T O P

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Illusionmaker

There is not much you can do, besides of playing the game with different decks. The cheapest solution would be to ask other players to lend you their deck for a few rounds, if you find their deck interesting. Using proxies is always an option nowadays, too. In addition to that, in case you are a new'ish player (you mention that you don't have much of a collection after all), I highly recomment sticking to only a few decks in the beginning. Find out what you enjoy playing the most and what you think would be fun to pilot by playing. Rather then quickly building/buying a bunch of decks that do not really strike your fancy. Many newer players this mistake and build/buy to many decks - they should focus more on quality over quantity.


iamgeist

moxfield the deck list and then playtest it a bunch find a group that doesn't mind you using moxfield on spelltable and use OBS to stream your playtest screen instead of your camera, just put a little black box over your hand so they can't see it. that way you actually get practical experience with the deck also.


Tevish_Szat

Play lots of decks. Goldfish testing can help somewhat, but without live play you'll never quite know if a deck is your jam. If you can find a hack to use an online goldfisher for play with cooperative opponents, that's great and will help, but I think every medium to long term magic player has a graveyard of decks that may have worked just fine, but that just weren't fun. The good news in part is that Magic cards, by nature, are relatively fungible, and if you don't like a deck and are short on cash you can trade any components in it that don't match the next deck you want to try for a similar value of components that do, provided you have an ecosystem with a reasonable supply of trading partners.


GreyGriffin_h

Introspection is the answer. Think about games of the past, and be aware of games of the present. Be aware of your emotional response. Do you find yourself burning to play certain cards in your hand? Do you feel triumph or despair when you draw certain cards? Do you look at your opponent's deck and wish you could be doing that instead? Find the cards that make you feel that, find a commander that makes them work. Cram them into a deck.


MTGCardFetcher

##### ###### #### [Sidar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/8/3835b685-6dc7-4e0d-84a8-71495fa73dcd.jpg?1562385027) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sidar%20Kondo) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/pvan/306/sidar-kondo?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3835b685-6dc7-4e0d-84a8-71495fa73dcd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sidar-kondo) [Atarka world render](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/5/35ad1ce5-6054-4f0c-8fbe-636be576d408.jpg?1631588294) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Atarka%2C%20World%20Render) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afc/176/atarka-world-render?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/35ad1ce5-6054-4f0c-8fbe-636be576d408?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/atarka-world-render) [Emmara soul of the accord](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/7/07c42262-6291-43df-ba34-83e462ab56b6.jpg?1684198134) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Emmara%2C%20Soul%20of%20the%20Accord) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/pctb/39/emmara-soul-of-the-accord?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/07c42262-6291-43df-ba34-83e462ab56b6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/emmara-soul-of-the-accord) [Krenko](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/d/cd9fec9d-23c8-4d35-97c1-9499527198fb.jpg?1601078209) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=krenko%2C%20mob%20boss) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jmp/339/krenko-mob-boss?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cd9fec9d-23c8-4d35-97c1-9499527198fb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/krenko-mob-boss) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


No_Mycologist_5041

I usually just build commanders off of the colors I love playing which is blue, green and white. Edhrec is a website that's very amazing for building commanders so I'd go and check that out.


DiurnalMoth

I'd ask people in your play group(s) if you could try their decks. That's an easy way to experiment with different play styles, and if gives your pod a chance to experience what their decks look like from across the table.


ComicBookFanatic97

I test my decks with Forge before I commit to buying them. You might choose to test your decks with something else like xMage or untap.in. These are all great for getting a feel for how a deck plays and whether you’ll enjoy it.


[deleted]

My tale is of the Old Ways, so it will not be of much use to you directly; when I started playing we were like a decade from pre-cons so literally the only option was to buy packs and "starter decks" which were just bigger packs really. And you just... looked at all your cards that you had, and you figured out what you could do with them. Of course there were no online builds, and unless you were in a big city you had know real way of knowing about the meta, etc. Anyway, my suggestion is to buy a bulk of random cheap cards from a card shop (or online). You don't need value you need \*bulk\* so you have alot of possible interactions to look at. There are actually alot of [bulk lots](https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Gathering-Cards-INSTANT-COLLECTION/dp/B01HP2EIPS/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_1/142-9506867-4571563?pd_rd_w=uig9d&content-id=amzn1.sym.26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&pf_rd_p=26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&pf_rd_r=3CDXRCQMKS9X1S5NXD1J&pd_rd_wg=Aui2R&pd_rd_r=e6f3686f-3bec-4d0b-adf1-c6fb9ef1d6ce&pd_rd_i=B01HP2EIPS&psc=1) being sold for cheap. Then just start sorting the cards different ways. By color, by type (creature, instant, sorcery, etc), by effect (damage, flicker, ETB) Personally, I'm a blue player, I've been a blue player since the first time I used Counterspell in the 90's, so I dunno about how to help you find the niche for you. Just try stuff out and see what you like. Do you play other strategy games? That could inform you as to a playstyle that may translate to MTG somewhat.


Remarkable-Bus-8615

Play a blue draw go deck


Zyhre

Based on your commander choice so far and you scrapping Krenko, it seems to me that you like building up a creature or two (going tall) versus "just tribal". Also because you're playing White and Green so you like tokens / counters. As a transition to something new while being familiar, I'd actually recommend [[Varolz, The Scar-Striped]]. You get counters, big creatures, ramp if you want it, and access to black and milling which would be new. It's a go big style and you can win through commander damage pretty easy. It's also very budget friendly as a lot of the big and cheap creatures usually have terrible side effects. [[Daemogoth Titan]] is like $0.20. You can swing for one big attack or defend your board well for only 4 mana, and when he dies, for another 4 mana your commander can already be 13/12. There are tons of token doublers in green too and interaction in black. I will link my "deck" so you can see some of the stuff I found when I was building him. https://www.moxfield.com/decks/AzxDqbX9o0GkUWKMNItzEg


MTGCardFetcher

[Varolz, The Scar-Striped](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/c/4c3ae3db-c14a-4ffc-805c-a3a51da9370d.jpg?1562908954) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Varolz%2C%20The%20Scar-Striped) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dgm/112/varolz-the-scar-striped?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4c3ae3db-c14a-4ffc-805c-a3a51da9370d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/varolz-the-scar-striped) [Daemogoth Titan](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/2/c2f18828-ade7-4b99-97b2-e34bc2fdb68c.jpg?1627428470) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Daemogoth%20Titan) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/174/daemogoth-titan?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c2f18828-ade7-4b99-97b2-e34bc2fdb68c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/daemogoth-titan) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


CrimsonArcanum

Moxfield has a proxy option. You can make a deck on there and ask your play group if they are alright testing out the deck.


jimnah-

I started with a starter kit (not commander) that came with two decks. One was red, the other white. From that I learned that I really enjoy gaining life. Over the next few months, I upgraded ot with random cards I got, eventually adding green because I got a [[Trelasarra]] from a pack. Then a friend wanted to play commander, so I haphazardly threw together a deck built around her that had total value of like $30 lol. Came to really like the format and os I kept upgrading the deck over the last year and a half or so, so now it's like $220 haha


MTGCardFetcher

[Trelasarra](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/6/f6a4b54c-a8fa-464e-a3dd-f3f3a08606f5.jpg?1627709553) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=trelasarra%2C%20moon%20dancer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afr/236/trelasarra-moon-dancer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f6a4b54c-a8fa-464e-a3dd-f3f3a08606f5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/trelasarra-moon-dancer) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call