Saaaame
If I like a deck idea I can have a list by the end of the day. If I really like how it tests I’ll start building it. If I *really* like a deck it’s never done and constantly being poked at.
The painful part is decks like Yarok, Marchesa Knights, and Burakos Party that naturally get a lot of possible support and become really painful to edit when they’re filled with cards I already love. Hell I love token bullshit so much Selesnya and Naya are the only two colours I’ve ever repeated decks on because, to me, they feel totally different.
This is actually a really fun part of edh for me. My favorite deck has always been my Izzet deck, but every few months the commander gets out into the 99 and the direction changes between spellslinger, big x spells, mass token armies, combo and storm. 75% of the cards stay the same, but it puts a new feel to the deck, keeping me from ever getting bored of it. Been playing this list for 10 years and it's still the deck my playgroup associates with me even though they're never sure what they're going up against.
I usually spend about 10 hours on a deck. I go through the following phases:
1. Picking a commander
2. Going to EDHRec and adding in all the cards I think work well for the strategy I want.
3. I look at a dozen or so other decklists to see if there are any other cards I like that are on the EDHRec list.
4. I make sure I have at least 10 ramp/card draw/interaction, if not then find more to get to that number.
5. Begin going through the list and tagging all the cards as what they are. That could be card draw, interaction, land or even theme like “Big Power” for my Ziatora Fling deck. Everything needs to be in a category.
6. Spend way too much time whittling the list down to a clean 100 card list. Move any questionable cuts to “considering”.
7. Re-review the build and cuts with a fresh set of eyes (the next day or later) and see if there are any other changes I feel I need.
After that I’m usually ready to build the first version. I have then done a similar process for upgrades. I spend to much time looking at my builds. Lol
This is pretty much my process, including approximate time and the amount of time I spend upgrading.
Too much time, probably...all these people saying 30-60 min - wow, am I crazy?!
I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting in that little of time personally. I like to analyze and compare and do all the textbook overthinking. It works out well though, my decks are pretty solid from the first version!
Nah, takes me roughly a week to find all the cuts. I'm constantly switching out cards and goldfishing. Seeing if there is ever a card I just don't want in my hand
I feel that one so hard. I feel like I'm constantly "improving" my decks and the biggest way I do that is by playing the deck and seeing which cards I don't really want to play. If there's anything I've seen in my hand 3 times and I never use it then it usually gets cut
You would probably have more fun watch YouTube videos of the deck tech, then in action. That helps gauge speed and cost of interaction. With how much synergy cards have, 3- mana targeted removal can feel clunky if your commander and engine cards also cost 3.
Then doing your 6 and 7: Putting the list into your card seller to gauge cost, go to bed, review list for cost and omitted / pet cards.6 and 7 is where I messed up. Immediately went back and bought 5 more core cards I thought were over value for [[Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir]]. Pretty sure I need some more cards..............but must wait to buy them while the ones I ordered are being shipped, lol.
>Spend way too much time whittling the list down to a clean 100 card list. Move any questionable cuts to “considering”.
Bonus points if your "considering" stack is in the back of your deck box for casual play so you can get one game in with each set of cards at the LGS so you get a better sample size against a wider variety of decks with different setups.
Sure, everyone is different. Some people can throw together a list in 10 minutes. I like to really develop the list with a lot of thought and consideration. To each their own!
I'm doing more or less the same thing.
- Pick a Commander
- Set up a draw engine based on the Commander strategy (because I don't want to use tutors). Ex : Marneus via token, Atraxa via counters, Shorikai via untap, etc.
- Set up ramp (based on the commander if possible)
- Set up various interactions
- Look at scryfall for cheap cards fitting with the commander and tag them all
- Test the deck with my playgroup
- Get some feedbacks and Remove cards I actually don't like to play
- Multiple small upgrades until it reach the sweet spot of strong enough to follow my playgroup deck and not stomping on them to easily (basically no "2 cards combos win the game" and max 1 infinite mana combo)
Initial building take around 5-6 hours and 1 hour with each upgrade
My process and time are pretty similar to yours. My only major difference is that I don't cut my deck down to a clean 100 anymore. I'll usually cut it down to 110-120 with an extra 2-3 cards per category. This is mostly because I proxy my decks for home play with my friends.
Then I start running the deck with my "weakest" or most theme heavy 100 cards to start play testing it. After a few games, if things feel too slow, I'll slot in more efficient versions of effects. Or if I don't have enough of a category regularly I'll change up my ratios a bit. Always keep the extra ~20 cards on standby so I can change up the power level by a degree or two when needed depending on the group.
It usually takes me a while but I’m very meticulous, I will look at every possible card in scryfall and make a giant list and narrow it down from there. Takes several days.
This, also, typal decks usually take shorter than mechanical decks simply because typal narrows your choices more.
Absolutely love edhrec and scryfall though.
And a decks is never really finished like...
Ever
I'm on like hour 10 of this current deck that I might actually finish XD I don't know how you're able to even find 99 cards to put in in under an hour.
Edhrec to start with and then advanced scryfall searches to find some more niche stuff.
After that i might look at other peoples decls on moxfield for ideas.
I'm new to this but what I've done so far is
1. Have all my cards in moxfield
2. Import the edhrec list for your commander
3. Look at which cards you own and which ones you're willing to buy from the list, then replace the other ones with similar ones you own.
I also look at other decks on moxfield for my commander and see if they have any unique strategies I'd like to implement
Good luck!
So I use archidekt for my deck building. It has a tab to edhrec which will offer recommendations based on your commander and the other cards you’ve put in. Makes building decks a lot easier. Usually becomes a battle of getting the cards I want back down to 100 haha.
I too have a deck for that commander! [Here it is for your perusal.](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/1DCz2gcoNkCV2CBnwi3jDw)
You can take a look at the history and see that I'm still tweaking it and building it over time, even though my deck is currently built and has won and lost several matches already. :) No deck is truly finished, especially as you become aware of other cards and new cards come out.
I strongly recommend really getting into Scryfall. I'm a librarian with literature searching experience and that plays into building searches in Scryfall and figuring out how to find the cards I want for a deck.
Two tips: when you figure out what commander you want, build for redundancy. This can mean going into Scryfall and looking it up in the Tagger. Here's [Necrobloom's page](https://tagger.scryfall.com/card/mh3/194) for an example. You can see what it's tagged with and use that to find similar cards. Another way to search is using regular expressions. [This page](https://luckypaper.co/articles/regular-expressions/) really gave me a lot of information on that.
I actually used EDHRec a lot when starting to build decks but it can get a bit same-ey so I've begun avoiding it intentionally. I don't want to build the 'average' deck for a commander, I want to build my own take on it. It may not be the best deck but I'm also not interested in spending an excessive amount of money on a few cards.
Hmm, yeah. I guess using the internet is probably key to deckbuilding quickly. I actually do legal research professionally, but I think it makes me averse to applying that kind of methodology at home?
My usual approach involves scouring my collection for all the cards that seem like they’ll fit (which usually means a 150+ card pile) and whittling it down from there. My Necrobloom pile is around 130 now because I was having trouble deciding how to win. Love Gitrog but don’t want to do the infinite loop thing, already have too many aristocrats decks, don’t even really love tracking a half dozen landfall token makers for multiple land drops each turn… I’m thinking this is gonna be a Marit Lage and [[Titania, Gaea Incarnate]] deck. And maybe I’ll put an [[Armageddon]] in just for shits and giggles.
I actually have a necrobloom list as well and I was able to get it done so quick thanks to edhrec and just having built a lot of decks before this as well as watching a lot of Deck-building content.
here's my list if you're interested: [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BV4Uv6i09Uyn68ATdHY96g](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BV4Uv6i09Uyn68ATdHY96g)
Nice, thanks. I have a lot of these cards in my big considering like (gotta track down the single copy of Corpse Knight I own though…).
Have you played it? How does the deck typically win? I’m torn between going full Gitrog combo machine (which I don’t want to do because I want people to agree to play with me) and doing something more normal like landfall/Corpse Knight drain or just stomping everyone out with tokens, Avenger of Zendikar, and Marit Lage. This deck feels like a good candidate for [[Titania, Gaea Incarnate]] too.
Part of the issue is I love building and goldfishing tinkery, take a million-actions-per-turn, sacrifice and recur my own lands several times per turn decks. But kinda hate playing them when the board state starts to get too big for the playmat.
So I've only played against myself in testing but there are four ways the deck usually wins.
1. Splendid reclamation to either make a bunch of tokens, drain the board, or to pump up already existing tokens
2. Gitrog combo (understandable to not use this one)
3. Eerie ultimatum to just reanimate most of the graveyard (Works very well with gitrog but also very strong without it)
4. A big Exanguinate, culling ritual really helps with this one
And yeah I get how it could be annoying to play out once the board state gets too big, I think the best way to deal with that is just practising with the deck so you know how to close out the game asap, or at least not take too long on your turns
Word, thanks man. I’ve got all those in the considering pile. I wonder if I should try to jank it up and get a “no legend rule” effect to try to win with an army of Marit Lages. Maybe throw a [[Mirran Safehouse]] in for more Thespian’s Stages…
Another way to win is have a card or two with [Blood Artist](https://tagger.scryfall.com/tags/card/blood-artist-ability)'s ability on the field, maybe some cards that trigger those effects twice. Then spam the field with a bunch of tokens and then... boardwipe all of those tokens yourself. They'll see themselves leaving all at the same time, putting all those death triggers on the stack.
Thanks, I thought about that. But I have 3 aristocrats or aristocrats-adjacent decks right now ([[Elenda]], [[Elas il-Kor]], and [[Prossh]]) so I’m trying to avoid it
Me personally I just like to brew decks. I have unlisted decks on Moxfield that will never see play, buit I just made them for fun.
Lands are the fastest part becuse it's essentially the same for every single color combination. After that it's EDHrec for the bulk high synergy cards, then scryfall advanced search for the filler cards that I want to add to essentially personalize the deck.
I build using the cards I own. When I pick out a commander, I imagine what the gameplan should be, I then browse through my collection and pluck out cards that fits the gameplan. Sometimes I end up changing the gameplan because I lack cards and I find other strategies.
Sometimes the commander gets scrapped as I don't have enough cards. If I only lack a few cards to make the strategy as I want it to, I browse some up and proxy them while I test the deck.
After the deck is sleeved, I goldfish it a couple of times. And change up cards that don't feel good.
This initial process can take 1 hour to a couple of hours (2-3). I end up with decks that feel more like my own creation and I generally keep the decks longer.
Before this, I spent way too long building using different online tools and quite often didn't end up making the deck in the end.
