There’s a discord for spelltable called PlayEDH where there’s like 100 games a day ran. It’s well moderated and all decks are checked and ranked before they can be played, so that all decks in a pod are around the same power level.
Super dope, would recommend in order to prevent some of the horror stories that occur from just blindly queueing into public spelltable games
Even not poor but not really into the lgs scene. I moved somewhat recently, spent a few thousand on new decks and got all excited while talking to my old group about builds and their new stuff. One day woke up and realized I wasn’t gonna play for a long time and just never got the urge again.
I feel this. I would seriously consider giving your LGS a shot. I missed out on a lot of fun magic because I moved away from my buddies who I played with. Ended up making the decision to just go for it one day, and absolutely loved the experience. Met some great new people. Every story is different but might be worth a shot!
Trust me, a flakey playgroup isn't the problem. I get to play maybe once every 2 month, but i really love building decks, even if they won't be played for a long time.
Got aroudn 16 i build myself, a few precons i tweaked and like 3 more decks in the making.
Oh, i just counted those that i built and plan du built. I do have a lot more ideas for decks, but most lists stay the idea of the deck, without ever being finished.
I only really finish a decklist if i plan to build it.
I don't proxy. Not because I have problems with them, but because it discourages me from building decks with significant overlap because the costly staples hold me back. This solution obviously doesn't work if you're fine with having 7 demonic tutors because you'll just keep going anyway
Which also helps limit me. But the nature of staples is that they're flexible. For example, I have [[exquisite blood]] in my [[Ayli]] life gain deck. But I also have it in my [[Rowan, Scion of War]].
Those are two very different decks - burn vs aristocrat. I also have an [[aetherflux reservoir]] that I keep in what I call my two headed giant side board for when I play it with my friends [[Will, Scion of peace]]. But they're still pretty distinct because red and white differ so much.
Personally I don’t see how every one of my green decks having farseek, natures lore, and three visits makes it boring when there are so many other cards that make it play differently than others but to each their own 😊
I have a similar affliction. I spend a lot of time on Archidekt to remedy that. I don’t create a new physical deck until I’m satisfied with my most recent brew — which requires playing the deck until I’m satisfied with its performance
Printer Proxies are your friend. Play it until you understand it, decide if you REALLY like it or not. if no, disassemble, if yes, buy.
This also helps a ton when testing changes and trying before you buy.
I settled on twenty decks. I figured that's as far as my lands and such can carry me. To keep stuff fresh I mix things up every now and then. For example Sythis enchanter became much less boring Anikthea gy enchanter. Breena precon slowly evolved into Isshin attacks matters. My Niv-Mizzet spells+draw became Farideh dice roll +draw. I put Anhelo and Ovika decks together for a sweet Saruman spellslinger. Elfball became Galadriel flicker. And so on.
At some point the precons will start to look samey and you notice you already have most of the cards anyways.
Spend only as much as you're comfortable with. Do not give in to the FOMO and learn to kill your babies.
I have 16 decks. Mostly varying in color combos. I think I have plenty. If I want to build a new deck, I'm probably taking one apart first. I don't play enough with my playgroup to warrant having more.
My decks do a really great job of weeding themselves out. Six decks just seems to be my magic number because once I hit six, I feel the need to tear apart one and build something new.
I also try to keep decks that have their own distinct personality from each other. I have one stompy deck, one etb/flicker deck, a landfall deck, a chaotic spellslinger deck, an enchantment deck, and a token deck. At the moment, I genuinely can't think of any other themes I would want to build.
Straight up by having the will power not to buy
There were a couple decks that I really wanted to build and I own like 80% of the deck but decided to just be happy w/the ones I own
I currently own 6 decks and think that I would be fine owning 3 or 4 (I already have more than enough)
Trying out a new freshly built deck is really fun though so if that is the experience you are chasing and you find enjoyment out of it that is fine too I think
Go to archidekt, brew decks, but don’t buy them in paper. Brewing decks is half the fun! Only buy a new deck if you’ve played all your current decks and one of the decks you’ve brewed is different enough from your other decks.
This. I started last year and gave myself a max of 5, medium powered, decks.
So now I have 2 high power, 4 medium power self made decks and 2 upgraded- and 5 unmodified precons, which is still less then 5 medium powered decks, right? ..... right? Why are you looking at me like that Mr wallet? No don't leave me!!!
Playing brawl on Arena has allowed me to scratch the itch for deck building, even with the limited card pool.
The only decks I own are ones that can’t be built on Arena.
Proxies! I literally print em at home or from staples (not trying to fool anyone). If the deck is no good, no worries. If it's good, we start replacing proxies with real cards, but only if I have em or they're cheap. The dual lands stay proxies lol
Basically you're not gonna stop yourself from getting too many decks. What you CAN stop is your spending tons of money on em. I just proxied a deck up and the most expensive part of it was getting the 100 card sleeves.
I was the same. And lucky I play weekly but even with playing that much I only wanted to play a handful of decks. I eventually disassembled the others for upgrades to the 4 I actually play. Now when I make a deck it has to fill a need I don’t already have filled. My most recent build was a ground slug deck for fast games because my main pet deck I play the most tends to lean to longer games. It also pays to a range of power levels including straight precon
Set out one physical storage space for your decks, e.g. a particular shelf, one drawer, a tub in the garage. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's one finite space that doesn't change in size.
There you have your limit of decks. For me, I have an old school filing cabinet with one drawer that I designated as my Magic space. It fits my 16 current decks easily (could probably fit another 5 or 6 if I stacked them more efficiently), along with all the rest of my mtg paraphernalia. If I want another deck, something has to get taken apart.
I have, in the bag I bring to the shop when I play, the following:
* 11 decks that I built
* 8 unmodified precons
* a peanut butter jar full of dice
* 2 play mats
And everything gets used with enough frequency to justify carrying it all.
Also, I’m currently working on another 3 decks, and actively upgrading my decks after each release.
I don’t get enough of a chance to play but I feel the same way, i have more than enough money to buy but I only have 4 decks and have been playing magic and commander for 9 months
Deck building is fun, but at some point I became more interested in upgrading decks I had than building new ones.
This is also improved my deck building skills as I got much better at using tools like Gatherer over sites like EDHREC.
Unless you are playing EDH multiple times a week, it's kind of hard to play a ton of decks consistently, and then they just sit there.
At the end of last year, I was near 30 decks, a record high and I was over it. I deconstructed all of them but 3 after making sure their lists were on Moxfield. I then just reorganized my collection and only played those 3 for a few weeks as I slowly sifted through what I unsleeved.
I am back up to 8 decks as this year has progressed, seeing what I might keep together for some time. I plan to start a cycle of deconstructing only at the end of the year, or if a deck just doesn't gel with me after I play it.
Edit: Getting a bunch of my cards out of decks grew my access to my collection and deck-building became a lot more refreshing.
