Give a man a deck and he will battle for a day. Teach a man to brew and he will battle for a lifetime!

Why do I brew?

For Budget

I had to learn how to brew rogue strategies rather than to just play one of the best options, out of budgetary concerns. I wanted to be able to practice with a deck that I knew I could get all 75 cards of for a tournament. If I build around unknown cards, I can build my own deck for cheap.

For Expression

I have pet cards and pet colors. I have a play style. I like to root for the underdog. All of these things come together through my deck when it is on the table.

For Victories

My opponents have played Pithing Needle and Meddling Mage on cards that aren’t in my deck. Most tournaments an opponent will have to pick up one of my cards and read it. When my opponents haven’t practiced against me and I have practiced against, them I have a massive advantage.

The more deckbuilders, the better the game is. Whatever your skill level, I want you to have the best tools you need to build killer, winning decks with. To that end, I decided to outline my deckbuilding process. Your process might have important steps that my process does not, and you can choose what you want to incorporate. Everyone has their own style.

This guide is how to brew, the Woo Brew way. It is my exact process, used for decks such as Living End, Breach Post, Angel of Glory’s Rise Reanimator, and Green Summer, from start to finish—If you use the process and put in the time, you will have results similar to mine.

The Ultimate Deckbuilder’s Guide

1. Format Research

Familiarize yourself with the most powerful decks.
How fast is this deck?
What is this deck doing?

Familiarize yourself with the mana in the format.
What non-basic fixing is there?
What acceleration is there?

2. Preliminary Research and Construction

Find the build-around card.

Go through all mythics and rares.
Does this card seem powerful despite seeing no play?

Choose the card you want to build around.
What effects does this card work well with?
What keyword effects combo well with this?

Find the Build-Around Effect.

Go through all cards with the relevant keywords.
Does this card combo with my build around?
Does this card make me want to search a new keyword?

Make a list of all possible cards.

Find Redundancy.

Identify the most important cards.
What cards do I want to play before I play my build-around?
What cards do I want to play after I play my build-around?
Is there another effect that is similar to my build-around?

Find cards that are similar to the most important cards.
Does this card do the same effect as another important card?
Does this card have a similar mana cost to another important card?

3. First Draft Construction

Four of everything in main, everything else one-of in board.
What are the most important 8-11 spells?

Put mana in the deck.
How many land drops do I want to hit?
How many comes into play tapped and/or colorless lands do I want to play?

Cost sort the deck.
Where are there holes in the curve?
What turns am I not spending my mana?
Can I cast this spell with any x mana sources, where x is this cards converted mana cost?

Adjust build for curve and mana considerations.
Will I leave fewer lands untapped with this build?
Will I cast my spells more consistently by x mana with this build?

4. Single Player Test

Check for power level.
Does this deck actually work within the rules? (If not, throw it out—restart)
Can the deck win playing against a goldfish? (If not, throw it out and restart)
How fast can I kill?
How fast and effectively can I defend myself?

Check for mana-fixing.
Am I casting this spell by the time I have x mana for it, where x is its converted mana cost?

Check for mana usage.
Am I leaving lands untapped?
Are too many lands coming into play tapped?
Would I use more mana if I drew more lands?

Adjust build for mana-fixing and mana usage.
Can I cast my spells more consistently now?
Will I use more mana now?
Is this a better configuration of lands and mana?

5. Most Popular Deck Test

Play against the most popular deck with both hands on the table.
Can this deck win when both players have perfect information?
What are the key cards to victory?
What are the key cards to defeat?
What is my weakest card?

Play against other popular decks with both hands on the table.
Can this deck win when both player’s have perfect information?
What are the key cards to victory?
What are the key cards to defeat?
What is my weakest card?

6. Color Search

Search all cards in the format that are in the deck’s colors (skip this step for Legacy).
Does this card help against key cards to defeat?
Is this card similar to my key cards to victory?
Is this card better than my weakest card?

Put all possible main deck cards as one-of in the sideboard. Put all possible sideboard cards as a two-of in the sideboard.
Is this a possible sideboard card or a possible main deck card?

7. Show the Deck to your Friends

Add new cards that they think you should be playing as a one-of to the sideboard.
Have I thought of this card already?

Identify new potential weaknesses and make a list.
Why does your friend think your deck is bad?
What cards does your friend think your deck can’t beat?
What cards does your friend think are scary for you?

8. Test Ideas for Main Deck

Play against the most popular deck(s) with both hands on the table. For each possible main deck card in the sideboard, start a game with it in your opening hand.
What effect is this card having on the game?
How powerful is this card?
Would I rather draw this card than another card that is already in my main?

Play a game on the play and on the draw.
Is this card necessary on the play?
Is this card fast enough on the draw?

