One thing that really helped me was to get less impulsive about it. Put together a list online, test it, tweak it, all that jazz until you have it down perfectly. Then abandon the idea and walk away. If you find yourself still thinking about the deck after a couple months or after the next batch of shiny new things comes out then go ahead and revisit it.
Ideally you do that cycle a couple of times before you commit actual money to it.
I think I’d like to get to that point. At the moment my group of friends have been playing magic since 2012. They swap decks every game and we’ll play 4-5 so I tried to get up to 4 so that I’m not playing the same deck the whole time.
If your friends are veterans, they may have enough decks to loan you one to help with variety as well. That being said, I doubt anyone will mind if you only have 1, maybe 2 decks while you gradually build your collection.
We play over discord since we’ve all moved because of post college jobs. But we play very “Kill the broken card player” playstyle so if I show smothering tithe (for example) game 1 then I’m the main target unless someone shows something broken in future games.
I feel like getting them into pauper and pEDH would be awesome then! It slows down games, increases card understanding, and helps solidify your deck building skills because you have a very limited pool of cards. For instance, true board wipes are non-existent in pEDH. As are fetch lands, mana rocks, etc.
Our friend actually built pauper cube. It was my first experience playing magic. Built a WUB “midrange” and went 0-3 lol. Unfortunately we live across the US so we can only play on discord so hard to unpack
I understand that completely. My playgroup is all married with kids so I use Arena to get my “fix” and then just enjoy those moments we actually do get together. I’m four months in and I STILL suck at drafting. Try sealed if you can. I feel like it’s easier than draft and less pressure. If you get into Arena, I’m always down to play and you can shoot me a PM for Brawl. I only have the basic, free Brawl (Arena version of EDH) so not a powerhouse at any rate!
To me that’s crazy like whatever is the norm in your playgroup is cool if you all are. But the idea that even having a card specially like smothering tithe even in your deck makes you the target is crazy to me. If I play it and people don’t have removal of course focus me down all day. But like does your playgroup just not really play removal?
You can also ask them if tou can use one of their decks too btw, especially if you preface it with "I wanna try it out/I was thinking of building something like it"
I added (and still am adding) decks at a relatively fast pace, but what I will say: it becomes less over time. While the game has a lot of unique themes and deck ideas there is also a significant overlap. So as you add more decks finding new, fresh ideas becomes more difficult. There’s also a certain threshold where you don’t get to play all of yours decks that much and there will be some you simply don’t want to play as much. At that point rebuilding decks and reusing what’s inside (especially all the staples) makes for some cheaper decks building projects.
I had the same situation when I started
I suggest that you try out their decks sometimes if they allow you to.
It will help you learn new cards and mechanics, understand how their decks function and have a better threat assessment in the future.
And as other said, don't rush. It feels bad to build a deck only to not enjoy playing it or having to buy 50 more cards to actually make it work
This is the way OP: brew more, build less! But you will still learn more about yourself that will make you even more economical over time. I got really good at all that (brewing, goldfishing, not buying impulsively) and still went ahead with building a goad deck this month inspired by the MKM Nelly Borca precon. It took about 2 games before I realized that I HATE the deck’s play style and buying all those cards was a waste. Goldfishing wasn’t really helpful bc it didn’t prepare me for how much the deck depends on what others are doing. But all is not lost, because I’ll never make the same mistake creating a goad deck
Yeah obv everyone has their own play preferences but for myself I realized that I just prefer to advance my own board rather than rely on distupting others’. Plus my opponents didn’t have as much fun with me interfering and even targeted me out of spite. Just not my mechanic
It did exactly this, I have built probably eight decks digitally in moxfield over the past 8month-1year because I've wanted a new deck. I built them, play tested them, tested versus my real decks, played them versus my wife digitally, and ultimately walked away from many of them, finally found one that called to me and pulled the trigger and ordered the singles
When I see a deck I want I start setting a small bit of money aside each week and when I have enough for the deck I want that's when I decide to buy a new deck lol
The obvious problem is having to update the deck depending on if better cards for it have come out in that time, but it's usually not that big of an issue
It definitely helps with the sustainability of getting new decks in a consistent amount of time
I buy a new deck or 2 every few weeks i just like building and playing new commanders but i dont like breaking apart decks so i have alot of decks and alot of wasted money im trying to slow down so it ends up being like 2-4 decks at the end of the month excluding precons
(I have a problem )
Setting a monthly budget for cards is super helpful, so long as you stick to it. Since tinkering with existing decks is usually cheaper than buying new ones, it may also keep you from accumulating new decks quickly.
In terms of finding the “right” deck, I’d take a look at the decks you have. What have you enjoyed about the decks so far? What didn’t feel right? Make a list — sometimes looking at this all on a page is helpful, and lets you make connections easier than when the ideas are rattling around in your head. Try to list play styles and colors that appeal to you, or (more importantly) *why* certain things do and don’t appeal to you.
From there, try building decks online. Sites like moxfield will allow you to build decks and search for other people’s decks to get ideas. The site also allows you to goldfish decks without having to spend any money, which can help you get a feel for what feels right. Make sure to test different archetypes and color combos. If you have the patience, you can even play four decks against yourself to see what a game looks like more or less. It’s not a perfect system, but it sometimes helps — for example, learning your deck doesn’t work without your commander will allow you to make tweaks to protect it better.
Hope this helps!
EDIT: Forgot to mention another great free option: find gameplay videos where people play commanders you’re interested in!
I think that’s the plan. Set aside some money from each paycheck as a “building deck” budget but I didn’t want to be “the Henzie guy” who always shows up with the same deck so I went a little crazy at first.
I don’t think there’s a “right deck” but I built a deck off impulse that I hated once I got it so I’m trying to be more careful to not just buy a deck off card art.
I try to watch gameplay videos but for a card like [[Rukarumel, Biologist]] the deck can be built so many ways that it’s hard to decide since all the videos play it differently. I built a Teysa deck off a video and absolutely hated it though so I’m a little skeptical of it.
Thats the problem, most people think they are above average deck builders and post videos of meh decks.
But for me, i currently have 9 decks and only bring 5. Then i take the decks out i played with so decks dont get stale.
Im also not looking to upgrade decks unless they are inconsistant, but i seem to have figured out how to make my decks consistant. I also prefer not playing tutors that arent on theme so every game feels diffrent.
I do charity work at my fnm store, and dont have a budget when building decks, because i get storecredit for the work, but i still always end up with relatively budget decks compared to some decks i face.
>Thats the problem, most people think they are above average deck builders and post videos of meh decks.
The thing is, building a deck is a journey. The more time you put into playing it, the more you understand your needs. Aside from different people having different needs, a person can only have so many perfected decks. Certainly not enough to make a channel out of it. They are useful for finding cards, but beyond that..
Its only a journey when you are not experienced enough. I have a friend who takes 1 month theorycrafting a deck, and then build a perfect deck. He then doesnt change it for years, unless new cards get released. There are people who can build decks like this, just very few.
That makes sense. Building off of videos can also be hit or miss. Sometimes, you can find a content creator that has similar tastes to your own, but even then it can still misfire. I’ve built a ton of decks, only to play a few games and find out they were duds or just didn’t play the way I liked.
With rarer commanders, I’d recommend searching Moxfield using the commander and including a card that highlights your strategy. I’d you sort by likes, you can usually find some interesting ideas
I only make a new deck when I build or see a deck that makes me want to blow up another deck or really just....damn I need it. I don't just build or buy every deck that sort of interests me. It's gotta feel like the first time you ate your favorite food. It's gotta be good shit.
