How do you build your casual decks?
The Kitchen Table forum
Posted on Oct. 10, 2020, 10:31 a.m. by StardustDragon11
The title really says it all.
My process is to try to have an average curve of 2.5
8 draw sources
4 ramp sources
8 removal sources
This is damn hard in white but it makes the decks really fun and interactive.
Tell us all about your process!
StardustDragon11 says... #3
Average CMC.
The ramp isn't just get a land ramp
It could be something that reduces cost or something that has delve or Convoke or a way to get an above the curve effect if that makes sense.
October 10, 2020 11:24 a.m.
EleshNornsFs says... #4
Holy crap. That low for casual. My casual decks usually have an average CMC in the mid threes.
October 10, 2020 11:39 a.m.
Daveslab2022 says... #5
I think this is a pretty unintuitive way of building a deck, no offense.
Every deck archetype has different things it’s trying to do. Mono white doesn’t need ramp. Mono green doesn’t need so much removal, etc.
Decide if your deck is meant to be aggro, Midrange, or control. If you’re going for aggro then average cmc of 2.5 is good, but for midrange or control average cmc should be closer to 3-4.
Having these baseline “rules” for building your deck hinders it a lot more than you might think!
October 10, 2020 12:23 p.m.
Omniscience_is_life says... #6
Daveslab2022 idk, in EDH every color wants ramp at every power level, practically. I'm not sure if CMDR is what the OP is talking about, but it's something to keep it mind :)
October 10, 2020 1:20 p.m.
cost reducing effects don't count as mana ramp, nor is mana ramp limited to putting extra lands into play. mana ramp means you're getting more total mana than what your normal land drops would give you, and cost reducers don't do that.
October 10, 2020 1:28 p.m.
JoJosMagic says... #8
I am not pretending to know anything.I only play casually. And method technique depends exclusively on what i am doing and why.Format can even change based on what the group wants. I have heard a lot of "rules" or "guidelines". like 8x8 and 1/3rd with a cmc avg of 2.5 or lower and win on turn 4 or 5 etc. Building a solid decks is Ironically more rewarding for me than Winning every game..but the deck has to be functional and relative to my play group, successful. I do not pretend to be competitive, but rather enjoy the human interaction and fun as well as the creative aspect. Base rules kinda ruin the experience for me and can limit creativity and thinking.When looking at the top competitive builds most break the rules anyway, and if your playing casual (as in not making money) why limit yourself to convention.That being said in my mind whatever is fun for you is what's best.
October 10, 2020 1:36 p.m.
JoJosMagic: "casual" just means not in a tournament, it does not mean not making money. i don't make money by going to FNM, but its still a competitive environment.
October 10, 2020 1:46 p.m.
JoJosMagic says... #10
Pyrra I apologize for any miscommunication and appreciate the clarification. I should have said "and" not (as in)..my intention was not to disparage competitive or infer a monetary definition or distinction. My thinking was more along the lines of "why so serious?" for casual. But I have friends who idea of fun is Winning and that play Competitively. I am basically a goof in whatever I do..so let's chalk it up to me being a newbie, and an inability to take games seriously:]
October 10, 2020 2:19 p.m.
For casual decks, I always pick my deck goal first. What does the deck do, or want to do? Like Daveslab2022 said earlier; What the deck is and what it does is your first goal when deck building. The different archetypes all have different card counts for different parts of the deck.
Your 8/4/8 is an okay rough count but it has to be flexible depending on the deck's archetype and build goal. Assuming your counts with land and win conditions are 8/4/8/24/16 that leaves 16 slots for your win condition. Some Archetype examples;
Stomp Aggro would be more like; 4/8/6/20/22. With your win conditions being creatures and combat tricks, removal slots more combat tricks with a couple of sweepers. Adding slots to combat tricks and taking them from draw or ramp depending on your average cmc on your stompy creatures.
Fast Aggro would be more like; 8/0/10/18/24. No need for ramp if you creatures are weenies with haste. Can cut lands for removal and more creature slots.
For Control; it may be 12/0/12/24/12; Where the draw is split with some interaction/combo utility and removal also includes counterspells or sweepers. The win condition count can even go down further depending on how much control is in the deck.
Mid-Range jank is closer to 4/4/10/22/20 in general slows things down and may be a combination of things so it's hard to predict slot counts.
Pure non-ramping Combo could even be like 18/0/10/24/8 If its a two card combo, your draw slots will include draw/rummage/tutors. Your removal would be protection and sweepers.
I am not a min maxer deck builder and there is no science to what I listed, just food for thought in how the archetype or deck itself and what it wants to do is important in dividing up your slots.
October 10, 2020 3:17 p.m.
StardustDragon11 says... #12
I suppose these aren't quite casual decks as much as they are training decks.
The goal for me is the to keep them fast and interactive.
October 10, 2020 3:57 p.m.
Under supported mechanics, or tons of pet/ flavor cards. That's usually how I got about making a more casual deck, when you have other stronger decks. You still run a good ratio of normal deck building slots, just not 'staple" or efficient cards.
Pyrra says... #2
by average curve do you mean average cmc? but why use ramp with a low average cmc?
October 10, 2020 11:03 a.m.