This is kind of a follow up to the article on building a deck. I think that 
building a small deck is kind of cool and they are fun to play but it is 
important that you understand that they will not fair as well in tournament 
play.
 
For instance in a tournament people will use a lot of strategy no matter 
what. So using such small creatures and spells may not fair as well.
 
Here are a few suggestions that I have on building a deck for a tournament.
 
First off never use a deck that you have never had an actual Game with. 
Because it doesn't matter how much you think about all the different angels, 
there will always be another angel that you did not see.
 
Items, and adventures are not a must, just because you have them doesn't 
mean that you need them. Sit down and look at the type of deck that you are 
going to play. Then build the deck, test it and then sit down directly 
after you played and think about what went wrong in the match. Some people 
think that just because they have one with their deck that nothing went 
wrong. There will always be a weakness in your deck. Try to mix in cards 
that will make your deck better.
 
Here is a brief description of a the process that I went through to make a 
deck that I used to win a small tournament in Lynden Washington.
 
First I decided that I wanted to make a potions and quidditch deck. Then I 
decided what theme it is that I wanted. I decided that I wanted to use 
cards that would limit my opponent. So I used cards like fouled and cobbing 
and maybe bludger bop and biased commentary, and also some healing cards. 
So I will play some cards such as burning bitterroot balm. I don't like to 
just pic certain cards to put into my deck. I pick a type of card to put 
into my deck. I then thought about what I was going to need to get rid off. 
 That would be creatures and high item decks. so I will need some picking 
on neville. And some diffindos and maybe some lost notes. Well that messes 
with my plan of Potions and Quidditch. Or does it. This is where I am 
forced to pick a chaacter. I have two choices I can pick Mcgonagall or I 
can use Hooch. Well I think that Mcgonagall has a better power, but I have 
not decided if I am going to use Items in my deck yet, so I leave that 
desiscion (pardon the spelling errors) to later. So I then have to think 
about items and adventures. Well I always like to use a few adventures to 
help me out. So I pick an adventure that will keep my opponent from playing 
spells. Well now what about items. I will use a few items that will hep me 
get some extra items and get some more lesson power. Well now I know that I 
am going to use items so I decide that I am going to use Hooch as my 
starter. So I also decide to use a few brooms. Then I decide on using 
quality quidditch supplies long with potions dungeon.
 
Now the key ingredient to any deck is the lessons. Well here it is here is 
the perfect number for almost any deck. 26 lessons should be just enough to 
get a good number as well as leaving you plenty of room to put your other 
cards in. In the end I ended up with this deck.
 
Character
Hooch
 
Lessons x26
Potions x13
Transfiguration x13
 
Spells x24
Picking on Neville x3
Diffindox2
Bludger Bop x1
Bludger in the stands x3
Cobbing x1
Fouled x3
Lost Notes x3
Burning Bitterroot Balm x2
Malevolent Mixture x2
Fire Proctection Potion x2
Dragons blood x2
 
Locations x2
Quality Quidditch Supplies x1
Potions Dungeon x1
 
Adventures x2
Through The Arch x2
 
Items x6
Quidditch Cup x2
Self Stirring Cauldron x2
Nimbus 2000 x2
 
Total=60 (like always)
 
The important thing to remember is that you should think about the general 
idea and then fill in the cards that you have that do what you want. This 
is just my opinion on this subject. Building a deck with quick little 
creatures would be good but not as good as this deck would be in a 
tournament. Now I did win the tournament, but I am not sure the quality of 
the players as I was just up there for a weekend, so I do not think that 
this deck would do good in a big tournament with a lot of better people. 
But I know that the same process would be able to get me one that I could 
win with eventually. Remember that after building a deck you need to test 
the deck and then fix it and test it and then fix it numerous times before 
you go into the tournament. Thanks for reading.
 
 
Michaelmassengale222@hotmail.com Michael Massengale