DECK SIZE LIMITS
Rules constraining how many cards a deck may contain — a minimum (Magic's 60), a maximum, or both (Hearthstone's exactly 30) — plus per-card copy limits.
- SOLO-DEV COST LOW
- TIMING TURN-BASED
- COMMON IN CARD-GAME · DECKBUILDER · ROGUELIKE
The constraint looks administrative but is the central lever of deckbuilding strategy: a minimum deck size with a consistency goal makes every inclusion a dilution question, while deckbuilder roguelikes like Slay the Spire invert the psychology — the deck grows by default, and skilled players fight to keep it small because a lean deck draws its best cards more often. Designers use size limits to enforce variance (you can't build a two-card combo machine) and to make card removal a purchasable power in roguelike economies. Key decisions: minimum versus exact size, copy limits per card (singleton formats like Commander create a different game entirely), and in roguelikes, how scarce and costly card removal is. Pitfall: new players in deckbuilders reliably over-add cards because acquisition feels like reward — if the game never teaches that skipping and removing are strong moves, its core strategic lesson stays invisible for dozens of hours.