Toolcraft ExemplarToolcraft Exemplar | Art by Zezhou Chen

Deckbuilding, or brewing, is one of Magic's most complex and daunting aspects, regardless of the format. In this week's article, I'm going to show you the tools I use along with my general deckbuilding template.

Let's get into it!

From Net-Decker to Brewer

I want to be clear that I don't think net-decking is wrong, or that you're a better player if you brew. Heck, you can both net-deck and brew at the same time; these options aren't mutually exclusive.

For instance, you might find a list online that clicks with you, but you don't have all the cards on hand, so you tweak the initial blueprint by adding pet cards or removing staples you find boring to play with. The most important thing is that you enjoy playing the deck, no matter where you got the list from.

I'm here to help you improve at deckbuilding, so let's start by discussing the tools I use and how I use them.

Critically Thinking About Deckbuilding

EDHREC is one of the most popular deckbuilding websites for the Commander format on the internet. You probably know this since you're reading this on EDHREC. It pulls deck information from across the internet and compiles which cards are played with which commanders, how popular cards are in the format, and breaks down different themes for those commanders.

For example, Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice, has over 50 themes associated with her - granted, she is the number one commander on the site with over 24,000 decks.

But EDHREC is only one tool a brewer should use. Sometimes the community will think two cards work well together, and it shows up on EDHREC, but in reality, the cards don't interact the way you'd like them to.

Look at Ratadrabik of UrborgRatadrabik of Urborg's page on EDHREC, and you'll see Heroes' PodiumHeroes' Podium is showing up in five percent of decks. The first half of that artifact doesn't fit the theme of Ratadrabik since he turns legendary creatures into non-legendary tokens, while the second ability is a mediocre mana sink.

Card Evaluation Is Hard

That's one of the first difficulties in deckbuilding: card evaluation. How many times have you seen the community call for bannings of cards like Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats, Lord Xander, the CollectorLord Xander, the Collector, or Doom WhispererDoom Whisperer before they've even played with them?

Or when The Command Zone goofed on how busted Dockside ExtortionistDockside Extortionist was going to be? Card evaluation is hard, so don't think just because a card doesn't show up on EDHREC means you shouldn't try it out. Check out the EDHRECast's Upping the Average series on YouTube for some examples of this.

Looking for Cards

Once I've landed on a commander for a deck, I'll check EDHREC for what are some of the top cards played in the deck. Once you've played enough, you'll learn what cards become auto-includes with what commanders.

For example, you'll know to add Rampant GrowthRampant Growth in Tatyova, Benthic DruidTatyova, Benthic Druid or XornXorn fits perfectly in Prosper, Tome-BoundProsper, Tome-Bound. Even after playing for over a decade, I still miss obvious includes in decks. There are too many cards for a single person to remember. And the current set release schedule isn't doing anyone any favors.

I also use EDHREC when I'm struggling to find card draw or removal that are on theme with a deck. Sure, I could jam a Treasure CruiseTreasure Cruise into every blue deck, and it would probably be fine. But if I'm playing a typal deck, I'd rather play Distant MelodyDistant Melody or Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery.

The same thing goes for removal; maybe I want less efficient removal that fits the theme of my deck better. Just because I'm in black doesn't mean I need to run Infernal GraspInfernal Grasp and Go for the ThroatGo for the Throat in every deck.

For example, I'd gladly play Deadly DerisionDeadly Derision over Infernal GraspInfernal Grasp in a Prosper deck, since I'll get a greater benefit from the Treasure token compared to the one mana I'm saving with Infernal GraspInfernal Grasp. Since you get a Treasure with Deadly Derision, I think of the spell as three mana, not four in this case.

From Googling to Scryfalling

Google. One of the most powerful, popular, and poorly utilized search engines online. It compiles links to over a billion websites across the internet, ranging from Magic cards to cute puppies and other things I won't mention in this article. But did you know you can refine your Google searches?

For example, if you're looking for information on a certain site, you can put "site:youtube.com" so Google will only check YouTube for whatever you're searching for. Well, think of Scryfall as the Google for Magic.

Scryfall is the number one tool in my arsenal when brewing decks for articles, my YouTube channel, and helping friends. The basic search feature is fine, letting you search for cards by name, but the advanced search tools are the best in the business, allowing you to find cards by their oracle text, type, price, and more.

My favorite feature is the Criteria search, which gives you the option to search for cards using obscure filters such as old border cards, cards with watermarks, or cards that have ever been banned or restricted. Want to build your watermark-only deck? Now you can!

