I know that there have already been threads like this, but most of them were speculative and I'd like to have one place to discuss the format's archetypes. I'm going to post the deck types that have stood out to me so far to get us started, but since I've had very limited exposure to this format and am by no means anywhere CLOSE to an authority on limited, I'd love it if other people would post their experiences playing different archetypes here too. At the end of each section, I'm going to post 5 of the commons / uncommons and a few of the bombs that seem to be major players in the archetype. The list of the bombs is not supposed to be a "best of," but just a brief reference of a few that work well in the given archetype. Even though I'm organizing mine by listing the colors first, it looks like there are very different strong deck types out there within the same color combinations, and I'll continue updating my list over time as we get more discussion going on in here and we all become more experienced with the format.
Rx Humans Aggro
I'm a fan of this deck. The cards are really there to make it work, and it has no problem going white, blue (despite not being a human, Latch Seeker is probably good here), or green while maintaining the deck's aggression and human synergies. You can pick up cheap aggressive creatures with upside (i.e., Nearheath Pilgrim), a pretty strong removal package (at least as strong as AVR limited removal gets...), utility humans such as Borderland Ranger, and some human synergy pieces which manage to make decent use of cards that seem to go later in packs right now (i.e., Thatcher's Revolt). Furthermore, you can also play cards like Nephalia Smuggler to abuse Kessig Malcontents or Goldnight Commander. The goal of this deck is to build an army of humans that play off of each other and rush your opponent's board before they even have a chance to set up properly. I would definitely try not to run less than 14 creatures here, and be careful not to avoid playing better aggressive creatures in favor of humans. After all, Heirs of Stromkirk and Havengul Vampire used to be human anyway, right? This deck really only needs about 8 humans and a couple of "human matters" cards to really take off. Big players: Kruin Striker, Riot Ringleader, Hanweir Lancer, Thatcher's Revolt, Kessig Malcontents Bombs which lead you this direction: Zealous Conscripts, Silverblade Paladin, Riders of Gavony
GR Aggro
This is just a really mean deck, and easily my favorite in the format right now. It starts fast and grows. Green has some incredibly potent soulbond creatures, and they are reliable enough to make a relatively unexciting card like Wandering Wolf into a complete monster. The lack of really solid spot removal (with a few exceptions) in this set makes the soulbond creatures in this set better than they would be in a different environment, and from what I've seen so far, I think this deck's curve is going to be very tough to top in this format. Cards like Heirs of Stromkirk, Falkenrath Exterminator and Lightning Mauler are just fantastic in this deck. Combine that with cards like Pillar of Flame, Thunderbolt (which is, in my opinion, seriously underrated right now), and red's premium burn spell Thunderous Wrath and you have a very scary deck on your hands... And we haven't even gotten to the green cards yet. The green soulbond creatures are just incredible, and Blessings of Nature has the potential to turn into a one-mana Travel Preparations. Turn 2 Wandering Wolf, turn 3 bonded Trusted Forcemage is just beautiful. It isn't too difficult to pick up a large number soulbond creatures in GR, and if you find that you're running a good number of them (maybe 5-6?), Flowering Lumberknot and Joint Assault can turn every game into a total blowout. Big players: Wolfir Avenger, Trusted Forcemage / Druid's Familiar, Lightning Mauler, Blessings of Nature, Heirs of Stromkirk Bombs which lead you in this direction: Wolfir Silverheart, Archwing Dragon, Burn at the Stake
UW Fliers / Tempo