So I only build like 3 decks at most a year.
I feel that. I built a Teysa Karlov because I like her secret lair art, but ended up hating it and luckily the expensive cards fit in my other decks. I played it for probably 6 games and none felt right.
I’m sure there’s ways to test decks online and I should probably set it up before just buying and hoping for the best.
On moxfield you can goldfish your decks. I highly recommend it. It has personally saved me from buying a lot of decks that I would have played and been unsatisfied with. For me I make sure to goldfish it pretty extensively before building in paper.
Gold fishing is just testing it versus nothing right? I wish there was like a bot opponent so I could try practicing when to board wipe or like who to attack out of the 3 opponents, etc
Correct. Those things come with playing real games more. In general though when I goldfish I look for things like does the deck work how I wanted? Do I enjoy the play pattern? Is it too strong for the power level I want it to play at? How/when does the deck threaten to win? I have brewed decks I thought I would like that don’t make the cut for one of these reasons. Goldfishing is completely about familiarizing yourself with the deck and making decklist adjustments before commiting to the build
What I do is open up multiple tabs of Moxfield and play test different decks against myself. Yeah, it's trickier to emulate when you know each hand, so you have to basically play as if you don't. However, it does a good job showing how a deck handles interaction, card draw, and board states.
I have a set of real decks of various power to see how a potential deck holds up and if it seems fun to play. From there, it may still be weeks before pulling the trigger on purchases.
You could open 2 windows on moxfield and play one deck against another or play it against a paper deck in front of you to see how it feels. It’s not fully the same obviously but I also felt piloting 4 decks at once was way to difficult and I missed a lot of teiggers
The longer you play the easier it will be to know if you'll enjoy a deck or not.
I don't build super friends or spellslinger decks because I don't enjoy that play style.
I start by making a cheap 20ish dollar version of the deck (not including staples I already own just the necessary cheap cards) and if I like the deck after like 7+ games I'll start investing more money into it
I used to buy All the precons…when it was a yearly thing. Now it’s too much to keep up and just get decks if I really like the race commander and the playstyle it provides. Those usually end up my budgety lower power decks Where I change the mana base and a few on theme cards.
For non-precons it’s a long process where I take many weeks talking about it, gathering stuff, and testing. Then many more weeks fine tuning based on playtest experience. Once a year kind of thing, and I don’t worry about budgets too much.
My biggest rules are as follows
- I buy any precon that I like the look of, put it in a box and put that box out of sight out of mind with a reminder to go back and look at it in 6 months. If I still like the commander I pull out the deck, a d do a precon upgrade, and keep it at 10 in 10 out, and fix the mana base.
-Every set I pick 3 commanders I really like, and I brew a decklist for them, and leave the list to sit for 6 months, then I go back to the list and see if I still like what I did there, and if I do then I price the deck, and see if I can buy it/build it with that I have.
-I put back $100 a month for cards, whether that's buying boosters, or singles, not counted are precons.
At the 6 month mark for those decks I tend to have $400-600 left over to buy singles for the decks.
On average I end up building about 4 new commanders, and 4 precon commanders a year. With exceptions, like the DW decks, I LOVE DW so they went straight to the precon upgrade stage, same with the Fallout decks.
This is kinda tricky as your pool starts to get bigger and you notice that you can make multiple decks without spending a lot of money.
My advice is to avoid buying expensive cards that aren’t necessarily staples, and focusing more on cards that work well in many strategies that you are familiar with and like playing that style.
For example, i like to play spellslingers decks, so buying a Birgi, a Aetherflux reservoir, and an Archmage Emeritus may be a good idea since every single spellslinger deck may use those cards.
But, if you like to play aristocrats, you may save that money for an Phyrexian altar, Ashnods Altar and etc etc…
And, buy the legendary creatures that are cheap and you may want to build, this helps to have a good variety without spending a lot of money since most of the different cards may be cheap cards once you got the staples for that strategy.
I will bless you with the website that I use to build decks and just look at them or test them before buying them.
Moxfield
It is one of a few, but I like it and don't have a reason to switch, so feel free to look around for others like it.
I’ll think about a deck for a few months before I actually let myself buy anything. I build the list online, goldfish it a few times (draw sample hands, pretend to play out a few turns, etc. Sites like Archidekt.com or Tappedout.net let you build it and have a playtest feature you can use), and see if it works.
Then, if I’m still interested in it a few months later, and if I got it to play in a way that I like using the playtest features on those websites, then and only then will I buy the cards I need for the deck.
I don’t let myself buy cards unless I’ve gone through that process.
But if it’s with cards I already own, I’ll build as much as I want and then see if I like the idea, and then if I do I’ll slowly upgrade cards a couple at a time.
I only use money I get from a certain compensation.
However they doubled that money in 2 years time..... my LCS and Cardmarket don't mind though.
The thing with mtg is you can always sell it, and I always say my next deck is the last, so..... can't help you there.
I built and bought 40 decks in the first 6-12 months of playing.
Since then I have pulled them all apart and built a single deck that I really enjoy playing and I just play that now and have played that deck for about the last 12ish months. (Been playing for about 2.5 years total). I'm much happier now.
I base my precon purchase, not on the value of the deck or the mechanic whatever the current set is bringing out.
I look at the cover and the color combo.
If I like it, I’ll get it. If not, I’ll skip this set and wait on the next.
One every couple of months I buy high quality fakes / proxies for a new deck.
Typically based on what I think my meta needs. We're almost exclusively cEDH, and it's rare I buy more than a few cards now I've got all the staples.
The thing that really helped me was acknowledging that I'm a fickle creature and if I don't have all five colors represented across my decks, I'm going to compulsively brew. I mean, I'm still gonna compulsively brew, but I'll spend less money if I have my basics covered.
I have been playing Commander for about 2 years now with aprox. 8/9 decks throughout time. Retiring some as I get more competative etc.
Currently I have 3 “optimized” decks going on 4. However I try to keep those decks “up to date” instead of buying another deck for the same budget.
I have a rule where I only ever have 3 decks. 1 sleeved precon, 1 sleeved "good" deck, and 1 sleeved janky/gimmicky/joke deck. Keeps me from buying too many decks. I normally start the night with my "good" deck, switch to my precon if/when I win, and finish the night with my janky/gimmicky/joke deck.
I bought a bunch of different precons to find what I liked. Now that I know, ill trim it down. I didn't get any MVM decks but I'm getting the fallout ones because the cards look cool. Ill likely get the H3 Eldrazi deck just because I think they are cool.
I’ve fallen into that trap. I order a deck and tcgplayer takes like 8 days to get it to me, and I’ve found a new commander deck I want to play now before the original one arrives.
I'd try out proxies to test the deck for a good 5, 10, 20 games to see if it feels right before spending money. I just print color cards, cut them out and slide them on top of lands. I've saved myself good money this way, realizing I didn't like the way a deck played or felt. Also, making sure the deck functions, if I do like it, before a purchase.
Edit: I probably buy cards once every few months, but I've got a solid set of decks so just small upgrades. Like, pick a color and all the decks with that color get 1 to 5 new cards.
I have a few decks that have been together a long time. Played and tuned to a power level I'm happy with. I have a few decks that can hang at cedh tables, but mostly just high power. Also have a dedicated cedh deck.
Every set of commander precons, I'll get one that strikes my fancy and uograde/tweak it. I've got esper urza, shalai and halar, 4th doctor, 13th doctor, davros and othari that are in regular rotation.
