How to Build a Winning Magic the Gathering Arena Deck
Whether you’re just getting started with Magic the Gathering Arena or looking to up your game, building a powerful and balanced deck is key. To craft an unstoppable deck, it’s important to understand the card sets available and how to identify the perfect cards for your play style.
Understand the Different Card Types and Colors.
One of the most essential steps when building a Magic the Gathering Arena deck is to understand the different card types and colors available. In general, cards can be divided intoSpells, Creatures, Planeswalkers and Lands. Each color, represented by Mana Symbols (White, Blue, Red, Green and Black), has their own set of abilities that can be used in various combinations to form your strategy. Consider what types of cards and colors are best suited to your overall strategy when making your selection.
Consider Your Deck’s Core Strategy.
Before selecting the cards for your deck, it is important to consider what type of strategy you wish to employ. When constructing your deck, there are several factors to take into account including card and mana costs, aggressiveness, tempo and resiliency. Consider playing with token or card draw strategies if you prefer a slower-paced game or look into creatures with haste if you prefer early aggression. Additionally, think about having multiple win conditions that will allow you to adapt your strategy during the match.
Learn From Other Players & Decks.
Learning from other players is one of the best ways to improve your own Magic the Gathering Arena deck. Play against decks with similar strategies and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Pay attention to what cards you feel uncomfortable playing against, as well as their board state at different points of the game, and then incorporate these elements into your own deckbuilding strategy. Additionally, look for popular decks online that are succeeding in tournaments or tournaments series and learn why they work so that you can apply it to your own games.
Choose a Favorable Mana Curve & Learn Landsmithing Techniques.
Mana curve is the arrangement of card costs within a deck list. A favorable mana curve for magic arena decks is when you have cards that are usually cheap during the early turns and some more expensive, higher impact cards towards the late game. Learning landsmithing techniques is important when constructing your deck as it allows you to quickly decide which lands to keep, or mulligan away. Landsmithing helps you ensure that no matter what draws pattern you get, you will be able to consistently produce mana throughout the entire game. This is necessary for any type of competitive play and should be practiced to help give yourself an edge over opponents.
Complete the Deck with Support Cards and Sideboard Cards
Support cards help make your deck better in various situations and add to its overall consistency. These cards are generally cheap and simple but can end up completely shifting the tide of the game in your favor. Examples of support cards include disruption spells, card draw spells, defense creatures, and more. Sideboard cards can also be used to give you an extra edge against certain decks by giving you access to specific answers that are tailored towards beating certain strategies. This is especially useful when playing in tournaments where you cannot predict exactly which strategies you may come up against.
