I try my best to have a metagame as varied as possible, but the forces of Magic make classical (and modern) archetypes emerge straight from Standard, Extended, Legacy and Modern. In this series of 4 posts, I'll present the most common archetypes drafted in all these months of cubing and compare their cousins from Constructed.
Each post will talk about a family of archetypes, with all color combinations commonly played as such. A brief description of each strategy can be read in this post.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Draft Report - Nov 02, 2012
- Naka (WUB Control) 3-1, 7-3
- Jão (WB Aggro) 3-1, 6=2
- Kamila (UG Midrange) 3-1, 6-3
- André (UB Midrange) 2-1, 3-2
- Vitinho (UB Aggro-Milling) 1-4, 1-7
- Marcos (WG) 1-0, 2-1
- Mauro (BR Midrange) 0-3, 2-5
- Geraldo (WBR) 0-2, 0-4
As usual, the 3-person cycle on the top of the rankings shows up.
Some old theories claimed there was a rock-paper-scissors pattern between aggro, control and midrange. Aggro would develop too fast for control to keep up with, control would beat midrange due to being tuned to win attrition wars, while midrange would have a good matchup against aggro because the massive difference between the difference in card quality would quickly stanch a beatdown offensive, despite developing one or two turns later.
What we saw was exactly the opposite. Control won the match against aggro, which beat midrange, which completed the cycle by defeating control. These are the decklists and the counterpoints each one makes against the theory above.
WUB Control
Naka
Lands
5 Swamp
4 Plains
4 Island
Azorius Chancery
Celestial Colonnade
Jwar Isle Refuge
Esper Panorama
Finishers
Sword of Body and Mind
Mimic Vat
Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Visara the Dreadful
Removal
Shriekmaw
Swords to Plowshares
Journey to Nowhere
Mortify
Serrated Arrows
Devastation Tide
Discard
Duress
Raven's Crime
Castigate
Gerrard's Verdict
Hymn to Tourach
Card Filtering
Preordain
Demonic Tutor
Thirst for Knowledge
Careful Consideration
Reanimation
Animate Dead
Necromancy
Other
Sphere of the Suns
Mother of Runes
Heavy in discard and efficient removal, this WUB control deck is built to abuse the graveyard and Mimic Vat. In one of the games I played with it, I was forced to Gerrard's Verdict myself to be able to reanimate Visara the Dreadful after a couple of mulligans, and still got close to winning. It has a couple of weaknesses though, the most obvious of them all being the lack of counterspells and mass removal.
The deck managed to stall the WB beatdown deck quickly using cheap removal. The discard part of the deck played awkwardly in this matchup and some of it was swapped out during sideboarding for more removal. Serrated Arrows, Swords to Plowshares and Shriekmaw were very efficient stopping small critters, even though the match was tough.
What the deck most missed, though, was fatal for its midrange matchup: mass removal. Devastation Tide can buy some time, but it sure is no Wrath of God. In the end, the lack of powerful card advantage mechanisms, which was atypical for a control deck, caused its loss to midrange.
WB Aggro
Jão
8 Plains
7 Swamp
Caves of Koilos
Aggro
Diregraf Ghoul
Elite Vanguard
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Vampire Lacerator
Soltari Trooper
Child of Night
Benalish Cavalry
Blade Splicer
Phyrexian Rager
Emeria Angel
Spitemare
Disruption
Tidehollow Sculler
Grand Abolisher
Goldmeadow Harrier
Hypnotic Specter
Removal
Mangara of Corondor
Pacifism
Creature Buffing
Flayer Husk
Dolmen Gate
Lightning Greaves
Loxodon Warhammer
Griffin Guide
Other
Phyrexian Arena
Wrath of God
A very aggressive WB beatdown deck running 4 2-power 1-mana creatures capable of winning the game very quickly and consistently. About 2/3 of the deck was comprised of efficient creatures and the rest was mostly creature improvement and disruption to support the plan.
It used a handful of evasion creatures to get through the UG midrange's blockers. While it only had 4 cards with evasion, the pressure it exerted with the rest bought it time enough to kill with Soltari Trooper and Hypnotic Specter before the opponent had time to stabilize and turn the tide with their fatties.
On the other hand, the low cost/benefit of these evaders against a nearly creatureless deck and the inclusion of some slower cards in the deck like Wrath of God and Mangara of Corondor prevented it from being fast enough to overwhelm the WUB control deck, which had time enough to build up its defenses.
