To be clear, I mean specifically 2+ color archetypes... we all know what mono-red is going to look like. I don't have a bunch of predictions currently, but to me it looks like..
BW Dominate: Apart from being the best individual colors, there are many cards which work very well together here. Putting Marked for Honor on an Accursed Spirit will require an immediate response, and even the lowly Divine Favor on the lowly Child of Night should be reasonable (add Wall of Limbs for extra fun!) Of course, the removal is strong with this one, and the themes available range from control (ex: Typhoid Rats, Geist of the Moors, removal) to aggro (Raise the Alarm, Crippling Blight, Feast on the Fallen, Triplicate Beatdowns.) Side note: First Response + black's pay-life cards! Plus lifegain! Plus Feast! I see a lot of good, synergistic decks in these colors.
What do you see? I may add other's thoughts to this post if that ends up not feeling weird.
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My helpy helpdesk of helpfulness.
My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
My helpy helpdesk of helpfulness.
My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Wx Tokens with Sanctified Charge will probably be a thing. Depends on how quickly people realize how good Triplicate Spirits is. But assuming you can "go wide" it should be easy to finish an opponent off with a timely Sanctified Charge. (You don't even really need the First Strike.) Pair it with any support color with cheap creatures, so Red is an obvious choice.
We do have pain lands and some library searching mechanics, but nothing more than a light splash I would reckon. Something like my favorite DGR deck that was Simic plus Clan Defiance.
WU - Skies. Good archetype, military intelligence .dec
WB - Good Stuff. Good archetype, like junk but without green in it. Don't need to focus on control or aggro until late in the draft.
WR - Auras. Middling archetype unless you get the build around me cards like spectra ward or brood keeper. Lowest toughness colors + auras feels like blowout by design.
WG - Tokens/convoke. Convokens. Great archetype, lots of obvious support cards, pretty linear.
UB - Control. I think great archetype, but it depends on the speed. The only deck that feels like it really wants walls and chronostutter, and it can really abuse them.
UR - Artifacts. Bad archetype. I feel like blue can leverage many artifacts but red's benefits are limited, and shrapnel blast is a 2 for 1 against yourself even if it's amazing removal.
UG - Self bounce. Bad archetype. I feel like at least UR has some powerful stand alone cards even if their synergies need work, UG just feels like a mess of awkward lines of play to grind out some marginal value.
BR - Murder. Great archetype. Some of the highest quality of commons and uncommons combining into a very clear strategy of play the best dudes and removal. Card advantage is for people who are still alive, this is 1 for 1 town.
BG - Graveyard shenanigans. Middling archetype even if you have the right cards. While WR is middiling because it can try and fail or try and succeed, it will be easy to pick up the undergrowth scavengers and necromancer's assistants that no one else wants. It's just that those are basically the only grave related shenanigans that work well together so you're at the mercy of the packs on how many you get. The other BG cards seem specifically anti synergy, you don't want to invasive species your necrogen scudder or rotfeaster maggot your best dead body just before drawing a restock or endless obedience.
RG - Ramp/stompy. Good archetype. Basically all the most efficient bodies, runeclaw bear to goblin roughrider to living totem to thundering giant to ancient silverback, or at any point you can skip around the curve or mix and match thanks to elvish mystic and generator servant. The problem will be interacting, you'll probably be one of the only guys who wants and can abuse hunt the weak, but you'll probably be fighting 3 other guys for lightning strikes and heat rays.
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"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect? And he will probably ask himself two more: 1. Could I put it more shortly? 2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?"
Black as a whole color looks pretty deep as far as interactive spells go, but many of them are archetype specific. (Like Necrobite and Crippling Blight vs 5-mana catch-all removal and 7 mana removal + lifegain.) On the flip side, green commons seem pretty mediocre and not very interactive. The 2/3 Spider is about it and isn't a card I'd want to first-pick. Red seems similarly deep to black, but not quite as varied.
