So, I have a deck I've been building for quite a while, over 5-6 years now. It's been my main deck for playing magic, and I'm wondering what else I can do to it to make it better. Honestly, I'm pretty bad at deckbuilding, and my strategy with this was to just throw the best stuff I could find in it and hope for the best. There really wasn't a strategy when I started building it, other than to make it not bad so I could have games that lasted a bit with my friends. However, I've been losing an awful lot lately, and I'm hoping to change that.
So, my deck is here: https://www.mtgsalvation.com/decks/6328-black-green-main#Details:overview
What can I add/remove to improve the quality of the deck? Is there anything I should change about my playstyle? I'm pretty conservative when it comes to playing, and I've been trying to go a bit out of my comfort zone when playing. Although I've been playing for a while, there was a gap in the middle where I wasn't playing all that much, and I haven't been keeping up with newer sets. The last cards I bought were from M15, and everything newer has been trades with my friends.
I don't care about legality, as evidenced by the fact that I have deathrite shaman in here. I'm just playing casual with my friends. I'd prefer to keep the cost down, but trades are favored, as I have over 20k cards in my collection. (Long story, but someone donated all their commons and about 200 rares to me a few years ago).
Frankly, this thing looks messy. Taking it apart and rebuilding it with a proper strategy from the ground up will probably be much easier than trying to change it into something more coherent.
First, the deck is too big, 81 cards if I counted correctly. Not in itself a deathsentence, though keeping to or at least close to the deck size minimum makes a deck much stronger and more consistent. The big issue is, that you are not running nearly enough lands for a deck this size. It's not even a third of the deck, yet you are trying to play big and expensive spells. If that is what you want to be doing, about 40% of the deck should be lands with a lot more ramp among the nonland cards, preferably land search, since lands survive much better than fragile creatures.
Second, try to get multiples of your best spells, optimally a full 4 copies of any centerpieces. If you don't have them and don't want to get them, at least try to get close analogs. This will increase consistency by a lot.
Third, pure life gain is BAD. It does not affect the board at all, and it doesn't deal with the problem. It may buy you a turn, but your opponent can just keep stabbing you. The way to stay alive in the game is to kill what is killing you. So no Nourish, use Doom Blade or a couple other of the overwhelming amount of black removal. Life gain can have a niche place in the sideboard against burn heavy decks, where you essentially trade your life gain card with their burn spells. But usually, if you want life gain at all, you want it as either a side effect or as an additional option, not the main purpose. Just look at Kitchen Finks, Vampire Nighthawk, Vraska's Contempt, etc. for what good life gain looks like.
Alright, thanks for your feedback. I had a feeling that it was super messy, and that I'd be better off rebuilding, but I just don't have the budget for that. I'll take nourish and the other life gain out, and I have a few removal spells I could throw in. I definitely want to get more of deathrite shaman, as that's kinda my favorite card in the deck right now, after the Apex Predator. I'll add in a few more lands, and try to trim down the overall number of different cards in here.
If rebuilding wasn't an option, what strategy could I salvage out of this?
What else could I take out? What should I try to get duplicates of?
I don't see how rebuilding the deck could not be an option. After all, you don't need to get any new cards for that. Either way, rebuilding or just changing, you have to answer a few questions for yourself:
1) What is your goal with the deck? I don't mean "to win" but rather why did you build this deck, what do you want it to accomplish during the game. It can be something as simple as "I want to play Vraska", it can also be to pull off some Rube-Goldberg like combination of cards, etc. What will give you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when playing the deck? What will make it fun to play? This will give your deck an identity and a direction.
2) What style of play is required or most suitable to accomplish your goal? Is it an aggroish thing, where you come out fast and try to overwhelm the opponent before he can stabilize? Will it take time and thus more control elements? Do you need ramp? Etc.
3) What colors are you playing? The answers to the first two questions will guide you here. Only play the colors that are nessessary. Play as few colors as possible.
