How to create custom MTG decks in TTS (Step-by-Step Instructions for Windows)

This is a Step by Step Instruction guide on how to create your own custom MTG Deck. This method uses the online database from https://Scryfall.com, the Custom Deck Editor tool included with TTS, and a teeny bit of patience. I've tried to break each step down as simple as possible for those who are a little less digitally savvy, but most of this process is fairly straight forward.

Preparing the Card Images

1. Figure out your deck list.

2. Go to Scryfall.com and search up one of your cards. (Once you have the card pulled up, there is a list from which you can pick art from any printing of the card, including from MTGO, which has some cool exclusive promo art).



If there is a custom art of the card you like, you can try to use that image file if it is a .PNG. (Check out Dr.Oktoberfest's Workshop Mod Magic The Gathering: Altered Arts, you can load in these or any other modded art you like during the final step and save them with the deck.)

3. Download the .PNG of the card. There's a button for it.



You have to separately download the back of any transforming cards, there is an option to download the back image for any card that can.



For meld cards you can search and download the melded card, although it is linked in the same way as tokens.



If the card can produce tokens or emblems, there is a link to it among the list of printings (Provided there is one. *glares at Kaldra Equipment*).

4. Repeat 2 and 3 for each card in the deck. Then move all the downloaded images into a new file. I recommend downloading basic lands second to last. Then move on to your sideboard, tokens, the back of transform cards and meld cards. I also prefer to download the commander card last (if you have one) so if you sort the files by Date Modified, it's easier to manage when you put the deck into TTS.

Using The Deck Editor

5. Open up the game files. This can be done from the Steam Library, Right click TTS from the side menu, open Properties, open the Local Files tab, Browse Local Files.



Go to Modding, Deck Builder, then open up the TTS Deck Editor program.



Open up a New Deck. Click "OK" when you get the pop up for the deck size. Ignore the width and height.




NOTE: I recommend only using about half the template (35 +/- 5 cards), as it seems to drastically reduce the strain during loading. But it could be possible this was an error with my PC, so you can try to use the full template. Either way, leave the deck setting at the default 10 x 7 because it will mess with how the cards render later.

If the whole deck won't fit in one template and/or you aren't using the whole template; open up new decks as needed. They display similar to tabs like an internet browser, so you can easily have multiple open at once.

6. Set up the Deck Editor and the file with your images side by side, then click and drag the images over to the Deck Editor. You can click and drag en-mass, but it doesn't always keep them in the same order. So keep track of what cards you already have loaded and still need. Each image is one card in the deck, so you need to put in one image for each individual copy of each card. You can click and drag cards around the template as you like, and copy/paste for duplicate cards (this is where separating the basic lands becomes useful).

NOTE: The very last slot of each template is the default back image of each card in that template while in your hand (or otherwise partially hidden from other players). You can leave it blank, but don't put an actual card in that slot. If you do use it, use the same image for each template, and for the final back image of the deck in a later step. Keep in mind that the image will be automatically stretched, cropped, or rotated to best fit the template.




7. Once you have your mainboard set up, I recommend putting your commander (if applicable), tokens, transformed cards, meld cards, etc. at the very end of the last template. Then "save as" each deck (preferably as <deck name> 1/2/3 etc). You may not need these, but it makes troubleshooting and/or tweaking the deck later significantly easier.




8. Create a separate file to store the final format of the deck templates, which is basically just a neat screenshot of the template, so it's easy to lose with the original card images. Using the "Export" option in the "Edit" drop down, export each template to that file using the default settings. (still preferably as <deck name> 1/2/3 etc).

Loading the Templates into TTS

9. Open up a single player room in TTS. Click "Objects -> Components -> Custom -> Deck".



10. For the "Front Image", browse for the file with the exported deck templates, then select your first template. You'll be prompted to Upload or Locally store the file. If you intend to use the deck in multiplayer, you have to upload it (this is where I ran into difficulty, the Steam Cloud wouldn't accept me using full templates, which is why I recommended using half templates earlier.). TTS will automatically splice the cards from the template to each card once you import it. For the "Back Image", use whatever image you used earlier in the templates, or whatever image you want to use as the card "sleeve". Adjust the card count to however many cards are in the template.





NOTE: If you overshoot the card count, you'll get a bunch of blank black cards for each unused slot in the template, so it isn't an issue if you forget, just delete the extras. If you go too low, you wont get all your cards, and have to start the template over from Step 9.

11. Repeat 9 and 10 for each template, using the same "Back Image" each time, and adjusting the card count as necessary for each template. Once all templates are imported into TTS, [*PAUSE HERE IF USING FANCY INSTRUCTIONS OR WORKSHOP MOD ART*] you can separate tokens, your commander (if applicable), the mainboard, and sideboard into their own piles. Label them if you like, save them, or put them in a bag spawned from, "Objects -> Components -> Tools", or any container you may have. Then label and save the container.



And PRESTO!!! You can now load in your new deck from "Objects -> Saved Objects". You can also use this process starting from step 5 with a set of same sized images to create any deck of any kind.

[Fancy Instructions and Alternate Arts]

You can take double sided cards and fuse them with their back side using States. To do this, before you save you deck, sort out the double sided cards and their respective back side and lay them side by side.



Highlight both, then right click the card that is the front side. select "Create State" and the cards automatically fuse.



You can now switch states by hovering over the card and hitting "1" or "2".



The card still has the same back in either state, and cant be differentiated by hovering over the back of the card, and it stacks in your deck just like any other card.

It can be difficult to simultaneously manipulate melded cards, so I would forgo this method and just keep a copy of the melded card like a token, since meld cards exile themselves.

If you're using modded art, load in those cards, and simply save them with your deck. Just be aware that this will make it more difficult to load in your deck, especially on a multiplayer server. (I have accidentally crashed people trying to load in "Pretty Decks")

[sakuri.north]

Hey so I'm running into an issue. I wanted to do a deck with bloodborne proxy art and I followed the guide but every time I import the cards I run into an issue and tabletop simulator crashes. I did as you recommended for custom art and only used half the template for it, I did about 33 cards per template (minus back art). When it imports I see the back art is fine but when I move a card and flip it I just see white. I don't know if it has to do with where I saved my files or what.

[padge2010]

very cool but I playtest on cockatrice or xmage for free

[Higgy]

This is a really good guide. It doesn't actually take that long. Needed to add in all the ZNR double sided cards and took maybe an hour, after doing a little learn. And that included renaming them all etc....

[4orKe]

This is cool and all, but that seems like it's a hassle- just use Frogtown.me