In the last couple of weeks, I have been confronted several times by the most frustrating feeling that a Magic player can ever face. No, I did not get cheated out of a Top 8 by tiebreakers, or by the evil influence of byes.

(I can't relate to all the fuss about tiebreakers as long as byes and intentional draws are a part of Magic. I think those two points are far harder to understand and explain to outsiders than tiebreakers. Enough ranting; I'll get back on track.)

The feeling that I was talking about is having someone come up and say that they would like to learn how to play Magic. I guess most of you have gone through the same experience, but maybe not with the same frustration that I have. I like to play Magic. I really do. I like the mental challenge and the struggle to find an efficient deck that I enjoy playing.

As in most, if not all, the things we enjoy when someone asks us to teach them, we strive to give them the same feeling that we have. So when I try to teach someone how to play Magic, I have a big problem. Magic has a steep learning curve. You start with learning how to cast spells and go directly to card advantage, under- or overextending, working the stack. How do we manage this?

The problem is not teaching the game in itself. Tapping mana to cast stuff is easy to learn. You can even pick up all the little tricks and understand the underlying layers of strategy that make the game such an enticing experience.

Then come the dreaded questions: "Can I play with your OTHER decks?" or the now famous, "Can I go to the next tournament with you?" You know what follows: they either get bored to death playing your tournament decks, or they make a critical mistake and play in a tournament.

Unless you have a Tiger Woods drive for competition, you can easily understand how a single tournament would scare you away from Magic. Imagine playing your first tournament in your local Extended Qualifier (which will probably be the next big thing). It is your first tournament, you built a deck with your friends help, and cards, and you are full of hope.

That hope is gone by the end of the first two rounds. You will probably get crushed by some local hotshot or a "middle of pack" player. Not only will you get crushed, but they will probably make stupid jokes about your deck or resort to some highly obscure rule, errata or trick to snatch a random win from you.

So there you are at the bottom tables, playing against other newbies - and you can't help but feel as excluded as all the others. And you really didn't have fun, did you? How many experienced players take the time to help out the "kids"? So a lot said kids don't have the drive to keep going, and give up on the game.

I hate that. I know the road is difficult, and only some of us have the stomach to keep pursuing those elusive wins and top results, but that is no reason to stop playing.

So I came up with a plan to help keep those fringe players in the game. The best idea is to let them build multiplayer decks with my least-used cards. That normally keeps them happy and adds some interesting spice to multiplayer games (the newbie factor - you never know what they'll come up with). The problem is that around here is hard to find, and keep, a multiplayer group.

To solve the problem, the second idea was born - and that is where you come in. Yes, you. Just wait a couple of paragraphs while I lay down the general rules, and I'll explain where you come in.

I found it easier to keep people playing if I can provide a simple, fun and cheap way to keep the game changing. To teach the game, I normally build forty-card all-common highlander decks to show the basics. If you ever played with a Sealed deck against another Sealed deck, you probably noticed that it is a lot more random than Constructed versus Constructed (which normally turns into "you win unless I draw one of my four copies of" games).

I build them the highlander way ("there can be only one" of each non-basic land card) to make any game different. The reason why I build them out of commons might make some of you cringe: I sometimes give the decks away. That's right; I just de-sleeve them and give them away. That is a sure way to give the new players an extra reason for playing the game: You already have the cards!

I try to build the decks balanced and to have one geared towards beatdown and another slanted towards control. That gives them a glimpse of the basic two archetypes in Magic (we will ignore Combo for a while - I don't want to show them the ugly side of Magic right away, do I?). I also try to use cards that show the main features of each color (Black - Removal, Green - Creatures, Red - Burn, White - Protection and Blue - Bounce) and different mechanics (Fading, Shadow, Buyback, Echo and so on).

My challenge to you is to help me build a newer, better version of my main decks. I will give a list below, and I ask you to either comment on it or submit your own versions. Remember that you must keep it forty-card all-common highlander and stay true to the colors. I normally do G/R/W beatdown and B/U/W control. You can change that color distribution, but you must use all five colors. Extra points for using cards with great art, since new players pay a lot of attention to that.

One final, and maybe disputable, rule: no double costing unless it is kicker. I mean it. I know that Blastoderm looks pretty cool and I know a Stinging Barrier would help a lot, but this rule stands. I like to keep mana screw to a minimum.

