Build Commander
Adding a new card to a hundred-card deck is easy. Deciding what comes out for it is the part that actually takes judgment, and there's a real test for it beyond 'this one feels weak.'
"This card feels bad" is a real signal, but it's an unreliable one on its own, since a card that whiffed in your last game and a card that's genuinely weak feel identical in the moment. The better test is whether a card is earning its slot across several games, not just the one you remember.
Ask three questions about a candidate for the cut: does it support your deck's actual plan, has it come up and mattered in recent games, and is there something else in your binder that would do its job better. A card that fails all three is a safe cut. A card that passes even one is worth a second look before it goes.
Cutting your worst-feeling card instead of your least useful one. A removal spell that sat dead in hand one game because there was nothing to remove isn't a bad card, it just didn't have a target that game.
Protecting a card because it's expensive or rare. What a card cost you has nothing to do with what it's doing for the deck. A cheap common that fits your plan beats an expensive card that doesn't.
Cutting from your interaction suite first because it's "just insurance." The ramp, draw, and removal counts in the deck template exist for a reason. Cut from the cards that don't support your plan before you cut from the categories that keep the deck functional.
Sort by role first, not by feel. Group your deck into ramp, draw, removal, wipes, and win-cons/synergy, per the deck template. It's much easier to spot the weakest card in a specific category than the weakest card in a hundred-card pile all at once.
Within each category, ask what's replaceable. If two cards do roughly the same job and one does it better (cheaper, more flexible, higher impact), the weaker one is your cut, even if you like it.
Track real games if you can. A card that's underperformed across several actual games is a much stronger signal than a single bad draw. This is exactly the kind of pattern that's easy to miss from memory and easy to see once it's actually logged.
Cut for focus, not just for power. Sometimes the right cut is a card that's individually fine but doesn't connect to anything else in the deck, see how to fix an unfocused deck for that version of the problem.
A card that hasn't come up, hasn't mattered, or has underperformed across several real games is the safest cut, ahead of anything you're cutting purely on a hunch. If you track your games, this is a question your own data can answer rather than memory alone.
Often yes. A card that's strong in a vacuum but doesn't support your deck's actual plan is providing less value than a weaker card that does, see how to fix an unfocused deck for the fuller version of this idea.
Not necessarily, if every card in the deck is genuinely pulling its weight. It's worth double-checking against the deck template's ratios first, since 'nothing to cut' sometimes means a category (like removal or draw) has quietly grown past what the deck needs while another has shrunk.
Yes, this is a real and common reason to cut, not just a way to make room for upgrades. If your deck is overperforming for your table, cutting your highest-impact cards (fast mana, tutors, the most efficient interaction) down toward the table's actual power level is a legitimate use of the same process.
TurnZero HQ tracks every game your deck plays, so the next time you're deciding what comes out, you're working from data instead of memory.
Create Free Account