How to Build a Magic: The Gathering Deck

Magic: The Gathering (Copyright held by Wizards of the Coast, herein referred to as Magic) is a great game. The rules are not too complex, yet game play is challenging enough to the mind for the game itself to be fulfilling. There are literally thousands of cards that you can choose to use, in nearly infinite combinations. One of the most complicated parts of the game o Magic, however, is also one of the most essential: Deck building.

With the sheer number of cards that you have at your disposal, Deck building can seem like a very intimidating prospect. You may find yourself asking these questions: What cards should I use? Which of the five colors should I play? How many lands should I add, and what kinds? All of these questions can quickly become overwhelming. Here are some things you can do to help narrow down some options.

Here's my first bit of advice: Keep your deck to 60 cards. Magic's Deck building regulations state that a constructed deck (one built ahead of time, like the one you're making) has a 60 card minimum. Typically, it is best to find powerful cards that work well both alone and together that are not too difficult to play.

Next, you have to decide what format you are building the deck for. If you don't intend on using the deck in any tournaments, then you really don't have to worry about format. If you plan on playing this deck in a tournament, then you need to familiarize your elf with the tournament format that you will be playing in.

For the purposes of this article, we will assume that you will be playing the deck casually (with no tournament format). Your next step is to determine what color (or colors) that you would like to run in the deck. Keep in mind that if you run more than one color, you may have to spend more money on the land cards for the deck to ensure that you can support running more than one color effectively. Best advice for this is to review the descriptions of each color, and pick the one that you like the best. Generally it is easier to play a deck with only one color.

The next step is picking the cards that you would like to use. This is entirely based off of personal opinion, as some people enjoy using cards that most people don't like. Here are a few guidelines to follow for card selection.

1) Pick cards that work well with the other cards in your deck. For instance, you would not want to run an effect that is beneficial to your creatures if you decide not to run any creatures. Also, do your best to make sure that your deck can play around any circumstances that may come up in a game. It will be impossible to think of everything, but do your best to try.

2) Pay attention to the mana cost of the cards in your deck. On average, the average converted mana cost (the total amount of mana you have to spend to use the card) of your deck will be around 3.5.

3) If your average converted mana cost of cards is around 3.5, try to use 23 lands in your deck. If you lean lower, then go with 21 or 20, and if it's higher then consider going up to maybe 25. Keep in mind that with an average deck, you will be running 23 lands and 37 other cards.

Once you have picked all the cards you wish to use in your deck, you will need to pick your Lands. If you are only playing one color, this step is easy: Just use basic lands for the color you are playing. When running more than one color however, it is best to include lands that can produce the colors you are using, or at least more than one color, so that you will have the colors of mana you need in-game. A lot of these lands are much more expensive than regular land cards, so if you are playing on a budget, then just stick to basic lands, but use an even share of each of the colors you will need.

Following these guides will help you on your way to making your first successful deck. Nobody can decide what cards you want to use besides you. Just keep these deck building guides, and keep up-to-date with the Magic rules, and while your first deck may not be one that will win tournaments around the world, you'll have fun playing with the deck and strategy that you created.

Sources:
Personal Experience