years now instead of 2. So the mentioned innistrad sets are still legal for another year.

My local shop has yet to if ever fully recover from COVID for Magic and it's almost all EDH now. Standard died out, the shop moved away from singles, and found their new groove by catering more to the miniature and D&D groups. The sole judge on the ownership team sold his share to work at USPS so it's up to the players to try and sort out rules problems. The EDH players are happy to pay the table fee since the lack of a judge on staff drove the 60-card spikes to shops further out. Arena makes Standard easy, I don't miss it as much since I don't have time to update decks for another format. Thankfully Pioneer is in a decent place and Modern only has a Horizons set every other year.

Thx prof i was bummed my LGS switched to standard and after this vid you got me a little hyped.

Very helpful. Was thinking of getting into standard with phyrexia anyway

I just built the blue tempo deck in arena, what a fun deck!

I'm grateful for this video. Standard is really enjoyable at the moment. Sure there are a handful of overpowered and overplayed cards but there's tonnes of cheap, interesting, and complex cards to brew with and it's not particularly difficult to build a deck that can handle an opposing Sheoldred or Fable of the Mirror Breaker. At the moment paper standard is a low-risk investment - most of the dollar value of multicolor meta decks is in multiformat staples whose value is largely derived from Commander and Pioneer playability. If you buy a playset of, for example, Fable of the Mirror Breaker or Raffine's Tower it will almost certainly hold its value past rotation. Or you can just build monored, monoblue, or UW soldiers for under $50. I just don't agree with the people who moan about the expense of standard. I'm playing monowhite midrange. With 3 copies of the Wandering Emperor and Lion Sash instead of Unlicensed Hearse my deck has a current value of just under $200. After Brother's War released I spent about $20 updating my deck with Lay Down Arms, Tocasia's Welcome, Steel Seraph, and Loran of the Third Path. I imagine spending another $50 or so on relevant cards that might be released in the next 2 sets. If I sell the deck after rotation I would expect to recover the bulk of its price - I don't expect the money cards like Wandering Emperor and Wedding Announcement to fall significantly in price post-rotation. Even if my deck loses $100 post-rotation I will still consider it very good value for the games I've gotten out of it. All leisure activities have a cost and playing paper standard seems like better value to me than going to the cinema, going to a bar, or playing video games. Playing Standard also gives me an incentive to attend drafts and pre-releases, which have negative EV but are fun regardless.

I’m 34 and I’ve never played MTG. I’m looking to get into it though, this vid was very informative and I’m definitely going to head to my local game store (Gamers Paradise, in Baton Rouge, LA). Im not the best people person but I’m hoping this’ll break me out my shell a bit! Thanks!!

I have and always will love the standard format, i play casually with my friend, and i started out playing standard, not commander. Its fun to try and throw something together that works in the format 👍

Hey! Thanks for staying relevant and I want to request an introspection into Pauper Commander

Hello, per your request: my favorite format was modern prior to horizons. Thank you!

@TheProfessor I know that this doesnt have much to do with this video, but since your deck box kickstarter was such a success, have you considered possibly trying other kickstarter ideas in the future? I know for example that myself and many Magic the Gathering players would love a binder that was made for cycles of cards (aka 5 cards wide) to make collection sorting a breeze. Just a thought for you professor :)

the problem with standard is that it rotates much too quickly for getting invested in it to be worth it, at least for me. I love the idea of taking a break from the extremely competitive and high powered scenery that is Legacy, and perhaps even Modern, and trying out completely new decks with fresh unique synergies, mechanics, and interactions. However, I am not fortunate enough to have a local game store in my immediate area, and the one place that I could have reasonably traveled to closed down almost as soon as I got into magic a few years ago. I might be lucky to officially use a standard deck once or twice per rotation if i really try, but even that's not guaranteed. Maybe one day I'll set myself up in a place where i can go to a game store regularly, but even if so, I'll be missing out on a lot of supposedly fun standard formats. Apparently I already missed out on being able to use any cards from my favorite standard set so far, adventures into the forgotten realms, and it feels like i just drafted it not that long ago :/

Thanks for helping to encourage standard play. I've gotten back into it and I actually find it pretty fun.

