There are a ton of good introductory sites on deck building (I'll link to some on this and related pages); here's my take on building a constructed Magic deck. This means:
- your deck must have at least 60 cards*
- you can include up to 4 copies of any card (except basic lands)
The principles are the same in a limited game, but some elements discussed below- like choosing a set- are eliminated or reduced.
Of course, you can skip this entirely and just search the Internet for deck ideas. "Net-decking" isn't inherently bad, but there's something special about making your own "home brew." So this page focuses on doing it yourself, but since it's wise to consult others, too, you can read more here for tips and resources.
*For simplicity, I'm going to focus on 60-card decks. You can always include more, but doing so often dilutes your strategy, as it reduces the probability you'll draw your 'key cards.'
Choose Your Approach
A deck has a strategy. A goal. A plan. - Gavin VerheyGavin's deck-building post on the official Magic site has a lot of great information. And he rightly highlights where to start when deck building:
The first thing to do when building your deck . . . is determining what you want your deck to do. Every deck should have a mission statement—some kind of game plan that guides your deck-building decisions.A deck is not just 'a bunch of cards.' In Magic, you can win with any number of strategies, but every strategy needs a deck with synergy- your cards need to work together well to implement your chosen strategy. Together, they must be more than the sum of their individual abilities. So- what do you want your deck to do? Or, framing the question differently: how do you want to win the game?
If you're a beginner, you probably have no idea what you want your deck to do, or how games are won. You may not know the possibilities. And, frankly, you can approach this many different ways, though these ways converge, overlap, and have to be addressed. In a nutshell, you can start with a deck type, mechanic, set(s), card(s), or color. Let's look at each briefly.
1) Start with a deck type
At a high level, players win Magic games through 4 basic deck archetypes (quotes from Magic Arena):
- Aggressive (or 'aggro'): aggro decks hit your opponent fast and hard: you'll win quickly or not at all. The best defense is a good offense; do damage early on and don't let up. They "look to win quickly with cheap creatures before an opponent can set up effective defenses."
- Control: Control decks are slower, and disrupt your opponent's strategy by countering their spells and removing permanents from the battlefield. Control decks are content to give some ground early, but they'll make it up in the end. They "look to answer early threats and survive until the late game, when they take over with powerful spells and card advantage."
- Midrange: Midrange works (as the name implies) in between aggro and control; it will contain some elements of both, and rely on efficient spells and accurate situational instincts to know when to attack or hold. They "use efficient creatures and value-generating spells to outclass aggro decks and pressure control and combo decks."
- Combo: combo decks use combinations of cards that are exceedingly powerful when paired. But take away one of the key cogs, and the whole machine falls apart. They "focus on finding and casting spells that work together to produce powerful effects, often winning the game outright!"
2) Start with a mechanic
A mechanic is a certain ability, often with an associated keyword. There are some basic keywords featured in every Magic set, and other keywords that feature heavily in a set or block. Maybe there's a mechanic that you really enjoy, and want a deck that uses it to ride to victory.
3) Start with a set
Each Magic expansion has a different flavor to it. The Innistrad block was based on a Gothic horror theme, Throne of Eldraine was influenced by Grimm's Fairy Tales and King Arthur lore, and Theros Beyond Death is steeped in Greek mythology. Sometimes, we're drawn to a Magic set just based on theme- and that's just fine.
4) Start with a card
When you play for a while, you'll find yourself drawn to specific cards for any number of reasons: you own the card, you like the abilities, the art is cool, you like the name. Whatever the reason, there are times you'll find a card you really like, and want in your deck no matter what.
5) Start with a color
I already introduced the five colors of Magic, each color has its strengths and preferences. I enjoy playing all colors, but will tend towards green. And it's okay to start with a color.
Regardless of where you start . . .
You'll need to consider the other aspects. And guiding it all is the format you're playing, as that will tell you which set(s), and therefore which card(s), are legal for inclusion in your deck in the first place. But once you know format, you can pick any of the five topics above as a starting point, but then- and this is key- you must look at each other element. If you like a card, you then must ask if that card dictates you use certain mechanics, colors, or deck types. If you start with color, you need to think what deck type lends itself to that color, which cards work best, etc. Everything above converges and needs to be considered.
You don't need to plan out everything in this section, but before moving on, you need an overall 'mission statement' that will tell you three things:
1) format,
2) deck type,
3) color(s) OR card(s) OR mechanic(s) of interest
Here are examples mission statements:
"For pioneer, I want a white/red combo deck using Feather, the Redeemed."
"For standard, I want a blue/green control deck featuring the 'flash' mechanic."
"For modern, I want a mono-black midrange deck."
Once you're at this point, you can start thinking about the mana curve.
Know the Mana Curve
Recall that there are two main types of Magic cards: spell cards and resource cards (land cards).- All spell cards have a cost- the number (and color) of mana you need to spend to play it
- You can play only one land card per turn, so the amount of mana you can spend each turn (in an ideal scenario) increases by one: on your first turn, you play a land and can spend one mana, on your second, you play a land and can spend two mana, etc.
From a Magic deck builder's guide, the mana curve is "the number of spells (including creatures) at each mana cost to include in your deck." And getting the mana curve right is extremely important, because you want to "have good plays to make throughout the game."