UG Midrange
Kamila
7 Island
8 Forest
Halimar Depths
Flooded Grove
Simic Growth Chamber
Ramping
Llanowar Elves
Joraga Treespeaker
Nest Invader
Mul Daya Channelers
Explosive Vegetation
Defense of the Heart
Threats
Scute Mob
Call of the Herd
Great Sable Stag
Wickerbough Elder
Master of the Wild Hunt
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Steel Hellkite
Simic Sky Swallower
Counterspells
Memory Lapse
Counterspell
Forbid
Voidslime
Removal
Pendrell Flux
Psionic Blast
Corrupted Conscience
Other
Rancor
Fact or Fiction
Oracle of Nectars
This UG deck has good ramping and lots of big beefy threats, and with several counterspells it is able to hold up an offensive position very well once it is ahead of its opponent. It can play aggressively against opponents that struggle to develop, as well as stall and grind out a faster adversary.
The pack of 4 top notch counterspells was invaluable against WUB control, which had its most important spells countered, being subsequently beaten by resilient creatures like Simic Sky Swallower.
Those counterspells, however, were too slow to stop the very aggressive WB deck, which already had a strong position on the table before the counters were active. The deck could still play blockers and stop the ground attacks, and it did, but ultimately lost to evaders.
Each of these three decks had some aspect that is not expected of their archetype (evaders in aggro, counterspells in midrange, lack of card advantage in control). Those aspects were crucial for the match results, suggesting that while the rock-paper-scissors theory may be true for decks very typical of an anchetype, those advantages and disadvantages may be mitigated by minor changes in the deck's build.
- Jão (WB Aggro) 3-1, 6=2
- Kamila (UG Midrange) 3-1, 6-3
- André (UB Midrange) 2-1, 3-2
- Vitinho (UB Aggro-Milling) 1-4, 1-7
- Marcos (WG) 1-0, 2-1
- Mauro (BR Midrange) 0-3, 2-5
- Geraldo (WBR) 0-2, 0-4
As usual, the 3-person cycle on the top of the rankings shows up.
Some old theories claimed there was a rock-paper-scissors pattern between aggro, control and midrange. Aggro would develop too fast for control to keep up with, control would beat midrange due to being tuned to win attrition wars, while midrange would have a good matchup against aggro because the massive difference between the difference in card quality would quickly stanch a beatdown offensive, despite developing one or two turns later.
What we saw was exactly the opposite. Control won the match against aggro, which beat midrange, which completed the cycle by defeating control. These are the decklists and the counterpoints each one makes against the theory above.
WUB Control
Naka
Lands
5 Swamp
4 Plains
4 Island
Azorius Chancery
Celestial Colonnade
Jwar Isle Refuge
Esper Panorama
Finishers
Sword of Body and Mind
Mimic Vat
Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Visara the Dreadful
Removal
Shriekmaw
Swords to Plowshares
Journey to Nowhere
Mortify
Serrated Arrows
Devastation Tide
Discard
Duress
Raven's Crime
Castigate
Gerrard's Verdict
Hymn to Tourach
Card Filtering
Preordain
Demonic Tutor
Thirst for Knowledge
Careful Consideration
Reanimation
Animate Dead
Necromancy
Other
Sphere of the Suns
Mother of Runes
Heavy in discard and efficient removal, this WUB control deck is built to abuse the graveyard and Mimic Vat. In one of the games I played with it, I was forced to Gerrard's Verdict myself to be able to reanimate Visara the Dreadful after a couple of mulligans, and still got close to winning. It has a couple of weaknesses though, the most obvious of them all being the lack of counterspells and mass removal.
The deck managed to stall the WB beatdown deck quickly using cheap removal. The discard part of the deck played awkwardly in this matchup and some of it was swapped out during sideboarding for more removal. Serrated Arrows, Swords to Plowshares and Shriekmaw were very efficient stopping small critters, even though the match was tough.
What the deck most missed, though, was fatal for its midrange matchup: mass removal. Devastation Tide can buy some time, but it sure is no Wrath of God. In the end, the lack of powerful card advantage mechanisms, which was atypical for a control deck, caused its loss to midrange.
WB Aggro
Jão
8 Plains
7 Swamp
Caves of Koilos
Aggro
Diregraf Ghoul
Elite Vanguard
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Vampire Lacerator
Soltari Trooper
Child of Night
Benalish Cavalry
Blade Splicer
Phyrexian Rager
Emeria Angel
Spitemare
Disruption
Tidehollow Sculler
Grand Abolisher
Goldmeadow Harrier
Hypnotic Specter
Removal
Mangara of Corondor
Pacifism
Creature Buffing
Flayer Husk
Dolmen Gate
Lightning Greaves
Loxodon Warhammer
Griffin Guide
Other
Phyrexian Arena
Wrath of God
A very aggressive WB beatdown deck running 4 2-power 1-mana creatures capable of winning the game very quickly and consistently. About 2/3 of the deck was comprised of efficient creatures and the rest was mostly creature improvement and disruption to support the plan.
