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| Hurloon Minotaur card art |
"I've made this deck before." The thought ran through my mind recently as I was brewing. I've created hundreds (thousands?) of Magic decks in my life. And while designing a new deck is one delightful aspect of this game (as much fun as playing for some people), you can get a sense of déjà vu. There are over 31K cards, leading to nearly infinite deck options, but only so many deck themes. This post explores that and offers a framework.
I have explored deck types before. The basic types are aggressive (or aggro), control, midrange, or combo. But there are different ways (or themes) to implement each of these types, and I think the framework below covers most of them. I include some examples (of concepts or keywords), but they are not exhaustive. And deckbuilding constraints (like rarity restrictions in pauper) are not considered.
Deck Themes Framework
- Spell color(s) matter
- Mono-color
- Adamant, converge, sunburst, devotion
- Spell cost matters (mana value, even/odd, X)
- Spell types, casting, or quantities matter
- Specific type: creatures, instants, sorceries, enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers
- Broader categories (non-creature spells)
- Supertypes (legendary, snow) or subtypes (sagas, desert)
- Casting triggers
- Quantities of a given type on the battlefield
- Lands matter
- Landfall
- Domain
- Creature attributes matter
- Creature types (Kindred decks)
- Creature power/toughness
- Keyword/ability word (flying, defender, deathtouch)
- Card state
- Face-down: Disguise, cloak, manifest, morph
- Double-sided: Transform
- Combat matters
- Attacking, blocking, or damage triggers
- Zone matters
- Hand (card draw, hand size)
- Graveyard (delirium)
- Exile
- Library (mill, cascade)
- Transitions between zones matter
- Entering the battlefield, discard, dying/sacrifice, exile triggers
- Life matters (gaining or losing)
- Counters matter
- Proliferate
- Tokens matter
- Creating
- Type/Quantity
- Populate
- Win condition matters
- Poison counters
- Mill
- Specific card-based conditions: see this post on ways to win
Comments/Examples
Within the above framework, it is possible to have aggro, control, mid-range, or combo decks in nearly any category (though some lend themselves towards a specific type). And of course it is possible to have a given deck combine several themes. Let's look at some example cards and map them to themes.Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
All That Glitters
All That Glitters aligns with theme 3 above—spell type matters. This card wants to be surrounded with artifacts and enchantments. That it relies on other cards in this way suggests is it could work in a combo deck.
Lord of the Nazgul has two themes—5 (creature attributes matter) and 3 (casting instants or sorceries). That could lend itself to combo or aggro decks.
Kiora also has two themes—2 (spell cost, or mana value, matters) and 5 (creature attributes matter). She can work in several deck types.
Linden has two themes—1 (spell color matters) and 6 (combat matters). She could slot into a life matters deck (theme 9), too.
Pashalik has three themes—5 (creature attributes matter), 8 (transition between zones matters), and 11 (tokens matter). That flexibility could encourage a wide number of deck types (aggro, midrange, combo).
Lord of the Nazgul
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep
Linden, Steadfast Queen
Pashalik Mons
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We could do this all day. I have already revised this framework once and will continue to do so as I find and address omissions.
I find this framework useful as I think about exploring the game. Having a representative deck of each theme is a nice way to enjoy the varied strategies of the game. And analyzing the decks you have made may indicate that you tend towards only a few of the above, giving you insight into your own playstyle, preferences, or areas you may want to focus on in the future.
Until next time . . . keep exploring.
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