You can consider a Magic game as having three phases: early, mid, and late game. Generally, more powerful spells cost more mana, so you can't play them until the late game. But if you can't do anything in the early or mid game (if all your spells are expensive), it may be too late; by the time you can play that powerful spell, you're so close to losing it no longer matters. On the flip side, if you have only cheap spells, you might do well in the early/mid game, but if you haven't won yet, you may not have anything powerful to do in the late game. Overall, having the right number of cards at each mana cost will give you options in each phase of the game. Here's what Wizards recommends:
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| example mana curve, from the Magic 2019 Deck Builder's Toolkit |
Each deck is unique and will have a unique mana curve. Aggro decks will tend towards cheaper spells (since they want to move fast), so you might have many more cards in the 1/2/3-cost slots, and fewer in the 4/5/6+ range. If you do that, you can reduce the number of lands you play- I've seen decks work with as few as 18 land cards. On the flip side, a control deck might tend towards more expensive spells (since they want to dominate the late game), so you'd have the reverse: more higher-cost cards (and perhaps more lands). Know your deck's mana curve.
There are no hard and fast rules here- this game is infinitely customizable- but the principle is valid and valuable. Let's start building.
Choose Your Spell Cards
Using your overall mission statement as a guide, decide roughly how many lands you should include (start with 24 if you have no clue). That will tell you how many spell cards you'll need (36 in a 60-card deck). Now, pull out some candidate cards (cards meeting your mission statement- which means they have the appropriate color(s), mechanics, and so on) and sort them by mana cost (put all 1-cost spells in a pile, 2-cost spells in a separate pile, and so on). Finally, decide 'slot by slot' which cards to include. As you do, remember the mana curve- choose more 2-, 3-, and 4-cost spells than anything else. It can help to decide now (before you choose any cards) how many cards you want at each cost slot. Also, remember two concepts as you choose cards: offense and defense.By offense, I mean carrying out your theme or strategy (your mission statement). It could revolve around card combos, building swarms of small creatures, or myriad other things. Whatever it is, now is the time to choose cards that are well-suited to execute your plan of attack. But remember that the ultimate goal is winning- reducing your opponent to 0 life. You can effectively carry out your strategy, but if you can't win, your decks will fizzle. I'm very good at doing this (unfortunately). For example, I once built a deck on a 'discard' theme. I packed my deck with cards that forced my opponent to discard. It worked wonderfully, in that my opponent had no cards in his hand. However, once that was accomplished, I had no big creatures or other means of reducing his life total to 0. So the rest of the game was a stalemate of sorts: he could do nothing, but I had no means of winning. Remember the end goal as you plan the offense.
By defense, I mean countering your opponent's strategy. If you allow your opponent to do what he/she wants unchecked, it probably won't end well for you. Removal spells are those that deal with what your opponent is doing. There are many ways to remove your opponent's threats, and every deck should have some sort of removal in it. If you don't include any defensive cards, there's a chance your opponent could play something that would instantly render your strategy impossible to execute. Any deck type can (and should) have removal spells, so think about including cards that deal damage, destroy/exile cards, counter spells, return permanents to the hand, etc.
The ratio between offense and defense depends on your deck type. Aggro decks generally have more offense; control decks more defense. But it can always vary.
After this, we choose land cards.
The lands you choose are of course dependent upon the color(s) you're playing. If you have a mono-green theme, then forests will probably suffice. Multi-colored decks must balance the ratios of lands accordingly. For example, if you're playing a blue/black deck, and two-thirds of the cards are blue, then two-thirds of your lands should be capable of producing blue mana. Choose land cards that align with your color ratios.
After this, we choose land cards.
Choose Your Land Cards
From the prior step, you've selected cards at each mana cost. Now you need lands. You could have the best cards in the world . . . but if you can't pay the cost to play them, they'll never see the light of day. In a 60-card deck, you typically want 40% of these (24 cards) to be lands. This makes it probable that you'll draw enough of them throughout the course of the game. If you draw too few (or too many), you'll experience 'mana screw' (too little land) or 'mana flood' (too much)- and either diminishes your chance of victory greatly. As discussed above, this is a guide- there are times you'll want more or fewer lands- but it is a starting point.The lands you choose are of course dependent upon the color(s) you're playing. If you have a mono-green theme, then forests will probably suffice. Multi-colored decks must balance the ratios of lands accordingly. For example, if you're playing a blue/black deck, and two-thirds of the cards are blue, then two-thirds of your lands should be capable of producing blue mana. Choose land cards that align with your color ratios.
At this point, you should have a deck!
Name Your Deck
This may seem silly, but once you have a few decks (or dozen . . or hundreds), you'll understand the importance of naming your deck. Generally, deck names have the following format:
Play, Refine, Repeat
The final step to deck building is playing with it. A lot. Practice makes perfect, and actual play is the only way you'll note your deck's strengths and weaknesses. You'll see over a few (or many) games which cards do really well, which cards never really help, and so on. And then you can go back through the above process, re-evaluating your approach, mana curve, spell cards, and land cards to adjust where you see problems.
The cool (and/or infuriating) thing about Magic is no deck has ever 'arrived.' There are always tweaks you can make to improve it. And playing is the only way to know for certain!
Official site:
Other sites:
Other Resources
I'll build this out soon. It will also link to decklists of completed decks I've tried over the years.Official site:
Other sites:
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