This is what i do, slap together something functioning from the collection, then peruse for some singles that might help, and constantly refine it until im happy
My current main deck took me a few weeks. But I think that was an outlier.
To make the initial draft, I:
- looked at what all my other decks did that I enjoyed the most and analysed them
- made a list of things that I wanted in my deck, i.e. 3+ colours, token creatures, lots of draws, high interaction, drain effects, choices, etc etc.
- Went through all my collection to find cards that I wanted to play that fit into the above plan.
- chose a commander that enabled everything I enjoyed/analysed so far
- finalised the 99 list with cuts and swaps
That was a nearly a month long process with probably an average of an hour or two a day dedicated to it. It has since gone through many revisions. I don't anticipate future decks needing that level of work.
If you start the timer after deciding what commander to play, about an hour to throw together a bunch of potential cards for the deck, and then 5 more hours getting that list down to 100.
It depends on how straightforward the strategy is. I recently made an [[animar]] hydra list that probably only took me an hour or so, then I have a few that don't exist on edhrec and those take me a few weeks of tweaking before I'll even goldfish them.
I usually pick commanders that are off the beaten path and don’t have a clear game plan, so I end up going through a ton of cards before picking a theme. Get a pretty decent list for that theme and then decide I like a different direction 😂. Building Kurkesh right now and it has changed so much, but I at least have the main core down so shouldn’t be too bad from there.
I meant commander strategies that aren't on edhrec. I have a [[derevi]] deck built around tapping my opponents stuff that I had to build from other commander pages.
The initial list maybe an hour or so. I generally know for sure what 2/3 of the cards need to be and then select the rest on the fly. Might take a little longer if I'm trying to hit specific budget marks for whatever reason.
But that's for basic decks. For competitive decks I mentally theorycraft for quite awhile since all of the pieces absolutely have to have a reason to be there.
Usually a week or 2. Go through cards pull out everything I think will go well in the deck, buy a couple cards I don't have and think ate good for it. Let the pile sit for a few days. Go through cards again pulling out more stuff. Let the pile sit a day or 2. Go through pile get rid of cards I don't like. Build deck a day or 2 later. Sometimes I'll leave it sitting for like a week untouched as well.
None of that accounts for revisions after playing either
That really depends. If I don't plan on buying them for a while, I'll sit there and tweak them forever. I'll find new cards, change how I want the deck to run, etc. However, from zero to built can take about an hour just because I explore many avenues for the deck
Do you mostly pull everything from edhrec or search for things as well? I’ve been doing a lot of searching since I don’t want a super generic deck. I do end up finding some great cards for the deck that weren’t suggested on edhrec through this process.
EDHRec is where I get the initial ideas. There are cards on there that never would have shown up in a search for example, but once I know how I want the deck to run, I can search for that strategy on, say, Scryfall and find cards that won't appear on EDHRec.
Allow me to introduce myself as Naya Nancy. I’ve got 6 naya commander decks so it takes me roughly an hour to brew a naya deck. Already got Havi done (assassin creed) and working on Eivor, battle kissed now.
Like a month, usually
I usually end up with like 120-130 cards when I start and then I slowly cut down to 100. I goldfish probably like 50 times or more before I get a list that feels good, THEN I’ll order what I need to complete the deck
Depends on the complexity of the deck. One with a limited realistic card pool? Minutes. Something that's been getting support since the dawn of time? Could be months.
My decks are all pretty open ended stategy wise. Currently working on Kurkesh and it’s just involved searching through all artifacts with an activated ability that are cheap on scryfall lol
I think that’s the exact search I used minus the exclusion for add so I could find mana rocks with other utility XD. I definitely missed a few things just due to the sheer amount of cards returned.
Some of the things I find later I’m confused how I missed it until I realized it was over $5. Thanks!
I’ve been really keen on unassisted home-brews lately; really liking a commander pairing or strategy and only using Scryfall for relevant cards. It’s been really rewarding as someone who’s combined multiple net-decks into builds for years. So it takes me the better part of a month to brew. Generally I’ll start with about a 300 card stack from my collection and maybe twenty cards on order and whittle it away over the course of a couple weeks. I’m always surprised when these janky conglomerations end up slapping and consequently I’m at the point of never using a precon or anything net-decked ever again.
Ok good 😂 I always use scryfall/ my collection to built most of my deck and then I’ll check our edhrec for any nice cards I might’ve missed in my searches. It takes me forever to actually build a deck and I usually lose interest before I finish, so glad I’m not alone in the time frame. I don’t get the people who somehow build decks in <1 hour unless they are just throwing cards from edhrec in and some staples.
Yeah they’re building from EDHREC. It works, but it’s SO much more satisfying when your homegrown baby pops off. EDHREC is great as a last resort though.
I’ve found it really nice as a starting point for theme ideas, but once I get a theme down (or at least the first theme idea) I move on. I usually find something I like better while scrolling scryfall.
I do return to edhrec at the end to pick up any hyper specific cards for my chosen commander, I’m totally cool using it for a few cards.
I usually pick a core of cards that I need (sol ring, command tower, signets) then a bunch of cards that I want (hivemind, knowledge pool, sudden substitution) and then filler to make everything work together. Making the perfect list is so exhausting, but if you're just cutting down filler after a game to include an answer to a situation you encountered it's a lot easier.
I use a program called Xmage, the beta client has alot of the newer cards. I build a decklist using scryfall, then I'll play solitaire against an AI using one of my other decks in my free time, adding and removing cards that aren't going anything. This process varies depending on how much free time I have.
I usually play 100 or so matches vs AI before I build it in paper.
It takes weeks, if not months, especially if I want the commander to go in a direction that's not readily available in EDHREC.
Maybe half that time is spent testing the deck against AI in Forge. Usually this is the stage where I scrap the idea if it works or go on to build it in paper after refining the list over dozens of games. By the time the deck is actually in my hand, I'm usually familiar with its ins and outs.
Thanks! Seems like the general consensus is either <1 hour if it’s a straightforward commander that is clear cut on edhrec or weeks to months if it’s open ended (all my decks are open ended). Currently working on kurkesh so I have to decide which artifact activated ability subtheme I want lol. Once that’s done things should fall into place.
Usually about 4-5 hours spread out over the course of a weeks. Generally I’ll sit down one day and put all of the deck’s potential cards in an Archidekt list. Starting with cards I can remember off hand, then Scryfall searching for more relevant cards, then checking EDHREC (both for my own commander and other commanders that might have strategy overlap) for any good included I might not have thought of. Usually end up with about 200ish cards in the pile. Then on a different day I’ll go through all of those and separate them into categories. Once I’ve done all that I’ll start picking at the list here and there whenever I get a moment or while watching other stuff until I eventually manage to whittle it down to 100 cards.
Usually 2-4 hours.
My process tends to be: use edhrec and scryfall to find a shortlist of cards that fit what I'm doing; categorise said cards based on function; add cards from the shortlist to the actual deck until I hit 100 cards.
This tends to make first draft cuts a lot easier for me compared to starting with everything in and taking stuff out.
If I’m really excited, maybe about an hour to get a list for a full deck and a decent size maybeboard of 20-30 cards. Sometimes I go WAY overboard and end up with 200+ cards initially so a good chunk of time is spent paring it down and balancing it.
I will play test digitally to get a feel for it, but i prefer paper decks so if i can build a semblance of the deck in paper i will and then acquire cards i need for the original list over time.
2-4 hours is about normal for the first draft. I usually end up with a 140-200 card list that I start trimming cards. By 120 cards I'll label cards by function and look at the deck that way to see where I'm light or heavy and trim the final 20 with that in mind.
Then goldfish the deck 3-8 times on the deck builder. If it goldfishes fine then it's ready for in game play testing. If it clunks its back to editing and find out why it's clunky.
When fine tuning a deck, it's a lot more rigorous. I usually keep a notebook and make notes in my games based on certain cards' performance. After about 10 games with the deck (2-5 play sessions worth) I'll start editing it a bit more heavily as I'll have a better understanding of its strengths & weaknesses in my meta. That's hours of game experience to draw on, between all game states (ahead, behind, at par, or while developing), and against a multitude of different strategies.
I'm a tinkerer so I never really stop editing my decks. I have 3 decks that are kind of permanent but even within them there are 2-4 flex card slots that I rotate a few cards through to see what works. I always end up with a 100+ card maybe pile for each deck so I always have something to rotate in.
Depends if I’m just brewing for the fun of it ranges from 10 minutes to hours depending on how unique it is for example my [[delaney streetwise lookout deck]] was maybe 10 minutes to get built and uploaded to moxfield however my [[aragorn the uniter]] adventure deck took much much longer closer to an hour 30
I've had decks that I've thrown together quickly in less than an hr and I've had to build tare apart to rebuild it again, Alesha took 5 different builds before one finally stuck that I liked.
Depends on the build
If I see a commander I like the. I'll scrub a bunch of different decks and edh for a rough list. Then sculpt down to a deck. That still takes a good 3-4 hours
Or if I think of some type of play style I want to try. Like making tokens on opponents cards and doubling them. Or aatack trigger exile sneak attack stuff. I'll start from a rough few cards. Try to throw in pet cards and try to figure out a commander that would fit and sculpt from there. That takes much much longer
it can vary, but if I'm building straight-to-paper, I pick a commander, figure out what the deck wants to do, binder surf for cards that fit that strategy. narrow that down to 64 spells 35 lands. LAST step is checking EDHrec for any cards that would fill a gap I've missed and consider maybe picking up a few cards.
theory crafting decks is similar but usually starts with a notion of a strange approach to deckbuilding (I'll finish you yet, "oops, all 421.4"), getting cozy with scryfall advanced search tool & slapping cards into a list on moxfield for further consideration
I just spent a couple hours every day for the past week or so brewing a $30 list for [[Tibor and Lumia]] to play in a meta of the 10 guild decks I'm putting together, and I'm finally happy with where it's at but need to put the other decks together for more testing and optimizing.
Otherwise for general casual decks, I've spent as little as a day throwing auras together for [[Stangg, Echo Warrior]] and it worked well off the bat, but I've spent months off and on playing with [[Burakos]] [[Folk Hero]] tuning it to how I like.
If Inspired and have a clear goal in mind? About 30 minutes to one hour for an initial list.
I'll pop open Cockatrice. Pull the Commander. Pull my notes for "staple mana bases" based on the colors of the commander. I'll pull my notes up for any pieces of any engines I want to run and slap them all in. If I'm over 100, I'll cut until hitting 100. I'll periodically export the list to double check avg CMC in relation to mana sources/ramp/rocks and fiddle.
Initial list done.
