Category: Guides

Long-form educational content covering deckbuilding, strategy, and MTG fundamentals.

  • How the MTG Stack Works: A Beginner’s Guide to Magic’s Most Important Rule

    How the MTG Stack Works: A Beginner’s Guide to Magic’s Most Important Rule

    You are three turns into your first game at Friday Night Magic. You tap out, slam your best creature on the table, and lean back — satisfied. Your opponent raises a finger. “In response…” they say, and suddenly your creature is dead before it ever got to attack. You stare at the board, trying to figure out what just happened.

    What happened was the stack — and it is the single most important rule in Magic: The Gathering that nobody explains clearly enough to new players.

    The stack governs how spells and abilities resolve in Magic. It determines who gets to respond to what, in which order things happen, and why “in response” are the two most powerful words in the game. Once you understand the stack, you stop being the player whose creatures keep dying and start being the player who says “in response” with a grin.

    This guide will walk you through everything: what the stack is, how it works, and how to use it to win games. We will use real card examples, visual diagrams, and plain language. No law degree required.

    Table of Contents

    What Is the Stack?

    Imagine a cafeteria tray dispenser — the kind where trays are stacked on top of each other, and you always take from the top. When someone adds a tray, it goes on top. When someone takes a tray, it comes off the top. The last tray placed on the stack is always the first one removed.

    That is exactly how Magic’s stack works. When you cast a spell, it goes on the stack. When your opponent responds with their own spell, theirs goes on top of yours. When it is time for things to resolve, the game starts from the top and works down. Your opponent’s spell resolves first because it was added last.

    Quick Definition: The stack is a game zone in Magic: The Gathering where spells and abilities wait to resolve. It is not a physical pile of cards on the table — it is a conceptual space that determines the order in which things happen. Think of it as a queue where the most recent addition gets processed first.

    The stack exists because Magic is fundamentally a game of interaction. Without it, you would cast a spell and it would just happen — no counterplay, no bluffing, no drama. The stack is what makes Magic feel like a conversation between two players rather than two people playing solitaire side by side. It creates the moments where you hold up mana, bluff having an answer, and punish opponents for tapping out at the wrong time.

    Every spell you cast (creatures, instants, sorceries, enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers, battles) goes on the stack. Most activated abilities go on the stack. Triggered abilities go on the stack. The stack is where the game’s most meaningful decisions happen.

    Why the Stack Matters

    Understanding the stack is not some niche rules trivia that only judges care about. It directly determines whether you win or lose games. Here is why:

    Combat tricks work because of the stack. When your opponent declares blockers, you can cast Surge of Salvation to give your creatures protection from the colors of their blockers — and because your spell goes on the stack after blockers are declared, the block is already locked in. Your creatures survive. Theirs don’t.

    Counterspells exist because of the stack. A counterspell like Make Disappear does not prevent your opponent from casting a spell — it removes that spell from the stack before it resolves. The timing matters: you can only counter something while it is sitting on the stack, waiting to resolve.

    Removal timing wins games because of the stack. Your opponent casts All That Glitters targeting their creature. If you wait for it to resolve, that creature could become enormous. But if you cast Go for the Throat on the creature while the Aura is still on the stack, the creature dies, the Aura has no legal target, and it goes to the graveyard without ever doing anything. You just two-for-one’d them using stack knowledge.

    Triggered abilities can be responded to. Your opponent’s Scute Swarm triggers when a land enters the battlefield. That trigger goes on the stack — and before it resolves, you can remove the Scute Swarm with instant-speed removal. The trigger still resolves (it is already on the stack, independent of its source), but understanding when and how to interact with triggers is the difference between losing to an army of insects and keeping the board under control.

    How Spells and Abilities Go On the Stack

    Casting a Spell

    When you cast a spell, it follows a specific sequence. Understanding this sequence helps you see exactly when opponents can (and cannot) interact:

    1. Announce the spell. Move the card from your hand to the stack. Choose targets, modes, and any other decisions the card asks for (like how much mana to pay for X spells).
    2. Pay costs. Tap your lands, pay life, sacrifice creatures — whatever the card requires. Once costs are paid, the spell is officially on the stack. You cannot be “interrupted” during this step.
    3. The spell sits on the stack. It does not resolve yet. It just waits there.
    4. Priority passes. Both players get a chance to respond. If neither player does anything, the spell resolves. If someone does respond, their response goes on top of the stack, and the cycle repeats.

    The key takeaway: there is a gap between when you cast a spell and when it actually does its thing. That gap is where all the interesting decisions in Magic happen.

    Triggered Abilities

    Triggered abilities are identified by the words “when,” “whenever,” or “at.” They go on the stack automatically when their trigger condition is met.

    When Mondrak, Glory Dominus is on the battlefield and you create a token, Mondrak’s replacement effect doubles it — but that is actually a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. Let’s use a cleaner example: Storm-Kiln Artist says “Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, create a Treasure token.” Every time you cast an eligible spell, that trigger goes on the stack on top of whatever you just cast.

    Important rule: triggered abilities exist independently of their source once they are on the stack. If your opponent kills Storm-Kiln Artist in response to the trigger, you still get your Treasure token. The ability is already on the stack — removing the creature that created it does not undo it.

    Activated Abilities

    Activated abilities are written in the format “[Cost]: [Effect]” — there is always a colon separating what you pay from what you get. Most activated abilities use the stack, just like spells.

    Quick Tip: The easiest way to identify an activated ability on any card is to look for the colon (:). If a card’s text has a colon separating a cost from an effect, it is an activated ability. “{T}: Add one mana of any color” and “{2}, Sacrifice this creature: Draw a card” are both activated abilities. Tap the permanent or pay the cost, and the ability goes on the stack.

    Just like triggered abilities, activated abilities are independent of their source once on the stack. If you activate an ability and your opponent destroys the source in response, the ability still resolves.

    Last In, First Out (LIFO)

    The LIFO Principle

    LIFO stands for Last In, First Out. It is the core rule that governs how the stack resolves. The last thing added to the stack is always the first thing to resolve.

    This might feel backwards at first, but it makes perfect sense once you think about it. If your opponent casts a creature and you respond with a counterspell, your counterspell needs to resolve before their creature does — otherwise, how would countering work? LIFO ensures that responses always resolve before the things they are responding to.

    Think of it like a conversation. Someone makes a statement (casts a spell). You interrupt them (cast in response). Your interruption is addressed first. Then the original statement resolves — or doesn’t, if your interruption changed things.

    Walk-Through 1: Lightning Bolt vs. Counterspell

    You cast Lightning Bolt targeting your opponent’s face for 3 damage. Your opponent casts Spell Pierce, paying one mana to counter your spell unless you pay two. You don’t have two mana open.

    Here is what the stack looks like before anything resolves:

    🔽 THE STACK (resolves top → bottom)

    TOP (resolves first) → Spell Pierce (targeting Lightning Bolt)

    BOTTOM → Lightning Bolt (targeting opponent)

    Resolution: Spell Pierce resolves first. You can’t pay the two mana, so Lightning Bolt is countered and goes to the graveyard. The stack is now empty. Your 3 damage never happens.

    Walk-Through 2: Combat Trick vs. Removal

    Your 3/3 creature attacks. Your opponent blocks with their 3/3. Before damage, you cast Unleash Fury to double your creature’s power to 6. In response, your opponent casts Go for the Throat targeting your creature.

    🔽 THE STACK (resolves top → bottom)

    TOP (resolves first) → Go for the Throat (targeting your 3/3)

    BOTTOM → Unleash Fury (targeting your 3/3)

    Resolution: Go for the Throat resolves first, destroying your creature. Then Unleash Fury tries to resolve, but its target is gone. It fizzles — the game removes it from the stack because it has no legal target. Your opponent traded their removal spell for your combat trick and your creature. You got blown out because of the stack.

    The lesson: casting a combat trick before your opponent has a chance to respond with removal can put you in a worse spot than just letting combat happen normally. Stack awareness is not just about knowing the rules — it is about making smarter decisions.

    Priority — Who Gets to Respond

    What Is Priority?

    Priority is the game’s way of determining who gets to act at any given moment. Think of it as a “permission slip” to cast spells or activate abilities. Only the player who holds priority can add something to the stack.

    The active player (the player whose turn it is) always receives priority first at the beginning of each step and phase. After they cast a spell or activate an ability, priority passes to the opponent. After the opponent acts or passes, priority goes back to the active player.

    How Priority Works

    Here is the priority cycle, step by step:

    1. The active player gets priority.
    2. They can cast a spell, activate an ability, or pass priority.
    3. If they act, their spell/ability goes on the stack, and they get priority again (they can respond to their own spell if they want).
    4. When they pass priority, the opponent gets priority.
    5. The opponent can act or pass.
    6. Only when both players pass priority in succession does the top item on the stack resolve.
    7. After an item resolves, the active player gets priority again.
    8. Steps 1-7 repeat until the stack is empty and both players pass on an empty stack, which moves the game to the next step or phase.

    This means nothing ever resolves “automatically.” Even if your opponent says “I cast this” and reaches for their graveyard, you always have the right to say “hold on, I want to respond.” In tournament play, this is a formal process. In casual games, players often shortcut by assuming no response — but the option is always there.

    Common Priority Mistakes

    Important: Spells and abilities do not resolve the instant they are cast. There is always a window for responses. New players often treat spells as if they resolve immediately — “I cast Sunfall, your creatures are dead.” But your opponent has priority after you cast Sunfall. They can respond with an instant like Surge of Salvation to give their creatures indestructible. Then Sunfall resolves — and their creatures survive.

    Another common mistake: trying to respond to something that has already resolved. If your opponent casts a creature and you say “okay” (passing priority), that creature resolves. You cannot then say “wait, I want to counter it.” Once both players pass, the top item resolves immediately. If you wanted to counter it, you needed to do it before you passed.

