I have a major magical dilema.

You know those randoms individuals who you encounter that just happen to play magic at a much lower level than you?

I do.

I'm taking a friend to play some Type 1 magical cards.

Well, two.

The first does not have a deck. He is borrowing from the second.

The second is playing Mono-Green Defense of the Heart/Elvish Piper Monstrosity.

Now, this is bad. I am clearly going to trounce both of these people should I play them.

I feel weird about this.

How can I find a way that the both of us can enjoy magical cards?

Make sure they're playing the best possible decks with the cards they have. Then expose them to the format, and let them know how to improve after they've gotten some experience and realize why they failed.

I've done this before--it will take time.

i'm kinda in a similar situation where i'm trying to teach my dad and wife how to play. they both grasp the basics of the game fairly well but it's the deeper concepts of timing, bluffing, making the tough decisions that they have a hard time with.

part of the problem i believe is i usually have them playing overly-tuned tournament level decks... they are simply too complicated to be enjoyed by casual players. i've been thinking that what i need to do is build some more vanilla type decks for them to play for a while, things like jitte or SoFI (sorry, i don't play t1 but so i don't know what's good, but hopefully you see what i'm gettin at here) are totally overpowered and swing balance too far one way is bad for the novice player.

from what i understand from type1 those decks tend to "go-off" on combos on turns 1-3. there is a big problem or 3 here that is probably at the root of your frustrations, and probably theirs. one, they must learn to play the "deck" or "combo", they aren't learning to play Magic in general. the second is that if their opponent does go off on turn 2 or 3, the games are so short they aren't really being forced to make any decisions that will make them better players. third, from the few t1 tourneys i watch, if it does go past the first few turns, they are probably going to have to get to point or key turn in the game where they will be forced to make an overly complex decision, and possibly screw it up, consequently losing the game. if one of your friends is borrowing a complex deck he's never played and he's a subpar player, he prolly won't have fun playing it and you won;t have fun beating him.

so the conclusion i've come to and may work for you... not sure what you mean when you say taking them to play t1 if it's a tourney or casual.... is to make some very basic, fundamantal decks so they learn the basics better. classic mono blue, white weenie, sligh, etc... things that teach basics of what the colors do, nothing complex or really combo based, to teach them to be solid players, then move them on to more complex decks.

What I find enjoyable is playing some with Deck #A, and beating them while they are playing Deck #B.

Then I ask if they want to switch decks (which they always do).

Then I proceed to stomp them with Deck #B.

It usually goes to show them that it's not necessarily always the deck (tho Elvish Piper makes me shudder) and gives them hope that if they become better players, they'll do better.

I try to mix it up. I pull out my turny level decks when I want a quick game. Other wise I play with decks that might be weeker then there level but are a stronger deck over all. Namely a simple deck that built like I would build a deck for a turny.

Sealed decks are the way to go to make everything fun. Either that or championship decks. That way there is a level playing field.

I was teaching a former girlfriend to play Vintage because she liked coming to the tournaments and wanted to understand what was going on. The absolute best deck for learning Vintage on is Hulk. Build it like it was 2 years ago with a Shaman in the main and stuff. Throw it up against older Fish or 4CC or Shop Aggro. The games aren't as intense as the Stax matchup, which can frustrate people. They still get a taste of mana denial because Fish smashes Hulk, but the games still go long. You get to explain why Will is good (or better, let them resolve Will and see how good it is!) and point out things like removing your Ancestral with the Tog to Cunning Wish for it again.

You can still do this stuff with proxies, just to get the sense of how the game works. Hulk combines all the fun things about Vintage: power, Mana Drains, big game ending attacks, discard, tutoring, etc. and all of it is in non-overloading amounts. They really get to understand how Tog buys back tempo and how drawing cards = winning.

I have decks that are tuned for casual play. While they are on an entirely different level of "goodness" in comparison to the decks most casual players use, they're not nearly as cutthroat as competitive decks are.

Same, verbatim.