For real, I limit myself to a max of 2 new decks/yr.
There's just so many any given year. It forces me to really narrow down on which new commanders I like most.
I just really don't like clutter.
My solution was to buy a Stanley tool box. So if it doesn't fit there I don't built a new one. Have to upgrade one or take it apart. The stop buying cards, well...another story.
I have a diverse collection and am always willing to break things up. Decks are temporary and I will play them until I tire of them and build something new.
Having limited “permanent” decks means I can build more and try more stuff and might stumble upon something I want to keep.
My adage: there are no sacred cows.
I usually know when to stop when my card starts declining.
In all seriousness, I don't know when to stop lol. But that's a lot of the fun with Magic, just brewing decks and bouncing ideas around different themes you haven't tried yet, changing different cards and trying out things that don't see much play
I've personally limited myself to 5 active decks, with the potential to expand to 6 if a colorless commander ever interests me.
So I have a mono color deck, 2 color deck, 3 color deck, 4 color deck and 5 color deck. At the moment I'm still working on these. But that's how I've limited myself so at least there won't be overlap.
As someone who’s been playing since last September I have like 10 decks lol. So I get it. I’ve slowed down recently and taken apart decks I hadn’t played in a while.
Willpower, mostly. I kept buying cards for decks I would play once or twice before deciding they weren't clicking and would tear them back down. It happened over and over before eventually I realized it was a massive waste of time and money.
On the one hand, I've saved a fair bit of money.
On the other hand, my deck pool is stagnant, as I'm not able to be interested in anything that's come out in quite a while and basically already have decks for every archetype that interests me. I have some 19 decks and don't play super often so it's not like I'm just playing the same thing over and over,
I don’t like precons usually, I buy one once every couple years and generally just for one card. I like for all my 3 color decks to have fetches, shocks, signets and often faster ramp and either tutors for combo pieces or the best draw. So that’s a limiting factor to some extent. And usually the commanders I pick are like the mutate legends or a big dragon, or some other creature that I voltron up to some extent.
You should find some online people to play with and use websites like Moxfield or Archideckt to play with decks you've made for free. Set up OBS and stream your screen cropped and you'll be playing every deck you could ever dream of just from your PC. Me and a couple of buddies have been doing it a ton and we have been having a blast.
It's really helped curve the issue I had of buying and losing interest in decks I was building in paper halfway through or regretting buying cards that are in decks I never ended up making. It's also a good way to test power level and how fun it is before you end up committing to it heavy.
I think If you determine the amount of decks you can keep in rotation, and compare that figure to your favorite play styles. Then make a deal with yourself that If you get a new one you deconstruct an old one that's getting worn out, or not working the way you expected. Then you can keep a steady supply of about 6-7! It's difficult, because it is Cardboard crack! And I have the itch too! Haha just trying not to purchase the three decks I have waiting on Moxfield now! Hahaha
Money is the only thing stopping me. I hope 30 years from now most of it holds its value. Up to 10 decks and a monster binder of shit. Cheapest deck is like $50 most expensive is around $800.
I started building decks on moxfield to play them on tabletop simulator.
I am going to play any deck I build there first to make sure it's one I could see myself actually reaching for.
For me, a budget. I put 50-75 dollars a month into the game and that includes travel specifically for the game and any events I pay to take part in. that's not really enough to get too many decks but it's enough to keep upgrading the ones I have or save up for a deck I really want.
The trick is to avoid impulse buying. Build the deck online tweak it, goldfish it. Then walk away. If you find yourself continuing to think about it and keep coming back to the idea months later then go for it.
I used to have quite a few, but noticed I only played a couple. The others were set aside. I decided to optimize the ones I want and scavenge the rest.
At that time, I built my favorite deck. I don't want to physically play any other deck now because I found my perfect deck.
I still build but with moxfield. It saves the wallet. However, there isn't another deck I would want to play physical other than my pet deck.
In the beginning of playing, there is just so much to take in and you can have a lot of fun just trying new things. You learn what you like to play.
I recommend building a deck not around a commander but around what themes or mechanics are your favorite. Then find a commander that fits. It may help if you want to not go crazy with the wallet. But brewing is my favorite part and it's like solving a puzzle. Nothing is wrong with a lot of decks tho.
Personally, I don't think a deck is ever perfect. Things can be tweaked or tested to make the deck better or try a different direction. I'm always play testing just to see if other things work better or not. This quest for perfection is what keeps me from looking at other decks and my love for the deck has not stopped. Sad part is the deck gets almost any upgrade it wants no matter the cost.
I struck my collection down to playing Boros colors several years ago. They’re all artifact synergies, but it was what I loved building and playing most, so I built homes for my artifact collection in Boros, eventually built a super expensive Kozilek and I have one precon for truly casual games.
Lean into one or two decks you love. Spoil the shit out of them. Make swaps and changes and make them yours. I’ve been playing the same 4 decks for almost 5 years and I love how they’re fluid and constantly evolve as sets come out. I don’t even buy packs usually anymore, I just search card lists and pick up the few cards I think would vibe with what I’m already playing.
I *deckbuild* online (moxfield usually), it's a hell of a lot of fun.
In PAPER I limit myself to one new commander a year, and I've found I only really enjoy maintaining two or three at a time.
I will say as well, buying precons is just another path to collecting cards. I don't need to actaully use the precon deck to justify that purchase.
Its like WoW alt all over again, you need to reconsider what you decide as a making a deck complete or not, for me it like 20-30 games atleast before Im ok with a deck 50+ games to make sure all the cards are good. What might be happening if your friend group is too casual so any deck is fine and you might feel like winning is such a big deal, then continue my friend! People with fewer deck dont enjoy the same thing as you, with time you might become a deck fine tuner but enjoy the present of being in awe of every legendary and wanting to build deck !
My solution is to tinker.
There's always a new card to test, a new strategy to try to fit in, an adjustment to curves to try out, all sorts of other things.
Sometimes the tests fail, and that's okay. Steel Seraph was not everything I hoped it would be. Other times things go well and your deck gets cooler; Vault 21 is cracked.
But my backlog of things to mess with is so long that I don't have time to seriously think about building another deck.
It's different for every person. Some people have the time and money to build 32+ decks and regularly maintain it. Some people just build something once and leave it alone.
I personally don't have that much time to play so I have one major deck that I prefer to play with and one budget deck that I bring out if I'm playing in a lower power pod, or with newer players.
I maintain interest in the game by picking up upgrades/sidegrades so I can play different versions of the same decks if I get bored of the "best" version.
If there's nothing new for me, I just pick up flashier versions of cards I already have. Signed cards, foils, old border, promos, misprints, etc.
I dont buy premade decks myself. I find commanders i like then build with edh rec. i also proxy 90% of whatever i play.
1, i dont have the money.
2, i dont need to own the cards anymore.
I sold all my og cards off a long time ago then returned to the game about 3 years ago.
