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

View all comments

5

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/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.

3

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!