    In multiplayer formats like Commander, priority passes around the table in turn order starting from the active player. This means every player gets a chance to respond to every spell, which is part of why multiplayer games can have such dramatic stack interactions.

    Real Game Walk-Throughs

    Let’s look at some real scenarios that come up in actual games. These are the situations where stack knowledge separates experienced players from beginners.

    Counterspell Response Chain

    You cast Sunfall, a powerful five-mana board wipe. Your opponent casts Make Disappear, paying one mana to counter your Sunfall unless you pay two. You don’t want to pay, so instead you cast An Offer You Can’t Refuse — a one-mana counterspell that counters their Make Disappear (giving them two Treasure tokens, but saving your board wipe).

    🔽 THE STACK (resolves top → bottom)

    TOP (resolves 1st) → An Offer You Can’t Refuse (targeting Make Disappear)

    MIDDLE → Make Disappear (targeting Sunfall)

    BOTTOM (resolves last) → Sunfall

    Resolution:

    1. An Offer You Can’t Refuse resolves. Make Disappear is countered and goes to the graveyard. Your opponent gets two Treasure tokens.
    2. Make Disappear is gone — it was removed from the stack by the counterspell.
    3. Sunfall resolves. All creatures are exiled. You get an Incubator token with counters equal to the total power of exiled creatures.

    You spent one extra mana and gave your opponent two Treasures, but you resolved a game-changing board wipe. That’s a winning trade.

    Removal in Response to an Aura (Fizzling)

    Your opponent casts All That Glitters targeting their creature. All That Glitters is an Aura that gives a creature +1/+1 for each artifact and enchantment you control — it can make something enormous. But it is still on the stack. In response, you cast Go for the Throat targeting that creature.

    🔽 THE STACK (resolves top → bottom)

    TOP (resolves first) → Go for the Throat (targeting their creature)

    BOTTOM → All That Glitters (targeting their creature)

    Resolution: Go for the Throat resolves, destroying the creature. All That Glitters tries to resolve, but its target no longer exists. The Aura fizzles — it goes to the graveyard without ever entering the battlefield. Your opponent just lost two cards (a creature and an Aura) to your single removal spell. That is a brutal two-for-one, and it only happened because you understood when to fire your removal.

    The wrong play would have been waiting until All That Glitters resolved and then trying to kill the creature. By then, the creature would already have the Aura’s power boost — and if they had other artifacts and enchantments, it might be too big to deal with efficiently.

    Multiple Triggered Abilities (APNAP Order)

    In multiplayer games, multiple players might have abilities that trigger at the same time. Magic handles this with the APNAP rule: Active Player, Non-Active Player.

    The active player (whose turn it is) puts their triggered abilities on the stack first, in any order they choose. Then, going around the table in turn order, each non-active player adds their triggered abilities. Since the last abilities added resolve first (LIFO), the non-active players’ triggers resolve before the active player’s.

    APNAP Made Simple: If it is your turn and both you and an opponent have abilities that trigger at the same time, your opponent’s triggers resolve first. This matters in situations like simultaneous death triggers, beginning-of-upkeep effects, and “at the beginning of combat” abilities. When in doubt, remember: the active player’s stuff is always at the bottom of the stack.

    Things That DON’T Use the Stack

    Not everything in Magic uses the stack. Knowing what doesn’t use the stack is just as important as knowing what does, because you cannot respond to these actions.

    Mana Abilities

    Tapping a land for mana does not use the stack. Neither do mana abilities on permanents like Llanowar Elves (“{T}: Add {G}”). These resolve instantly and cannot be responded to. Your opponent cannot destroy your Llanowar Elves “in response” to you tapping it for mana — by the time they could respond, you already have the mana.

    Static Abilities

    Abilities that are always “on” — like “Creatures you control get +1/+1” — never go on the stack. They just exist as long as the permanent is on the battlefield. There is no point where a static ability is “resolving” that you could respond to.

    Special Actions

    Playing a land is a special action that does not use the stack. You cannot counter someone playing a land. Turning a face-down creature face-up (morph/manifest) is also a special action that does not use the stack — the creature flips instantly.

    Replacement Effects

    Effects that say “instead” or “as” — like Mondrak, Glory Dominus doubling tokens or a card entering the battlefield tapped — modify events as they happen rather than going on the stack separately. You cannot respond to a replacement effect because it modifies the original event rather than creating a new one.

    Quick Test: If you are unsure whether something uses the stack, ask yourself: “Can my opponent say ‘in response’ to this?” If the answer is no — it is a mana ability, a static ability, a special action, or a replacement effect — then it does not use the stack. If the answer is yes, it does.

    Common Stack Mistakes Beginners Make

    Even after you understand how the stack works in theory, these are the mistakes that trip up newer players in actual games:

    1. Treating spells as instant-effect. You cast a creature and immediately start using its abilities. But your opponent had priority and could have countered it. Always give opponents a chance to respond — and if you are the opponent, speak up before things resolve.
    2. Destroying a source to stop an ability. “I’ll kill your creature in response to its triggered ability!” Great — the creature dies. But the ability is already on the stack and still resolves. Removing the source of a triggered or activated ability does not remove that ability from the stack.
    3. Casting combat tricks too early. Casting Unleash Fury before your opponent has declared blockers gives them information and a chance to respond. Wait until blockers are declared, then pump. Better yet, wait until after they have used their own combat tricks.
    4. Not holding up mana for responses. Tapping out on your turn means you cannot respond to anything during your opponent’s turn. Even if you don’t have an instant in hand, representing open mana forces your opponent to play around the possibility.
    5. Scooping too early on the stack. Your opponent aims a lethal Lightning Bolt at your face. You concede before it resolves. In most casual games, this is fine. But in some situations (like when your opponent’s spell has other effects that require it to resolve, or when death triggers matter), scooping with spells on the stack can matter.
    6. Forgetting that the stack resolves one item at a time. After each item resolves, both players get priority again before the next item resolves. You can add new things to the stack between resolutions. This creates opportunities for complex multi-step plays that beginners often miss.

    Rules Change Alert: Before 2010, combat damage used the stack. This meant you could assign lethal damage, then sacrifice your creature for value before the damage resolved. That rule was removed with the Magic 2010 rules update. Today, combat damage happens instantly and does not use the stack. If someone tells you to put damage on the stack and then sacrifice your creature, they are remembering a rule that hasn’t existed for over fifteen years.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can I respond to a land being played?

    No. Playing a land is a special action that does not use the stack. However, if playing a land triggers an ability (like landfall on Scute Swarm), that triggered ability does go on the stack and can be responded to.

    If I kill a creature, do its triggered abilities still resolve?

    Yes. Once a triggered ability is on the stack, it exists independently of its source. Destroying, exiling, or bouncing the permanent that created the trigger does not remove the trigger from the stack. The ability will still resolve.

    Can I counter an activated ability?

    Most counterspells only counter spells, not abilities. A regular Make Disappear cannot counter an activated ability. However, a few specific cards like Stifle and Disallow can counter triggered and activated abilities. These are relatively rare effects.

    What happens if a spell’s target becomes illegal?

    If a spell or ability has a single target and that target becomes illegal before it resolves (because it left the battlefield, gained protection, etc.), the spell or ability fizzles — it is removed from the stack without resolving. If a spell has multiple targets and only some become illegal, it still resolves against the remaining legal targets.

    Can I respond to my own spells?

    Yes. After you cast a spell, you retain priority before passing it. You can cast another spell or activate an ability on top of your own. This is how you can cast a creature and then immediately cast a spell to protect it before your opponent gets priority (though you must have an instant or flash card to do this).

    Does a creature’s enter-the-battlefield ability go on the stack?

    Yes. Enter-the-battlefield (ETB) abilities are triggered abilities. The creature enters the battlefield as the creature spell resolves, and then the ETB trigger goes on the stack. Players can respond to the ETB trigger — for example, by removing the creature before the trigger resolves (though the trigger will still resolve even if the creature is gone).

    What is the difference between “in response” and “before that resolves”?

    They mean the same thing. “In response to your Lightning Bolt” and “before your Lightning Bolt resolves” both mean “I am adding something to the stack on top of your spell.” In casual play, either phrase works. In tournament play, both are understood to mean you are acting while you have priority.

    Can sorceries go on the stack?

    Yes — every spell goes on the stack when cast, including sorceries. The restriction on sorceries is when you can cast them (only during your main phase when the stack is empty), not whether they use the stack. Once cast, a sorcery sits on the stack like any other spell and can be responded to.

    Do tokens entering the battlefield use the stack?

    Creating a token does not use the stack — the token just appears. However, the spell or ability that creates the token was on the stack, and any triggered abilities that fire when the token enters (like ETB triggers or constellation effects) go on the stack and can be responded to.

    How does the stack work in multiplayer Commander?

    The same LIFO rules apply. The main difference is priority order: after the active player casts a spell, priority passes clockwise around the table. Every player must pass priority before the top item resolves. This means more players equals more chances for interaction — and more dramatic stack wars. Simultaneous triggers use the APNAP rule (Active Player, Non-Active Player) described above.

    Wrapping Up

    The stack is where Magic goes from a game of “play creatures, turn sideways” to a game of strategy, bluffing, and split-second decisions. Understanding it does not require memorizing hundreds of rules — it requires understanding one principle (LIFO), one concept (priority), and developing the instinct to ask “can I respond to this?” before anything resolves.

    Start small. Next time you play, consciously think about the stack during your games. When your opponent casts something, pause and consider your options before saying “okay.” When you have open mana, think about what you could be representing. When a triggered ability fires, remember that there is a window to respond.

    Before you know it, you will be the one saying “in response” — and watching your opponent’s face fall.

    Want to learn more about using stack interactions to your advantage? Check out our guides on Combo Decks 101, Control Decks 101, and Aggro Decks 101 for archetype-specific strategies.

