Eric's Deck Making Tips #4

Tip # 4 - The Mystery of the Mana Curve (Advanced Tip) (Limited Formats)

I'm sure many of you have heard the term "mana curve" before, and I'm betting many of you are a little uncertain about exactly what that means (the distribution of your spells/creatures by mana cost).  Or, you may know what it means but may not be too sure how to use that knowledge to build better decks.  The concept is based on the fact that in most games of magic you want to be able to put out a land each turn and to use all of your land each turn for casting spells/creatures.  So you want to have the right mix of land as well as the right mix of each level of mana cost.  This allows to you continually put out creatures/permanents and for each creature/permanent to increase in power (as it increases in mana cost). 

Here is a quick guide to how many cards at each level of mana cost you should have in your draft or sealed deck:

• 1 Mana:  0-1  Cards - You usually don't want to play many one mana cards with a few exceptions (Llanowar Elves, Festering Goblin, Tattermunge Maniac).
• 2 Mana:  3-4 Cards
  
• 3 Mana:  4-5 Cards
  
• 4 Mana:  4-5 Cards
• 5 Mana:  1-2 Cards
• 6+ Mana 0-1 Cards - These cards should only be bombs.  Bombs are cards that are so good you usually win the game in a turn or two. 
  

Additional guidelines for limited deck construction (see Eric's Deck Making Tips #3):

• Deck Size:  Make sure your deck is 40 cards max.
  
• Land Count: Your deck should contain 17-18 lands or other cheap mana producing cards.
• Creature Count: Limited decks are almost alway creature based and should have around 16-17 creatures
• Evasion:  Make sure to include some creatures that have some form of evasion (flying, fear, unblockable, etc). 
  
• Creature Removal: Make sure to have at least a few cards that can kill or deal with your opponents creatures.
  

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