It used a handful of evasion creatures to get through the UG midrange's blockers. While it only had 4 cards with evasion, the pressure it exerted with the rest bought it time enough to kill with Soltari Trooper and Hypnotic Specter before the opponent had time to stabilize and turn the tide with their fatties.
On the other hand, the low cost/benefit of these evaders against a nearly creatureless deck and the inclusion of some slower cards in the deck like Wrath of God and Mangara of Corondor prevented it from being fast enough to overwhelm the WUB control deck, which had time enough to build up its defenses.
UG Midrange
Kamila
7 Island
8 Forest
Halimar Depths
Flooded Grove
Simic Growth Chamber
Ramping
Llanowar Elves
Joraga Treespeaker
Nest Invader
Mul Daya Channelers
Explosive Vegetation
Defense of the Heart
Threats
Scute Mob
Call of the Herd
Great Sable Stag
Wickerbough Elder
Master of the Wild Hunt
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Steel Hellkite
Simic Sky Swallower
Counterspells
Memory Lapse
Counterspell
Forbid
Voidslime
Removal
Pendrell Flux
Psionic Blast
Corrupted Conscience
Other
Rancor
Fact or Fiction
Oracle of Nectars
This UG deck has good ramping and lots of big beefy threats, and with several counterspells it is able to hold up an offensive position very well once it is ahead of its opponent. It can play aggressively against opponents that struggle to develop, as well as stall and grind out a faster adversary.
The pack of 4 top notch counterspells was invaluable against WUB control, which had its most important spells countered, being subsequently beaten by resilient creatures like Simic Sky Swallower.
Those counterspells, however, were too slow to stop the very aggressive WB deck, which already had a strong position on the table before the counters were active. The deck could still play blockers and stop the ground attacks, and it did, but ultimately lost to evaders.
Each of these three decks had some aspect that is not expected of their archetype (evaders in aggro, counterspells in midrange, lack of card advantage in control). Those aspects were crucial for the match results, suggesting that while the rock-paper-scissors theory may be true for decks very typical of an anchetype, those advantages and disadvantages may be mitigated by minor changes in the deck's build.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Draft Report - Aug 18, 2012
Group A
- Érico (WUG Control) 5-0, 10-0
- Naka (UR Aggro) 4-2, 9-4
- Vitinho (UB Aggro-Milling) 3-2, 6-4
- Sam (G Midrange) 2-2, 4-5
- Kam (BR Aggro-Control) 1-3, 2-6
- Jão (WU Aggro) 1-3, 2-6
- Caio (WU Midrange) 0-4, 1-8
The lone control deck dominated an otherwise balanced draft with several atypical builds. My UR Aggro was supposed to be an aggro-control, only I could not pick bounce, counterspells or any sort of tempo cards. Blue was spread very thin over 5 out of 7 people, while green, black and red were run by only 2.
WUG Control
Érico
Lands
5 Forest
4 Island
4 Plains
Stirring Wildwood
Urza's Factory
Halimar Depths
Simic Growth Chamber
Krosan Verge
Defense
Memnite
Steel Wall
Carven Caryatid
Wall of Blossoms
Ohran Viper
Cathodion
Wonder
Ramping
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Wayfarer's Bauble
Expedition Map
Rampant Growth
Khalni Gem
Defense of the Heart
Mass Removal
Oblivion Stone
Wrath of God
Planar Cleansing
Finishers
Scute Mob
Razormane Manticore
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Steel Hellkite
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Disruption
Aeolipile
Complicate
Forbid
What's cool about this deck is that its average card quality is probably the lowest between all decks, but the worse cards work to make sure that the big guns have maximum impact when they are brought out. At the start of the game, the deck just stalls with its defensive creatures (including 3 walls) and develops its mana base. This forces aggro opponents (that is, all the other 6 decks) to stretch and cast a lot of threats, which plays right into the deck's mass removal. Meloku the Clouded Mirror, Steel Hellkite and Akroma, Angel of Wrath come out next, as the amazing win conditions they are.
While too slow to punish opponents that had mana troubles at the beginning, the card drawing and deck thinning cause the draws to improve turn after turn, creating a pretty cohesive, consistent and predictable control deck.