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  • 10 More Quick Tricks for Better MTG Decks

    10 More Quick Tricks for Better MTG Decks

    You have built a few decks. You know the basics — run the right number of lands, keep your deck to 60 cards (or 100 in Commander), and pick a strategy. Good. You are past the starting line.

    But your decks still feel… inconsistent. Sometimes they pop off. Sometimes they do nothing for five turns while your opponent runs you over. That gap between “decent deck” and “deck that actually performs” is where these 10 tricks come in.

    This is the sequel to our 10 Quick Tricks for Better MTG Decks. If that post was about laying the foundation, this one is about tightening the bolts. These are the habits that separate a pile of good cards from a deck that wins games.

    Let’s get into it.

    1. Build in Redundancy

    Here is a mistake that bites every deckbuilder eventually: you build your entire strategy around one card, and when you do not draw it, the deck falls apart.

    The fix is redundancy. For every key effect your deck needs, include 2-3 cards that fill the same role. If your deck depends on a creature that draws cards when it deals combat damage, do not just run four copies of that one creature. Find other creatures that do something similar.

    Example: A deck that needs card draw from creatures might run Toski, Bearer of Secrets alongside Ohran Frostfang. They are not identical, but they both reward you for attacking. If one gets removed, you still have a backup plan.

    In Commander, where you are limited to single copies, redundancy is even more critical. You cannot run four copies of your favorite card, so you need to find three or four cards that accomplish the same thing.

    The rule of thumb: If your deck cannot function without a specific card, you need more cards that do what that card does.

    2. Respect the Mana Curve

    Your mana curve is the distribution of mana costs across your deck, and it is one of the best diagnostic tools you have. Every online deck builder — Moxfield, Archidekt, MTGGoldfish — will generate a visual curve for you. Use it.

    For most decks, you want a bell curve that peaks at 2-3 mana. That means the majority of your spells should cost 2 or 3 mana to cast, with fewer cards at 1 mana and progressively fewer as costs go up to 4, 5, and beyond.

    Why? Because in the early turns of the game, you have limited mana. If your hand is full of 5-drops and 6-drops, you are doing nothing while your opponent builds a board. On the flip side, if your curve is too low, you will run out of gas in the late game.

    A practical target for a 60-card deck:
    – 1-mana spells: 6-8
    – 2-mana spells: 8-12
    – 3-mana spells: 6-10
    – 4-mana spells: 4-6
    – 5+ mana spells: 2-4

    These numbers shift depending on your strategy — aggro decks lean lower, control decks lean higher — but the bell shape is almost always right.

    Commander players: Your curve will naturally be higher since the format is slower, but you still need cheap interaction and early plays. Do not fill your deck with nothing but 6-mana haymakers.

    3. Think in Packages

    Stop looking at your deck as 60 (or 100) individual cards. Start thinking in functional packages — groups of cards organized by what they do for your deck.

    Most decks need some combination of these packages:

    • Threats — Cards that win the game (creatures, planeswalkers, finishers)
    • Removal — Cards that deal with your opponent’s threats (destroy, exile, bounce, counter)
    • Card draw / selection — Cards that keep your hand full and find what you need
    • Mana base — Lands plus any ramp or mana fixing
    • Utility — Cards that support your strategy (protection, recursion, tutors)

    When you build this way, it becomes obvious when something is off. “I have 20 threats and 2 removal spells” is a red flag you can spot immediately. “My card draw package is one Divination” tells you exactly what to fix.

    For Commander decks, a classic starting framework is: 10 ramp, 10 card draw, 10 removal, 35-38 lands, and the rest in your theme. Adjust from there based on your commander and strategy.

    4. Sideboard with Purpose

    In formats with sideboards (Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy), your 15 sideboard cards should not be an afterthought. Every card in your sideboard should have a specific matchup or problem it addresses.

    Before building your sideboard, ask yourself:
    – What decks will I face most often?
    – What cards or strategies give my deck the most trouble?
    – What do I bring in against aggro? Against control? Against combo?

    Bad sideboard: 15 cards you thought were cool but did not make the main deck.

    Good sideboard: 3 cards for aggressive matchups, 3 for control, 3 for graveyard strategies, 3 for artifacts/enchantments, and 3 flexible answers.

    Each sideboard card should be clearly better than something in your main deck for at least one matchup. If you cannot identify what you would take out to bring it in, it does not belong in your sideboard.

    Commander players: You do not have a traditional sideboard, but you can apply the same thinking with flex slots. Keep a short list of cards you swap in and out depending on your playgroup’s meta. If your group is heavy on graveyard strategies, keep that Bojuka Bog and Rest in Peace handy.

    5. Learn When to Mulligan

    A hand of seven cards that does nothing is worse than a hand of six cards with a plan.

    This sounds obvious, but so many players keep bad hands because they are afraid of going to six. Modern mulligan rules (the London Mulligan) are generous — you see seven cards every time and put one back on the bottom. Use them.

    Keep a hand when it has:
    – Lands (at least 2, usually not more than 4-5)
    – A play in the first two turns
    – A clear path toward your deck’s game plan

    Mulligan a hand when it has:
    – Zero or one land
    – Five or more lands
    – No plays before turn 3-4
    – Cards that do not work together (all removal but no threats, or all threats with no mana to cast them)

    The key is asking: “Can this hand win a game?” Not “Does this hand have some good cards?” A hand with two great cards and five blanks is still a bad hand.

    In Commander, the stakes are a bit different since the format is multiplayer and slower, but the principle holds. A hand that does nothing until turn 5 while three opponents are developing their boards is going to leave you behind.

    6. Don’t Fall in Love with Bad Cards

    We all have that card. The one with incredible art, or the one you pulled from your very first booster pack, or the one that won you that one memorable game three years ago. You keep putting it in decks even though it underperforms every time.

    Cut it.

    Ruthless editing is what separates decent decks from great ones. Every card in your deck needs to earn its slot. After each game, ask yourself: “Which card did I draw and wish was something else?” That card is a candidate for removal.

    A practical test: If a card sits in your hand doing nothing more than half the games you play, it is not pulling its weight. Replace it with something your deck actually needs.

    This does not mean you should strip every ounce of personality from your decks. Playing Magic is supposed to be fun, and pet cards are part of that. But be honest about the trade-off. If you are running Moonsilver Spear because you love the art, acknowledge that a different equipment or threat would probably win you more games.

    The best deckbuilders review their lists after every session and make small adjustments. Get in the habit of cutting one underperformer and testing one new card every time you revisit a deck.

    7. Balance Threats and Answers

    A deck full of threats and no answers will lose to the first opposing creature it cannot block. A deck full of answers and no threats will answer everything and then have no way to actually win.

    You need both, and finding the right ratio is one of the most important deckbuilding skills.

    Aggro decks lean toward threats (maybe 70/30 threats to answers), using speed to stay ahead of whatever the opponent is doing. The removal they run is usually cheap and efficient — Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push — to clear blockers.

    Control decks lean toward answers (maybe 30/70), with a few hard-to-deal-with finishers that close the game once they have stabilized. Think Hullbreaker Horror or Torrential Gearhulk.

    Midrange decks sit somewhere in between, with threats that double as answers. Cards like Bonecrusher Giant or Fury that kill a creature AND give you a body are premium in these strategies.

    If you find yourself consistently losing because you cannot close out games, you need more threats. If you are losing because your opponent’s board runs away from you, you need more answers.

    8. Use Card Advantage Engines

    One-shot card draw spells (like Divination or Read the Bones) are fine. Repeatable card advantage engines are significantly better.

    A card advantage engine is any card that draws you extra cards or generates extra value turn after turn without additional mana investment. Once it is on the battlefield, it just keeps working.

    Classic examples:
    – Phyrexian Arena — Draw an extra card every upkeep for just 1 life
    – Esper Sentinel — Taxes opponents or draws you cards in white, every turn
    – Welcoming Vampire — Free card every time a small creature enters under your control
    – Beast Whisperer — Draw a card every time you cast a creature spell
    – Bident of Thassa — Draw cards whenever your creatures deal combat damage
    – Smuggler’s Copter — Loots every time it attacks, smoothing your draws

    The difference between a one-shot draw spell and an engine is staggering over the course of a game. Divination draws you 2 cards once. Phyrexian Arena, left unchecked for five turns, draws you 5 extra cards. That is the kind of advantage that wins games.

    When building your card draw package, prioritize engines over one-shot effects. Include a mix — some cheap cantrips to smooth out early draws and 2-3 engines that take over the mid-to-late game.

    9. Respect Your Color Requirements

    Every color you add to your deck comes with a cost. One color is easy on your mana base. Two colors is manageable with good dual lands. Three colors requires real mana base construction. Four or five colors needs dedicated fixing or you will lose games to your own lands.

    The question to ask before adding a color: “Is this splash worth the consistency I am giving up?”

    Splashing a fourth color for a single card is almost never worth it. That card might be powerful, but you will draw it in maybe 40% of your games, and in some of those games you will not have the right mana to cast it. Meanwhile, your mana base now stumbles more often, making your other 59 cards worse.

    Practical guidelines:
    – Mono-color: All basics, maximum consistency, limited card pool
    – Two colors: 8-10 dual lands, very consistent, most formats’ sweet spot
    – Three colors: 12+ dual lands, needs careful construction, watch for double-pip costs (like casting a card that costs WW and another that costs BB in the same deck)
    – Four+ colors: You need a specific reason and a dedicated mana base (fetch lands, triomes, mana rocks/dorks)

    In Commander, five-color decks are popular, but they require significant investment in your mana base. If your land base is mostly basics and a few tap-lands, stick to one or two colors until you can upgrade your mana fixing.

    A final note on double pips: Cards that cost 1BB are harder to cast in a three-color deck than cards that cost 2B. When you are stretching your mana, pay attention to how many colored pips your spells require, not just their total mana cost.

    10. Study Winning Decks (But Understand Why)

    Copying a deck list is easy. Understanding why every card is in that list is what actually makes you a better deckbuilder.

