How to Make an MTG Deck: Guidelines, Strategies & More

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Best deckbuilding tips & tricks for MTG beginners
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If you’re new to Magic: The Gathering, you may be wondering how players create the decks they play with. While professional players typically enter tournaments with metagame decks they didn’t invent, most casual players craft decks from scratch based on what they want to play. Learning how to build a deck is an essential skill (and it’s a ton of fun), so follow this guide and learn everything you need to know about making a deck in MTG.

How to Make an MTG Deck

To build a deck in Magic: The Gathering, pick roughly 9 cards you really want to play with in 1-3 colors. Then, add a combination of other cards that support your gameplan, cards that deal with your opponent’s threats, and 18-24 lands (or 36-40 for EDH).

Section 1 of 4:

Beginner Options if You Have No Cards

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  1. A few years ago, Wizards of the Coast (WOTC, for short), published a free MTG game that anyone can play on mobile, PC, or Mac . When you download the game, you’ll be given several starter decks to try out for free. This is hands down the best way to try the game out if you aren’t sure you want to buy any physical cards. [1]
    • You can spend money on the game if you’d like, but if you keep playing for free you should be able to unlock enough cards to build a deck you like.
    • Arena only contains cards from the past few years of MTG, just FYI.
  2. If you want to play with physical cards right away or your buddy who already has a deck is begging you to build one, you can buy a functional, powerful deck that plays right out of the box. These preconstructed decks, called “precons” by MTG players, aren’t good enough to win a tournament, but they’re good enough to get you started! [2]
    • There are two popular precon types: Challenger Decks and Commander Decks .
      • Challenger decks are 60-card decks that are designed for play in a format called Standard. The cards that are legal in Standard change every year, so buy a newer deck if you want it to be legal for tournaments or Friday Night Magic .
      • Commander decks are 100-card decks that are meant for a format called Commander/EDH . Commander is the single most popular format in the game, and it’s widely considered the least competitive/most social format.
    • What about Deckbuilder Toolkits? Deckbuilder Toolkits were a product WOTC used to put out aimed to give new players enough cards to build a deck. Do not buy these products—they contain outdated cards and the Toolkits were widely considered bad value for the money (the cards in today’s precons are worth what they’re sold for, but the toolkits were always priced higher than the cards they contained).
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Section 2 of 4:

