If you're new to TCGs, you could probably use some deck building help. Make sure you've read the rules and played a few practice games with your starter deck. By now, you're itching to make your own deck using all the spiffy new cards you've got. So here are some ideas.

GREATER THAN THE SUM
First of all, a deck for Stargate TCG is made up of four parts: 1) Your team characters 2) Twelve missions 3) At least 20 Hero cards 4) At least 20 Villain cards

The last two parts are combined and shuffled to make your draw deck, but it helps for deck building to think of them as separate parts. All the parts of your deck work together. During the deck building process, don't be afraid to go back and look things over again. You might have to reconsider an earlier step. Building your own deck is a process. It takes time, and it takes many games played to tune your deck to perfection. It's worth all the trouble when you've got a deck you've built yourself that's fun and wins some games too.

YOUR TEAM
The most important decision for your team is to have all skills covered. You'll want to make a deck that has team characters strong in all four skills, because you'll be seeing missions from them all.

Pick four team characters and then total up the values they have in each of the four skills. If the numbers come out close to equal, then you've got everything covered. Now add up the point totals of your four team members. If the number is about 14 or 15, then you're doing okay. If the number is lower, and you're using lots of 2 or 3-point characters, then you should switch some out for new ones with higher point values. Don't make it too easy for your opponent to win.

YOUR MISSIONS
The mission pile for your deck is strictly defined. You need 12 missions total, made up of 3 from each skill. The difficulty, experience, glyphs, and game texts are all up to you.

Low difficulty missions are attractive, but they have poor experience and game text that is bad for you. It's okay to use a couple with 3 difficulty, but don't use too many. Look for Mission game text that stops your team characters, destroys your support characters, or uses up your power. That's the kind of missions to avoid. As you increase your search to include missions of higher difficulty numbers, you'll find that the game text penalties aren't so harsh. They're worth more experience too.

Some of your team characters probably have game text that features one or more glyphs. Make sure you include missions that have those glyphs so you can activate the special abilities of your team. Try to include team characters that want the same glyphs, to help build your mission pile more easily. Many team characters don't want specific glyphs, but simply get better each time they get a different one. Mix and match these characters with your other team members that need certain glyphs so that you can benefit from the game text of all four.

HEROES TO THE RESCUE
Now it's time to look at the Hero cards part of your deck. The minimum here is 20, and you don't want to go too much over that. It's made up of events, gear, and support characters.

If the team characters you selected have any deficiencies in skills, this is where you fix it. Low in Science? Throw in a couple Merrin cards. Behind the curve in Culture? Get some Nicholas Ballard cards in there. Support characters are an efficient, reusable way to boost the skills of your deck. You'll probably want 2 or 3 copies of 3 or 4 different support characters, making up the bulk of your Hero portion.

Fill out the rest with a few copies of some key events like Seasoned Travelers. Look at the "skill booster" event cards like Quick Study and Antiquity (there's one kind for each skill). That's another way to fill in any skill holes. Make room for a couple of key gear cards, like Dialing Computer, DHD, Zat Gun or Staff Weapon. Your deck should have about 10 support characters, 6 events and 4 gear. Adjust this after you've played a few times and see what's working.

VILLAINS 'R' US
The last part of your deck is the Villain portion. The minimum number of cards here is 20, but I like to build in 30 for this part. Your team characters help do the work of your Hero side, but the Villains in your deck are on their own. Most Villain cards don't hang around, so that's another reason you want more of them.

Just like building your team, you want to make sure that your Villain strategy has all four skills covered. Your opponent will quickly exploit any blind spots in your bad guy skill plan. Build in an assortment of obstacles varying in cost from 1 to 4, with more of the cheaper ones. A good cost curve is 12 obstacles that cost 1, 8 that cost 2, and 6 that cost 3 or 4. This makes sure you've got cheap ones to play early and big nasty ones when the power levels get higher.

Include obstacles with failure text, because that makes your opponent less likely to benefit from skipping a mission. If the Hero player sees a mission that he just can't do right now, he'll pass and go on to the next one. Failure text makes that player pay the price for his lack of vision. For the last few slots in your Villain strategy, add a few adversary cards. They are the one kind of Villain card that hangs around from turn to turn. You'll have to pay their revive cost from time to time, but they're often worth it.

REVIEW YOUR PLAN
Make sure you've still got all the parts working together. Your team characters should have a broad range of skills, and be able to use the glyphs of your mission pile. Your Hero cards support those strategies, and your Villain cards are a finely honed machine of destruction.

PLAY YOUR DECK
The best way to make your new deck better is to play it. This is called tuning your deck, and every player goes through this process. No deck is perfect the first time it's played. Make a note of which cards are working, and which ones stick in your hand. Do you need more gear cards? Do you have too many obstacles? Did you run out of cards before the game was over? You've got total control over your deck now, so just take a few minutes and fix the problems.

Every game you play, and every time you tune your deck, makes your deck better and more fun for you.