Building a Magic: The Gathering deck is a creative and strategic process that can be both fun and rewarding. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, constructing your deck allows you to express your playstyle, take advantage of synergies, and compete effectively. The following guide will help you create a solid MTG deck from scratch by considering card choices, balance, and synergy.
Decide on a Format
The first step to building a deck is deciding on a format, as different formats have specific rules regarding the types of cards that can be included. Common formats include:
Standard: Cards from the most recent sets.
Modern: Cards from sets going back to 8th Edition and Mirrodin.
Commander: A 100-card singleton deck centered around a legendary commander.
Pioneer: Cards from sets starting with Return to Ravnica.
Pauper: Only common cards.
For this guide, we’ll focus on Standard and Modern, but the principles can apply across all formats.
Choose a Theme or Strategy
A deck needs a central theme or strategy to succeed. Themes usually revolve around certain types of cards or synergies that work together. Popular strategies include:
Aggro (Aggressive): Fast decks that aim to reduce the opponent’s life total as quickly as possible with small, efficient creatures and direct damage spells.
Control: Slower decks that focus on countering spells, removing threats, and winning in the late game with big spells or creatures.
Midrange: A balanced approach with efficient creatures and spells, aiming to control the board early and finish strong.
Combo: Decks that aim to assemble specific card interactions (a combo) to win in one decisive play.
Once you’ve selected a theme, this will guide your card selection and strategy.
Select Your Colors
MTG is a game of five colors, each offering different strengths:
White (Plains): Focuses on small creatures, life gain, protection, and control.
Blue (Islands): Specializes in card drawing, counterspells, and manipulating the battlefield.
Black (Swamps): Offers powerful removal, creature sacrifice, and graveyard interactions.
Red (Mountains): Known for fast, aggressive creatures, direct damage, and explosive plays.
Green (Forests): Excels in large creatures, ramping (generating extra mana), and growth spells.
You can choose a single color (mono-colored) or multiple colors (multi-colored), but ensure the colors support your chosen strategy. Aggressive decks may lean toward Red and Green, while Control decks tend to use Blue and White.
Build Your Mana Base
A solid mana base is crucial for any MTG deck. This consists of lands, which provide the mana necessary to cast spells. The general rule of thumb is to include 40% lands in your deck, so for a typical 60-card deck, that means about 24 lands.
The mana base should reflect your deck’s color requirements:
Mono-colored decks can stick mostly to basic lands (Plains, Islands, Swamps, etc.).
Multi-colored decks require dual lands or fetch lands (lands that provide more than one color or allow you to search for specific lands) to ensure you can cast spells in multiple colors smoothly.
Pay attention to your mana curve (the distribution of mana costs among your cards) to make sure you can cast spells at all stages of the game.
Choose Creatures and Spells
Once your mana base is in place, you’ll need to fill your deck with creatures and spells. Keep your strategy in mind when selecting these cards.
- How to Build a Magic: The Gathering Deck
A strong deck isn’t just a pile of good cards—it’s a collection of cards that work well together. The synergy between your cards is critical. For example, if you’re playing a deck that revolves around life gain, include creatures and spells that benefit from gaining life, such as those with the “extort” or “whenever you gain life” abilities.
You’ll also want to ensure a balance between different types of cards:
Creatures: Most decks contain between 15-25 creatures, depending on the strategy.
Spells: Include removal, counterspells, or burn spells to control the opponent’s board.
Enchantments/Artifacts: These are often used to enhance your creatures or disrupt your opponent’s strategy.
Planeswalkers: These powerful cards provide ongoing benefits if they aren’t dealt with, but they’re typically best in smaller numbers (1-3 per deck).
Test and Adjust
After constructing your deck, it’s important to playtest it. This can be done with friends or by playing in a local tournament. Testing helps identify weaknesses in the deck, such as mana issues or a lack of answers to certain threats.
Be prepared to make adjustments. Perhaps you need more removal spells, or your deck struggles against flying creatures, so you may need to add cards with reach or flying. The ability to tweak and adjust is key to improving your deck’s performance.
Sideboard (for Competitive Play)
In formats like Standard and Modern, decks can have a 15-card sideboard. This is a set of cards you can swap into your main deck between games to better deal with certain matchups. Your sideboard should consist of cards that counter popular strategies, such as additional removal for creature-heavy decks or enchantment/artifact removal.
Stay Updated on the Meta
The “meta” refers to the most popular decks and strategies being used in competitive play. Staying updated on the meta can help you design a deck that can stand up to the current top-tier strategies. This doesn’t mean you need to copy other decks, but it helps to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of common archetypes.
Building a Magic: The Gathering deck is an exciting and evolving process. By selecting a format, choosing a strategy, balancing your mana base, and playtesting your deck, you’ll be able to refine your creation into a competitive force. Whether you’re aiming to dominate local game nights or participate in higher-level tournaments, the key to success lies in crafting a deck that not only reflects your playstyle but is adaptable and cohesive.
