Original Deck Concepts
General forum
Posted on May 12, 2013, 6:14 p.m. by DancesWithGoblins
After creating over 50 decks, some of which are original, some of which are not. I'm starting to have trouble coming up with an interesting idea. How do people get their deck concepts to build upon?
Its easy, I made a deck based off flavor texts. It also helps to do things people don't use often like extort. No one really finds it viable. Do a mono black mill, or even just blue. They normally are both not one or the other, etc.
May 12, 2013 6:33 p.m.
cartwheelnurd says... #4
pick some colors and try to make it work in standard.
May 12, 2013 8:17 p.m.
I generally find a mechanic and try to build around it, not necessarily in a Standard fashion, but just anything that you would find as an interesting pair/combo with a certain mechanic.
Also, if you want to get people into the game, offer to make decks out of the extra cards (generally just commons and uncommons) you have. It's interesting to make several decks for them and see which color they like best, what archetype, etc. It's like trying to find someone's Magic identity through trial and error.
And believe me, I've been there too.
May 12, 2013 8:47 p.m.
pokeyrabbit says... #6
i always find a crazy mythic that nobody likes and try to make it work
May 12, 2013 8:52 p.m.
Draconos89 says... #7
I personally lok in my rare binder and say hey thats something stupid lets make it work. if you look at my squeak squeak BOOM great example
May 13, 2013 2:14 a.m.
pokeyrabbit says... #8
i have been trying to make guild feud work in modern but to no success. if you want to try that
May 13, 2013 6:31 a.m.
I like pokeyrabbit's idea of taking a Mythic nobody else likes and making it work... the most recent one being Maze's End . - My attempt: A-Maze-ing
Although it doesn't have to be Mythic... nor something that others don't like. I personally HATE Trait Doctoring , and will continue to shoot down pretty much any ones comments on how "there could be uses" for it. - In an attempt to show how 'useless' its 'best uses' are, I made a Standard deck, attempting to make it as useful as possible. - It actually turned out much better than I was expecting... (the card still sucks though): Traits of the Dryad
Another thing I like to do is take "obvious" cards and do something less obvious. - Notion Thief is an obvious include in many, if not all sideboards that use B/U. This made me want to make a deck around it. Using Whispering Madness , you can make the opponent(s) discard their entire hand, and you get to draw mass amounts. - This can be deadly, both to the opponent and yourself... Laboratory Maniac makes a great win-con. The deck: Maniac's Killing Thoughts
Going back and looking at 'forgotten' cards is great for ideas as well. Heartless Summoning combined well with Crypt Ghast as multiple forms of Black Ramp... combined with Pontiff of Blight , you have mass amounts of Extort, and mass amounts of mana to pay for it on each spell. - Heartless Strings
May 13, 2013 8:12 a.m.
i think of a concept depending on my personality and emotion. like i mad mono blue talrand because.....well im a very antisocial person who likes to research things.....so it matches me pretty well
May 21, 2013 8:21 p.m.
the3rdH0kage says... #11
Find some cards you like that work kinda well together and work from there.
May 21, 2013 8:28 p.m.
I start with a new idea about how to win or a small combo (by this I mean not necessarily an infinite combo) that worked surprisingly well.
Sometimes I dig through someone else's unwanted cards and try to do something with them - maybe add some extra stuff in over time as usual later. The extra constraints of only being able to work with what has been passed on by someone else can shut down the glaring light of the glory of the well known so that something else can come to mind. Maybe go dig through a common box at a store.
I also start sometimes by thinking of a way to counter / compete with / survive some other deck I have playtested / played against.
May 21, 2013 8:30 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #13
I like to build my decks around a specific mechanic, currently this is my favorite deck that I've built: Corpsejack Counters
This deck is built around using Corpsejack Menace to double +1/+1 on all my creatures so I can deal out some stupid damage.
May 22, 2013 1:23 a.m.
GreatSword says... #14
Let the durdle flow through you.
Take cards that intrigue you and find ways to abuse them. Back it up with solid cards and a great mana base. Playtest them against usual format pillars and find weakness you can exploit. Ignore scoffs and raised eyebrows, and enjoy the moment your opponent has to stop and read the card he's never seen, much less thought of.
May 22, 2013 1:40 a.m.
I think it's generally the same for everyone building a casual, non-competitive deck; we look for cards/mechanic we like/find interesting and we build our deck around it. Its also the same with me, with the addition that I highly value the overall theme of the deck. I like decks that have a strong theme in it, and I don't think I'll be making any deck that lacks a theme (no matter how strong it is)
My first deck Rotting Herd, is built from Shepherd of Rot . With "diseased zombies'' as the main theme.
The idea for The IRS Protocol comes from Contaminated Ground with "government tax agency" as the theme.
And Enter Ravnica! is purely theme based. I was interested in making a deck containing the strongest cards in each Ravnican Guild. Its actually pretty weak in play, but I really like the theme.
May 22, 2013 3:22 a.m.
hiddengibbons says... #17
One idea for deck building I've had for awhile is to build a deck that plays it's own game. Like using Omniscience , Enter the Infinite , Laboratory Maniac , and then draw two cards. Combos are always interesting mechanics, but they also have a way of failing to go off when their needed.
Saber993 says... #2
I find a mechanic in a new set I find interesting and build around it.
May 12, 2013 6:16 p.m.