I believe I used EDHRec for only one or two decks. Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons (I think) and maybe something else. I don't tend to use those tools because, to be frank, I don't care too much about what other people use or what is popular. I used it for Hapatra since she has a somethat narrow effect so I wanted to see if I missed anything obvious. Interestingly, any deck I did use EDHRec for is no longer put together.
Overall, I prefer to build my decks without looking at other's lists. I generally put together a list and then tweak it over the course of a number of games. If I get far enough where I like the deck enough to make a thread on it, I often entertain suggestions of others if they fit with what I am trying to do. I would rather include a card based on a spirited discussion about *why* to include it rather than just seeing 50% of people include it in their lists.
Not to say there is anything bad about these tools. Magic has a deep card pool and it is impossible to know every single card that could work in a deck even with doing a number of searches on Gatherer or Scryfall. It is just that I prefer my decks to be my own so I tend to get the bulk of them built and then alter them based on suggestions of the community or my own play experiences.
Overall, I prefer to build my decks without looking at other's lists. I generally put together a list and then tweak it over the course of a number of games. If I get far enough where I like the deck enough to make a thread on it, I often entertain suggestions of others if they fit with what I am trying to do. I would rather include a card based on a spirited discussion about *why* to include it rather than just seeing 50% of people include it in their lists.
Not to say there is anything bad about these tools. Magic has a deep card pool and it is impossible to know every single card that could work in a deck even with doing a number of searches on Gatherer or Scryfall. It is just that I prefer my decks to be my own so I tend to get the bulk of them built and then alter them based on suggestions of the community or my own play experiences.