To dust or not to dust? That is the question.

(see bottom for "safe"-to-dust list)

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. I wasn't going to touch this topic, but there were a lot of comments on discord that I think were wrong, or at the very least, misleading.

There really is no wrong answer, because it all depends on what is important to you. Are you OK just playing feature decks? Are you OK with a budget(not bad) deck? Do you need the real deal? How long are you willing to wait? It feels terrible to craft commons, but sometimes you don't open them in packs. Are you going to hold of playing a deck because you still only have one Eager Recruit?

Having it now will cost you more in the long run. The longer you wait, the cheaper over all it will be to build your collection.

Quick aside: I believe the new player experience(the starting collection) was developed with the idea that everybody purchases the starter pack. It costs less than going to the movies for far more hours of entertainment. Myself, I spend that much on coffee in a couple days.

There are two different ways to go about building your collection:

1. Only dust duplicates

2. Dust unwanted cards to craft your decks

3. (Really there is a spectrum and most people just occupy different points on it)

Option 1 is buying a house and paying all cash for it. But until then, you still need to live somewhere, so you live your parents for free, but you have to follow all their rules. And for some reason it is always something to do with Valkryies or Vampires? Your parents are weird.

Option 2 is taking out a mortgage to buy a decent house, though maybe not your dream home. It definitely will cost you more in the long run, but you have autonomy. And you are building equity, so it's not like you are just throwing the money away.

My Thoughts and Approach

You aren't going to set yourself way back by dusting a few cards. It is inefficient, but it is also inefficient to play a sub-optimal deck when you could craft some improvements.

• Craft uncommons first, they have a high power level and are relatively cheap compared to rares

• Craft cards that are usable in multiple decks

• Avoid dusting Mythics due to duplicate protection

• Improve your deck to the point it is enjoyable and functional

• Don't go crazy with dusting, that can lead to regret

• Except for these...

Safe-to-Dust List

This list is from the viewpoint of a competitive player and is very conservative. It only contains cards I would never consider for a deck, or that are just too far down the tier list. There are also several cards that are perfectly reasonable, but which you would probably never play three of, Rune of Denial, for example. I haven't included these cards on the list. For brevity, I only included uncommons and above. I probably included some people's favourite cards. I'm sorry, but, ashes to ashes, dust to dust...

name: Dust

path: Them

power: All

1 fey plagiarist

1 false mjolnir

1 maelstrom

1 stone mother

1 jotun shatterfist

1 nazca memorial

1 obligation

1 godspore mushroom

1 incubation chamber

1 splicing lab

1 magpyre enforcer

1 dead man's eyes

1 howling abyssal

1 dora

1 doublethink

1 garden of iriy

1 isle of buyan

1 focused frenzy

1 alkonost

1 alchemical key

1 mirage

1 knives in the dark

1 brass bouncer

1 canine cavalry

Remember, you do you. If your Fast Lane, Canine Cavalry, Hotel Barkeep combo deck is preforming well in testing, great, show the world. However, if you need to sacrifice some Stray Panaceas for some Daring Trapezists, I think that's a good call.