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| Overwhelmed Apprentice card art |
Building a Magic deck is great fun- and easily overwhelming. My decks page describes how to build a deck. If you build a deck in this way without consulting others (websites, people, or references of any kind), it's called a "home brew." Of course, there are tons of websites listing Magic decks, and nothing's to stop you from finding one that someone else has made and using that (assuming you have the cards); this technique is called using a "net deck." Which leads us to a quote which summarizes today's topic:
If you aren't at least 25% brew, you've got no heart. But if you aren't at least 25% netdeck, you've got no brain.Patrick's point is well-taken: most decks will be a combination of home brew (what you come up with yourself) and net deck (what you learn from others). And that's a good thing.
-Patrick Chapin
Part of the joy in Magic is creation- crafting a deck from the individual cards to make something effective. So any deck you make should have a 'home brew' element- some customization that you've done on your own, either through personal insights or much trial and error. At the same time, "in many counselors there is wisdom"- so searching for decks similar to what you're trying to accomplish isn't cheating by any stretch. Such investigations can give you insights you'd have missed otherwise, help you discover cards you didn't previously recognize, and improve your game tremendously.
My strategy:
- choose my approach (using mechanics, cards, themes, or whatever else, as discussed on the decks page)
- choose my format
- search through the cards available in that format relevant to my approach (so look at all blue cards in Standard if I want a mono-blue deck, for example)
- build as much of the deck as I can without assistance
- play a few games on Arena
- make adjustments based on personal observation
- play a few more games on Arena
- ask friends and/or the Internet for help (knowing the Magic 'deck-naming nomenclature' is very helpful here)
- make adjustments based on their recommendations
- make adjustments based on their recommendations
- keep playing games and making further adjustments
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| Fires of Invention card art |
There are a ton of sites out there that present decks if you want ideas; below are a few. Note that in many cases, you have options to view the most popular decks from each format. Some sites also allow you to create an account and post your decks for review and comment (I do this on DeckStats)- that's a nice way to get feedback.
EDHRec (gives card recommendations for commander decks)
Discovering something yourself through a customized creation is a wonderful feeling; learning from others is a wise path. Much of both goes into success, in Magic and in life.
Discovering something yourself through a customized creation is a wonderful feeling; learning from others is a wise path. Much of both goes into success, in Magic and in life.
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