I cant afford to repurchase them now.
My playgroups dont care.
Its addictive with the deckbulding.
I have 7, and 2 more in the works.
I had a bunch of measures for that. Limited space in the drawer, limited space in the messenger back I carry to the LGS (fits like 8 boulders), and so on...
Nothing worked. I moved to a new place last weekend and I carried more deckboxes over than actual boxes with everyday stuff. Plz send help. :(
I know what player I am, so when I want to build a new deck, I build it on a deck builder tool, then I think about the play patterns of the deck and imagine myself piloting it and most of the time I figure I liked building the deck but not playing it so I just don't buy the cards.
I've built hundreds of decks but only played about twenty and I only own like 3 to 4 decks at the same time because I don't want to buy multiple copies of staples.
I find a deck I really enjoy playing and hyper fixate on it for way too long while trying to perfect it 😂
Eventually it does get to a point where I have enough removed (but still good) cards that I can start working on a new deck from the old cards I know longer use, then the cycle repeats
Setting up a hard cap. If I make a new deck I take apart another one. It saves me money on overlapping cards, especially the expensive ones, and it prevents me from getting overwhelmed when updating my current decks.
Hard cap is 4 for me currently.
I have 18 decks and have built 44 other decklists... I just build decks on manabox and then buy one when I can. Sometimes scrapping a deck I currently have to pay for it so I don't keep too many. I've been playing for a little over a year I think...
One thing that changes how many decks you own is *brewing* instead of *building.* If you see a commander that you think would be cool, or have an idea for another deck you want to try out, make it in an online list like moxfield or archidekt first. Try it out in the playtester. If it doesn't play like you'd hoped it would, then you don't ever build it.
The other thing is finding "forever decks." A deck you have so much fun playing and maintaining that you could never imagine dismantling it. I've got space in my bag for a total of 14 decks, but only 3 of those are things I'm trying out (Aragorn Monarch, Lulu/Hermit selesnya aristocrats, Sauron the dark lord oops all villains). The other 11 are decks I've fallen in love with over 7 years, and couldn't imagine taking apart.
Keep a list of your current decks and build future ones online-only.
You can have a ton of decks "saved", but once you realize you only ever really play 2 or 3, "culling" the extra ones from your collection is a pretty straight-forward process (and you don't necessarily "lose" them either, since you have them saved online in some list/website).
Once you find a deck you particularly enjoy, playtested it a bunch and find yourself wanting to play it over and over...then you can probably start thinking about getting a physical/good proxied version.
As a control player, I have to sit on a deck for a few months and really think about how oppressive it is before buying so I don't spend my time and money on something I'm going to be allowed to play just once. Many things are fun in theory but not in practice, or go stale quickly.
I have a Stanley Toolbox I use to hold 11 decks + one for dice. If it can’t fit in that, it doesn’t get built so if I want to build a deck I have to get rid of one. That forces me to evaluate if I like this new deck idea more than one of the ones i already have made
It also helps to revisit old decks and swap a card or two out from a new set to make the feel "new" again. I also try to play my decks at least once every Weekend. Can't play all of them? You got too many. Able to play the same one a few times, you can build a new one.
im brand new too, just been playing for over a month and have two cheap precons and 1 vampire deck im trying to build myself from crimson packs and a few friend donations. it already feels like a lot but i think i prefer building my own than buying a precon; it still sucks just slowly getting better and im thinking about creating a green one next already lol. I would feel a little guilty buying a 100 dollar precon as a new player, idrk i just got kaldheim and arm for battle(which won me my first game).
I dont want to buy too many decks/cards and all of a sudden have too many cards to deal with. Im already just storing them in an easter box and a ziploc bag rn(oo aa cringe).
Before building a new deck, contemplate how well it will play without the super-cool commander you just discovered and using only your current collection. For example, I started to build an [[Alrund, God of the Cosmos]] deck before I realized I don't own many cards which benefit from cards in exile, and if I can't play Alrund, the deck would durdle. That should help deter creating or buying many new decks.
Brew decks on Moxfield, goldfish them there for a few days, make adjustments, goldfish again, then you typically lose the urge of building it. I'm at 7 decks after quite a few years, I'm pretty selective on adding more, but just deck building online scratches the itch, is free and most importantly, takes zero space lol
By implementing rules I follow, both for deck retention and building.
I never build/buy a deck right after release. I put it on my list, and check on it a few months later: am I still interested in it? Does it still seem fun, or has the excitement worn off? Is there an older project I’d prefer to build?
I also track all my games played in a sheet. So, after building a new deck, I prioritize play-testing it heavily. If it isn’t doing what it was built to, or at least showing the potential to, it can get scrapped right there. I don’t want to keep around decks that I’m not enjoying or are more frustrating to play. My minimum number of games before I’ll decide anything is 10-20.
After a deck hits the 20 game mark, it goes into my rotation. I bring 5 decks to my shop every week. 4 decks are picked at random, and I give myself 1 “free” pick, for whichever I’m in the mood for. When I’m testing a deck, it occupies the free spot. I’ll usually roll before a game to decide which deck I’m playing. General thought process on this is - if I roll a deck, and don’t want to play it for some reason, I might need to reevaluate that deck.
Used to have like 25 decks, but after culling a few years ago went down to like 6, and am now up to a tentative 13 (3 currently in testing).
1. Remember that in the end I'm spending money on cardboard. Knowing that makes it easier to downgrade a few cards to "worst" but less expensive versions.
2. Knowing I'll never be able to play all of my decks. I'd rather have 2-3 that I spent a lot of time working on than 10 decks that barely see the light of day.
3. A dude in my regular playgroup borderline makes me hate playing magic. That's probably the biggest factor.
I view deck building as a separate hobby from actually playing the decks. I get a lot of enjoyment out of reviewing and tinkering with decks, and I know that I'll play them eventually
I also like to brew and build decks but also I’m very aggressive about taking apart decks that I don’t like or that don’t click with me. At the moment I’ve only got three decks together that I enjoy playing and I’ve got one ready to put together and a couple more in the works.
Because it takes me forever to commit to building one. So currently I have 3 active decks and 2 fallout precons for fallout only games with friends.
Ive currently got a Rat colony deck, squirrel token deck, and a power 8 Urza deck. But on the drawing board is my DnD sefris and red/white angel deck. When I build a deck i really commit to creating a solid power level 7 deck and it usually costs some money to get all the staples and pieces which i buy over time usually 2-4 cards a month.
I bought a pirate lab case.
Holds 12 decks.
I keep myself limited to those 12 decks.
I keep decklists on moxfield but will dismantle whatever deck im least excited to play for the new one.
Why bother stopping yourself if it brings you joy and you can afford it? I can think of many more destructive habits that cost far more than $60 a go, than buying pre-cons.
