Deck building Please help!

[MTGWarrior]

I've been playing MTG for a while. However, I always lose because my deck building skills are terrible. I have a lot of cards, I know some are great cards, I just don't know how to master my decks. I've uploaded my cards on this site in hopes that someone can look through my cards and help me build a killer deck. Any suggestions are welcomed. So if anyone is looking for a challenge, or just want to help me out, please look through my collection of cards and let me know what kind of deck you would put together if you had my cards. I'm tired of losing. LOL I would like to have a deck that at least would give me a chance of winning.
Thanks in advance.
PS. - I haven't put all of my cards. I still have a few including planeswalkers I haven't added yet. I have plenty of lands too. I didn't put them in but iust know that I have plenty of lands and for all five manas.
MTG rules!

[nAcL]

What format are you thinking? Standard, Modern, Commander, Pauper? My favorite are Pauper and Commander but have always kept a respectable standard deck laying around.

i would first find a format then look at what kind of decks you think are fun and build it

[MTGWarrior]

I've been using standard and they haven't been very helpful but then again it could be the cards I was using in the deck. I'm looking into pauper and modern formats.

[Doranon]

Sorry could I ask where to find your list of cards that you posted? A link or guide to the page would be great. I'm interested in helping I just don't know where to look.

[MTGWarrior]

I just went under my collections and started putting them in. It's not visible? How do I make it visible or do I have to save the entire list into a new file?
I'm new to this site. I'm still trying to learn my way around. LOL
Maybe I missed something. Let me check it out again.

[MTGWarrior]

Okay...Found the link...

https://deckstats.net/collection/1695/

I hope this helps.

[Doranon]

Helped a lot. Thanks. I took a quick look down to the uncommons and I saw a lot of R/G in your collection, especially with cards like Arlinn Kord, greenwarden of Murasa, Cryptolith Rite, Scythe Leopard is great early game (this is all gonna be Standard stuff by the way so anything from BFZ and onward) and some other cards like Tyrant of Valakut, Embodiment of Fury, Retreat to Valakut, Lightning Axe, Molten Nursery, Relentless Hunter etc. as for how to play it? I see a couple options... I guess you could stick with the Eldrazi subtheme with Barrage Tyrant and Molten Nursery, or you could go landfall-y with the leopard, retreat and so forth... I built a really fun R/G landfall deck with a dragon subtheme that I took out and replaced with Werewolves once Dragons rotated, you can check that out on my decks if you want. I'm not sure if you can see the past versions of the deck, let me know if you can't and want to.
As for Commander (I'm terrible at building Modern mostly because my collection isn't deep enough, I only started really playing around BFZ), you have some really nice Mardu (RBW) cards that fit under Zurgo, Helmsmasher. A couple stars are the two Sorins, Ajani, Elspeth, Tibalt, Ankle Shanker, pretty much any card that fits under the RBW spectrum and is decent can go in. You could do a creature-based deck with things like Hanweir Militia Captain and Empty the Pits if you get boardwiped (which won't be rare in commander, I'm sorry to say). Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help or if I should offer different advice. Thanks for letting me take a look, and have fun!

[nAcL]

Doranon definatly has the right idea for a nice commander deck it sounds better then some decks i have seen people play. If you want to try Modern I will recommend TCC's Red Deck Wins and Soul Sisters builds, both can be built for under 200USD if you start from scratch. i started with red deck and infect myself.

The commander deck spoken of earlier actually looks really nice as stated before and i would persue that before modern personally.

[MTGWarrior]

Thanks so much for your suggestions.
I was looking into creating an Eldrazi deck. I tried an elves deck which was okay but I think I needed more powerful elves or better cards to include in the deck.
I do seem to have a lot of R/G cards which I have put into decks. What I really want is B/W deck! I seem to have some good cards along with artifacts, instants, and enchantments. I just don't know if I want zombies with vampires mixed with archangels and knights. I had a friend who tried it and it didn't work out for him. I'm not sure of his cards though. Maybe I should try it and see how it goes for me. I'm also looking into creating mythical creatures deck.
The possibilities are endless it seems. LOL But I like collecting and creating decks.

