this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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[–] counterspell@mtgzone.com 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)
  • Commander with low power brackets, no tutors, no infinite combos, and mostly budget decks.

  • Cube Draft.

  • Playing precons against the computer using Forge. I copy the names of the precons from a block, then play them against each other using a bit of randomization:

import itertools, random

decks = ["Deck A", "Deck B", "Deck C", ...]
matchups = list(itertools.combinations(decks, 2))
random.shuffle(matchups)

for i, (deck1, deck2) in enumerate(matchups, 1):
    print(f"Match {i}: {deck1} vs {deck2}")
  • Aside from the usual Theme Decks, some of the most interesting precons are Duel Decks, Pro Tour Collector Sets, Salvat 2005 and 2011, and Commander decks. You can find a full list of precon decks here.
  • Penny Dreadful on MTGO when I want constructed but cheap play.
  • I've played a bunch of Draft and Standard on MTG Arena but I didn't really enjoy it that much. It felt like a chore doing the dailies and just caring about getting the four wins per day.
[–] UnPassive@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

My wife and I have been houseman drafting a cube and it's really fun. We don't try super hard and just have talking about the cards, or other things. Honestly, it's faster than some commander games.

I LOVE draft, so it's cool to have this option that doesn't need fresh packs or 8 people.

[–] lovestha@mtgjudge.social 4 points 2 weeks ago

@counterspell Commander with people who agree on how commander should be played.

[–] UnPassive@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I also have a jumpstart cube, which is fun sometimes. Especially great for new players.

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Jumpstart in general was a lot of fun... but why they made packs of 20 cards instead of 30 is asinine.

[–] UnPassive@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I think they could have done more with bigger packs, but at the same time limited players are used to 40 card decks (at least for draft and sealed).

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

But in an fnm draft or sealed environment you cannot play a jumpstart. And outside of a jumpstart event a 40 card jumpstart deck is useless. But a 60 card jumpstart deck you could play in an fnm standard event. Be it a new player, or someone forgot a deck, buy 2 or 3 packs and you have a deck.

[–] UnPassive@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think Jumpstart is best played against other Jumpstarts. I see it as it's own format. It might be cool to easily have standard decks, but they'd have a pretty low power level. I like that there's so many themes and you can jam a bunch of quick games with different decks.

But a 60 card jumpstart deck you could play in an fnm standard event

I think even when Jumpstart was recently released, they weren't standard legal. Pretty sure the upcoming Avatar Jumpstarts won't be. But for some sets they did have Jumpstart packs that were standard legal, so it could have been a thing!

[–] nocturne@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 week ago

I think even when Jumpstart was recently released, they weren't standard legal.

This was true of the first JumpStart and the 2022 JumpStart, but all of the others were standard legal.

[–] mike@mtgzone.com 3 points 2 weeks ago

I have been looking for a new format to play and I think for me it's a curated cube. I think that offers the most variety and fun and I personally love PreModern so I will try to put an old-frame cube together next and just play that from now on.

I also like pre-constructed tribal decks that are all aligned on their power level. I think that has been the most fun to take Elves vs Goblins. I love what MtG did with Jumpstart and I think that's all I would play if I had more time/money for Magic now.

[–] peteypete420@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

Commander. But that being said I have a regular kitchen table group, so power levels and what not are all more or less agreed upon.

[–] takenaps@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I just finished making a battle box with my old bulk & played first few games, it's awesome.

One deck of about ~125 cards(no lands), 20+ of each color. 5 basics & 5 life gain Dual lands(only life gain in the deck) in the "command zone". 10 starting life. 1v1 format with shared deck & graveyard. Focus on simple mechanics & just attacking/blocking. Avg cmc of 3.

Quick fun games, great for beginners or while waiting up for rest of pod to join. I've got 4 sets of lands so can split the deck up into 2 & get two games going with ut.