I had a few readings on my notes on urban planning back when I was still reviewing for the board exam regarding the collected effort & the role of each specific sector of the community, whether it is a town or city, in the aspect of progress & development. From the central business district up to the outlying housing areas, they act in harmony as each one gives and takes what benefits it can produce and provide.

In the Magic: the Gathering setting, it is sort of a list of components that aims to achieve the goal of winning the game or match. May it be an aggro deck, a midrange, or a control archetype, it is still the same objective. Getting the opponent’s life total to zero sound like pretty basic but the game itself, is very complicated so coming up with the ideal deck strategy is essential.

Let us take one example in the decklist below.

Standard Blue/Red Spells
Creatures
3 Brazen Borrower
2 Bonecrusher Giant
2 Crackling Drake
1 Gadwick, the Wizened
4 Goblin Electromancer
2 Pteramander
4 Stormwing Entity

Spells
2 Chemister’s Insight
4 Flame Prophecy
2 Lofty Denial
4 Opt
4 Shock
1 Scorching Dragonfire
2 Thrill of Possibility

Lands
4 Steam Vents
2 Swiftwater Cliffs
8 Island
9 Mountain

Let us discuss each specific role in the deck and we start with the creatures. Goblin Electromancer is basically what makes your life easier. It makes your spells one mana-cost cheaper to cast, thus making you use your mana more efficiently and can accommodate more spells in a turn.

For the dual-purpose type, we have Brazen Borrower as a bounce spell & evasive creature all in one card and Stormwing Entity. The latter is somewhat interesting because it ‘benefits’ when you cast an instant/sorcery by reducing its casting cost. This is its take value while they give is when it enters the battlefield, you Scry for 2 meaning you can dig for more spells that can trigger its Prowess ability.

Almost all of the creatures in the deck have a role to play to gain card and board advantage, and not only for the sole purpose of attacking your opponents.

The card drawers (Chemister’s Insight, Opt, and Thrill of Possibility) are your “producer sector” in the community/deck, giving you enough gas to cast more creature as threats and to deal with the opposing creatures.

I think you already get the idea that efficient deck building is composed of card components that play a role and the collective effort to achieve the goal of winning. That is one of the first questions to ask when checking on the cards to include in the deck, especially when a new Magic: the Gathering set arrives in the format. This also applicable during the choices on the sideboard by knowing the metagame & what deck archetypes the opponent might play.

That’s a wrap. Until next time.