With the Magic: the Gathering decklist info almost published in real-time online, it is just a breeze to copy a list and use it for building a deck. The question now is what happens if this info is not available to you?

Building a successful Magic: The Gathering deck from scratch can be challenging, but it’s also one of the most rewarding aspects of the game. Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Determine your strategy: The first step in building any deck is to decide on your strategy. Do you want to play an aggressive deck that tries to win quickly or a more controlling deck that aims to outlast your opponent? Once you have a clear idea of your strategy, you can start selecting cards that support that game plan.
2. Choose your colors: Magic: The Gathering has five colors, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Depending on your strategy, you may want to focus on one or two colors that complement each other. For example, if you want to play an aggressive deck, you might choose red and white, which both have a lot of cheap, efficient creatures.
3. Look for synergies: Once you have your colors and strategy, start looking for cards that work well together. This can be as simple as choosing creatures that have abilities that support each other, or as complex as building a combo deck that relies on a specific combination of cards.
4. Pay attention to the mana curve: Mana curve refers to the distribution of mana costs in your deck. You want to make sure you have a good mix of cheap, efficient creatures and spells, as well as more expensive, powerful cards that you can play later in the game. A good rule of thumb is to have a few one- and two-mana cards, a lot of three- and four-mana cards, and a handful of five- and six-mana cards.
5. Include removal spells: Removal spells are cards that allow you to get rid of your opponent’s creatures or other threats. It’s important to include a few of these in your deck, as they can help you deal with threats that your creatures can’t handle.
6. Test and refine: Once you’ve built your deck, it’s time to test it out and see how it performs. You may find that certain cards aren’t working as well as you’d hoped, or that your mana curve needs some tweaking. Be open to making changes and refining your deck until you find the right balance.

By following these tips and putting in some time and effort, you can build a successful Magic: The Gathering deck from scratch that can compete with the best of them.

Merfolks tribe has been in the Standard support in the Ixalan block both in card components and the set’s storyline and folklore. They were eventually fallen out of flavor in the metagame as the Simic shifted into infinite turns via Nexus of Fate and the recent Simic Ramp deck. Today we look at how this deck archetype can adopt new cards from Core Set 2020. Here below is an example decklist (sourced from MTG Goldfish):

4 Benthic Biomancer
4 Deeproot Elite
4 Kumena’s Speaker
4 Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
4 Merfolk Mistbinder
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Silvergill Adept

2 Spell Pierce
4 Deeproot Waters
4 Incubation/Incongruity

6 Forest
4 Hinterland Harbor
6 Island
2 Simic Guildgate
4 Unclaimed Territory

The list looks to be stable already but we will try to have a few edits. Here are some M20 cards that are our option for the main deck.

Unsummon – I am wishing for a Vapor Snag comeback but this is okay. The iconic Blue bounce card is very suited for Blue tempo decks and for this tribe, it is quite essential just to bounce off blockers and attack for huge chunks of damage. This is also useful to save your dudes from spot removals and also to utilize another ETB effect.

Dungeon Geists – This card reprint reminded me of the Spirits deck in Innistrad Standard days. Those builds were very powerful because of Hexproof Spirit lords and Phantasmal Image. For the current meta, this can be your sideboard for Green Stompy or Gruul Aggro decks. I’d have one main deck just to spice up my list.

Bride born Cutthroat – This is a good Flashy two drop but it won’t get counters unless you adjust your build to be playing mostly on opponents’ turns, and having more counterspells. That is already the current Mono-Blue tempo route instead of the Merfolk tribal.

Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer – Her plus 1 loyalty ability is more of gaining your board if you curved from the first turn. it is quite situational though, as you might just drop her on the later turns as you’d prefer to have another Merfolk to expand your board position.

I looked on the Green spoiler list for Core set 2020 but most are four your sideboard options which I think don’t need much explanation. These notables are Veil of Summer, Nightpack Ambusher, Shifting Ceratops and Loaming Shaman.

Going back into the main deck posted above, I would change some of the cards specifically Deeproot Waters and the split card Incubation/Incongruity. I am looking to protect more of my early critters so as to deal damage as much as possible. Here is the breakdown of the new spell lineup:

2 Dive Down
2 Icon of Ancestry
4 Unsummon
2 Spell Pierce

I am also cutting a Kumena for Dungeon Geists as the efficiency is lessened with the Deeproot Waters removed. I would also edit the lands to have Breeding Pool instead of 4 basics and Temple of Mystery for the guildgates. The new land list is:

4 Breeding Pool
4 Forest
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Island
2 Temple of Mystery
4 Unclaimed Territory

Do you have a current build of Merfolks that you would like to share and discuss? Just comment them on the box below.

That is a wrap for this deck tech. Until the next blog post.

Here is another deck archetype I’ve come up with for the Gatecrash Standard format. The reference to the idea was from my card pool mate Charles wherein he made a Simic deck with flash critters combined with tempo & counter spells.

I’ve noticed the lack of spot removals in the list and so my third color of choice was Red, also basing the idea from Saito’s Gruul Aggro.

Here is the list I’ve come up with:

Lands
4 Stomping Ground
4 Breeding Pool
4 Steam Vents
3 Hinterland Harbor
2 Forest
4 Rootbound Crag
1 Island

Creatures
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
2 Yeva, Nature’s Herald
4 Experiment One
4 Wolfir Avenger
4 Flinthoof Boar
2 Wolfir Silverheart
2 Strangleroot Geist
4 Arbor Elf

Spells
4 Spell Rupture
2 Rancor
2 Simic Charm
4 Searing Spear

The deck’s usual aggressive start is curving into Experiment One, Burning Tree Emissary and Pumba err Flinthoof Boar. It also has resilient critters against removal with the Wolfir Avenger and the green geist. Yeva also makes things interesting for the deck, in which you can play around counterspells.

Spell Rupture is Mana Leak with most of your creatures at 3-power. Also, Rancor helps achieve that aside from giving Trample.

Searing Spears are your sole spot removal against most creatures in the format and by far the popular choice among other aggro decks.

Let me know what you think of the deck archetype or for any sideboard suggestions. Just hit the comment box below.

Until the next post and thanks for reading.