Subject: here is a guide to building orignal decks Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 06:35:24 -0600 From: "boogie" boogie@dicksonstreet.com To: webmaster@classicdojo.org Allright, so you want to build an orignal deck. Well, maybe not so much as 'orignal' but one that you've become used to playing... one that you know by heart.... one that will give YOU an edge. First off, lets look at a simple fact of magic. DECKS get copied. I mean, I remember sitting at the finals in a MirvLite tourney in little rock arkansas. I was playing a somewhat reasonable deck and there was a guy STANDING BEHIND ME writing down the cards as I played them. Sure this wasn't a ptq, but it was for cash... I'd pulled out a gun that i thought NO one would metagame against. I was right... but I knew better than to ever play that deck again.... But what's the difference? Where do I have an advantage when playing this deck? Well, for instance if I built the deck orignally i knew it in and out... how it draws, how the land is situated.... If any old person picked up that deck they couldn't possibly have that kind of synchrosity with the deck..... So, when you go to regionals this time, don't try a 'scheider deck' or even a metagame 5 color.... try making a deck that YOU know YOU can do well with. Here's the formula! Basic Theme: Choose the theme that best suits your playing style and your personality. If you're impatient, consider a fast deck. If you can handle taking your time and still concentrate, try control. What do you have trouble playing? Do you dislike functioning under a winter orb, even if its yours? can you play effectively after coming back from your own armageddon? Do you understand the timing needed for the cards you wanna play with? if not, choose something else! After choosing your main theme consider ALL cards that fit your theme well. Even if the card doesn't seem it will go into your deck at first, pull it out anyways. The goal at this point is to experiment with all the cards that may or may not fit your style/theme. Are mana elves your style in you're geddon deck? Or do you wanna try mindstones instead? Why not experiment with both? What about the hermit druid? What about veteran explorer? Don't say these aren't good cards... not yet anyways... experiment with them. Take the deck, and design it so that there are at least 28 cards that you are POSITIVE will be in the final draft of the deck. Now use the other slots to slide in different cards. If you don't think the card you just tried will make the cut, set it aside... DON'T discard the idea completely. could it be used for a sideboard slot? What is it strong against? What is it weak against? Take down these notes... we'll use them further along during the 'metagame' section. After tuning the deck, and deciding the cards that you think wilL MOST fit you're theme.... you're 1/2 way there :) Your goal now is to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. During the first stages you can play it against any deck type, but now its time to find the BEST players and have them stomp you time and time again. How do you function against hand denial? Land deprivation? Weenie? Sligh? Deadguy? Burn? Countertech? Now is the time to find the weaknesses of your deck. I suggest playing against each of the above decks no less than 10 games. I prefere to try it against 10 matches per standard archetype. Keep the record and ALWAYS feel free to changes cards between matches. the goal here is to find out what is strong and what is weak againts each archetype. So now you found the weakest cards, as well as the strongest. From here its simple... modify it, send it through the gauntlet of decks... repeat.... do it until you know every card in your deck.... do it until you can name the bottom card on your deck as well as the top. Almost ready? Now its time to play with the 'meta game' now that you know which cards TRASHED what archetype, its time to build that sideboard. This is the area that often wins T2 games... sideboard is all important. Find someone that doesn't miind playing with a set 15 card sideboard... thrash them with it. use the same process here as you would above.... Take a survey.. ask your friends... who is playing what type of deck? If 3/5 is playing sligh, sideboard anti-red.... what about 1/2 playing weenie? is floodgate a possibility? What cards might you have overlooked? just because you've never seen it in a sideboard at the dojo, doesn't mean you CAN'T play with it. There is no such concept... if YOU are good with this card, GO FOR IT! :) lets take a look at a sample deck that I recently had built. It had been years since I'd played goblin decks... I missed it, and I wanted something to play against the field for the tourney coming up this weekend. What cards did I pull out? goblin king mogg fanatic mogg flunkie goblin digging team goblin soothsayer goblin vandal keeper of kookus goblin bombardment mogg conscripts mogg infestation that darn (2R: sac 2 goblins, get 3) incinerate kindle fireblast shock karavek's torch I played a few games and decided that the best cards to use would be... 4 mogg conscript 4 mogg flunky 4 goblin vandal 4 goblin king 2 goblin bombardment 4 incinerate 4 kindle 4 fireblast the suprising cards that I ended up including are goblin digging team (3) goblin soothsayer (3) 1 mogg infestation 1 of that sac 2 goblins get 3 thingy. Those cards came simply from playtesting. I had not considered how strong the digging team would be after stronghold, until after I tried it. The soothsayer is VERY strong... I would normaly had never considered her... I've never seen her in a deck. mogg infestation? I won too many games by casting this on myself and then flinging all the goblins from my bombardment. that sac a goblin for 3 thing? AWESOME perfect against a slow deck with about 37 walls in it...... I haven't completed the deck and sideboard, yet... its a fun deck, afterall... but I will before this weekend. Where do you think I should go with it? is this orignal enough for you? maybe.... just maybe, I'll take it to regionals.