Deck Building

[Quisequise]

Magic friends, why is deck building so hard?  So many good ideas just come flowing through my head, yet when it time to pick and choose my cards I just fail, fail so hard. Anyone else share in my struggle or have anything special they do when deck building?

[Wally]

I often have issues finding a way to cut my deck down to 60 cards (so I use the sideboard and go to 75)

The way I do it is get a general idea of what I want to do, find all cards that help that idea, whatever the colours. Then sort them by colours, by good bad and maybes. And so on. Then I try and limit my colours if possible, splashing only if necessary or I have the mana base to support it (shock lands etc).

Finally I will reduce it to somewhere around 60 and 15. Then comes the solitaire tests. Play play play. If I continue not to play a card, it's out, find something better to replace.

I ask sit down and work out the sideboard at this point if possible, thinking what I would sideboard out and in depending what I end up against.

Then I do a random deck vs testing. Play it against my best deck first. Piloting both. Tweaking. Piloting against something totally different. Tweaking. More solo tests, more sideboard tests. More testing vs other people if possible. Then it's usually ready for a Fnm test. See how it runs.

That's how I do it anyway. Good luck. I find it one of the most fun parts of this great game. Enjoy it!

[Birdbrain]

I just go to my LGS, buy a few random cards, and slowly work up to a deck

[Quisequise]

Deck building is so strange. When I originally wrote this I was trying to build a Naya Token deck and I was struggling for days with it. Then I decided to switch to Bant and all the cards just fell into place.

[Double-O-Scotch]

Bant is great for tokens but especially +1/+1 counters. Plus you can mix in exalted to really power it up.

[Wally]

How much time do you spend on magic a week?  And how much money?

Hard to say, most is probably on this app. But time with decks could equate to around 10-15 hours a week (not including Fnm)

Money... I think everyone could say "too much" but I really only buy or trade the singles I need.
Possibly a box or event deck when it comes out to boost my card pool and hit specific cards.
I usually use drafts or limited events to boost my card pool though (much more fun than cracking packs)

My justification for the money I spend on cards is I don't drink, smoke or go out partying etc. so I spend my surplus on something that I actually have and can possibly sell if needed.

Buying singles is far more efficient money wise than cracking packs, if you are looking at saving money then that's the way to do it.
Also making sure you have cards (like shock lands) that are vital for making consistent and solid decks, and they will hold their value after rotation as they will be used in all eternal formats. They are far more available at the moment when you can still open them. After that, you will have to hunt for them.

[Silent1236]

My biggest problem is that I see other cards while I'm working on a deck.

For example, I have been thinking of what I want to do in a {Jhoira of the Ghitu} EDH deck, then I saw one of my {Mind Funeral}s and {Baleful Strix} and want to try a {U}{B} EDH, but I've already got a lot of the Jhoira stuff.  Basically, I never finish a deck because something interesting happens and I switch the deck around completely 😓

[PapaBudz]

I always struggle to get it to 60, and that's after I nearly lose my mind at 65. If I have a few extras I make separate deck lists to highlight each strategy then test to see which is better.

[Paraluke]

I have given up on the golden 60, I'll probably go with ~65 cards. As for deck building, I like to look at the synergy of cards in the deck. If a single card can fulfil more than a single function in the deck, I will consider it greatly.

And of cos, be very focused on the theme/winning condition of the deck. Once the deck is completed and play tested, then the adjustments will be required.

[Langku]

Build yourself an edh deck. I've found it much easier to pare down cards when limited to 1 per deck. Plus, it's easier to include all you want when you get to include 100 cards.

As for a 60 card deck, start with a few cards you find yourself enjoying a lot and build on them.

For instance I've been using {master biomancer} lately. I just keep trying out cards  with different +1/+1 counter effects. And when starting, always include 24 lands. Always.