There are many ways to play Magic: The Gathering, from competitive to casual to various formats like Standard, Modern, Legacy and Vintage. A simpler way to divide the game is between Constructed and Limited, where a Constructed deck is made ahead of time, and a Limited deck is built after the Magic event has already begun. If players are building decks from scratch right before gameplay, they must know what they are doing.
Limited comes in two main forms: booster draft and sealed pool. Both types allow players to experience all cards in a given expansion set or block, not just the Constructed-worthy ones. This rewards players for having a deep understanding of a given Limited environment and its many moving parts. But even if new players know the rules of gameplay, they must also learn how to put a Limited deck together — after all, no one else can do it for them.
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The Concept of BREAD in Limited Formats
Players in a Limited format should know which cards to choose for their decks and which to pass up, and there are many ways to go about this. A basic one is to choose colors and get enough cards of those colors for the deck; the player will need a decent number of creatures too. However, there is another proven method for card selection in Limited: BREAD, which stands for Bombs, Removal, Evasion, Aggro and Dud.
In booster draft sessions, players will pick cards from packs according to BREAD, and during sealed pool events (such as pre-releases) they will jump right to deckbuilding with the BREAD method (since they aren’t picking cards from packs). Either way, players should choose bomb cards first, or powerful and efficiently-costed cards that have a big impact on gameplay. Bombs are often creatures, and they are easy to spot when the player happens upon them. Bomb creatures are typically rare or a mythic rare, though some may even be uncommon. If such a creature resolves and isn’t killed in gameplay, it may carry the player to victory. Sometimes, bomb cards are actually powerful artifacts, an impactful planeswalker, or even a fancy instant or sorcery.
Removal is just that: spells that get rid of opposing creatures to give the caster an advantage on the battlefield. All five colors have removal, from burn spells to destroy effects to bounce effects and exile, or even green’s “fight” effect. Black and red mana are best at this, and removal cards usually make the cut in a Limited deck unless they are very narrow or have a high converted mana cost/mana value.
Evasion describes creatures with evasive abilities, such as flying or protection from certain colors or creature types, or even menace or trample. This can break through a boardstall, which may be common in creature-heavy Limited games. Aggro cards are fairly low priority, but these cheap, reckless creatures and spells might take the opponent off-guard and build an early advantage. Dregs, as expected, are too narrow or inefficient (or redundant) to be included.
Other Selection Methods for Limited Formats
The BREAD method is fairly comprehensive, but there are others factors that go into card selection during booster draft or sealed pool Limited. For one, players should review online card galleries before beginning Limited events so they know what archetypes are in a set and can choose cards that fit those. Examples are endless, from black-red Boast/aristocrats in Kaldheim to blue-red “spells matter” in Strixhaven. This way, players will know which cards are essential for an archetype and which are irrelevant.
Sometimes, players might choose a mediocre card that fits the archetype over a stronger card that does nothing for the archetype. There are cases where archetype synergy actually beats power, with exceptions being bomb rares/mythics. Sometimes, the humbler card is the better one, and this can take newer players by surprise. Limited games are rarely fast, so ordinary commons and uncommons get the chance to build off of each other and become unusually strong. A common creature might end up a game-winning threat.
There is also the matter of the Limited deck’s mana curve, with many low-cost cards appearing and only a few costly cards making the cut. The deck may have a few one-drops, a handful of two-drops and three-drops, and fewer four- and five-drops and beyond. Cards with a CMC 2-4 are often the best in Limited, though if the player has ample mana ramp effects, they can get away with a few more high-cost cards. Look out for green ramp effects and mana rocks, if any are found in the set.
In general, a Limited deck is 40 cards; as a default, 17 of them should be lands. About 16-17 more should be creatures, and the rest will be non-creature spells. Depending on the deck’s colors, it may be tempting to have more spells. However, Limited is ruled by creatures, with most decks being either aggro or midrange in nature. Players should also know that the narrow cards in their pool can be put in the sideboard, and sided in when needed. An example may be Naturalize, which is awkward in most mainboards but can be helpful to side in if the opponent has a few strong Equipment cards or global enchantments in their deck.
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