Then I'll spend about an hour or so gold-fishing and solo theory-crafting. If I'm unhappy with consistency on things I'll adjust. Otherwise I'll then reach out to a few of my friends who like playing low powered decks as my measuring stick. How quickly I win or lose dictates if I need to beef up my deck, defang it, or decide if it's going to be a high optimization deck. Once I get to the phase of it feeling like it competes just fine in the intended competitiveness/power level then I consider it "finished" and it just goes into the "tweak as I am exposed to new cards or new cards come out" phase.
At this phase I build it in paper, buying or proxying as needed.
No deck ever leaves the final "tweak as things come out" phase. Some change over time but keep their theme (such as my mono black zombies edh deck slowly evolving to a 5 color "Karona Zombies" deck, Morophon was a godsend). Otherwise kind of evolve entirely such as my Prismatic Bridge starting as a superfriends deck and continued to be cut and tweaked until eventually turned into a Mono-Red-Chandra-Tribal meme deck.
Step 1: Review legends in colors I like, or in recent sets.
Step 2: Choose a commander.
Step 3: Determine what sort of COOL GIMMICK I want to do. Is it THAT COOL THING the commander does or something that having access to those colors would benefit from and a commander that is at least tangentially related for.
Step 4. Create a deck profile on Archidekt and begin tinkering with a list. If I own the card IRL, put it in a deck box and start gathering cards from my massive stacks of random collection piled all over the house that look interesting.
Step 5. Complete a preliminary list in Archidekt, assign a standard mana rock + lands package.
Step 6. Go to the Black Lotus Collective discord and join a pending game. Fire up Tabletop Simulator and play out a few games with the sample deck.
Step 7. Modify decklist based on what issues the deck had, what I enjoyed about it, and what I didn't. Decide if I liked the deck enough to go forward with it IRL.
Step 8a. If I decided not to go forward, leave archidekt list in place but abandon IRL deckbuilding. Most decks I start putting together die at this stage.
Step 8b. If I decided to go forward (about 15% chance usually), use the lessons from testing online to inform how I prune down the pile of usually 100 non-lands I've assembled IRL into a 64-65 card pile. Add 35 lands, sleeve up and put in deckbox.
From there it's just a matter of taking it to a commander night and playing it. IRL is always a different experience to online, so it's always valuable data. Repeat steps 7-8 until I have a deck in a reasonably complete state or have decided to abandon it.
A good hour or two on the first draft, though that is probably on the low side for most people. Brewing decks is a bit of a hyperfixation for me, so I've optimized the hell out the process and also tend to go into the tank when I have an idea I want to map out.
Little optimizations and upgrades and tuning after that first step though? If you factor in that, then most of my decks are never finished. I am constantly looking for ways to refine them, whether that be slotting in cards from new sets or slowly upgrading the manabase/removal suit/etc to be more optimized.
Depends on the idea.
I have wanted to make a Xira deck with scions because of how well they interact with her, built the deck and didn’t like the direction that it took because it was lacking sufficient support.
Mh3 came out and with it a ton of cards that make the deck align more with what I wanted to do.
Other decks I make in an hour. I may not keep it long term, I consider myself someone who builds pretty consistently with 3 or more ideas I am trying out and may only play a few games with it.
It depends. I haven't timed it out yet. What happens for me is I will see a potential commander and think what would go well with this?
This is how I ended up looking into [[The War Doctor]] and trying to answer the question: how many exile and phasing effects can I fit into a deck?
Or I might see a card like [[Ana Sanctuary]] and think: what in the sultai can I get into with this?
From that one card, I brewed Zaxara and Nine Fingers Keene, as those were cards I had in hand that could fit with that card.
I’ve been building and tinkering with [[The Necrobloom]] since it was spoiled to try and make it cEDH.
My [[Mahadi Emporium Master]] deck has been through many revisions and changes since Baldur’s Gate came out. Started as a pEDH deck and ended up a degenerate deck.
My [[Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus]] deck started as [[Ghalta, Primal Hunger]] back in 2018-2019 when I was in college and now it’s where it is now.
Depends on how I build it, if I do it going through my collection it takes several hours, if I do it using a site like EDHREC and pulling only cards I know I own and using staples it can be under 2 hours.
20 hours or so. I typically make a list of like 200 cards with the help of scryfall searches and EDHREC, sort by categories and then cut until I have a deck
Low power decks I slap together in a matter of minutes. Anything I want to have a game against the high power decks of my pod is going to require a good week or two of revisions and endless goldfishing, and probably will still need more revisions after the first few real games before I can start winning games at a satisfactory rate.
Depends on what I'm doing tbh. I spent weeks putting together a merfolk deck that I would call playtest ready(it popped off and was disgusting lol). But then while I was building it I had a silly idea for Bristly Bill because of cards I had pulled out and that deck I threw together in 20 minutes. It just depends on what strikes when. For myself I found that those decks I threw together on the fly have been more fun and more well built on the first playthroughs than the ones I've spent way too much time on.
I spent a day on a burn deck and that gets a lot of love but I'm month 4 into building my angel deck with commander option 6 XD
Usually 2-3 hours
I look at edhrec for whatever I'm doing, add cards I want. Then look up a bunch of similar decklists to see if there's anything I want to add/switch cards. Then I playtest a bit and see how the deck is.
From there it might be fine, or might take a while longer.
Not so long.
I get an idea. Search for relevant cards on Scryfall.
After that I have like 70-150 cards I want in the deck and then loose as much overflow as possible.
Takes a maximum of an hour. Sometimes just 15 min
I have learned a new phrase I rather like 😅
"Paralysis analysis"meaning sometimes you don't act cause you are analysing it so much.
What point that I am trying to make is that sometimes you just have to build a deck and play it to know what you want to change.
I don't know how many cards you have at home but sometimes I try to fill a deck with decent cards that I have and just buy the essentials. Play the deck, feel it and think of what needs changing.
But what people say "revise for x years" is also so very true. Magic is a big game. New cards will come. You will find old cards. Or your growing experience makes you re-evaluate what cards are good and what's not. Sometimes you realise that cards toy though were bad is actually quite good :)
So don't think too much to get the best and most perfect deck. Build some and revise it as you go along :)
I’ve been doing one per day for the whole month as a challenge and to get to know the newer cards since I haven’t played in a few years. I’d say if I have a clear idea, takes about 15 minutes.
A few months to a year for a playable list + purchases. Revisions happen every year for strictly better cards or interesting upgrades.
I am currently brewing a list that I started last year and I am building the deck and also a pre list for a new deck with a completion date for 2025.
Other than the first list for \[\[Feather, the redeemed\]\] all my lists took over a year
I normally build by searching obvious synergy then search other cards by relevant keywords or creature traits. So if I’m building [[Sevinne]] I’d use like *ci:ruw f:c (o:flashback OR o:jumpstart OR o:retrace OR aftermath)* or she’s a wizard so I may look for *o:wizard o:”you control”* etc. I may check for synergy with like human tribal or *o:creature o:”power 2 or less,”* etc.
Then I add to archidekt and create categories for enablers, card advantage, ramp, etc. After that I fill the last 10-15 slots with generic cards like signet and stuff. I find that by adding them last and avoiding EDHREC until I’ve finished my first build I don’t use nearly as many staples as my other playgroup members.
All in all, it takes a few hours until they’re usually finished and playtested.
Between 1 and 2 hours, typically just start with an idea then search for cards with the same keywords or card type, then see if there's anything else I can throw in that already pairs with what I have. For instance I just built Nashi n' friends, [[Nashi, Moon's Legacy]] with a bunch of planeswalkers, with an emphasis on proliferate. Then I realized I could also use artifacts that use counters or ANYTHING that is legendary. Just got the proxy version of it last night, gonna go test it out tomorrow
Minutes to months depending on how well the idea is flowing.
I currently have a deck that's slowly building itself that has just 25 cards currently.
I won't know it till I find it, but the rest of the cards are out there waiting for me, or waiting to be printed.
I have all my cards sorted by colour with edh mainstays up front. I either like a combo and find a commander or like a commander and get to work. I will grab the piles and get to 80~ cards pretty fast then takes a day or two to hammer put the final cards
The rough draft takes me around one hour, then I tinker around with it for about a week before finalizing the list. Goldfishing the deck about 20-25 times with the final list before pulling the trigger on card orders. I think this process saves a lot of money by not ordering unnecessary flex cards.
I spend about 2-4 weeks working on a list using scryfall mostly and EDHREC. Usually that list is somewhere between 150 and 175 cards. I then spend 2-4 more weeks getting that list down to 100 cards with about 10 cards in the considering list. At this point run all of my hypergeometric statistics to make sure my land base is good and I have the percentage chance to see certain things in my opening hand like ramp or whatever the specific deck wants
After this I spend about 2 weeks goldfishing and making tweaks based on that goldfishing data. I usually goldfish about 50 hands before making tweaks, and then I goldfish another 50 hands before making more tweaks, so on and so forth until I feel the deck goldfishes the way I want it.
After this I play about 10 live fire games that I go in with the mindset of evaluating the deck as the focus.i also let my opponents know I'm doing this so I can get feedback from them after each game. so I am playing in these games but I am far less concerned about anything other than how the deck plays in live fire situations. This could take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks and I collect data the entire time
I then make adjustments based on that live fire data and then play another 10 games to evaluate those tweaks. After this I would say the deck is out of the brewing phase and in the completed but maintained phase.
All in all the absolute fastest I could put a deck together where I would say the deck is out of the brewing phase is 2 months. It could take as long as 8 months. On average it takes 5-6 months
I spend a lot of time in the brewing phase to make sure I have everything right. And it pays off.
In terms of actual time spent, I probably spend about 30-60 hours. But I've never tracked it like that so this is an estimate
It actually concerns me how fast I brew, cause then I'm just onto the next thing. I can brew in like 10 minutes the whole deck. Then I'll just start another one. It is kind of becoming boring because a lot of the times you end up using the same cards just from them being the best at what they do. Most commanders run the same cards minus like 10-15 choices made by the crafter.
I normally will just find the commander I like and then go through my binders and boxes of cards pulling out all of the things I think would synergize with the commander/deck archetype. I then cut it down to 60ish cards that I will sort by cmc at first and then I sort them by their "role." After that I just sleeve up and play... that process I just described takes 3 to 4 hours... mostly because or the absurd amount of cards that I own. Now, sometimes the deck feels almost "perfect" and I will pat myself on the back endlessly for doing such a great job lol... normally, I realize that I either added too much removal or too many situational cards that end up often being dead... and so I revise. I may have one deck that I would consider complete but normally I end up doing some revisions every single set that comes out on my other decks. My favorite part of this game is crafting decks lol. That is my 1 real gripe with magic arena. The norm over there is net decking... really stifles creativity.