I kinda like that idea for an article down the line. Let me know if you'd like to see a fully watermarked deck.

Can you guess what all three of the cards above have in common? If you guessed they have the text "draw a card" on them, you'd be correct. I found all three of these vastly different cards by searching for all cards that have "draw a card" in their oracle text. That's the power of Scryfall: it allows you to find every card ever printed with whatever rules text you're looking for.

If I wanted to build a deck around the card Hardened ScalesHardened Scales, I'd search for all cards with the text "one or more" and "that many plus one" to find cards with similar effects.

Budget Replacements

When I build budget decks, I use the price filter to only show cards that are two dollars or less in conjunction with rules text to see what budget replacements for powerful staples I might find.

Let's say I want to find a budget replacement for Cyclonic RiftCyclonic Rift. I'd indicate that I only want to see cards two dollars or less, and I'd put "return all nonland" in the text box. Budget replacements usually aren't going to be as good as their non-budget counterparts, but rarely are they going to be as bad as their difference in price.

Combo Breaker

The latest tool I've picked up in my deckbuilding journey is Commander Spellbook (CSB), the search engine for EDH combos. This site allows users to submit their own combos to share with the world.

Each combo page will show you the prerequisites, steps to perform the combo, the results of the combo, how many decks contain the combo, and the price. I tend to use CSB at the end of my initial deckbuilding process to check if there are any combos that I want to add or to remove infinite combos if I'm trying to avoid them.

There isn't much else to say about CSB right now. It's a great tool when looking for combos and something that I plan on utilizing more in the future. I'd recommend you check out their trailer over on YouTube, which gives a brief overview of all their features.

Assembling the Cardboard

Okay, we've discussed the deckbuilding tools at our disposal. Now what? Now, we start the hard part of picking the 99 cards and commander - well, more like 62 cards because I tend to run 37 lands, or 60 if you auto include Sol RingSol Ring and Arcane SignetArcane Signet in decks. I'm going to stick to 61 because I've been excluding fast mana from decks, but I still think Arcane SignetArcane Signet should be played in most decks without access to green.

Okay, so we have 61 card slots available for nonlands, but there are also MDFCs, which are both lands and spells. This is getting complicated. Let me start over.

The general template I follow when starting a new deck is:

• 50 sources of mana - this includes lands, mana rocks, mana creatures, and MDFCs that have lands on the back.
• 9-12 targeted removal spells - basically, anything that can be used to destroy or exile a card I count as removal. Doesn't matter the type of spell, so long as it gets rid of a threat, I'm happy.
• 2-5 board wipes - if I'm playing a creature-heavy deck, I tend to stick to the lower side. If I'm a combo or graveyard deck, I'll stick to the higher end.
• 10-12 card draw spells - these are spells that draw more than one card. Cards like OptOpt, ConsiderConsider, or Serum VisionsSerum Visions generally don't go towards my count.
• 2 graveyard recursion - these can range from Eternal WitnessEternal Witness to Open the VaultsOpen the Vaults.
• 0-2 flexible tutors - I've been cutting tutors from decks since variability is part of why I enjoy Commander. But if you love tutoring, then do it.
• 0-2 graveyard hate - this is more meta-dependent, but if you don't play with a set pod, I'd aim for two pieces of hate generally.
• 0-1 game-enders - think of Torment of HailfireTorment of Hailfire or ExsanguinateExsanguinate, all you need is some mana, and you can win the game. This might not be your main win condition, but it's good to have a backup. If you find yourself using these types of cards to win too often, you can always cut them.

My federal tax professor always told us, "There are rules, and there are exceptions to those rules, and there are exceptions to those exceptions." I follow this mantra when working with this template. Sometimes your commander fills one or more of the roles on this template, which means you can cut back on cards to fill those roles.

For example, if my commander draws me cards, I'd only add seven or eight card draw spells. The point of this template isn't to show you "the best" way to build a deck but to help get you started.

Conclusion and Final Piece of Advice

As you build more decks, you'll learn what works, what doesn't, and your play style. And don't get discouraged if you don't build the best deck possible on the first try. Deckbuilding is an iterative process that takes time and reps to perfect.

This is more true for Commander since it's a 100-card singleton format. You may add an upgrade to a deck and not see that card for several games. Sometimes you realize you need a key card for the deck to function, so you make changes to find that key card. Or maybe you'll realize a card you thought would be great is just a dud, so you change it for something else.

The most important thing is to make sure you're enjoying the process; otherwise, what's the point?

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