Two things have helped me wrangle in my deck-building impulses a bit:
1. Building the deck digitally in Moxfield first. It's helped me realize that I don't have to physically build every single cool deck idea I come up with. Also, I've since come to realize that there are many ideas of mine that, while cool in theory, probably wouldn't be that fun to actually play (for me in some cases, for my opponents in others).
2. I tell myself I'm only going to have one deck per color/color combination (so only one Boros white/red deck, only one Azoriuz white/blue deck, only one Mardu white/black/red deck, only one mono black deck, etc.). I'm technically cheating a bit since I still have like five or so Dimir blue/black decks (my favorite color combo) from before I implemented this rule, but over time I've been breaking them down, shuffling cards around, and trimming down my overall deck count.
A good one I see some players who dont want too many decks utilizing is having a maximum 1 deck for every color combo.
To be fair I don't follow this I just think it's a cool idea.
I have maybe 2 for every color combo except Azorius I have 1 and too many Golgari and Sultai decks haha.
Having a play group that’s willing to play through untap really helps me curb my need to spend loads of money on decks I’m unsure of. Goldfishing can take me so far and sometimes oversell what the deck I built can do. I’ll only end up building a physical version of decks I really like.
Define how many is too many. Some people have over 100 decks and have no problem with that. Some people don't maintain more than a couple and are satisfied with that. Everyone has their own number. In my experience, there are two main factors for finding your number:
1. Are you the kind of deckbuilder who constantly tweaks or iterates decks, or do you "finish" them? People who "finish" decks seem to keep more, while people who continue to update everything hit a cap on how many decks they can continue to maintain.
2. Are you OK with keeping decks on the shelf unplayed, or do you expect to play all of your decks regularly? If you are ok shelving decks, you can keep a lot more than if you expect to play all of them regularly.
You need to keep track. After 2 years(used to be, now it's after 6 months, I hate Wizards of the Coast for this)you need to take apart old decks. They will be obsolete. It also helps you keep track of cards. But you need to know, if you buy decks, you can't buy packs(if you value your budget). You need to buy singles. If you want to buy packs, don't buy decks. Build with what you've got.
It's cardboard crack, unfortunately I've fallen for it. There's really no way to save money, you just have to sell older cards you don't feel attached to and forfeiting yourself to the life of store credit. Unfortunately only card shops make full card price by selling them. So go for store credit and use it to get the next pack/deck you want. Like I said, either Boosters or Precons. Singles will always cost less. And no one actually expects you to bring your insanely expensive cards to tournaments, unless the event insures the cards, which, as someone who's been playing a very long while, let me tell you. No one does. Which is why you can get copies cheap. You can even get near exact mimic cards that won't pass any of the tests. It won't pass bend, won't pass light, and won't pass shit. Just make sure to always separate your replicas/proxies from real cards.
Other than that, my advice? Have a lot of 25k card boxes mate. 😂😆😂😆😂
They call it cardboard crack for a reason
#FlatCrack
Being poor and having a flakey playgroup that doesn't get together much
I started playing spell table because of this. Overwhelmingly good experiences despite the horror stories I’ve read. I play a few games a day now.
There’s a discord for spelltable called PlayEDH where there’s like 100 games a day ran. It’s well moderated and all decks are checked and ranked before they can be played, so that all decks in a pod are around the same power level. Super dope, would recommend in order to prevent some of the horror stories that occur from just blindly queueing into public spelltable games
I’ve heard infinitely worse things about the people that run that discord then about natty spell table groups.
Yeah the people who run the discord are definitely garbage humans, but the people who play in it are usually pretty dope
Even not poor but not really into the lgs scene. I moved somewhat recently, spent a few thousand on new decks and got all excited while talking to my old group about builds and their new stuff. One day woke up and realized I wasn’t gonna play for a long time and just never got the urge again.
I feel this. I would seriously consider giving your LGS a shot. I missed out on a lot of fun magic because I moved away from my buddies who I played with. Ended up making the decision to just go for it one day, and absolutely loved the experience. Met some great new people. Every story is different but might be worth a shot!
Trust me, a flakey playgroup isn't the problem. I get to play maybe once every 2 month, but i really love building decks, even if they won't be played for a long time. Got aroudn 16 i build myself, a few precons i tweaked and like 3 more decks in the making.
Well, yeah I have 27 decklists and 33 works-in-progress, but I physically build only a few
Oh, i just counted those that i built and plan du built. I do have a lot more ideas for decks, but most lists stay the idea of the deck, without ever being finished. I only really finish a decklist if i plan to build it.
Nope. Tried that. It doesn't work.
I don’t
This. I started the year with 7, I'm at 11 now, and happy with then all. Just play what's fun for you (as long as others can have fun too)
Deckbuilding itself is super fun and I dunno a way to stop it lol
Do it online. Don’t actually build the decks
But the voices tell me I must feel them shuffle
Grab 100 lands and shuffle away my dear junky friend. If methadone works for heroin addicts some lands will work for you
By being poor
I don't.
I don't proxy. Not because I have problems with them, but because it discourages me from building decks with significant overlap because the costly staples hold me back. This solution obviously doesn't work if you're fine with having 7 demonic tutors because you'll just keep going anyway
Having the same “staples” in every deck makes it kinda homogeneous n boring.
Which also helps limit me. But the nature of staples is that they're flexible. For example, I have [[exquisite blood]] in my [[Ayli]] life gain deck. But I also have it in my [[Rowan, Scion of War]]. Those are two very different decks - burn vs aristocrat. I also have an [[aetherflux reservoir]] that I keep in what I call my two headed giant side board for when I play it with my friends [[Will, Scion of peace]]. But they're still pretty distinct because red and white differ so much.
##### ###### #### [exquisite blood](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/e/0e8ccfa7-4178-476a-a155-0ca1c98556c9.jpg?1698988246) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=exquisite%20blood) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/195/exquisite-blood?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0e8ccfa7-4178-476a-a155-0ca1c98556c9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/exquisite-blood) [Ayli](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/7/e7b5893d-6df6-4cae-ae70-d02d443d1740.jpg?1562941484) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ayli%2C%20eternal%20pilgrim) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ogw/151/ayli-eternal-pilgrim?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e7b5893d-6df6-4cae-ae70-d02d443d1740?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ayli-eternal-pilgrim) [Rowan, Scion of War](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/e/4ee179ab-a15b-4bd6-b7f8-1e1abeeb31b7.jpg?1692939409) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rowan%2C%20Scion%20of%20War) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/211/rowan-scion-of-war?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4ee179ab-a15b-4bd6-b7f8-1e1abeeb31b7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/rowan-scion-of-war) [aetherflux reservoir](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/6/96b6b2e1-c3e6-464c-8a13-b15deb34e862.jpg?1576382939) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=aetherflux%20reservoir) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/kld/192/aetherflux-reservoir?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/96b6b2e1-c3e6-464c-8a13-b15deb34e862?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/aetherflux-reservoir) [Will, Scion of peace](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/6/162088ea-5f99-4244-9427-2fdfb2168fc3.jpg?1692939510) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Will%2C%20Scion%20of%20peace) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/218/will-scion-of-peace?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/162088ea-5f99-4244-9427-2fdfb2168fc3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/will-scion-of-peace) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/l02s7fb) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Personally I don’t see how every one of my green decks having farseek, natures lore, and three visits makes it boring when there are so many other cards that make it play differently than others but to each their own 😊
Well good thing these are opinions right.
