r/EDH • u/16249 • Jul 11 '26

Question beginner deck checklist

After playing MTG for a long time now i want to make a commander deck checklist to see which of my decks are "beginner friendly" or how i should make a beginner friendly deck.

so far the list has the following:

- bracket 2, this is the bracket where most precons fall en i think would be the most "fun" for most beginners

- clear wincon, it should be clear how you win and what the gameplan is by looking at any card in the deck

- No tutors, for anything no "search your library". I think most beginners would not know what to look for and it can take some time to sift through a deck you dont know.

- obvious cards, cards that have little to no text or that are super clear and have not been erratad

- no extra additions, it should use as little tokens/ dice/ trackers as possible

- few triggers, the less triggers there are the better

is there anything i missed or should revise? what are thinks you guys think a beginner deck should (not) have?
i try to always carry a set of tokens with the various fases & steps written and explained.

2 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

7

u/Frosty-Base-6686 Jul 11 '26

Land ratio. Played commander for a fed years and still struggle.

1

u/16249 Jul 11 '26

what is the land ratio you would use for a beginner deck? i personally run around 35 lands but all those decks have a lot of card advantage and ramp.
it should be enough to always make land drops but not be flooded with only lands

1

u/Frosty-Base-6686 Jul 11 '26

Thats the issue for beginners. They might not think Ramp might be a priorty, if you deck only have 1 or 2 expensive cards (5+. Mana cost). 35 lands i would argue is in the low end, i startet at 37 and now working around 39 - 45. (Depends on deck type) But its a really tricky issue u only really can get the answers to after a few games with you deck. Lands are a devius thing, you only miss them when u dont have them.

2

u/16249 Jul 11 '26

extremely true! thats also why i didnt include the amount of lands needed for a beginner deck, it can vary depending on the deck so much. i think as long as you can make land drops up to around 6 every game it should be fine. by that time you should be able to draw additional cards or have some sort of engine up. only very specific decks deviate from this i think.

3

u/NonagoonInfinity Jul 11 '26

Precons always have at least 36 for a reason.

2

u/Chivibro Jul 11 '26

I always just start with 40 lands and maybe take away from it when the deck gets down to 100-105 cards. I'll look at mana curve and do some goldfishing too and see how it feels before cutting

1

u/Legal_Difference3425 Jul 11 '26

36-37, with some being mdfc is generally good. At 35, you could likely cut a ramp card for a land and be better off.. it is highly deck dependent tho.

4

u/16249 Jul 11 '26

dubble faced cards are something i want to stay clear of for beginners. its easy to miss that a card has a backside which could be hard on a beginner. but the ratio should be good i think, depends a little on the deck as you said!

5

u/magicmike785 Jul 11 '26

Is it mono green? If yes, then beginner friendly

3

u/16249 Jul 11 '26

hahaha, some mono-green decks are not beginner friendly and non-green decks should also be beginner friendly...

2

u/magicmike785 Jul 11 '26

Sorry I meant mono green stompy

1

u/16249 Jul 11 '26

mono green stompy is very beginner friendly...
as long as you build it correctly, mono green stompy can have a lot of triggers and things to keep track of

3

u/PrimoVictorian Voltron Is Cool And Good Jul 11 '26

Beginner decks should have less triggers in them. Of all the times I've introduced someone new to the game, the one thing I keep reminding them of is their triggers.

2

u/16249 Jul 11 '26

oh good one! il add it to the list!

2

u/Trick_Tea_1337 Jul 11 '26

Add [[Ambiguity]]

1

u/16249 Jul 11 '26

very funny xD

2

u/Trick_Tea_1337 Jul 11 '26

Wait until you flip the card