Next Level Deck Building by Patrick Chapin: A Comprehensive Review
- More effective decks: By following Chapin's systematic approach, you'll be able to build decks that are more cohesive and effective.
- Better card selection: The book's guidance on card evaluation will help you make more informed decisions when selecting cards for your deck.
- Improved gameplan: Next Level Deck Building will help you develop a clear gameplan for your deck, enabling you to make more strategic decisions during gameplay.
- Enhanced strategic thinking: The book's focus on strategic concepts, such as card advantage and mana curve management, will help you think more critically about deck building and gameplay.
- Avoid overfitting to local results. Distinguish between a genuine global improvement and a local optimum caused by limited testing or meta quirks.
- Maintain exploratory slots in testing lists to pursue disruptive ideas that could yield outsized gains if the meta shifts.
The PDF version of Next Level Deck Building (120 pages) is a comprehensive guide that covers various aspects of deck building, including card selection, deck archetypes, and strategy. Chapin's approach is systematic and methodical, providing readers with a clear understanding of how to build decks that can compete at the highest levels.
- Intermediate to advanced players: If you're already familiar with Magic and have some deck-building experience, you'll appreciate the in-depth analysis and strategic advice.
- Competitive players: Those looking to improve their deck-building skills for tournaments and competitive play will find valuable insights and techniques.
- Casual players looking to improve: Even if you're not a competitive player, you'll still benefit from Chapin's advice on building more cohesive and fun decks.
Final Thoughts
By synthesizing insights from other Hall of Fame players and legendary builders like Alan Comer and Gerry Thompson, Chapin creates a comprehensive guide that transcends individual cards or formats. The book challenges players to move beyond "brewing" for fun and instead adopt a disciplined, analytic approach that turns raw ideas into tournament-winning machines. Ultimately, Next Level Deckbuilding
- The 15th Card: He emphasizes that a sideboard card must earn its spot. It shouldn't just be a "hoser"; it should be a card that actively helps you win a match you would otherwise lose.
- Transformational Sideboarding: Chapin is famous for advocating sideboards that allow you to transform your deck's strategy entirely (e.g., changing from a control deck to an aggro deck post-board) to punish opponents who sideboarded against your Game 1 strategy.