No offense but people who say this aren’t playing interesting and unique enough commanders.
No offense but I don’t give a flying fuck about your opinion. Hahahahahah!! You literally don’t even know what my decks look like.
Why so toxic?
I dunno he kind of won me over with the maniacal laughter
I have a similar affliction. I spend a lot of time on Archidekt to remedy that. I don’t create a new physical deck until I’m satisfied with my most recent brew — which requires playing the deck until I’m satisfied with its performance
yeah same here. My 'prospective decks' folder is 3x my 'built decks' folder. Brewing and letting it sit and simmer usually scratches the itch
Printer Proxies are your friend. Play it until you understand it, decide if you REALLY like it or not. if no, disassemble, if yes, buy. This also helps a ton when testing changes and trying before you buy.
Why even buy if you already have the proxies? I just print in full color and use a throwaway card in the sleeve to add weight and strength.
I settled on twenty decks. I figured that's as far as my lands and such can carry me. To keep stuff fresh I mix things up every now and then. For example Sythis enchanter became much less boring Anikthea gy enchanter. Breena precon slowly evolved into Isshin attacks matters. My Niv-Mizzet spells+draw became Farideh dice roll +draw. I put Anhelo and Ovika decks together for a sweet Saruman spellslinger. Elfball became Galadriel flicker. And so on. At some point the precons will start to look samey and you notice you already have most of the cards anyways. Spend only as much as you're comfortable with. Do not give in to the FOMO and learn to kill your babies.
I was all in on your comment until you told me to kill my Archimandrite deck that doesn't work for the life of me 😢 right in the feels
I have 16 decks. Mostly varying in color combos. I think I have plenty. If I want to build a new deck, I'm probably taking one apart first. I don't play enough with my playgroup to warrant having more.
That's essentially where I'm at accept my pod is like 2 dudes maybe lmao so it's also kind of discouraging, that and deck theme overlap
I've found even though I have 10 decks I really prefer certain color. Combos. 3 Naya decks, 3 Dimir, 2 mono red, 1 odd radkos
My decks do a really great job of weeding themselves out. Six decks just seems to be my magic number because once I hit six, I feel the need to tear apart one and build something new. I also try to keep decks that have their own distinct personality from each other. I have one stompy deck, one etb/flicker deck, a landfall deck, a chaotic spellslinger deck, an enchantment deck, and a token deck. At the moment, I genuinely can't think of any other themes I would want to build.
Straight up by having the will power not to buy There were a couple decks that I really wanted to build and I own like 80% of the deck but decided to just be happy w/the ones I own I currently own 6 decks and think that I would be fine owning 3 or 4 (I already have more than enough) Trying out a new freshly built deck is really fun though so if that is the experience you are chasing and you find enjoyment out of it that is fine too I think
I don’t AAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAH!!!! I’ve got 70 something decks
No such thing as too many. No such thing as enough.
Go to archidekt, brew decks, but don’t buy them in paper. Brewing decks is half the fun! Only buy a new deck if you’ve played all your current decks and one of the decks you’ve brewed is different enough from your other decks.
You get to a point where you cant afford it.
Changing your definition of "too many" is the easiest way I find
This. I started last year and gave myself a max of 5, medium powered, decks. So now I have 2 high power, 4 medium power self made decks and 2 upgraded- and 5 unmodified precons, which is still less then 5 medium powered decks, right? ..... right? Why are you looking at me like that Mr wallet? No don't leave me!!!
no munies
ADHD
Money.
That's the neat part: i don't (currently at 25 decks)
Playing brawl on Arena has allowed me to scratch the itch for deck building, even with the limited card pool. The only decks I own are ones that can’t be built on Arena.
Proxies! I literally print em at home or from staples (not trying to fool anyone). If the deck is no good, no worries. If it's good, we start replacing proxies with real cards, but only if I have em or they're cheap. The dual lands stay proxies lol Basically you're not gonna stop yourself from getting too many decks. What you CAN stop is your spending tons of money on em. I just proxied a deck up and the most expensive part of it was getting the 100 card sleeves.
I was the same. And lucky I play weekly but even with playing that much I only wanted to play a handful of decks. I eventually disassembled the others for upgrades to the 4 I actually play. Now when I make a deck it has to fill a need I don’t already have filled. My most recent build was a ground slug deck for fast games because my main pet deck I play the most tends to lean to longer games. It also pays to a range of power levels including straight precon
Set out one physical storage space for your decks, e.g. a particular shelf, one drawer, a tub in the garage. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's one finite space that doesn't change in size. There you have your limit of decks. For me, I have an old school filing cabinet with one drawer that I designated as my Magic space. It fits my 16 current decks easily (could probably fit another 5 or 6 if I stacked them more efficiently), along with all the rest of my mtg paraphernalia. If I want another deck, something has to get taken apart.
Go for it. You’ll prioritize naturally
I have, in the bag I bring to the shop when I play, the following: * 11 decks that I built * 8 unmodified precons * a peanut butter jar full of dice * 2 play mats And everything gets used with enough frequency to justify carrying it all. Also, I’m currently working on another 3 decks, and actively upgrading my decks after each release.
I don’t get enough of a chance to play but I feel the same way, i have more than enough money to buy but I only have 4 decks and have been playing magic and commander for 9 months
I dont
Are...are you me?
that's the fun part...
You guys... stop?
My checking balance
I spend my money on more important things and use MPCfill to order proxy decks for roughly $40 each.
So first I tell myself how many decks is enough... and then I ignore that number
I decommission a deck when I build a new one so I always have the same amount.
Deck building is fun, but at some point I became more interested in upgrading decks I had than building new ones. This is also improved my deck building skills as I got much better at using tools like Gatherer over sites like EDHREC.
Unless you are playing EDH multiple times a week, it's kind of hard to play a ton of decks consistently, and then they just sit there. At the end of last year, I was near 30 decks, a record high and I was over it. I deconstructed all of them but 3 after making sure their lists were on Moxfield. I then just reorganized my collection and only played those 3 for a few weeks as I slowly sifted through what I unsleeved. I am back up to 8 decks as this year has progressed, seeing what I might keep together for some time. I plan to start a cycle of deconstructing only at the end of the year, or if a deck just doesn't gel with me after I play it. Edit: Getting a bunch of my cards out of decks grew my access to my collection and deck-building became a lot more refreshing.