How to Build a Deck

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  1. There is no single way to “play Magic.” Instead, there are a bunch of different games, called “formats,” all with their legal cards, banned cards, and restrictions. The mechanics of the game (i.e. how the game works ) remain the same, but the cards you’re allowed to use are different. As a result, you must choose a format before you start buying cards. [3] Here are the popular formats (there are dozens more, but these are the most played):
    • Standard : Standard is a rotating format, which means the legal cards change from year to year. The format always uses the most recent few sets of cards.
      • Is this a good place to start? Yes. Standard is designed for new players who want to play competitive magic.
    • Commander/EDH : This is a 100-card format where you can only have one of each card in your deck. It’s a blast for players because it encourages unique gameplay and cards.
      • Is this a good place to start? Yes. Commander is the most popular format for a reason. It’s social, fun, and the least “intense” version of Magic.
    • Pauper : Pauper is a hyper-competitive format where you can only use commons—the least rare cards in Magic. That may sound dull, but Pauper is widely considered one of the best formats because it feels like “classic” MTG.
      • Is this a good place to start? Yes, but only if you really want to play with older cards or if you want to play really competitive magic.
    • Modern , Vintage , Legacy , and Pioneer : These are called “eternal” formats because the legal cards don’t change. Modern is probably the most popular of the bunch, but they all have different ban lists and rules.
      • Is this a good place to start? Probably not. Decks in these formats can cost thousands of dollars, and the formats are kind of designed for veterans of the game.
    • Kitchen Table: “Kitchen Table” Magic isn’t a real format, but it’s sort of an honorary option. It refers to “no rules” Magic when you’re just playing with friends at a kitchen table. If your buddies want you to play “kitchen table” with them, ignore all of this format business and just ask them to help you build a deck.
    • What do the format rules mean when they list legal “sets?” In MTG, a “set” refers to a collection of cards that are published by WOTC. There may be 3-4 complete sets released every year, each with their own name, theme, cards, and design.
  2. If you didn’t buy a preconstructed deck (or you want to upgrade your precon), you have two big options for how you build your deck in terms of what you buy. Here are your choices: [4]
    • Buy packs or booster boxes and build a deck out of the cards you open. This is not the most efficient way to build a powerful deck, but cracking packs is fun. This is also a great way to build a collection if that’s something you’re interested in.
    • Buy single cards you want to use from a third-party vendor. This is, hands-down, the most popular way to build a deck. They build a decklist on paper and then buy the individual cards either from a game store, or a website like TCGPlayer .
  3. There are 5 colors in Magic: red (R), white (W), blue (U), green (G), and black (B). Each color has its own identity, mechanics, and style. Every color combo even has its own name ! Most players have favorite colors based on the art and gameplay, so choose whatever speaks to you. [5]
    • As a rule of thumb, decks typically contain three colors at most. The more colors you choose, the harder it will be to cast your cards. You can use 4-5 colors if you want, but it requires a very carefully curated manabase.
      • Decks that are one color and known as “mono” or “mono-color.” So a “mono-white” deck only contains white cards.
      • Decks with more than one color are called multicolor decks, but they’re usually called by their nickname. So, a green-black deck is usually called Golgari, for example.
    • Why is Blue labeled U for short? Black already gets the “B,” so blue uses the U in its name. These letters are designed for shorthand. So, a green-black deck would be a GB deck.
  4. There’s a popular adage that every MTG deck is really just focused on 9 key cards, so start there! Pick the most essential, interesting, or powerful cards you want to play with that are capable of winning a game and set them out or write them down. You can build around any number of cards, but 4-9 is a good place to start. [6]
    • How do you pick your key cards? Just choose whatever seems fun to play! There are no rules here so long as the cards in question are legal for your format. You can choose powerful creatures, game-winning sorceries, or enchantments that choke out the opponent. So long as they’ll win a game, they count!
    • Note the converted mana costs of your key cards. The converted mana cost (CMC) refers to the combined casting cost of the colored and uncolored mana on each card. So, a card that costs 2 green mana and 3 mana of any color has a CMC of 5.
      • Why does CMC matter? You really want to be able to cast your cards, so if your deck is full of high-CMC cards, you must build the rest of the deck to help do that. Conversely, if your key cards are all cheap, you can run a very lean, aggressive deck.
    • How many creatures should my deck have? There is no single answer to this—it depends entirely on what your deck wants to do. An aggro deck that wins by attacking with creatures should probably be coming in at 30-40 creatures! A control deck that wins by removing the opponent’s stuff may only have 1-2 creatures. Focus on what your deck wants to do and determine how many creatures or spells to include based on that.
  5. In MTG, the “archetype” refers to the type of deck you’re playing. We’ll go into more detail on archetypes in the next section, but basically, your archetype determines how your deck wants to win and play the game. Your key cards fit into an archetype, so build the type of deck that suits them best. Here is what each archetype wants to do: [7]
    • Aggro : Aggro decks want to win fast by dealing a lot of damage before the opponent can do anything.
    • Control : Control decks want to stop the opponent from doing their thing and delay the game until they can win with a single combo or card.
    • Midrange : Midrange decks are “toolbox” decks that use a combination of creatures, spells, and interaction to win fast when needed, and delay the game when necessary.
    • Tempo : Tempo decks want to be one step ahead of their opponent at all times by casting better one-for-one cards.
    • Combo : Combo decks win by playing a certain combination of cards in an order that does one thing that wins.
    • Ramp : Ramp decks want to build enough mana to cast powerful cards that are too much for opponents to deal with.
  6. Mana curve is probably the single most important concept in MTG deckbuilding. It refers to the flow of your deck in terms of how many expensive and how many cheap cards you include. The logic is this: your deck should be able to do things at every point in the game. So, you need things to do on turn 1 and things to do on turn 5. So, if your key cards are all expensive, you likely need to include some cheaper cards that help build to those other cards and vice versa. [8]
    • You will adjust and tweak your mana curve as you build your deck—it’s just something to keep in mind as you build. The mana curve determines how many lands you use, how many cheap cards you use, and how “fast” your deck is.
    • Mana curve refers to the literal shape of your deck. Take a look at this photo . It demonstrates what mana curves actually look like—you stack the cards with 1 CMC on the left, then 2 CMC, then 3 CMC, and so on. The shape of those stacks is your curve.
  7. So, you’ve got your key cards. But what else will you play? Choose support cards that help to advance the game plan of your deck based on what your key cards want to accomplish. Here are some tips and guidelines: [9]
  8. You have to be able to cast the cards you play and that’s where lands come in. Choose a combination of basic lands and multicolor lands that will help you cast the cards in your deck. If the development process here doesn’t seem particularly interesting to you, just use a mana curve calculator to find the ideal land count for your deck. [10]
    • Rule of thumb: Aggro decks need fewer lands and “big” decks need more lands. A deck with 18 lands may only draw 2-4 lands all game, while a deck with 24 lands is likely to hit a land every turn.
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Section 3 of 4:

Testing Your Deck

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  1. Deckbuilding is not a one-time thing where you construct your deck and then that’s it. Every time you play, note when you’re successful and when you’re not. Do you seem to have enough land? Are you struggling to kill your opponent’s creatures? Tweak your deck by swapping out cards and re-testing your work. [11]
    • Enjoy trying different things out! Deckbuilding is part of the fun of Magic: The Gathering. You get to customize your deck to suit your personality and playstyle all while tinkering and messing around with fun, new cards. Enjoy it!
  2. One way to determine if your deck makes sense or not is to draw starting hands of 7. Whenever you’re sitting around at home or idly watching TV, shuffle your deck and draw a starting hand of 7. Note how many lands you have and if your opening hand has enough juice to win a game.
    • Do you consistently get 2-4 lands in your opener? If you never see lands (or draw nothing but lands) in your opening hands, it’s a sign your land count is too low (or high).
    • Can your hand do something on every turn? There’s a good rule of thumb that every deck should be able to do something on the first 4 turns of the game. If you don’t have cards to cast in your opening hands, it’s a sign your mana curve is bad.
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Section 4 of 4:

Popular Deck Archetypes

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  1. 1
    Aggro Aggro is shorthand for “aggressive.” These decks win by dealing enough damage to kill their opponent before they get the opportunity to do anything meaningful. If you’re the type of person who plays DnD and picks the Barbarian, or the kind of person who prefers boxing to chess, aggro is your archetype. [12]
    • Key Colors: Red, White, and Black.
    • Iconic Cards: Goblin Guide, Lightning Bolt, and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
    • Popular Decks: Death and Taxes, Red Deck Wins, Merfolk, Burn
  2. 2
    Control Control decks are all about controlling the board by stopping your opponent’s gameplan. You kill their creatures, counter their cards, and delay the game long enough until you have the ability to kill your opponent with a single card or combo. [13]
    • Key Colors: Blue is the color here, followed by Black and White.
    • Iconic Cards: Counterspell, Ponder, Damnation, Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    • Popular Decks: UW Control, Jeskai Control, Taking Turns, Esper Control
  3. 3
    Midrange Midrange decks are popularly said to “solve problems, not create them.” In other words, these decks are sort of designed to be able to win against every archetype, although they won’t bulldoze over anything (the way aggro often wrecks control, for example). Midrange decks have lots of removal, interaction, and strong creatures. The individual cards in midrange decks tend to be extremely strong in isolation, but have little in common with one another. If you like tinkering, build a midrange deck. [14]
    • Key Colors: Every color, although Green tends to be the base.
    • Iconic Cards: Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Lightning Bolt, Birds of Paradise, Liliana of the Veil
    • Popular Decks: Abzan Junk, The Rock, Jund, Superfriends
  4. 4
    Tempo Tempo decks aim to stay one step ahead of their opponents by ruining the opponent’s plan. They aim to control the board (the cards in play) by messing with the opponent’s creatures and spells—all while attacking their life total. Tempo decks are sort of like aggro decks with a big control element. [15]
    • Key Colors: Blue, White, and Black.
    • Iconic Cards: Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, Delver of Secrets, Teferi, Time Raveler
    • Popular Decks: Delver, Spirits, Ponza, Izzet, Mongoose, Prowess
  5. 5
    Combo Combo decks win by assembling a combination of cards that either win the game immediately, or make it so exceptionally difficult for the opponent to win that they often concede on the spot. Just to make it clear, take a look at the combo of Grindstone and Painter’s Servant —the two cards you build around for Painter decks. With those two cards on the field at the same time, you can mill your entire opponent’s deck! [16]
    • Key Colors: Any.
    • Iconic Cards: Splinter Twin, Sensei’s Divining Top, Copy Cat, Living End, Primeval Titan, Grinding Station
    • Popular Decks: Oops, All Spells!, Twin, Grinding Station, Mill, Belcher, Storm
  6. 6
    Ramp Ramp decks want to generate a ton of mana to cast really powerful cards. Like combo decks, they don’t tend to run a lot of interaction—they just want to play giant creatures and cool spells. [17]
    • Key Colors: Green
    • Iconic Cards: Craterhoof Behemoth, Karn (either one), Ugin (either one), Elvish Mystic, Birds of Paradise, Blood Moon
    • Popular Decks: Tron, Devotion, 8-Post, Elves
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  • Question
    What color should I use with blue to get more creatures?
    Community Answer
    I would say red. Red and blue work excellent together because you can get your smaller red creatures out faster while preventing the opponent's stronger creatures from coming to the battlefield. There's nothing funnier than continuously hitting your opponent with 200 goblin tokens.
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  • Question
    How do you know what color is right for you?
    Community Answer
    You'll need to play for a bit first, before this becomes clear to you. If you are lucky enough to start out in a casual group that had a whole range of control, midrange, aggro, and combo decks to learn from, then that's a great start. Once you know what style you like, choosing a color will become easier. For example, red would suit a more aggressive player, while blue is usually a control player's colour.
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    Can I use more than one color per deck?
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    Yes. You can use as many as you want - even all five!
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      • If you are uninterested in deckbuilding (which is totally fine—a lot of players just like to play), check out the decklists at MTG Goldfish . They track the most popular and competitive decks in every format, and you can just buy a deck entirely through their site.
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      Tips from our Readers