4) How are you going to win? A goal often isn't a win condition, so make sure, that you know, how the deck will end the game, preferably in your favor.
5) How can the opponent mess up your game and how can you stop him from doing so? Include answers to expected troublesome cards, and include cards that mess wih your opponent. Unless you are a fast combo deck, or pure aggro, you must be able to interact with the other player(s).
Examine the cards in your deck and determine wether they adress any of this. If not, take them out. Just being a cool card that fits the colors is not enough to warrant inclusion in a deck. Also make sure, that you are not pulling in too many directions. Ideally, you should have one goal and one win condition for the deck, no more.
So, my deck is here: https://www.mtgsalvation.com/decks/6328-black-green-main#Details:overview
What can I add/remove to improve the quality of the deck? Is there anything I should change about my playstyle? I'm pretty conservative when it comes to playing, and I've been trying to go a bit out of my comfort zone when playing. Although I've been playing for a while, there was a gap in the middle where I wasn't playing all that much, and I haven't been keeping up with newer sets. The last cards I bought were from M15, and everything newer has been trades with my friends.
I don't care about legality, as evidenced by the fact that I have deathrite shaman in here. I'm just playing casual with my friends. I'd prefer to keep the cost down, but trades are favored, as I have over 20k cards in my collection. (Long story, but someone donated all their commons and about 200 rares to me a few years ago).
First, the deck is too big, 81 cards if I counted correctly. Not in itself a deathsentence, though keeping to or at least close to the deck size minimum makes a deck much stronger and more consistent. The big issue is, that you are not running nearly enough lands for a deck this size. It's not even a third of the deck, yet you are trying to play big and expensive spells. If that is what you want to be doing, about 40% of the deck should be lands with a lot more ramp among the nonland cards, preferably land search, since lands survive much better than fragile creatures.
Second, try to get multiples of your best spells, optimally a full 4 copies of any centerpieces. If you don't have them and don't want to get them, at least try to get close analogs. This will increase consistency by a lot.
Third, pure life gain is BAD. It does not affect the board at all, and it doesn't deal with the problem. It may buy you a turn, but your opponent can just keep stabbing you. The way to stay alive in the game is to kill what is killing you. So no Nourish, use Doom Blade or a couple other of the overwhelming amount of black removal. Life gain can have a niche place in the sideboard against burn heavy decks, where you essentially trade your life gain card with their burn spells. But usually, if you want life gain at all, you want it as either a side effect or as an additional option, not the main purpose. Just look at Kitchen Finks, Vampire Nighthawk, Vraska's Contempt, etc. for what good life gain looks like.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
If rebuilding wasn't an option, what strategy could I salvage out of this?
What else could I take out? What should I try to get duplicates of?
1) What is your goal with the deck? I don't mean "to win" but rather why did you build this deck, what do you want it to accomplish during the game. It can be something as simple as "I want to play Vraska", it can also be to pull off some Rube-Goldberg like combination of cards, etc. What will give you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when playing the deck? What will make it fun to play? This will give your deck an identity and a direction.
2) What style of play is required or most suitable to accomplish your goal? Is it an aggroish thing, where you come out fast and try to overwhelm the opponent before he can stabilize? Will it take time and thus more control elements? Do you need ramp? Etc.
3) What colors are you playing? The answers to the first two questions will guide you here. Only play the colors that are nessessary. Play as few colors as possible.
4) How are you going to win? A goal often isn't a win condition, so make sure, that you know, how the deck will end the game, preferably in your favor.
5) How can the opponent mess up your game and how can you stop him from doing so? Include answers to expected troublesome cards, and include cards that mess wih your opponent. Unless you are a fast combo deck, or pure aggro, you must be able to interact with the other player(s).
Examine the cards in your deck and determine wether they adress any of this. If not, take them out. Just being a cool card that fits the colors is not enough to warrant inclusion in a deck. Also make sure, that you are not pulling in too many directions. Ideally, you should have one goal and one win condition for the deck, no more.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)