I could use some advice that has enough in common with this thread that I didn't want to make a new one.

My brother is a big fan of MtG but I can't seem to get him to give the game a shot. I also feel like if I can convince him I can get a few of his friends to try it too.

His biggest problems with this game being:

-He’s lazy / Doesn't want to learn something new especially with the thought of being inferior at it compared to others
-Intimidated by the fact you start out with so little (even though I try to tell him it's more than enough)

So I’m looking for whatever I can throw at him to make him at least give it a try for a bit. I need to drag him out of his comfort zone or convince him he’s still in it. Some things I’ve thought about:

-Gifting gold
-Forcing him to play a game or 2 with me helping him out/telling him what to do (tutor mode but standing next to him)
-Building some decks for him

The last one I think is something that could help out beginner players in general. I think if we had a few decks posted using default cards but mixing domains for new players to use (at least on ladder) it could go a long ways. New players may need experience more than anything, but I think they want direction the most. I think it’d be even better if we had some of them load up by default or extremely obvious how to access them (mentioned in tutorial or something)

Any feedback is welcome on recruiting my brother and/or the deck idea.

Boozie:
I like the idea of making some decks out of the default decks for new people to try out.

If there was a noob league where only people below a certain number of wins could play and it gave phantoms as prizes do you think he would try that?

I remember there was a some kind of newbie league ending just when I started. Was really looking for another one, but it was never opened...
So yea, I think newbies would really appreciate that.
Option:
Make it as normal league, just you can choose phantom cards for the points you earn there. (I'd see it that you can have a common for a point from that league, uncommon for 3, rare for 6 and odd card for 7? Just something like that.)
The option to choose what card you'll get would make it attractive..

The phantoms would need to be more longtime than 20 days, to make them attractive as prizes. Maybe even permanent phantoms? Naturally they wouldn't still be allowed in clashes.

Permanent Phantoms?

Phantom sounds too temporal to be permanent.

Perhaps a brand new name: Ghost cards.

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Altren wrote:

I agree with Keyser, and that's what I'm planning to implement actually.

|| The Rise of the DCC | Plasmatium Netherious | Tastes Like Chicken | The Astridian Conspiracy ||

Guild -> | Platypus Rising|

Not sure how popular it would be, but I'd love to see a format where you can only use common/uncommon cards or something similar.

I think TFW does a lot of things very well and I like the gameplay better than Pox Nora. The hex grid and the quicker, lighter, more card-game like feel are great as is a goal other than kill your opponent's base.

I like that I can play the game for just $10 (Well, for free, but don't be so cheap if you're doing that! $10 is easy for most people to afford and we want the game to stay around!)

On the other hand, TFW still lacks polish graphically and a lot of people are attracted to window dressing. The community is still small and it can be tough to get games at times. The key is reaching critical mass...other than everyone here bringing in friends, I'm not sure how to do that.

As a noob here it would be great to see a commons only format, or 30/10 C/UC. Can't you put a title to the game or advertise for common only decks before you start? Its a great way to play better people without being smashed by power cards, and you can focus on board play.

This is probably all out there already, and I don't know what I'm talking about. But then my wife says that all the time anyway.......

An idea I've had is to make leagues limited by the total value of the cards in a deck. Maybe leagues for 200, 400, 800, and over 1000g decks.
Value would be based on the current market value. To be valid, I think TFW would need to publish average value of sales for a card on the market. Maybe for the last 10 transactions. New cards or cards rarely traded could be given some default low value. New/useful cards would quickly price themselves out of a league and rarely traded cards are either very expensive or not worth playing.
It sounds interesting to me because it helps level the field between people with large collections and newer/less well off players. Also, your deck for a given league would have to change over time based on how much people value cards. That adds an intriguing element to me.

I like that idea, pug.

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Altren wrote:

I agree with Keyser, and that's what I'm planning to implement actually.

|| The Rise of the DCC | Plasmatium Netherious | Tastes Like Chicken | The Astridian Conspiracy ||

Guild -> | Platypus Rising|

I might also suggest gifting a free pack of Borderlands to everyone who's paid real money (or a certain amount of gold if that's easier), to market the new release.

some release events would be great too. ex: special Keep Card events which predominantly feature borderlands, either draft, leagues, or tournies. I know other games have had good success with designating one card a 'release event' card which is only available while participating in associated events. Usually to keep that fair, it's a card with different art or a special effect associated with it.