General Questions
Do I have to login or create an account?
No. You are free to search for cards or decks, browse our new, active and unloved deck lists, view all public decks without creating an account. However, if you want to start building your own decks, sharing them and getting feedback on them, then you’ll need to sign up for an account, don’t worry, it’s easy!
How do I get an avatar?
To get an avatar you will need to have a Gravatar (//www.gravatar.com) account and give us the email address you’ve used to get your Gravatar. Once that’s all in place we’ll pull your Gravatar through wherever we show your username.
Etiquette
Be nice, this is not a request, it is a requirement; rudeness will not be tolerated here. Our community is self-moderated, if you start saying nasty things, your comments will simply get downvoted off the page, so don’t bother. Treat people with respect and they will follow suit. If you want people to help you, go and help them first. We are all here for the same reason, let’s do it nicely.
What is reputation?
Reputation points can be earned by helping other users! Every time a user upvotes one of your comments, you’ll get a reputation point. These reputation points don’t really do anything right now (except make you look cool) but they might be used for things in the future so go and get some!
What are hot decks?
The hot decks page shows the most popular decks on vault from the last few days. Please note, this page is an experiment and we're constantly tweaking the algorithm to make sure only the best decks hit the homepage!
What are new decks?
A new deck is any deck in the system that has been built in the last 24 hours.
What are active decks?
An active deck is any deck in the system that has had social activity (likes, comments or comment likes) on them in the last 24 hours.
What are unloved decks?
An unloved deck is a deck that has been marked as unloved by their owner in the last 7 days. These deck owners need your help so be friendly and give them a hand! They will return the favour one day!
How do I find decks here?
You can browse decks using our new, active or unloved deck lists or you can use our advanced deck search if you’re looking for something a bit more specific. Don’t forget that all users can now tag their decks with relevant keywords, this is one of the most powerful tools on MTG Vault, it helps deck builders get their decks found and it helps users to find them.
Deck Building
How do I create a deck?
You need to create an account first, once you’ve got one, simply hit the “Create Deck” button and you’ve just created your first deck, it really is that simple! All you’ve got to do now is populate it, start by giving your new deck a name.
How do I add cards to my deck?
There are three ways to get cards into your deck, the first and most common way is to use the quick-search box. When you click the add nubbin on your deck you will be shown the quick-search box by default, this box will auto-complete card names for you as you type, this makes adding cards a breeze, add a quantity and hit the button.
The other option from your deck page is the bulk importer, this tool allows you to submit a list of cards and import them all into your deck in one go. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards. The bulk importer is great for importing deck lists you’ve already built yourself.
The last way to add cards is from the card search page. This method is great if you’re looking for cards to add to your deck but you don’t know what they are yet. You can use the card search page and it’s powerful filters to find that missing card you’re looking for, once you’ve found it you can add it to your deck right there from the search page, just hit the “Add to Deck” button and follow the instructions.
What is a deck stack?
A deck stack is a little image that we think gives a nice summary of the deck you’re about to look at. Each deck stack shows a colour bar that represents the colours of all the cards in the deck and it also shows an image of one of the cards in the deck, this card can be chosen by the deck builder and will normally be the most important card in the deck.
How do I set the image for the deck stack on my deck?
The first card you add to your deck will become the deck stack image for your deck, don’t worry, it’s easy to change! Once you’ve added a bunch of cards to your deck, you will see that each card has a little mini-icon next to it’s name, if you click and drag this icon up to your deck stack, the deck stack image will be overwritten with this new one, see, easy!
What is a private deck?
A private deck is a deck that has been marked private by its owner. A private deck is not visible to anybody apart from the deck owner, it will not be shown on any deck lists or the deck search. A private deck is marked with a golden padlock on the deck stack.
What is an unlisted deck?
An unlisted deck can be viewed by anybody as long as they have a link to the deck. Note: these decks do appear in the list of decks on your user profile page, if you don't want them to, mark them private!
What is a public deck?
If you make your deck public then you open it up for the world to see, it will appear in all relevant lists and searches on MTG Vault and can also be linked to from outside. If you want feedback on your decks, make them public.
How do I edit my deck?
We’ve tried to make the deck editing process as intuitive as possible but here’s a quick run-down. Click on your deck’s name to edit it, click off (or hit enter) to save it. Hovering over the header bars on each section of your deck will show each section’s add/edit nubbin, clicking these nubbins will switch that section of your deck into “edit mode” where you can follow the on-screen instructions to edit your deck.
My deck is finished, how do I get people to comment on it?
Go and help other people. The best way for you to get feedback on your decks is to give other people feedback on theirs. Our users will often look at your comment count and reputation before helping you out and they’re much more likely to help you if you’ve proven to be a helpful member of our community.
How do I mark my deck as unloved?
If you’re really struggling to get feedback on your decks, you can mark a deck as unloved, this is a feature you can use to ask our users for help. Once a deck has been marked as unloved, it will appear on the unloved decks page where hopefully it can get the attention it deserves. Make sure you choose carefully though, you can only do this once a week!
What are deck likes?
Every member of the site is able to like a deck on the site. You can only like a deck once and you can’t take it back. Each deck shows a like count wherever it is shown and when used in combination with comment count can give a general idea if a deck is popular or not.
How do I remove cards from my deck?
To remove a card from your deck, hover over the card and hit the little bin icon. You will need to refresh the page to update the deck stack and the mana curve, we’ve done it this way to speed things up if you’re mass-deleting.
How do I delete a deck?
There’s a delete button on the right-hand options menu of your deck, hit that button and confirm. Are you sure you want to do this though? There’s no limit on your account!
What are deck tags?
Deck tags are one of the most powerful tools on MTG Vault. You can tag a deck with any word you like, it could be the deck’s type, its format, you could tag it by how much of it you own, how complete it is or even how many times you’ve won with it, tag it with anything you like.
Where deck tags get interesting is how they are used after you’re done setting them, we use them to filter decks on our deck pages and more importantly the deck search page. This means that any user on the site can find your deck by searching for one of the deck tags you’ve used. Using relevant deck tags is the best way of getting feedback on your decks, if you tag your latest aggro deck with the keyword “Control”, users looking for control decks won’t be leaving you feedback anytime soon.
What is a mana curve?
The mana curve chart shows the number of spells you have in your deck of each converted mana cost (CMC). This lets you see the “curve” of your deck and gives you an overview of how expensive (mana-wise) the spells in your deck are to play.
Deck Comments
How are comments ordered?
Comments are ordered in chronological order with the oldest comment at the top. Comment replies follow the same trend so the oldest reply will appear at the top, closest to the parent comment.
How do I write a comment?
You need an account to write comments so go and get one! Once you’re logged in you can leave a comment by filling in the comment box at the bottom of every deck. If you want to reply to a comment, hit the reply button.
Can I flag bad/inappropriate comments?
Sure, hit the down arrow to show you disapproval, if a comment gets enough downvotes, it will be hidden by default when the deck loads.
Why would I upvote a comment?
If you liked a comment or felt it was helpful, vote it up and the person who wrote it will get reputation for it, they can’t do anything with it but it will make them feel good.
Can I have a signature or a tagline?
No, we have designed the comments system to give focus to what’s important; your comments! You don’t need a signature or a tagline, we show your avatar, your name and your post count on every post that you make, we even link through to your profile for you, what more do you need?
How do I delete/edit a comment?
We all make mistakes, but luckily for you we’ve decided to let you edit your comments for 30 minutes after posting, this should help you look less foolish. If you want to delete your comment, you can do so but you’ll leave a shadowy mark in its place for all to see.