Deck size & Total card limits?

[3XXXDDD]

I'm attempting to make a fast-paced card game and avoiding having too much of anything and it got me to thinking how small I could get a deck in a CCG before it get's stupid. Personally I was thinking 30/40 cards (with 5 card starting hands.)

If a deck were 30 cards, I think I would put the max copy limit at 3 (essentially giving you no less than 10 individual cards per deck)

If 40, then the limit would be 4 and again at least 10 individual cards per deck.

Any suggestions? For context my own game is here: Libra CCG

[Turonik]

The lowest I've seen is 20. What does deck size has to do with the pace of the game in the first place? there's some fast paced games that have 50-60 card decks.  but if you want a low deck size I wouldn't go less than 40, 30 or less is more commonly seen in Japanese games.

Personally, I like deck contruction to have 3 card limits in games that have 50-60 card decks, this helps promote more cards in decks and that I like since in a tournament or free play I like the variety I get out of my own deck.

[Typherion]

Ideally, the size of the deck and the speed of the game should be somewhat proportionate. The main reason is that players want to use their cards, so they should be able to see a good percentage of their deck. If you don't get to see most of your cards, then they may as well not even be in the deck.

I'd say with a deck size of 20 or 30 you could even use a limit of 1 or 2 of each card. There is a Magic format called Commander that has huge decks with a limit of 1 copy per card. So I'd say you could easily do that with much smaller decks.

However, often allowing more copies of cards will make the game faster because decks are more consistent. Allowing fewer copies could make it more fun by increasing replayability.