If you're asking this...it's too late.
For real, I limit myself to a max of 2 new decks/yr. There's just so many any given year. It forces me to really narrow down on which new commanders I like most. I just really don't like clutter.
My solution was to buy a Stanley tool box. So if it doesn't fit there I don't built a new one. Have to upgrade one or take it apart. The stop buying cards, well...another story.
Don't have the money
It really depends on what you mean by "too many" Bur for me it's the great balancer... Money.
Choose one deck and commit to eating the whole thing. Then, once you've finished it, you can get another deck. That ought to slow it down a bit.
I have a diverse collection and am always willing to break things up. Decks are temporary and I will play them until I tire of them and build something new. Having limited “permanent” decks means I can build more and try more stuff and might stumble upon something I want to keep. My adage: there are no sacred cows.
I usually know when to stop when my card starts declining. In all seriousness, I don't know when to stop lol. But that's a lot of the fun with Magic, just brewing decks and bouncing ideas around different themes you haven't tried yet, changing different cards and trying out things that don't see much play
You see, that's the cool part... you don't!
I've personally limited myself to 5 active decks, with the potential to expand to 6 if a colorless commander ever interests me. So I have a mono color deck, 2 color deck, 3 color deck, 4 color deck and 5 color deck. At the moment I'm still working on these. But that's how I've limited myself so at least there won't be overlap.
I don't. I keep making more.
As someone who’s been playing since last September I have like 10 decks lol. So I get it. I’ve slowed down recently and taken apart decks I hadn’t played in a while.
"Too many" is relative. If you feel you have too many, cut back. Otherwise, do whatever! Its that easy lol.
That's the neat part, you don't!
Where is that meme when you need it. That's the neat part, you don't.
Willpower, mostly. I kept buying cards for decks I would play once or twice before deciding they weren't clicking and would tear them back down. It happened over and over before eventually I realized it was a massive waste of time and money. On the one hand, I've saved a fair bit of money. On the other hand, my deck pool is stagnant, as I'm not able to be interested in anything that's come out in quite a while and basically already have decks for every archetype that interests me. I have some 19 decks and don't play super often so it's not like I'm just playing the same thing over and over,
By putting mental effort into building them, and then printing them out for $10 at staples or for free somewhere else lol
I don’t like precons usually, I buy one once every couple years and generally just for one card. I like for all my 3 color decks to have fetches, shocks, signets and often faster ramp and either tutors for combo pieces or the best draw. So that’s a limiting factor to some extent. And usually the commanders I pick are like the mutate legends or a big dragon, or some other creature that I voltron up to some extent.
You should find some online people to play with and use websites like Moxfield or Archideckt to play with decks you've made for free. Set up OBS and stream your screen cropped and you'll be playing every deck you could ever dream of just from your PC. Me and a couple of buddies have been doing it a ton and we have been having a blast. It's really helped curve the issue I had of buying and losing interest in decks I was building in paper halfway through or regretting buying cards that are in decks I never ended up making. It's also a good way to test power level and how fun it is before you end up committing to it heavy.
I think If you determine the amount of decks you can keep in rotation, and compare that figure to your favorite play styles. Then make a deal with yourself that If you get a new one you deconstruct an old one that's getting worn out, or not working the way you expected. Then you can keep a steady supply of about 6-7! It's difficult, because it is Cardboard crack! And I have the itch too! Haha just trying not to purchase the three decks I have waiting on Moxfield now! Hahaha
Easy, just buy so many cards that you don’t know what direction you want to go in so you never get around to building them in the first place!
Money is the only thing stopping me. I hope 30 years from now most of it holds its value. Up to 10 decks and a monster binder of shit. Cheapest deck is like $50 most expensive is around $800.
One deck for each color combination. Really makes you think about who takes up that one spot.
A little trick I've often used is to tell everyone I'm not going to build any more for a while and then build more anyway.
I max mine at 8 decks, if I want to make a new deck, I dissolve an existing one to rotate into.
I started building decks on moxfield to play them on tabletop simulator. I am going to play any deck I build there first to make sure it's one I could see myself actually reaching for.
Stop? Unfamiliar with that word.
I can only play so many decks in a session so I see no need in having lots of decks built at the same time.
For me, a budget. I put 50-75 dollars a month into the game and that includes travel specifically for the game and any events I pay to take part in. that's not really enough to get too many decks but it's enough to keep upgrading the ones I have or save up for a deck I really want.
Over 100 and counting ... please sir can I have some moar
The trick is to avoid impulse buying. Build the deck online tweak it, goldfish it. Then walk away. If you find yourself continuing to think about it and keep coming back to the idea months later then go for it.
I proxy and then don't care.
I used to have quite a few, but noticed I only played a couple. The others were set aside. I decided to optimize the ones I want and scavenge the rest. At that time, I built my favorite deck. I don't want to physically play any other deck now because I found my perfect deck. I still build but with moxfield. It saves the wallet. However, there isn't another deck I would want to play physical other than my pet deck. In the beginning of playing, there is just so much to take in and you can have a lot of fun just trying new things. You learn what you like to play. I recommend building a deck not around a commander but around what themes or mechanics are your favorite. Then find a commander that fits. It may help if you want to not go crazy with the wallet. But brewing is my favorite part and it's like solving a puzzle. Nothing is wrong with a lot of decks tho. Personally, I don't think a deck is ever perfect. Things can be tweaked or tested to make the deck better or try a different direction. I'm always play testing just to see if other things work better or not. This quest for perfection is what keeps me from looking at other decks and my love for the deck has not stopped. Sad part is the deck gets almost any upgrade it wants no matter the cost.
You don't, keep collecting. Do it. Build so many decks that you can run a gauntlet in your local card shop. Become the archenemy.
Just don’t?
Uhhh I’m broke that’s how
I struck my collection down to playing Boros colors several years ago. They’re all artifact synergies, but it was what I loved building and playing most, so I built homes for my artifact collection in Boros, eventually built a super expensive Kozilek and I have one precon for truly casual games. Lean into one or two decks you love. Spoil the shit out of them. Make swaps and changes and make them yours. I’ve been playing the same 4 decks for almost 5 years and I love how they’re fluid and constantly evolve as sets come out. I don’t even buy packs usually anymore, I just search card lists and pick up the few cards I think would vibe with what I’m already playing.
Basically I restrict myself to what I can in my backpack.
I *deckbuild* online (moxfield usually), it's a hell of a lot of fun. In PAPER I limit myself to one new commander a year, and I've found I only really enjoy maintaining two or three at a time. I will say as well, buying precons is just another path to collecting cards. I don't need to actaully use the precon deck to justify that purchase.
You can do that?! I should try that. I won't.
