7x9, Every Time

A semi-demonic chant

There are a lot of templates for making a deck, from ones released by major content creators like the command zone, to ones I found on google images with the creator being only knowable through a deleted blog. Just as there are as many sides to a story as there are people involved, there are as many ways to make decks as there are players. So in this episode, I’ll go over the one I personally start with… so let’s uncover this relic of a bygone era (seriously no one talks about this anymore) that will get you casting spells and summoning demons in no time: 7x9.

The Theory?

The theory behind 7x9 is simple. If we use our old friend the HYPER GEOMETRIC DISTRIBUTION CALCULATOR and plug in the numbers for a 60-card deck, to find out how likely you are to draw a card you are running 4-of, you have a 39.9% chance of having it in your opening hand and a 6.6% chance of drawing it on an individual draw.

If we plug in the numbers for a 99-card deck, the closest number we have is 7. If we run 7 of something, then we have a 41.1% chance of having something in our opening hand and a 7% chance of drawing it on an individual draw.

In 60-card formats, the conventional wisdom is that if a card is really good and you want it every game, you should run 4 of it - therefore, it stands to reason that if you want to have “removal” every game in your EDH deck, you should run 7 removal spells (I tried to fit a Seven Dwarves joke in here, but it didn’t work).

The Template

So if we accept that math and live our life making decks that way, then we can fit 9 whole categories of “things we want” into our decks, each category having 7 cards. 7*9=63, so we then have room for 36 lands + 1 commander.

• Category 1 - 7x Ramp

• Category 2 - 7x Removal

• Category 3 - 7x Draw

• Category 4 - 7x Theme 1

• Category 5 - 7x Theme 2

• Category 6 - 7x Theme 3

• Category 7 - 7x Theme 4

• Category 8 - 7x Theme 5

• Category 9 - 7x Theme 6

• 36 lands

• 1 commander

And this becomes the basic 7x9 template.

The Flip

Now, honestly, this template is “fine.” But what commander deck really needs to do that many different things/have that many categories? Also, if you look at 60-card standard decks only run a 4-of removal? Sure they might run 4 Fatal Push but they might supplement that with 2 Doom Blade. At this stage, many people would turn their noses up at this formula altogether, but I propose a simple flip. Instead of 9 categories with 7 cards… 7 categories with 9 cards.

• Category 1 - 9x Ramp

• Category 2 - 9x Removal

• Category 3 - 9x Draw

• Category 4 - 9x Miscelleneous (pet cards or 1-ofs that don’t fit other categories)

• Category 5 - 9x Theme 1

• Category 6 - 9x Theme 2

• Category 7 - 9x Theme 3

• 36 lands

• 1 commander

This is my patented “modified 7x9” template. Though, sometimes I end up combining themes 2 and 3, and having 18-ish slots for a singular theme.

No Template is Perfect

Being a stickler for numbers and math is not a bad thing, but usually formulas like this act as a starting point and not a final product. Decks might have to change what they need based on other factors, based on playtesting, and based on other things.

So what’s the point of a template? A template lets you go from idea to playtesting quickly while making sure you’re not missing any of the basics and the numbers are at least sorta where you need them. Rules exist to be broken, but you have to have the experience and knowledge to understand WHEN, WHY, and HOW to break them first. This template provides a “S.M.A.R.T. Goal”to start working with and improving a deck, or your deckbuilding skills, right away. With the knowledge that any template is not an end product anyway, I find this template to be incredibly BASED because it’s easy to use and easy to remember.

I designed this rhyme, “7x9 every time,” to build a deck fast and get it going in no time. Long gone are the days of remembering random numerals for draw and removal like “was I supposed to have 10 ramp and 12 removal? or 12 ramp and 10 removal?” You can answer every question with “9 - it rhymes, put that many in for a good time.” It’s sublime. The simple mnemonic nature serves as a strength, whereas the downside is not really a downside of this template but templates in general: no template makes a complete product on its own.

Just start off with the intention of putting about 9 in each thing. That’s it. If you get through a deck and have less than 9 of an effect, ask if you really need it - this quick “gut check” might result in you cutting that effect entirely, adding more to make sure you can get it, or keeping only the best ones and putting them in “misc.”

Finally, remember that ramp, draw, and removal are the most important, and miscellaneous is just a catch-all that will often be cut from to fit stuff into other categories. Cutting from “misc” to get more ramp, draw, or removal is always recommended.

The End

That’s it. This is the template I use because it’s easy to remember and in the end it doesn’t even matter - the template will not be the final product anyway, so why spend a lot of effort memorizing specific numbers when you can repeat this simple demonic chant until your unorganized pile of cards has magically sleeved itself into something you can play: 7x9 every time.