So, being one of the total n00bs participating in this tourney I have had a real challenge building a deck. The main problem I face is knowing what to keep in a main deck, what to sideboard and what to stop considering altogether. Once I have the cards I think I should have in my deck I find myself closer to 60 cards than to 40 (with lands). It has been my experience that more cards tends to be a hindrance in this format. Does anyone else have this same observation? Should we shoot for a 40 card deck and build up to a 60 card deck by the final week?

I'm not having issues with the amount of land in my deck, I only have issues with the amount I draw (as those I have played can attest to), so that's not my concern.

40 cards, no more, no less. You want to make sure you are drawing cards that are useful and, even with trading, the odds are low that you can find 20-24 cards that are worth playing. Evaluating what is and isn't good can be challenging; your best bet is to find a review of the set. Channelfireball (http://www.channelfireball.com/) has pretty good reviews.

You'll want to stick to 40 if you can. Sometimes if you need to round out your mana curve you might go to 41. A technique I use for testing out a deck is to deal myself 7 cards and play out 5 turns without an opponent. It's not perfect because you don't have an opponent but it's a quick way to feel out your deck. You'll also find that sometimes cards that sound good turn out not so great in practice and vice versa, and other times a good card just doesn't work in your deck. That just takes experience and practice. (or you could look up what others think of a card but I'm more of a learn from my mistakes kind of person)

I always stick to 40 cards, with either 16 or 17 lands depending on the relative speed of the deck and nonland mana sources.

Even when we get to trade and basically make an all-star sealed deck, you still just want as few cards as possible, to make your deck super consistent.

If you only have 23-24 non-lands in your deck, you're more likely to see them come up. If a card is good enough to fit into your deck, then you want to see it often, right?