Thanks nAcl - I will def look into it.

[nAcL]

No Problem here to help
 
I find that a  Orzhov vampire ally deck from BFZ tends to put alot of pain on opponents. not much is more painful then 2 drana's emessary's draining you every turn.
i do have the deck just not a deck list up. if you want it I can put it up sometime in the next day.

[Mnemosyne]

Okay...Found the link...

https://deckstats.net/collection/1695/

I hope this helps.

I browsed through your collection, and it is impressively varied! It seems like you've been playing for a while!

I can help you with a few things. Unfortunately, EDH is not my speciality, but I can most definitely help you make something competitive for Standard.

The good thing about Standard is that it is technically a cheaper than modern. Most of the cards found in Modern, that are competitive, can fetch ridiculous amounts of money. A good deck would be out of range to all, but the wealthiest or most serious player.

There is an art to deck creation, but it also depends on the type of Meta you see your opponents playing. For example, what type of decks do you often see when you play against other people? Can you tell what makes them better than your deck? Can you notice the style of play the deck uses? (Aggro/Midrange/Control) Is there a theme? All these things must be taken into consideration.

Decks should have a purpose, not only should it have the ability to win, (a win condition by which you can defeat your opponent) but you need a deck that allows that win condition to be achieved. So there is a structure. For aggro, the structure is fast, large amounts of damage, in the fewest number of turns.

You would need a lot of creatures, which are either low cost or cards that allow you to put larger creatures onto the battlefield. (RAMP)
I think for you, to help you see the interactions and to develop your style of play you should focus on Aggro. Control and Midrange (IMO) require a lot of knowledge of state-based interactions. (MTG is really complicated!) Don't be too disheartened if you do lose...

I could write for hours about strategy and the best deck creation techniques that can help you function better as a player.

What I will say is if you do want to win (more often) then you need to compromise. We can certainly help you make something that is... unorthodox, but you need to be comfortable using it, and you need to know if it can do the job you want it to.

Which is why I am going to suggest you Net Deck. Personally, I would not do this, (others would agree) but it is useful to see what a competitive deck looks like. If you want, after I show you an example, one in which you will be able to afford, I can break it down for you and explain, step by step how it works. Again, that is entirely up to you.

I suggest this deck it is from the most recent set, and it will not rotate out of Standard any time soon. If you do have any of the cards it would be a tremendous bonus, but either way, it will be around $10-20 to buy. (https://deckstats.net/decks/51869/590714-grull-energy-deck?share_key=dbzhLsqpvTXNHif8) only you can see this, and those that see this thread. So I hope you like it, and that it is useful. (the price is not approximate)

[drrizzy]

Dear MTGWarrior,
Keep in mind that I am a noob (I have been playing MTG for approximately a year every Monday and Friday night at the local game store), so if anyone else vetoes my tips take their advice.  At the same time it is awesome that you love to build "home-brews" too and not go with the standard archetypes.

Some tips for Modern are the following: 1) Your board state generally needs to be established by turn four.  While the game may not be over by turn four, spells that cost a lot mana-wise need to be justified.  2) Keep in mind what tempo you would like the game to go at.  Namely is your deck aggro, mid-range, or control.  3)  Choose cards so that your creatures get the maximum synergy. 

I found a good column on deck building here: https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/deck-creation-standard/128633-how-to-build-better-decks

Good luck in building decks!
Steve

[YankeeTexan]

MTGWarrior, if you are just starting to get into deck-building it can be daunting.  I'm pretty rusty at it myself and I'm a data analyst for a living, so one would think it would come easier to me...it doesn't.   . But all is certainly not lost!

Having said that, personally I believe that there are certain perspectives and frames of mind that lend themselves to deck-building or playing, but like anything else they take time to practice and develop; unless of course you have a hideous amount of free time or your hand or you happen to be John Nash's ("A Beautiful Mind") love child.

And, I agree with Mnemosynes post.  Obviously you know the game and you grasp the strategy, so it appears you have a good grasp of those two dimensions of MTG, but grasping for the Metagame and developing responses (part improving your play, part looking for card synergy) are two more dimensions to the game.

