Casual Forum Guidelines and Rules- READ THIS BEFORE POSTING!

Make sure to review the general forum rules http://magicdeckvortex.com/vbforums/...ad.php?t=22330 before posting.

Revamped Casual Forum Rules and Guidelines

1. Be polite

This applies for everyone. Flaming or other personal attacks will not be tolerated and are very warnable offenses. It doesn't matter if they don't post here often or are new members, a flame is a flame regardless.
- NO ARGUING! It's OK to give constructive criticism and to discuss, but if you feel the need to debate with a particular poster, please do it by PM.
- BE CONSTRUCTIVE: Posts like "OMG, ur deck is t3h suxxorzz!" won´t be tolerated and will be deleted promptly, and a warning will be issued.

2. Spamming

This is pretty simple, really. Refrain from "Up" or "Bump" posts, one-word posts, double posting, Necro-ing (posting on a thread that hasn't been posted on in over a month or so, with some allowances), or off-topic posts. If we come across any of the above posts, we will usually just delete them. However, if any user is found to be making any of the above posts regularly, they will be warned.

3. Deck/Card Tags - Use them!
[deck=DECKNAME]4 Seat of the Synod
4 Mox Sapphire

4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Colossus[/deck]
==>

DECKNAME
4 Seat of the Synod 4 Mox Sapphire 4 Thirst for Knowledge 1 Tinker 1 Darksteel Colossus

Card tags for individual cards!

[card]Sabertooth Nishoba[/card] = Sabertooth Nishoba

[card=Questing Phelddagrif]Richard Garfield PhD.[/card] = Richard Garfield PhD.

4. Title Tags
[D] - standard tag for 1 on 1 MTG games
[MFFA] - Multiplayer Free for all (Choas)
[SING] - Singleton / Highlander
[2HG] - Multiplayer Team game tag (normally 2-headed Giant)
[Lite] - Lite deck (deck with no Rares)
[PES] - Peasent decks (no rares only 5 Uncommons)
[PAU] - Pauper decks (only commons)
[T2] - Standard Play decks (non compete - that goes in the Tourney section)
[EXT] - Extended Play decks (non compete - as above)
[T1.5] - Legacy play
[T1] - Vintage play
[???] - where ??? is a block tag like [RAV]/[RGD] is the Ravnica block tag.

5. ANYONE who responds to a thread posted here that violates the forum rules will receive an infraction as well. Therefore, no one is allowed to respond until the original poster rectifies the situation.

Feel free to PM the user if you want to warn him/her about it, though.

6. One thread for one deck

It gets very complicated to discuss and follow two or more decks in one thread, as people will be responding to one OR the other deck, usually. So keep things neat and tidy, and make one separate thread for each deck you post.

7. No "build me a deck" requests: Threads of this sort will be closed without notice and an infraction will be issued. We don't want to encourage lazyness in this forum.

TAGS YOU CANNOT PUT ONTO YOUR TITLES

[*DBM]/[*DBM*] - In consideration for the Deck Database here on MDV
[DBM???] - In consideration - but has things to settle first
[DBM] - Has been placed into the Deck Database with pride

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Some of you have have noticed the term [DBM] floating around this section of the forum. In this thread, I hope to explain what a DBM is, how to get your deck DBM'd and so on.

[DBM] means 'Data Base Material' which actually means a deck that could be qualified for the Magic Deck Vortex Deck Database.

[*DBM] means a deck that has been added to the deck database.

[*DBM*] Means the same as *DBM

[DBM???] means a deck that might be qualified for the deck database but is in question for any number of reasons.

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To get your deck DBM'd, you should try to accommodate the following things:

* Your deck is original and unique. Another Solar Flare, UG Madness or Recsur deck isn't going to cut it for original and unique. Unless, of course, you can prove how it is in fact original and unique. I do make exceptions.
* Your deck is autocarded. That is, there are links on your card names to the appropriate Gatherer image. Deck tags are in order here or simple Card tags. If you need help with this, see above

[More may be added later]

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Suggestions to make a deck that is DBM Worthy

* Making a deck that uses a combo from one of the many Combo Pages on MDV that are without a deck link. If you are doing this, please link to the combo page you are referencing. That helps the moderators and me pin point what you are doing.
* Follow the rules. Please read the rules of the forum. Please also be friendly with the forum staff. Not being friendly will not help your situation any and could lead to tougher consequences.


...

This is a quick list of things to help you understand how things work with the DBM. Every other month I review all of the decks that have been DBM'd and add them to the deck database.

NOTE: DO NOT 'DBM' your own decks. Doing so will get you an infraction/warning.

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---General Deck building Tips---

1. When building always try to stick to a certain number. This is usually sixty. It is always sixty in sanctioned tournaments.

2. Try to always have at least 3 of the cards you need in the deck. For example don't put one Dark Ritual in a deck by choice. A deck containing, at most, 2 copies of a given card won't necessarily do badly, but it will lack strategy and direction. The chance of drawing that game-breaking advantage card will be far lower (1 in 60) as opposed to being higher (4 copies of a card in a 60 card deck offers a 1 in 15 chance). Also, including as few cards as you can (stick to the minimum #) means that you are more likely to draw the card you need. Professionals do it, it takes minimal effort to design it this way too.
If you have tutors (effects that fetch certain cards like Diabolic Tutor), you can run less of the cards you'll search for.
Example: If I have a bunch of "silver bullets" in my deck and 4 tutors, I effectively have 5 ways to draw whichever silver bullet is needed at the time.
Silver Bullet: a single card that will give you an extremely significant advantage against certain decks, usually running only 1x in a deck. (ex. Ground Seal vs a reanimator deck)

3. The first thing to think about is what you want the deck to do. Build the deck around that theme, keeping it in mind.

4. The land is a crucial part of a deck. Be sure to include roughly 24 lands in your deck, but less (18 at the very least) if you have a weenie deck filled with low cost cards. This ensures that you draw enough land to have a steady progression of mana sources.


---Format---
When asking for help in the deck clinic, be sure that you know what format you're wanting. A rough idea is: --

1. T2: Also called standard. Features Tenth Edition, Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide, Shards of Alara, Conflux, and Alara Reborn.

2. T.x: Also called extended. Includes every card & block that came out around & after 6th edition. There's quite a list of banned cards, so check out this link for info on those: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...es/sfrextended

3. T1: All basic sets, extensions of basic sets, promotional cards, limited-edition or large expansion sets. Banned/restricted cards are listed here. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x...urces/sfrtype1

4. Casual: A flexible term. When someone asks for a T1 deck, it's generally assumed they have some very powerful cards. A casual deck, however, has about the same restrictions as T1, but it isn't expected that you have some of the stronger cards.

5. All of the above have the same restrictions: 60 card minimum, 4 copies of a non-basic land, etc.

6. Prismatic: A prismatic deck is a goofier deck type it has at least 250 cards, 20 cards of each color (multicolor cards count as one of your choice, not both). Battle of wits is banned.

7. Highlander: is a goofier deck type "There can be only one." One copy of each card in a deck.


---Sideboard---

1. A sideboard is a 15-card list that has cards that you may not need for every matchup, but could help you out. In tournaments, you play the same person two to three times, and you can switch cards from your sideboard to your maindeck for each game. It's used to prevent drawing a card that you can't use.
For instance, Circle of Protection: Red is a common sideboard card that's put in against goblins.


Deckbuilding taken and modified from the Fireshui Forums