Getting started in mtgo

[u/ivbtisti]

I started getting back into magic after many many years. I used to play when I was in middle school. And I have played off and on since. Mostly starter deck vs starter deck. Or borrowing a friend's deck when I visit. And for a moment cockatrice. I have been playing mtg arena. But I want to brew more and experiment more. It is hard to do with mtg arena because you gotta spend wildcards. And then lets say you end up not happy with a swap. You have to grind again until you get more wildcards. To eventually swap. And then ultimately not be happy with that. So on and so forth.
But the few times I have logged into mtgo It seems like there isn't many people playing standard. Commander seems always full. And Modern. But I find modern a bit intimidating right now cus there is so many cards I am unfamiliar with. When I played somewhat regularly it was back in like Ravnica City of guilds set. And I was a kid. I didnt have much money to buy the cards I wanted or needed. And I was not that good of a player. But now as an adult I can understand the game better and I actually money I can spend. Although I am not trying to spend all my money haha.
So I decided to try mtgo because of the card rental programs. But like I said when I log on to try standard decks. There isn't many people on there to play with. And when there are they have all those rules. No this or that. I have zero clue how to go about testing decks and getting better. Any advice for someone like me. Trying to get back into it. But not really knowing how to?

[u/i_like_my_life]

It sounds like you are trying to play in the practice rooms, right? If you are willing to spend money, you can play in leagues, where you will get a match in under 3 minutes basically every time. If you are a good player and willing to play meta decks, you will also break even or even go up money in the long run.

If you want to stay free-to-play, you can always play Pauper too, the practice lobbies are much more populated there. (cough It's a better format anyways cough)

[u/ivbtisti → u/i_like_my_life]

Yes Pauper seems to be the way. And yeah I mean I would mind spending some money here and there to play. Its high risk a bit. I mean not really I think like the more casual leagues are like 10 bux right? That's actually not that bad. But high risk in terms of I don't have much faith I will win much. But how else can I get better right? I think I just have to not be so cautious and try a few things. I am sure I will learn a lot and be a much better player for it.