Improving Your Decks
By C. J. Williams

Deck design is not easy. There have been whole teams of players dedicated to deck design for the purposes of coming up with that one good deck to win the tourneys with, so it’s clear that it may take some time to become competitive outside of your living room table.

Becoming good at anything requires three things: 1) patience, 2) knowledge, and 3) careful planning. Each are important during game play and each are important during deck creation. Today we focus on improving these things in deck creation. If you are new to the game or simply find that you have trouble competing in the current environment, you should consider these things. They can mean a great deal to the success of your deck.

Perils of Deck Creation
Impatience and a lack of knowledge and careful planning are common traits of new or inexperienced players in any card game. These traits are demonstrated in the mistakes they make. Below is a list of the most common mistakes of new players, each with a brief discussion of how those traits are manifested.

Mistake #1: Lack of Focus. I think all players fall victim to this every now and then; some more than others. However, it is the most common mistake of beginners. Using only 1 or 2 copies of every neat card you can stuff in your deck is not going to get you anywhere and is going to be more frustrating than fun to play.

Mistake #2: Seeking Originality. Every deck reflects the playing style of its owner through unit choice whether its an original deck or uses a common theme, so a player should not be concerned with always trying to be original and doing something no one else has done. At one time there were thousands of players, but only about 10 useful deck themes, so the likelihood of a player coming up with a whole new deck theme is unlikely, particularly if the player isn’t that good.

Mistake #3: Too many cards. I can’t stress this enough. Most decks with more than 63 cards are going to fail more than 50% of the time, unless built by a superior deck builder, and even then it would be an oddity.

Ways to improve
There are many ways to improve your game, but the following suggestions address the above mistakes and will go the furthest in improving your deck-making skills.

• Choose a theme. Having a theme for your deck is essential for deck design. Without a theme, your deck can have no focus. If your skills are still in the development stage, its best to stick to commonly used themes in order to maintain competitiveness in the current environment. There are lots of themes out there that work well, and a few that work great. Observe the playing environment to find a theme you are comfortable with. If you think you have found a new deck type, test it out in private games. Keep it out of the tourney scene until you are sure it can compete.

• Whittle down your card choices. There are lots of fun cards in this game, but if you’re trying to use them all at once, you won’t experience the fun, but only frustration. Instead, choose a few good cards that work well together to accomplish your theme and be sure to have multiple copies of each unit in relation to how valuable it is to the deck’s success, and how many you want in play at one time. Keep your deck small to help you maintain your focus and to help your ability to draw the right card when you need it.

• Hone it and own it. When you have constructed your deck, test it as much as you can. After a few games, if you find that certain cards are not being utilized as much as you like, find a way to increase how much they see play or else replace them with something that will see more play. If there are cards that do see play, but aren’t proving effective, replace them with units you think may work better to accomplish your theme or support your primary units.

• Get advice. Don’t just work on your decks alone. Isolation only leads to frustration. As the Bible says, "There’s a frustrating of plans where there is no confidential talk." Get opinions from more experienced players and consider what they suggest. Sometimes even ideas you don’t like very much turn out to be the best thing for your deck. Thinking outside the box is hard to do, but if you look to someone on the outside, then you can broaden your vision of your deck and its theme.

• Start a team. Even the best players turn to making teams. A team’s members share their biggest secrets with each other in the hopes of making that one great deck. This has proven effective for many players, making good players great.

Remember these things. Keep them close in mind. Because, when you find your deck isn’t doing all it could be, the trouble lies with the one building the deck, not the deck itself. Think about what you can do to improve your own deck-building skills and apply what you have read here. You’ll soon find yourself in a higher echelon of game success.

Thoughts or comments? Visit the message board thread for this article here.

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About the Author
C. J. has been a player of the game since 2003 and was the Text Finalization Leader of the IDC Rules Sub-committee during FOTR and SAV. He is currently the Public Affairs Editor. C. J. has written many other articles for the IDC and Rebelbasers.com and has been a member of both the Wizards and Rebelbasers forums since January of 2004, posting under the name Corjay.