      The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.
      • Know how much your cards are worth before trading. MtG has large fluctuations in how much each card can be worth. Don't get tricked into a bad trade.
      • I personally play with a green and white deck. I think that they both cancel out each other's weaknesses.
      • It sometimes makes building a deck easier if you have a spell to base it around.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena/getting-started
      2. ↑ https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/article/All-Twenty-Five-2023-Commander-Precons-Ranked/275e3100-d2c1-4ced-b657-f02adffdee17/
      3. ↑ https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats
      4. ↑ https://www.bungkus.nl/MTG/kaldheim-singles
      5. ↑ https://www.dicetry.com/post/pick-the-color
      6. ↑ https://medium.com/@christophergalbreath/struggling-to-build-your-first-magic-deck-11a4f592db40
      7. ↑ https://mtg.wiki/page/Archetype
      8. ↑ https://medium.com/@christophergalbreath/struggling-to-build-your-first-magic-deck-11a4f592db40
      9. ↑ https://medium.com/@christophergalbreath/struggling-to-build-your-first-magic-deck-11a4f592db40
      1. ↑ https://www.mtgotraders.com/articles/notlosemana.html
      2. ↑ https://draftsim.com/mtg-deck-tester/
      3. ↑ https://mtg.wiki/page/Archetype
      4. ↑ https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/control-decks-2014-10-06
      5. ↑ https://boltthebirdmtg.com/how-to-build-a-competitive-mtg-deck-part-three-midrange/
      6. ↑ https://mtg.wiki/page/Tempo
      7. ↑ https://boltthebirdmtg.com/how-to-build-competitive-mtg-deck-part-four-combo/
      8. ↑ https://www.quietspeculation.com/2017/02/ramp-decks-beginners-guide/

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      To construct a Magic: The Gathering deck, start by shuffling “Land” cards into your deck to ensure the right amount of “Land” to “Spell” cards are drawn while you play. Next, do a “test draw” by pulling 7 cards to see how the game might play out with the cards you’ve chosen. If you’re lacking certain cards, like “Creature” cards, adjust your deck to ensure that you will be able to play “Spells” in your game. Finally, choose 15 additional cards to add specific utilities during your match. For more tips for making a Magic: The Gathering deck, like which color might be best for you, read on!

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