How I Tune (For Deck Tuner)

A guide.... ish...

Disclaimer: This is a method that works for me, and everyone’s method will be different. Still, I thought I’d share.

I’ve been tuning decks for DeckTuner for some time now, and I’ve been overall surprised at how quickly I’ve climbed from Rookie Tuner to both a Lead Tuner and an Admin of the server. At the time of writing, I’m also at the top of the leaderboard for most tunes all-time with a 100% positive feedback rate. I also made a basic video on how to tune using Moxfield (and then they made a big update to Moxfield’s feature right after) and continue to provide additional auxiliary support with hopefully helpful articles and in-server posts. I highly recommend checking the server out if you want some deck tune-ups, or if you want to get involved in tuning other people’s decks yourself!

I’ve been heard saying “I tune decks the way the South Park staff write episodes - all in one shot.” And it’s true, that machine-gun style has a sizeable output (and also appeals to my sensibilities - once I leave my seat and do something else, I’m less likely to “get back in the zone” again). I am quickly losing my lead spot: other tuners are doing a lot of hard work and I’ve had less and less time to take workshops myself, thanks to both my friends and my creative endeavors (like writing these articles)… but I figured I’d write an article that might expedite my downfall from that top spot on the leader-board.

Step 0: Some Settings

First, before starting any workshops, I want to cover some settings that are important for tuners in discord. First, it should benefit you to click on the Discord’s settings in the upper left and check “Show All Channels.” This is because discord automatically hides channels after some inactivity time, and if a workshop that you’ve taken gets hidden, you’ll be unlikely to find it again:

The second setting I want to emphasize is one that I check AFTER I’ve taken a workshop. You see, generally Discord doesn’t ping you for all the activity on a server, but this means that if you have 5+ workshops open, it can be very difficult to keep track of which ones are yours and which ones to go back and check on. So I highly recommend right clicking on the workshops you have claimed and changing the notification settings to “All Messages” that way you can make sure to stay up to date on your workshops even if the pilot doesn’t ping you specifically:

With those two settings out of the way, let’s get into the actual tuning.

Step 1: Finding the Tune (And importing)

First… unless absolutely otherwise necessary, I tend to take workshops listed as “casual.” This is simply because that’s the power level I’m interested in playing at! It’s always easy to take a workshop if it’s something you could actually see yourself playing. Since I’m a bit hipster, I’ll also avoid stuff that feels too common - but sometimes I make an exception here for decks that look interesting but are “too mainstream” for me to play myself

When I find a tune I like, I usually don’t take it immediately. Instead, I import the deck into Moxfield and begin working. Moxfield’s import features are fairly simple to use, and I won’t explain every little detail, but… I’ll import the deck with a name like “Workshop ###: (username of pilot) name of commander” and immediately drop it into my DeckTuner folder. This helps me keep my workshops organized.

Once I make the deck, I open the primer and copy and paste the primer I have from another tune. The prompt looks like this:

**username, here are proposed changes for your deck:**
*(Make sure to group by "Type and Tag" under view options for the best experience)*

Ok, now let's talk about the three pillars of decent EDH decks: mana, draw, and interaction. These are the thing you'll need plenty of if you want a deck to run well... my benchmark is usually "at least nine." I'll start forming the deck around these so that the deck has pillars in place, and other stuff can go on top of that. I'll start with mana (lands and ramp):
- My comfortable manabase for workshops is 37 lands + 2 MDFCs, plus 8-12 ramp. (I wrote an [article about using a hypergeometric distribution calculator](https://witchphd.substack.com/p/mdfc-hyperdrive?s=w) and a friend of mine did [an analysis with such a tool](https://www.reddit.com/r/EDH/comments/t6qg64/ill_just_cut_a_land_a_statistical_analysis_of/) and found 36 lands + 12 ramp to be ideal for finding playable hands).
- The MDFC land is valuable since it lets you sort of pretend you have more lands. Use it as a land when you're short, and as a spell when you're not.
-  Your deck has X lands, X spells I marked as ramp, and X MDFC cards
-

Draw:
- Draw is REALLY important, the second most important thing after lands and ramp if you want your deck to run smoothly. [Chance dictates that clumps will regularly happen](https://witchphd.substack.com/p/understanding-chance?utm_source=%2Fprofile%2F75443802-witchphd&utm_medium=reader2).
- Personally I divide "Draw" into two categories, **"Card Advantage" and "Card Selection."**
- **"Card Advantage"** is anything that will get you more cards into your hand. For example, if you have 5 cards in your hand and cast [[Divination]], you go down to 4 cards in your hand (the divination is used), then draw 2 cards and go up to 6 cards. **6 is greater than 5, so you gained cards.**
- **"Card Selection"** is anything that lets you see / manipulate cards, but doesn't gain you cards. For example, when you have 5 cards in hand and cast [[Cathartic Reunion]] you use the reunion and discard 2 cards, and thus lose 3 cards total. You go down to 2 cards in hand. Then when the reunion resolves, you draw 3, and go back up to five. **5 is not greater than 5, so you did not gain cards.**
- Card Selection isn't "bad" and putting cards in the graveyard or or otherwise controlling cards can help you, but card advantage is more directly and generically strong. 