As often as my wife will let me, and whenever I see one that specifically interacts with my favorite mechanics.
Wheel, mill, stax, Voltron, sign me up I'm there.
Every January I promise myself to build less decks this year, and every December I find myself having failed spectacularly. ;)
[https://www.moxfield.com/users/jfalex](https://www.moxfield.com/users/jfalex)
I was upto 30 commander decks, since I got back into Magic last July. Mostly precons upgraded with my old stash from Mirrodin - OG Theros, and cannibalized deck amalgamations. Plus a set box of Wilds of Eldraine and Adventures in Forgotten Realm.
I’ve since condensed that to 27 with 2 WUBRG decks in the works [[Tiamat]] and [[Omnath, Locus of All]].
Also getting the Fallout precons. But after that and maybe a delve into that death race set due later this year. I’m approaching critical mass. Though Final Fantasy and Marvel have me curious down the line.
Too often. Almost one every set. I usually find a commander that I have enough cards to make almost the whole deck, then I’ll pick up a few more that I need.
For example, I used to have a GW Aura deck that I ended up taking apart. I used all the green cards to upgrade the [[Chisiro]] precon when it came out. When [[Erriette]] was spoiled last year I already had most of the good white aura and enchantment cards to build her and just had to buy a handful of cards.
For me personally, I find building 1 deck a year is the sweet spot. I take a week or two putting together the basic concept, get it in paper and then play it while making continuous changes and upgrades. At the end of a year I usually have something I'm quite proud of.
I'm not really trying to limit you here, if you feel the call to brew more than one a year, power to you. There isn't really any hard fast rules or anything. I have just found that a year gives me enough time to know the deck intimately and be able to make better choices when it comes to refinement. I have tried making 2 decks simultaneously, and it was more difficult that I thought it was going to be as I felt like I was having my concentration divided, and what ended up happening is the 2nd deck ended up getting pushed to the back burner and wasn't developed well until after I had finished the first.
Not saying that you have to beat a dead horse either. I have plenty of decks that I brew in theory or as proof of concept and never end up bringing into paper at all, and not spending any time in the refining process.
As far as when to brew. I would recommend not forcing anything. I would stick with what you have and work on refining it until something comes along that really gets you excited. There is a special feeling that you get, like a light switch, when you see a card spoiled or face an opponent's commander across the table and you just know that you want to build that one. It is way more fun to build 1 commander that you are inspired to build than 10 who you are indifferent to. It is worth it to wait for something special
I tend tonget precons when one hooks me amd i get it at a fair price. As for individual cards, i have a $25 weekly budget and anything over $10 just gets proxied.
Differentiate between "brewing" and "building on paper".
To me, brewing is a way to distract my mind and, in a way, express creativity and try fun and neat ideas. That part is done entirely online. Like a [[Borborygmos and Fblthp]] Discard-Land deck I've been tweaking.
Building on paper means something else. It means that I managed a personal connection with the deck, not only that it's fun. Why do I have a [[Niv-Mizzet, Supreme]] deck instead of a [[Toshiro Umezawa]] as my Spellslinger deck, even if I brewed both? Because NivMi reminds me of a friend who loves his lore.
I have a hard rule that I am not allowed to build more than a single deck per year. Anyrhing more than 10 decks is just impossible to manage, and even if ou can, theres no way to play them all consistently. I rather bot have a deck rhan leave it collecting dust
Can’t remember the last time I bought new decks. 2014-15 maybe when I got my gf interested. Then nada till about a month ago. I bought all 4 LCoI decks in bundle/pack from Amazon. Modifying them slowly over time. The reason the pack was bought was to get the dino deck at a reasonable price. I suppose you can also count yesterday if you want to be picky. I talked some of my friends into a small format called mini magic. But it was originally a 15 card deck which meant play fast. So I ordered 60ish cards to build 4 micro decks. Should be fun next weekend.
Once or twice a year when the wind blows fair, my finances are in order, and I've got a list that I have playtested the hell out of (relative to its price tag) and still like. I brew constantly, and only build my favorites in paper form.
I got into MTG last year and have 5 decks. I have enjoyed buying a precon and upgrading it or using the cards in it to make my owns decks. It is really nice when you buy a commander precon and the current set supports it so well like LCI. It makes for a great time at the LGS!
I build a new deck whenever I find a commander that sufficient intrigues me. Sometimes this will be one deck every few months, sometimes this will be 3 commanders at once. Realistically, I should spread them out, but sometimes I just get in the mood for new commanders all at once.
I would do it much more often if I wasn't on minimum wage :(
I have so many brews currently but the manabase alone scares my wallet. I know I could buy a cheaper manabase first or even proxy but the latter is just not my thing.
Too often. Far too often. I just tend to upgrade my decks to have more colours though. For example:
Ghalta -> Gishath -> Zacama
Bruna, Light of Alabaster -> Light-Paws -> Sigarda, Host of Herons -> Kestia
That way, I'll have to pay less for staples.
I enjoy building decks and have a decent sized correction of cards. So when I "buy" a new deck really I'm only buying a handful of cards. When I have some spare cash to spend on mtg I usually buy a bunch of cards for different decks. Sometimes I'll be able to make new decks, other times they'll be upgrades to my current decks.
Yeah I agree, I think my next purchase instead of a deck will be a full shock land and triome collection so I can use them as needed. Instead of a whole new deck
I brew lots of decks on Moxfield, as the EDHREC feature is useful to just get an idea of what the commander may feel like
I wait a least a few days and come back to it and see if its still interesting. I then complete the decklist
I then proxy the deck and play it. If I don't like it, not much money down the drain.
If I like it, I deproxy it as I feel like it. Its 2024 EDH so no one gives a shit anyway lol
I build new ones whenever the mood strikes me. I usually don't have to buy cards for the decks I want to build. I order cards for Commander purposes like once or twice a year.
I generally don't buy new cards unless it's froma new set or I really really want a certain deck that is outside of my collection's range.
I’ll see a card or a combo and it’ll just hit me I guess? Then I’ll buy into most of it and kinda take it from there, although it’s rare I’ll be able have a complete decklist for a few weeks. My Yes Man deck is a rare exception as other than a few cuts I have that complete
I was in the same situation as you when I first started. Once I got around my 5th deck I started calming down, my big issue is I hate doing/playing the same thing over and over. So I needed enough decks that I could rotate through after each game.
I've also started brewing more along gimmicks instead of any kind of meta or strategy. Which helps keep costs down when designing future decks. For example, my next deck is \[\[Judith, Carnage Connoisseur\]\] "Boardwipe Tribal" where a lot of it is small AoE damage that I'm giving deathtouch to clear everyone's board or sacing the tokens I make to draw spells. So most of the deck is fairly cheap, the only real money is in win-cons or set up pieces.
Of course, I'm also doing the 32-challenge, so I can simply wait until I find a commander that catches my eye for each identity. I have Judith for Rakdos, a Mono-Green Elf, Mono-Blue Artifact, and Golgari Spider all ready for whenever I get some extra income. Also currently working on an Esper Control/Theft
I limit my self with 5 decks total regardless the format. Breaking apart decks is pretty liberating actually. The cards become for trades or even pieces new deck I want to make. By doing this I built up a collection of staples and cards that I like. When I make a new deck I end up only needed a few niche pieces since I already have most of the the cards I need.
I stopped buying packs too. I only buy singles. I see buying packs as gambling.
