Q:I decided to get into commander and picked up the white-blue-green precon about a week ago, but I'm not sure how to add more cards into it. What's the best way to add more cards, and how do I know if a card can come out without hurting the deck?
Hey, thanks for the question, and welcome to Commander! You picked a great place to start; that deck is a very strong skeleton and a good jumping off point to help get a great deck rolling.
One of the first things you need to decide is which of the three Legendary creatures included in the deck is the Commander you want to build, or if you want to swap out for another Commander altogether. Derevi is great, but Roon and Rubinia are also very strong if you build into them, and the deck offers some tools for each to be effective. There are other options in the color combination as well, if you prefer – one of the most popular Commanders in that color combination is Rafiq of the Many, who’s a powerful and strong choice. It’s really all up to you.
Choosing the Commander will help you to determine what the theme of the deck is going to be. Building your deck to theme is important because it keeps your cards working together towards a common goal and ensures they function together. I wrote an article about building to theme a little while back, which you can check out here. Each of the possible Commanders you can choose from wants to do something different, but there will be cards that overlap between them.
From there, your best bet is to start playing with the deck and learning what it’s good at and what it needs help with. Playing against a wide variety of other decks will help you come to understand its strengths and weaknesses, and I’d also recommend playing both one-on-one and multiplayer matches to get a feel for the difference in the play flow of the deck depending on how many people are at the table. As an added bonus, playing a lot will also introduce you to new cards and options you might not have known about before, which will give you a better perspective on options you can add to your deck.
Another article I wrote that might help you out is about selecting individual cards and how to determine an specific card’s value in the format. It sounds like you have some experience with the game already, but Commander takes a bit of a different mindset than some other formats. You can check out that article here.
I hope this was helpful for you! Let me know how things work out, I’m looking forward to hearing from you again.