For example, combo decks in Modern format usually have more than the minimum to increase the chances of drawing the required pieces. Also, Battlecruiser decks in Commander format have exactly 100 cards, giving increased diversity in card choices. In the world of Magic the Gathering, there has long been a debate surrounding the optimal deck size. In this article section, we’ll explore the background information on Magic the Gathering and deck size requirements. We’ll also touch upon the ongoing discussion about whether having more than 60 cards in an MTG deck is a disadvantage. Prepare to dive into the intricacies of deck-building strategies and discover if there is a definitive answer to this hotly debated question.
Traditionally, lands should make up a touch over 40% of your deck. For a 40-card deck, that’s about 17–18 lands, and for a 60-card deck, it’s about 24–25 lands. However, the exact land ratio can vary depending on the specific needs of your deck strategy.
A general guideline for a well-balanced deck is to have about one-third of your deck dedicated to lands, one-third to creatures, and one-third to spells. The majority of these cards should have a casting cost of 4 or less. You can also consider including a few extra creatures with good effects attached. Depending on your playing style, a 40 card sealed or draft build requires between 8 and 15 creatures.
It works surprisingly well in a four person free for all against other fun decks. The third large portion of a deck is usually used to either shield oneself from attempts by the opponent to halt the game plan or cards that do so to the opponent. A subcategory that may be included here is mana acceleration with cards that do cost mana themselves but yield an amount of mana as their effect.
Should You Play More Than 60* Cards in Your Deck?
Forty-card deck’s mana curve is a bit of an issue for the inexperienced deck-builder. There isn’t much room in a 40 card Magic deck when you have so many card types and colors to choose from. This can quickly happen if you play with Recycle, Worry Beads, Anvil of Bogardan, Riptide Director, Tolarian Serpent, Cephalid Vandal, Prosperity, Ambassador Laquatus… These are some of my favourite kinds of decks for casual play, and are routinely large. The only exceptions to this rule are the basic lands or if a card’s text contradicts this rule (such as Relentless Rats). The four-of-limit was not originally part of the game.
It provides more possibilities and options for executing their game plan. However, this approach may sacrifice consistency and increase the chances of drawing unplayable hands. A situation in which you would want decks of more than 60 cards is one in which you are playing in a closed ecosystem of decks (this is most likely a causal environment).
Can you have a 40 card MTG deck?
Because blue is such a spell-heavy color, the proper number of land drops per 40 cards is roughly 15 to 20. Blue creatures aren’t as powerful as, say green or red creatures, but they have awesome and typically costly mana-activated abilities. So, as little as 13 to 16 lands are needed in a 40 card sealed build. The color white typically requires a medium to low mana reserve, compared to other colors. Believe it or not, there are plenty of diehard Magic players out there who play with libraries or more than 100 cards. However, adding at the very least 23 to 24 mana sources(be they lands or otherwise) may be a better decision.
Want to see something occasionally but only once in a game, maybe twice if it runs long? A bigger deck is like a toolbox, full of tools you don’t need, but no mess. If you aren’t able to have more than three mana out on the battlefield by turn three, four, or five… the game may already be lost.
Since you can only have 4 of each card (except for basic lands), it seems you would want the limit size to improve your chances of getting the cards you want. Additionally, the deck should have a balanced mana curve. In limited formats such as Draft or Sealed, players are given a limited pool of cards to build their decks.
So, stick to meta mtg the minimum unless you have a strategy-based reason. In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about MTG deck size. Some things show up in nearly every Magic release, like +1/+1 counters! Aetherdrift’s District Mascot can grow on its own and use those counters to destroy artifacts, but why not kick that growth into overdrive with Biogenic Upgrade? Counters are a rich part of Magic gameplay, so you’re likely to encounter cards that care about them in every set. Foundations is designed to make learning to play and love Magic as easy as possible.
This allows the same few decks to play against each other more times before it gets boring. Standard is arguably the most popular and widely known MTG format, likely due to its dynamic and evolving gameplay. In it, you use a minimum 60-card deck with no more than four copies of any one card except basic lands from the most recently released sets, created with your wildest dreams in mind. The official Commander format allows players to have decks of exactly 100 unique cards. However, in other formats such as Standard, Pioneer, or Modern, the minimum deck size is 60 cards. In this format, each player receives six booster packs and builds a 40-card deck from the cards they open.
How much land should be in a draft deck?
Larger decks are going to be much less constant on getting the cards you need, when you need them. Most magic decks are highly focused one or at most two strategies for winning. Especially when your looking for a certain card combination to win, having extra cards will just reduce the odds of you getting the cards you need.
In this section, I will cover two important tactics that can help you take your game to the next level. This process repeats until all the cards from the pack are chosen. The players then repeat this process with the remaining two packs, passing the packs in the opposite direction.