Anybody had success with 61 card decks?
Standard forum
Posted on Jan. 29, 2017, 6 p.m. by Argy
I know that one of the Pros runs 61 card decks on occasion.
I'm in the position where I absolutely can't cut one more card from my deck, so I've decided to go with 61.
Anybody here run that amount?
You can always cut a card. A 61th card slightly changes the consistency of your deck. The only time I've seen a 61 card deck being played is Legacy Nicfit or a deck running a lot of draw like Brainstorm.
I saw the deck you mean and with a deck that wants to cast cheap spells and curves out at 5, with it needing to hit 3 for most of its stuff, you just cut a single land.
January 29, 2017 7:08 p.m.
Argeaux,
You might be interested in Frank Karsten's article on this subject, Is Playing More Than 60 Cards Always a Bad Idea?
January 29, 2017 8:52 p.m.
61 is fine sometimes you just have to do it. Jeff Hoogland has had success with it and at most it might require you to add an extra land unless you already run a slightly higher amount than you would with 60. I have never played with a 60 card deck INTENTIONALLY sometimes I forget to take out a sideboard card or something and its never really destroyed me I won when it happened.
January 29, 2017 9:23 p.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #7
In my haste to write a deck list for a PPTQ I ended with a 61 card main deck...
Lost the Win and in for top 8, if I let empirical evidence stand...I'd argue that it is similar to the fetch land thinning library arguement.
Sure it exists, but the likelyhood of it negatively impacting a game are negligible.
January 30, 2017 4:32 a.m.
OK. I'll try going back to 24 Lands.
For some reason I've been getting hopeless land drops of late.
I don't want to put my deck list here as people have a tendency on this site to want to completely rip lists apart, rather than just suggesting one card to swap.
January 30, 2017 7:37 a.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #9
In my Modern and Legacy decks that run a ton of draw and tutors, I run 61 cards with no perceivable ill effects. If it's a straightforward, linear deck like Zoo or Burn, I always run 60.
January 30, 2017 11:09 a.m.
Actually I bit the bullet, dropped one of my "essential" Creatures, and left the Lands at 25.
I'll see how that rolls.
January 31, 2017 12:40 a.m.
MagicalHacker says... #11
I know how tough it is to kill your babies, but it's worth it!
January 31, 2017 1:14 a.m.
I wa talking through my choice with my partner and he said that, when the card I took out hits the field, he doesn't care that much.
When other cards do, he cares a LOT.
Mind you, tonight I was mana screwed then mana flooded.
This deck hates me.
January 31, 2017 7:49 a.m.
Argeaux,
Though it's about Modern, I was reminded of your thread when I read this article. Regarding the Burn list about 3/4 of the way down:
"My favorite part about TJ's decklist is that he's running 61 cards even though many people believe that to be wrong. The reason behind it is simple: nineteen lands is too few and twenty lands is too much. So he's compromising by playing twenty lands and having an extra Lightning Helix in his maindeck."
February 15, 2017 3:14 p.m.
After playing in a couple of tournaments I can say that I haven't missed the card I took out, and I think the deck is performing better.
It is interesting to see another perspective on 61 cards.
It's really, REALLY weird how much of a difference one extra land can make.
Pieguy396 says... #2
Do you have a decklist? That could be helpful :)
January 29, 2017 6:59 p.m.