Topic: How to get feedback on your deck

Greetings all,

As I'm sure many of you are aware the deckbuilding forum is my major stomping ground.  I enjoy the challenge of building decks and generally brewing up new ideas (potentially more than even playing them).  BUT, I cannot count the number of times someone posts a simple "here's my deck... help" expecting to get meaningful feedback.  Now anyone who I've given feedback to can attest, I spend a while thinking through decks and providing well-thought-out critiques and suggestions.  But why should I go to that effort if the poster doesn't put forth any effort in their post?

The simplest way I can say this is this: The more detail you give us, the more we can tell you (and the more likely we'll actually spend the time to say anything).  Phrased another way, if you don't put forth any effort on your part, you likely won't receive any effort on our part.

So what does the forum typically need?  We don't need a book-length explanation about the deck, but as much guidance you can provide makes the idea more interesting and more likely to get input.  Specifically, you should answer some/all of the following questions:

- What format are you looking to play?  Is this for standard, modern, edh/commander, tiny leaders, casual kitchen table?
- In that same vein, where are you looking to play this?  Are you looking to make waves in a major tourney or just whoop up on your buddies?
- What is the strategy YOU envision the deck using?  Put another way, if you could have an ideal opening hand, what would be in it and why?  What is the overall plan?
- What is the budget you're looking to use to make the deck better?  Are you open to spending a bit or does it have to be cards out of your existing inventory?

I know many people are new to the game and this might seem intimidating, to which I would just say, "Tell us that you're new."  There aren't any mind readers in this forum that I know of.  Additionally, even if you've only played the game 2-3 times, you can still tell us whether you're going to FNM or just want to be the tabletop hero and how much money you're looking to sink into this adventure.

Alright, that's enough... rant over... *drops mic*

Re: How to get feedback on your deck

I will say, here in my first post after more than two years on the site, that every point you make is valid. However, I would caution those more sensitive readers that some of the questions are contingent on others. Also, I would add a point to the ideal opening hand: a solid opening hand (x land, y creatures, engaging z elements of the deck's strategy.

Deckbox is my back-up (I use a home-brew database that does everything I like about this site, and more, without those I don't need), though now I think I may contribute to these boards too. It looks as if there is going to be some good meat for me to dive into over the summer.