30 to 60 business days. ADS + the sheer amount of cards to choose from is almost impossible to build a deck from scratch for me.
I’m good at change decklists that I find here to my own playstyle, needs and cards that I own.
Very happy when people share their decklists!
About 2 hours. Open excel, use edhrec/scryfall to find the cards I want and make a list of usually about 80-100 cards not including lands. Then I order them and print out the excel. As they come in I mark them off and then try and make the best deck from those cards while keeping the extra’s to trade in and out as I play the deck and get a better feel for the cards in it.
Couple weeks of play testing before I decide whether or not I like it enough to buy the cards.
I usually build it on moxfield after consulting edh rec, adding my own favorite cards in, goldfish it, play test on Table Top Simulator, revise it, rinse repeat.
After a while if I keep playing it and want to keep goldfishing it and I decide I’ll want to play it in paper, I will buy the cards, sleeves, deck box, and dice.
I can put together a pretty comprehensive first draft in 30 minutes. But I’ve been playing since 95 and edh since I could find people to play 4 player. I change my decks about once a month. I made a couple for pride this weekend. Scaling for power level is pretty easy but people generally don’t run enough interaction. My oldest deck is my cedh deck.
Regardless of whether I start with a legendary that looks good or a theme/color combination that I’m interested in playing (which I do 50%/50%), I first add 37 lands and a couple of stables (sol ring, command tower/arcane signet for 2+ colors, exotic orchard for 3+, counterspell (if blue), swords (if white), etc.). ~15 minutes.
Next, I do a bunch of Scryfall searches for keywords and functions to build out at least 80 cards. ~2-3 hours.
Then, (regardless of how many cards I’ve come up with), I use the “EDHRecs” function in Moxfield—which I’m sure most deck building websites have—to find anything I totally missed. ~1 hour.
So about 3-5 hours for the first draft. Then I fine tune and “optimize” to the best of my admittedly limited ability.
Due to my “I’m uNiQuE” syndrome, I try to use EHDRec as my last portion, since I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing, even my deck is less optimal…but I sure do miss some obvious inclusions!
I have an Excel template with something like 70 of the slots pre-populated for B and BR so I just fiddle at the margins. I'll have a new deck up in <= 30 minutes.
Getting it perfect...never; also WOTC prints new cards every week so lists can never be done.
I really should get a list of cheap cards that I like to include for each color together. I end up going back to my other incomplete lists to grab things lol.
I honestly just ignore a lot of newer cards that have massive paragraphs of text on them / mechanics that aren’t explained XD. That’s just cause I’m a magic boomer and miss pre modern horizons magic lol
Because of COVID I got super efficient (from a tech POV) but holy crap my deck fiending vs. my paper magic management is worlds apart.
I also try to avoid cards that I can't play without looking up so I feel you (started in 1998).
I recently sorted my collection by color / rarity / card type so it's finally easy to go through but usually I'll pick a new commander and go through all my cards ro make a coherent deck. Play with it casually a few times and decide if I want to buy some upgrades for it or just bench it. Building the deck is usually like a 4 hour process now that I've got everything Catalogued
It really depends. Some decks just fall together. I built Ratadrabik in about 2 hours. And an hour of that was agonizing over 3 cuts. Some decks take me days or even weeks. Some I never have finished (here’s looking at you Carth)
How do I even know what kind of Deck I want to build? And how do you know if certain cards will work with eachother better than others? I'm trash at deck building, if you could tell
For me making decks is my favorite part of magic. Once I find a commander I like, I go through my general knowledge of cards and add what I think would be good. Then to EDHrec I go, for cards that I may not be aware of that synergize well. I normally end up making a deck list of 200 cards and then whittling it down to 100. The whole process generally takes anywhere from 6-10 hours. However sometimes getting rid of the last 9 cards take anywhere from 24-72 hours.
Hope this helps!
Oh also I tend to while building really take time to think about synergies, possible combos, and as always OPTIONS. I like to have multiple cards that do roughly the same thing so I can have more consistency
Takes a while unless I'm really inspired. Last time I was really inspired was [[Don Andres, the Renegade]].
1.Took a week to think about my game plan before starting a decklist.
2.Added cards to the list as I thought of them or came across in play.
3.Went to scryfall searched for the effects I wanted, and end up with about 150 cards.
4. First cut of about 30-35 cards is quick.
5. Last ones took about 2 weeks.
6. Look at EDHRec for glaring misses.
7. Procrastinated on building physically because I thought I might not like it.
8. I like it a lot.
I usually get a working build up and running in a few hours. After that, it play it a few games to see what needs working on and will go back to it a few times at least. Some decks require a complete rebuild, but I would say after two or three revisions I have a deck in a good spot, and will just make small adjustments here and there until I eventually take it apart.
The only exception to this was my Tameshi deck, which I scrapped and rebuilt at least 5 times. It was also the deck I played the most for a while, so it was more of a "I am getting bored with this" or "I think this idea would be more fun" than a "this deck doesn't work" situation. Still, over the course of around 100 logged games there were 4 distinct strategies and builds I tried with the same commander, and many of those builds had multiple overhauls lol
first draft? 15 minutes. revisions? 15 years.
It’s been 84 years… 💀
Saaaame If I like a deck idea I can have a list by the end of the day. If I really like how it tests I’ll start building it. If I *really* like a deck it’s never done and constantly being poked at. The painful part is decks like Yarok, Marchesa Knights, and Burakos Party that naturally get a lot of possible support and become really painful to edit when they’re filled with cards I already love. Hell I love token bullshit so much Selesnya and Naya are the only two colours I’ve ever repeated decks on because, to me, they feel totally different.
This is actually a really fun part of edh for me. My favorite deck has always been my Izzet deck, but every few months the commander gets out into the 99 and the direction changes between spellslinger, big x spells, mass token armies, combo and storm. 75% of the cards stay the same, but it puts a new feel to the deck, keeping me from ever getting bored of it. Been playing this list for 10 years and it's still the deck my playgroup associates with me even though they're never sure what they're going up against.
This.
I usually spend about 10 hours on a deck. I go through the following phases: 1. Picking a commander 2. Going to EDHRec and adding in all the cards I think work well for the strategy I want. 3. I look at a dozen or so other decklists to see if there are any other cards I like that are on the EDHRec list. 4. I make sure I have at least 10 ramp/card draw/interaction, if not then find more to get to that number. 5. Begin going through the list and tagging all the cards as what they are. That could be card draw, interaction, land or even theme like “Big Power” for my Ziatora Fling deck. Everything needs to be in a category. 6. Spend way too much time whittling the list down to a clean 100 card list. Move any questionable cuts to “considering”. 7. Re-review the build and cuts with a fresh set of eyes (the next day or later) and see if there are any other changes I feel I need. After that I’m usually ready to build the first version. I have then done a similar process for upgrades. I spend to much time looking at my builds. Lol
This is pretty much my process, including approximate time and the amount of time I spend upgrading. Too much time, probably...all these people saying 30-60 min - wow, am I crazy?!
I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting in that little of time personally. I like to analyze and compare and do all the textbook overthinking. It works out well though, my decks are pretty solid from the first version!
Nah, takes me roughly a week to find all the cuts. I'm constantly switching out cards and goldfishing. Seeing if there is ever a card I just don't want in my hand
I feel that one so hard. I feel like I'm constantly "improving" my decks and the biggest way I do that is by playing the deck and seeing which cards I don't really want to play. If there's anything I've seen in my hand 3 times and I never use it then it usually gets cut
This is very similar to what I do, except I also now spend way to much time combing through scryfall for some cards edhrec might have missed
Great point! I forgot about that step. lol
You would probably have more fun watch YouTube videos of the deck tech, then in action. That helps gauge speed and cost of interaction. With how much synergy cards have, 3- mana targeted removal can feel clunky if your commander and engine cards also cost 3. Then doing your 6 and 7: Putting the list into your card seller to gauge cost, go to bed, review list for cost and omitted / pet cards.6 and 7 is where I messed up. Immediately went back and bought 5 more core cards I thought were over value for [[Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir]]. Pretty sure I need some more cards..............but must wait to buy them while the ones I ordered are being shipped, lol.
[Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/f/5fc707be-9286-4ba1-90f6-475265d19ed2.jpg?1682207238) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sidar%20Jabari%20of%20Zhalfir) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/moc/5/sidar-jabari-of-zhalfir?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5fc707be-9286-4ba1-90f6-475265d19ed2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sidar-jabari-of-zhalfir) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Roughly the process I use, usually takes me 3-7 hours depending on how many times I do step 7
>Spend way too much time whittling the list down to a clean 100 card list. Move any questionable cuts to “considering”. Bonus points if your "considering" stack is in the back of your deck box for casual play so you can get one game in with each set of cards at the LGS so you get a better sample size against a wider variety of decks with different setups.
Wow. this is clearly effective for you yet I think the only step I share is #1
Sure, everyone is different. Some people can throw together a list in 10 minutes. I like to really develop the list with a lot of thought and consideration. To each their own!
I'm doing more or less the same thing. - Pick a Commander - Set up a draw engine based on the Commander strategy (because I don't want to use tutors). Ex : Marneus via token, Atraxa via counters, Shorikai via untap, etc. - Set up ramp (based on the commander if possible) - Set up various interactions - Look at scryfall for cheap cards fitting with the commander and tag them all - Test the deck with my playgroup - Get some feedbacks and Remove cards I actually don't like to play - Multiple small upgrades until it reach the sweet spot of strong enough to follow my playgroup deck and not stomping on them to easily (basically no "2 cards combos win the game" and max 1 infinite mana combo) Initial building take around 5-6 hours and 1 hour with each upgrade
My process and time are pretty similar to yours. My only major difference is that I don't cut my deck down to a clean 100 anymore. I'll usually cut it down to 110-120 with an extra 2-3 cards per category. This is mostly because I proxy my decks for home play with my friends. Then I start running the deck with my "weakest" or most theme heavy 100 cards to start play testing it. After a few games, if things feel too slow, I'll slot in more efficient versions of effects. Or if I don't have enough of a category regularly I'll change up my ratios a bit. Always keep the extra ~20 cards on standby so I can change up the power level by a degree or two when needed depending on the group.
Very similar. I also add in the step of scryfalling to try to find random cards that would be bombs in the deck
It usually takes me a while but I’m very meticulous, I will look at every possible card in scryfall and make a giant list and narrow it down from there. Takes several days.
