How to Build Your Own Magic Deck
Five Rules for New Players
All Magic players have had to face the daunting process of creating a personal deck, either for friendly or tournament play. To the player new to the game, this can seem an impossible task. What colors should be used? What type of cards should be selected? These and more questions swirl about the mind as a new magic player looks at their cards spread out in front of them. Some will just resort to buying a pre-made deck. Here is a tip to all players out there, a pre-made deck will be obliterated by a personal deck almost every time. They do not stand a chance against a deck that some one has lovingly built to work for them.
There are five simple rules to keep in mind when a new player is building a deck. Each one is of its own importance and while one might only follow some, at least think about them all before getting started. Deck building will become second nature after time, and some of these will fall away as player becomes more advanced in deck working.
Choose the Deck Type
There is no limit to the different types of decks that can be built. Most commonly, a player will use a theme, such as a rogue deck, angel deck, or kithkin deck. Some players choose a more general type such as a destroy deck, a counter deck, or a direct damage deck. At this point, a general direction is all that is needed. The specifics will come later as the process moves forward. This is a very important step, as it will shape the entire deck. A theme deck will give the most concrete idea to work with and limit the types of cards to be used. A theme deck is best for the newest players.
Limit Mana Colors to Two or Less
Some advanced players build decks using up to all five colors, but for new players, anything more than two is too much. Colors have their own characteristics and mechanics that make them unique, but some colors will share characteristics and work well together. For example, black and red both destroy and blue and white both are heavy on flying creatures. Green is notorious for hurting creatures that fly, so green would be a bad choice to pair with blue.
A theme will also limit color choice. Only certain types of creatures are available in each color. If the deck type is an angel deck, white is a must. Red is also beneficial to an angel deck for multicolored creature options. Rogues are mostly blue, and goblins are mostly red. Even general type will help limit colors. Destroy cards are most commonly seen in black and red. Black is notorious for destroying any creature that isn't black, with cards like Terror, Dark Banishing, and Fatal Blow. Red, however, is notorious for hurting the opponent and their permanents, with cards like Pyrohemia and Wild Fire. Counter spells are blue, with the rare exception of a few Planar Chaos cards. Go for colors that will be most beneficial to the deck.
Hold to the 20-20-20 Deck Building Rule
The best situation is 20 land, 20 creatures, and 20 sorcery/enchantments/instants/artifacts in a deck. New players often make the mistake of building a deck that is mostly creatures. While creatures can win the game on occasion, the other card types are important as well. Make sure that several cards of each type are included to enhance the theme of the deck.
Keep Mana Cost in Mind
Having enough mana will make or break the game. Don't overload with expensive cards, or a player will not survive long enough to play them. Make sure to include cards that only cost one or two mana to play. These cards are great early on in the game and ensure a running start. Always have at least three to five creatures that cost three or less to play. From there, look at mid range cards, anything that costs four or fine mana to play. Add anywhere from six to ten mid range creatures, which will leaves room to add in creatures that cost six or more. This gives balance to the cards drawn during game play.
Keep mana cost in mind for all other cards as well. Most enchantments will be cheap, but there are some like Enslave and Confiscate, which are very expensive. Keep in mind that the deck has balance, and do not overload on either to many low level cheap cards, or too many mana draining cards.
Use Mana of The Right Colors.
Assuming the use of the 20-20-20 rule, there is twenty mana with which to work. If playing with a bicolor deck, do not make the mistake of adding ten of each color. Take into account the number of color specific mana that the cards require. For example, if playing with a white and red deck, look at the cards to see how many mountains are required for the red cards, and how many plains are required for the white. If there is more white mana than red, use 13 plains and only seven mountains. If only six cards require one red mana, then lower to five mountains and 15 plains. An easy way to make sure that the correct balance of colors is present is to count all the color specific mana symbols of all the cards. This will show which number is higher and by how much.
These five simple rules ensure a playable deck. It's most important that the player always does what works best for that specific player. Every Magic player will have their rules for deck building and they are usually specific to that player. These rules are just basics; have fun investigating new sets as they come out and developing favorites of both new and old cards.
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