- 1). Choose a color or colors to focus on. Each of the five colors in Magic: The Gathering has a particular focus and associated abilities: red deals direct damage, green produces large amounts of mana and summons huge creatures, blue counters and controls your opponents' spells, white heals and uses "weenies" (cheap, weak creatures), and black destroys your opponents' creatures and helps you resurrect your own. A two-color deck gives you a good balance between the colors' strength and weaknesses on one hand and being able to get enough of the right color mana to cast spells on the other.
- 2). Decide what type of deck you wish to build. There are three basic deck types: weenie, which focuses on casting weak, cheap creatures very fast and hitting your opponents before they have enough mana to fight back; burn, which focuses on direct damage; and control, which focuses on preventing your opponents from playing cards and/or taking control of their cards. Your style will largely depend on the colors you choose and what cards you have available.
- 3). Determine the size and composition of your deck. It's best to stick to around 60 cards (the minimum deck size for official tournaments); any smaller and you risk running out of cards, causing you to lose the game, while any larger and you risk not being able to draw the cards you need. About a third of your deck should be land, and the rest should be balanced between creatures and spells (enchantments, instants and sorceries). Ted Knutson of Magic University suggests using 24 creatures, 12 spells and 24 land.
- 4). Pick your cards. There are many cards to choose from, so remember not to get too attached to any particular one. Focus on the balance between the cards' effects and how they interact with each other in your deck. You can have up to four copies of any particular card in your deck (except for basic lands, which have no limit). In addition, certain cards are banned or restricted in tournaments.
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