UB Aggro-Milling
Vitinho
7 Swamp
7 Island
Creeping Tar Pit
Duskmantle, House of Shadow
Aggro
Carnophage
Vampire Lacerator
Bloodchief Ascension
Oona's Prowler
Manriki-Gusari
Fallen Askari
Vampire Hexmage
Hypnotic Specter
Howling Banshee
Milling
Mesmeric Orb
Ambassador Laquatus
Traumatize
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Card Advantage
Night's Whisper
Dusk Urchins
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Sword of Light and Shadow
Faceless Butcher
Control
Crypt Rats
Royal Assassin
Platinum Angel
Rend Flesh
Orochi Hatchery
Disruption
Duress
Inquisition of Kozilek
Smallpox
Spite//Malice
Recoil
Other
Animate Dead
While the previous deck was extremely focused, this one attacks in two completely different angles. Rathering than defending during the first turns like a "normal" milling deck would do, the portion of the deck that would be dedicated to defense is actually a very aggressive curve of black critters. This is atypical, but not meaninless, since: 1 - an opponent with a slow start will outright lose; 2 - the opponent will have to spend resources to control this first attack wave, putting himself in a defensive position.
If the opponent controls this first angle of attack, the deck will switch to attacking by milling. In limited, after 10 turns of play each player has at most 23 cards in his deck, and usually around 20 due to their own draw/searching effects. This makes the 5 milling cards in the deck very scary by themselves and a fine win condition if more than one sticks.
The deck's strength is that it is very versatile, running a handful of aggressive cards, another of classic control cards, but mostly wildcards that can be used either way. It has enough card advantage and individual quality to attack well in two dimensions in the same game, turning out quite chaotic and unpredictable both to play with and against.
- Érico (WUG Control) 5-0, 10-0
- Naka (UR Aggro) 4-2, 9-4
- Vitinho (UB Aggro-Milling) 3-2, 6-4
- Sam (G Midrange) 2-2, 4-5
- Kam (BR Aggro-Control) 1-3, 2-6
- Jão (WU Aggro) 1-3, 2-6
- Caio (WU Midrange) 0-4, 1-8
The lone control deck dominated an otherwise balanced draft with several atypical builds. My UR Aggro was supposed to be an aggro-control, only I could not pick bounce, counterspells or any sort of tempo cards. Blue was spread very thin over 5 out of 7 people, while green, black and red were run by only 2.
WUG Control
Érico
Lands
5 Forest
4 Island
4 Plains
Stirring Wildwood
Urza's Factory
Halimar Depths
Simic Growth Chamber
Krosan Verge
Defense
Memnite
Steel Wall
Carven Caryatid
Wall of Blossoms
Ohran Viper
Cathodion
Wonder
Ramping
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Wayfarer's Bauble
Expedition Map
Rampant Growth
Khalni Gem
Defense of the Heart
Mass Removal
Oblivion Stone
Wrath of God
Planar Cleansing
Finishers
Scute Mob
Razormane Manticore
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Steel Hellkite
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Disruption
Aeolipile
Complicate
Forbid
What's cool about this deck is that its average card quality is probably the lowest between all decks, but the worse cards work to make sure that the big guns have maximum impact when they are brought out. At the start of the game, the deck just stalls with its defensive creatures (including 3 walls) and develops its mana base. This forces aggro opponents (that is, all the other 6 decks) to stretch and cast a lot of threats, which plays right into the deck's mass removal. Meloku the Clouded Mirror, Steel Hellkite and Akroma, Angel of Wrath come out next, as the amazing win conditions they are.
While too slow to punish opponents that had mana troubles at the beginning, the card drawing and deck thinning cause the draws to improve turn after turn, creating a pretty cohesive, consistent and predictable control deck.
UB Aggro-Milling
Vitinho
7 Swamp
7 Island
Creeping Tar Pit
Duskmantle, House of Shadow
Aggro
Carnophage
Vampire Lacerator
Bloodchief Ascension
Oona's Prowler
Manriki-Gusari
Fallen Askari
Vampire Hexmage
Hypnotic Specter
Howling Banshee
Milling
Mesmeric Orb
Ambassador Laquatus
Traumatize
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Card Advantage
Night's Whisper
Dusk Urchins
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Sword of Light and Shadow
Faceless Butcher
Control
Crypt Rats
Royal Assassin
Platinum Angel
Rend Flesh
Orochi Hatchery
Disruption
Duress
Inquisition of Kozilek
Smallpox
Spite//Malice
Recoil
Other
Animate Dead
While the previous deck was extremely focused, this one attacks in two completely different angles. Rathering than defending during the first turns like a "normal" milling deck would do, the portion of the deck that would be dedicated to defense is actually a very aggressive curve of black critters. This is atypical, but not meaninless, since: 1 - an opponent with a slow start will outright lose; 2 - the opponent will have to spend resources to control this first attack wave, putting himself in a defensive position.
If the opponent controls this first angle of attack, the deck will switch to attacking by milling. In limited, after 10 turns of play each player has at most 23 cards in his deck, and usually around 20 due to their own draw/searching effects. This makes the 5 milling cards in the deck very scary by themselves and a fine win condition if more than one sticks.