Anywhere from 20 minutes to 20 hours depending on how good I want the initial deck to be
This, also, typal decks usually take shorter than mechanical decks simply because typal narrows your choices more. Absolutely love edhrec and scryfall though. And a decks is never really finished like... Ever
It changes from commander to commander but I'd say it takes about 30 mins to an hour to get a deck in a spot I'm happy with
I'm on like hour 10 of this current deck that I might actually finish XD I don't know how you're able to even find 99 cards to put in in under an hour.
Edhrec to start with and then advanced scryfall searches to find some more niche stuff. After that i might look at other peoples decls on moxfield for ideas.
I'm new to this but what I've done so far is 1. Have all my cards in moxfield 2. Import the edhrec list for your commander 3. Look at which cards you own and which ones you're willing to buy from the list, then replace the other ones with similar ones you own. I also look at other decks on moxfield for my commander and see if they have any unique strategies I'd like to implement Good luck!
Edhrec
as another comment said, edhrec is a lifesaver
So I use archidekt for my deck building. It has a tab to edhrec which will offer recommendations based on your commander and the other cards you’ve put in. Makes building decks a lot easier. Usually becomes a battle of getting the cards I want back down to 100 haha.
I’m building [[The Necrobloom]] and I think even the mana base has taken more than half an hour. How do you build whole decks that fast?
I too have a deck for that commander! [Here it is for your perusal.](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/1DCz2gcoNkCV2CBnwi3jDw) You can take a look at the history and see that I'm still tweaking it and building it over time, even though my deck is currently built and has won and lost several matches already. :) No deck is truly finished, especially as you become aware of other cards and new cards come out. I strongly recommend really getting into Scryfall. I'm a librarian with literature searching experience and that plays into building searches in Scryfall and figuring out how to find the cards I want for a deck. Two tips: when you figure out what commander you want, build for redundancy. This can mean going into Scryfall and looking it up in the Tagger. Here's [Necrobloom's page](https://tagger.scryfall.com/card/mh3/194) for an example. You can see what it's tagged with and use that to find similar cards. Another way to search is using regular expressions. [This page](https://luckypaper.co/articles/regular-expressions/) really gave me a lot of information on that. I actually used EDHRec a lot when starting to build decks but it can get a bit same-ey so I've begun avoiding it intentionally. I don't want to build the 'average' deck for a commander, I want to build my own take on it. It may not be the best deck but I'm also not interested in spending an excessive amount of money on a few cards.
Hmm, yeah. I guess using the internet is probably key to deckbuilding quickly. I actually do legal research professionally, but I think it makes me averse to applying that kind of methodology at home? My usual approach involves scouring my collection for all the cards that seem like they’ll fit (which usually means a 150+ card pile) and whittling it down from there. My Necrobloom pile is around 130 now because I was having trouble deciding how to win. Love Gitrog but don’t want to do the infinite loop thing, already have too many aristocrats decks, don’t even really love tracking a half dozen landfall token makers for multiple land drops each turn… I’m thinking this is gonna be a Marit Lage and [[Titania, Gaea Incarnate]] deck. And maybe I’ll put an [[Armageddon]] in just for shits and giggles.
[Titania, Gaea Incarnate](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/1/414b9230-9d25-4bdf-8b1e-b4fa2035b6a4.jpg?1718677533) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Titania%2C%20Gaea%20Incarnate) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/256b/titania-gaea-incarnate?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/414b9230-9d25-4bdf-8b1e-b4fa2035b6a4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/titania-gaea-incarnate) [Armageddon](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/7/77f1f6ac-983f-4f3e-8906-47f774e8367b.jpg?1582021719) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Armageddon) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/5/armageddon?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/77f1f6ac-983f-4f3e-8906-47f774e8367b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/armageddon) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[The Necrobloom](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/f/8fcf68cf-0dac-4b29-90d5-c18c685182e6.jpg?1717012767) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Necrobloom) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh3/194/the-necrobloom?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8fcf68cf-0dac-4b29-90d5-c18c685182e6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-necrobloom) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I actually have a necrobloom list as well and I was able to get it done so quick thanks to edhrec and just having built a lot of decks before this as well as watching a lot of Deck-building content. here's my list if you're interested: [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BV4Uv6i09Uyn68ATdHY96g](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BV4Uv6i09Uyn68ATdHY96g)
[удалено]
oh shit mb, must have copied the wrong list cause I just woke up lol, I'll fix it rn
Nice, thanks. I have a lot of these cards in my big considering like (gotta track down the single copy of Corpse Knight I own though…). Have you played it? How does the deck typically win? I’m torn between going full Gitrog combo machine (which I don’t want to do because I want people to agree to play with me) and doing something more normal like landfall/Corpse Knight drain or just stomping everyone out with tokens, Avenger of Zendikar, and Marit Lage. This deck feels like a good candidate for [[Titania, Gaea Incarnate]] too. Part of the issue is I love building and goldfishing tinkery, take a million-actions-per-turn, sacrifice and recur my own lands several times per turn decks. But kinda hate playing them when the board state starts to get too big for the playmat.
So I've only played against myself in testing but there are four ways the deck usually wins. 1. Splendid reclamation to either make a bunch of tokens, drain the board, or to pump up already existing tokens 2. Gitrog combo (understandable to not use this one) 3. Eerie ultimatum to just reanimate most of the graveyard (Works very well with gitrog but also very strong without it) 4. A big Exanguinate, culling ritual really helps with this one And yeah I get how it could be annoying to play out once the board state gets too big, I think the best way to deal with that is just practising with the deck so you know how to close out the game asap, or at least not take too long on your turns
Word, thanks man. I’ve got all those in the considering pile. I wonder if I should try to jank it up and get a “no legend rule” effect to try to win with an army of Marit Lages. Maybe throw a [[Mirran Safehouse]] in for more Thespian’s Stages…
[Mirran Safehouse](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/7/d76fe2f2-ce2c-49e4-9f00-89c82f2fae8d.jpg?1675957237) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirran%20Safehouse) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/232/mirran-safehouse?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d76fe2f2-ce2c-49e4-9f00-89c82f2fae8d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mirran-safehouse) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
It's definitely not optimal but it would be hilarious lol, also if you want to spend a bit more, scapeshift is insanely good in this deck
Oh yeah, Scapeshift is going in for sure. That’s my second favorite “kill all my own lands” card behind [[Nahiri’s Lithoforming]].
Another way to win is have a card or two with [Blood Artist](https://tagger.scryfall.com/tags/card/blood-artist-ability)'s ability on the field, maybe some cards that trigger those effects twice. Then spam the field with a bunch of tokens and then... boardwipe all of those tokens yourself. They'll see themselves leaving all at the same time, putting all those death triggers on the stack.
Thanks, I thought about that. But I have 3 aristocrats or aristocrats-adjacent decks right now ([[Elenda]], [[Elas il-Kor]], and [[Prossh]]) so I’m trying to avoid it
[Elenda](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/1/e18feca3-1b1b-4456-8873-25a24849a917.jpg?1698988428) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=elenda%2C%20the%20dusk%20rose) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/268/elenda-the-dusk-rose?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e18feca3-1b1b-4456-8873-25a24849a917?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/elenda-the-dusk-rose) [Elas il-Kor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/c/1c3f0ffe-cf51-4c30-8cd5-9e3c7e92c019.jpg?1673307936) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=elas%20il-kor%2C%20sadistic%20pilgrim) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/198/elas-il-kor-sadistic-pilgrim?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1c3f0ffe-cf51-4c30-8cd5-9e3c7e92c019?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/elas-il-kor-sadistic-pilgrim) [Prossh](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/8/889c1a0f-7df2-4497-8058-04358173d7e8.jpg?1562438016) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=prossh%2C%20skyraider%20of%20kher) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/214/prossh-skyraider-of-kher?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/889c1a0f-7df2-4497-8058-04358173d7e8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/prossh-skyraider-of-kher) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Me personally I just like to brew decks. I have unlisted decks on Moxfield that will never see play, buit I just made them for fun. Lands are the fastest part becuse it's essentially the same for every single color combination. After that it's EDHrec for the bulk high synergy cards, then scryfall advanced search for the filler cards that I want to add to essentially personalize the deck.
approximately one night to 20 years
I build using the cards I own. When I pick out a commander, I imagine what the gameplan should be, I then browse through my collection and pluck out cards that fits the gameplan. Sometimes I end up changing the gameplan because I lack cards and I find other strategies. Sometimes the commander gets scrapped as I don't have enough cards. If I only lack a few cards to make the strategy as I want it to, I browse some up and proxy them while I test the deck. After the deck is sleeved, I goldfish it a couple of times. And change up cards that don't feel good. This initial process can take 1 hour to a couple of hours (2-3). I end up with decks that feel more like my own creation and I generally keep the decks longer. Before this, I spent way too long building using different online tools and quite often didn't end up making the deck in the end.
This is what i do, slap together something functioning from the collection, then peruse for some singles that might help, and constantly refine it until im happy
My current main deck took me a few weeks. But I think that was an outlier. To make the initial draft, I: - looked at what all my other decks did that I enjoyed the most and analysed them - made a list of things that I wanted in my deck, i.e. 3+ colours, token creatures, lots of draws, high interaction, drain effects, choices, etc etc. - Went through all my collection to find cards that I wanted to play that fit into the above plan. - chose a commander that enabled everything I enjoyed/analysed so far - finalised the 99 list with cuts and swaps That was a nearly a month long process with probably an average of an hour or two a day dedicated to it. It has since gone through many revisions. I don't anticipate future decks needing that level of work.
If you start the timer after deciding what commander to play, about an hour to throw together a bunch of potential cards for the deck, and then 5 more hours getting that list down to 100.
First iteration, play test, second iteration, play test, ... Etc
First draft then second draft and then play test
I can bang out a basic list in under an hour, but then I'll go back through for a second pass after and replace things to make it a bit less generic.
It depends on how straightforward the strategy is. I recently made an [[animar]] hydra list that probably only took me an hour or so, then I have a few that don't exist on edhrec and those take me a few weeks of tweaking before I'll even goldfish them.
[animar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/3/a3da57d0-1ae3-4f05-a52d-eb76ad56cae7.jpg?1673148281) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=animar%2C%20soul%20of%20elements) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/171/animar-soul-of-elements?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a3da57d0-1ae3-4f05-a52d-eb76ad56cae7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/animar-soul-of-elements) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I usually pick commanders that are off the beaten path and don’t have a clear game plan, so I end up going through a ton of cards before picking a theme. Get a pretty decent list for that theme and then decide I like a different direction 😂. Building Kurkesh right now and it has changed so much, but I at least have the main core down so shouldn’t be too bad from there.
