S  T  R  A  T  E  G  Y

by Christopher Askwith Strategy of the Deckmaster, Part One This article is, naturally, directed at novice players who have absolutely no idea how to build a deck. The purpose of this article is to show them how to make a deck using, what I like to call, the Scientific Deck Building Method, a kind of takeoff of the Scientific Method they tell you about in school. By now, you perceptive types will say, "That paragraph looks like the 'Purpose' section of a lab report!" And for good reason: it is. This is essentially a 'lab report' of the SDBM. Materials The materials are all Magic Cards. As an example, I will build for you a white/red burn/life deck. Land 6 Plains 4 Karoo 6 Mountain 4 Dormant Volcano Red 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Incinerate 4 Kaervek's Torch 2 Fireball 2 Wall of Opposition White 4 Healing Salve 4 Mangara's Blessing 4 Alabaster Potion 4 Wall of Swords Gold 4 Energy Bolt Artifacts 2 Marble Diamond 2 Fire Diamond Sidebar 2 Sirocco 2 Red Elemental Blast 2 Burnout 4 Disenchant 3 Ward of Lights   Method To build a deck using the SDBM, follow the steps below: 1) Determine a Main Theme for your deck. This is what the deck will be based upon. The deck shown above has a Main Theme of Direct Damage/Healing and Life. 2) Determine the Secondary Themes of your deck. The Secondary Themes determine which cards will be in your sideboard, usually. The Secondary Themes of the deck above are Defense, Anti-Blue, and Disenchant. 3) Determine what Lands will be used in the deck. For the example deck I made earlier, the Lands are Plains (T: Add W to mana pool), Mountains (T: Add R to mana pool), Karoos (Comes into play tapped, put an untapped plains into your hand or bury Karoo, T: Add 1+W to your mana pool), and Dormant Volcanoes (As Karoo only substitute R for W). 4) Determine what other Mana Sources will be in the deck. The deck above has Marble and Fire Diamonds. 5) Add spells that complement your Main Theme. The spells in the deck above that fit the Main Theme of Burn/Life are Lightning Bolt, Fireball, Kaervek's Torch, Incinerate, Healing Salve, Mangara's Blessing, and Alabaster Potion as well as Energy Bolt. 6) Add spells to the deck or sideboard that complement your Secondary Themes. In the sample deck, the Secondary Theme of Defense is allotted the Walls and the Ward of Lights spells. The Anti-Blue theme has Sirocco, Red Elemental Blast and Burnout. The Disenchant theme has Disenchant. 7) Test the deck against an opponent. Observations The deck built above is an excellent example of how scientific methodology, attention to detail and planning while deck-building are great ways to improve how your deck is constructed. Conclusion I recommend the Scientific Deck Building Method for EVERYONE. Hopefully, it can give you the edge you may need to win your game. Happy foe-bashing! [ Back to May 1997 Table of Contents ] [ Back to Beyond Dominia ] Magic: the Gathering is a Registered Trademark of Wizards of the Coast