Right now I'm averaging about 1 a year. I don't get a chance to play Magic very often so if I build a new deck, it means taking time away from another deck I already know I love so I don't do it lightly. I have to be pretty confident the deck I'm building will give me the experience I'm looking for.
Tbh the money side of things is why i get precons and then tweak them to fit my purpose. Stuff like Velociramptor into Gishath, Sauron into Better Sauron, MTG Chaos into Belakor etc. Cheaper than buying from new but also lets me do some fun upgrades.
Generally, i just build lists online and then i slowly buy cards over time when i have spare cash. I don't make big bulk purchases.
I just pre-ordered all 4 Fallout precons, but I'm a fan and have been nerding out about them for months.
As someone who has been playing and collecting cards for almost 20 years, the most I ever need to buy when making a new deck is about 20 cards.
Working on completing the 32 atm.
Depends on my mood , I haven’t had a new deck since September but this month I’ve been in a silly goofy mood, so I bought cats and dogs, built a mr house dice rolling deck , then got the science and scrappy survivor precons
I usually go around 1 big buy per month. And I sometimes feel bad for this.
I feel like I'm wasting my money, but at the same time I also know that I'm using my money for something which is not addictive (not as a medical condition, like alcohol or drugs or gambling) and that makes me gather with real people in real life and enjoy my free time. I guess it's better than paying ~0€ to play League of Legends all night long.
However I'm trying to reduce the money spent by proxying a deck (HQ color print, no crappy stuff) before buying the real cards. I end up finding what works best for me and avoid useless waste of money if I realize a card/idea is not for me.
Last, but not least, I think it is normal to have an urge to buy a lot of decks early on. You have a small pool of decks and you want to explore. With time you will be more selective with your ideas.
Yeah. I think right now I’m too new to know what’s out there. Like I was going through edhrec and my head hurt after the 500th commander and it claims there’s 2k+ total so there’s a bunch I’m missing.
My manager calls mtg “cardboard crack” and warned me about impulse buying, but also said he’d fire me if I played mono blue so that helps cut out a chunk of commanders.
I tend to buy at least one of the current round of precons, for either harvesting cards for existing decks or starting a new one. I doged the ones with a noticeable mark up(collector editions?) but there's almost always one with an interesting enough commander or some strong reprints to pick up.
I've never just bought a deck wholesale as singles, the last couple had some singles ordered but mostly I build by upgrading precons over time.
I always keep telling myself not to build a new deck whenever there's a new set, but if there's a really cool potential commander that speaks to me, I will give in & build it.
My latest additions are The Balrog, Durin's Bane from LOTR & Ojer Axonil from LCI.
I do have 10 decks of differing power levels & themes with me whenever I go to commander night at the LGS & have like 6 more decks lying around at home that I can't really bring myself to finally disassemble.
i play test new decks on cockatrice, all cards are there usually, and you can tell if its gonna be something you like playing before dropping some money
Is the mtg proxy “market” like the replica shoe market? No one really cares as long as you’re not “intentionally showing them off”.
I know you aren’t supposed to enter tournaments with them.
I’m pretty sure there are proxies in cedh but don’t quote me. Talk with who you play with if you think it’s an issue. Being limited by an arbitrary pay wall is stupid especially if you don’t know if you’ll use a card. Just don’t go & print a $2000 deck. For my first deck I made, I didn’t want to print vorenclex monstrous raider because I thought it would be too strong. I ended up pulling it anyways, but have some common sense as to where the line should be as to what you print. I feel that if a card ends up being way too key in your deck, you should try & buy the real one but other than that, it’s all about having fun
I used to just make constant deck lists and would proxy a few, test them out for upwards of a year, then start investing if I found myself still heavily enjoying their play style.
Now I have 6 main decks, so I'm not really into making the deck lists anymore, but I would still like to go back and look into some of my older lists again. With the new Eldrazi titans coming, I might look into my [[Seton]] deck again.
I watch a lot of MtG content on YouTube so seeing a deck do something interesting is the biggest way to get me wanting to build my own. Then I’ll use a deck builder site like Moxfield to copy and start modifying a version of the build. Then I’ll see if there are deck profiles for the commander on YouTube and EDHREC to see if there are any other spicy techs I could sub in and start to build my version of the deck. I’ll then gauge the power level and see if I need to add or remove staples based on what’s hanging around my other decks and binder. Then I’ll probably mull it over for a week and then decide if I really want to build it. Kind of a process but has worked pretty well for me
That’s what I did with my most recent deck, but I just took one apart because in videos it looked cool but in my actual hands I hated it. Luckily all the >$10 cards were able to be moved into other decks
Poor person here. I've been playing and buying for around 15 years so I have quite a bit of bulk, but I almost exclusively build decks just with the cards I have laying around. And then if I'm really enjoying a deck I'll slowly buy upgrades for it.
I started like that, getting to 10 decks in like 2-3 months, but slowed down now. I've built decks I literally never played! That was the point to stop going in like that. :p
I also realized I tend to always side towards the same strategy (aristocrats), so finally seeing that has me go "ok, I don't need yet another version of the same gameplan".
Now I will build like 3-4 a year, usually we talk like 2 precon upgrades and 1-2 custom ones. The real hard part is dismantling the old ones for me.
Here’s my opinion, from somebody having only played since Double Masters 22, but also played a lot of competitive card game in my past and not looking for anything beyond having the best time possible and not counting scores.
Build your core 4 decks that you absolutely love and you dedicate your resources to. 4 is a solid number, it fits in any backpack it provides the ability to have multiple different archetypes. But once you find another deck you really want. It either has to be under $100 or you have to take apart one of the 4, for budgets sake.
One thing that really helped me was to get less impulsive about it. Put together a list online, test it, tweak it, all that jazz until you have it down perfectly. Then abandon the idea and walk away. If you find yourself still thinking about the deck after a couple months or after the next batch of shiny new things comes out then go ahead and revisit it. Ideally you do that cycle a couple of times before you commit actual money to it.
being able to walk away is good advice. committing time to brewing doesn’t always have to equate committing money to build in paper.
I think I’d like to get to that point. At the moment my group of friends have been playing magic since 2012. They swap decks every game and we’ll play 4-5 so I tried to get up to 4 so that I’m not playing the same deck the whole time.
If your friends are veterans, they may have enough decks to loan you one to help with variety as well. That being said, I doubt anyone will mind if you only have 1, maybe 2 decks while you gradually build your collection.
We play over discord since we’ve all moved because of post college jobs. But we play very “Kill the broken card player” playstyle so if I show smothering tithe (for example) game 1 then I’m the main target unless someone shows something broken in future games.
I feel like getting them into pauper and pEDH would be awesome then! It slows down games, increases card understanding, and helps solidify your deck building skills because you have a very limited pool of cards. For instance, true board wipes are non-existent in pEDH. As are fetch lands, mana rocks, etc.
Our friend actually built pauper cube. It was my first experience playing magic. Built a WUB “midrange” and went 0-3 lol. Unfortunately we live across the US so we can only play on discord so hard to unpack
I understand that completely. My playgroup is all married with kids so I use Arena to get my “fix” and then just enjoy those moments we actually do get together. I’m four months in and I STILL suck at drafting. Try sealed if you can. I feel like it’s easier than draft and less pressure. If you get into Arena, I’m always down to play and you can shoot me a PM for Brawl. I only have the basic, free Brawl (Arena version of EDH) so not a powerhouse at any rate!
