How to build a consistent deck in a few steps

How to build a consistent deck in a few steps
Hi, in this thread i'm going to try to clarify some basic deckbuilding "rules" for wow tcg so that you can build a deck on a fair budget. I will mostly refer to commons or uncommons unless i really can't. I'll try to do this in a few steps:

Step 1
What do i want my deck to do?

1) I want my deck to play a lot of threats in the early turns so i can overwhelm my opponent.

This type of deck is normally referred to as rush. You play aggressively, going for the throat. That means you try to kill their hero as soon as possible. However you can't completely ignore what your opponent plays. For example: you have 2 ready allies and your opponent plays mikael the blunt. Kill mikael first and then go back to killing the hero, esle he will kill all you allies.

Playing on curve: This means that you always try to get the maximum use out of your resources. You don't ever want to leave one open, you want to play as many allies as you can.

Cards like: Onnekra Bloodfang , Bloodsoul , Lady Bancroft and Garet Vice are good rush cards.

Playstyle: KILL ASAP
Complexity: 1/5
Example decks: Souldrinker bogmara , Hunter with worgen .

2) I want my deck to kill everything my opponent plays and then finish the game with a big ally/master hero.

Those decks are called control decks. Your plan is to deal with every threat your opponent plays and try to do as effective as you can. For example you play a card that kills multiple allies. They have lost multiple cards and you lost only one, that is a big advantage in wow.

Cards like Mikael the blunt , [Timriv the enforcer], Corpse explosion , Army of the dead and Blizzard are good examples of control cards.

Playstyle: Remove opposing threats then take control of the game with cards your opponent can't remove.
Complexity: 4/5
Example decks: Velindra sepulchre , Jumo'zin , Death wish control

3) I want to kill my opponent out of nowhere with a surprising combo.

Decks like this are called combo decks (ty, cptn. obvious ). You try to get the cards for your combo in your hand and build your deck around that. Combo decks are imo the hardest to build for a newer player. VERY IMPORTANT: when you build a combo deck try to make a combo with 2-3 cards maximum. Combo's with 4 or more cards are often to hard to pull off consistently. Also remember that a combo shouldn't win you the game right when you play it but it should create some great advantage that makes it worth running.A combo is not the same as synergy. A combo mostly needs a specific board state (opponent has no allies or i have card X in my grave) while a synergy are simply two cards that complement eatchother.

For good combo's i suggest to read the strategy forums often and you will find one here and there.

Playstyle: Create a big enough advantage with your combo then finish your opponent.
Complexity: 5/5
Example decks: Kinivus spark combo

4) I don't want to flat out rush my opponent but also don't want to be deep control.

Midrange decks are your style then. You want to effectively remove your opponent's early threats and play your big threats on turn 4-5-6. Rush decks will have a hard time removing your bigger allies (They have to sacrifice 2 of their allies to kill one of yours) and for control it is still to soon to play their big allies/master hero. You want to kill your opponent by turn 7,8 or 9. This type of decks however require some hard to remove allies/equipments and most of them are rare and expensive.

Good midrange cards: Dethvir , Thrall , Dimzer , Muradin bronzebeard

Playstyle: VS rush: play like you would play control in the start then around turn 4 or 5 try to go aggressiv.
VS Control: play like you would play rush, go for the ill asap but don't overextend into their boardsweepers when you feel them coming
Complexity: 3/5
Example deck: Emekk , Triton , Jeremiah karvok (=stulock) .

PS; complexity means how hard it is (on a scale of 5) to build a good deck for each playstyle. For the example decks try searching for them in the live coverage of the world cup and dmf orlando (last big core events to this day)

Step 2
I have chosen my type of deck, now what...

In this step we are going to take a look at the consistency. I've used the word a few times in step 1 but what does it mean? It means you draw the cards you want at any point in the game as many times as you want.

1) 4-of's
The key to drawing the card you want is playing 4 of them this is the maximum number of a same card you can play in your deck (unless it has the unlimited tag)
Cards that you really want to draw in your oppening hand should be in your deck 4 times.

In a rush deck you want to play more 4'ofs because you need your cards fast and you want to play on curve.

In a control deck you want cards that are effective against a lot of decks and cards that effectively stop rush to be a 4'of. Cards that you need later or those that are more limited in use can be played less then 4 times because you won't always be needing them. Your master hero or big finishers should be 2-3 times in your deck, 2 times is normally the standard for master hero's because by the time you will be able to cast them you will have drawn one copy most of the time.

2) The number of cards in my deck
A deck has a minimum of 60 cards in constructed and 30 cards in draft or sealed.
The golden rules here: STAY AS CLOSE TO 60 AS POSSIBLE. Most players don't ever go over 60 cards. If you really don't know what to take out, just try what you think to take out and play a few games. Is there another card that doesn't perform well take that out and try again. By playing like that you will learn which cards are absolutely necessary and which cards you can take out.

WARNING: Just because a card is useless against a certain deck doesn't mean it is completely useless. You will have to find out for yourself what card is good against a type of deck

Step 3
The quest base and card advantage
Quests and locations are very important in this game. Depending on your type of deck and class abilities that draw cards you include more or less quests.
Average amount of quests depend on your preferences but here is some number you could try.
Rush: 6-12 quests (depending on stashers and class ability draw)
Midrange: 8-13 quests
Control: 10-16 quests
The numbers are with the location included so if you play 4 of a location and 4 quests it is referred to as 8 in the above average.

