Notes on Commander Deck Building Templates for the New Era

The Numbers

• Number of Lands: 38

• Card Advantage: 12

  These are cards that start as one card that give you more cards. Note that things like "Ponder" don't count since you spend one card to draw another. It's Card Selection, not card advantage.

  This is a place to bump up too. Because if you have lands and card advantage cards you can keep everything else rolling in.

  Ravenous Chupacabra doesn't count in the way they are talking about it even though you bring one card in and it destroys another card.

  Examples of Card Advantage cards: Night Whisper, Phyrexian Arena, Blue Sun's Zenith

• Ramp: 10

  10 is the min, sounds like lots of folks push to 12-14.

  With 10 ramp cards, the chances to get one are:

  • 54% in opening hand
  • 63% by turn two

  With 12, chances go to.

  • 61% in opening hand
  • 70% by turn two

• Targeted Disruption: 12

  This is when you spend one card to disrupt one opponent cards. For example: Counterspell, or Unsummon. March of Swirling Mist counts and could also be used for mass disruption.

  Doesn't necessarily have to be removal. Can be bouncing creatures or phasing them out.

• Mass Disruption: 6

  Maybe 2-3 board wipes then ways to deal with enchantments then maybe graveyard interaction.

  Can include board wipes, but also things that destroy all artifacts and enchantments. Could be the Disrupt Decorum card that goads so other creatures have to attack if able and attack someone else if able.

  Propaganda counts for sure.

  Graveyard hate counts too

  Cyclonic Rift is definitely in there.

• Plan Cards: 30

  With the prior numbers that ends up at 108 cards if they were all individual, but there can be overlap. For example, Sink into Stupor can be either a land or spell that bounces nonland permanent.

  Plan is basically the stuff you need to do whatever it is you're trying to do for the synergy.

• two and three drops are where you want the most of your curve (probably)
• 4 drops are probably reasonable in most cases, 5 and above start getting super expensive so don't do too many of those.
• The tend not to put 6 mana permanents in their decks unless they have a way to re-animate
• 7 mana is where they put the haymakers for win cons.

• The average mana cure for their decks is:

  • 0 mana: 0 cards
  • 1 mana: 9 cards
  • 2 mana: 18 cards
  • 3 mana: 15 cards
  • 4 mana: 10 cards
  • 5 mana: 5 cards
  • 6+ mana: 5 cards