The rule of nine is a guideline to constructing streamlined Magic decks. At it’s basic form, the law states that you should be able to build a well working deck that’s constructed using only 9 spells.

I find it easier to think of this in terms of slots for a type of card in my deck. I need to find the most efficient spell for that slot in my deck and have four of that spell to fill the slot. Choosing those nine spells for those slots can be difficult. Only nine spells! With all the goodies I have to choose from? To make the most efficient deck possible.. yes. Although I will usually split a slot between a couple spells.

Here’s how I breakdown the math using the law of nine in an average 60 card aggressive mama curve deck :

(cc = casting cost)

3 slots – 1cc cards
3 slots – 2cc cards
2 slots – 3cc cards
1 slot – 4cc+ Cards

Four of each of the spells in these slots makes for 36 cards ( 9 slots x 4 cards ).

The rest of the deck is 24 lands.

Now… this rule is a general law to follow – nothing hard and fast. Any great deck you see winning tournaments usually has this type of structure – a few spells each with multiple copies in the deck. All spells work well witheach other giving the deck a great synergy.

I used this law to revamp my mono-white soldier deck and ended up with this :

1cc slots :

Brave the Elements x 4
Elite Vanguard x 4
Hada Freeblade x 4

2cc Slots

Honor of the Pure x 4
Kazandu Blademaster x 4
Vetran Armorsmith x 4
Journey to Nowhere x 4

3cc slots

Vetran Swordsmith x 4

4cc+ slots

Conquer’s Pledge x 2
Join the Ranks x 2

Rhox Pikemaster x 1
Captain of the Guard x 1

As you can tell, I followed the rule fairly close. I have 3 slots for 1cc cards since this is a fast and aggressive deck – which will give me a great chance of dropping a soldier right from the first turn.

The slots in the 2cc class continue my aggressive soldier build and allow for creature removal with the Journeys. Between the Journeys and the Brave the Elements, I hope to be able to answer all my opponents threats at a very low cost.

the one 3cc slot rounds out my soldier sharing abilities with the swordmaster.

I’ve split the main 4cc+ spot between Join the ranks and Conquerer’s pledge at two spells each. Each one does the same thing – multiple soldiers on a play. Each one is strongest at different points of the game. I might not have enough mana to play the Pledge for a while. Join the Ranks is strongest as an instant build for the allies or a surprise blocker during my opponents turn. The later ability requires that I save mana I’d rather be using to drop as may smaller soldiers as possible – so they end up sharing that slot.

Since this is a mono white deck – there’s no worrying about being color screwed. So I dropped the land requirements to 22 and added half a slot for the big pikemaster and Captain of the Guard. Both are harder to get out quickly, but add a ton of aggression to the deck. The two sky ruins are for late-game creature advantage in case the match comes down to a late-game race.

I got this rule from this post by a math teacher who plays magic :

Rule Of Nine at mannation.com

There’s some great in-depth analysis of how the rule applies to many common deck types.

Let me know if this is useful to anyone! See you on Monday!

There’s