As has been the case in every limited environment I can remember, UW fliers is a perfectly viable deck. It has fantastic tempo plays, multiple relevant combat tricks, and access to angels and Mist Raven. The bird is a serious contendor for best common in the set, in my opinion, and can serve equally well as a mid-game tempo play or a late drop finisher. You can go a couple of different directions with UW fliers as well, making a slightly faster deck with Favorable Winds and a bunch of fliers, or you can build a slightly higher-curve tempo deck which utilizes ETB effects, soulbond, and bigger creatures to win over the top. Angelic Wall seems particularly nice here, but most aggro decks will just power through it, so be cautious about playing this in multiples. On the other hand, pick up Amass the Components as early as you can, since this card can singlehandedly turn a mulligan into a hand full of options. This deck actually makes bounces and flicker effects a pretty real boon, and it can do a good job of stalling out the opponent with cards like Defang, Into the Void, Vanishment, Crippling Chill, and Peel from Reality. As a side note, don't underestimate Geist Snatch in this deck, since it is probably not as bad as you might think and deserves one spot in the sideboard of this deck every time. Even though they're grounded, soulbond creatures like Elgaud Shieldmate and Galvanic Alchemist can really help you outlast an early-game onslaught, especially if you run a decent number of flicker / bounce effects (Emancipation Angel, anyone?). Big players: Mist Raven, Gryff Vanguard, Nephalia Smuggler, Emancipation Angel, Seraph of Dawn Bombs which lead you in this direction: Entreat the Angels, Restoration Angel, Deadeye Navigator
Bx Loner Deck
This is a really interesting niche archetype. Where do I even start here... Well, first things first, Homicidal Seclusion is a very real game, and it will show up throughout this format. I wouldn't try to force this archetype, since you really do need certain pieces to make it work effectively. However, if you see those pieces, this deck can be pretty difficult to stop once it gets started. The key pieces to look for here are Demonic Taskmaster, Homicidal Seclusion, sacrifice engines, and creatures that sacrifice profitably. Ideally, you want to populate this deck with creatures that either make homicidal seclusion go into insane mode (Latch Seeker, Fettergeist, Marrow Bats, etc.), creatures that have no problem being sacrificed (Butcher Ghoul, Maalfeld Twins, Soulcage Fiend, etc.), or sacrifice engines (Corpse Traders, Bloodflow Connoisseur, Barter in Blood and Barter's younger cousin Bone Splinters really stand out here). Black has access to a decent removal package and I could see a version of this deck running only one color, but there are plenty of reasons to go into a second. While you could splash the aforementioned Fettergeist and Latch Seeker in blue, why not try splashing green to better fill your curve and survive an early-game aggro onslaught? While this might just be a pipe dream, I really want to see someone win off of a Wandering Wolf or Howlgeist with Homicidal Seclusion in play. Adding in some of red's early game and burn options here could also speed this deck up enough to give you such a strong board state that your opponent has to make some pretty difficult decisions when Homicidal Seclusion finally hits the board. Big players: Demonic Taskmaster, Barter in Blood, Homicidal Seclusion, Corpse Traders, Marrow Bats Bombs which lead you in this direction: Demonic Rising, Demonlord of Ashmouth, Lone Revenant
Sorry for the delay on the updates, I'll try and make the time to add UG, UR and WG soon.
The one card I think is major in any deck that contains white in this set is Seraph of Dawn . I don't think it is a stretch to call it one of the best commons in the set. My friends and I think it is possibly first pick material. In UW Fliers it is essential IMHO.
Another archetype is GW Soulbond. Just nasty with some of the pump soulbond creatures, and it can deal with many threats. Two strongest colors.
Correct about Seraph, it's absolutely first pick material. Without it the W/U bounce/flicker deck will get destroyed by a good R/x Human deck.
Gx Soulbond is also very good. Playing G/U you get Wingcrafter, Tandem Lookout, access to some bounce, etc. All of that can be great.
There's also a very good heavy Black deck in there somewhere, based on the Ghoul, with plenty of sac effects, good removal, and powerhouse uncommons like Blood Artist, Undying Shade, and Barter in Blood.
You guys are definitely right about seraph, I totally forgot about that when I was describing UW. I probably blocked it from my memory because I lost to one that I passed toward the end of a draft when I was playing UR the other day... haha
I almost want to say the red humans deck is more like Rx Humans Aggro. You don't necessarily need white at all in the deck, it could just as easily be blue or green. All of the important components are Red humans. Everything is just gravy and you can use either white or blue to bounce stuff for Kessig Malcontents.