Think this is the 1st time I am actually wondering...are many/any Magic the Gathering players asking this question right now?

Great video as always. But damn it’s sad to hear about all these event and pre-releases. In Russia we are screwed by all the events and the game is no longer supported here. We weren’t the most lucrative market anyway so it could have happened any day but it’s really sad. The prices were very high since 2014 and now it’s just crazy. Standard is not an option here anymore. Too expensive and with no fnm it’s basically dead.

I haven't played standard since og theros and I think I'll be keeping it that way lol

Thank you for this wonderful guide!

I live in a city with a metro area of ~500k people... The shops around here almost never do standard. But hopefully that changes soon

Finally, The Professor shows Standard some love

I love the way you say Haughty Jinn

Hi Proff! Commander is my favourite, for now

What's interesting about this topic is WEDGE IS BACK! YAY!

I like this video, commander is just another format I like the small card pool of standard

lol a few months ago in a strixhaven draft, we were half-way through (i was planning a blue-green ramp) and I drew a founder dragon of the archetype that the next person was playing (I took it)

Thank you

I love Commander and Pauper. Commander for the multiplayer and dealing and backstabbing. It’s something for everyone ❤ Pauper because I love that common cards gets to shine more than most rares. I’m a proud mono blue delver player and was named queen of pauper in my local community 😊 In commander I play mono blue Jace tribal 😂 it’s weird but fun

I’ve been enjoying black and blue with flying dudes it’s pretty sick.

I decided to build a mono blue tempo deck to take to friday night magic, see if i can get my daughter to play with it. I was only short 3 haughty djinns and 1 delver of secrets a couple of spells, it was a $13 purchase since it was so cheap thinking of adding a second Otawara, Soaring City

Great vid Prof! Let's forget about WotC for a moment and remember how good is Standard for an LGS in order to attract new players

I only play Standard and Commander and I enjoy the stark contrast between the two formats. In Casual Commander, rounds can quickly go on for 2 hours or more. In Standard, you're through after a maximum of 20 minutes, usually less. Commander is eternal legal, Standard is very limited, and the current Standard meta is very broad and interesting (though Black is quite ahead). I think it's great that the Professor is back to this format after declaring it dead for a long time. Let's hope that the health of Standard will not be "poisoned" by ONE.

Great video! You've got a typo on the What to Expect at a Standard Event slide. It reads "enrty" instead of "entry."

Ty so much prof been needing this video for min one love keep up the amazing content🫶🏽

Mono-Red is my favorite way to play standard. You get to go fast.

"Standard is the most common format for Friday Night Magic events" from my experience is no longer a true statement. All stores near me have switched to Commander or Draft for FNM.

I would love to see a tutorial for Alchemy (one of my two formats!) cuz I play lots and probably have a high L count at this point

I am getting into magic right now and decks for Pioneer and Modern are all couple hundred dollars :D mono aggro red in standard is 89 dollar :D Sadly my local game store doesnt play standard tournaments, it seems to be pretty unliked in my area (vienna, austria). They have nearly everything else tough: Commander, Pioneer, Legacy, Modern

I'm 27 and just got into MTG to connect with an old friend 😢 couldn't have got it this quick without the Professor.

thanks

Thanks to you I got into MTG and is so fun! Btw is Standard best choice in MTGO if I want to invest in a single deck and make some money? Again... thanks a lot for your engaging videos.

when the prof does more for standard than wizards... i am actually not asking for much support from wizards, but to realize magic is not all about commander and bring back the showdown booster (i mean did you see the japanese promos ? i would settle for just the showdown booster) ... now our store runs just 1 standard event per month and this killed the format finally, since people dont wanna build a deck, which at best they can only play for 3 months

On Arena you can actually pretty easily build a tier1 standard deck without paying a single dollar, it just will take a bit of patience. The wildcard system allows for enough of the expensive cards that you can pretty well build almost any deck in standard, but that will then probably be your only deck in standard for the rest of the cycle, with minor adjustments here and there. The main bottleneck for tier1 decks on Arena will be the Rare wildcard rarity, with most of the more complex manabases requiring duals/triomes that for the most part are always on the Rare rarity.

