Your First Deck

 

Today's article was inspired by a post by StarLord in the forums originally found here:

 

http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?p=29904186#post29904186

 

Most of us that have played Magic for a while can remember our first (or one of our first) decks. We probably shake our head and cringe at how bad it was. But we didn't know any better. It can be a daunting thing to put together your first deck.

 

Thankfully, today each set comes with some pre-built starter decks. While these aren't going to win any major tournaments, they are perfectly reasonable ways to get started. StarLord is a brave newbie of the game that is wise enough to ask for some help. 

 

I am not going to use the usual "take this out, put this in" format today for multiple reasons. First, I don't know which of the Born of the Gods starter decks StarLord purchased. Secondly, I want this article to be useful to any and all starting players to help them improve upon their first deck. 

 

There are a lot of things to consider when starting up the game and learning how to play a new deck. This is by no means a comprehensive list of what to do, but if you, rookie Magic player, follow these guidelines, you'll have a much better experience in building decks.

 

1) Play your deck as it is.

 

This may seem like a strange first step in building a better deck, but it is a crucial one. Many new players buy more cards and throw them all in a deck before they fully understand what's going on. To directly answer one of StarLord's questions: No, do not buy another starter deck and add it to it. You are still learning the rules and intricacies of the game. Each deck is going to have its own unique interactions and strategies. Wizards did a pretty good job of making these starter decks to model differing styles of play. At first, you will probably lose a lot more games than you win, but that's to be expected at first. Don't let it discourage you, but play your deck as much as you can. By doing this, you get more confident on the rules and will start to see what cards work well, which ones are a little weaker, and what kinds of cards you want to add to the deck.

 

2) Make MINOR changes.

 

Even if you're losing a lot of games, resist the temptation to throw the deck in the trash and start all over. If you do that, you have to start all over in the process of learning how your deck works. If you'll notice, your starter deck has exactly 60 cards. Keep it that way. When you're ready to try adding cards, buy some booster packs. Some cards will fit your deck and some won't. Try to trade with other players to get cards that fit your deck. Then, if you put a card in, take one out. While the rules allow for larger decks, it is almost never to your advantage to do so because it's reducing the predictability and consistency of your deck. Also, finding the right number of lands in your deck is a delicate balance to be learned over time, so unless you find yourself quite regularly with too much land or not enough, keep the same number the starter deck began with.

 

3) Be very conscious about mana costs. 

 

More powerful cards generally cost more mana. That 7/7 creature may seem appealing, but if it sits in your hand for the whole game because you never get to the 7 mana it requires, it is nothing but dead weight. Keep this in mind as you edit your deck. A few cards that cost six or more mana can make for exciting plays later in the game, but a hand full of them usually makes for a pretty quick loss. Make sure you keep some low mana cost cards so you have things to play on the first few turns. Similarly, I wouldn't recommend adding any new colors to your deck. Most of the starter decks are 1 or 2 colors. I would recommend keeping it this way. The more colors you add, the harder it gets to have the mana you need. Without the correct mana, you can have the best cards in the world, but you are dead in the water.

 

4) Add cards that play nice with the rest of your deck.

 

Just because a card is rare and cool, doesn't mean it's a good fit for your deck. If your deck is full of creatures, playing that Day of Judgement that destroys all creatures is not a good fit. Creatures with heroic can be excellent with lots of ways to target them, but pretty boring if your deck is low on instants, sorceries, and auras. This goes back to knowing what your deck does. You will become the expert on your deck. As you learn of new cards, ones will jump out to you that will be a great fit for what you are trying to do.

 

5) Don't forget that your opponent is trying to beat you too.

 

This sounds obvious, but new players often build their decks in a vacuum. They go all in on cards that help them win the game, but do nothing that tries to stop their opponent from doing the same. Each color has different ways of doing this. White has ways to exile creatures or restrict them from doing anything. Blue is good at counterspells and returning things to players' hands. Green has big creatures that overpower opposing creatures. Red has spells that directly deal damage to creatures. Black has discard spells and spells that instantly kill creatures. The right balance of offense and defense is up to you, but make sure you have both!

 

There is a lot more to learn about building and editing decks, but if you're just getting started, these tips should help you be more successful as you do so. Play a lot, learn from other players, and don't be afraid to make mistakes - but learn from them and don't make the same ones over and over again! Make note of why you lose games and put in cards to fix those weaknesses. And above all, have fun!

 

mattedesa