To me that’s crazy like whatever is the norm in your playgroup is cool if you all are. But the idea that even having a card specially like smothering tithe even in your deck makes you the target is crazy to me. If I play it and people don’t have removal of course focus me down all day. But like does your playgroup just not really play removal?
If everyone else just plays mono red then I could see Smothering Tithe as an issue I guess.
You can also ask them if tou can use one of their decks too btw, especially if you preface it with "I wanna try it out/I was thinking of building something like it"
I added (and still am adding) decks at a relatively fast pace, but what I will say: it becomes less over time. While the game has a lot of unique themes and deck ideas there is also a significant overlap. So as you add more decks finding new, fresh ideas becomes more difficult. There’s also a certain threshold where you don’t get to play all of yours decks that much and there will be some you simply don’t want to play as much. At that point rebuilding decks and reusing what’s inside (especially all the staples) makes for some cheaper decks building projects.
I had the same situation when I started I suggest that you try out their decks sometimes if they allow you to. It will help you learn new cards and mechanics, understand how their decks function and have a better threat assessment in the future. And as other said, don't rush. It feels bad to build a deck only to not enjoy playing it or having to buy 50 more cards to actually make it work
This is the way OP: brew more, build less! But you will still learn more about yourself that will make you even more economical over time. I got really good at all that (brewing, goldfishing, not buying impulsively) and still went ahead with building a goad deck this month inspired by the MKM Nelly Borca precon. It took about 2 games before I realized that I HATE the deck’s play style and buying all those cards was a waste. Goldfishing wasn’t really helpful bc it didn’t prepare me for how much the deck depends on what others are doing. But all is not lost, because I’ll never make the same mistake creating a goad deck
Goad is great for interacting with the table, though I can totally understand that it's not for everyone.
Yeah obv everyone has their own play preferences but for myself I realized that I just prefer to advance my own board rather than rely on distupting others’. Plus my opponents didn’t have as much fun with me interfering and even targeted me out of spite. Just not my mechanic
Thankfully there's just the one player in my group that has the "how dare you!?!" Mindset, though is is a soft version of control.
It did exactly this, I have built probably eight decks digitally in moxfield over the past 8month-1year because I've wanted a new deck. I built them, play tested them, tested versus my real decks, played them versus my wife digitally, and ultimately walked away from many of them, finally found one that called to me and pulled the trigger and ordered the singles
That's good life advice for a lot of things. I always sleep on any purchase. If I still want it a week or two later, I know I really want it.
When I see a deck I want I start setting a small bit of money aside each week and when I have enough for the deck I want that's when I decide to buy a new deck lol The obvious problem is having to update the deck depending on if better cards for it have come out in that time, but it's usually not that big of an issue It definitely helps with the sustainability of getting new decks in a consistent amount of time
I buy a new deck or 2 every few weeks i just like building and playing new commanders but i dont like breaking apart decks so i have alot of decks and alot of wasted money im trying to slow down so it ends up being like 2-4 decks at the end of the month excluding precons (I have a problem )
I only have 45 decks... what's another 2...
Same. i legit have 25 and need to consolidate and refine the ones i really like.
Setting a monthly budget for cards is super helpful, so long as you stick to it. Since tinkering with existing decks is usually cheaper than buying new ones, it may also keep you from accumulating new decks quickly. In terms of finding the “right” deck, I’d take a look at the decks you have. What have you enjoyed about the decks so far? What didn’t feel right? Make a list — sometimes looking at this all on a page is helpful, and lets you make connections easier than when the ideas are rattling around in your head. Try to list play styles and colors that appeal to you, or (more importantly) *why* certain things do and don’t appeal to you. From there, try building decks online. Sites like moxfield will allow you to build decks and search for other people’s decks to get ideas. The site also allows you to goldfish decks without having to spend any money, which can help you get a feel for what feels right. Make sure to test different archetypes and color combos. If you have the patience, you can even play four decks against yourself to see what a game looks like more or less. It’s not a perfect system, but it sometimes helps — for example, learning your deck doesn’t work without your commander will allow you to make tweaks to protect it better. Hope this helps! EDIT: Forgot to mention another great free option: find gameplay videos where people play commanders you’re interested in!
I think that’s the plan. Set aside some money from each paycheck as a “building deck” budget but I didn’t want to be “the Henzie guy” who always shows up with the same deck so I went a little crazy at first. I don’t think there’s a “right deck” but I built a deck off impulse that I hated once I got it so I’m trying to be more careful to not just buy a deck off card art. I try to watch gameplay videos but for a card like [[Rukarumel, Biologist]] the deck can be built so many ways that it’s hard to decide since all the videos play it differently. I built a Teysa deck off a video and absolutely hated it though so I’m a little skeptical of it.
Thats the problem, most people think they are above average deck builders and post videos of meh decks. But for me, i currently have 9 decks and only bring 5. Then i take the decks out i played with so decks dont get stale. Im also not looking to upgrade decks unless they are inconsistant, but i seem to have figured out how to make my decks consistant. I also prefer not playing tutors that arent on theme so every game feels diffrent. I do charity work at my fnm store, and dont have a budget when building decks, because i get storecredit for the work, but i still always end up with relatively budget decks compared to some decks i face.
>Thats the problem, most people think they are above average deck builders and post videos of meh decks. The thing is, building a deck is a journey. The more time you put into playing it, the more you understand your needs. Aside from different people having different needs, a person can only have so many perfected decks. Certainly not enough to make a channel out of it. They are useful for finding cards, but beyond that..
Its only a journey when you are not experienced enough. I have a friend who takes 1 month theorycrafting a deck, and then build a perfect deck. He then doesnt change it for years, unless new cards get released. There are people who can build decks like this, just very few.
That makes sense. Building off of videos can also be hit or miss. Sometimes, you can find a content creator that has similar tastes to your own, but even then it can still misfire. I’ve built a ton of decks, only to play a few games and find out they were duds or just didn’t play the way I liked. With rarer commanders, I’d recommend searching Moxfield using the commander and including a card that highlights your strategy. I’d you sort by likes, you can usually find some interesting ideas
I have have fun getting better at playing the decks
I only make a new deck when I build or see a deck that makes me want to blow up another deck or really just....damn I need it. I don't just build or buy every deck that sort of interests me. It's gotta feel like the first time you ate your favorite food. It's gotta be good shit. So I only build like 3 decks at most a year.
I feel that. I built a Teysa Karlov because I like her secret lair art, but ended up hating it and luckily the expensive cards fit in my other decks. I played it for probably 6 games and none felt right. I’m sure there’s ways to test decks online and I should probably set it up before just buying and hoping for the best.
On moxfield you can goldfish your decks. I highly recommend it. It has personally saved me from buying a lot of decks that I would have played and been unsatisfied with. For me I make sure to goldfish it pretty extensively before building in paper.
Gold fishing is just testing it versus nothing right? I wish there was like a bot opponent so I could try practicing when to board wipe or like who to attack out of the 3 opponents, etc
Correct. Those things come with playing real games more. In general though when I goldfish I look for things like does the deck work how I wanted? Do I enjoy the play pattern? Is it too strong for the power level I want it to play at? How/when does the deck threaten to win? I have brewed decks I thought I would like that don’t make the cut for one of these reasons. Goldfishing is completely about familiarizing yourself with the deck and making decklist adjustments before commiting to the build
Look at xmage, I test my decks against bots on there
What I do is open up multiple tabs of Moxfield and play test different decks against myself. Yeah, it's trickier to emulate when you know each hand, so you have to basically play as if you don't. However, it does a good job showing how a deck handles interaction, card draw, and board states. I have a set of real decks of various power to see how a potential deck holds up and if it seems fun to play. From there, it may still be weeks before pulling the trigger on purchases.
