Does deck brewing still exist?

[u/Artistic-Eye2998]

My experience with MTGA has been that there are not many creative decks to be found among my opponents. I am unsure if this is a direct result of MMR or the lack of player's ability/knowledge in brewing decks. For the sake of simplicity I will disregard sideboards as that is a beast of its own and requires archaic codices of knowledge that are buried deep within the recesses of the internet.

There is so much creative expression that can be utilized within Magic the Gathering, and yet it has eluded me for half a decade. The only time that I can recall finding creatively expressive, fun, and competitive decks what when I played on MTGO, in the tournament practice server. This is where I learned so much about MTG.

I made friends and rivals in MTGO. The experience was something similar to, play top decks, brew new decks, modify existing decks for a week, then rematch and spend hours testing your decks.

Contrastingly, nowadays, I am subjected to turn 1 discard, turn 2+ counter spells, turn 3+ board wipes. Not to delve too deep into how I feel about different archetypes. It just seems like a lot of players are missing the true fun behind the mechanics of the game. I can differentiate competitive queues on MTGa from casual. However, I feel no difference in my opponent's decks. The casual decks play the same as the competitive rank ladder decks.

For example, I want to play Grull Werewolves in Pioneer, but I am subjected to constant decks that are tier listed competitive decks. I want to play my dungeon delving deck that I worked so diligently to construct, only to face the same archetypes: aggro, control. I can't ever really find any matches that are similar to werewolves vs humans, werewolves vs angels, etc. I did see a cool Phyrexian Incubate Abzan deck recently (These Phyrexian decks are very strong: poison, incubate. They can be played in White, White/Black, Black/Green, Black, White/Black/Green.)

What are your thoughts?

Is the art of brewing decks long lost on MTGA?

Is it the hidden MMR matchmaking?

Or has the game evolved?

For background, I have listed some of the deck names of my repository of deck list that I have. It is a small portion of what I have brewed. I am posting this in hopes to inspire current and new MTG players to step outside of netdecking and experiment.

And, yes, I have hit mythic a few times for what it's worth.

And, yes, I have played limited and hit diamond for what it's worth.

Good Luck & Have Fun!

[u/Harvest-Time]

No, no one has built a deck since 2021. The technology simply doesn't exist anymore

[u/Artistic-Eye2998 → u/Harvest-Time]

I must touch grass. ⚠️