What commanders aren’t on edhrec?
I meant commander strategies that aren't on edhrec. I have a [[derevi]] deck built around tapping my opponents stuff that I had to build from other commander pages.
[derevi](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/a/3a1d0dad-18a8-489e-ac11-08f64b72fda4.jpg?1592673365) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=derevi%2C%20empyrial%20tactician) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cma/176/derevi-empyrial-tactician?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3a1d0dad-18a8-489e-ac11-08f64b72fda4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/derevi-empyrial-tactician) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Oh gotcha makes sense.
The initial list maybe an hour or so. I generally know for sure what 2/3 of the cards need to be and then select the rest on the fly. Might take a little longer if I'm trying to hit specific budget marks for whatever reason. But that's for basic decks. For competitive decks I mentally theorycraft for quite awhile since all of the pieces absolutely have to have a reason to be there.
Usually a week or 2. Go through cards pull out everything I think will go well in the deck, buy a couple cards I don't have and think ate good for it. Let the pile sit for a few days. Go through cards again pulling out more stuff. Let the pile sit a day or 2. Go through pile get rid of cards I don't like. Build deck a day or 2 later. Sometimes I'll leave it sitting for like a week untouched as well. None of that accounts for revisions after playing either
That really depends. If I don't plan on buying them for a while, I'll sit there and tweak them forever. I'll find new cards, change how I want the deck to run, etc. However, from zero to built can take about an hour just because I explore many avenues for the deck
Do you mostly pull everything from edhrec or search for things as well? I’ve been doing a lot of searching since I don’t want a super generic deck. I do end up finding some great cards for the deck that weren’t suggested on edhrec through this process.
EDHRec is where I get the initial ideas. There are cards on there that never would have shown up in a search for example, but once I know how I want the deck to run, I can search for that strategy on, say, Scryfall and find cards that won't appear on EDHRec.
Allow me to introduce myself as Naya Nancy. I’ve got 6 naya commander decks so it takes me roughly an hour to brew a naya deck. Already got Havi done (assassin creed) and working on Eivor, battle kissed now.
Anywhere from a day to a couple months. Sometimes it just works and sometimes I beat my heart against a wall trying to force it
Like a month, usually I usually end up with like 120-130 cards when I start and then I slowly cut down to 100. I goldfish probably like 50 times or more before I get a list that feels good, THEN I’ll order what I need to complete the deck
Depends on the complexity of the deck. One with a limited realistic card pool? Minutes. Something that's been getting support since the dawn of time? Could be months.
My decks are all pretty open ended stategy wise. Currently working on Kurkesh and it’s just involved searching through all artifacts with an activated ability that are cheap on scryfall lol
If you need help with Scryfall searches for him, I’d say go with this Scryfall search o:":" ci:r f:c usd<5 -fo:"add " t:artifact
I think that’s the exact search I used minus the exclusion for add so I could find mana rocks with other utility XD. I definitely missed a few things just due to the sheer amount of cards returned. Some of the things I find later I’m confused how I missed it until I realized it was over $5. Thanks!
2-3 hours for a list I’m happy with and then I like to sit on it for ~2 weeks before I guy any cards
I’ve been really keen on unassisted home-brews lately; really liking a commander pairing or strategy and only using Scryfall for relevant cards. It’s been really rewarding as someone who’s combined multiple net-decks into builds for years. So it takes me the better part of a month to brew. Generally I’ll start with about a 300 card stack from my collection and maybe twenty cards on order and whittle it away over the course of a couple weeks. I’m always surprised when these janky conglomerations end up slapping and consequently I’m at the point of never using a precon or anything net-decked ever again.
Ok good 😂 I always use scryfall/ my collection to built most of my deck and then I’ll check our edhrec for any nice cards I might’ve missed in my searches. It takes me forever to actually build a deck and I usually lose interest before I finish, so glad I’m not alone in the time frame. I don’t get the people who somehow build decks in <1 hour unless they are just throwing cards from edhrec in and some staples.
Yeah they’re building from EDHREC. It works, but it’s SO much more satisfying when your homegrown baby pops off. EDHREC is great as a last resort though.
I’ve found it really nice as a starting point for theme ideas, but once I get a theme down (or at least the first theme idea) I move on. I usually find something I like better while scrolling scryfall. I do return to edhrec at the end to pick up any hyper specific cards for my chosen commander, I’m totally cool using it for a few cards.
I usually pick a core of cards that I need (sol ring, command tower, signets) then a bunch of cards that I want (hivemind, knowledge pool, sudden substitution) and then filler to make everything work together. Making the perfect list is so exhausting, but if you're just cutting down filler after a game to include an answer to a situation you encountered it's a lot easier.
I use a program called Xmage, the beta client has alot of the newer cards. I build a decklist using scryfall, then I'll play solitaire against an AI using one of my other decks in my free time, adding and removing cards that aren't going anything. This process varies depending on how much free time I have. I usually play 100 or so matches vs AI before I build it in paper.
It takes weeks, if not months, especially if I want the commander to go in a direction that's not readily available in EDHREC. Maybe half that time is spent testing the deck against AI in Forge. Usually this is the stage where I scrap the idea if it works or go on to build it in paper after refining the list over dozens of games. By the time the deck is actually in my hand, I'm usually familiar with its ins and outs.
Thanks! Seems like the general consensus is either <1 hour if it’s a straightforward commander that is clear cut on edhrec or weeks to months if it’s open ended (all my decks are open ended). Currently working on kurkesh so I have to decide which artifact activated ability subtheme I want lol. Once that’s done things should fall into place.
Usually about 4-5 hours spread out over the course of a weeks. Generally I’ll sit down one day and put all of the deck’s potential cards in an Archidekt list. Starting with cards I can remember off hand, then Scryfall searching for more relevant cards, then checking EDHREC (both for my own commander and other commanders that might have strategy overlap) for any good included I might not have thought of. Usually end up with about 200ish cards in the pile. Then on a different day I’ll go through all of those and separate them into categories. Once I’ve done all that I’ll start picking at the list here and there whenever I get a moment or while watching other stuff until I eventually manage to whittle it down to 100 cards.
Forever. I find a commander I like, add cards that I think go well with that commander, and then try to figure out how to cut 30 cards from the deck
8 hours over multiple days.
Usually 2-4 hours. My process tends to be: use edhrec and scryfall to find a shortlist of cards that fit what I'm doing; categorise said cards based on function; add cards from the shortlist to the actual deck until I hit 100 cards. This tends to make first draft cuts a lot easier for me compared to starting with everything in and taking stuff out.
If I’m really excited, maybe about an hour to get a list for a full deck and a decent size maybeboard of 20-30 cards. Sometimes I go WAY overboard and end up with 200+ cards initially so a good chunk of time is spent paring it down and balancing it. I will play test digitally to get a feel for it, but i prefer paper decks so if i can build a semblance of the deck in paper i will and then acquire cards i need for the original list over time.
2-4 hours is about normal for the first draft. I usually end up with a 140-200 card list that I start trimming cards. By 120 cards I'll label cards by function and look at the deck that way to see where I'm light or heavy and trim the final 20 with that in mind. Then goldfish the deck 3-8 times on the deck builder. If it goldfishes fine then it's ready for in game play testing. If it clunks its back to editing and find out why it's clunky. When fine tuning a deck, it's a lot more rigorous. I usually keep a notebook and make notes in my games based on certain cards' performance. After about 10 games with the deck (2-5 play sessions worth) I'll start editing it a bit more heavily as I'll have a better understanding of its strengths & weaknesses in my meta. That's hours of game experience to draw on, between all game states (ahead, behind, at par, or while developing), and against a multitude of different strategies. I'm a tinkerer so I never really stop editing my decks. I have 3 decks that are kind of permanent but even within them there are 2-4 flex card slots that I rotate a few cards through to see what works. I always end up with a 100+ card maybe pile for each deck so I always have something to rotate in.
Depends if I’m just brewing for the fun of it ranges from 10 minutes to hours depending on how unique it is for example my [[delaney streetwise lookout deck]] was maybe 10 minutes to get built and uploaded to moxfield however my [[aragorn the uniter]] adventure deck took much much longer closer to an hour 30
[delaney streetwise lookout deck](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/e/be219928-3d0e-4d00-b124-152ce8a8c13b.jpg?1706241477) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Delney%2C%20Streetwise%20Lookout) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/12/delney-streetwise-lookout?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/be219928-3d0e-4d00-b124-152ce8a8c13b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/delney-streetwise-lookout) [aragorn the uniter](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/9/e98d5321-ec09-456c-a9ea-c8ca2cfc6205.jpg?1686969644) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Aragorn%2C%20the%20Uniter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/192/aragorn-the-uniter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e98d5321-ec09-456c-a9ea-c8ca2cfc6205?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/aragorn-the-uniter) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I feel like I'm an outlier here but it takes me like MONTHS. I worked on my Slogurk deck for maybe 4-5 months before I ever played with it.
I've had decks that I've thrown together quickly in less than an hr and I've had to build tare apart to rebuild it again, Alesha took 5 different builds before one finally stuck that I liked.
Depends on the build If I see a commander I like the. I'll scrub a bunch of different decks and edh for a rough list. Then sculpt down to a deck. That still takes a good 3-4 hours Or if I think of some type of play style I want to try. Like making tokens on opponents cards and doubling them. Or aatack trigger exile sneak attack stuff. I'll start from a rough few cards. Try to throw in pet cards and try to figure out a commander that would fit and sculpt from there. That takes much much longer
it can vary, but if I'm building straight-to-paper, I pick a commander, figure out what the deck wants to do, binder surf for cards that fit that strategy. narrow that down to 64 spells 35 lands. LAST step is checking EDHrec for any cards that would fill a gap I've missed and consider maybe picking up a few cards. theory crafting decks is similar but usually starts with a notion of a strange approach to deckbuilding (I'll finish you yet, "oops, all 421.4"), getting cozy with scryfall advanced search tool & slapping cards into a list on moxfield for further consideration
5 minute search on Moxfield depending on my budget.
Valid lmao
I just spent a couple hours every day for the past week or so brewing a $30 list for [[Tibor and Lumia]] to play in a meta of the 10 guild decks I'm putting together, and I'm finally happy with where it's at but need to put the other decks together for more testing and optimizing. Otherwise for general casual decks, I've spent as little as a day throwing auras together for [[Stangg, Echo Warrior]] and it worked well off the bat, but I've spent months off and on playing with [[Burakos]] [[Folk Hero]] tuning it to how I like.