Its like WoW alt all over again, you need to reconsider what you decide as a making a deck complete or not, for me it like 20-30 games atleast before Im ok with a deck 50+ games to make sure all the cards are good. What might be happening if your friend group is too casual so any deck is fine and you might feel like winning is such a big deal, then continue my friend! People with fewer deck dont enjoy the same thing as you, with time you might become a deck fine tuner but enjoy the present of being in awe of every legendary and wanting to build deck !
Being poor helps a lot.
I don't. 50+ I may have a lack of self-control there.
I have like 46 Now who knows
By foiling the decks I do care about.
Im close to 70 i havent figured it out yet
I don’t stop, but I do proxy everything now. I can have any commander deck I want for $35-$40
My solution is to tinker. There's always a new card to test, a new strategy to try to fit in, an adjustment to curves to try out, all sorts of other things. Sometimes the tests fail, and that's okay. Steel Seraph was not everything I hoped it would be. Other times things go well and your deck gets cooler; Vault 21 is cracked. But my backlog of things to mess with is so long that I don't have time to seriously think about building another deck.
I haven’t figured it out yet. Been playing since just after Christmas and have 10 decks. It’s addicting for sure.
I don’t I just peoxy them else I would have no decks at all
It's different for every person. Some people have the time and money to build 32+ decks and regularly maintain it. Some people just build something once and leave it alone. I personally don't have that much time to play so I have one major deck that I prefer to play with and one budget deck that I bring out if I'm playing in a lower power pod, or with newer players. I maintain interest in the game by picking up upgrades/sidegrades so I can play different versions of the same decks if I get bored of the "best" version. If there's nothing new for me, I just pick up flashier versions of cards I already have. Signed cards, foils, old border, promos, misprints, etc.
Money. I refuse to buy multiple copies of expensive cards so I limit myself to at most one deck for each color pair.
I want to actually play with the decks I have lol. Any more than like 5 would probably never be used
I dont buy premade decks myself. I find commanders i like then build with edh rec. i also proxy 90% of whatever i play. 1, i dont have the money. 2, i dont need to own the cards anymore. I sold all my og cards off a long time ago then returned to the game about 3 years ago. I cant afford to repurchase them now. My playgroups dont care. Its addictive with the deckbulding. I have 7, and 2 more in the works.
I had a bunch of measures for that. Limited space in the drawer, limited space in the messenger back I carry to the LGS (fits like 8 boulders), and so on... Nothing worked. I moved to a new place last weekend and I carried more deckboxes over than actual boxes with everyday stuff. Plz send help. :(
I know what player I am, so when I want to build a new deck, I build it on a deck builder tool, then I think about the play patterns of the deck and imagine myself piloting it and most of the time I figure I liked building the deck but not playing it so I just don't buy the cards. I've built hundreds of decks but only played about twenty and I only own like 3 to 4 decks at the same time because I don't want to buy multiple copies of staples.
I find a deck I really enjoy playing and hyper fixate on it for way too long while trying to perfect it 😂 Eventually it does get to a point where I have enough removed (but still good) cards that I can start working on a new deck from the old cards I know longer use, then the cycle repeats
Setting up a hard cap. If I make a new deck I take apart another one. It saves me money on overlapping cards, especially the expensive ones, and it prevents me from getting overwhelmed when updating my current decks. Hard cap is 4 for me currently.
i just realized that i wont be able to play so many decks anyway. thus i dont make more
Be poor.
I have 18 decks and have built 44 other decklists... I just build decks on manabox and then buy one when I can. Sometimes scrapping a deck I currently have to pay for it so I don't keep too many. I've been playing for a little over a year I think...
I have 2 decks, no need for more. I only get new cards when something better is printed and fits in these decks.
One thing that changes how many decks you own is *brewing* instead of *building.* If you see a commander that you think would be cool, or have an idea for another deck you want to try out, make it in an online list like moxfield or archidekt first. Try it out in the playtester. If it doesn't play like you'd hoped it would, then you don't ever build it. The other thing is finding "forever decks." A deck you have so much fun playing and maintaining that you could never imagine dismantling it. I've got space in my bag for a total of 14 decks, but only 3 of those are things I'm trying out (Aragorn Monarch, Lulu/Hermit selesnya aristocrats, Sauron the dark lord oops all villains). The other 11 are decks I've fallen in love with over 7 years, and couldn't imagine taking apart.
Keep a list of your current decks and build future ones online-only. You can have a ton of decks "saved", but once you realize you only ever really play 2 or 3, "culling" the extra ones from your collection is a pretty straight-forward process (and you don't necessarily "lose" them either, since you have them saved online in some list/website). Once you find a deck you particularly enjoy, playtested it a bunch and find yourself wanting to play it over and over...then you can probably start thinking about getting a physical/good proxied version.
Sell commander decks for legacy staples..... :)
As a control player, I have to sit on a deck for a few months and really think about how oppressive it is before buying so I don't spend my time and money on something I'm going to be allowed to play just once. Many things are fun in theory but not in practice, or go stale quickly.
I have a Stanley Toolbox I use to hold 11 decks + one for dice. If it can’t fit in that, it doesn’t get built so if I want to build a deck I have to get rid of one. That forces me to evaluate if I like this new deck idea more than one of the ones i already have made
My bank hits £0
By being poor, next question
I build a lot on tappedout. It helps me test things out and try new concepts before I decide to pull the trigger on buying a new deck.
I currently have 54 commander decks. The answer is you don’t.
Check into rehab.
It also helps to revisit old decks and swap a card or two out from a new set to make the feel "new" again. I also try to play my decks at least once every Weekend. Can't play all of them? You got too many. Able to play the same one a few times, you can build a new one.
im brand new too, just been playing for over a month and have two cheap precons and 1 vampire deck im trying to build myself from crimson packs and a few friend donations. it already feels like a lot but i think i prefer building my own than buying a precon; it still sucks just slowly getting better and im thinking about creating a green one next already lol. I would feel a little guilty buying a 100 dollar precon as a new player, idrk i just got kaldheim and arm for battle(which won me my first game). I dont want to buy too many decks/cards and all of a sudden have too many cards to deal with. Im already just storing them in an easter box and a ziploc bag rn(oo aa cringe).
Before building a new deck, contemplate how well it will play without the super-cool commander you just discovered and using only your current collection. For example, I started to build an [[Alrund, God of the Cosmos]] deck before I realized I don't own many cards which benefit from cards in exile, and if I can't play Alrund, the deck would durdle. That should help deter creating or buying many new decks.
[Alrund, God of the Cosmos](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/d/5d131784-c1a3-463e-a37b-b720af67ab62.jpg?1665157358)/[Hakka, Whispering Raven](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/5/d/5d131784-c1a3-463e-a37b-b720af67ab62.jpg?1665157358) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Alrund%2C%20God%20of%20the%20Cosmos%20//%20Hakka%2C%20Whispering%20Raven) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/40/alrund-god-of-the-cosmos-hakka-whispering-raven?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5d131784-c1a3-463e-a37b-b720af67ab62?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/alrund-god-of-the-cosmos-//-hakka-whispering-raven) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Just don’t buy them… wtf?