@Spectre3353: I think you're absolutely right here, as I go on with updating the other archetypes I'll make that change. I was going to try and discuss each humans deck individually since they have slightly different angles (such as UR abusing "peel from reality" for Malcontents, soulbond, etc.) but they're really all red humans with another color splashed to support the main event. I think I'll expand my description of that deck to address all the different styles.
deadeye navigator can do just the most rediculious things pair it with mist raven and bounce away your opponents creatures gryff vanguard draw some cards goodnight redeemer and you can gain ridiculous amounts of life or pair it with Voice of the Provinces to make human tokens. i had a blue white deck at draft last week with this guy and he just can do so many amazing things defiantly a game changer u/b or u/r with this guy is a good choice
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agreed with Spectre - White offers some 2-drop humans and stuff like Righteous Blow, but both Blue, Green, and Black also synergize well. Blood Artist is insane with Humans - Thatcher Revolt becomes stupid good with one of those out
you have to play against it to realize how ridiculous it is, especially with decks filled to sac outlet like Bloodflow Connoisseur and Bone Splinters, even when they control multiple creature, they always have to option to sac everything but one and makes blocking/combat disgusting.
I played R/W against one last time, and basically if I can't rush the black player to death by turn five, the life gain from Homicidal Seclusion will turn the game, and god help me to draw my enchantment removal...
The thing about this archtype is that everyone assumes black is underpowered in the set and avoid drafting it, therefore you won't be fighting cards against people, hence getting lots of black goodies.
I know it's a rare but it's probably worth mention Demonic Rising in that Homicidal Seclusion blurb. You can do some crazy **** with those two combined and a sac outlet. 8/6 lifelink flyer coming your way? Don't mind if I do! I just get another one during my endstep if you block and kill it? Sounds nice!
I'll definitely give it a shoutout in the description, since that's the type of card that you can build a killer deck around. I'm thinking about mentioning a few rares that might make you want to go into a each archetype (or maybe to send a signal) as I continue to update this. I'll get UG, Bx, WG, and UR up here later tonight. Keep the discussion going and the ideas flowing, guys!
I will say having played it, Essence Harvest is an amazing common. I went B/G which both have good big creatures but it also works nicely alongside pump. It's very easy to get a B creature with 5+ power in which case it's a 10 life difference for 3 mana. B/x is quickly becoming one of my favorite archetypes with homicidal seclusion, blood artist, death wind, this, and several big loners
Yeah, I see the loner deck as a really cool niche deck that can be a massive blowout if you pull the right cards, but you really have to make sure that it's open (like Burning Vengeance or Spider Spawning in ISD) before going for it. Nonetheless, it's a very real thing, and I'll definitely be talking about it. In fact, I'll start updating the list with the Bx loner archetype right now!
GW midrange is a very real deck. It doesn't do anything in particular (apart from "soulbound", but that's kind of moot unless you have Flowering Lumberknot). It's just a very solid defensive (or aggressive depending on build) deck.
GW midrange is a very real deck. It doesn't do anything in particular (apart from "soulbound", but that's kind of moot unless you have Flowering Lumberknot). It's just a very solid defensive (or aggressive depending on build) deck.
Very true, I've been impressed with GW too.
Green is very good at stalling the board until the white flyers come into play.
And then the green soulbonders can relink to those flyers for a fast ending.
Yeah, I see the loner deck as a really cool niche deck that can be a massive blowout if you pull the right cards, but you really have to make sure that it's open (like Burning Vengeance or Spider Spawning in ISD) before going for it. Nonetheless, it's a very real thing, and I'll definitely be talking about it. In fact, I'll start updating the list with the Bx loner archetype right now!
pretty sure only 1 person at a table can run the loner archetype.