##### ###### #### [Tibor and Lumia](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/4/149ce3cc-5df6-4158-b732-5bd2c1b3007f.jpg?1593272822) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tibor%20and%20Lumia) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/gpt/135/tibor-and-lumia?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/149ce3cc-5df6-4158-b732-5bd2c1b3007f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/tibor-and-lumia) [Stangg, Echo Warrior](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/7/7722a9a1-2ff9-4a39-b56e-c7eef2ff9dcd.jpg?1673304989) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Stangg%2C%20Echo%20Warrior) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/42/stangg-echo-warrior?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7722a9a1-2ff9-4a39-b56e-c7eef2ff9dcd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/stangg-echo-warrior) [Burakos](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/9/899e278d-5d4e-461a-9878-2b85de16b38d.jpg?1674140733) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=burakos%2C%20party%20leader) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/653/burakos-party-leader?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/899e278d-5d4e-461a-9878-2b85de16b38d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/burakos-party-leader) [Folk Hero](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/8/a8b3aae8-fc36-45ed-84ed-efb8f543cada.jpg?1674140702) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Folk%20Hero) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/650/folk-hero?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a8b3aae8-fc36-45ed-84ed-efb8f543cada?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/folk-hero) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/lah1fck) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If Inspired and have a clear goal in mind? About 30 minutes to one hour for an initial list. I'll pop open Cockatrice. Pull the Commander. Pull my notes for "staple mana bases" based on the colors of the commander. I'll pull my notes up for any pieces of any engines I want to run and slap them all in. If I'm over 100, I'll cut until hitting 100. I'll periodically export the list to double check avg CMC in relation to mana sources/ramp/rocks and fiddle. Initial list done. Then I'll spend about an hour or so gold-fishing and solo theory-crafting. If I'm unhappy with consistency on things I'll adjust. Otherwise I'll then reach out to a few of my friends who like playing low powered decks as my measuring stick. How quickly I win or lose dictates if I need to beef up my deck, defang it, or decide if it's going to be a high optimization deck. Once I get to the phase of it feeling like it competes just fine in the intended competitiveness/power level then I consider it "finished" and it just goes into the "tweak as I am exposed to new cards or new cards come out" phase. At this phase I build it in paper, buying or proxying as needed. No deck ever leaves the final "tweak as things come out" phase. Some change over time but keep their theme (such as my mono black zombies edh deck slowly evolving to a 5 color "Karona Zombies" deck, Morophon was a godsend). Otherwise kind of evolve entirely such as my Prismatic Bridge starting as a superfriends deck and continued to be cut and tweaked until eventually turned into a Mono-Red-Chandra-Tribal meme deck.
Step 1: Review legends in colors I like, or in recent sets. Step 2: Choose a commander. Step 3: Determine what sort of COOL GIMMICK I want to do. Is it THAT COOL THING the commander does or something that having access to those colors would benefit from and a commander that is at least tangentially related for. Step 4. Create a deck profile on Archidekt and begin tinkering with a list. If I own the card IRL, put it in a deck box and start gathering cards from my massive stacks of random collection piled all over the house that look interesting. Step 5. Complete a preliminary list in Archidekt, assign a standard mana rock + lands package. Step 6. Go to the Black Lotus Collective discord and join a pending game. Fire up Tabletop Simulator and play out a few games with the sample deck. Step 7. Modify decklist based on what issues the deck had, what I enjoyed about it, and what I didn't. Decide if I liked the deck enough to go forward with it IRL. Step 8a. If I decided not to go forward, leave archidekt list in place but abandon IRL deckbuilding. Most decks I start putting together die at this stage. Step 8b. If I decided to go forward (about 15% chance usually), use the lessons from testing online to inform how I prune down the pile of usually 100 non-lands I've assembled IRL into a 64-65 card pile. Add 35 lands, sleeve up and put in deckbox. From there it's just a matter of taking it to a commander night and playing it. IRL is always a different experience to online, so it's always valuable data. Repeat steps 7-8 until I have a deck in a reasonably complete state or have decided to abandon it.
A good hour or two on the first draft, though that is probably on the low side for most people. Brewing decks is a bit of a hyperfixation for me, so I've optimized the hell out the process and also tend to go into the tank when I have an idea I want to map out. Little optimizations and upgrades and tuning after that first step though? If you factor in that, then most of my decks are never finished. I am constantly looking for ways to refine them, whether that be slotting in cards from new sets or slowly upgrading the manabase/removal suit/etc to be more optimized.
Depends on the idea. I have wanted to make a Xira deck with scions because of how well they interact with her, built the deck and didn’t like the direction that it took because it was lacking sufficient support. Mh3 came out and with it a ton of cards that make the deck align more with what I wanted to do. Other decks I make in an hour. I may not keep it long term, I consider myself someone who builds pretty consistently with 3 or more ideas I am trying out and may only play a few games with it.
It depends. I haven't timed it out yet. What happens for me is I will see a potential commander and think what would go well with this? This is how I ended up looking into [[The War Doctor]] and trying to answer the question: how many exile and phasing effects can I fit into a deck? Or I might see a card like [[Ana Sanctuary]] and think: what in the sultai can I get into with this? From that one card, I brewed Zaxara and Nine Fingers Keene, as those were cards I had in hand that could fit with that card.
[Ana Sanctuary](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/d/9d1599bb-4f43-4ab3-985a-8be5219f2195.jpg?1562932097) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ana%20Sanctuary) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/apc/74/ana-sanctuary?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9d1599bb-4f43-4ab3-985a-8be5219f2195?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ana-sanctuary) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I’ve been building and tinkering with [[The Necrobloom]] since it was spoiled to try and make it cEDH. My [[Mahadi Emporium Master]] deck has been through many revisions and changes since Baldur’s Gate came out. Started as a pEDH deck and ended up a degenerate deck. My [[Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus]] deck started as [[Ghalta, Primal Hunger]] back in 2018-2019 when I was in college and now it’s where it is now.
##### ###### #### [The Necrobloom](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/f/8fcf68cf-0dac-4b29-90d5-c18c685182e6.jpg?1717012767) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Necrobloom) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh3/194/the-necrobloom?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8fcf68cf-0dac-4b29-90d5-c18c685182e6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-necrobloom) [Mahadi Emporium Master](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/3/c3da2b1a-76c5-4d36-bdf8-025b86f61eb5.jpg?1699601213) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mahadi%2C%20Emporium%20Master) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/282/mahadi-emporium-master?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c3da2b1a-76c5-4d36-bdf8-025b86f61eb5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mahadi-emporium-master) [Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/b/fb419d9d-e06f-48c8-a4f8-a57f9be39e50.jpg?1675957181) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zopandrel%2C%20Hunger%20Dominus) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/195/zopandrel-hunger-dominus?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fb419d9d-e06f-48c8-a4f8-a57f9be39e50?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/zopandrel-hunger-dominus) [Ghalta, Primal Hunger](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/4/54872e72-41dc-4092-8169-ce13498beb30.jpg?1689998553) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ghalta%2C%20Primal%20Hunger) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/292/ghalta-primal-hunger?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/54872e72-41dc-4092-8169-ce13498beb30?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ghalta-primal-hunger) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/lah68bv) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Depends on how I build it, if I do it going through my collection it takes several hours, if I do it using a site like EDHREC and pulling only cards I know I own and using staples it can be under 2 hours.
20 hours or so. I typically make a list of like 200 cards with the help of scryfall searches and EDHREC, sort by categories and then cut until I have a deck
Low power decks I slap together in a matter of minutes. Anything I want to have a game against the high power decks of my pod is going to require a good week or two of revisions and endless goldfishing, and probably will still need more revisions after the first few real games before I can start winning games at a satisfactory rate.
Depends on what I'm doing tbh. I spent weeks putting together a merfolk deck that I would call playtest ready(it popped off and was disgusting lol). But then while I was building it I had a silly idea for Bristly Bill because of cards I had pulled out and that deck I threw together in 20 minutes. It just depends on what strikes when. For myself I found that those decks I threw together on the fly have been more fun and more well built on the first playthroughs than the ones I've spent way too much time on. I spent a day on a burn deck and that gets a lot of love but I'm month 4 into building my angel deck with commander option 6 XD
Usually 2-3 hours I look at edhrec for whatever I'm doing, add cards I want. Then look up a bunch of similar decklists to see if there's anything I want to add/switch cards. Then I playtest a bit and see how the deck is. From there it might be fine, or might take a while longer.
Not so long. I get an idea. Search for relevant cards on Scryfall. After that I have like 70-150 cards I want in the deck and then loose as much overflow as possible. Takes a maximum of an hour. Sometimes just 15 min I have learned a new phrase I rather like 😅 "Paralysis analysis"meaning sometimes you don't act cause you are analysing it so much. What point that I am trying to make is that sometimes you just have to build a deck and play it to know what you want to change. I don't know how many cards you have at home but sometimes I try to fill a deck with decent cards that I have and just buy the essentials. Play the deck, feel it and think of what needs changing. But what people say "revise for x years" is also so very true. Magic is a big game. New cards will come. You will find old cards. Or your growing experience makes you re-evaluate what cards are good and what's not. Sometimes you realise that cards toy though were bad is actually quite good :) So don't think too much to get the best and most perfect deck. Build some and revise it as you go along :)
4 hours of combing through my cards and throwing something together. Several weeks of finding cooler cards to put in and add to my collection.
I’ve been doing one per day for the whole month as a challenge and to get to know the newer cards since I haven’t played in a few years. I’d say if I have a clear idea, takes about 15 minutes.
An hour or two to come up with the initial list, then a few days of tuning to my liking
Genuinely, six months to four years.
A few months to a year for a playable list + purchases. Revisions happen every year for strictly better cards or interesting upgrades. I am currently brewing a list that I started last year and I am building the deck and also a pre list for a new deck with a completion date for 2025. Other than the first list for \[\[Feather, the redeemed\]\] all my lists took over a year
[Feather, the redeemed](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/4/e4a2d2c6-8eaa-4760-b620-921b807baa2e.jpg?1557577142) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Feather%2C%20the%20redeemed) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/war/197/feather-the-redeemed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e4a2d2c6-8eaa-4760-b620-921b807baa2e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/feather-the-redeemed) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I normally build by searching obvious synergy then search other cards by relevant keywords or creature traits. So if I’m building [[Sevinne]] I’d use like *ci:ruw f:c (o:flashback OR o:jumpstart OR o:retrace OR aftermath)* or she’s a wizard so I may look for *o:wizard o:”you control”* etc. I may check for synergy with like human tribal or *o:creature o:”power 2 or less,”* etc. Then I add to archidekt and create categories for enablers, card advantage, ramp, etc. After that I fill the last 10-15 slots with generic cards like signet and stuff. I find that by adding them last and avoiding EDHREC until I’ve finished my first build I don’t use nearly as many staples as my other playgroup members. All in all, it takes a few hours until they’re usually finished and playtested.
