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Deck Size Etiquette

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Deck Size Etiquette

Postby LordMalekTheRedKnight » Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:55 pm

Hey all :)

Kate and I are still new to MtG, so much so that we havent played against anyone else yet (barring the introduction that Dan & Slate gave me at the WHW weekend).

we've read in the rulebook that the minimum deck size (beyond intro games) is 60 cards, but no upper limit is stated (although you cant have more than 4 copies of anything except basic land). i was wondering what the maximum deck size is that everyone here uses/plays against? specifically with regards to the games that might get played at future meetups (WHW/Bristol/Dan's club etc), but i'm also interested in hearing about games further afield (Culven etc).

for example, would anyone object to 70 or 80 card decks? what about anything bigger than that? or does no-one care outside of a competitive environment?

i know its not exactly like 40K, where turning up with more points than your opponent has a direct impact on game balance, but im still not sure if turning up to a pick-up game with a 70/80 -odd card deck is "the done thing". :?

thoughts? :?:

cheers :)

~ Tim
Last edited by LordMalekTheRedKnight on Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Culven » Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:28 pm

The only requirements I care about are those you mentioned (60 card min and no more than 4 of a card). Anything larger is completely up to the player, and their opponent has no reason to complain.

Typically, a larger deck is a hinderance for the player, as it reduces the odds of drawing a particular card. The only time it may affect one's opponent is if they are playing a mill deck (named after Millstone) and they won't be able to last long enough to finish off a larger deck. This is really no different than facing a deck which allows the player to gain large amounts of life and their opponent is expecting to only need to deal 20 points of damage. It is just another deck possibility that each player must consider. If they can't beat it, it s not their opponent's fault for building a deck that is bigger than normal.

Personally, I prefer a 60 card deck just due to card ratio and odds of drawing what I need. It tends to be the most efficient option. One of the guys I play has/had a 300 card 5-colour deck which worked quite well. However, he used cards that allowed him to find what he needed out of the deck (i.e. tutors). There was also this one guy from Uni who made a deck with every counterspell he owned and enough land to make it work. Would only play it in a single player game. He won by stalling until his opponent ran out of cards. That was really annoying, but I have a couple of decks that could beat it.
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Postby Slate » Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:04 am

Over 60 cards reduces the chance of draw the card you need, that being said i do run a lot of deck ( non tourny ) with between 61 -64 cards depending on reduntancy and land needs these are mainly multi player games. When dualing tend not to go above 61.

If you check on the Wotc site they have the rules for Prismatic deck which is 5 colours and 250+ cards

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Postby LordMalekTheRedKnight » Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:12 pm

Slate wrote:Stop making me post i am a lurker

heh. feel free to post in all my MTG threads if you like. :P

(BTW, drop me a PM if you play Online)

last night we took the cards from our mini decks and distributed them between our proper ones. my Green deck is now up to 90 cards, while Kate's White deck is on 79. both could probably do with a little trimming (or more land...), but neither rely on a single card to perform.

we still need to sort out the updated Red deck and Blue deck, but once we have done so we will post them in the other thread.

cheers :)

~ Tim
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:) I am "LMTRK" on The Wizards Community and MTG Salvation
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