Fumblings with Magic

So along with running various table top role-playing games, I'm also a keen (if casual) Magic: the Gathering player (much to my wife's exasperation). I have dipped in and out of it since the late 1990s, but got back to buying cards with some regularity last year, along with learning that buying single cards is actually one of the best ways of rounding out a deck. I am hoping to get a post out ever other week at least on this subject as I have a lot of fun with the game, even though I realise I am pretty terrible at it.

Recently I received a pre-built deck for my birthday. I know the opinion of many MtG players is that the pre-built decks can be junk, but this one seemed pretty good. Its called Voracious Rage, and its one of the Journey into Nyx decks: it focuses on minotaurs and is a tribal deck. When I opened it and had a flick though it looked pretty cool.

My new deck, courtesy of my brother.

I finally got chance to play it against a colleague on my break at work, and I found it plays pretty well. He has a Standard format red aggro deck that, if I am honest, beats down on me with alarming regularity. I am hoping that all of this losing will teach me to be a better player/deck builder...
However, this new deck actually did quite respectably, and allowed me to hold my own. I can see that there is certainly room for improvement, but I may have the basis of a decent deck. Its my aim to actually take myself along to a Friday Night Magic at my FLGS some time soon, but I haven't yet plucked up the courage.

I plan to add some single cards to the deck to try and refine it, and I like the Minotaur theme to it, so hopefully if I pull together the cards I want I can improve my fortunes against my regular opponents and finally pluck up the courage to show my face at FNM.