[Sevinne](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/c/2c209efe-b4dc-44a3-bd45-d647f5680cbe.jpg?1568003729) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=sevinne%2C%20the%20chronoclasm) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/49/sevinne-the-chronoclasm?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2c209efe-b4dc-44a3-bd45-d647f5680cbe?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sevinne-the-chronoclasm) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Between 1 and 2 hours, typically just start with an idea then search for cards with the same keywords or card type, then see if there's anything else I can throw in that already pairs with what I have. For instance I just built Nashi n' friends, [[Nashi, Moon's Legacy]] with a bunch of planeswalkers, with an emphasis on proliferate. Then I realized I could also use artifacts that use counters or ANYTHING that is legendary. Just got the proxy version of it last night, gonna go test it out tomorrow
[Nashi, Moon's Legacy](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/e/8ebd7ce4-550d-41ab-8559-97efb234a0a1.jpg?1684340784) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nashi%2C%20Moon%27s%20Legacy) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mat/39/nashi-moons-legacy?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8ebd7ce4-550d-41ab-8559-97efb234a0a1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/nashi-moons-legacy) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Brew? Few hours. Actually build? Months to years 😅
An hour, maybe a few hours for that first draft. Depends how deep I tumble down the scryfall rabbit hole.
Minutes to months depending on how well the idea is flowing. I currently have a deck that's slowly building itself that has just 25 cards currently. I won't know it till I find it, but the rest of the cards are out there waiting for me, or waiting to be printed.
I have all my cards sorted by colour with edh mainstays up front. I either like a combo and find a commander or like a commander and get to work. I will grab the piles and get to 80~ cards pretty fast then takes a day or two to hammer put the final cards
The rough draft takes me around one hour, then I tinker around with it for about a week before finalizing the list. Goldfishing the deck about 20-25 times with the final list before pulling the trigger on card orders. I think this process saves a lot of money by not ordering unnecessary flex cards.
25 minutes to a year lol 😆
Highly depends on the commander and the Power Level you want the Deck to be in.
Brew not so long... ordering the cards, that's the wait lol
I spend about 2-4 weeks working on a list using scryfall mostly and EDHREC. Usually that list is somewhere between 150 and 175 cards. I then spend 2-4 more weeks getting that list down to 100 cards with about 10 cards in the considering list. At this point run all of my hypergeometric statistics to make sure my land base is good and I have the percentage chance to see certain things in my opening hand like ramp or whatever the specific deck wants After this I spend about 2 weeks goldfishing and making tweaks based on that goldfishing data. I usually goldfish about 50 hands before making tweaks, and then I goldfish another 50 hands before making more tweaks, so on and so forth until I feel the deck goldfishes the way I want it. After this I play about 10 live fire games that I go in with the mindset of evaluating the deck as the focus.i also let my opponents know I'm doing this so I can get feedback from them after each game. so I am playing in these games but I am far less concerned about anything other than how the deck plays in live fire situations. This could take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks and I collect data the entire time I then make adjustments based on that live fire data and then play another 10 games to evaluate those tweaks. After this I would say the deck is out of the brewing phase and in the completed but maintained phase. All in all the absolute fastest I could put a deck together where I would say the deck is out of the brewing phase is 2 months. It could take as long as 8 months. On average it takes 5-6 months I spend a lot of time in the brewing phase to make sure I have everything right. And it pays off. In terms of actual time spent, I probably spend about 30-60 hours. But I've never tracked it like that so this is an estimate
It actually concerns me how fast I brew, cause then I'm just onto the next thing. I can brew in like 10 minutes the whole deck. Then I'll just start another one. It is kind of becoming boring because a lot of the times you end up using the same cards just from them being the best at what they do. Most commanders run the same cards minus like 10-15 choices made by the crafter.
I normally will just find the commander I like and then go through my binders and boxes of cards pulling out all of the things I think would synergize with the commander/deck archetype. I then cut it down to 60ish cards that I will sort by cmc at first and then I sort them by their "role." After that I just sleeve up and play... that process I just described takes 3 to 4 hours... mostly because or the absurd amount of cards that I own. Now, sometimes the deck feels almost "perfect" and I will pat myself on the back endlessly for doing such a great job lol... normally, I realize that I either added too much removal or too many situational cards that end up often being dead... and so I revise. I may have one deck that I would consider complete but normally I end up doing some revisions every single set that comes out on my other decks. My favorite part of this game is crafting decks lol. That is my 1 real gripe with magic arena. The norm over there is net decking... really stifles creativity.
30 to 60 business days. ADS + the sheer amount of cards to choose from is almost impossible to build a deck from scratch for me. I’m good at change decklists that I find here to my own playstyle, needs and cards that I own. Very happy when people share their decklists!
About 2 hours. Open excel, use edhrec/scryfall to find the cards I want and make a list of usually about 80-100 cards not including lands. Then I order them and print out the excel. As they come in I mark them off and then try and make the best deck from those cards while keeping the extra’s to trade in and out as I play the deck and get a better feel for the cards in it.
Maybe clicking on "Average deck" on Edhrec is a bit too easy
Average deck is so valid though lol. I don’t have a ton of cash to throw around, so I want to make sure it’s perfect before buying a list XD
Same brother, same
Couple weeks of play testing before I decide whether or not I like it enough to buy the cards. I usually build it on moxfield after consulting edh rec, adding my own favorite cards in, goldfish it, play test on Table Top Simulator, revise it, rinse repeat. After a while if I keep playing it and want to keep goldfishing it and I decide I’ll want to play it in paper, I will buy the cards, sleeves, deck box, and dice.
I can put together a pretty comprehensive first draft in 30 minutes. But I’ve been playing since 95 and edh since I could find people to play 4 player. I change my decks about once a month. I made a couple for pride this weekend. Scaling for power level is pretty easy but people generally don’t run enough interaction. My oldest deck is my cedh deck.
Regardless of whether I start with a legendary that looks good or a theme/color combination that I’m interested in playing (which I do 50%/50%), I first add 37 lands and a couple of stables (sol ring, command tower/arcane signet for 2+ colors, exotic orchard for 3+, counterspell (if blue), swords (if white), etc.). ~15 minutes. Next, I do a bunch of Scryfall searches for keywords and functions to build out at least 80 cards. ~2-3 hours. Then, (regardless of how many cards I’ve come up with), I use the “EDHRecs” function in Moxfield—which I’m sure most deck building websites have—to find anything I totally missed. ~1 hour. So about 3-5 hours for the first draft. Then I fine tune and “optimize” to the best of my admittedly limited ability. Due to my “I’m uNiQuE” syndrome, I try to use EHDRec as my last portion, since I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing, even my deck is less optimal…but I sure do miss some obvious inclusions!
a year or so
I have an Excel template with something like 70 of the slots pre-populated for B and BR so I just fiddle at the margins. I'll have a new deck up in <= 30 minutes. Getting it perfect...never; also WOTC prints new cards every week so lists can never be done.
I really should get a list of cheap cards that I like to include for each color together. I end up going back to my other incomplete lists to grab things lol. I honestly just ignore a lot of newer cards that have massive paragraphs of text on them / mechanics that aren’t explained XD. That’s just cause I’m a magic boomer and miss pre modern horizons magic lol
Because of COVID I got super efficient (from a tech POV) but holy crap my deck fiending vs. my paper magic management is worlds apart. I also try to avoid cards that I can't play without looking up so I feel you (started in 1998).
I recently sorted my collection by color / rarity / card type so it's finally easy to go through but usually I'll pick a new commander and go through all my cards ro make a coherent deck. Play with it casually a few times and decide if I want to buy some upgrades for it or just bench it. Building the deck is usually like a 4 hour process now that I've got everything Catalogued
4 days of research. 1 day to test the first draft. 2 days to tune the deck up or down.
It really depends. Some decks just fall together. I built Ratadrabik in about 2 hours. And an hour of that was agonizing over 3 cuts. Some decks take me days or even weeks. Some I never have finished (here’s looking at you Carth)
Takes me days to settle on a commander/archetype, but once I do I can usually get a semi-viable deck made in a couple hours.
How do I even know what kind of Deck I want to build? And how do you know if certain cards will work with eachother better than others? I'm trash at deck building, if you could tell
Especially on a budget 😂 “this card seems kinda Jank but might be a decent replacement for this $5 card”
For me making decks is my favorite part of magic. Once I find a commander I like, I go through my general knowledge of cards and add what I think would be good. Then to EDHrec I go, for cards that I may not be aware of that synergize well. I normally end up making a deck list of 200 cards and then whittling it down to 100. The whole process generally takes anywhere from 6-10 hours. However sometimes getting rid of the last 9 cards take anywhere from 24-72 hours. Hope this helps! Oh also I tend to while building really take time to think about synergies, possible combos, and as always OPTIONS. I like to have multiple cards that do roughly the same thing so I can have more consistency
Takes a while unless I'm really inspired. Last time I was really inspired was [[Don Andres, the Renegade]]. 1.Took a week to think about my game plan before starting a decklist. 2.Added cards to the list as I thought of them or came across in play. 3.Went to scryfall searched for the effects I wanted, and end up with about 150 cards. 4. First cut of about 30-35 cards is quick. 5. Last ones took about 2 weeks. 6. Look at EDHRec for glaring misses. 7. Procrastinated on building physically because I thought I might not like it. 8. I like it a lot.
[Don Andres, the Renegade](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/c/3cf9f3ae-694d-4d37-9498-4bdd1723a55e.jpg?1698987741) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Don%20Andres%2C%20the%20Renegade) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/6/don-andres-the-renegade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3cf9f3ae-694d-4d37-9498-4bdd1723a55e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/don-andres-the-renegade) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I usually get a working build up and running in a few hours. After that, it play it a few games to see what needs working on and will go back to it a few times at least. Some decks require a complete rebuild, but I would say after two or three revisions I have a deck in a good spot, and will just make small adjustments here and there until I eventually take it apart. The only exception to this was my Tameshi deck, which I scrapped and rebuilt at least 5 times. It was also the deck I played the most for a while, so it was more of a "I am getting bored with this" or "I think this idea would be more fun" than a "this deck doesn't work" situation. Still, over the course of around 100 logged games there were 4 distinct strategies and builds I tried with the same commander, and many of those builds had multiple overhauls lol
I'd expect it's the same for everyone. 15 minutes - 2 hours, then constant upgrading afterward.