    The best free resources for studying decks:
    – MTGGoldfish — Tournament results, metagame breakdowns, deck price tracking for Standard, Modern, Pioneer, and more
    – EDHREC — The definitive Commander resource. See what cards are most popular for any commander, and why
    – Moxfield — Public deck lists with detailed descriptions, tags, and community ratings

    When you look at a winning deck, do not just copy the 75 cards. Ask questions:

    • Why is this deck running 3 copies of this card instead of 4?
    • What role does each sideboard card fill?
    • How does this mana base support the deck’s color requirements?
    • What is the game plan on turns 1, 2, 3?
    • Why was one removal spell chosen over another?

    The answers to these questions teach you deckbuilding principles you can apply to every deck you build, not just the one you are looking at.

    A good exercise: Find a top-performing deck in your favorite format, read it card by card, and write one sentence about why each non-land card is included. If you cannot explain a card’s purpose, research it. This single exercise will teach you more about deckbuilding than a dozen games.

    Putting It All Together

    These 10 tricks are not one-time fixes. They are habits. The more you build decks with redundancy, respect the curve, think in packages, and study what works, the better your decks will get over time.

    If you missed the first post in this series, start with 10 Quick Tricks for Better MTG Decks for the foundational tips every player should know. And if you want to go even deeper, our Ultimate Guide to Building an MTG Deck covers everything from choosing your first card to tuning a finished list.

    The best deckbuilders are not the ones who memorize card lists. They are the ones who understand why cards belong in a deck and when to make changes. Keep tinkering, keep testing, keep cutting the cards that are not working.

    Your decks will thank you.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How many copies of a card should I run in a 60-card deck?

    It depends on how important the card is to your strategy. Run 4 copies of cards you want to see every game, 3 copies of cards that are good but not essential early, 2 copies of situational cards, and 1 copy of cards you only need in specific scenarios. In Commander, you are limited to 1 copy of each card (except basic lands).

    What is the ideal mana curve for a Commander deck?

    Commander curves tend to be higher than 60-card formats, but you still want most of your spells between 2-4 mana. A common guideline is an average mana value of 3.0-3.5 for a well-tuned Commander deck. Anything above 4.0 average means you are probably too top-heavy.

    How do I know if my deck needs more removal or more threats?

    Track your losses over several games. If you are dying to your opponent’s creatures or combos you cannot stop, you need more removal. If you find yourself stabilizing but never closing the game, you need more threats. Most decks want at least 6-8 removal spells in a 60-card list.

    Should I always follow the mana curve guidelines?

    No — the guidelines are a starting point. Aggro decks want an extremely low curve (peaking at 1-2 mana). Ramp decks can support more expensive spells because they accelerate their mana. Control decks need cheap interaction early and expensive finishers late. Your curve should match your strategy.

    How often should I update my deck?

    Review your deck after every 3-5 play sessions. Cut the worst-performing card and test a replacement. Small, incremental changes are better than overhauling the entire deck at once. Keep notes on which cards overperform and underperform so your changes are data-driven, not just gut feelings.

    What is the best way to study winning deck lists?

    Start at MTGGoldfish for competitive formats or EDHREC for Commander. Focus on understanding card choices rather than copying lists wholesale. Read articles that accompany deck lists, watch gameplay videos featuring the deck, and try to identify the role every card plays in the strategy.

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  • 10 Quick Deckbuilding Tricks Every Casual MTG Player Should Know

    10 Quick Deckbuilding Tricks Every Casual MTG Player Should Know

    You don’t need a $500 mana base or a pro tour pedigree to build a deck that wins. You just need to stop making the mistakes that most casual players make without realizing it.

    These 10 deckbuilding tricks are fast to learn and immediately actionable. Each one will make your next deck tighter, more consistent, and more fun to play. Whether you’re building a 60-card kitchen table brew or a Commander list, these fundamentals apply.

    Let’s get into it.

    1. Stick to 60 Cards (or 100 in Commander)

    Every card you add beyond the minimum deck size makes your best cards harder to draw. That’s not opinion — it’s math. In a 60-card deck, any single card has a 1-in-60 chance of being your next draw. Bump that to 70 cards and you’ve diluted every draw step by over 15%.

    The temptation to run 65 or 70 cards usually comes from not wanting to cut anything. But here’s the truth: if you can’t decide what to cut, that’s a sign your deck lacks focus, not that it needs more cards.

    Commander players: the same logic applies at 100 cards. Don’t run 105 because you couldn’t make the last few cuts. The singleton format is already inconsistent by design — don’t make it worse.

    The fix: After you finish building, force yourself to identify the 3 weakest cards and cut them. If you’re already at 60, great. If you’re at 63, those cuts just brought you to the minimum.

    2. Follow the Rule of 9

    This is the simplest deckbuilding framework that exists for 60-card decks: pick 9 cards you want to build around, run 4 copies of each, and add 24 lands. That’s 36 spells + 24 lands = 60 cards.

    The Rule of 9 forces consistency. Running 4 copies of a card means you’re far more likely to draw it in your opening hand or first few turns. One-ofs and two-ofs should be the exception, not the default.

    For Commander: You can’t run multiples (except basic lands), but the principle still applies. Instead of 4 copies, run 3-4 cards that fill the same role. Need card draw? Don’t run one draw spell — run Harmonize, Rishkar’s Expertise, Beast Whisperer, and Guardian Project. Functional redundancy is the Commander equivalent of running 4-ofs.

    The fix: Lay out your decklist in groups of 4. If any group has fewer than 3 copies (in 60-card) or fewer than 3 cards filling the same role (in Commander), ask yourself if that slot is earning its place.

    3. Build Your Mana Curve, Not Your Card Collection

    New players love splashy, expensive spells. But a deck full of 5-, 6-, and 7-mana bombs means you’re doing nothing for the first four turns while your opponent builds a board and attacks you.

    Your mana curve — the distribution of mana costs across your deck — should be front-loaded. For most casual 60-card decks, aim for something like this:

    • 1-mana: 4-8 cards
    • 2-mana: 8-12 cards
    • 3-mana: 6-10 cards
    • 4-mana: 4-6 cards
    • 5+ mana: 2-4 cards

    Cards like Go for the Throat at 2 mana or Lightning Strike at 2 mana let you interact early. A top-end finisher like Etali, Primal Conqueror is great — but you only need one or two of those, not eight.

    The fix: After building your deck, sort it by mana cost. If your curve doesn’t look like a hill that peaks at 2-3 mana, you have work to do.

    4. Playtest Digitally Before Buying

    This trick alone will save you hundreds of dollars over your Magic career. Before you spend real money on cards, test the deck online for free.

    The original version of this advice from 2009 recommended programs like Apprentice and Magic Workstation. The tools have gotten dramatically better since then:

    • Moxfield — Build your deck and use the “Playtest” feature to goldfish (draw sample hands and play out turns solo). It’s free and the best deckbuilding tool available.
    • MTG Arena — Free-to-play and perfect for testing Standard and Explorer decks against real opponents.
    • Cockatrice — Free, open-source client where you can test any format against other players with no card restrictions.
    • Spelltable — For Commander, play with your webcam using your physical cards (or proxies) against real people online.

    Goldfish your deck at least 10 times before buying a single card. Draw your opening hand. Play out the first 5 turns. Ask yourself: Am I doing something meaningful by turn 3? If the answer is consistently no, redesign before you spend.

    The fix: Build your next deck on Moxfield first. Playtest 10 opening hands. Only buy the cards after you’re satisfied with how the deck flows.

    5. Use Budget Alternatives

    You don’t need Sheoldred, the Apocalypse to build a good black deck. For every $30+ staple, there’s usually a $1-3 card that does 80% of the same job.

    The key is learning how to search for alternatives. Scryfall is your best friend here. Use its advanced search syntax to find cards with similar effects:

    The original Quick Tricks guide compared Birds of Paradise to Gemhide Sliver. Today, Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, and Fyndhorn Elves are all under $1 and serve the same purpose.

    The fix: Before buying any card over $5, search Scryfall for a cheaper version of that effect. You’ll be surprised how often you find one.

    6. Read Your Metagame

    Your deck doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists in your playgroup. If your friend always plays a creature-heavy green stompy deck, you need removal. If someone runs heavy counterspells, you need cards that are hard to counter or that bait out responses.

    The “metagame” is just a fancy word for “what everyone at your table is playing.” Pay attention to it.

    Ask yourself three questions:
    1. Who plays what decks? Know the threats before you sit down.
    2. What cards consistently beat me? Build answers into your deck.
    3. What strategies am I weakest against? Shore up those gaps.

    If your group loves graveyard strategies, slot in Rest in Peace or Bojuka Bog. If artifacts are everywhere, Vandalblast or Bane of Progress can swing entire games.

    The fix: After your next game night, write down the 3 cards or strategies that beat you most. Next time you update your deck, add answers for at least one of them.

    7. Every Card Needs a Job

    Pick up any card in your deck. Can you explain why it’s there in one sentence? If you can’t, cut it.

    Every slot in your deck is precious real estate. Cards earn their spot by doing one of these jobs:

    • Advancing your game plan (threats, combo pieces, engines)
    • Protecting your game plan (counterspells, hexproof, indestructible)
    • Disrupting your opponent’s game plan (removal, discard, hate cards)
    • Enabling consistency (card draw, tutors, mana fixing)

    A card like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben does two jobs at once: she’s a 2/1 attacker AND she slows down spell-heavy opponents. That’s an efficient card slot. Meanwhile, a random 4/4 vanilla creature with no abilities? It’s just taking up space something better could fill.

    The fix: Go through your deck card by card. For each one, state its job in one sentence. Any card you hesitate on is a cut candidate.

    8. Include Interaction

    This is the biggest mistake casual deckbuilders make: building a deck that only does “its thing” and ignores the opponent entirely. If your deck is a creature deck with zero removal, you’ll fold the first time someone plays a single threat you can’t attack through.

