Building your first deck does not require a huge collection or a huge budget.
The smartest route is simple: learn the basics, choose one format, start with one or two colours, and spend your money on cards that support a clear plan.
Random booster packs are exciting. They are also a poor way to build a specific deck. If you want to play Magic: The Gathering with confidence, you need a focused deck and a sensible buying plan.
What is Magic: The Gathering?
Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game where you play as a powerful mage called a planeswalker.
You use lands to produce mana. You spend that mana to cast creatures, spells, artefacts, enchantments and other cards. Your creatures attack your opponent, defend you and support your strategy.
Most games begin with:
- A shuffled deck
- Seven cards in your opening hand
- 20 life in a standard one-to-one game
- One draw each turn
- Up to one land played per turn
Reduce your opponent’s life to zero and you win. You can also win through certain card abilities or if your opponent cannot draw from their deck.
That sounds straightforward. The depth comes from the decisions you make every turn.
Do you attack now? Save mana for a response? Remove an opposing creature? Play a stronger threat and leave yourself exposed?
That is why Magic: The Gathering cards appeal to both casual players and serious collectors. Every deck creates a different puzzle.
How does a basic Magic game work?
Your turn follows a familiar rhythm.
- Untap your cards.
- Draw a card.
- Play a land if you have one.
- Cast spells by paying their mana costs.
- Attack with your creatures.
- Cast more spells during your second main phase.
- End your turn.
Lands usually stay on the battlefield and tap to produce mana. A basic Forest produces green mana. An Island produces blue mana. A Swamp produces black mana. A Mountain produces red mana. A Plains produces white mana.
You can normally play only one land each turn. That makes your early land drops important. Miss too many and your spells stay stuck in your hand.
Lands and spells
Think of your deck as having two essential parts:
- Lands provide the resources.
- Spells use those resources to affect the game.
Creatures are spells that remain on the battlefield and can attack or block. Instants and sorceries create one-off effects. Enchantments and artefacts provide ongoing benefits.
For your first deck, creatures should form the backbone of your plan. Add removal spells, combat tricks and support cards around them.
The Magic colour wheel
Magic uses five colours. Each one offers a distinct way to play.
White
White focuses on teamwork, protection, small creatures and orderly battlefield development.
Choose white if you like building a wide army and supporting your creatures.
Blue
Blue rewards patience and planning. It uses card draw, flying creatures, counterspells and effects that return cards to your opponent’s hand.
Choose blue if you want to control the game and react to your opponent.
Black
Black uses creature removal, graveyard abilities, sacrifice effects and powerful cards that may cost you life.
Choose black if you want efficient answers and are happy to trade resources for strength.
Red
Red plays quickly. It uses aggressive creatures and direct damage spells to pressure your opponent from the start.
Choose red if you want to attack early and finish games with burn spells.
Green
Green produces extra mana, grows large creatures and rewards a straightforward approach.
Choose green if you want to ramp into powerful creatures and overwhelm the battlefield.
For your first deck, stick to one or two colours. Three or more colours create a more complicated mana base and make it harder to cast your spells on time.
How to build a 60-card deck
If you are building a normal one-to-one constructed deck, start with exactly 60 cards.
Why exactly 60?
Because a smaller deck gives you a better chance of drawing the cards your strategy needs. Adding extra cards may feel helpful, but it makes your deck less consistent.
A strong beginner template looks like this:
- 24 lands
- 24 creatures
- 12 other spells
This is a starting point, not a permanent rule. You may eventually use fewer creatures, more removal or a different land count. Begin with a balanced structure and adjust after playing several games.
You can usually include up to four copies of a card with the same name. Basic lands are the main exception.
Build around a clear plan
Do not put every exciting card into one deck.
Choose a simple plan such as:
- Attack quickly with small red creatures.
- Build a large green battlefield.
- Use blue spells to control opposing threats.
- Sacrifice creatures for value with a black deck.
- Create a wide white creature army.
Then ask one question about every card:
Does this card help my deck do its job?
If the answer is no, leave it out.
Watch your mana curve
Your mana curve is the spread of costs across your deck.
