Hi,
I've been playing Modern for a few years with my friends using proxy decks, I think the format is really fun but I never considered actually buying a deck because it was just too much money and I'd rather keep playing for free with my friends. Recently, though, I've been more interested to play in tournaments against new people, but I still need to be more conscious about a few things, since it's difficult for me to make such an expense. Here's something I thought:
1. Many suggest starting with a budget deck, and then upgrading it afterwards. Seems reasonable, but I tried to proxy a few budget decks, and even if playing with a weaker deck might have some benefits, it's just not the same fun in my opinion.
But more importantly: aren't you just going to spend more money overall? Plus, you delay your opportunity to have an optimized deck.
a. The less the cards cost, the more you pay proportionally in shipping costs when ordering them. For example, if i start with a 100€ budget build, I'll spend like almost 50% in shipping, whereas if I pay 1000€, the shipping cost is only going to be like 10%.
b. If the final goal is to have a competitive deck, this way I'd be buying more cards in general.
c. There is the risk that by the time I've completed the deck, the meta might have changed and it could be less effective (or banned).
2. Other players suggested me that probably Modern isn't the best way to start - I should instead begin with more accessible formats and start building a collection.
Again, I don't think in my case this makes much sense: as before, I would be spending more overall, with no guarantee that the same cards will be played in my modern deck. And modern it's just the format I enjoy, anyway.
3. The approach I tend to lean towards at the moment is this: against common opinion, it would seem wiser to invest something like 1000€ in one go to just buy the deck - with the idea to resell the cards once I get bored or the deck becomes not really viable. This is not possible with a budget deck, as most of the value I spent would be on shipping. It's inevitable that I'll lose quite a bit of money (shipping cost, cards losing value) but idk I still think it might be my best option.
Does this all make sense to you? Or do you have any other suggestion?
Thanks in advance! 
Bearbeitet von pULE_BlueGoat, 29. März 2023 - 09:00.