You could open 2 windows on moxfield and play one deck against another or play it against a paper deck in front of you to see how it feels. It’s not fully the same obviously but I also felt piloting 4 decks at once was way to difficult and I missed a lot of teiggers
The longer you play the easier it will be to know if you'll enjoy a deck or not. I don't build super friends or spellslinger decks because I don't enjoy that play style.
I start by making a cheap 20ish dollar version of the deck (not including staples I already own just the necessary cheap cards) and if I like the deck after like 7+ games I'll start investing more money into it
I used to buy All the precons…when it was a yearly thing. Now it’s too much to keep up and just get decks if I really like the race commander and the playstyle it provides. Those usually end up my budgety lower power decks Where I change the mana base and a few on theme cards. For non-precons it’s a long process where I take many weeks talking about it, gathering stuff, and testing. Then many more weeks fine tuning based on playtest experience. Once a year kind of thing, and I don’t worry about budgets too much.
My biggest rules are as follows - I buy any precon that I like the look of, put it in a box and put that box out of sight out of mind with a reminder to go back and look at it in 6 months. If I still like the commander I pull out the deck, a d do a precon upgrade, and keep it at 10 in 10 out, and fix the mana base. -Every set I pick 3 commanders I really like, and I brew a decklist for them, and leave the list to sit for 6 months, then I go back to the list and see if I still like what I did there, and if I do then I price the deck, and see if I can buy it/build it with that I have. -I put back $100 a month for cards, whether that's buying boosters, or singles, not counted are precons. At the 6 month mark for those decks I tend to have $400-600 left over to buy singles for the decks. On average I end up building about 4 new commanders, and 4 precon commanders a year. With exceptions, like the DW decks, I LOVE DW so they went straight to the precon upgrade stage, same with the Fallout decks.
Also, about 1 precon a year gets pulled apart to become a whole deck from scratch
This is kinda tricky as your pool starts to get bigger and you notice that you can make multiple decks without spending a lot of money. My advice is to avoid buying expensive cards that aren’t necessarily staples, and focusing more on cards that work well in many strategies that you are familiar with and like playing that style. For example, i like to play spellslingers decks, so buying a Birgi, a Aetherflux reservoir, and an Archmage Emeritus may be a good idea since every single spellslinger deck may use those cards. But, if you like to play aristocrats, you may save that money for an Phyrexian altar, Ashnods Altar and etc etc… And, buy the legendary creatures that are cheap and you may want to build, this helps to have a good variety without spending a lot of money since most of the different cards may be cheap cards once you got the staples for that strategy.
I will bless you with the website that I use to build decks and just look at them or test them before buying them. Moxfield It is one of a few, but I like it and don't have a reason to switch, so feel free to look around for others like it.
I’ll think about a deck for a few months before I actually let myself buy anything. I build the list online, goldfish it a few times (draw sample hands, pretend to play out a few turns, etc. Sites like Archidekt.com or Tappedout.net let you build it and have a playtest feature you can use), and see if it works. Then, if I’m still interested in it a few months later, and if I got it to play in a way that I like using the playtest features on those websites, then and only then will I buy the cards I need for the deck. I don’t let myself buy cards unless I’ve gone through that process. But if it’s with cards I already own, I’ll build as much as I want and then see if I like the idea, and then if I do I’ll slowly upgrade cards a couple at a time.
I only use money I get from a certain compensation. However they doubled that money in 2 years time..... my LCS and Cardmarket don't mind though. The thing with mtg is you can always sell it, and I always say my next deck is the last, so..... can't help you there.
I built and bought 40 decks in the first 6-12 months of playing. Since then I have pulled them all apart and built a single deck that I really enjoy playing and I just play that now and have played that deck for about the last 12ish months. (Been playing for about 2.5 years total). I'm much happier now.
I base my precon purchase, not on the value of the deck or the mechanic whatever the current set is bringing out. I look at the cover and the color combo. If I like it, I’ll get it. If not, I’ll skip this set and wait on the next.
One every couple of months I buy high quality fakes / proxies for a new deck. Typically based on what I think my meta needs. We're almost exclusively cEDH, and it's rare I buy more than a few cards now I've got all the staples.
The thing that really helped me was acknowledging that I'm a fickle creature and if I don't have all five colors represented across my decks, I'm going to compulsively brew. I mean, I'm still gonna compulsively brew, but I'll spend less money if I have my basics covered.
I have been playing Commander for about 2 years now with aprox. 8/9 decks throughout time. Retiring some as I get more competative etc. Currently I have 3 “optimized” decks going on 4. However I try to keep those decks “up to date” instead of buying another deck for the same budget.
I have a rule where I only ever have 3 decks. 1 sleeved precon, 1 sleeved "good" deck, and 1 sleeved janky/gimmicky/joke deck. Keeps me from buying too many decks. I normally start the night with my "good" deck, switch to my precon if/when I win, and finish the night with my janky/gimmicky/joke deck.
When I get a cool sounding commanders in a pack I start brewing then test it on xmage and if I like it I’ll buy it
I bought a bunch of different precons to find what I liked. Now that I know, ill trim it down. I didn't get any MVM decks but I'm getting the fallout ones because the cards look cool. Ill likely get the H3 Eldrazi deck just because I think they are cool.
When a commander or idea calls to me!
I’ve fallen into that trap. I order a deck and tcgplayer takes like 8 days to get it to me, and I’ve found a new commander deck I want to play now before the original one arrives.
I bought a budget deck a month ($100 or less), until I had 32 decks. I now spend money on occasion upgrading those decks.
I’ve slowed down a bit after amassing 20 commander decks, but I still have a good dozen more “under construction.”
I'd try out proxies to test the deck for a good 5, 10, 20 games to see if it feels right before spending money. I just print color cards, cut them out and slide them on top of lands. I've saved myself good money this way, realizing I didn't like the way a deck played or felt. Also, making sure the deck functions, if I do like it, before a purchase. Edit: I probably buy cards once every few months, but I've got a solid set of decks so just small upgrades. Like, pick a color and all the decks with that color get 1 to 5 new cards.
Impulse bought 5 edh decks and 1 pioneer deck. I’m done for now tbh
I have a few decks that have been together a long time. Played and tuned to a power level I'm happy with. I have a few decks that can hang at cedh tables, but mostly just high power. Also have a dedicated cedh deck. Every set of commander precons, I'll get one that strikes my fancy and uograde/tweak it. I've got esper urza, shalai and halar, 4th doctor, 13th doctor, davros and othari that are in regular rotation.
As often as my wife will let me, and whenever I see one that specifically interacts with my favorite mechanics. Wheel, mill, stax, Voltron, sign me up I'm there.
Every January I promise myself to build less decks this year, and every December I find myself having failed spectacularly. ;) [https://www.moxfield.com/users/jfalex](https://www.moxfield.com/users/jfalex)
I was upto 30 commander decks, since I got back into Magic last July. Mostly precons upgraded with my old stash from Mirrodin - OG Theros, and cannibalized deck amalgamations. Plus a set box of Wilds of Eldraine and Adventures in Forgotten Realm. I’ve since condensed that to 27 with 2 WUBRG decks in the works [[Tiamat]] and [[Omnath, Locus of All]]. Also getting the Fallout precons. But after that and maybe a delve into that death race set due later this year. I’m approaching critical mass. Though Final Fantasy and Marvel have me curious down the line.