    Every deck needs some amount of interaction. How much depends on your format and strategy, but here’s a starting point for 60-card decks:

    • 4-6 removal spells (creature removal, enchantment/artifact removal)
    • 2-4 protection pieces (counterspells, indestructible effects, or hexproof)

    Good, cheap interaction that fits almost any deck:

    Color Removal Protection
    White Swords to Plowshares, Generous Gift Flawless Maneuver
    Blue Counterspell, Reality Shift Negate
    Black Go for the Throat, Feed the Swarm Malakir Rebirth
    Red Lightning Bolt, Chaos Warp Tibalt’s Trickery
    Green Beast Within, Ram Through Heroic Intervention

    The fix: Count the number of cards in your deck that can interact with an opponent’s board or stack. If it’s fewer than 6 in a 60-card deck (or 10-12 in Commander), add more.

    9. Manage Your Mana Base

    Getting the right number of lands is only half the equation. Getting the right colors at the right time is the other half.

    For a two-color 60-card deck, roughly 24 lands is standard. But if all 24 are basics split evenly, you’ll get color-screwed regularly. Dual lands fix this:

    A common mistake is running too few lands. If your deck has a lot of 3- and 4-mana spells, 24 lands is the floor, not the ceiling. If you’re hitting land drops late, go to 25 or 26.

    Conversely, aggressive decks with a low mana curve (mostly 1- and 2-drops) can trim to 20-22 lands and use those extra slots for more threats.

    The fix: Use the Karsten mana base calculator or the Moxfield mana analysis tool to check if your color distribution matches your mana requirements.

    10. Iterate and Improve

    Your first draft of a deck is never the final version. The best decks evolve through dozens of small tweaks over many games. The trick is tracking those tweaks so you learn from them.

    After every game, ask yourself:

    • What cards sat dead in my hand? If a card consistently does nothing, cut it.
    • What did I sideboard in every game? If you always bring it in, it belongs in the main deck.
    • What did I wish I had drawn? That’s a signal to add more copies or similar effects.
    • Did I have too many/few lands? Adjust accordingly.

    Keep a simple log — even just a note on your phone. Over 5-10 games, patterns become obvious. Maybe that flashy 6-mana spell never resolves. Maybe you always need more card draw on turn 4. The data tells you what to change.

    The fix: After your next 5 games, make at least 2 card swaps based on what you observed. Then play 5 more. Repeat. This is how good decks become great decks.

    Bonus Trick: The 8-by-8 Method for Commander

    Since Commander is the most popular casual format, here’s a bonus trick specifically for 100-card decks. The 8-by-8 method is the Commander version of the Rule of 9:

    Pick 8 categories your deck needs (such as ramp, card draw, removal, board wipes, threats, protection, recursion, and utility). Fill each category with 8 cards. That gives you 64 nonland cards + 36 lands = 100 cards.

    This ensures you have a balanced deck with enough of everything. Too many Commander decks have 20 creatures, 3 removal spells, and no card draw. The 8-by-8 method prevents that imbalance before it starts.

    Adjust the numbers based on your commander and strategy — an aggro deck might have 12 threats and 4 board wipes, while a control deck reverses those numbers — but 8-by-8 is the starting point.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How many lands should I run in my MTG deck?

    For a standard 60-card deck, 24 lands is the default starting point. Aggressive decks with low mana curves (average mana value under 2.5) can go as low as 20-22. Control decks or decks with expensive spells may want 25-26. For Commander, 36-38 lands is typical, though decks with heavy ramp packages can sometimes get away with 33-35. Always adjust based on your playtesting — if you’re frequently mana-screwed, add lands; if you’re frequently flooded, cut one or two.

    What is the best free tool for building MTG decks online?

    Moxfield is the gold standard for online deckbuilding in 2026. It offers free deck creation, a built-in playtest/goldfish feature, mana curve visualization, price tracking, and community deck sharing. For actual gameplay testing, MTG Arena is free-to-play for Standard and Explorer formats, while Cockatrice lets you test any format with any card for free against real opponents.

    How do I know which cards to cut from my deck?

    Apply the “one sentence” test: if you can’t explain a card’s role in one sentence, it’s a cut candidate. Beyond that, track your games. Cards that consistently sit in your hand without being cast, cards that never impact the board when you play them, and cards that you always sideboard out are all signals. Replace them with cards that address weaknesses you’ve identified through playtesting. When in doubt, cut the most expensive (highest mana cost) card, as it likely contributes to curve problems.

    Keep Improving Your Deckbuilding

    These 10 tricks are the foundation, but deckbuilding is a skill you develop over hundreds of games and dozens of builds. If you want to go deeper, check out our Complete Guide to Deckbuilding in MTG — it covers advanced topics like card advantage theory, sideboard construction, and archetype-specific building strategies.

    Building a budget deck that punches above its weight? We have a guide for that too.

    Now go cut those extra 5 cards from your deck. You know which ones they are.

    Originally adapted from The Casual Planeswalker’s Quick Tricks guide (2009), fully modernized for today’s tools, formats, and card pool.

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  • MTG Basics: Essential Deckbuilding Rules for New Players

    MTG Basics: Essential Deckbuilding Rules for New Players

    You have played a few games of Magic: The Gathering. You know what lands do, you have cast some spells, and you have probably lost more games than you have won. Now you want to build your own deck instead of borrowing someone else’s — and you have no idea where to start.

    Good news: you do not need to spend hundreds of dollars or memorize thousands of cards. You just need a handful of simple rules that will make your first homebrew deck dramatically better than the pile of cards you were about to throw together.

    This guide covers the fundamentals. Think of it as your pre-flight checklist before you start sleeving up cards.

    Looking for the deep dive? This post covers the essentials. For advanced topics like mana curves, card ratios, and archetype breakdowns, check out our Complete Guide to MTG Deckbuilding.

    Set a Budget Before You Buy a Single Card

    Here is a mistake nearly every new player makes: they find a cool deck online, get excited, and start buying cards before they realize the mana base alone costs $200.

    Set a dollar limit before you start building. It does not matter if that number is $20 or $200 — having a ceiling keeps you from impulse-buying cards you will regret. You can always upgrade pieces later as you play more and figure out what the deck actually needs.

    How to Playtest Without Spending Anything

    The best way to avoid wasting money is to test your deck idea before you buy it. In 2009, this meant downloading clunky desktop programs. Today, you have much better options:

    • Moxfield — The most popular free deckbuilding tool. Build your deck, goldfish it (draw sample hands and play through turns solo), and share it with friends for feedback.
    • Archidekt — Another excellent free deckbuilder, especially popular with Commander players for its visual layout and category sorting.
    • MTG Arena — Wizards’ free-to-play digital client. Great for testing Standard and Explorer decks against real opponents before committing to paper cards.

    Build the deck digitally first. Draw a few sample opening hands. Play through five or six turns by yourself. Does the deck actually do what you want it to do, or does it stall out on turn three every time? You will save real money by catching problems early.

    Know Your Deck Size

    Every format in Magic has a minimum deck size, and the golden rule is simple: stick as close to the minimum as possible.

    Format Minimum Deck Size What to Aim For
    Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Pauper 60 cards Exactly 60
    Commander / EDH 100 cards (including your commander) Exactly 100
    Limited (Draft, Sealed) 40 cards Exactly 40

    Why Not Just Add More Cards?

    It comes down to consistency. Say you have a card in your deck that wins you the game when you draw it. In a 60-card deck, your odds of drawing that card are significantly higher than in an 80-card deck. Every card you add beyond the minimum makes it less likely you will draw the specific cards you need at the right time.

    There is also a practical side: a larger deck needs a more complex mana base, becomes harder to shuffle, and takes longer to tune. We have all seen someone show up with a 200-card deck. It is not a good deck — it is five mediocre decks shuffled together.

    The exception: Commander is a singleton format (one copy of each card, 100 cards total), so you are already at a higher card count by design. The format compensates for this with powerful tutoring effects and commanders that are always available. Do not go over 100.

    Use Proxy Cards to Test Expensive Cards

    A proxy is a stand-in for a card you do not own. The simplest version is a basic land with the card’s name and abilities written on it in marker, slipped into a sleeve in front of the land.

    Proxies are perfectly fine for:

    • Casual kitchen-table games — as long as your playgroup agrees
    • Testing before buying — figuring out if a $15 card is actually worth it for your deck
    • Commander nights — many playgroups allow proxies freely

    Proxies are not allowed in:

    • Sanctioned tournaments (FNM, Regionals, etc.)
    • Any event run under official Wizards of the Coast rules

    The community has generally become more accepting of proxies over the years, especially in Commander. The key is to be upfront with your playgroup about what you are proxying and why.

    Find Budget Alternatives with Scryfall

    You do not always need the most expensive version of an effect. Magic has printed thousands of cards over 30 years, and there is almost always a cheaper card that does something similar.

    The best tool for finding alternatives is Scryfall. Use its advanced search to look for cards by ability text, color, mana cost, and price. Here are some practical examples:

    Expensive Card Budget Alternative Why It Works
    Swords to Plowshares (~$3) Path to Exile (~$1) or Condemn (~$0.25) All remove a creature for one white mana
    Cyclonic Rift (~$30) Flood of Tears (~$0.50) or River’s Rebuke (~$0.50) Mass bounce effects at a fraction of the cost
    Rhystic Study (~$40) Mystic Remora (~$3) or Keep Watch (~$0.25) Card draw engines that punish opponents
    Damnation (~$25) Crux of Fate (~$1) or Languish (~$0.50) Board wipes that clear most creatures

    Scryfall Search Tips for New Players

    Try these searches to find budget cards for your deck:

    • o:"destroy target creature" c:b cmc<=3 usd<1 — Black removal under $1
    • o:"draw" o:"card" c:u t:enchantment usd<2 — Blue card draw enchantments under $2
    • t:land o:"add" ci:rg usd<1 — Red-green dual lands under $1

    For Commander specifically, EDHREC shows you the most popular cards for any commander, broken down by category (ramp, removal, draw, etc.). It also highlights budget options and common substitutions.

