Discussion Forum

The best answer to that is the most recent GP, as that was a Scars only block.

Typically soon after a rotation, players will latch onto a fast aggressive creature based deck, and that will reign for a while. It looks like the current best decks are going to be White and Red:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptnag11/top8decks

[QUOTE=Thoren]I am a new Magic the Gathering player and I've recently began trying my hand at competitive tournaments. Being fresh in such a deep game has been intimidating and difficult. The best decks have been made, card prices have been set, and playing catch up with the Zendikar block feels like a waste of money.

I am hoping that the October block rotation helps level out the playing field for newbies like myself. I have not experienced a rotation, however, and I am curious to what I should expect.

I'm surprised at how heavily the "key cards" of most competitive standard decks are part of the Zendikar block. What can I expect once things such as the Caw and Splinter Twin decks go out of style? Will my Batterskull and Puresteel Paladins still be viable? Should I focus on collecting the newer sets for now? It's difficult as a new player to choose what to invest in. I'm inexperienced, on a budget and $500 decks are staring at me in the face everywhere I play. What's a new MTG player to do?[/QUOTE]

The current standard will change drastically. JTMS, Stoneforge Mystic, and Titans are all rotating out. It is hard to tell how the new standard will be. As TheRabbit said, you should play block to get a good feel for it, and keep a close eye on the M12 spoiler. Things like Batterskull, and the Swords will definitely drop in price, but they are still good cards. If you want to get them but don't want to invest in SFM right now because of the rotation, then wait to buy them, because I'm almost possitive they will drop.

[QUOTE=TheRabbit;25245]The best answer to that is the most recent GP, as that was a Scars only block.

Typically soon after a rotation, players will latch onto a fast aggressive creature based deck, and that will reign for a while. It looks like the current best decks are going to be White and Red:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptnag11/top8decks[/QUOTE]

I think I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. Fast Aggro will probably be part of the top decks, but I doubt it will be dominant. The only reason I say this, is because it seems like wizards is putting more focus on a Combo heavy style with this new standard. With the release of NPH we now have 3 infinite combos (maybe more that I don't know about.). Standard has been Aggro and Control for a while now, and I have a feeling it will be getting away from that for a while. Magic seems to go in cycles, which makes perfect sense. I may be wrong, but that's how I see it.