Deck building strategies

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on March 13, 2020, 7:06 p.m. by GhostChieftain

I have been around this site for quite some time and always see people with issues getting down to 100 cards. This seems to me like a problem that we as a community can help each other fix not only by giving suggestions of cuts, but also by giving examples of how to make the choices of cuts themselves. So here I ask that some of the more enfranchised players give their tips and tricks to anything that has to do with deckbuilding.

GhostChieftain's guide to getting down to 100 cards Show

So you have too many cards in your deck, huh? Got a little carried away with the idea machine and ended up with 120 instead. Well have no fear, you can fix it. What you will want to do is take x of your highest cmc cards where x is equal to the number over 100 you are, and set them aside. If you have a bunch of cards that are tied at one of your top end slots, just arbitrarily grab the ones at that cmc until you have reached your number. Next, we will take a look at each card in that side c pile and decide one by one if the card you are looking at is better/cooler than another card in your 100. If it is, then swap a card from your deck to your x pile. If it is not, put it on the bottom of your x pile to look at again just in case. After repeating this process until you have looked at each card in your x pile 2 or 3 times and are satisfied with the result.

That all being said, there are certainly times to ask for help and I myself will do so time to time. This is just a way to try and mitigate trying to help cut way too many cards from a deck that is not your own.

Once again, please feel free to add how you do anything with your deckbuilding, because if we help each other we will all have more fun.

MagicalHacker says... #2

I made a video specifically to showcase my technique for cutting cards down fast:

March 14, 2020 4:07 a.m. Edited.

Scytec says... #3

I personally mostly agree with MagicalHacker's categorical approach. Though I personally follow The Command Zone's outline with some caveats.

10 Card Draw, 10 Ramp, 5 Board Wipes, 5 Spot Removal

The caveat being it is heavily dependant on your strategy and your commander. For example, if you're playing Tatyova, Benthic Druid it may be fine to drop to 7 Card Draw spells and 8 Ramp spells because you have a very consistent option freely accessible. Honestly if you start here, your decks overall will become more consistent and you will move from the issue of cutting cards to tuning you deck, which in my opinion is much harder. Hackers approach is an excellent way to go about it though. Just make sure you have the tools necessary to accomplish your goals. Good luck! Happy brewing.

I will say GhostChieftain does have a point though, there is something to be said for lowering your CMC curve. I, as a rule, like to be somewhere around 3 CMC average overall. Except in my Mayael the Anima deck where i need tons of big creatures to utilize her ability. So...caveats everywhere. Haha

March 14, 2020 7:46 a.m. Edited.