I don't always give decks away, so we need to make sure that they are balanced enough to keep the games close. I carry them around when I think I might meet my "students," and we play them once in a while. They have to be good enough to keep us playing for hours without getting bored.

I know we are normally a bunch of lazy couch potatoes who can't be bother to help out unless there is something to be won. So I have a great set of prices to get you moving. Yes, I have searched through my moldy huge collection of bad rares, and I have the following hot prizes for you lucky devils:

Italian Relic Bind (Italian Legends - I think it is called renaissance)
Spanish Chaos Moon (Ice Age)
Spanish Discordant Spirit (Mirage)
Spanish Mechanical Beast (Fourth Edition - white border)
Portuguese Hurr Jackal (Fourth Edition - black border)
Portuguese Duplicity (Tempest)
Portuguese Spike Hatcher (Exodus)

The best two pair of decks will get one of those rares (I will even let you choose) and the dubious bragging rights of having your name, as well as your deck lists, printed in one of my articles. I will even sign the cards for you if you want to. I will give more prizes if I get a lot of entries (which I personally doubt). (Oh, I think you might be surprised - The Ferrett, keeping up his mandated quota of one comment per Rui article)

Here are the decklists:

G/R/w
Creatures:
Thornscape Apprentice (tapping and first strike)
Mogg Fanatic (stack)
Heart Warden (cycling and mana creature)
Pouncing Kavu (not sure about this one - kicker and first strike)
Llanowar Knight (protection)
Yavimaya Barbarian (protection)
River Boa (landwalk and regeneration)
Viashino Outrider (echo)
Treetop Rangers (may be too confusing because it changes the blocking rules)
Pegasus Charger (cool picture and flying)
Simian Grunts (echo and play as instant)
Wild Jhovall
Silverglade Elemental

Spells:
Seal of Fire
Giant Growth
Brilliant Halo (return from graveyard)
Sonic Burst
Armadillo Cloak (what can I say? Spirit Link stuff and trample)
Rhystic Lightning (rhystic)
Tiger Claws (play as instant and Trample)
Pyrotechnics (might be too strong)

Lands:
5 mountains
7 Forest
3 Plains
Slippery Karst (cycling)
Smoldering Crater (cycling)
Drifting Meadow (cycling)

B/U/w
Creatures:
Stormscape Apprentice (tapping and life loss)
Merfolk Looter (card cycling)
Sage Owl (come into play effect and library manipulation)
Ravenous Rats (come into play effect and discard)
Galina's Knight (protection)
Vodalian Zombie (protection)
Man-o-War (come into play effect and bounce)
Troubled Healer (damage prevention)
Drake Hatchling (semi-pump)
Mine Bearer (combat removal and way too cool drawing)
Defender En-Vec (fading and damage prevention)
Alabaster Wall (wall and damage prevention)
Pious Warrior (spirit Link effect)
Glimmering Angel (flying and can't be touched)
Duskwalker (kicker and fear)

Spells:
Terror (target removal)
Repulse (bounce and cantrip)
Recoil (bounce and discard)
Expunge (removal and cycling)
Topple (remove from game)
Recover (graveyard manipulation and cantrip)
Snuff Out (alternative casting cost and removal)

Lands:
3 Plains
7 Island
5 Swamps
Drifting Meadow (cycling)
Remote Isle (cycling)
Polluted Mire (cycling)

As usual I would like to hear from you, not only about the deck contest but also about the whole point of the article if you have something to share.

Now get moving. You know you want that Hurr Jackal :)

Bonus Track:

Today's bonus track is a short one. Just wanted to share with you that for the last three weekends I have shied away from playing in the local Extended tournaments, and have twice sat in the sidelines playing around with new Standard decks.

I didn't play Extended because I am a little tired of the Big Three (NecroDonate, Survival and Stasis), but I have had a blast playing Standard. Not only do you get to see different ideas every time someone brings a new deck, but the games have been fun.

This last weekend, Andre played a nasty trick on me and built a slightly different version of the Convergence deck. The only thing that saved me in the first game was that Bruno's Blazing Specters had forced me to play with Last Breath :) It was strange playing against my own deck, but nevertheless fun.

I also learned that Spiketail Hatchling turns Prohibit into a great counter, since your opponent will play the spells as early as he can. The other thing that I learned is that Bruno's deck is just sick. I hope that I don't have to face him since I can't seem to build a deck that can stop him, although I think the Convergence deck might have a better shot.