**All the cards that I cut are in the `Considering` section. When you’re finished and ready to leave feedback, just type `!close` into the workshop channel. Remember to save any information you want to keep before closing the workshop.**

**If you found this helpful, feel free to tip me ([[user:WitchPHD]]) at:** 

- https://www.buymeacoffee.com/WitchPHD

**Also, I write articles occasionally at:** 

- https://witchphd.substack.com/

**You can find these links, and my other socials at:** 

- https://linktr.ee/thewitchphd

**Also consider supporting DeckTuner with its #tcgplayer-affiliate-link. DeckTuner will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you:** 

- https://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/product?utm_campaign=affiliate&utm_medium=DeckTuner&utm_source=DeckTuner

**Thanks for using DeckTuner!**

Since I have two monitors, I’ll keep this primer open on one monitor while I do the majority of tuning work on the others. Don’t forget to save the primer regularly, as it does NOT auto-save.

Step 2: The Sort

As I’ve mentioned in some of my previous articles, sorting a deck is a crucial part of how I think about a deck’s design. I’m a fan of the 7x9 method. But that means we have to form categories for the deck and define just 7 things the deck is doing:

1. Ramp

2. Draw

3. Interaction

4. Misc

These are my default categories. For lands and ramp spells, I use global tags on moxfield (Tag with “#!” instead of just “#”) so they’re always sorted even on a fresh deck import, but for the others, I sort them manually. This is because I want to have the control to put cards in one of the seven categories I’ve defined for the deck. Sorting is also the time when I “attune” myself with the decklist. By picking out ramp, card draw, and deciding on other effects that take up a large enough chunk to be considered a category, I get a feel for what the deck is doing and what cards are there.

Similarly, I’ll start cutting and adding cards during this step. After making sure the “considering” area is empty, I cut cards by clicking the three dots and clicking “move to considering.” Sometimes I might end up with a chunk of “unsorted creatures” at the end, and don’t always nitpick about making sure everything’s sorted as long as I’ve pulled out the categories I need. During and sorting, or pretty much whenever I think of doing so, I’ll add notes to the primer about what I am doing to the deck. Usually in the form of categories with bullet points under each category.

Step 3: The Tuning

Once I’m done with the sorting step it’s time for the tuning phase to properly begin, so I’ll take it from the top. As you can see from my copypasta, my first category is always “lands/ramp.”

It's important to note that most decks won’t see that much more flashiness from upgrading the manabase, so I try to keep my budget expenditure on this category light. You’d be surprised how many decks just aren’t working very often because they don’t have enough land or ramp. As I mention in the copypasta, my comfortable mana base is 36 lands, 1 MDFC, and 10-12 ramp pieces… and I am happy to link them to articles talking about why (whether they are mine or not). Deviating from this pattern for specific reasons is fine, but I try to get close to it for the sake of making sure the mana base works. My goal here is to make the manabase functional, not perfect or competitive. Things like cutting taplands for basics, slightly better taplands, or cheap utility stuff like Myriad Landscape or Rogue’s Passage. Not loading up on fetchlands unless the pilot has an exuberant budget (and likewise, I think that off-color fetches are for competitive decks, not casual ones). If the deck contains green, I’m a pretty big fan of forest-typed lands like Cinder Glade or the bicycles combined with Nature’s Lore and Three Visits and will splurge for that set-up in all but the most budget of decks. In green, I might opt for Cultivates or something else, but otherwise, it’s a matter of plug-and-play with the usual slew of 2 mana rocks such as Mind Stone. Like normal, I’ll tag anything that I add with both the tag for the category it goes in and the “#Add” tag to manage the budget and help the pilot know what I added.

After lands and ramp, the next categories are draw and removal. I know I mentioned 7x9, but usually, the concession is that I’ll cut a little bit from other categories to beef up draw, removal, and ramp. This means some categories might have a bit fewer than 9 so that draw, interact, and ramp can have a bit more than 9.

