[MtG] Attempt at a U/R Deck

[Krein]

I've only recently started to play Magic: the Gathering after getting a bit bored of Yugioh and wanting another card game to play in general. The type of deck I'm looking to use is an Aggro-Control styled one that can put a good amount of damage early on while disrupting or slowing down my opponent's game.

[spoiler=U/R Deck]Creatures (16):
4 Warden of Evos Isle
3 Lotus Path Djinn
3 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
2 Jeskai Windscout
2 Aven Surveyor
2 Mistfire Adept

Instants (14):
4 Lightning Strike
4 Searing Spear
4 Disdainful Stroke
2 Nullify

Sorcery (6):
4 Howl of the Horde
2 Void Snare

Land (24):
6 Island
6 Mountains
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Temple of Epiphany[/spoiler]

 

[spoiler=U/R Deck v.I've Revised This So Many Times]Monsters (16):

4 Warden of Evos Isle

4 Snapcaster Mage

3 Thunderbreak Regents

2 Stormbreath Dragon

2 Icefall Regents

1 Kilnmouth Dragon

 

Instants (9):

4 Mana Leak

3 Remand

2 Vapor Snag

 

Sorcery (5):

4 Ponder

1 Devil's Play

 

Enchantment (4):

4 Dragon Tempest

2 Curse of Stalked Prey

 

Lands (24):

6 Island

6 Mountain

4 Sclading Tarn

4 Sulfur Falls

4 Temple of Epiphany[/spoiler]

I think it works out alright, but I feel it could be better. Where it is now, I can damage my opponent with Searing Spear and Lightning Strike and increase the damage further with Howl of the Horde mid to late game (provided I have the two cards in hand). All of the creatures have flying to attack my opponent with a low chance of being blocked, and Warden of Evos Isle helps in making them cheaper to summon.

I have a feeling that the deck can me more controlling and disruptive, and I'm well aware that U and R have a crapton of good cards that could help. CnC is very welcome.

[Poc]

U/R aggro is a pretty popular and powerful archetype in magic.id recommend looking up some modern or legacy delver lists for some inspiration. It looks like your building a deck for a casual format so your options for cards are pretty open. I suggest grabbing some delver of secrets, lightning bolts, young pyromancer, ponders and preordains. They are all super powerful cards and pretty cheap and easy to find.

For counter magic, mana leak and counterspell are extremely powerful and are both common cards so they are cheap and plentiful. Unsummon or vapour snag are really strong cards for this type of deck and are much better than void snare.

I'm not sure what your budget is but If you have piles of cash to burn, grab some snapcasters. They are ridiculously powerful. Remand is one of the best tempo spells ever and electrolyze is strong removal and burn.

[Krein]

Those are some awesome suggestions, they definitely help with the control aspect of the deck, and for cheap mana cost too!

As for my budget, I usually have to cap my spending at around $70. The only thing I think I'll have to pass on are the Scalding Tarns. Shit's way too expensive for one card :(.

The format the people at the card shop I go to recommend I play is Standard, whatever that means. Is this basically Casual?

[Poc]

There are a few cards in this list that are not StandArd legal. The most popular format is standard as it has the most support from wizards. If you want to make this a standard deck look into some Jeskai tempo lists. Most of the cards, other than the mana base are pretty cheap to buy.

[.Rai]

Standard allows you to play cards from the latest few sets, essentially: the latest two blocks (each of three sets; currently Tarkir and Theros blocks) and the current core sets (Magic 2015, and soon Magic Origins). Magic's mixing this structure up a little bit soon-ish, but you can look up news for that later.

I agree that it's the most friendly format to play with. As the amount of cards you can play are reasonable, but ultimately limited, you can get a sense of what's good and what's not without being overwhelmed.

Most of the cards here are Standard-legal. Scalding Tarn, Sulfur Falls, Warden of Evos Isle and Searing Spear are those that aren't.

[Krein]

I see. Cool. Is there a format where I could play all the cards in the deck? At least for Warden, because he's important in keeping the cost of my monsters low since pretty much all of them except Mistfire Adept have flying.

In the same line of formats, what about Modern? Also, where could I find some lists, like the Jeskai Tempo list you (Poc) mentioned?

Edit: Anyhow, what are some suggestions for the deck that are in line with Standard.... standards?

