Magic Deck Vortex: About the DDB

About the Deck Database / FAQ
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by John Streetz, the webmaster of www.magicdeckvortex.com
last updated 12/28/07, minor update 6/8/08

Magic Deck Vortex(MDV) is a huge site. It has art, it has fictional cards via Celixia, it has combos, articles, links and more. As one of MDV's motto's states: MDV is more than meets the eye. However, the true purpose of MDV is found in the deck database. Hence the name Magic DECK Vortex. When you think of a vortex, what do you think? An endless pit of something that eventually leads into something else? If so, you are right. And, that something else is creativity, inspiration and idea. Two of the mission statements for MDV are:

I hope to continually make the MDV Deck Database bigger and better and most importantly, more organized. The two main ways I sort the decks are by color and by type (category). I provide the deck lists, descriptions if available, the author, the type and then thumbnails of some of the cards in the deck for your viewing pleasure. In all of this, I believe I am fulfilling the above two mission statements (of several found on the About MDV page).

Initially, MDV was just a one page EXCEL file with all of my eighty decks in it. I kept track of them because sometimes I had to take apart a deck or two to accommodate a new deck I wanted to try out and I didn't want to lose the deck lists. I'm sure everyone can relate to that. No one has infinite cards (in real life anyway). Mind you, this was before I knew Apprentice or Magic Workstation or Magic Online existed.

When I lost my car in a stupid accident and was car-less for several months, I teamed up with my brother to get some pages up on the net. After learning Frontpage a bit, I started adding more decks and facets to a very small personal set of page. Since I had no car it was easy for me to spend a lot of time on developing, designing, marketing and adding to the MDV site. I wanted to call it Magic Vortex but that name was already taken.

Now, five years later you see MDV as it is. It's linked to on over 100 other MTG and other sites and just keeps growing. For more information on the site, click here.

Currently, there are over 1500 decks. Mind you, that's not including all of the deck submissions and other miscellaneous decks throughout the site that aren't cataloged in the DDB. Each deck is hand picked and selected which I myself, John Streetz, then take a great deal of time to layout and add to the main database. I've been known to collect decks from a variety of sources including some of the more popular MTG sites on the net, some of the not so popular sites, Scrye, Inquest, players at tournaments I frequent, visitor submissions and of course, myself. Did I ever mention, thank you for visiting Magic Deck Vortex. I really do mean it. (Note: I think I mention this in 90% of the blurbs I post on the front page.) I really, really do mean it. MDV would not be such a great success without all of you visiting it.

Below is a chart graph I did back in 2004 showing where all of the decks come from in percentage form. Other Internet sources is the highest as it includes all sites that aren't www.magicthegathering.com. Decks by Magic Deck Vortex include decks from articles and deck from myself.

There are several ways to submit decks to the MDV Database including by email and by writing articles that are published on the site. Note that not all decks in articles or that are submitted via email are added.

However, the best way to submit a deck to the Magic Deck Vortex Deck Database is to post it in the forum. You can find a link to the Casual Deck Forum here. Again, not all decks are added to the database, but the moderators and myself peruse them to see if they are worthy of being added to the database. You can tell your deck has been selected if you see a [DBM] tag in the title.

There are several guidelines and rules for posting decks there, so please read them. You can find the rules and guidelines here. Also found in that thread is information about getting a DBM tag.

In the actual database, what does each column present and what determines it?

Some of these columns are self explanatory such as Deck Name, Colors and Style. However, some are not and thus I would like to take a moment to go into further detail about some of these.

Deck Name. This is the name of the deck typically chosen by the deck creator. Sometimes the names are creative like "Don't Block Party" and other times they are simple like "Combo Control 2008." Quick note: the more original and creative a deck name is, the more likely I am to add it to the database.

Sometimes you will see what looks like initials in the deck name such as UB or WRG. These initials usually stand for the colors (i.e. U/B MILL is short for Blue-Black Mill). While this is redundant since I have the color icons just to the right of the deck name, it is really part of the deck name.

One other thing about the deck names: If two asterisks(**) follow the deck name then it is a deck within an article on MDV. If you click the link it will take you directly to the deck within the article. Decks that are taken from articles and put into the deck database do not appear in the color navigation (Up/Next) on the actual deck pages.

Cards which define it. I try to pick out cards from the deck in combination with phrases that give the visitor a glance into the deck without clicking on it. For instance, if it's a goblin tribal deck that uses Clickslither as the win condition, those are the words you will see in this box.

Also, sometimes you'll see copy in brackets, such as [ODYSSEY] or [T1] or even other deck categories like [COMBO]. Anything in brackets lets you know what other deck categories it fits into and in some cases, those categories don't have their own page in the database. If you see a deck on the INFINITE page with [TRIBAL] in the 'cards which define it' part, it just means its both a Tribal deck and an Infinite deck. If you see a set name in brackets, that means the deck is a block format deck.

Rating. This is a number 0 through 5 that rates the deck on power level. If the deck is a zero it is a really bad deck. If the deck is a five it is a really good deck. Most decks in the database are between 2.5 and 3.5 in power level. This is because this is a casual website.

Who rates the decks and applies the number? I do. I do a quick review of the deck in combination with the performance of the deck if applicable to generate the number. I will admit that I may be way off in some decks, but the number is a pretty good reference point if you are looking for a really good or bad deck. Not too many decks are below one or above four.