I won't rehash what everyone else has posted; all good feedback, BUT (and hang on for the haters...) I would also encourage you to NetDeck as well with caveats.

Look at NetDecking as doing your homework; it allows you to see the metagame from many perspectives; see combos you didn't see before and helps you plug holes in your desk that hobble your playing.  But, it is just a study tool to learn with, not a master key to success.

Any shmoe with enough money, can netdeck, copy a Top 8 deck and might do ok.  But, did they put any thought, give a damn, and intent into it?  No, they were lazy...

I, myself, look and sometimes copy Top Winning deck proxies to playtest them against my deck brews and if i use any other persons deck, that i tweak and modify for my tastes, I always give credit to the person that created it. Just copying and spending the money to make a proven Top 8 deck, is practically plagiarism.

However, statistically there are a finite amount of cards in a Standard format rotation and there a millions of MTG players worldwide, so it isn't outside the realm of possibility that anyone could build a Top deck blind and not realize it, so it really comes down to what you like in MTG, what you want from MTG, and chasing it.

For me, sitting down with another player and trying to play the best game i can with the deck i have and the cards in my hand, is just the beginning of the puzzles within puzzles that is MTG.

Hope this helps and wasn't drivel!!

[Mnemosyne]

Okay, so, if you didn't wish to follow the suggestion I mentioned about buying a cheap(ish) Kaladesh deck. Then, I had a chance to properly look at your card list and made this... It should be balanced, but I can tell you now, you might have a good chance in a limited game with this, but it's certainly not competitive! I am sorry, this was the best I could come up with, with the cards I could see. Remembering that you would have liked to play White/Black, I had to add red to pad it out to reach 60 cards.

Mainboard (36) Mardu (Red/Black/White)

Carrier Thrall 2
Stasis Snare 1
Sorin Grim Nemesis 1
Relentless Dead 1
Alms of the Vein 1
Murder 1
Retreat to Valakut 1
Incorrigible Youths 1
Lightning Axe 1
Uncaged Fury 1
Twins of Maurer Estate 1
Ride Down 1
Reality Haemorrhage 2
Makindi Sliderunner 2
Processor Assault 2
Culling Drone 2
Voracious Null 1
Painful Truths 1
Bone Splinters 1
Smite the Monstrous 2
Grave Birthing 1
Dominator Drone 1
Altar's Reap 2
Blight Herder 2
Ulamog's Despoiler 1
Angelic Gift 1
Consuming Sinkhole 2

Landbase (24)

Blighted Fen 1 - Plains 6 - Evolving Wilds 3 - Swamp 7 - Mountain 6 - Unknown Shores 1

Card Selection

So, I tried to get a balance between creatures and control spells. You have around (14) creatures, (13) control spells that destroy target creature, (Murder) deal direct damage to them, (Consuming Sinkhole) and spells like Stasis Snare, which will exile a creature (instant speed) so long as Stasis Snare remains on the field. (Also useful, if you want to process the exiled card with an Eldrazi Blight Herder) I added 1 of your planeswalkers.(Sorin, Grim Nemesis) He is useful for gaining life, which supports you in case you've taken damage from your own spells, or your opponent's spells, (Painful Truths - Useful to get extra cards to help in a tight spot) and reducing your opponent's life. (+1 ability with your average mana curve can cause some real damage). The rest are support spells like Angelic Gift and Uncaged Fury. (Gives evasion and the other gives double strike for maximum damage!)

Your mana curve, which I have tried to keep low will allow you to play the cards without having too much trouble finding the mana needed to cast them, you are running three colours, however. (The spells in your deck have a mana cost between 2-6 and nothing higher.)

Hope this is an acceptable alternative!

[MTGWarrior]

Wow! Thanks Mnemosyne! That was awesome of you to do this for me. I will def. try this deck out the next time I play MTG! I was told that three colored decks was hard to do so I always stuck with two colored decks. My cousin has Felidar Sovereign which as you know once she gets 40+ life she wins the game. I'm trying to get this card LOL! Or a card more powerful than this one.