    Pick a Strategy and Commit to It

    The single most common mistake new deckbuilders make is trying to do too many things at once. Your deck wants to attack with small creatures AND control the board AND play big finishers AND mill the opponent? Pick one.

    Every card in your deck should answer the question: “Does this help my deck do its main thing?”

    Here is a simple framework for staying focused:

    1. Define your game plan in one sentence. “I want to play cheap creatures and attack before my opponent can set up.” That is aggro. “I want to survive the early game and win with one big spell.” That is control. If you cannot describe your plan in one sentence, your deck is not focused enough.

    2. Choose cards that support that plan. If your game plan is aggressive, every creature should be cheap and efficient. A seven-mana dragon does not belong in that deck, no matter how cool it looks.

    3. Cut cards that do not contribute. This is the hardest part. You will have cards you love that simply do not fit your strategy. Set them aside for a different deck — they will find a home eventually.

    Want to learn about the major deck strategies? Read our guides on aggro, control, midrange, and combo archetypes.

    Build a Mana Base That Works

    New players tend to overlook their lands, but your mana base is the engine that powers everything else. If your lands cannot produce the right colors on time, even the best spells in the world will sit dead in your hand.

    Budget Mana Base Staples

    You do not need fetch lands and shock lands to have a functional mana base. These affordable options work well for most casual and Commander decks:

    • Command Tower (~$0.25) — Produces any color in your commander’s identity. An auto-include in every Commander deck.
    • Exotic Orchard (~$0.25) — Taps for any color your opponents’ lands can produce. Almost always relevant in multiplayer.
    • Tri-lands (Seaside Citadel, Savage Lands, etc.) (~$0.25-$0.50) — Enter tapped but produce three colors.
    • Gain lands (Tranquil Cove, Blossoming Sands, etc.) (~$0.10) — Enter tapped, gain 1 life, produce two colors. Cheap and easy to find.
    • Pain lands (Yavimaya Coast, Caves of Koilos, etc.) (~$1-$3) — Enter untapped and tap for two colors at the cost of 1 life. A step up from gain lands.

    A general guideline for 60-card decks: run about 24 lands for midrange, 20-22 for aggro, and 26-27 for control. For Commander, 36-38 lands is a solid starting point.

    Read Your Metagame

    Your metagame (often shortened to “meta”) is simply the collection of decks your regular opponents play. This matters because deckbuilding does not happen in a vacuum — you are building a deck to beat specific people playing specific strategies.

    Ask yourself these three questions:

    1. What decks do my friends play? If everyone at your table plays creature-heavy decks, you want board wipes and removal. If someone always plays combo, you want ways to interact with their key pieces.

    2. What cards do I keep losing to? If one specific card ruins your game plan every time, build your deck with an answer to it.

    3. What is nobody prepared for? If everyone at your table is loading up on creature removal, a deck that wins with enchantments or artifacts might catch them off guard.

    You do not need to rebuild your deck from scratch every week. Small adjustments — swapping two or three cards in and out — can make a big difference against your local meta.

    Start with a Prebuilt Product

    If the idea of building from scratch still feels overwhelming, there is no shame in starting with a prebuilt deck and modifying it over time. In fact, it is one of the best ways to learn:

    • Commander preconstructed decks (~$40-$50) — Wizards releases these with every major set. They are playable out of the box and give you a solid foundation to upgrade. Pick a commander that excites you and start swapping in better cards over time.
    • Pauper — An officially supported format where every card must be common rarity. Competitive decks cost $20-$50 total. It is the best way to play Magic on a strict budget.
    • Challenger decks — Standard-legal preconstructed decks designed to be competitive at Friday Night Magic.

    Starting with a prebuilt product teaches you how a well-constructed deck is put together before you try building one entirely on your own.

    Quick Start Checklist

    Use this checklist every time you sit down to build a new deck:

    • [ ] Set a budget — Decide your spending limit before browsing cards
    • [ ] Pick a format — Standard, Commander, Pauper, or casual kitchen table
    • [ ] Define your strategy in one sentence — “This deck wants to ____”
    • [ ] Build digitally first — Use Moxfield or Archidekt to draft your list
    • [ ] Stick to the minimum deck size — 60 cards for constructed, 100 for Commander
    • [ ] Test before you buy — Goldfish your deck and play sample hands
    • [ ] Check your mana base — Right number of lands, right color sources
    • [ ] Cut cards that do not fit your plan — Be ruthless
    • [ ] Consider your metagame — Include answers to what your friends play
    • [ ] Iterate — Your first version will not be perfect, and that is fine

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How much should I spend on my first MTG deck?

    There is no wrong answer, but $25-$50 is a comfortable range for a first casual or Commander deck. Pauper decks can be built for under $30. Commander precons run about $40-$50 and are playable immediately. Start small, learn what you enjoy, and upgrade over time rather than spending $200 on a deck you might not end up liking.

    Can I have more than 60 cards in my deck?

    Technically, yes. The rules set a minimum, not a maximum (except for Commander, which is exactly 100). But you should almost always stick to the minimum. Every card beyond 60 reduces your consistency — the chance of drawing the specific card you need when you need it goes down. Treat the minimum as your target.

    What is the best format for beginners on a budget?

    Commander and Pauper are both excellent choices. Commander is the most popular casual format, preconstructed decks are affordable and immediately playable, and the social multiplayer nature of the format is forgiving for new players. Pauper restricts decks to common-rarity cards only, which keeps costs extremely low while still offering deep strategy. Either format lets you build a competitive deck without breaking the bank.

    This guide is a modernized version of “The Basics” from The Casual Planeswalker’s 2009 Ultimate Guide to Deckbuilding. The core principles have not changed — but the tools, formats, and card options available to new players have never been better.

    Have questions about building your first deck? Drop a comment below or check out our Complete Guide to MTG Deckbuilding for the full deep dive.

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  • MTG Deck Checklist: Everything to Review Before You Play

    MTG Deck Checklist: Everything to Review Before You Play

    You finished building your deck. Now what?

    Before you shuffle up, run through this checklist. It catches the mistakes that lose games — the ones you only notice three turns in when you’re stuck on two lands or realize you have no way to deal with your opponent’s biggest threat.

    This checklist works for 60-card formats (Standard, Modern, Pioneer) and Commander. Use it every time you build a new deck or make significant changes to an existing one.

    Tip: Bookmark this page or print it out. Keep it next to your deckbuilding space.

    60-Card Format Checklist

    Use this section for Standard, Modern, Pioneer, Legacy, or any 60-card constructed format.

    Deck Construction

    • [ ] Deck size: Exactly 60 cards.
      Resist the temptation to run 61 or 62. Every card above 60 reduces your chances of drawing your best cards. If you can’t decide what to cut, that’s a deckbuilding problem — solve it, don’t dodge it.

    • [ ] Land count: 22-26 lands.
      Aggro decks lean toward 22-23. Midrange decks want 24-25. Control decks and decks with high mana curves need 25-26. If your average mana value is above 3.0, you probably need more land than you think.

    • [ ] Mana curve: Does it match your strategy?
      Lay your nonland cards out by mana cost. Aggro decks should peak at 1-2 mana. Midrange peaks at 2-3. Control can afford a higher curve but still needs cheap interaction. If your curve looks flat or back-loaded, something is off.

    • [ ] Color fixing: Enough sources of each color?
      Follow Frank Karsten’s widely-cited mana base guidelines. To reliably cast a one-drop that costs a single colored mana, you need roughly 14 sources of that color. A two-drop with two colored pips needs around 18-19 sources. Don’t just count lands — include mana dorks, treasures, and other fixing.

    Strategy & Game Plan

    • [ ] Win condition: Can you name how this deck wins?
      Say it out loud. “I win by attacking with efficient creatures and burning the opponent out.” If you can’t clearly describe your path to victory, your deck lacks focus.

    • [ ] Interaction: At least 6-8 removal or interaction spells.
      Removal, counterspells, discard — whatever fits your colors and strategy. A deck with zero interaction is a goldfish deck. Your opponents will have threats you need to answer.

    • [ ] Focus test: Does every card support your gameplan?
      Read each card in your deck and ask: “Does this help me win the way I described above?” If a card is cool but doesn’t serve the plan, cut it. Deck coherence wins more games than individual card power.

    Metagame & Preparation

    • [ ] Metagame check: Do you have answers to common threats?
      Look at what decks you expect to face. Do you have answers for them? At a minimum, think about how you handle aggressive starts, large creatures, enchantments, and planeswalkers.

    • [ ] Sideboard: 15 cards of targeted answers.
      Your sideboard is not a pile of cards that almost made the main deck. Each card should come in against specific matchups. Know your sideboard plan before you sit down — which cards come in and which come out for each common opponent.

    Testing

    • [ ] Playtest: Goldfished at least 10 opening hands.
      Shuffle up and draw 10 sample hands. How many are keepable? Can you consistently execute your plan by turn 4-5? If more than 2-3 hands are unplayable, your mana base or curve needs work.

    • [ ] Budget check: Does the total cost fit your budget?
      Price out your deck before you buy. Use a site like Moxfield, Archidekt, or TCGPlayer to check current prices. There’s almost always a budget-friendly alternative for expensive staples — especially at the casual level.

    Commander Checklist

    Commander deckbuilding follows many of the same principles, but the singleton format and 100-card deck size change the numbers. Use this section alongside the strategy checks above.

    Deck Construction

    • [ ] Deck size: Exactly 100 cards (including your commander).
      No more, no less. Every card above 100 dilutes your strategy more than it does in 60-card formats because you already can’t run duplicates.