I'm weary of 'highly visible' archetypes like UR artifacts. The two commons are cards already reasonable vanilla picks for most decks running either of those colors, while many of the artifacts just aren't worth playing. It just means that the other blue and red drafters will be peeling off your cards that care about artifacts while the ones that DO make it to you are the uncommons that are uncastable without an artifact.
I want to give 1/2 lifelink Fliers +2/+2, Vigilance, and +2/+0 all day long. Inferno Fist is yet another reason why I'm sad that red has no common first strikers.
With the presence of convoke, curving out seems much more important than normal just to make sure you get to cast your overcosted spells on time and at an actual discount. The spells are costed 1 more than they would be normally, so you need multiple creatures to make them cost a bargain. However, curving out was always good anyway, so you'll want to curve out to stop aggressive lines of play from the convoke decks that are curving out, but didn't draw their convoke spells yet. Or even better, you get to pressure them on the play as they hold their creatures out of combat so that they can actually cast their spells.
There aren't very many commons that pair favorably against triplicate spirits and not much trample to speak of anyway. The red and black intimidators seem key, but of note, Bronze Sable and the meteor both deal with them.
I definitely like Black-Blue tempo with Frost Lynx. Though Black-Blue also has lots of evasion which Stab Wound loves. I guess B/W can do that a bit more reliably though, but it doesn't have Welkin Tern and Triplicate Spirits costs you an attack...
I'm weary of 'highly visible' archetypes like UR artifacts. The two commons are cards already reasonable vanilla picks for most decks running either of those colors, while many of the artifacts just aren't worth playing. It just means that the other blue and red drafters will be peeling off your cards that care about artifacts while the ones that DO make it to you are the uncommons that are uncastable without an artifact.
Sorry to nitpick you, but you meant to say 'wary', right? Weary means 'tired', wary means 'cautious'.
I do think BW is looking good and am looking forward to trying it out, hopefully will be able to. BR as well, very aggressive/evasive dudes backed with burn/removal is always good.
Convoke will be nutty as usual, not really looking forward to extremely early Siege Wurms unless I'm the one casting them.
I've been having good success with B/R, it has good aggro creatures, black offers great evasive creatures, and you have the burn and removal that both colors offer. The only problems I've been having is the life loss off sign in blood and the black creatures, but radiant fountain helps there.
I'd also like to note my archetype ratings up there are for the seemingly as designed, multiple cards have been put in the set to spell out this archetype type archetypes. There are probably a myriad of less defined ones that are just like 'hey lightning strike and welkin tern are good cards lets draft all of those' or BG 'ignore the graveyard lets just play ramp and removal and maybe this garruk we opened' that could be very good. I'm just not sure how they'll shape up or how repeatable those are or if you need to just kinda luck into them or what.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect? And he will probably ask himself two more: 1. Could I put it more shortly? 2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?"
BW Dominate: Apart from being the best individual colors, there are many cards which work very well together here. Putting Marked for Honor on an Accursed Spirit will require an immediate response, and even the lowly Divine Favor on the lowly Child of Night should be reasonable (add Wall of Limbs for extra fun!) Of course, the removal is strong with this one, and the themes available range from control (ex: Typhoid Rats, Geist of the Moors, removal) to aggro (Raise the Alarm, Crippling Blight, Feast on the Fallen, Triplicate Beatdowns.) Side note: First Response + black's pay-life cards! Plus lifegain! Plus Feast! I see a lot of good, synergistic decks in these colors.
What do you see? I may add other's thoughts to this post if that ends up not feeling weird.
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
UR Artifacts
WR Auras
GR Ramp
BG Graveyard/self mill
And like you say, BW life loss/gain
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
WB - Good Stuff. Good archetype, like junk but without green in it. Don't need to focus on control or aggro until late in the draft.
WR - Auras. Middling archetype unless you get the build around me cards like spectra ward or brood keeper. Lowest toughness colors + auras feels like blowout by design.
