Ranking the Limited Archetypes in MM15

Ranking the Limited Archetypes in MM15

Today, I decided that I was going to create an article about another part of my life that I thoroughly enjoy: Magic: The Gathering.  I will most likely be mixing these in with my regular (or not-so-regular) content.  

Coming off the release weekend of Modern Masters 2015, I’ve narrowed down the available archetypes and what, in my experience, has been the most and least successful. Below is a list of each the draft/sealed archetypes, short descriptions of the goals of each archetype, and key cards needed to make the synergy work. Additionally, I’ve listed the archetypes that work the best together and my overall grade of that strategy.

B/G Sacrifice

Strategy: Black and green sacrifice decks function much in the same way that they always have: Make a bunch of little worthless creatures using tokens or recursion and sacrifice them to powerful sacrifice outlets for a big effect. With plenty of ways to generate tokens, this format is ripe for sacrifice outlets to shine.

Key commons and uncommons: Bloodthrone Vampire, Reassembling Skeleton, Plagued Rusalka, Drooling Groodion, Necrogenesis, Culling Dais, Scavenging Drake, Algae Gharial, Bone Splinters.

Bomb rares for this Archetype: Bitterblossom, Endrek, Master Breeder, Ant Queen, Creakwood Liege.

Works best with: This archetype rather obviously works the best with G/W tokens. If you have the cards in white, make sure to prioritize fixing so that you can cast them.

Overall Archetype Rating: 6.5

Considering the massive amounts of creatures that you can generate every turn with cards like Scatter the Seeds, Creakwood Liege, and Necrogenesis, it’s a disappointment that there aren’t more ways to sacrifice them.  In order to make this work you need at least five outlets and there are only really four options to potentially draft: Bloodthrone Vampire, Plagued Rusalka, Drooling Groodion, and Culling Dais. And none of these options are particularly strong. Where you get real value is with either Scavenging Drake or Alagae Gharial, both of which will get a bonus every time you sacrifice.

W/U Artifact

Strategy: White Blue artifacts make a return in MM15, carrying over the tradition from the original Modern Masters of the laziest drafters taking every artifact they see and piling them together with moderate success. This archetype is generally widely drafted so I would only recommend going into it if you get a very early monster bomb.  But if you do head that direction, don’t hesitate.  Snatch every piece of metalcraft you can get your hands on to discourage others. 

Key commons and uncommons: Dispatch, Cranial Plating, Blinding Souleater, Glint Hawk Idol, Rusted Relic, Qumulox, Thoughtcast, Myrsmith

Bomb rares for this Archetype: Argent Sphinx, Indomitable Archangel, Etched Champion, Lodestone Myr, Tezzeret the Seeker, All is Dust

Works best with: Another obvious choice here is the R/W Equipment deck. However, this also goes rather well with the Domain Archetype as artifacts cost colorless mana.  

Overall Archetype Rating: 8.0

Provided it isn’t being overdrafted, you’ve got one or two bombs and a number of the important synergy cards (Dispatch, Cranial Plating, Rusted Relic), this is quite a powerful archetype.  Metalcraft is the real deal and having access to cheap flyers helps this archtype stall the ground and go over the competition. The reason that the score isn’t higher is because of it’s propensity to be overdrafted and reliant on certain cards to make the synergies worthwhile. Having 6 Frogmites isn’t going to get you there.

W/U/G/R/B Domain

Strategy: The primary strategy for the Domain deck is pretty simple: Utilize spells that benefit from having every color of mana and have ways to get every color of mana. Particularly good news about this deck is the fact that a lot of the cards that are essential for the deck to work will be coming around late, the basic landcycling cards in particular.  Additionally, Skyreach Mana, one of the primary win-cons of the deck, is rarely ever drafted by another player. Getting a late Dragonsoul Knight, Tribal Flames or Rampant Growth should be signal that this archetype is open.

Key commons and uncommons: Dragonsoul Knight, Rampant Growth, Tribal Flames, Fiery Fall, Matca Rioters, Sphere of the Suns, Skyreach Manta, Alloy Myr, Worldheart Phoenix, Savage Twister.

Bomb rares for this Archetype: Etched Monstrosity, All Suns’ Dawn, Horde of Notions, Primeval Titan.

Works best with: R/U Elementals already has a monster bomb in all colors (Horde of Notions) but also has elementals in every color.  This is a great combo if you can pull it off. 

