Why 60 Cards Exactly (Not 61, Not 80)
Don't Go Over 60
Magic's rules state that in the Standard and Casual formats, your deck must have a minimum of 60 cards. Beginners often think more cards mean more options. The opposite is true!
Why 60?
If you have 60 cards, you have a better chance of drawing your best, most important cards during the game. If you have 80 cards, those powerful cards are buried in the deck and rarely show up.
The Goal: Build the leanest, most consistent 60-card machine possible.
How Many Lands in a 60-Card Deck
Lands produce mana, and mana lets you cast your spells. If you can't cast your spells, you lose. It's that simple. In a 60-card deck, you need to dedicate a significant portion to ensuring you hit your land drops (playing one land each turn).
The Magic Number: 24 Lands
This works for almost every 60-card deck, giving you a 40% chance of drawing a land each turn.
Adjustments
If your deck has many high-cost cards (5+ mana), go up to 25 or 26 lands.
If your deck has almost all low-cost cards (1-2 mana), you can drop to 22 lands.
When to break the 24-land rule
- Go to 20-22 when your curve stops at 3 mana - aggro decks would rather draw a threat than a fourth land.
- Go to 25-27 when you regularly cast five-plus-mana spells, or when you have 4 or more curve-toppers you actually need to cast; add one land for them.
- Shave a land if you play cheap card draw or mana creatures - two mana creatures or cheap rocks roughly replace one land.
- The test: if you miss your third or fourth land drop more than one game in five, put the land back.
How Many Colors Should a 60-Card Deck Play
And Why Three is a Trap
A mana base is the mix of lands in your deck. If you build a five-color deck, you'll constantly draw the wrong type of land (e.g., drawing a Red Mountain when all the cards in your hand require Blue mana).
Keep it Simple
Focus on two colors. This guarantees that almost every land you draw can produce the mana you need.
Split the Lands
If you're playing two colors, split your 24 lands evenly (e.g., 12 Islands and 12 Forests).
Creature-to-Spell Ratio
The 24/12 Split
After you set aside your 24 lands, you have 36 slots left for non-land cards. These 36 cards should be balanced for two reasons: offense and defense.
Creatures
24-28 cardsYou need creatures to attack your opponent and block their attacks. These are your main interaction on the board.
Spells
8-12 cardsThese are your support cards - anything that isn't a creature or a land (removal, card draw, buffs, etc.). Too many spells and you won't have an army.
The Mana Curve: How Many Cards at Each Cost
The Cost Staircase
The Mana Curve is the single best indicator of whether your deck is fast or slow. It measures how many cards you have at each mana cost (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.).
A successful curve looks like a bell curve:
Mana Cost Distribution
Cheap cards you can play in the first few turns to get started (The start of the bell).
The majority of your cards (The peak of the bell).
Just a few "game-winning" cards that you play later (The tail of the bell).
A sample distribution for 36 non-land cards
| Mana cost | Cards |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 6 |
| 5+ | 3 |
Treat this as a healthy default, then shift it toward your archetype's peak: aggro moves cards down into the 1-2 slots, control spreads them across 3-5.
Warning: If your curve is flat and stacked at 5+ mana, you will likely lose the game before you cast a single spell!
Those are the numbers. For the actual build process - picking a game plan, choosing your key cards, and testing the result - follow the full build walkthrough. New to Magic? Start with the beginner guide.