    • [ ] Land count: 35-38 lands.
      Lower-curve decks with heavy ramp packages can get away with 35. Most decks want 36-37. Landfall decks or decks with mana-hungry commanders should run 37-38.

    • [ ] Mana curve: Weighted toward 2-4 mana.
      Commander games go longer, but you still need to develop your board in the early turns. A pile of 6-drops will leave you doing nothing while three opponents build their positions.

    • [ ] Color fixing: Enough sources for each color in your identity.
      Multi-color Commander decks need serious fixing. Command Tower and your mana rocks help, but count your sources carefully. Two-color decks are forgiving. Four and five-color decks need dedicated attention to the mana base.

    Commander-Specific Checks

    • [ ] Card draw: At least 10 sources of card advantage.
      This is the number one mistake in Commander deckbuilding. You will run out of cards. Include draw spells, engines, and your commander’s own card advantage abilities (if any). Ten is the floor — twelve or more is better.

    • [ ] Ramp: At least 10 sources of mana acceleration.
      Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Cultivate, mana dorks — whatever fits your colors. Falling behind on mana in a multiplayer game is painful because three opponents are all progressing faster than you.

    • [ ] Interaction: At least 10 removal and interaction pieces.
      Board wipes, targeted removal, counterspells, and graveyard hate. Commander games produce massive threats. If you can’t interact, you’re at the mercy of whoever has the biggest board.

    • [ ] Win condition: Can you close out a game?
      Commander games need to end. Include at least 2-3 ways to actually win, whether that’s combat damage, combo, or commander damage. “Eventually attacking with creatures” is not a plan when three opponents have blockers.

    Testing & Budget

    • [ ] Playtest: Goldfished at least 10 opening hands.
      Same rule as 60-card. Draw your hands, play out the first few turns in your head. Can you cast your commander on curve? Are you doing something meaningful by turn 4?

    • [ ] Budget check: Set a budget before you start.
      Commander decks can spiral in cost fast. Decide on a budget up front and stick to it. A $50 deck with a tight game plan beats a $500 pile of individually powerful cards that don’t work together.

    Quick Reference: The Numbers

    Category 60-Card Commander
    Deck size 60 100
    Lands 22-26 35-38
    Removal / Interaction 6-8 10+
    Card draw sources 4-6 10+
    Ramp sources Varies 10+
    Sideboard 15 N/A

    FAQ

    How often should I use this checklist?

    Every time you build a new deck, and again after any major update (swapping 5+ cards). Over time, you’ll internalize these checks and run through them automatically. Until then, use the list.

    My deck passes every check but still loses. What now?

    The checklist catches construction errors, not strategic ones. If your deck is well-built but still underperforming, the issue is likely your matchup knowledge, play decisions, or metagame read. Ask someone in your playgroup to review your games, or record yourself playing and watch it back.

    Can I use this for Limited (Draft/Sealed)?

    Partially. Deck size (40 cards), land count (17), and mana curve checks all apply in Limited. Interaction and card draw checks apply too, but the numbers will be lower. Sideboard construction is different in Limited since your sideboard is your entire card pool.

    Print This Checklist

    Want a quick-reference version? Copy the checkbox lines from this post into a note on your phone or print this page. Use it every time you sleeve up a new deck. The five minutes it takes to run through these checks will save you from frustrating games where the problem wasn’t your opponent — it was your deck.

    Series Wrap-Up

    This checklist is the final installment in our modernized Ultimate Guide to Deckbuilding series, originally published by The Casual Planeswalker in 2009. Here is the complete series:

    1. How to Build a Magic: The Gathering Deck (Beginner’s Guide) — Foundations of deckbuilding from the ground up.
    2. MTG Mana Curve Guide: Build a Better Deck — Understanding and optimizing your mana curve.
    3. MTG Mana Base Guide: How Many Lands Should You Run? — Land counts, color fixing, and mana source math.
    4. How to Choose the Best Cards for Your MTG Deck — Card evaluation, synergy, and building a focused 60.
    5. How to Build a Commander Deck (EDH Guide for Beginners) — The complete guide to 100-card singleton deckbuilding.
    6. MTG Deck Checklist: Everything to Review Before You Play — You are here.

    Each post stands alone, but together they walk you from zero to a well-built, well-tested deck. Start from the beginning if you’re new, or jump to whichever topic you need right now.

    Happy brewing.

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  • The Complete Guide to Casual MTG Deckbuilding

    The Complete Guide to Casual MTG Deckbuilding

    Building your own Magic: The Gathering deck is one of the most rewarding parts of the game. There is nothing quite like sitting down across from a friend, shuffling up sixty cards you chose yourself, and watching your plan come together. But if you have ever stared at a pile of cards and thought, “Where do I even start?” — you are not alone.

    This guide walks you through everything you need to build a casual MTG deck that actually works. Whether you are constructing your first 60-card kitchen table deck or assembling a Commander list for your Friday night group, the fundamentals here will help you build something focused, fun, and competitive enough to hold its own.

    Why Deck Size Matters More Than You Think

    Here is the single most important rule in deckbuilding, and the one that new players break most often: stick to the minimum deck size.

    For most constructed formats, that means 60 cards. For Commander (EDH), it means exactly 100 cards (99 cards plus your commander). You might feel tempted to squeeze in a few extra cards because they all seem good. Resist that urge.

    The math is straightforward. If you have a key card in your deck and you are running 60 cards with four copies, you have roughly a 40% chance of seeing it in your opening hand. Bump the deck to 75 cards and that probability drops to about 33%. At 90 cards, you are below 28%. Every card you add above the minimum makes your best cards harder to find.

    This is not just about probability — it affects your entire game plan:

    • Consistency drops. You draw the right card at the right time less often.
    • Mana ratios get blurry. A good deck needs a precise balance of lands to spells, and extra cards throw that ratio off.
    • Games take longer. Oversized decks are harder to shuffle, slower to execute their plan, and more frustrating to pilot.

    If you find yourself unable to cut down to the minimum, that is usually a sign your deck is trying to do too many things at once. Which brings us to the next point.

    Start With a Central Idea

    Every good deck starts with a question: What is this deck trying to do?

    Maybe your answer is “attack with a swarm of small creatures before the opponent stabilizes.” Maybe it is “control the board until I can land a massive game-ending threat.” Maybe it is “assemble a two-card combo and win on the spot.” All of those are valid answers — the key is picking one and committing to it.

    New deckbuilders often fall into the trap of building what experienced players call a “good stuff pile.” You open your collection, pull out every powerful card in your colors, and shuffle them together. The problem is that a deck full of individually strong cards with no shared purpose will lose to a focused deck with a clear plan almost every time. Synergy beats raw power.

    How to Find Your Focus

    1. Pick your win condition. How does this deck actually win the game? Name it specifically.
    2. Choose cards that support that plan. Every card in your deck should either advance your win condition, protect it, or buy you time to execute it.
    3. Ask the hard question for every card. Before including something, ask: “Does this help my deck do what it wants to do?” If the answer is no — even if the card is powerful — leave it out.

    Here is a practical example. Say you are building a green-white deck around the idea of going wide with creature tokens. Cards like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Raise the Alarm, and Intangible Virtue all support that plan directly. But if you also jam in a copy of Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider just because it is a big green creature you own, you are diluting your strategy. That card costs seven mana in a deck that wants to win before turn seven, and it does not create or buff tokens.

    Every card earns its slot, or it does not make the cut.

    Staying Focused in Commander

    Commander adds a unique challenge because you are working with 100 singleton cards instead of 60 cards with up to four copies each. Maintaining focus in a 100-card deck requires extra discipline.

    A popular method is the Rule of 8s (sometimes called the “8×8 method”). The idea is simple:

    1. Identify 8 categories your deck needs (such as ramp, card draw, removal, win conditions, protection, and so on).
    2. Assign roughly 8 cards to each category.
    3. That accounts for 64 cards. Add 36 lands, and you have your 100.

    This is not a rigid formula — some categories might get 6 cards while others get 10 — but it provides a solid skeleton that keeps your deck from drifting into unfocused territory. You can always tune the numbers after playtesting.

    For a deeper dive into aggressive strategies, check out How to Build an Aggro Deck. If you are more interested in reactive strategies, we also have a guide on Building Your First Control Deck.

    Building on a Budget

    Not everyone wants to drop hundreds of dollars on a deck, and you absolutely do not have to. Some of the most fun casual games happen with budget brews that cost less than a single chase mythic rare.

    Set a Budget Before You Start

    Before you start shopping for singles, decide how much you are willing to spend. Having a hard number in mind — whether that is $25, $50, or $100 — prevents you from rationalizing “just one more expensive card” over and over until you have accidentally spent far more than you planned.

    A few budget-friendly approaches:

    • Set a per-card ceiling. Decide that no single card in the deck will cost more than $2 (or $5, or whatever your threshold is). This forces creative card choices and often leads to more interesting decks.
    • Build the deck first, buy second. Assemble the full list on a free tool like Moxfield or Archidekt and check the total price before purchasing anything.
    • Upgrade over time. Start with budget versions and swap in pricier cards as you go. You do not need the perfect version on day one.

    Finding Budget Card Alternatives

    One of the best deckbuilding skills you can develop is finding cheaper cards that do a similar job to expensive staples. The effect will not always be identical — budget alternatives usually come with a slightly higher mana cost, a smaller body, or some other drawback — but they often get the job done well enough for casual play.

