Deck Building Themes

[skeri]

I have noticed since I started playing that I really like tribal or themed decks. I have four decks at home that I play with regularly and they are zombie, vampire, spirit, and wolf/werewolf themed. I try to make the art, effects, and cards that I choose all fit in somehow to the theme and it's really fun that way. I am also hyper-organized so I like to sort things and make a well themed deck more than I like winning half the time . It's very difficult for me to put cards in my decks that don't fit my idea of the theme and strategy.

How do you guys deck build? Do you choose a card you like and build around it? Build strictly for strategy? For effects? For to win? Let me know!

[CardinalSilence]

I really like building themed decks too, though I aim to be pretty competitive at standard events with lots of layers of strategy and combo's etc. I've found that instead of tribal decks or straight up "every creature needs to be a zombie" I like building more of a... short story... if you will. SOI also gives a great outlet for the H.P. Lovecraft kind of stories I love.

-shameless plug- This is the deck I've been working on lately -/shameless plug-

I have a soft spot for all of the cards there, but the goal was to tell a story that from the 'beginning' (1-2 drop creatures) there were good intentions, to defend and protect, to become sages to a different race to help them thrive (before you have 6 land, which I would consider the 'end'), to become leaders of a military to fight against the darkness. But slowly these intentions turn into (3-4 drop all the way to 6 drop) unending corpses, leaders of the military becoming leaders of demonic cults, giants filled with zombified victims, traitors of their kin, demons consumed with madness, angels of fire purging those they were sworn to fight side by side with, swathes of creatures being sacrificed to the profaned prince.

I think this way of thinking about a theme much more interesting, and a lot less 1 dimensional than tribal decks. Because it's multi-dimensional it also tends to perform better, which I'm loving. That's my 2 cents anyways, this kind of story put behind a deck really keeps me interested and enjoying playing with it for a long long time, and I agree, it's very difficult for me to put in a card that doesn't quite fit in thematically

[skeri]

Well put! That is exactly what I'm finding that I enjoy in my decks. A story that keeps me interested and a strategy that keeps me competitive. I do throw in cards that don't adhere to a strict tribal theme because of strategy, but I do keep the majority of cards in my decks because they fit into the feel of it. That's great to hear!

[G. Moto]

    I find that i like to do a similar thing. The one method I always use when deck building is that I stay within the sets or blocks. For example, in the Return to Ravnica block (where all the guilds are based off two colors) I have not made any 3 or 4 colors decks from those cards. Similar thing for the shards of alara, I don't use cards from other shards in certain decks. My idea is that certain cards within the blocks are meant to work together with each other. If you mix them with other worlds then that's like mixing Peanut butter and cheese instead of peanut butter and jelly.

[skeri]

I don't like peanut butter  but I still agree with you. It feels weird to put cards together from sets that are vastly different themes.

[DelverMage]

For me that depends on why I am building a deck.

When I am building a theme deck, staying in character is key.  I don't restrict myself to blocks or sets, but I am not one to throw in cards just because they are powerful.

I have a number of decks on here that are theme decks.  This is my most recent one https://deckstats.net/decks/35805/485610-raising-hell/en.

Of course, if I am trying to build something competitive, all of this stuff goes out the window!!

skeri,  if you like story telling with your decks and theme bases, you should consider giving Commander a try (also known as EDH).  It is a 99 card deck that is led by a Legendary Creature (the 100th card).  No more than 1 copy of any given card is allowed, except for basic land.  MANY cards help tell a grand story!!

[G. Moto]

  @ DelverMage,.....but do you like peanut butter though?

[DelverMage]

Yes.

I like peanut butter on bread, dipped in my chili too!!  Which is maybe even MORE weird than PB&Cheese.

[skeri]

skeri,  if you like story telling with your decks and theme bases, you should consider giving Commander a try (also known as EDH).  It is a 99 card deck that is led by a Legendary Creature (the 100th card).  No more than 1 copy of any given card is allowed, except for basic land.  MANY cards help tell a grand story!!

I have never tried commander but I have some friends who are encouraging me to give it a shot. I also have a copy of Sheoldred, Whispering One that I'm not playing currently. Hmmmmm. You have piqued my interest and I'm going to give it a try. I will have to learn the strategy in commander deck building because I've never built one. Also... I have really tiny hands. That's gonna be hard to shuffle.

What does EDH stand for?

[DelverMage]

Elder Dragon Highlander.

Originally Commanded by an Elder Dragon.....  Plus the original rules, which still apply comes from a quote from the classic movie - The Highlander: "There can be only one!!"

[skeri]

Anything that comes from the movie Highlander has to be worth a shot.

[robort]

I personaly like some type of strategy. From recursion, flicker, going wide ect.. I want the deck to do something. Doesn't have to be flashy or spectacular, just do something. That something can also be themed like my warrior or ally deck. I usually find some type of combo and go from there. I do use cards from any block especially when making an EDH deck. EDH decks are more interesting and fun to make because it always does something.

[G. Moto]

  Personally I think that commander decks are more geared towards the strategy aspect rather than the story telling. But since you can use ANY legendary creature and any card from magic history that can create some fun stories in itself. Standard and Modern are definitely more geared to game play as long as you're not restricted to playing with single sets. Speaking of commanders, did you all hear about the new 4-color commanders that they should be creating soon? Maybe Nephilim will become relevant again?

[skeri]

So with commander decks what kind of strategy do you play? If all the cards are different do you just Theme them around effects or abilities that your legendary has? And how often do you ever draw your legendary if you have a 1/100 chance of pulling it? I'm very intrigued now, and I know I could probably Google it but it's more interesting to ask you guys.

[robort]

Skeri,

The legendary/commander is in a zone called a commander zone. You cast the commander from that zone. It starts there at the beginning of the game. So it never gets shuffled into the 100 card deck as you start the game. A commander will almost never be shuffled into the deck the entire game. If a commander is put anywhere from your graveyard, exile, library. You the controller of that commander can do a replacement effect and put the commander back into the commander zone. Where you can now recast your commander. Of course recasting will cost an additional 2 colorless mana. So say the first time you cast the commander it costs 2 red and a blue. The next time it costs 2 colorless, 2 red and a blue. A third time it costs 4 colorless, 2 red and a blue. So everytime you recast, the cost goes up by 2.

Your deck is built with the commander's mana cost and any color activated abilities. So if your commander has red and blue in it's cost, then you can only use red and blue in your deck.

More rules to follow from the other fellows, I must go. But ask any more questions if you want to know more