How to figure out how much mana?
Deck Help forum
Posted on May 16, 2013, 5:56 p.m. by mmdw34
Some guy at the shop has some weird formula he uses to figure out how much of each mana it will take for a deck. What ways do you use to figure out mana cost? example Put Up the Walls
Darkness1835 says... #3
I usually count the mana cost symbols of all my spells and separate them by color. Then set up a ratio and get to work on some algebra. For example, with your deck:you're running 3 colors. Blue: 35 symbols, Black: 18, Red: 4. However, it looks likes you're not planning on using the Entering portion of Breaking / Entering , so we can take away all the red and 4 black symbols.That gives us two colors, and a 35:14 ratio of blue to black. Next step is figure out the land base. You're running 22 lands, so you need to figure out how many of each are going for which particular color. First things first, if you're using dual lands, subtract them from the total number of lands. Drowned Catacomb and Watery Grave can tap for either color, so you dont need to worry about them in the calculations. They'll always be reliable. So really, you're working with 16 lands.Now comes the algebra. Set up the following equation: 35/49 = x/16. This pretty means "blue symbols/ total mana symbols = island/ total lands."
Cross multiply, so you get to 49x= 560.Solve for x, which are Islands, and then fill in the remainder with Swamps. And voila!
For your deck, x= 11.4. Round down, so add 11 Islands, and 5 Swamps.
At least, that's how I do it. Hope it helps!
May 16, 2013 6:43 p.m.
Ah, I had not noticed the 'each.' For that it I generally just try to find an alright ratio of colored symbol to mana producing land type with deviations depending on if the symbols are heavily weighted to one end of my curve.
May 16, 2013 6:45 p.m.
Darkness1835 says... #5
ah shit, I knew I'd screw up somewhere. Equation should be, 35/49 = x/14.
that makes the math way nicer, actually.49x=490 Add 10 Islands, 6 Swamps.
May 16, 2013 6:46 p.m.
There's the George Baxter formula which can also be done automatically via Magic Workstation (Click Deck Statistics -> Deep Analysis -> George Baxter Analysis).
Personally, I just count the number of mana symbols for each color, then divide by two, rounding up. That tells me how much permanent zero-cost mana of each color I need (i.e. land and moxes, but not other sources, such as Llanowar Elves or Dark Ritual ). Then I adjust based on what kind of deck I'm playing and how many colors.
If I'm playing mono-red aggro, for example, and my highest casting cost is four, then I can safely run 20 or 21 Mountain s. If I'm playing three-color control, and my numbers come out to ten, five, and six, then I'll round up to 25 to 26 lands total (running something like twelve of the first land type, six of the second, and eight of the third).
There isn't really a guaranteed formula for how much mana you should run. A lot of it will be determined by how much you need on a specific turn to cast specific cards. In the case of both the Baxter formula and the divide by two formula, my zombie deck should only have about 21 lands, of which, only three to four need to produce white mana. As you can see, I run a full set of Godless Shrine and Isolated Chapel to a grand total of 23 lands. That's because I want to reliably cast my white spells when I need them, especially Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and Orzhov Charm .
May 16, 2013 6:48 p.m.
thank you for the input, I just want to make sure I can produce mana consistently
May 16, 2013 7:26 p.m.
Xindlepete says... #8
@Darkness1835: That's the same way I do it! Haha- who says algebra would never come in handy after high school! XD
Dritz says... #2
Personally, I generally aim at 22 land for a 4CMC curve out and between 21 and 20 for lower and I top out at 24 for long control decks or high-curve ones with no ramp. Not so much a 'formula' but just my personal rule of thumb so to speak.
May 16, 2013 6:43 p.m.