Another good deck I haven't seen people really comment on here is U/G Soulbond. I know a lot of pros are pretty high on this archetype and I tried it myself at FNM yesterday to a 3-1 result. There's a ton of ways to just cheese people out with a deck like this, and in a deck like mine that had 9 soulbond creatures Flowering Lumberknot becomes actively good. Druid's Familiar is just bonkers, especially in this deck and bonding it with Latch Seeker is also extremely devastating most of the time since there's such limited removal in the set.
@Dromar: Yeah, I finally got to play with UG and it definitely overperformed for me. I think blue is just generally in a good spot in AVR, since UR has also been a good friend recently. I also agree with the above post that only one person at a table can really run the loner archetype, unless the first pack floats multiple Homocidal Seclusions and enablers.
Blue and Green are by far the best colors in the format. Blue is full of tempo plays and green has the best creatures. Ally this with the fact that both support souldbound and you have the reasoning why UG is such a good deck.
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Why don't you come and contribute making the best Abzan deck in modern? Abzan Liege
I had some success with White/Black, going 2-1 in an FNM draft. Black was for Barter in Blood, Butcher Ghoul, and some other support, while White was the heavy hitters with some Angels. I don't think it's an archetype per se, but in general you want to go one of G or W as a primary color with U and B being secondary/support only. That is, you can go G/x, W/x, with x being any of the other 4 colors, but you want to avoid UB or RB, and UR is borderline.
Well, everyone's experiences differ. Maybe if both colors are wide open, or if you open Tamiyo, it can work, but IME it typically just loses to everything else. I have never seen a good U/B deck in an AVR draft.
Hmm I still think White may beat blue, but yes Bant colours are the strongest with red behind and black bringing up the rear from a long way away.
While it's a bit irrelevant without context, I think that red is probably better than white in this format in general. It's a very narrow colour and can't do much apart from being aggressive, but that's not even close to a bad thing in this format. White has Seraph but then the next best white common is much much worse.
Black is bad, but even more than other formats the fact that people generally underrate black (or rate it properly which isn't very highly) means that heavy black decks can actually be very good. This is always the case, but when cards like Grave Exchange table regularly, being black is far from always terrible (not that Grave Exchange is a good card in any other deck than heavy black control)
I 3-0'd a draft with a mostly black deck with a red splash (two Thunderous Wraths and a few cheap beaters). I didn't have Homicidal Seclusion, but I did have Death Wind, Barter in Blood, 2x Butcher Ghoul, Evernight Shade and I got both Demonlord of Ashmouth and Harvester of Souls something like 3rd or 4th picks. The Demonlord is *insane* if you have creatures to feed him, except against bounce. (One of the 2 games I lost came when I brought him out t4, feeding him a Butcher Ghoul, and my opponent played Mist Raven. Sadface.)
I would think Blue is very, very good in this format as well. The Nephalia Smuggler can be really good if he gets going, and Mist Raven is probably the best common in the set.
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Rx Humans Aggro
I'm a fan of this deck. The cards are really there to make it work, and it has no problem going white, blue (despite not being a human, Latch Seeker is probably good here), or green while maintaining the deck's aggression and human synergies. You can pick up cheap aggressive creatures with upside (i.e., Nearheath Pilgrim), a pretty strong removal package (at least as strong as AVR limited removal gets...), utility humans such as Borderland Ranger, and some human synergy pieces which manage to make decent use of cards that seem to go later in packs right now (i.e., Thatcher's Revolt). Furthermore, you can also play cards like Nephalia Smuggler to abuse Kessig Malcontents or Goldnight Commander. The goal of this deck is to build an army of humans that play off of each other and rush your opponent's board before they even have a chance to set up properly. I would definitely try not to run less than 14 creatures here, and be careful not to avoid playing better aggressive creatures in favor of humans. After all, Heirs of Stromkirk and Havengul Vampire used to be human anyway, right? This deck really only needs about 8 humans and a couple of "human matters" cards to really take off.
