Limited Options

Today we’re going to tackle the second element of Draft, Deck Construction. It’s important to keep in mind that everything I’m discussing here should be considered guidelines. It’s a sound place to start, but after you’ve gained some familiarity, don’t feel like they’re rigid rules that you always need to follow. There’s cases where almost all of these can be changed. ALMOST all….

Around the Draft in 40 Cards

The minimum deck size in Limited is 40 cards (Limited refers to either Sealed or Draft, or some other variant where your card selection is limited by the rules of the format, like Cube). Also, despite the fact that it’s not a formal rule, the maximum deck size you should build in Limited is 40 cards. This is the one “rule” that I’m going to give you that’s not just a guide. 40 is where you should always be.

So why not more than 40? Consistency is the short answer. The typical Draft deck only has a handful of really impactful cards, only about 10-20%, and sometimes not even that much. Most of your deck will be “C” level cards, typically medium to low powered creatures. These are the Pawns of Limited. Not particularly powerful, and largely interchangeable with other cards at that same mana cost. Draft is also not unlike a Singleton format, where you can have only one copy of any named card in your deck. The fewer total cards you have in your deck, the more frequently you'll see those powerful cards.

Some decks, like the current Dimir decks, will be more focused on synergy than on singular, powerful cards. Even in those cases, the improved consistency of your draws is very important. Having a handful of “Surveil matters” cards (like Whispering Snitch) without any Surveil cards in hand is no good either.

Golden Ratios

The starting ratio is 17 Land and 23 Spells (a “Spell” in game terms is any card that's not a land - Instants, Sorceries, Creatures, Planeswalkers, Enchantments, and Artifacts). In a Limited deck, of those 23 Spells, roughly 15-17 will be creatures.

These numbers are a lot more flexible than the total deck size, although you want to be careful about adjustments to the land count. You're probably never going to go up or down by more than 1, to either 16 or 18. The most important part of adjusting your mana base is this - have a reason for making the change. For example, maybe you've drafted a Boros deck, and your Mana Curve (more on that below) is really low. Then you might want to go to 16, or even 15 lands.

Notice I didn't say have a “good” reason for making your deck building choices. You'll learn over time which reasons are sound and which aren't. Also, a reason which is sound for one deck, might be poor for another. The most important takeaway is learning to ALWAYS have reasons for the choices you make, both in deck construction and play decisions.

Dead Man's Mana Curve

Mana Curve is a term which refers the number of spells you have at each of the various Mana costs. Arena gives you a handy graph you can look at in the deck construction scene

I'll be doing a deep dive on Mana Curves at some point, but here's we're going to do a quick primer on how they apply in Limited.

Typically, you'll want 0-1 spells at 1 Mana, 2-3 spells at 2 Mana, then the majority of your spells at 3-4 Mana, with a few at 5+ Mana. Again, this is just a starting place, and can vary greatly depending on the deck. Boros decks, for example, are very aggressive, and may not want any spells over 4 Mana, with the bulk of them being between 2-3. In GRN Draft, there's also a *much* higher amount of playable 1 drops, and those 1 drops are more meaningful than is typical for Draft.

What you're trying to do is find a balance between powerful cards and having plays early in the game. As a broad generality, low-cost cards are not as impactful as more expensive cards. The creatures are smaller, and lack value-adding abilities such as evasion (like Flying) and ETB (Enters the Battlefield) effects. But you can't build your deck with just 5-6 drops, because you'll have lost long before you get a chance to cast them.

“Curving out” refers to casting spells, typically creatures and/or removal, on each of your turns in the early part of the game. If you're not casting anything before turn 3, you'll often be too far behind on board state at that point to be able to make it up (“board state” refers simply to the number and type of permanents you have on the Battlefield). Again, this varies from format to format, but it's a pretty good rule of thumb. If you're not casting anything early against Boros, they're just going to mow you down. If you're not casting anything early against Dimir, they're going to have the opportunity to set up a modest board state, and then sit back behind counterspells and removal to prevent you from establishing yours. Remember, even a 2/3 can win a game if left unchallenged.

Color me Purple

Knowing what types of each land to run, and how many dual lands (lands which produce multiple colors of Mana) you're going to want, if any, is a skill that's going to take time for you to develop. There's no simple formula for this. A good starting place is to count the colored Mana symbols on the cards in your deck, giving a little extra weight to cards with two or more colored symbols. For example, the Citywatch Sphinx is 5U, while the Watcher in the Mist is 3UU, so that might suggest that you'll want to run an additional Island in decks with a Watcher.

We're lucking with GRN to have easy access to the Guildgates, so you'll probably always have access to one or two if you need them. But you may not always want them. Boros decks are very aggressive, so the “Enters Tapped” drawback often will be more detrimental to the consistent operation of the deck than the possibility of occasionally getting cut off a color by not running them.

That seems like a good introduction to Limited Deck Construction. If you think I've missed something important or have any questions, feel free to comment, or catch up with me in the MTG Arena Facebook Group.