    Here are some examples of expensive cards and their budget-friendly substitutes:

    Expensive Card Budget Alternative Notes
    Swords to Plowshares (~$3-5) Path of Peril, Condemn, or Declaration in Stone Swords is still affordable compared to many staples, but these alternatives work well in casual
    Farewell (~$8-12) Austere Command, Cleansing Nova, or Doomskar Board wipes at different price points and flexibility levels
    Ignoble Hierarch (~$8) Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, or Elves of the Navel One-mana dorks are plentiful and most cost pennies
    Shock Lands (~$10-15 each) Gain lands, campuses, or basic lands A mana base of basics and budget duals works fine at the kitchen table
    Rhystic Study (~$30-40) Curiosity Crafter, Reconnaissance Mission, or Keep Watch Commander staple with plenty of cheaper card-draw options available

    The best tool for finding alternatives is Scryfall. Use its advanced search syntax to find cards with similar abilities. For example, searching o:"destroy all creatures" cmc<=5 usd<1 shows you every budget board wipe in the game. Scryfall’s syntax takes some learning, but it is the single most powerful card search engine available and it is completely free.

    Use Proxies to Playtest

    Before spending real money, proxy your deck. A proxy is simply a stand-in for a card you do not own — you can write the card name and key abilities on a basic land with a marker, print paper proxies to slip in front of bulk commons in sleeves, or use a service like MakePlayingCards for higher-quality test prints.

    Proxies let you answer the most important question before you buy: “Is this deck actually fun to play?”

    Most casual playgroups are fine with proxies, especially during the testing phase. Just communicate with your group about it. The goal is to make sure you enjoy the deck before investing in it.

    Playtesting: Test Before You Invest

    Playtesting is not just for competitive players grinding tournament lists. Even casual deckbuilders benefit enormously from running their deck through a few games before committing to a final version. It shows you what works, what sits dead in your hand, and where the gaps are.

    Digital Playtesting Tools

    You have more free playtesting options in 2026 than ever before:

    • MTG Arena — The official free-to-play digital client. Great for testing Standard and Explorer-legal decks. The matchmaking system means you will face real opponents with real decks.
    • Cockatrice — A free, open-source client where you can build any deck with any card and play against others online. No card restrictions and no cost. The interface is not flashy, but it gets the job done and supports every format.
    • Tabletop Simulator — A paid app on Steam with community-made MTG modules. Feels closest to paper play. Good for testing Commander games with your actual playgroup remotely.
    • Moxfield — While primarily a deck builder, Moxfield has a playtest feature that lets you goldfish (play solo against no opponent) to test your mana curve, opening hands, and draw sequences. It also calculates deck price automatically and shows you mana distribution charts.
    • Archidekt — Another excellent deck builder with a built-in playtester, card recommendations, and Commander-specific analytics like color pip distribution and EDHREC synergy scores.

    What to Look for When Playtesting

    Run through at least 10-15 sample games (or goldfish sessions) and pay attention to:

    • Opening hands. Are you consistently getting a playable mix of lands and spells? If you are mulliganing more than 30% of the time, your ratios are off.
    • Mana curve. Do you have something to do on turns one through four? Or are you sitting idle until turn five? A common mistake in casual decks is loading up on expensive spells and having nothing to do early.
    • Dead draws. Are there cards that consistently sit in your hand doing nothing? That is a sign they do not belong.
    • Win condition access. Can you reliably find or draw into your win condition? If not, you may need more card draw, tutors, or redundant copies of similar effects.

    Playtesting saves money. There is no worse feeling than buying a full deck of singles, shuffling up, and realizing after three games that it does not work. Test first, buy second.

    Building Your Mana Base

    Your mana base is the engine of your deck. Even the most brilliant strategy falls apart if you cannot cast your spells on time. New deckbuilders tend to underthink their lands, but this is one of the areas where a little attention pays off the most.

    Land Count Guidelines

    As a starting point:

    Format Typical Land Count Notes
    60-card aggro 20-22 lands Low curve, wants to spend mana on spells every turn
    60-card midrange 23-25 lands Needs to hit land drops through turn 4-5
    60-card control 25-27 lands Wants to hit every land drop, often runs expensive spells
    Commander 35-38 lands Plus 8-12 pieces of ramp (mana rocks, mana dorks, land ramp)

    These are guidelines, not rules. A deck packed with cheap one-mana and two-mana spells can afford fewer lands. A deck with multiple six-drops needs more.

    Choosing the Right Lands

    If you are playing more than one color, you need lands that produce multiple colors of mana. Here is a quick rundown of the major options from least to most expensive:

    • Basic lands — Free, reliable, and never enter tapped. Do not underestimate a mana base that is mostly basics.
    • Gain lands / life lands — Enter tapped but gain you 1 life. Available for every color pair and cost pennies. Fine for casual play.
    • Slow lands (Haunted Ridge, Dreamroot Cascade, etc.) — Enter untapped if you control two or more other lands. Excellent for mid-game and very affordable.
    • Pain lands (Yavimaya Coast, Caves of Koilos, etc.) — Tap for colorless freely, or pay 1 life for a color. Untapped and budget-friendly. A classic that has aged well.
    • Pathway lands (Branchloft Pathway, Clearwater Pathway, etc.) — Modal double-faced lands that you choose a side for when you play them. Always enter untapped.
    • Shock lands (Breeding Pool, Blood Crypt, etc.) — Enter untapped if you pay 2 life. The gold standard for multicolor mana bases, searchable with fetch effects, but they run $10-15 each.
    • Surveil lands (Underground Mortuary, Thundering Falls, etc.) — The newest dual land cycle. Enter tapped unless you pay 3 life, and let you surveil 1 when they enter. A strong budget-to-mid option.

    For casual play, a mix of basics, pain lands, and slow lands gives you a smooth, affordable mana base. You do not need fetch lands and shock lands to have fun at the kitchen table.

    For a more detailed breakdown, check out our Guide to Building a Mana Base.

    Know Your Metagame

    Deckbuilding does not happen in a vacuum. The best casual deck in the world is the one that is tuned to beat the decks you actually play against.

    Your metagame — often shortened to “the meta” — is the collection of decks and strategies you regularly face. In competitive Magic, the meta is defined by tournament results and online data. In casual Magic, it is defined by your playgroup.

    Questions to Ask About Your Meta

    • What decks do your friends play? Does your group lean toward creature-heavy strategies, combo decks, or control?
    • What cards give you the most trouble? If one friend’s Atraxa deck takes over every game, your deck needs a plan for that.
    • What do you consistently lose to? Identifying patterns in your losses is the fastest way to improve your deckbuilding.

    Adapting Without Losing Focus

    The key to metagame adjustment is making targeted changes without gutting your core strategy. A few examples:

    • If your group plays lots of creatures, include efficient removal like Go for the Throat, Swords to Plowshares, or Path to Exile.
    • If someone always resolves a game-ending enchantment, make sure you have answers like Nature’s Claim, Boseiju, Who Endures, or Farewell.
    • If graveyard strategies are common, slot in Unlicensed Hearse, Rest in Peace, or Soul-Guide Lantern.
    • If artifacts are everywhere, Collector’s Vault, Vandalblast, or Brotherhood’s End can clean up the board.

    In Commander specifically, you can use EDHREC to look up any commander and see the most commonly played cards. This helps you anticipate what your opponents might be running and plan accordingly.

    The goal is not to turn your deck into a pile of answers — it is to make smart, surgical swaps that shore up your weaknesses while keeping your main plan intact.

    Putting It All Together: The Deckbuilding Checklist

    Before you sleeve up and shuffle, run through this checklist:

    1. Stick to the minimum deck size. 60 cards for constructed, 100 for Commander. No exceptions.
    2. Define your win condition. You should be able to explain in one sentence how this deck wins.
    3. Every card earns its slot. If a card does not advance your plan, protect it, or buy time, cut it.
    4. Check your mana base. Make sure your land count and color distribution support your curve.
    5. Playtest before you buy. Use Moxfield, Cockatrice, or paper proxies to test the deck first.
    6. Adapt to your playgroup. Tune your removal, answers, and interaction based on what you actually face.

    These fundamentals apply whether you are building a $20 budget brew or a $500 optimized Commander deck. The principles do not change — only the card quality does.

    Recommended Deckbuilding Resources

    If you want to go deeper, here are the tools and sites worth bookmarking:

    • Scryfall — The best card search engine. Learn the advanced syntax and you can find any card for any situation.
    • EDHREC — The definitive Commander resource. Shows you the most popular cards for any commander, plus budget filters and theme pages.
    • Moxfield — Clean deck builder with playtesting, price tracking, and community deck sharing.
    • Archidekt — Feature-rich deck builder with Commander-focused analytics and recommendations.
    • MTG Goldfish — Deck lists, metagame data, budget deck series, and price tracking across formats.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How many lands should I put in a 60-card deck?

    Most 60-card decks run between 22 and 26 lands, depending on the average mana cost of your spells. Aggressive decks with low curves (lots of one-drops and two-drops) can get away with 20-22. Midrange and control decks that need to hit land drops consistently should run 24-26. Use the Frank Karsten mana base article as a reference for precise numbers.

    How many lands do I need in a Commander deck?

    A typical Commander deck runs 35-38 lands, supplemented by 8-12 ramp sources (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Cultivate, mana dorks, and similar effects). Lower-curve decks can go down to 33-34 lands with heavy ramp packages, while higher-curve decks should lean toward 37-38. The Rule of 8s framework from earlier in this guide is a good starting point.

    Is it okay to use proxies in casual play?

    Yes, and you should — especially during the playtesting phase. Most casual playgroups welcome proxies as long as you communicate openly about it. Proxies let you test a deck before spending money, try out expensive cards you are considering purchasing, and keep power levels balanced in your group. Just ask your playgroup what their policy is before showing up with a fully proxied deck.

    What is the best format for a new player to start deckbuilding in?

    Commander is the most popular casual format and has the widest card pool, but that can be overwhelming for a brand-new deckbuilder. If you are just starting out, consider building a simple 60-card casual deck first to learn the fundamentals — land ratios, mana curves, and card selection. Once you are comfortable with those basics, Commander is an excellent next step. Preconstructed Commander decks are also a fantastic entry point that you can customize over time.

    This post is part of The Ultimate Guide to Deckbuilding series, a modernized version of The Casual Planeswalker’s original guide. Check out the other posts in this series:

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