Big Magic events like MagicCon or Commandfest are the highlights of the event calendar, but how do you choose what to pack? How many decks is a good amount to take? Here’s our take on how many decks you should take to a MagicCon.
PACKING FOR A MAGICCON
Packing for a MagicCon can be quite involved, especially if you’re headed overseas. You might need different options for clothing, space for health needs, and even room for taking souvenirs and gifts for friends. Once you’ve decided on the rest of your trip inventory, you’re left with a choice: how do you balance out the remaining space (or weight, if you’re flying!) between all of your different interests and commitments?
HOW MANY DECKS SHOULD I PACK?
Well, first let’s get the obvious out of the way: if you’re playing one of the main events, you need room for your deck. Whether that’s Standard, Modern, Pauper, Legacy or whatever else, you’re going to need to pack your event deck. There are usually a bunch of different events on offer at MagicCon, so be sure to check the schedule to see what you’re able to play. If you’re a fan of 1v1 Magic formats and want to keep playing it over the weekend, you might also need to budget space for extra decks – say three to four – to create a little battlebox for play with friends at the con.
Once that’s out of the way, the next question naturally becomes about Commander.
HOW MANY COMMANDER DECKS SHOULD YOU BRING TO AN EVENT?
Whether you’ve decided on your main event decks already – or Commander is your main event – how many 100-card decks are destined for your bags?
Commander decks take up a lot of space, both in weight and in bag space, and unless you’ve been lifting as your main hobby, it can get tiring carrying around too much cardboard all day for three or four days. There’s also the consideration that most people don’t feel comfortable checking in Magic decks into their checked baggage; too much can go wrong when your cards aren’t in sight. At that point, you’re limited by weight on what the airline will let you take in your hand luggage.
Most major U.S. carriers don’t have a weight-limit on domestic flights, but the same isn’t necessarily true in the rest of the world. International routes vary between 7-12kg, and even when flying around Europe from other European countries, you’re likely to be limited to a similar maximum weight for hand baggage. That can quickly add up, as most hand luggage cases weigh at least a few kg.
For reference, a Commander deck, single-sleeved, in an Ultimate Guard Boulder or Game Genic Bastion case, weighs around 450g. Given you have an upper limit on what you can take – and assuming you have toiletries, cosmetics, medication and a change of clothes etc in your hand luggage – you can’t exactly min-max that space and take a full twelve plus decks.
Deciding which of your decks to take, and how many, can be tough, but here are a few things to consider:
- You want to take your favorite deck – something you’re excited to show off
- An aggressive deck that can play quicker games for when you’re short on time
- A deck with easy lines of play that you can play when you’re tired
- A control deck for when you want to make 5D chess plays
- A deck with plenty of value plays and strong engines for when you’re a little on-tilt from bad beats
- A deck for Bracket 2
- A deck for Bracket 3
- A deck for Bracket 4
- A deck for cEDH
Immediately looking at that list of suggestions, you might baulk at how it’s nine different suggestions; that doesn’t mean you need to take nine decks, though. Just like when you choose modal cards for your Commander decks, you should be thinking modally about the decks you bring. Maybe your aggressive deck is also the one with easy lines of play, and also happens to be your Bracket 2 deck. Maybe your Control deck is your Bracket 4 deck, and it also happens to be your favorite deck.
When you look at it that way, the ideal number of decks looks to be around three to five. Personally, I’m going to be taking three Commander decks to my next event. I’ll be taking different strategies (reanimator, aggro, and enchantress) across different brackets, and that’ll be fine for me. If I get a little bored of any of them, there’s always the chance to borrow someone else’s build to try out. Plus, I’ll be bringing other decks for other formats – like the ones I’ll cover next.
PACKING FOR LIMITED PLAY AT MAGIC EVENTS
One of the better parts of big Magic events is getting to choose from a bunch of Limited events to play through. Whether that’s on-demand events, one-off special events like Gavin Verhey’s Unknown event, or a Cube, drafting remains one of the best formats you can play.
While Cube tends to come pre-built with everything accounted for, other events will need you to build a deck. You can always borrow basics, but at the minimum you’ll need sleeves and a deckbox.
My preferred go-to is a Gamegenic Academic, as it fits sleeves, basic lands, dice, and has more than enough room for your draft or sealed decks. Whether it’s just a prerelease at my LGS or a big MagicCon, I really rate this solution.
OTHER 1V1 FORMATS
So, you’ve got your three to five Commander decks, perhaps a limited draft kit, and you’re not playing the main 1v1 formats. What else might be worth bringing?
Well, consider other 1v1 formats that you can bust out for a quick game, as sometimes at big events, it’s more fun to hang out one to one. DanDan is one such fringe 1v1 format that you might take, but there are other popular ones to consider. Canlander is a 100-card singleton 1v1 format with a points list. If you like Commander and Legacy, you might really enjoy it. Elsewhere, you could bring an Oathbreaker deck – a 60-card Singleton format with a Planeswalker and Signature Spell in the Command Zone.
END STEP
Trying to figure out what to pack can often feel a little overwhelming. Next time you’re at a MagicCon or Commandfest, consider the tips in today’s article to help you narrow down on what to bring with you. One final tip is to bring a poster tube: you never know when you might buy an art print, and taking it home in pristine condition is always better than gingerly sliding it into a backpack and hoping for the best. Most importantly though – have fun!
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.