The deck's strength is that it is very versatile, running a handful of aggressive cards, another of classic control cards, but mostly wildcards that can be used either way. It has enough card advantage and individual quality to attack well in two dimensions in the same game, turning out quite chaotic and unpredictable both to play with and against.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Draft Report - Jul 30, 2011
Group A
- Naka (RG Aggro) 3-0, 6-0
- Érico (RG Aggro) 2-1, 4-2
- Hugo (WG Control) 1-2, 2-4
- Lula (WU Control) 0-3, 0-6
Group B
- Mateus (BR Aggro-Midrange) 2-1, 5-3
- Vitinho (BG Aggro) 2-1, 4-2
- Jão (UB Control) 2-1, 4-3
- Kamila (UB Aggro-Control) 0-3, 1-6
Since we had 8 people, we split them in two groups. I'll post and comment the deck with the best performance of each group.
RG Aggro
Naka
7 Mountain
5 Forest
City of Brass
Treetop Village
Raging Ravine
Terramorphic Expanse
Goblin Patrol
Twinblade Slasher
Sylvan Safekeeper
Jackal Pup
Magus of the Scroll
Plated Geopede
Kavu Predator
Fireslinger
Fauna Shaman
Ironclaw Orcs
Boggart Ram-Gang
Avalanche Riders
Spitemare
Phantom Centaur
Siege-Gang Commander
Lightning Bolt
Burst Lightning
Incinerate
Boar Umbra
Staggershock
Arc Lightning
Sulfuric Vortex
Pulse of the Forge
Manabarbs
A very straightforward RG Beatdown list, with an aggressive creature curve (5-5-1-3-1) and efficient burn to remove blockers and provide range. Two gamebreaker enchantments that fit perfectly were used as finishers: Sulfuric Vortex and Manabarbs. Except for these enchantments (a tech that has been used before), the plan is the same as always: curving 1 and 2 mana creatures to put on pressure and keep it for as long as possible. Then, sit back and sling burn at the opponent.
This build was quite consistent but had the recurring problem of RG aggro - struggling against early defense and life gain. Since it burns its resources so quickly, it's easy for RG Beatdown to run out of fuel if they are not carefully managed. This list has a better than average "gas tank", though, falling back to Pulse of the Forge, Siege-Gang Commander, Fireslinger, Magus of the Scroll and Fauna Shaman after the first attacks have been performed.
BR Aggro-Midrange
Mateus
7 Mountain
7 Swamp
Rakdos Carnarium
Akoum Refuge
Blackcleave Cliffs
Goblin Bushwhacker
Blood Knight
Dauthi Horror
Stigma Lasher
Phyrexian Rager
Dauthi Marauder
Tuktuk the Explorer
Vampire Nighthawk
Nekrataal
Necrotic Ooze
Faceless Butcher
Rakka Mar
Tephraderm
Shriekmaw
Fire Servant
Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Carnifex Demon
Hostility
Terminate
Kor Dirge
Chandra's Outrage
Blaze
A simple yet very effective BR Aggro-Midrange deck made of 19/23 creatures and 4/23 removal spells - limited taken to its bare bones. The mana curve is high, peaking at 4 and 5, meaning the deck wins by attacking slowly and relentlessly, instead of overrunning the opponent with tempo like dedicated aggro decks.
As is usual of BR Midrange, a suite of 2-for-1s (Nekrataal and Shriekmaw) combined with must-remove threats (Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, Jiwari, the Earth Aflame, Fire Servant) grind down the opponent, forcing him to use 1-for-1 removal while you play your 2-for-1s. This strategy worked great against aggro, since it simply outclasses the aggro deck's creatures after the first assaults. Against classic control, though, the creature removal is not so effective, the most problematic threats will be countered, and, most importantly, mass or repeatable creature removal will be devastating.
- Naka (RG Aggro) 3-0, 6-0
- Érico (RG Aggro) 2-1, 4-2
- Hugo (WG Control) 1-2, 2-4
- Lula (WU Control) 0-3, 0-6
Group B
- Mateus (BR Aggro-Midrange) 2-1, 5-3
- Vitinho (BG Aggro) 2-1, 4-2
- Jão (UB Control) 2-1, 4-3
- Kamila (UB Aggro-Control) 0-3, 1-6
Since we had 8 people, we split them in two groups. I'll post and comment the deck with the best performance of each group.
