One of the fundamental problems in MTG I never liked is there is a huge difference in the effectiveness of casual decks and full on tournament decks. This wasn't a problem when I was in my prime and was playing hardcore players and state champions -- but once I 'retired' I could never play the game casually again. Anything I would make or play would be leagues more advanced and tuned then anyone would play at college. And to what end? They were all having fun. I was a bully. Unlike fighting games, where I would say 'get over it and play better', Magic requires a money. Instead of ruining the delicate ecosystem everyone was playing under (They had room to make fun, gimmicky cheap decks), I just opted not to play anymore unless it was on apprentice.
Perhaps I should of played down, but the elegance of a tuned, tournament deck really appealed to me. Either way I didn't like the whole money thing. You can make a competitive W40k army for less than the price of most competitive decks. You can work cheaply (I've seen a number of '20 dollar' budget decks thatwere effective, especially in the glory days of sligh and ponza), but seldom were they as competitive as more expensive decks.. and frankly, playing with a budget really shoehorns you into oneor two decks per block.