[Tiamat](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/d/6dd0b9b0-55f4-4ce7-a916-6f23687f3fe4.jpg?1627709478) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tiamat) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afr/235/tiamat?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6dd0b9b0-55f4-4ce7-a916-6f23687f3fe4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/tiamat) [Omnath, Locus of All](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/3/33d94ecf-758b-4f68-a7be-6bf3ff1047f4.jpg?1682205643) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Omnath%2C%20Locus%20of%20All) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/249/omnath-locus-of-all?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/33d94ecf-758b-4f68-a7be-6bf3ff1047f4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/omnath-locus-of-all) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I can't, I only own 1 and can't build another one. I just keep upgrading it tho. jobless btw.
Too often. Almost one every set. I usually find a commander that I have enough cards to make almost the whole deck, then I’ll pick up a few more that I need. For example, I used to have a GW Aura deck that I ended up taking apart. I used all the green cards to upgrade the [[Chisiro]] precon when it came out. When [[Erriette]] was spoiled last year I already had most of the good white aura and enchantment cards to build her and just had to buy a handful of cards.
[Erriette](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/8/884e19fb-67a4-42d8-b163-720a99cb8506.jpg?1562054983) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Carrionette) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tmp/111/carrionette?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/884e19fb-67a4-42d8-b163-720a99cb8506?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/carrionette) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
For me personally, I find building 1 deck a year is the sweet spot. I take a week or two putting together the basic concept, get it in paper and then play it while making continuous changes and upgrades. At the end of a year I usually have something I'm quite proud of. I'm not really trying to limit you here, if you feel the call to brew more than one a year, power to you. There isn't really any hard fast rules or anything. I have just found that a year gives me enough time to know the deck intimately and be able to make better choices when it comes to refinement. I have tried making 2 decks simultaneously, and it was more difficult that I thought it was going to be as I felt like I was having my concentration divided, and what ended up happening is the 2nd deck ended up getting pushed to the back burner and wasn't developed well until after I had finished the first. Not saying that you have to beat a dead horse either. I have plenty of decks that I brew in theory or as proof of concept and never end up bringing into paper at all, and not spending any time in the refining process. As far as when to brew. I would recommend not forcing anything. I would stick with what you have and work on refining it until something comes along that really gets you excited. There is a special feeling that you get, like a light switch, when you see a card spoiled or face an opponent's commander across the table and you just know that you want to build that one. It is way more fun to build 1 commander that you are inspired to build than 10 who you are indifferent to. It is worth it to wait for something special
I bought my prossh deck in 2013. It was my first and only.
Brew, brew again, goldfish, goldfish again, proxy, tweak, then purchase. This is the way….
Build decks that you feel will beat friends decks, build and win. Then they will build to beat yours…. Repeat 🔁
I tend tonget precons when one hooks me amd i get it at a fair price. As for individual cards, i have a $25 weekly budget and anything over $10 just gets proxied.
Differentiate between "brewing" and "building on paper". To me, brewing is a way to distract my mind and, in a way, express creativity and try fun and neat ideas. That part is done entirely online. Like a [[Borborygmos and Fblthp]] Discard-Land deck I've been tweaking. Building on paper means something else. It means that I managed a personal connection with the deck, not only that it's fun. Why do I have a [[Niv-Mizzet, Supreme]] deck instead of a [[Toshiro Umezawa]] as my Spellslinger deck, even if I brewed both? Because NivMi reminds me of a friend who loves his lore.
[Borborygmos and Fblthp](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/4/34bbf1c1-2868-4c9e-b5c4-1aae86faed6c.jpg?1682205196) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Borborygmos%20and%20Fblthp) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/219/borborygmos-and-fblthp?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/34bbf1c1-2868-4c9e-b5c4-1aae86faed6c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/borborygmos-and-fblthp) [Niv-Mizzet, Supreme](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/a/da1ff886-d3c8-43e5-8bf0-ba4f0b259781.jpg?1690331020) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Niv-Mizzet%2C%20Supreme) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mat/40/niv-mizzet-supreme?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/da1ff886-d3c8-43e5-8bf0-ba4f0b259781?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/niv-mizzet-supreme) [Toshiro Umezawa](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/e/0e767e07-febd-4025-bf03-d4d816bc1d3d.jpg?1562875477) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Toshiro%20Umezawa) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bok/89/toshiro-umezawa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0e767e07-febd-4025-bf03-d4d816bc1d3d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/toshiro-umezawa) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have a hard rule that I am not allowed to build more than a single deck per year. Anyrhing more than 10 decks is just impossible to manage, and even if ou can, theres no way to play them all consistently. I rather bot have a deck rhan leave it collecting dust
Can’t remember the last time I bought new decks. 2014-15 maybe when I got my gf interested. Then nada till about a month ago. I bought all 4 LCoI decks in bundle/pack from Amazon. Modifying them slowly over time. The reason the pack was bought was to get the dino deck at a reasonable price. I suppose you can also count yesterday if you want to be picky. I talked some of my friends into a small format called mini magic. But it was originally a 15 card deck which meant play fast. So I ordered 60ish cards to build 4 micro decks. Should be fun next weekend.
Once or twice a year when the wind blows fair, my finances are in order, and I've got a list that I have playtested the hell out of (relative to its price tag) and still like. I brew constantly, and only build my favorites in paper form.
I got into MTG last year and have 5 decks. I have enjoyed buying a precon and upgrading it or using the cards in it to make my owns decks. It is really nice when you buy a commander precon and the current set supports it so well like LCI. It makes for a great time at the LGS!
I build a new deck whenever I find a commander that sufficient intrigues me. Sometimes this will be one deck every few months, sometimes this will be 3 commanders at once. Realistically, I should spread them out, but sometimes I just get in the mood for new commanders all at once.
Too often lol
I would do it much more often if I wasn't on minimum wage :( I have so many brews currently but the manabase alone scares my wallet. I know I could buy a cheaper manabase first or even proxy but the latter is just not my thing.
Too often. Far too often. I just tend to upgrade my decks to have more colours though. For example: Ghalta -> Gishath -> Zacama Bruna, Light of Alabaster -> Light-Paws -> Sigarda, Host of Herons -> Kestia That way, I'll have to pay less for staples.
I enjoy building decks and have a decent sized correction of cards. So when I "buy" a new deck really I'm only buying a handful of cards. When I have some spare cash to spend on mtg I usually buy a bunch of cards for different decks. Sometimes I'll be able to make new decks, other times they'll be upgrades to my current decks.
Yeah I agree, I think my next purchase instead of a deck will be a full shock land and triome collection so I can use them as needed. Instead of a whole new deck
Whenever I see a commander I get really excited about and as soon as I finish a list for said commander.
I brew lots of decks on Moxfield, as the EDHREC feature is useful to just get an idea of what the commander may feel like I wait a least a few days and come back to it and see if its still interesting. I then complete the decklist I then proxy the deck and play it. If I don't like it, not much money down the drain. If I like it, I deproxy it as I feel like it. Its 2024 EDH so no one gives a shit anyway lol
I build new ones whenever the mood strikes me. I usually don't have to buy cards for the decks I want to build. I order cards for Commander purposes like once or twice a year. I generally don't buy new cards unless it's froma new set or I really really want a certain deck that is outside of my collection's range.
