How do I get good at building Magic decks?

>Build many decks
>Work on improving them instead of just trashing them when they don't work
>Look at decklists for inspiration, think about why people chose things or didn't choose other things
>Playtest and iterate

The first thing you need to learn is what makes a good deck.

That means you have to play with good decks against good decks.

Then once you understand the qualities necessary to build a good deck, you can attempt to build a deck and then test it against other good decks.

www.mtgtop8.com
Is a good resource for the top decks.

>>49393269
It always takes me like a week to build a single deck. I just feel overwhelmed with all of these cards. Then once I have found a pile of cards I like, I have a hard time figuring out what to do with them, which ones to keep and leave out, etc.

>>49393301
Interesting, Ill look into that site.

>>49393331
>It always takes me like a week to build a single deck. I just feel overwhelmed with all of these cards.
Try thinking of a deck as sets of 4-ofs. You want to build a deck that is 6 different lands and 9 different spells more or less, at least that could be considered the core of any deck.

Thinking about it this way will force you to pare down what's really important in the deck. Instead of making a pile of all the cards you want to play and paring it down think about what nine spells you truly need to make the deck run. Most decks function around a core of 4-5 cards they want to play together and then use the rest as filler, including removal or other utility cards, but this obviously is going to vary with the type of deck.

>>49393331
Building a deck is the end-game to your Magic career. You can't actually do it well until you get good at the game.

The entire game is sold on the premise that you can build your own deck - it's only true if you enjoy losing and wasting your money.

There are maybe 10 good deckbuilders in the world. THE WORLD. Consider that. There are plenty of people who can refine but very few who can build.

>>49393431
that is an interesting way of looking at it

>>49393431
Does this 6 lands 9 spells ratio have to be exact? What if you are running a mono color, or you just cant find enough unique lands which support your deck?

>>49393231
Look up current decks in your format you play. Find deck techs where they explain the reason to include each card. Build one of those. Play it a bunch. Learn to take note of what you do and don't like. What are you weak and what are you strong against? What changes can you make to improve this? Make changes and repeat. Understanding any particular card's place in a deck is key to beginning to build your own. Given enough experience, and you'll be able to brew halfway competent strategies in no time.

>>49393231
A good support shell can make almost anything seem functional, so don't cut corners and be sure the core idea is functional.

For example, I just took apart my UB Infect deck. It was a bad deck. I do not own enough cards from that block to make a functional infect deck. And it took me a long time to realize that, because when 12 of your cards are Bonesplitter, Dark Ritual, and Brainstorm it covers the faults in a layer of functionality.

>>49396510
>>49393431
So what I am getting is that the core of the deck is the most important aspect, and everything else is filler (that of course benefits the core)

>>49396563

Basically yes, but focusing too much on a "core" as a beginner without much knowledge can easily lead to a deck that won't work at all if you don't draw one of the few "core" cards you focused on.
Happened to everyone I know when they first started building decks.

So yeah,if you want to build a (fun, non-competetive) deck it's always a good idea to first look for an interesting theme or synergy to build around.
but when you start building around that synergy or theme (e.g. a certain tribal, +1/+1 counters, lifegain) you have to always ask youself: "what if I don't draw that one card? can I still win? do the other cards still have a use, even without the key card in play?"

>>49396764
Building off of this point, your deck should be able to at least have a game plan from your opening hand. A lot of early deckbuilder pitfalls are building an X combo deck with a bunch of cards that do nothing unless you draw X. X should be the nitro that makes your deck dominate, not the gas that gets you moving

Also while the suggestions to keep building decks and learning from established decks is great advice I would also like to advocate for building a deck you like and continuously iterating on it. Play games, understand how your deck operates, do research on cards to put in it, understand how they improve or hurt your game plan, always be asking 'how can I make this deck better?'

If you are a new player I would also advocate for drafting constantly. It teaches you every aspect of playing Magic (card evaluation, deckbuilding, and playing) in a microcosm of a small pool of cards. After every game consider why your deck did well/poorly, why your opponent's deck did will/poorly, and how you will choose cards differently in the future. Plus, even if you totally bomb you'll walk away with 45 more cards to deckbuild with.

I'm not that good either, but I've focused on 3 things: How your deck is going to accomplish its' goals/wincon, and the value of each card towards that goal, and then lastly how well your cards synergize with each other.

>>49393448
I built a spicy homebrew for Standard, granted it was along the lines of ur prowess but putting in some underrated cards helped push it through a good few occasions.

>>49393231
You find cards you like, and then have fun with them in your deck