Big players: Kruin Striker, Riot Ringleader, Hanweir Lancer, Thatcher's Revolt, Kessig Malcontents
Bombs which lead you this direction: Zealous Conscripts, Silverblade Paladin, Riders of Gavony
GR Aggro
This is just a really mean deck, and easily my favorite in the format right now. It starts fast and grows. Green has some incredibly potent soulbond creatures, and they are reliable enough to make a relatively unexciting card like Wandering Wolf into a complete monster. The lack of really solid spot removal (with a few exceptions) in this set makes the soulbond creatures in this set better than they would be in a different environment, and from what I've seen so far, I think this deck's curve is going to be very tough to top in this format. Cards like Heirs of Stromkirk, Falkenrath Exterminator and Lightning Mauler are just fantastic in this deck. Combine that with cards like Pillar of Flame, Thunderbolt (which is, in my opinion, seriously underrated right now), and red's premium burn spell Thunderous Wrath and you have a very scary deck on your hands... And we haven't even gotten to the green cards yet. The green soulbond creatures are just incredible, and Blessings of Nature has the potential to turn into a one-mana Travel Preparations. Turn 2 Wandering Wolf, turn 3 bonded Trusted Forcemage is just beautiful. It isn't too difficult to pick up a large number soulbond creatures in GR, and if you find that you're running a good number of them (maybe 5-6?), Flowering Lumberknot and Joint Assault can turn every game into a total blowout.
Big players: Wolfir Avenger, Trusted Forcemage / Druid's Familiar, Lightning Mauler, Blessings of Nature, Heirs of Stromkirk
Bombs which lead you in this direction: Wolfir Silverheart, Archwing Dragon, Burn at the Stake
UW Fliers / Tempo
As has been the case in every limited environment I can remember, UW fliers is a perfectly viable deck. It has fantastic tempo plays, multiple relevant combat tricks, and access to angels and Mist Raven. The bird is a serious contendor for best common in the set, in my opinion, and can serve equally well as a mid-game tempo play or a late drop finisher. You can go a couple of different directions with UW fliers as well, making a slightly faster deck with Favorable Winds and a bunch of fliers, or you can build a slightly higher-curve tempo deck which utilizes ETB effects, soulbond, and bigger creatures to win over the top. Angelic Wall seems particularly nice here, but most aggro decks will just power through it, so be cautious about playing this in multiples. On the other hand, pick up Amass the Components as early as you can, since this card can singlehandedly turn a mulligan into a hand full of options. This deck actually makes bounces and flicker effects a pretty real boon, and it can do a good job of stalling out the opponent with cards like Defang, Into the Void, Vanishment, Crippling Chill, and Peel from Reality. As a side note, don't underestimate Geist Snatch in this deck, since it is probably not as bad as you might think and deserves one spot in the sideboard of this deck every time. Even though they're grounded, soulbond creatures like Elgaud Shieldmate and Galvanic Alchemist can really help you outlast an early-game onslaught, especially if you run a decent number of flicker / bounce effects (Emancipation Angel, anyone?).