Date Added. This is a misleading number and that's exactly why I'm including it in this section. The data added is not the date the deck was created or even the data it was published on Magic Deck Vortex. It is the date that I add it to my own database. This is a database not online but a database on my computer where I store the decks before I add them to the site.

There are several criteria the deck must fulfill before I add it to the Magic Deck Vortex Deck Database. Those criteria include:

If the deck meets any or all of those criteria, it is added. If you are a tournament player visiting Magic Deck Vortex and expect to see the top tier decks, you most likely won’t find them in their current form. They change much too often for me to provide that. If you are a casual player, you are at the right place. I gear most of my deck pickings to the casual crowd… that’s why I have one of the best collections of tribal decks on the net. However, if you are a tourney go-er and are visiting MDV, I still have some 'eternal' format decks as well as a very cool 'historical' deck category in the DDB.

After all of that, you are first probably asking yourself, what is a ‘unique’ deck? A unique deck has to be one that revolves around either a bunch of cards not so often used or a deck that uses a not so common combo to accomplish it's win. For instance, does your deck use Death Spark, Blood Hounds, Cauldron Dance, Shared Fate or Psychic Allergy as your win condition? If it does, then it’s unique by my standards. Mind you that once upon a time I would put all of my ‘unique’ decks in one place. Since then I have decided to separate the decks into two categories: Unique and Single Card Strategies (S.C.S.) Also note that some of the Unique decks in the database are there only because I can’t consider them any other type. Some of these decks have become very popular over the course of time and really aren’t ‘unique’ anymore… but I leave them there anyway. Recently I have started sifting through the Unique decks and putting them in their appropriate category (mostly Combo or S.C.S.).

Second, do I have it already? As you know there are 1000's of decks that can be made for the same concept deck (i.e. Twelvepost, Affinity, U/G madness or R/G Land Destruction). I try to only use one or two decks that have history or that use a different card base to pull off it's purpose. Sometimes I choose decks that won some big tournament and then other times I don’t. There is now a new historical section of decks where you can find decks that have placed in the top 20 in various tournaments from around the world. Anyway, please know I am often found to post several very similar decks. This happens just because I sometimes don’t realize how many variations I have of a deck in MDV’s DDB. I do try to delete decks that become redundant or obsolete as time passes. Magic is such a versatile, constantly changing game and keeping up with this (I’ll be honest) is very difficult. Very, very difficult.

Third, is the deck fun and wacky? When I say fun and wacky, I mean is it a deck you play just for fun? Is it a deck you don’t necessarily want to win with but that you really enjoy playing? For some it’s a crazy tribal deck like Cephalids. If you have one, email it to me. For others, it’s playing with a bunk card like Mudhole to win… although I don't think I'll ever find a deck using that card to win. Correct that, I've found a few. But, moving along, Inquest is pretty good at finding clever ways to win with junk rares, like Carnival of Souls for instance. Also, www.magicthegathering.com writers like Mark Gottlieb, Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar and Anthony Alongi do a good job of creating fun and wacky decks (which is why you will see their decks throughout the database so much). In fact, there is one group game deck called Feed off the People by Alongi which he states about it, “…I built this deck to demonstrate that it's not the winning that's all important – it's getting your tricks to happen, whatever they are, reliably and in a way that makes you proud of what you did.”. That’ s a fun and wacky deck.

Fourth, does it fulfill some facet of the database not previously filled? I ask this for certain format oriented decks that provide a deck similar to another deck in the database but that are only for a certain format. This happens most often with Pauper (LITE) decks, Block decks and Group decks. Note that block decks do not have their own section in the database although that may change in the future. And if it did, ignore this comment. (In case I don't update this when that happens).

Lastly, did I create it? If I did, of course I'm going to add it. Why wouldn't I?

As I finally decide to add a deck to the database I then have to transfer it into my EXCEL database of decks. Aside from copying the deck list, title and author, I have to choose what 'category' it goes into. To be honest, this can be one of the more challenging steps. Sometimes a deck works as a BURN deck and a COMBO and a BEATDOWN deck. Then what? Which category do I chose? I usually chose the best one and hope I'm right. As I notice decks noted in incorrect categories, I usually correct them (Unless I forget). I can always use help with this task so if you would like to step up into the 'editor' category for Magic Deck Vortex, please let me know. I will be up front to say that most of the previous editors were all about it for a month and then I never heard from them again. MDV is a big site with big duties.. and I can always use help.

The deck categories have evolved quite a bit from where they were originally. There used to be only 6 different categories. As the database grew from 80 to 200 to 500 to now 1000+, another system was needed. Currently, I have many more categories to organize decks, which you see now at the top of every deck database page (sorted by type). You can now also found a description for each of the deck categories on this page.

All decks are also sorted (navigation wise) by color. Below is a listing of the color categories. Recently I have updated each of the decks by color pages so that they include the same deck descriptions you find in the decks by type pages. Even more recently, I have added the same organization of decks by type to the by color pages.. so now you will see the deck type, quick description and so on.

I hope this has given you a little insight into the Magic Deck Vortex Database and MDV as a now established Magic: the Gathering website. If you have any questions or comments about this please email me.