1) Some basics: Always try to play quests that are completable with a small amount of effort.
Those can be quests that cost few resources but these mostly have a condition like have an ally in play or put dmg on your hero.
For example:
Tabards of the illidari
Report to Goldshire

There are also quests that draw you many cards for more resources. Like Call to arms: arathi basin or Rise and be recognized

The last type of quests are quests that just fit in some decks:
For example we'll take The overseer's shadow . It costs 4 and it draws you a card if you have an ally, one more if you have an ability and another one if you have an equipment. Now this may look like a lot of conditions to draw you 3 cards. But when you play a totem deck (a totem is an ally and an ability in 1) you can play a totem and make the quest already on par with Rise and be recognized . All you have to do then is play an equipment and tadaa 3 cards for 4 resources which is very, very good in this game.

2) "The quest curve"
You'll want to divide your quests over a curve just as you do with your other cards. It isn't good to only run quests that cost 4 or more because when you have nothing to play on the first turns (bad draw) you are doing nothing. If however you placed a quest that costs 1 or 2 you could have completed it and thus draw a card instead of doing nothing.

3) Locations:
The most used location and one that can go in any deck is Eye of the storm . It is simply good to stop an attack, exhaust a protector... A very good common for new players!
If you advance a bit further you can try some of the race specific locations or other ones, but they are all rare/epic

4) Stashers:
The best stashers nowadays are the one that give you a token (cairne and magni). Why is this so good you ask? Simply because the token can use tuskarr kite and can be used as super aggressive start in a rush deck. If you look at the bogmara example you'll see that it runs almost no quests but uses stashers.

5) Other draw mechanics:
Some classes have acces to abilities that draw cards:
Bloody ritual
Innervate
Mana sapphire

There is one very good drawing ability that can be used by any decks that run allies:
Tuskarr Kite

This ability works great with mounts, token stashers and any other ally that doesn't have ferocity. If left unchecked you will win the game because your opponent will never be able to keep up with the amount of cards you draw.

6) Mounts:

Mounts are very valuable allies in this game. They are difficult to kill but can't attack themselves. That's why they work so well with the aformentioned Tuskarr Kite . Not only do they do that but they make your quests cost 1 less, which means you can sometimes draw cards for free!!. To top things off they give benefits when you place a resource face up (stash also counts!).
You see mounts can be used for a lot of things.

7) Card advantage
Card advantage is a really important word in the tcg. Troughout your game you will win and lose card advantage.
Both players both start with 7 cards. When your allies and an opposing ally kill eatchother in combat both players will have made an equal trade since you both lost one card. But we don't play always that fair, do we?...

How to gain card advantage:
1) Make an X for 1: Mostly this means you destroy X cards of your opponent while only using one card yourself.
A great example for this is Deadliness . This card let's you destroy multiple targets. Board sweepers are also good examples.
Allies can also make an X for 1 by killing multiple allies without dying themself.

2) Discard you opponent:
Cards like Mental anguish , Detect traps , Drain will and Victimize are good examples of card advantage cards

How to lose card advantage:
1) Being on the wrong side of the effects above here

2) Playing cards that "do nothing":
This is a mistake many new players make, they play cards that buy time for 1 turn or exhaust an ally for one turn. That's just delaying the inevitable. You waste cards and your opponent gets a bit delayed but eventually the cards you played were just a speedbump and you get overrun.

Example: your opponent has 3 allies on your opponents turn you play Blustering winds . Ok His allies can't attack this turn but next turn they can and they will still be around. Instead of playing Blustering winds , you could have played Wrath which would have killed an opposing ally and costs 1 resource less with which you could have done something else. Sure the other 2 stay alive but you can deal with them later. The point is by playing blustering winds you 0 for 1'd yourself instead of trading 1 card for 1 card with your opponent.

Always strive to maximum card advantage!

Step 4
I have bought a class starter and want to start playing
While class starters are fun to learn the game, most cards (especially the allies) are so old they can't keep up with the newer ones. Add to that that a class starter is only 30 cards and most of the cards in there are 2'ofs (remember step 2) you understand that you won't be getting far with them at a tournament.

The best thing to do IF you have a local playgroup is ask them for some good commons. Most players will be happy to give them to a new player as they have tons of them.

If you don't have a local playgroup then it requires some investment. For example: you are playing this game with a friend. Share a booster box (if you have the cash) and divide the good commons/uncommons based on what you want to play. Same with the rares. Then if you have an idea where you want to go with your deck and need some rares, i advise buying them online but before you do that just print the image of the card and play a few games with it. You can see if it lives up to your expectation then.

To finish i have some last pieces of advise:
1) When you start settle on a class that you like and try to improve your deck.
2) Don't be frustrated when you lose all your first games, it's normal we've all been through that period.
3) Try to play a lot of draft and sealed if you have the opporunity for it. It's the best learning school.


Thank you for reading this i hope it has been a help to you. Welcome to wow tcg!!



Glossary:
A threat: a card that you or your opponent plays that "threatens" to do damage or kill something.
An answer: Something to remove a threat
A boardsweeper: a card that kill a lot of things on the battlefield
Overextending: Putting a lot of cards on the board. If you tink or know your opponent plays boardsweepers don't play too much cards. You can recover from your opponent killing 2 or 3 allies with one card, but what if he destroys 5 or 6. If the latter happens you've probably lost the game right there.
Trading: Trading allies in a game is when the allies engage combat they kill eatchother.