I really want standard to be a thing locally, we play lots of commander but I'd enjoy the competition

Many Magic the Gathering players often ask the question, why would you want to play Standard

Casual is my favorite. Just slap some cards down and go.

It would be nice to have new content on budget standard options

good vid

When I saw urborg luhrgoyf I really wanted ro try standard for the first time

Fantastic video Professor! #standard4life

I love sealed events, but I absolutely hate draft events. For one, I'm just bad at it, and every event I have ever attended I've just pulled trash. I hate that 'drafting' (at least at the events I have attended) have always been near impossible for more casual players to do well at, because everyone else comes in and drafts meta picks, or just sits and take the money cards. It's also very off-putting to here 'in the know' players after the draft being like 'there were a lot of strange passes that were actually worth things' because you're sitting there actually trying to contruct in your own colors and not looking up every single money card before hand. I've also seen the money chasing players get their spouse/SO to draft who then just leaves with the cards and doesn't even play. I don't want to have to rigorously study the meta to go out and have a good time, but every store I've frequented that clearly has been a requirement if you want a single win. I feel like Sealed is much more even footing because its a 'you get what you get' and doesn't require immediate knowledge of the entire set before it even comes out.

Got some starter decks for Christmas, want to get into it more. I played MTG arena and liked standard the best as a gamemode. Seems like a lot of money to rotate cards every year

i got 4 lgs in my area. Only Modern Pioneer and Legacy besides EDH

I would love to see a video covering ALL of the different formats with a 1-2 minute explanation of each? I looked through your video history and see videos covering different formats, but not one that covers ALL formats.

I have 4 cards shops close to me non so standard due to a decline of entrance cause of arena apparently I mean I play commander now it’s great but wondered if others have this problem

I live in a major US city and as far as I can tell all of the LGS's have stopped holding Standard events. I enjoy the format on Arena, but as far as I can tell it's completely dead in paper in my area. The competitive people I know have moved on to Modern, Pioneer, or Flesh and Blood.

My wife has been working on a Canine, Feline & Treefolk deck. The amount of single hunting is fun & finding the best synergies available to combat my Wall & Defenders. Thank you for the lesson Professor.

The only time I dared to go near an official event was a FNM right after Mirrodin had released, thinking it could be fun. Before the event I played with my WU morph deck against a kid with a frog-affinity deck... by turn 4 I conceded. I picked up my stuff left, and never looked back.

After 5th edition I gave all my cards away and went on about my life.. I was shocked that so many formats exist now that I'm playing again. I found with my budget and play group it was easier and cheaper to buy a bunch of commander precons, tear them apart and go from there. Any other suggestions for building a large collection?

This may sound like a stupid question, but when building a deck, do the cards have to be copies from the current sets? Like, if I wanted to use duress in a deck, but I didn't like the midnight hunt print, would I be able to use the strixhaven archive print as an example?

are there *active* online communities (like discords) where i would be able to get deckbuilding advice? I really hit a wall with my standard deck and don't know if i just need to scrap it for something more meta or if it can be optimized

Gf is gonna be an early viewer of this one, if ive got anything to say about it 😂

Got the feeling the New best way to introduce someone to mtg is Pioneer or pauper. Then EDH to have fun in multiplayers. To someone new the "temporary usefull deck before it becomes useless, despite the money spent" is a stop.