Hey guys. So today I really wanted to discuss deck-building because it is a HUGE part of MTG. Sure you have those avid collectors waiting to get that last card to finish their precious Zendikar collection, or the card trader in it for the money, but I'm talking about actual deck construction for those who actually want to play Magic: the Gathering, either for the tournaments or around the table family gatherings.
Anyways, so to the new players out there the question seems to be, "How does I build deck?", and the answer is really simple, "Anyway you want to." There are some simple guidelines to follow, otherwise whenever you play you might find that your deck has no focus, it isn't consistent, or it has mana problems. You could always go and look up actual championship decks that have been play-tested, but you may not enjoy that play style, or be able to afford some of the pricey cards tournament champions tend to have. So the solution? Create your own masterpiece.
Deck construction starts by first picking either a color, a theme, or a card, and every deck has to have a minimum of 60 cards (With the maximum being as many cards as you can humanly shuffle without help from another person). You could start by picking a color, which usually picks your theme as well. For example, green magic has many creatures and creature improvement spells so you might make a deck with lots of strong creatures and pack spells that make 'em even stronger.
You could also pick a theme, or a mechanic that your deck works with. A life gain deck could use white spells that gain life, or black spells that steal life, or both. Sometimes if you find a card that you just fell in love with you can easily build around it, such as the card Artillerize, which can work great in a deck that uses its graveyard as a resource or is based on sacrifice.
After you have assembled your crew of cards the next issue to discuss is the land issue. Now the usual rule is to have at least a 2/5 proportion of land to other cards in your deck, which comes out to around 24 lands for a 60 card deck. This ratio is good, but it really comes down to how much mana your deck really needs. If the general mana cost for everything in your deck is 3 then you could exclude some lands and go with an 18-20 land deck. But know the more mana you exclude, the lower your chances are of drawing mana when you play.
Another thing to consider is using multiple colors in your deck. It is easy get mana-screwed as you add more colors to your deck, so when thinking about splashing some of that red in your blue deck, consider using some non-basic lands that can provide two colors, or other land replacement cards such as Llanowar Elves or Manaliths that can provide mana but aren't lands themselves.
Anyways, hopefully you all found this guide helpful in any way, shape or form and I wish you all happy deck-building!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Ghoulcaller's Bell
StarsOfLorin here talking about the first card for review here on MTG Analyzer. Woo! Party hats aside, the card up for review today is from the Innistrad block is aptly named "Ghoulcaller's Bell".
So I just have recently got into some Innistrad cards and noticed a lot of cards with the flashback ability, which basically allows you to cast the spell twice, once from your hand and once again from your graveyard with the extra cost of exiling it afterward. Also the Innistrad block seems to have introduced a lot of fun "graveyard play" spells.
Anyways this card looks like it could do a lot of fun things especially if you use your graveyard as a resource, and all for a mana cost of 1? Play in a flashback deck along with Burning Vengeance and let the fun begin, or stack tough critters and use with Grimoire of the Dead. Milling potential is also here. Definitely looks like it was made for a mono-black or a black/other, but could definitely see some action in other decks too.
The artwork, like most of the Innistrad set (I would say all, but Olivia Voldaren's gender has to be confirmed first...) is amazing. The flavor text really keeps up with the mood of horror in the series and shows just how easy it is for the dead to come back to life on the plane of Innistrad.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Everyones a Critic.
Hey everyone. So I've been interested in MTG for a while, loving the detail and the imagination put into these little cardboard collectibles that has become a sensation for people all over the globe. I was first introduced when my friend showed me these cards that he would play at his family gatherings. I was hooked and have been collecting, deck-building and playing MTG ever since! With this blog I hope to share my love for MTG and help others who are just getting into Magic: the Gathering with some of the experiences I've been through.
Stars
Stars
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