6×6 : A Comprehensive Guide to Deckbuilding

Having trouble building a deck? Can’t make those cuts and can’t squeeze your big 99-card EDH deck into a 58-card format? Don’t want dingdongs telling you to just netdeck? Brand new to Magic and have somehow stumbled upon one of our newest formats?

Well, similar to Oathbreaker’s big brother EDH, deckbuilding in a singleton format can be made easy by simple numbers.

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6×6.

These are 6 piles of 6 cards, rather than EDH’s 8×8.

These piles each represent something that they’re supposed to do but there will always be three piles that are exactly the same: Draw, Ramp, and Removal. This is the same as in 8×8, but if you don’t know about 8×8 or you’re a troglodyte, then let me explain briefly.

Draw can be anything from permanents that draw cards like Necropotence to 1-mana cantrip-like effects like Brainstorm. These are usually lower on the curve if they are not permanents, but permanents can be 4-5 mana or higher depending on how good their draw effects are.

Ramp is artifact-based in most colors except green, in which case it is creature- and/or instant/sorcery-based. Ramp is usually very low on the curve and reserved for Turn 1 and Turn 2 plays, being 1-3 mana, though ramp that adds a lot more mana sources can justify a 4-5 cost spell. Fast mana (instants and sorcery that make mana for a short time) can be considered ramp but it is very dangerous to rely solely on them for your ramp. 1-2 fast mana spells in your ramp, if any, should be fine.

Be aware that a lot of low CMC artifacts like EDH staple Sol Ring and the Vintage moxen are banned in Oathbreaker.

Finally, Removal. 1-3 mana removal spells are usually best when it involves targeting permanents, though 4-6 mana can be justified for board wipes. Counterspells or permanent theft (as in, theft that does not last until end of turn) can be considered removal in most cases.

The other three can be whatever your theme is or based on what your Oathbreaker does.

For example, a Tribal deck may want Lords, Beaters, and Support (with the latter being creatures in your tribe that don’t have Lord effects but still benefit you directly). Lords being creatures that buff all of your or all of your other creatures of that type, Beaters being the biggest of your types of the ones that have the most devastating effects, and the Support being creatures in your tribe that are neither big nor buffing but have beneficial effects all the same.

Or a Graveyard deck may want Mill/Self-Mill, Reanimation/Recursion, and Value Creatures to reanimate (again, with the latter being big threats you’re bringing out of your graveyard). Mill putting creatures into graveyards, Reanimation to bring them back, and Value Creatures being big threats that you target with your reanimation.

Don’t worry if you have a card that can be in multiple piles. Most cards can bleed into multiple piles, and one could argue that this makes the deck more efficient. So you shouldn’t worry about the balance so long as it is a good card.

Finally, you have your 22 lands (though you may want to add more if your curve isn’t as low, taking away from the 6×6).

These lands should be at least 11 basic, 5-6 duals (or more, for the few tri-color Planeswalkers), and 5-6 utility lands (usually ones that make colorless mana) that also work with your theme or are just generally good cards like Strip Mine.

Note that lands that do not generate mana on their own, like Maze of Ith or Glacial Chasm should not be counted towards your 22 lands and should be placed in your synergy piles (the three piles that aren’t Draw/Ramp/Removal).

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As time goes on, you will get more comfortable with your new deck and begin to make better cuts and additions that will eventually wear away your six piles until it becomes a perfectly smooth engine.

Good luck and have fun.