RG Aggro
Naka
7 Mountain
5 Forest
City of Brass
Treetop Village
Raging Ravine
Terramorphic Expanse
Goblin Patrol
Twinblade Slasher
Sylvan Safekeeper
Jackal Pup
Magus of the Scroll
Plated Geopede
Kavu Predator
Fireslinger
Fauna Shaman
Ironclaw Orcs
Boggart Ram-Gang
Avalanche Riders
Spitemare
Phantom Centaur
Siege-Gang Commander
Lightning Bolt
Burst Lightning
Incinerate
Boar Umbra
Staggershock
Arc Lightning
Sulfuric Vortex
Pulse of the Forge
Manabarbs
A very straightforward RG Beatdown list, with an aggressive creature curve (5-5-1-3-1) and efficient burn to remove blockers and provide range. Two gamebreaker enchantments that fit perfectly were used as finishers: Sulfuric Vortex and Manabarbs. Except for these enchantments (a tech that has been used before), the plan is the same as always: curving 1 and 2 mana creatures to put on pressure and keep it for as long as possible. Then, sit back and sling burn at the opponent.
This build was quite consistent but had the recurring problem of RG aggro - struggling against early defense and life gain. Since it burns its resources so quickly, it's easy for RG Beatdown to run out of fuel if they are not carefully managed. This list has a better than average "gas tank", though, falling back to Pulse of the Forge, Siege-Gang Commander, Fireslinger, Magus of the Scroll and Fauna Shaman after the first attacks have been performed.
BR Aggro-Midrange
Mateus
7 Mountain
7 Swamp
Rakdos Carnarium
Akoum Refuge
Blackcleave Cliffs
Goblin Bushwhacker
Blood Knight
Dauthi Horror
Stigma Lasher
Phyrexian Rager
Dauthi Marauder
Tuktuk the Explorer
Vampire Nighthawk
Nekrataal
Necrotic Ooze
Faceless Butcher
Rakka Mar
Tephraderm
Shriekmaw
Fire Servant
Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Carnifex Demon
Hostility
Terminate
Kor Dirge
Chandra's Outrage
Blaze
A simple yet very effective BR Aggro-Midrange deck made of 19/23 creatures and 4/23 removal spells - limited taken to its bare bones. The mana curve is high, peaking at 4 and 5, meaning the deck wins by attacking slowly and relentlessly, instead of overrunning the opponent with tempo like dedicated aggro decks.
As is usual of BR Midrange, a suite of 2-for-1s (Nekrataal and Shriekmaw) combined with must-remove threats (Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, Jiwari, the Earth Aflame, Fire Servant) grind down the opponent, forcing him to use 1-for-1 removal while you play your 2-for-1s. This strategy worked great against aggro, since it simply outclasses the aggro deck's creatures after the first assaults. Against classic control, though, the creature removal is not so effective, the most problematic threats will be countered, and, most importantly, mass or repeatable creature removal will be devastating.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Reads on Play Strategy
Two of my favorite articles no how to improve as a player.
Keys to High-Level Play by Darwin Kastle
The Aggro Player's Bible by Chingsung Chang
Keys to High-Level Play by Darwin Kastle
The Aggro Player's Bible by Chingsung Chang
Friday, May 20, 2011
Winchester Draft
Today Tom LaPille posted at Daily MTG a new 2-person draft format, similar to Winston but faster and more intense. It sounds like a good upgrade to our default small group draft format:
Winchester Draft
Basically it's Winston but with 4 face-up piles instead of 3 face-down ones, so that instead of looking sequentially at the piles, you look at all of them, pick one, replace it with a card and add a card to each other pile. It's more skill intensive because choices are more informed.
Winchester Draft
Basically it's Winston but with 4 face-up piles instead of 3 face-down ones, so that instead of looking sequentially at the piles, you look at all of them, pick one, replace it with a card and add a card to each other pile. It's more skill intensive because choices are more informed.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Draft Report - May 14, 2011
- Naka (WU Control) 4-1, 9-4
- Thomas (BG Control) 4-1, 9-4
- Kamila (WU Control) 3-2, 6-5
- TBT (R Aggro) 2-3, 6-7
- Érico (BG Midrange) 1-4, 4-9
- Vitinho (WG Midrange) 1-4, 3-8
In a metagame heavy on control, midranges suffer and the slowest control wins. This time theory and practice agreed, in a draft where decks were exceptionally powerful after my recent changes in the cube.
It's worth noting that WU and BG were each drafted by 2 people, R was given all to one single person and WG stayed out of this mess. Therefore, only 3 of the 10 two-color combinations were used, leaving most multicolored stuff and several nonbasic lands sitting uselessly in sideboards.
Intesting fact: R Aggro was defeated twice by poison, and by different opponents. BG Control killed with an unanswerable Phyrexian Crusader, while Kamila's WU Control stole a Taurean Mauler with Corrupted Conscience.