Categories for tuning notes will either follow the categories I’ve divided the deck into or follow the categories of things that the user has asked for… and I’ll keep considering sections of cards in that order. When I make a change I just list it as a bullet point. The result is that my primer/tuning notes read as a stream of consciousness style of “editors notes.” This definitely has its pros and cons compared to more organized or written-out styles, but many pilots tend to like it.

Step 4: The Presentation

After the tuning is complete I’ll post the finished product in the workshop. This is usually the first message I post in the workshop. I understand that claiming the workshop so late in the process comes at the risk of another tuner picking it up in the meantime, but I undertake that risk because of my whimsy - I don’t want to get halfway through tuning only to decide I can’t help them but have already told them I’d do the workshop.

Similar to the primer that forms my tuning notes, I have a copypasta for when I post the tuned deck to the workshop:

@Username The first draft of your deck tuning is now complete. I cut/added XX cards, and spent XX$ out of your XX$ budget to do so: [insert deck link]

I store my tuning notes in the primer, which you can navigate to from the above link or here: [insert same deck link but with "/primer" at the end]

DeckTuner affiliate information as well as my personal tipjar are in the primer. Keep in mind this is a first draft so I'm completely open to doing more revisions, answering further questions, or etc! When you are done with the workshop, you can type !close in this channel to close the workshop. Make sure to keep all links that you need when you close.

[insert extra tidbit about the deck here]

Thank you for letting me tune your [commander name] deck!

After that, I simply wait to see what they say. Often times they’ll have questions or want to playtest the deck, and I’ll try my best to answer and also encourage them to keep me updated on how stuff goes. If they ask questions during this stage, that’s usually when my inner chatterbox comes out and I throw ideas back and forth a lot.

Often, I’ll have spent significantly less than the intended budget, but will have mentioned some “expensive cards I’m tempted about but wouldn’t add with this budget” in the primer. When they read the primer, then, they can decide which expensive card that I mentioned looks most appealing and sometimes ask me what to cut for that card. This is useful for a few reasons: spending less than the budget gives wiggle room and invites them to ask further questions about expensive cards you didn’t add. It also allows you to list cards in the tuning notes without adding them to the deck, so you can go back and add them at any point. Finally, going under budget sometimes leaves pilots feeling happy that the deck got upgraded, money got saved and they have a few notes of what they could add if they wanted. It just puts a lot of power in their hands.

Sometimes pilots will say that they wanted something else, or that they aren’t sure about X, Y, or Z… or even “this card you cut was my pet card can you put it back in somehow?” And the answer is almost always “Yeah let me see about a second revision, anything else you’re looking at before I have at it?” If I do a second revision, I’ll tag anything I add as “#Add2” just to help keep things visually clear.

Sometimes if players don’t respond a little bit I’ll nudge them a bit with a “Hey, @Username, just checking in to see how you’re feeling about the deck.” Here’s a simple prompt I occasionally use if the chat seems dead for a while:

@Username If you have questions, concerns, or desires for changes please let me know. Feel free to take your time in closing!

However if you feel that you’re good to go, then you can close the workshop by entering !close and clicking on the feedback in the bot. Don’t forget to save anything you need (primarily the deck link) and remember that tipjar and affiliate link are in the primer if so desired!

You’ll notice that these have @mentions a lot. Many users don’t set notifications for channels and don’t notice if you don’t ping them.

Finally, after everything is done and they close the workshop, I drag the deck into a second folder on Moxfield for finished decks

End of Article Space

That’s my process. It’s simple and it usually takes me under an hour to tune a deck. Nothing groundbreaking, but the simple and streamlined nature allows the process to produce industrious output. May it be of use.

Tips:

• Remember that, while it’s easier to work on a deck that you’d want to play, the goal isn’t to make a deck you want to play. You don’t necessarily know the pilot or their playgroup. Simple functional changes to make sure there’s enough ramp, draw, etc - or replacing cards with “strictly better” versions are usually better than complete overhauls that make the deck feel unapproachable or too dissimilar to what the creator made. This varies based on what the pilot asks for, however.

• Remember to consider your audience! I can’t remember where but I heard “90% of magic is still kitchen table magic” and in my experience this holds true. Most players who try to get their casual deck tuned don’t watch tons of podcasts or intake a lot of mtg content from other sources - some don’t even interact much on Reddit (which is a place biased slightly towards competitive play). This means they usually want their deck to run/work, and don’t necessarily need it to fit in all the competitive boxes.

• Keep a close eye on their budget, but don’t forget to add an expensive card and cut it later - write a note about having considered it and they may appreciate it.

If you’d like, you can tune next to a 招き猫 (Maneki-neko) to bring good luck to the deck as well.