WG - Tokens/convoke. Convokens. Great archetype, lots of obvious support cards, pretty linear.
UB - Control. I think great archetype, but it depends on the speed. The only deck that feels like it really wants walls and chronostutter, and it can really abuse them.
UR - Artifacts. Bad archetype. I feel like blue can leverage many artifacts but red's benefits are limited, and shrapnel blast is a 2 for 1 against yourself even if it's amazing removal.
UG - Self bounce. Bad archetype. I feel like at least UR has some powerful stand alone cards even if their synergies need work, UG just feels like a mess of awkward lines of play to grind out some marginal value.
BR - Murder. Great archetype. Some of the highest quality of commons and uncommons combining into a very clear strategy of play the best dudes and removal. Card advantage is for people who are still alive, this is 1 for 1 town.
BG - Graveyard shenanigans. Middling archetype even if you have the right cards. While WR is middiling because it can try and fail or try and succeed, it will be easy to pick up the undergrowth scavengers and necromancer's assistants that no one else wants. It's just that those are basically the only grave related shenanigans that work well together so you're at the mercy of the packs on how many you get. The other BG cards seem specifically anti synergy, you don't want to invasive species your necrogen scudder or rotfeaster maggot your best dead body just before drawing a restock or endless obedience.
RG - Ramp/stompy. Good archetype. Basically all the most efficient bodies, runeclaw bear to goblin roughrider to living totem to thundering giant to ancient silverback, or at any point you can skip around the curve or mix and match thanks to elvish mystic and generator servant. The problem will be interacting, you'll probably be one of the only guys who wants and can abuse hunt the weak, but you'll probably be fighting 3 other guys for lightning strikes and heat rays.
I'm weary of 'highly visible' archetypes like UR artifacts. The two commons are cards already reasonable vanilla picks for most decks running either of those colors, while many of the artifacts just aren't worth playing. It just means that the other blue and red drafters will be peeling off your cards that care about artifacts while the ones that DO make it to you are the uncommons that are uncastable without an artifact.
I want to give 1/2 lifelink Fliers +2/+2, Vigilance, and +2/+0 all day long. Inferno Fist is yet another reason why I'm sad that red has no common first strikers.
With the presence of convoke, curving out seems much more important than normal just to make sure you get to cast your overcosted spells on time and at an actual discount. The spells are costed 1 more than they would be normally, so you need multiple creatures to make them cost a bargain. However, curving out was always good anyway, so you'll want to curve out to stop aggressive lines of play from the convoke decks that are curving out, but didn't draw their convoke spells yet. Or even better, you get to pressure them on the play as they hold their creatures out of combat so that they can actually cast their spells.
There aren't very many commons that pair favorably against triplicate spirits and not much trample to speak of anyway. The red and black intimidators seem key, but of note, Bronze Sable and the meteor both deal with them.
Older Magic as a Board Game: Panglacial Wurm , Mill
Common:
Accursed Spirit
Carrion Crow
Child of Night
Crippling Blight
Shadowcloak Vampire
Sign in Blood
Uncommon:
Necrogen Scudder
Stab Wound
Ulcerate
Xathrid Slyblade
Older Magic as a Board Game: Panglacial Wurm , Mill
No, just that I think that tokens decks can fall into any of the three Bant colour pairs.
Sorry to nitpick you, but you meant to say 'wary', right? Weary means 'tired', wary means 'cautious'.
UR - NOT artifacts - that's mostly red but with some blue for gas and/or tempo also seems plausible.
Blue white evasive beats seems strong as usual.
The big question is what to pair with black and I'm not too sure yet. Maybe green. Dunno
I am highly skeptical of UB because I just don't think the control cards are there and I don't think the beats will be heavy enough.
Convoke will be nutty as usual, not really looking forward to extremely early Siege Wurms unless I'm the one casting them.
Well almost. Everywhere I looked.
Only one person playing blue and another red from what I saw.