Your Mana Base

In Magic the gathering your mana base is the most important part of your deck. Without mana you can not cast any of the devastating spells that you have put in your deck. To make your mana base you need to first choose a color. The five colors in magic represented by cards called "basic lands" which are white represented by plains, blue represented by islands, black represented by swamps, red represented by mountains, and green represented by forests. Each color has strengths and weaknessess such as green may have big creatures, but may not be able to gain life or draw cards as easy as the other colors. So when you choose a color you want to make sure you choose a color that corresponds with how you like to play. Once you pick a color or colors for your deck you then need to work on your mana curve. Your mana curve is how many lands you need in your deck corresponding to the mana cost at the top right of the card as well as how many spells of each cost are in your deck. While the average is somewhere between 20-24 some decks may have less like in a green elf deck you might only have 17 forests because most elf spells are cheap, and if you are playing spells like Elvish Mystic that can also generate mana then you might be able to cut out some lands.