WU Control
Naka
6 Plains
6 Island
Mystifying Maze
Faerie Conclave
Celestial Colonnade
Evolving Wilds
Seaside Citadel
Urza's Factory
Oona's Gatewarden
Goldmeadow Harrier
Azorius Guildmage
Darksteel Myr
Wall of Frost
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Archon of Justice
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Ancestral Vision
Swords to Plowshares
Sunlance
Curse of Chains
Impulse
Standstill
Dissipate
Absorb
Icy Manipulator
Control Magic
Wrath of God
Day of Judgment
Phyrexian Rebirth
Condescend
An old school control deck, resembling a lot legacy's Landstill - mass removal, counterspells, resilient victory conditions in the lands (in constructed Kjeldoran Outpost, Mishra's Factory and Faerie Conclave, here Celestial Colonnade, Urza's Factory and the Conclave itself). Most importantly, Standstill, which present the lose-lose choice to the opponent of accelerating the game or allowing card disadvantage.
An interesting aspect of this deck was that with Icy Manipulator, Darksteel Myr and Mystifying Maze, I could force the opponent to overextend, while slow-rolling my three Wraths. This was great both in terms of card advantage as in tempo, causing the game to drag for long enough for me to accumulate 10+ lands and take it with manlands and token generators.
The deck's weakness became obvious in the match I lost, against R Sligh. With only Goldmeadown Harrier and Swords to Plowshares to defend against bloodthristy Genju of the Spires, Jackal Pup and Hellspark Elemental, my life total very quickly in two games, one closed by Manabarbs when I tapped out to block lethal.
BG Control
Thomas
11 Swamp
5 Forest
City of Brass
Quicksand
Will-o'-the-Wisp
Twinblade Slasher
Wall of Tanglecord
Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Marauder
Phyrexian Crusader
Nyxathid
Silent Arbiter
Throat Slitter
Sapling of Colfenor
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
Raven's Crime
Inquisition of Kozilek
Manriki-Gusari
Doom Blade
Chainer's Edict
Living Wish
Moment's Peace
Hymn to Tourach
Kor Dirge
Krosan Grip
Putrefy
Sudden Death
Soul Foundry
Mystic Melting
Hatred
Disembowel
Relevant Sideboard:
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Acidic Slime
Vampire Hexmage
Silklash Spider
BG is an atypical color combination for control (I wanted a Pernicious Deed to change that). Despite this, the deck worked pretty well in disrupting the opponents' plans with lots of discard, versatile removal and card advantage engines like Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, Sapling of Colfenor and Soul Foundry. Living Wish gives access to silver-bullets out of the sideboard.
The deck's offense is varied: Dauthi Horror and Dauthi Marauder are virtually unblockable and can end long games by themselves. Nyxathid and Nath of the Gilt-Leaf will beat down crippled opponents quickly. The most reliable win condition is Soul Foundry, however slow it is. Hatred could steal games out of nowhere, forcing the opponent to play around it when he had a similar life total.
WU Control
Kamila
11 Island
8 Plains
Halimar Depths
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Kor Skyfisher
Kami of Ancient Law
Wake Thrasher
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Harvest Gwyllion
Conundrum Sphinx
Djinn of Wishes
Brainstorm
Force Spike
Lightning Graves
Reprisal
Raise the Alarm
Mana Leak
Sword of Light and Shadow
Snakeform
Complicate
Paralyzing Grasp
Solemn Offering
Prison Term
Chastise
Faith's Fetters
Corrupted Conscience
Opportunity
Confiscate
Another WU Control deck which plays quite differently than mine. I've seen the same archetype be possible with cardlists with little overlap, but since this one was created in the same draft as mine, the card lists' interesection was restricted to the basic lands.
The plan for this deck is to grind down the opponent with removal and counterspells while beating with a finisher or anything equipped with Sword of Light and Shadow. With only Conundrum Sphinx and Djinn of Wishes as fatties though, frequently Confiscate and Corrupted Conscience need to be used to steal a win condition.
The big merit of this deck is how broad the removal suite is. Problematic enchantments, artifacts and obviously creatures are shut down easily with Solemn Offering, Faith's Fetters, Chastise, Prison Term and Confiscate, among other options.
- Thomas (BG Control) 4-1, 9-4
- Kamila (WU Control) 3-2, 6-5
- TBT (R Aggro) 2-3, 6-7
- Érico (BG Midrange) 1-4, 4-9
- Vitinho (WG Midrange) 1-4, 3-8
In a metagame heavy on control, midranges suffer and the slowest control wins. This time theory and practice agreed, in a draft where decks were exceptionally powerful after my recent changes in the cube.