Adjust build based on tryout results, and cut all failed cards.
Is the deck more powerful now?
Are previous weaknesses shored up?

9. Test Against Scary Cards

Play against the most popular deck(s) with both hands on the table. For each scary card, have them start a game with it in their opening hand.
What effect is this card having on the game?
How powerful is this card?
Can I beat this card?

Play a game on the play and on the draw.
How does the scary card play on the play compared to the draw?
Which of my main deck cards is best against this card?
Which of my main deck cards is weakest against this card?
Which of my sideboard cards is best against this card?

Play against the most popular deck(s) with both hands on the table. Let them start with the scary card while you start with a sideboard card of your choice.
What is the effect of my sideboard card on their deck or on their scary card?
Is their scary card still scary?
Is my sideboard card scarier to them than their scary card is scary to me?

Play a game on the play and on the draw.
How does my sideboard card play on the play compared to the draw?
Which of their main deck cards is best against my card?
Which of their sideboard cards is best against my card?

Increase succesful sideboard cards to 3. Cut failed sideboard cards.
Are cards still scary to me?
Can I convince my friends that this deck beats the scary cards?

10. Test Sideboard Games

Play against the most popular deck(s) with both hands on the table. Cut only the weakest card in each deck for only the strongest card in each sideboard. Start with the strongest card in each player’s opening hand.
Did I make each deck better against the other deck?
Can I still make each deck better against the other deck?
What other card would be good in this situation?

Test other potential good sideboard cards. Start with them in your opening hand on the play and on the draw.
Is this card better than other options I have tried?
Does this card have enough of an impact on the draw?
Is this card necessary on the play?

Adjust sideboard based on tryout results, and cut all failed sideboard cards.
Do I want to draw only one, or multiples of this card?
How many of this card should I play?

10. Repeat Steps 4-10

Single player test.
Now that I have changed the deck, is it still as fast?
Do I still cast my spells consistently?
Do I still use all my mana every turn?
Do I still have the right number of lands?

Most popular deck test.
Now that I have changed the deck, can it still keep up with the best deck?

Color search.
Is there a card that I missed?

Show the deck to your friends.
Is there a card that my friends think I missed?
Is there a card that my friends are still scared of?

Test ideas for main deck.
Is game one going to be better now?

Test against scary cards.
Am I confident that I can beat the cards people think are good against me?

Test sideboard games.
Is my new sideboard configuration better against the field?

11. Test From Mulligans

Play against the most popular deck(s) with both hands on the table. Start each game with only 6 cards.
How are games different when I start with fewer cards?
How can I play differently to conserve cards?
How can I win when I have fewer cards?

Play games on the play and on the draw.
How is having fewer cards effected by being on the play or the draw?
Am I confident that I can win on the play or draw off of at least one mulligan?

12. Tournament Testing

Play against the most popular deck(s) with both hands hidden.
How does not knowing your opponent’s hand effect your play?
Is it easier with your opponent not knowing your hand or cards?

For each turn, imagine your opponent’s best and worst possible next turn, and play accordingly.
How should I play if my opponent is going to have his best possible next turn?
How should I play if my opponent is going to have his worst possible next turn?
Which way should I play in order to win this game?

13. Dominate a tournament!

(Your picture here)

The Ultimate Deckbuilder’s Tools

Gatherer
Gatherer is a great tool for searching through cards. The advanced search and filters allow quick targeted searches. I usually start here.

MTGO Online Deckbuilder

The MTGO online deckbuilder is a good search tool if you uncheck “My Cards.” The search has some limitations that the Gatherer doesn’t, but it is much faster in some ways. It is a fantastic visual aid. This is the best place to do a cost sort.

Magic Workstation

Magic Workstation is extremely efficient. I like to use it for most tryouts and testing. I use two windows for two decks and play by myself. Playing alone is the most logistically efficient. No waiting, scheduling, or commute.

You avoid group-think, but run the risk of being blinded by your own self-bias. I think solitary work is often more efficient if you can pull it off.

I save a massive amount of time on shuffling. Ctrl + s shuffles the deck. Ctrl + d draws a card. In general, hotkeys allow me to operate much faster than with physical cards.

Faster means more games. More games means more repetitions. More repetitions means faster revision and improvement. Faster revision and improvement means more time to reinvest time as I choose, inside or outside of Magic. Be efficient! Use MWS or a similar program.

Magic Online

Magic Online is great for tournament testing. It is invaluable to practice on Magic Online the day before the tournament. In general, you can get more reps on Magic Workstation, but Magic Online helps get you adjusted to tournament rules play.

This is the guide, these are the tools. Combine it with your mind and you have everything you need to brew your own killer deck to win a tournament with. Happy brewing!

<3 Travis
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Questions! Comments! Think there’s something I’m missing? Let me know!