Big players: Mist Raven, Gryff Vanguard, Nephalia Smuggler, Emancipation Angel, Seraph of Dawn
Bombs which lead you in this direction: Entreat the Angels, Restoration Angel, Deadeye Navigator
Bx Loner Deck
This is a really interesting niche archetype. Where do I even start here... Well, first things first, Homicidal Seclusion is a very real game, and it will show up throughout this format. I wouldn't try to force this archetype, since you really do need certain pieces to make it work effectively. However, if you see those pieces, this deck can be pretty difficult to stop once it gets started. The key pieces to look for here are Demonic Taskmaster, Homicidal Seclusion, sacrifice engines, and creatures that sacrifice profitably. Ideally, you want to populate this deck with creatures that either make homicidal seclusion go into insane mode (Latch Seeker, Fettergeist, Marrow Bats, etc.), creatures that have no problem being sacrificed (Butcher Ghoul, Maalfeld Twins, Soulcage Fiend, etc.), or sacrifice engines (Corpse Traders, Bloodflow Connoisseur, Barter in Blood and Barter's younger cousin Bone Splinters really stand out here). Black has access to a decent removal package and I could see a version of this deck running only one color, but there are plenty of reasons to go into a second. While you could splash the aforementioned Fettergeist and Latch Seeker in blue, why not try splashing green to better fill your curve and survive an early-game aggro onslaught? While this might just be a pipe dream, I really want to see someone win off of a Wandering Wolf or Howlgeist with Homicidal Seclusion in play. Adding in some of red's early game and burn options here could also speed this deck up enough to give you such a strong board state that your opponent has to make some pretty difficult decisions when Homicidal Seclusion finally hits the board.
Big players: Demonic Taskmaster, Barter in Blood, Homicidal Seclusion, Corpse Traders, Marrow Bats
Bombs which lead you in this direction: Demonic Rising, Demonlord of Ashmouth, Lone Revenant
Sorry for the delay on the updates, I'll try and make the time to add UG, UR and WG soon.
Another archetype is GW Soulbond. Just nasty with some of the pump soulbond creatures, and it can deal with many threats. Two strongest colors.
Gisela: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=530741
Gx Soulbond is also very good. Playing G/U you get Wingcrafter, Tandem Lookout, access to some bounce, etc. All of that can be great.
There's also a very good heavy Black deck in there somewhere, based on the Ghoul, with plenty of sac effects, good removal, and powerhouse uncommons like Blood Artist, Undying Shade, and Barter in Blood.
The big five to try and grab are Kessig Malcontents, Thatcher Revolt, Riot Ringleader, Kruin Striker and Lightning Mauler. Then you really want to try your best to have a Cloudshift or Peel From Reality or Deadeye Navigator or Conjurer's Closet, etc to recur Malcontents as many times as possible.
NYSPORTSMAGIC
you have to play against it to realize how ridiculous it is, especially with decks filled to sac outlet like Bloodflow Connoisseur and Bone Splinters, even when they control multiple creature, they always have to option to sac everything but one and makes blocking/combat disgusting.
I played R/W against one last time, and basically if I can't rush the black player to death by turn five, the life gain from Homicidal Seclusion will turn the game, and god help me to draw my enchantment removal...
The thing about this archtype is that everyone assumes black is underpowered in the set and avoid drafting it, therefore you won't be fighting cards against people, hence getting lots of black goodies.
Every since I lost horribly again Homicidal Seclusion, I start forcing B/x with it in draft, and the last two draft I did with it was a blast. Everyone will give me a strange look when I play Homicidal Seclusion and later realize how annoying it is.
Core cards: Driver of the Dead Demonic Taskmaster Butcher Ghoul Marrow Bats Soulcage Fiend
Draft it on Cubetutor!
Very true, I've been impressed with GW too.
Green is very good at stalling the board until the white flyers come into play.
And then the green soulbonders can relink to those flyers for a fast ending.
pretty sure only 1 person at a table can run the loner archetype.
Currently working on making the best Time Warp deck in here: Taking Turns
While it's a bit irrelevant without context, I think that red is probably better than white in this format in general. It's a very narrow colour and can't do much apart from being aggressive, but that's not even close to a bad thing in this format. White has Seraph but then the next best white common is much much worse.
Black is bad, but even more than other formats the fact that people generally underrate black (or rate it properly which isn't very highly) means that heavy black decks can actually be very good. This is always the case, but when cards like Grave Exchange table regularly, being black is far from always terrible (not that Grave Exchange is a good card in any other deck than heavy black control)
Draft it on Cubetutor!
I would think Blue is very, very good in this format as well. The Nephalia Smuggler can be really good if he gets going, and Mist Raven is probably the best common in the set.