A deck full of expensive creatures may look powerful, but you will lose games before you can cast them. A deck full of tiny spells may run out of momentum.
Include useful plays at different points in the game. Two- and three-mana creatures should make up a strong part of most beginner decks. Add a few more expensive cards for later turns, but avoid filling your deck with cards you cannot cast early.
The best budget products for beginners
You do not need to buy every type of Magic product. Choose the product that matches how you want to play.
Starter products
A Starter Kit or beginner-focused product is the best choice if you are learning with a friend.
These products typically include two ready-to-play decks and teaching materials. You can open the box, shuffle up and begin playing without understanding deck construction first.
This is better value than buying random magic the gathering cards and hoping they form two balanced decks.
Commander preconstructed decks
Commander is the best starting point if your friends already play multiplayer Magic.
A Commander deck contains exactly 100 cards, including your commander. You use one copy of most cards, start at 40 life and usually play in a group of three to five players.
Each deck follows the colour identity of its commander. The commander gives your deck its theme and helps you decide which cards belong inside it.
Commander preconstructed decks are ready to play. You can use one straight from the box, learn how it works and upgrade it over time.
AJ Toys stocks a changing range of Magic: The Gathering Commander decks, including products such as the Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander Deck and Edge of Eternities Commander Deck.
Play Boosters
Play Boosters are a good choice when you want to open packs, expand a collection or play Limited formats such as Draft or Sealed.
They are not the most efficient way to build a particular 60-card deck. You receive random cards, so you may still need to buy the cards your strategy actually requires.
Use boosters for fun. Use targeted purchases for deckbuilding.
AJ Toys carries products including Magic: The Gathering Play Boosters, with current and upcoming releases available depending on stock.
Bundles and pre-orders
Bundles can offer a useful mix of boosters, lands and accessories. They suit collectors who want to open several packs while building a broader collection.
Pre-orders make sense when you already know you want a particular set or Commander product. They give you a way to secure upcoming releases before launch.
Browse the AJ Toys Magic: The Gathering collection for current sealed products, bundles and pre-order listings. Availability changes quickly, especially for popular crossover sets.
Standard or Commander: which format should you choose?
Choose Standard if you want one-to-one games, a smaller deck and a more focused card pool.
Standard uses a minimum 60-card main deck and allows up to a 15-card sideboard. Its card pool changes as newer sets enter the format and older sets rotate out.
Choose Commander if you want multiplayer games, larger themes and a deck that does not rotate in the same way.
Commander uses 100-card singleton decks. You can include only one copy of most cards, which creates more varied games.
The right format is the one your friends play. Ask before you buy. A brilliant Standard deck will not help if your entire group plays Commander.
Common beginner mistakes
Buying too many boosters
Opening packs is part of the fun. It should not be your entire deckbuilding strategy.
Start with a ready-to-play deck, then buy specific cards when you understand what the deck needs.
Building with too many colours
More colours mean more options, but they also mean more awkward opening hands and missed mana requirements.
Start with one or two colours.
Playing more than 60 cards
Extra cards reduce consistency. Cut your deck to 60 unless your chosen format requires a different size.
Including too many expensive cards
Powerful cards do nothing while they sit in your hand. Build a curve that gives you something useful to cast in the early turns.
Ignoring card sleeves
Sleeves protect your cards from dirt, scratches and spills. Use them from your first game, especially when you start collecting valuable magic the gathering cards.
Forgetting to ask about format legality
A card may be powerful but illegal in the format you want to play. Check the current official Standard rules, Commander rules and banned and restricted lists before entering events.
Start small and upgrade with purpose
Your first deck does not need to be perfect. It needs to be playable.
Choose a format. Pick one or two colours. Start with a sensible land count. Play several games. Then identify the cards that underperform and replace them one at a time.
AJ Toys is here to make that process easier, whether you are looking for sealed boosters, Commander decks, upcoming releases or advice on your next Magic purchase. Visit our Magic: The Gathering collection, check our about page, or contact the team if you need help choosing where to start.
Magic rewards curiosity. Begin with a clear plan, spend carefully and keep playing. Your next great deck starts with one shuffle.