[.Rai]

On Your Deck:

Warden is cool, but probably not a hugely powerful card. In general, it's a solid deck, but definitely fairly average power. Most of the cards you're playing are low-impact cards. I'd personally play a red aggro deck. They're generally really cheap, really powerful decks to build every season. If you want to stay the UR route, I'll try and write up some good stuff later.

On Formats:

Casual. Not an official format, but if you have friends or a playgroup that likes just playing good freestyle magic, that's your calling. But, in general, the older (i.e. larger) the cardpool in a format, the more powerful and competitive it can get. I'll link some of the info Wizards gives; they're very helpful with this stuff in general. Just wander around their website. Great stuff. http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/formats

The big three worth noting are Standard, Modern and Legacy:

[url=http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/standard-formats-magic-gathering]Standard:[/url] A rotating format consisting of the latest two blocks and associated core sets.
[url=http://magic.wizards.com/en/gameinfo/gameplay/formats/modern]Modern:[/url] All block sets and core sets from 8th Edition onwards are playable. No cards ever leave the format (i.e. non-rotating), but there is essentially a cutoff for really old cards.
[url=http://magic.wizards.com/en/gameinfo/gameplay/formats/legacy]Legacy:[/url] Probably most familiar to you as a YGO player. Lets you play all cards in all sets ever printed.

On Decklists:

There are lots of websites that have lots of good Magic content. ChannelFireball is one of those places, and always posts lots of play videos, articles, tournament reports and decklists for you to check out. The most recent Jeskai deck I could find was [url=http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/week-in-review-jeskai-returns/]this one[/url]. Just scroll down a bit. That's a bit of a lie, as the most recent good list on the site is probably this one[/url], but it's in video form. On the plus side, it's by one of the best players in the world, there's explanation and has lots of matches for you to watch of how to play the deck.

Alternatively, the [url=http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/winning-decks]Wizards website's deck archive[/url] has lots of winning lists. There's a good chance you'll find a Jeskai list amongst the Top 8s of Standard events from this year. There's also the [url=http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/competitive/proven-standard]MTGSalvation forums[/url] and their Standard section. In the link I've given, one of the write-ups is on Jeskai Tempo in Standard. Great place overall by the way if you're checking out new lists and stuff.

[Simping For Hina]

On Your Deck:

Warden is cool, but probably not a hugely powerful card. In general, it's a solid deck, but definitely fairly average power. Most of the cards you're playing are low-impact cards. I'd personally play a red aggro deck. They're generally really cheap, really powerful decks to build every season. If you want to stay the UR route, I'll try and write up some good stuff later.

On Formats:

Casual. Not an official format, but if you have friends or a playgroup that likes just playing good freestyle magic, that's your calling. But, in general, the older (i.e. larger) the cardpool in a format, the more powerful and competitive it can get. I'll link some of the info Wizards gives; they're very helpful with this stuff in general. Just wander around their website. Great stuff. http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/formats

The big three worth noting are Standard, Modern and Legacy:

Standard: A rotating format consisting of the latest two blocks and associated core sets.
Modern: All block sets and core sets from 8th Edition onwards are playable. No cards ever leave the format (i.e. non-rotating), but there is essentially a cutoff for really old cards.
Legacy: Probably most familiar to you as a YGO player. Lets you play all cards in all sets ever printed.

On Decklists:

There are lots of websites that have lots of good Magic content. ChannelFireball is one of those places, and always posts lots of play videos, articles, tournament reports and decklists for you to check out. The most recent Jeskai deck I could find was this one. Just scroll down a bit. That's a bit of a lie, as the most recent good list on the site is probably this one[/url], but it's in video form. On the plus side, it's by one of the best players in the world, there's explanation and has lots of matches for you to watch of how to play the deck.

Alternatively, the Wizards website's deck archive has lots of winning lists. There's a good chance you'll find a Jeskai list amongst the Top 8s of Standard events from this year. There's also the MTGSalvation forums and their Standard section. In the link I've given, one of the write-ups is on Jeskai Tempo in Standard. Great place overall by the way if you're checking out new lists and stuff.

We shall use this from now on as a quote for any newer members interested in MtG.

[Krein]

Edited the OP with the most recent version of my U/R deck. It's obviously much different than the first one I have listed, so feedback would be appreciated.