http://deckbox.org/sets/547227

So I haven't played Magic for a bit over a year now. As a result, I'm not familiar with the more recent expansions. A friend of mine bought the 2014 deck builder's set as a gift to me, so I decided I might just as well build something new out of it.

The idea of this deck is to focus a bit more on instants (especially the damage-heavy red ones), with mostly low-cost creatures to serve as cannon fodder, as well as several more beefy ones.

Any sort of input would be greatly appreciated!

I need to clarify a few things before giving any advice so I don't make a fool of myself.

What format are you hoping to keep this in? Are you going to add more cards to the deck, or keep it within the deck builder's set?

Thank you for replying.

I am definitely buying more cards in the near future, as well as bringing my old cards over to my new place, it's just a matter of time. However, at present, I only have the deck builder's set and a few booster packs' worth of cards at my disposal, which limits my options quite a bit.

Ok, that puts this into perspective. Right now, the deck is very random. There aren't enough copies of anything for this deck to be consistent. Every time you play, you'll have a different experience. I'm hesitant to give a lot of advice when I'm not sure I understand where you are taking the deck.

First thing, I'd remove the two Battle Slivers. 5 cost is a lot for a 5/3 creature with no other abilities, and because you only have the two slivers, that is what they are.

Second, I'd settle on a more definitive strategy. You want a bunch of cheap creatures, but half the creatures you've selected cost 5 or more mana. That isn't bad, per se, but those aren't particularly cheap. If you want cheap creatures, I would definitely re-evaluate some of the 5 cost creatures. And you should put in more than one creature for 1 cost, even if you keep the cost ratio the same otherwise.

Trim down the deck (put in multiple copies of cards to remove other cards). That alone will make the deck significantly better, and after that we will better see what you are thinking.

Thank you for your input!

Sadly, I don't have enough copies at the moment to do exactly what you're suggesting, however I've removed the Slivers and threw in some cheaper creatures. Going to test the deck out later this week to see how it plays.

Just a note on your mana. Transguild promenade is probably the worst mana fixing available. let me explain.

If you play basic/shock lands and make a land drop every turn for the first 5 turns you're possible mana looks like this.

Turn 1: 1 mana
Turn 2: 2 mana
Turn 3: 3 mana
Turn 4: 4 mana
Turn 5: 5 mana.
Total : 15 total mana over 5 turns.

Now if you add a gate in there on turn 1 it looks like this.

Turn 1: - mana
Turn 2: 2 mana
Turn 3: 3 mana
Turn 4: 4 mana
Turn 5: 5 mana.
Total: 14 mana over 5 turns.

You miss out on your 1 drop but you can make both red and white not terrible, but not great. Atemple of triumph would be better turn one and a shock land like Sacred Foundry would be even better, because you can pay 2 life to get your red/white mana fixing and still have a turn 1 play.

Now lets look at transguild promenade on turn 2. With basics

Turn 1: 1 mana
Turn 2: - mana
Turn 3: 3 mana
Turn 4: 4 mana
Turn 5: 5 mana.
Total: 13 mana over 5 turns.

So you cost yourself 2 mana to play transguild promenade. That's a 2 drop and 2 drops are arguably the most important drop in an agro deck.

Now lets look at it with a turn 1 gate turn 2 promenade.

Turn 1: - mana
Turn 2: - mana
Turn 3: 3 mana
Turn 4: 4 mana
Turn 5: 5 mana.
Total: 12 mana over 5 turns.

You just produced 3 less mana than you would with shocks/basics because of promenade. In an aggro deck this is unacceptable. You need to make every drop on que without exception in order to apply the pressure you need to win. Temples are more acceptable because they allow you to smooth out your next draw and make sure it's relevant to your hand. Gates are the 3rd best option, but the more basics/shocks you can play the better off you are.

Mutavault is also an acceptable land drop in an aggro deck but for different reasons.

TLDR: promenade = no good.