It's worth noting that WU and BG were each drafted by 2 people, R was given all to one single person and WG stayed out of this mess. Therefore, only 3 of the 10 two-color combinations were used, leaving most multicolored stuff and several nonbasic lands sitting uselessly in sideboards.
Intesting fact: R Aggro was defeated twice by poison, and by different opponents. BG Control killed with an unanswerable Phyrexian Crusader, while Kamila's WU Control stole a Taurean Mauler with Corrupted Conscience.
WU Control
Naka
6 Plains
6 Island
Mystifying Maze
Faerie Conclave
Celestial Colonnade
Evolving Wilds
Seaside Citadel
Urza's Factory
Oona's Gatewarden
Goldmeadow Harrier
Azorius Guildmage
Darksteel Myr
Wall of Frost
Meloku the Clouded Mirror
Archon of Justice
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Ancestral Vision
Swords to Plowshares
Sunlance
Curse of Chains
Impulse
Standstill
Dissipate
Absorb
Icy Manipulator
Control Magic
Wrath of God
Day of Judgment
Phyrexian Rebirth
Condescend
An old school control deck, resembling a lot legacy's Landstill - mass removal, counterspells, resilient victory conditions in the lands (in constructed Kjeldoran Outpost, Mishra's Factory and Faerie Conclave, here Celestial Colonnade, Urza's Factory and the Conclave itself). Most importantly, Standstill, which present the lose-lose choice to the opponent of accelerating the game or allowing card disadvantage.
An interesting aspect of this deck was that with Icy Manipulator, Darksteel Myr and Mystifying Maze, I could force the opponent to overextend, while slow-rolling my three Wraths. This was great both in terms of card advantage as in tempo, causing the game to drag for long enough for me to accumulate 10+ lands and take it with manlands and token generators.
The deck's weakness became obvious in the match I lost, against R Sligh. With only Goldmeadown Harrier and Swords to Plowshares to defend against bloodthristy Genju of the Spires, Jackal Pup and Hellspark Elemental, my life total very quickly in two games, one closed by Manabarbs when I tapped out to block lethal.
BG Control
Thomas
11 Swamp
5 Forest
City of Brass
Quicksand
Will-o'-the-Wisp
Twinblade Slasher
Wall of Tanglecord
Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Marauder
Phyrexian Crusader
Nyxathid
Silent Arbiter
Throat Slitter
Sapling of Colfenor
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
Raven's Crime
Inquisition of Kozilek
Manriki-Gusari
Doom Blade
Chainer's Edict
Living Wish
Moment's Peace
Hymn to Tourach
Kor Dirge
Krosan Grip
Putrefy
Sudden Death
Soul Foundry
Mystic Melting
Hatred
Disembowel
Relevant Sideboard:
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Acidic Slime
Vampire Hexmage
Silklash Spider
BG is an atypical color combination for control (I wanted a Pernicious Deed to change that). Despite this, the deck worked pretty well in disrupting the opponents' plans with lots of discard, versatile removal and card advantage engines like Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, Sapling of Colfenor and Soul Foundry. Living Wish gives access to silver-bullets out of the sideboard.
The deck's offense is varied: Dauthi Horror and Dauthi Marauder are virtually unblockable and can end long games by themselves. Nyxathid and Nath of the Gilt-Leaf will beat down crippled opponents quickly. The most reliable win condition is Soul Foundry, however slow it is. Hatred could steal games out of nowhere, forcing the opponent to play around it when he had a similar life total.
WU Control
Kamila
11 Island
8 Plains
Halimar Depths
Isamaru, Hound of Konda
Kor Skyfisher
Kami of Ancient Law
Wake Thrasher
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
Harvest Gwyllion
Conundrum Sphinx
Djinn of Wishes
Brainstorm
Force Spike
Lightning Graves
Reprisal
Raise the Alarm
Mana Leak
Sword of Light and Shadow
Snakeform
Complicate
Paralyzing Grasp
Solemn Offering
Prison Term
Chastise
Faith's Fetters
Corrupted Conscience
Opportunity
Confiscate
Another WU Control deck which plays quite differently than mine. I've seen the same archetype be possible with cardlists with little overlap, but since this one was created in the same draft as mine, the card lists' interesection was restricted to the basic lands.
The plan for this deck is to grind down the opponent with removal and counterspells while beating with a finisher or anything equipped with Sword of Light and Shadow. With only Conundrum Sphinx and Djinn of Wishes as fatties though, frequently Confiscate and Corrupted Conscience need to be used to steal a win condition.
The big merit of this deck is how broad the removal suite is. Problematic enchantments, artifacts and obviously creatures are shut down easily with Solemn Offering, Faith's Fetters, Chastise, Prison Term and Confiscate, among other options.
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