The steps...
1.) Think of a color(s). (generally stay within 1-2 colors only)
2.) Think of a theme, combo, or strategy, also examine the current metagame.
----Examples----
*Theme - Slivers
*Combo - Pandemonium & Phyrexian Dreadnought
*Strategy - Manacurve (ie, Sligh or Geeba)
3.) Pick out ABUSABLE cards (ie, a card which can be used universally and be lethal in a combo or
by its bad self)
4.) Choose the most abusable of the cards picked out. (The most effective of the bunch - cream of the
crop)
5.) Choose supporting cards to make the abusable ones work without fear
----Example----
*If you are to play a deck where the key card is an artifict (you should splash white if a dual color
deck is your prefernce) and play Hanna's Custody (thus making all artifacts non-targetable by spells or
effects).
*If you choose to play Hanna's Custody you could splash blue for counters to protect the Custody.
***TIP***ALWAYS PLAY CARDS WITH 3-4 IN A DECK SO YOU DON'T MISS OUT ON
GETTING ONE IN HAND!
*If you play this artifact deck with blue splashed include some card draws so you get your combo
faster!
*There is much much more so try to consider all of the field you may face in a game.
6.) Now, land! What I generally do is make 40% of my deck land and 60% other.
----How to decide your card to land ratio----
Okay...in a 60 card deck (generally the BEST size to use)...
You should include 24 land (give or take if you have alternative mana sources).
Here is the equation to use in deciding your land count...
How many colors= X (X1, X2, X3, X4, X5 - five colors).
How much land to inlude= Y
Number of cards the colors all added together equals= Z (ie, if you have 14 red and 20 blue you have
34 colored cards [not including artifacts or land])
HERE IS THE EQUATION STEPS=
Take color X(1,2,3,4,and/or 5) / Z (repeat for all colors seperately)!
Now you have each colors % in the total count (for example, 25% of 36 is blue, the other 75% is red).
Take the % for one of the colors and multiply that by Y (repeat for each one).
Now you know the amount of land for each color (for example, 15 green land out of 24 and 9 white
land out of that same 24).
Now simply add up the total amounts for each color to include...vuala! Now you have the correct card
to land ratio.
7.) Build the deck!
8.) Playtest against other decks in the field or imaginary foes...count the number of turns it takes you to
win...can you improve it to make it faster?
9.) Revise where change is needed...if no change is necassary go to step 10, if change is necassary
then make the changes and repeat step 8.
10.) You now have a fairly decent deck that otta win more than it loses...but don't get a big head...you
cannot win against every deck so keep revising up to perfection...no deck is perfect...at least not for a
while!
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