Dear Squee Vol. 6

Dear Squee,

I am extra picky with my deck selection as far as my stable is concerned,  I have had as many as 9 decks at once , but quickly find it Overwhelming and take them apart. I sit comfortably in the 3 to 5 deck range…how many is too many in your opinion?  (looking at you Big Tuck and Mr. Combo) and how do you manage 5 plus decks and give them all ample attention?

From the guy who has as many decks as he does dogs, and general fan of your laugh.

– Matthew Hopkins

Dear Mr. Hopkins, 

For starters, I am flattered and may have to put together a laugh compilation from our past episodes. That being said…

I do not believe there is a Magic number(get it?) of decks that can be applied across the board(on fire!).  There are a few variables to consider when determining how many decks to run, and I have put together a “somewhat scientific” formula that can determine what is best for each player.  

((Average Number of Games Played Each Week) * (Number of Hours you have available each week to tinker))
/ (Dividied By)
Desired average power level of all decks

For example if you play 10 games per week, have an additional 5 hours of time to tinker, and desire an average power level of 7 you would end up with 7 Decks rounded down.  

Conversely if you only play 5 games a week, have 5 hours of tinker time and are looking for an average power level of 6 you end up at 4 decks rounded down.  

The Methodology:

In order to determine how many decks a player should run, we need a formula that incorporates the player’s activity around EDH.  By taking the number of games played and multiplying it by your weekly availability to tinker we are halfway there.  

Now that we have determined the player’s score for games played and time to do research, we need to get a pulse on how competitive you want to be. 

In my experience this number determines two things for us:

1. How much time you will need to tinker.
2. How to allocate your budget appropriately across multiple decks. 

The more competitive a deck, the more attention and money you need to pay into it.

As the competitive level increases, the amount of time available decreases and thus will lower your total number of decks recommended.  This also allows you to split your budget/time up across your decks without neglecting part of your stable.  

How To Manage 5 Plus Decks:

Managing 5 plus decks can start to get tricky, especially if you are trying to make them mid-range to competitive.  The most important thing you can do is set up a consistent rotation.  

This goes two-fold:

1. Rotate the decks you play to gain experience.
2. Rotate the decks you tinker as you play them.  

So often we have heard Mr. Combo and Big Tuck say they haven’t played with a deck in a year. I find it impossible to keep a pulse on a deck you own at this rate.  As new cards come out they are rarely slotted into decks that don’t see play and the decks are out of date for the current playgroup’s style.  

Conclusion: 

Using the above formula as a baseline and the strict rotation system should get you in the ballpark of how many decks to run and how to manage them.  This is certainly not a 100% concrete formulation and factors like unlimited budgets(*cough cough* Mr. Combo) can skew the results.  I believe this however to be quite accurate for the average EDH player and budget. 

This was a fun one!

Love,

Squee

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