Building Your First Grand Archive Deck: A Step-by-Step Guide

Building your first Grand Archive deck can feel overwhelming. You've got a champion to pick, a class to build around, memory cards to consider, and 60 action cards to select. This guide simplifies every step.

Step 1: Choose a Champion

Your champion is the foundation of your entire deck. In Grand Archive, champions define what cards you can play, what your core gameplan looks like, and what you're trying to accomplish each game.

For first-time deck builders, we recommend one of three champions:

Lorraine, Crux Knight — straightforward aggro gameplan, punishing linear strategy. If you want to understand how Grand Archive combat works at a fundamental level, Lorraine teaches it.

Rai, Spirit Inventor — introduces the Floating Memory mechanic in a manageable way. Good for players coming from Magic who enjoy card advantage gameplay.

Tristan, Undying Ranger — the simplest deck to play correctly. His pet does work for you, and your turns follow a predictable, clear sequence.

Step 2: Understand the Deck Structure

A standard Grand Archive deck contains:

• 1 Champion card (the hero you play as)
• 60 Action cards (your main deck)
• Up to 10 Memory cards (your resource generation)

Memory cards work similarly to lands in Magic — they provide resources but aren't drawn from your main deck. They sit in a separate zone and are used for cost payment.

Step 3: Build Your Memory Line

Most new players underestimate how important the memory configuration is. You have up to 10 memory cards, and they can be any combination of:

• Basic Memories — simple resource generation, always available
• Class Memories — only usable for your champion's specific class, but provide bonuses
• Unique Memories — one-of powerful effects that you access once per game

Recommended for beginners: 7 basic memories + 3 class memories. This gives you reliable resource access every turn without over-investing in niche memory effects.

Step 4: Select Your Action Cards

Action cards are drawn from your main deck. Each has a cost, a type, and effects. When building, focus on three ratios:

Attack Cards (40–45%)

Your primary way of dealing damage. Mix high-power attacks (for closing the game) with efficient 2–3 cost attacks (for early pressure and going-wide turns).

Defence Cards (20–25%)

Blocks and disruption. Don't neglect these — Grand Archive games are won and lost on defensive efficiency as much as offensive power.

Utility Cards (15–20%)

Draw effects, recursion, and tech cards. Utility cards are what separate "I have a pile of cards" from "I have a coherent strategy."

Step 5: Build Around Your Curve

Your mana curve is the distribution of costs across your deck. For beginners, a standard curve looks like:

• Cost 0–1: 8–10 cards (always playable, reactive, combos)
• Cost 2–3: 20–25 cards (core turn plays)
• Cost 4–5: 10–15 cards (power plays)
• Cost 6+: 4–6 cards (finishers)

Heavily top-loading your curve means slow, bricky hands. Heavily bottom-loading means you run out of big threats late. Balance is key.

Step 6: Test and Iterate

No deck is correct out of theory. The mandatory next step is goldfishing — playing turns against an imaginary opponent to see how your hands flow.

Questions to answer through goldfishing:

• Do I frequently have hands I can't play anything from?
• Do I run out of relevant threats by turn 6?
• Does my memory configuration always give me enough to cast my key cards?

If any answer is yes, adjust your card counts before your first real game.

Example Starter Lorraine Build

This skeleton gets you started. Your first 10 games will reveal exactly which cards feel good and which feel wrong.