(I wrote this post on the MTG Salvation forums in response to two post: Why do you netdeck & Why DON’T you netdeck, but my post read more like an article, so I decided to post it here is well. Click Here for the original.)
With all this discussion on Netdecks vs Homebrew, I just wanted to bring to light the ridiculousness of this conversation.
Everyone Netdecks & Everyone Homebrews. Why does it matter?
Every Homebrewer has a deck that looks remarkably like a deck that was listed online with just 2 or 3 changes so they can rationalize the “homebrew” version.
Every NetDecker has a deck that they custom built and want to take to FNM, but they are a little nervous that they will totally bomb and finish last.
NetDecking breeds Homebrewing. A new player starts with the cards they have. They are forced to homebrew and they get beat A LOT. Then they get online to try and find the best combonations of these cards. They find a deck and realize, “If I buy 1 of these and 4 of these, I can have a pretty nice deck”. So, they buy a few cards. Now they have a “NetDeck” with a few Money Mods. As they get better and better, they start to change some things out. Alter cards to work better with the local metagame. And before you know it, they have a “homebrew” that was once a NetDeck.
The same can be said for the pragmatic Homebrewers. They put together a nice homebrew. They do some play testing against NetDecks and realize that they can beat almost everything but Lark & Elves (which can’t beat Lark either – what does?). So, the time comes for FNM or a PTQ and they bring a Lark deck and the homebrew. Why? Because if a majority of the field is about to throw down Elves, the Homebrewer doesn’t want to lose all night, so he windmills his Lark Netdeck to make some money and have a good time.
In my opinion, the more cards that are available, the more creative homebrews you get (that then turn into net decks). That is why Extended players have crazy sweet homebrews but at your local standard FNM, you will only see a few homebrews in the mix (and they hardly ever win).
There is nothing WRONG with NetDecking. It is smart for new players to do as they learn the game.
There is nothing WRONG with Homebrewing. It is a lot of fun!
Both are part of the game.
Who really cares why we do/don’t netdeck/homebrew? Can we please get off of our high horse and be more accepting of ALL TYPES of magic game play? “Can’t we all just get along.”
I think the Pilot matters just as much (if not more) than the deck. A good pilot can take a bad deck a long way (Quick & Toast
). A bad pilot can’t win with even the best deck. How do you get better? Drive EVERYTHING! Netdecks and Homebrews! Deck building is just 1 part of the game.
It can take up to six months to build a nice house, but that same house can be lived in for a hundred years (baring any bans a restrictions from Wizards of the Coast!
).
Playing the game is just as important as building the deck & building decks provides more insight into playing the game.
June 14, 2008 at 9:59 am
Good post.
I used to build and play homebrews all the time, but then I just got too time consuming to testing homebrews against the field. It’s a lot less time consuming to just pick a netdeck and then make the necessary modifications to win against the decks in your local metagame.
However, I think I can build good homebrews again. I just need to play more to experience the decks out there and how the win and lose. I just picked up the game again after a two-year break.
Also, I like to play netdecks that don’t get much exposure (a current example would be the BR Furystoke token deck). These decks have been tested yet many people don’t know how to play against theme. They’re kinda like rogue netdecks because they’re under the radar of most playtesting groups.
Anyways, keep up the MTG blogging. I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed.