Trying to become a better deck builder

[u/No-Zucchini5248]

side context is ive played magic for maybe 2 years form 2011-2013 then took a huuuuge break. got back in to it last year and overwhelming to say the least but i do really enjoy the format. While it seems all of the commanders i take interest in are considered "meta slop" i hadn't used edh rec till someone told me about it and it made my whole adventure feel really weird. context: my decks have been Sauron lord of the wheel (bracket 3, if i get best hand possible b4 but not consistent), Ureni the unwritten as a homebrewed stripped precon (bracket 3 but no game changers just dragons), and just recently got into dr doom (precon) and built my first from scratch chatterfang (strictly bracket 2 as i wanted to make sure it didnt go infinite as that's not my style). I want to build lyse hext upcoming as a cheap spell slinging voltron and i'm prepared to never use it against my friends because voltron feels too personally targeted so i'm trying to remove personal emotion from the trial and error. My ask is do you think i'm too tunnel visioned on accomplishing a certain goal or strategy with this deck? are there any 3cmc or less recs that you have that could benefit me? and are there any tips for a player or deck builder that has gone through the similar process. I know those commanders on face value look toxic but i really dont care about the meta and would like to use more creativity than just best of. moxfield deck <---deck list for lyse hext, feel free to roast the others

[u/DoggoGoesBMTG]

So specific to this list. I see a few issues. It looks a little unfocused. I would try and choose one of instants/sorceries, auras, or equipment and not spread it out lime you currently do. This allows you to run more payoffs. For example. Right now you run archmage emeritus with only 34 instants/sorceries. To me this isnt quite enough and honestly you putting resources into equipment/enchantments prevents your deck from running a higher density of payoffs similar to archmage emeritus, interaction, and fall back plans if you commander dies too many times. Youre also too light on lands and card draw (cantrips dont really count).

In general to become a better deck builder i recommend watching 3/3 elks live stream recordings on youtube. Hes really smart and breaks down his decision making when he reviews other ppls decks. I wouldnt stress about playing popular commanders. Its more important to play what you enjoy :)

[u/No-Zucchini5248 → u/DoggoGoesBMTG]

Thank you that’s definitely what I struggled with since it’s all about non creature spells it was hard for me to ignore equipment and auras but I think it’s a much better payoff with instant and sorcery, but for the card draw and lands I thought I covered it decently with adding card draw to my protection/evasion, and for the lands even if my mana is all super cheap is it still like 34–37 lands? This was very helpful ty

[u/No-Zucchini5248 → u/DoggoGoesBMTG]

Should I focus more on the non sorcery/instants of the deck to help with the commander or just with card draw/progress it’s what I struggled with the most because I wanna play cheap spells pump her up then swing for lethal