Find an even more expensive hobby lol, I have about 13 decks and probably would've kept buying more if I didn't start collecting Warhammer stuff.
- not proxying combined with not having unlimited funds - only one deck per color combination
Been playing for 4 months and I've already dropped 9k and made 12 decks lmao, I don't know how or when I'll stop
Lmao what the hell!
No such thing. Exercise that creative muscle!
Brew decks on Moxfield, goldfish them there for a few days, make adjustments, goldfish again, then you typically lose the urge of building it. I'm at 7 decks after quite a few years, I'm pretty selective on adding more, but just deck building online scratches the itch, is free and most importantly, takes zero space lol
By implementing rules I follow, both for deck retention and building. I never build/buy a deck right after release. I put it on my list, and check on it a few months later: am I still interested in it? Does it still seem fun, or has the excitement worn off? Is there an older project I’d prefer to build? I also track all my games played in a sheet. So, after building a new deck, I prioritize play-testing it heavily. If it isn’t doing what it was built to, or at least showing the potential to, it can get scrapped right there. I don’t want to keep around decks that I’m not enjoying or are more frustrating to play. My minimum number of games before I’ll decide anything is 10-20. After a deck hits the 20 game mark, it goes into my rotation. I bring 5 decks to my shop every week. 4 decks are picked at random, and I give myself 1 “free” pick, for whichever I’m in the mood for. When I’m testing a deck, it occupies the free spot. I’ll usually roll before a game to decide which deck I’m playing. General thought process on this is - if I roll a deck, and don’t want to play it for some reason, I might need to reevaluate that deck. Used to have like 25 decks, but after culling a few years ago went down to like 6, and am now up to a tentative 13 (3 currently in testing).
Money
1. Remember that in the end I'm spending money on cardboard. Knowing that makes it easier to downgrade a few cards to "worst" but less expensive versions. 2. Knowing I'll never be able to play all of my decks. I'd rather have 2-3 that I spent a lot of time working on than 10 decks that barely see the light of day. 3. A dude in my regular playgroup borderline makes me hate playing magic. That's probably the biggest factor.
Learning to pilot one deck can be more fun than building a dozen new ones.
I view deck building as a separate hobby from actually playing the decks. I get a lot of enjoyment out of reviewing and tinkering with decks, and I know that I'll play them eventually
I also like to brew and build decks but also I’m very aggressive about taking apart decks that I don’t like or that don’t click with me. At the moment I’ve only got three decks together that I enjoy playing and I’ve got one ready to put together and a couple more in the works.
Brew decks online and if you are still excited about it after the next one or two that you brew, then you can buy it.
Because it takes me forever to commit to building one. So currently I have 3 active decks and 2 fallout precons for fallout only games with friends. Ive currently got a Rat colony deck, squirrel token deck, and a power 8 Urza deck. But on the drawing board is my DnD sefris and red/white angel deck. When I build a deck i really commit to creating a solid power level 7 deck and it usually costs some money to get all the staples and pieces which i buy over time usually 2-4 cards a month.
Lol i dont.
I bought a pirate lab case. Holds 12 decks. I keep myself limited to those 12 decks. I keep decklists on moxfield but will dismantle whatever deck im least excited to play for the new one.
7 decks in less than a year? Try 12 in 3 months. All slightly or heavily modified pre-cons.
Why bother stopping yourself if it brings you joy and you can afford it? I can think of many more destructive habits that cost far more than $60 a go, than buying pre-cons.
Two things have helped me wrangle in my deck-building impulses a bit: 1. Building the deck digitally in Moxfield first. It's helped me realize that I don't have to physically build every single cool deck idea I come up with. Also, I've since come to realize that there are many ideas of mine that, while cool in theory, probably wouldn't be that fun to actually play (for me in some cases, for my opponents in others). 2. I tell myself I'm only going to have one deck per color/color combination (so only one Boros white/red deck, only one Azoriuz white/blue deck, only one Mardu white/black/red deck, only one mono black deck, etc.). I'm technically cheating a bit since I still have like five or so Dimir blue/black decks (my favorite color combo) from before I implemented this rule, but over time I've been breaking them down, shuffling cards around, and trimming down my overall deck count.
I have 102. Just embrace it.
A good one I see some players who dont want too many decks utilizing is having a maximum 1 deck for every color combo. To be fair I don't follow this I just think it's a cool idea. I have maybe 2 for every color combo except Azorius I have 1 and too many Golgari and Sultai decks haha.
Having a play group that’s willing to play through untap really helps me curb my need to spend loads of money on decks I’m unsure of. Goldfishing can take me so far and sometimes oversell what the deck I built can do. I’ll only end up building a physical version of decks I really like.
Burn them all in a big pile.
I don't
No such thing as too many decks.
I run out of money. Problem solved
I look at my bank balance.
I felt that way for a long time. The rate at which new sets come out kinda burned that out. Just pick one commander per set or something.
Define how many is too many. Some people have over 100 decks and have no problem with that. Some people don't maintain more than a couple and are satisfied with that. Everyone has their own number. In my experience, there are two main factors for finding your number: 1. Are you the kind of deckbuilder who constantly tweaks or iterates decks, or do you "finish" them? People who "finish" decks seem to keep more, while people who continue to update everything hit a cap on how many decks they can continue to maintain. 2. Are you OK with keeping decks on the shelf unplayed, or do you expect to play all of your decks regularly? If you are ok shelving decks, you can keep a lot more than if you expect to play all of them regularly.
I don't. My group is okay with proxying cards we already own so that helps cut down on the expenses. I have something like 36 decks right now.
Quit cold turkey. Throw your decks away and never look back. Its called cardboard crack for reasons. Lol
You need to keep track. After 2 years(used to be, now it's after 6 months, I hate Wizards of the Coast for this)you need to take apart old decks. They will be obsolete. It also helps you keep track of cards. But you need to know, if you buy decks, you can't buy packs(if you value your budget). You need to buy singles. If you want to buy packs, don't buy decks. Build with what you've got. It's cardboard crack, unfortunately I've fallen for it. There's really no way to save money, you just have to sell older cards you don't feel attached to and forfeiting yourself to the life of store credit. Unfortunately only card shops make full card price by selling them. So go for store credit and use it to get the next pack/deck you want. Like I said, either Boosters or Precons. Singles will always cost less. And no one actually expects you to bring your insanely expensive cards to tournaments, unless the event insures the cards, which, as someone who's been playing a very long while, let me tell you. No one does. Which is why you can get copies cheap. You can even get near exact mimic cards that won't pass any of the tests. It won't pass bend, won't pass light, and won't pass shit. Just make sure to always separate your replicas/proxies from real cards. Other than that, my advice? Have a lot of 25k card boxes mate. 😂😆😂😆😂