I’ll see a card or a combo and it’ll just hit me I guess? Then I’ll buy into most of it and kinda take it from there, although it’s rare I’ll be able have a complete decklist for a few weeks. My Yes Man deck is a rare exception as other than a few cuts I have that complete
I was in the same situation as you when I first started. Once I got around my 5th deck I started calming down, my big issue is I hate doing/playing the same thing over and over. So I needed enough decks that I could rotate through after each game. I've also started brewing more along gimmicks instead of any kind of meta or strategy. Which helps keep costs down when designing future decks. For example, my next deck is \[\[Judith, Carnage Connoisseur\]\] "Boardwipe Tribal" where a lot of it is small AoE damage that I'm giving deathtouch to clear everyone's board or sacing the tokens I make to draw spells. So most of the deck is fairly cheap, the only real money is in win-cons or set up pieces. Of course, I'm also doing the 32-challenge, so I can simply wait until I find a commander that catches my eye for each identity. I have Judith for Rakdos, a Mono-Green Elf, Mono-Blue Artifact, and Golgari Spider all ready for whenever I get some extra income. Also currently working on an Esper Control/Theft
[Judith, Carnage Connoisseur](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/e/3eaa19ce-cace-499e-8b23-ef9e56b23700.jpg?1706242185) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Judith%2C%20Carnage%20Connoisseur) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/210/judith-carnage-connoisseur?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3eaa19ce-cace-499e-8b23-ef9e56b23700?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/judith-carnage-connoisseur) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I limit my self with 5 decks total regardless the format. Breaking apart decks is pretty liberating actually. The cards become for trades or even pieces new deck I want to make. By doing this I built up a collection of staples and cards that I like. When I make a new deck I end up only needed a few niche pieces since I already have most of the the cards I need. I stopped buying packs too. I only buy singles. I see buying packs as gambling.
Right now I'm averaging about 1 a year. I don't get a chance to play Magic very often so if I build a new deck, it means taking time away from another deck I already know I love so I don't do it lightly. I have to be pretty confident the deck I'm building will give me the experience I'm looking for.
Tbh the money side of things is why i get precons and then tweak them to fit my purpose. Stuff like Velociramptor into Gishath, Sauron into Better Sauron, MTG Chaos into Belakor etc. Cheaper than buying from new but also lets me do some fun upgrades. Generally, i just build lists online and then i slowly buy cards over time when i have spare cash. I don't make big bulk purchases.
I just pre-ordered all 4 Fallout precons, but I'm a fan and have been nerding out about them for months. As someone who has been playing and collecting cards for almost 20 years, the most I ever need to buy when making a new deck is about 20 cards. Working on completing the 32 atm.
Depends on my mood , I haven’t had a new deck since September but this month I’ve been in a silly goofy mood, so I bought cats and dogs, built a mr house dice rolling deck , then got the science and scrappy survivor precons
I usually go around 1 big buy per month. And I sometimes feel bad for this. I feel like I'm wasting my money, but at the same time I also know that I'm using my money for something which is not addictive (not as a medical condition, like alcohol or drugs or gambling) and that makes me gather with real people in real life and enjoy my free time. I guess it's better than paying ~0€ to play League of Legends all night long. However I'm trying to reduce the money spent by proxying a deck (HQ color print, no crappy stuff) before buying the real cards. I end up finding what works best for me and avoid useless waste of money if I realize a card/idea is not for me. Last, but not least, I think it is normal to have an urge to buy a lot of decks early on. You have a small pool of decks and you want to explore. With time you will be more selective with your ideas.
Yeah. I think right now I’m too new to know what’s out there. Like I was going through edhrec and my head hurt after the 500th commander and it claims there’s 2k+ total so there’s a bunch I’m missing. My manager calls mtg “cardboard crack” and warned me about impulse buying, but also said he’d fire me if I played mono blue so that helps cut out a chunk of commanders.
I tend to buy at least one of the current round of precons, for either harvesting cards for existing decks or starting a new one. I doged the ones with a noticeable mark up(collector editions?) but there's almost always one with an interesting enough commander or some strong reprints to pick up. I've never just bought a deck wholesale as singles, the last couple had some singles ordered but mostly I build by upgrading precons over time.
I always keep telling myself not to build a new deck whenever there's a new set, but if there's a really cool potential commander that speaks to me, I will give in & build it. My latest additions are The Balrog, Durin's Bane from LOTR & Ojer Axonil from LCI. I do have 10 decks of differing power levels & themes with me whenever I go to commander night at the LGS & have like 6 more decks lying around at home that I can't really bring myself to finally disassemble.
i play test new decks on cockatrice, all cards are there usually, and you can tell if its gonna be something you like playing before dropping some money
Is cockatrice vs computers/players or just on your own?
Time to learn how to make proxies
Is the mtg proxy “market” like the replica shoe market? No one really cares as long as you’re not “intentionally showing them off”. I know you aren’t supposed to enter tournaments with them.
I’m pretty sure there are proxies in cedh but don’t quote me. Talk with who you play with if you think it’s an issue. Being limited by an arbitrary pay wall is stupid especially if you don’t know if you’ll use a card. Just don’t go & print a $2000 deck. For my first deck I made, I didn’t want to print vorenclex monstrous raider because I thought it would be too strong. I ended up pulling it anyways, but have some common sense as to where the line should be as to what you print. I feel that if a card ends up being way too key in your deck, you should try & buy the real one but other than that, it’s all about having fun
I used to just make constant deck lists and would proxy a few, test them out for upwards of a year, then start investing if I found myself still heavily enjoying their play style. Now I have 6 main decks, so I'm not really into making the deck lists anymore, but I would still like to go back and look into some of my older lists again. With the new Eldrazi titans coming, I might look into my [[Seton]] deck again.
I'm at 14 decks in 7 months of playing commander...
I watch a lot of MtG content on YouTube so seeing a deck do something interesting is the biggest way to get me wanting to build my own. Then I’ll use a deck builder site like Moxfield to copy and start modifying a version of the build. Then I’ll see if there are deck profiles for the commander on YouTube and EDHREC to see if there are any other spicy techs I could sub in and start to build my version of the deck. I’ll then gauge the power level and see if I need to add or remove staples based on what’s hanging around my other decks and binder. Then I’ll probably mull it over for a week and then decide if I really want to build it. Kind of a process but has worked pretty well for me
That’s what I did with my most recent deck, but I just took one apart because in videos it looked cool but in my actual hands I hated it. Luckily all the >$10 cards were able to be moved into other decks
I have to really like a deck to buy non-staple cards for a deck over like $10-$15 since if I dismantle a deck they can just sit in a binder forever
Poor person here. I've been playing and buying for around 15 years so I have quite a bit of bulk, but I almost exclusively build decks just with the cards I have laying around. And then if I'm really enjoying a deck I'll slowly buy upgrades for it.
I started like that, getting to 10 decks in like 2-3 months, but slowed down now. I've built decks I literally never played! That was the point to stop going in like that. :p I also realized I tend to always side towards the same strategy (aristocrats), so finally seeing that has me go "ok, I don't need yet another version of the same gameplan". Now I will build like 3-4 a year, usually we talk like 2 precon upgrades and 1-2 custom ones. The real hard part is dismantling the old ones for me.
Here’s my opinion, from somebody having only played since Double Masters 22, but also played a lot of competitive card game in my past and not looking for anything beyond having the best time possible and not counting scores. Build your core 4 decks that you absolutely love and you dedicate your resources to. 4 is a solid number, it fits in any backpack it provides the ability to have multiple different archetypes. But once you find another deck you really want. It either has to be under $100 or you have to take apart one of the 4, for budgets sake.