How do you build a deck?

[DYMongoose]

My decks generally (pun?) have a theme throughout them: {Sharuum, the Hegemon} is almost entirely artifacts. {Geist of St. Traft} is all spirits and angels. {Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind} wants me to draw ALL THE CARDS. {Stonebrow, Krosan Hero} is mostly creatures with trample. Others include only zombies, or fungi and saprolings, or only cats and kor and lots of equipment.

Do you build decks like this - starting with a theme and growing the deck from there, or do you take a bunch of cards you want to put into a deck and create a synergy around them? Or do you have a formula for cards that win games and put them into a "fun for me, but no one else" type deck?

[Double-O-Scotch]

It depends on the kind of player you are. If you're building a fun deck, go with the theme, but synergy is always good regardless. However, if you're in it for the W, there are plenty of combos that can be used and abused. {Aurelia the warleader} or {Zur, the enchanter} can give your opponents a headache and you might find some players don't even want to play against you. It all depends on your style and your meta.