Discussion Forum

if you're new to deckbuilding and like big spells try something like this

60 card deck
22 land (mostly forest)
4 Cultivate
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Solemn Simulacrum

This should pretty much allow you to play anything you like. If you want a faster deck you could drop the Solemn Simulacrums for 4 birds of paradise.

The shell allows you to build up your mana base while playing creatures that can block and stall the game.

You could use this shell to play a 5 color deck with basic land only if you wished to do so. Do keep track of converted mana cost in relation to non green mana symbols. If something costs 3 black mana you are not going to be able to cast it turn 3. If something costs 1 black mana and 2 colorless however the chance of casting it early on is significantly better.
Best to avoid including spells that have more then 2 fixed mana symbols unless you only play 2 colors.

Something that costs :manaw::manag::manab::manau::manar: is easier to cast then something that costs :manau::manau::manau: for instance using a shell like this.
It's just something to keep in mind.


The shell is far from an exact sience but it's something you should play with. You'll get a feel for it and after a while you'll be able to estimate how likely it is to casts certain spells and how fast you'll be able to do so.

I for instance like to include a set of mulldrifter and/or Raven Familiar in this shell for card draw. They only require you to add 1 island, 2 to be on the save side if your opponents play land disruption. They are good examples of easy to add spells.

As for your current build do not include 2xDark Ritual. It's very difficult to build a good deck that uses Dark Ritual. Even when playing 4 it's unpredictable and depending on what kind of deck you play the card loss that is created by playing Dark Ritual can often lead you to loose the game. It's a tempo card and tempo cards in general are advanced pieces of deck tech you should avoid when just starting out playing the game.

Also playing stuff like 1 fog makes little sense. It can not be concidered a strategy. The few times it will come in handy will be rare and more often then not it will just be a waste of a cardslot or a dead card in your hand.

Thanks for the advice! I just tweaked them a little, and I'll continue working on them later when I have more than a minute to think about it.