do you test it out against other people either in person or  using lackey/etc.? or do you goldfish or soloplay it? or both? i'm wondering how to test deckbuilding ideas in a vacuum.

I usually do the following:

1.  I do some test draws as it if were the start of a game.  If I can't get a playable hand pretty reliably in the initial hand or the mulligan then I must reexamine my cost curve.

2.  I play some sample games against other decks I have.  This is me playing both sides of the game.  At a minimum I usually test against a Syndicate rush deck, a Cthulhu deck, and then whatever else I have lying around.

3.  Then I would like to try it against another player.  I don't get to play that often though, so this can take a while.  I have a local opponent that can sometimes meet up for face to face games.  I am not familiar with how to play on Lackey but I know it exists.

dboeren said:

ok. that's what i was hoping. sadly, i'm usually going to be forced into this option myself. any pointers for how best to utilize solo play? do you always make the best available plays? do you run alternate branching plays?

I try to make the best plays for both sides, otherwise I don't think it's a fair test.  But, I try not to take advantage of any special knowledge of the "other player's" hand either.  But mainly I just play it as a normal game and take note of what things seem to cause trouble for my test deck, what it handles especially well, and so forth.  Un-useful cards get noted, and I may jot down some specific cards that may help with whatever it has problems with.