Overall Archetype Rating: 9.0

Does 9.0 seem too high for a five color archetype? It’s not, trust me. During my two release days 3 of the 6 drafts that fired were won by a version of the domain deck. In the sealed tournament, it came in third.  This deck has chops and then some. Tribal Flames are consistently 2 mana Lava Axes, Skyreach Mantas are generally 4/4′s or 5/5′s, and Etched Monstrosity is consistently the most dangerous foe on the board. The risk to this archetype is that it relies on a certain type of card like the W/U artifact.  However, unlike the artifact deck, this archetype is consistently underdrafted because people don’t believe you can build a successful five-color deck. Prioritize lands and fixing early and wait for the payoff cards to wheel around.

G/W Tokens

Strategy: Go wide really fast. You want to be putting out as many little tiny creatures as you can, as fast as you can. Then you put out the buff to make them all threats or put out the one guy that really benefits from that. Example of a series of perfect plays T1: Land, T2: Raise the Alarm, T3: Scatter the Seeds, T4: Kavu Primarch, T5: Overwhelming Stampede - Win.  So Overwhelming Stampede is auto-win bomb if you cast it in this deck. Other blowouts include: Thrive, Sigil Blessing, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Mirror Entity and Ant Queen.

Key commons and uncommons: Bestial Menace, Raise the Alarm, Spectral Procession, Kavu Primarch, Overwhelm, Scatter the Seeds, Scion of the Wild, Thrive, Sigil Blessing, Selesnya Guildmage.

Bomb rares for this Archetype: Wilt-Leaf Liege, Ant Queen, Overwhelming Stampede, Wolfbriar Elemental, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Mirror Entity.

Works best with: G/B Sacrifice is the most obvious choice but this strategy can also be paired with Eldrazi Ramp for success. 

Overall Archetype Rating: 8.0

This archetype is extremely effective… with the right rares. It’s quite easy to go enormously wide creating a massive board state however pushing through the damage can be a challenge.  With Mirror Entity or Overwhelming Stampede, this archetype is practically unbeatable but without them, it might be hard to make that final push. Additionally, this archetype is more susceptible to blowout losses to cards like Shrivel, Savage Twister, and Midnight Banshee. Nonetheless, this is powerful archetype that rewards those who plan accordingly… and those who open the archetype bombs.

R/B Bloodthirst

Strategy: Here’s the aggro deck for the format. Those who like beating face faster and more efficiently than anyone else should look no further. Basically, taking every card that has the word ‘Bloodthirst’ on it and every card named ‘Goblin Fireslinger’ should put you comfortably in this archetype. Additionally, cards that say things like ‘destroy’ or ‘deal damage’ should be highly prioritized as well. 

Key commons and uncommons: Gut Shot, Lightning Bolt, Stormblood Berserker, Vampire Outcasts, Blood Ogre, Duskhunter Bat, Goblin Fireslinger, Gorehorn Minotaurs, Wrecking Ball, Ashenmoor Gouger.

Bomb rares for this Archetype: Thunderblust, Banefire, Comet Storm, Profane Command.

Works best with: R/W Equipment.  You don’t really want to splash with an aggro deck but getting some hot equipment could turn the tide.

Overall Archetype Rating: 8.5

The aggro decks generally work very well in a slower format and, from what I’ve seen, you can absolutely punish some decks in the early turns, especially when they have so many value creatures that they don’t want to lose.  Going off on curve in this deck is remarkably strong but it is also susceptible to bad draws. If you’re engines aren’t pumping by turn 4, you’re probably in trouble. Ensuring a tight curve with a reasonable amount of removal is key to making this archetype successful.

U/B Proliferate

Strategy: Proliferate has always been an interesting mechanic that does one of two things: Succeed admirably or fail miserably.  The nice thing about proliferate in this set is that it hits both the graft cards and the -1/-1 counter cards. However, with that said, trying to draft one of these archetypes on it’s own can prove problematic. In order to create a fully synergistic deck, you need around 14 cards that support that theme and getting that many to support -1/-1 counters is difficult.

Key commons and uncommons: Tezzeret’s Gambit, Spread the Sickness, Helium Squirter, Grim Affliction, Steady Progress, Thrumming Bird, Sickle Ripper, Scavenger Drake.

Bomb rares in this archetype: Midnight Banshee, Necroskitter, Inexorable Tide, Puppeteer Clique.

Works best with: G/U Graft clearly works the best with it.  In fact, if you want to head into proliferate, I highly suggest that you keep your eyes open for cards with graft that you’d be willing to splash for. Also prioritize lands that have green, blue or black in them. 

Overall Archetype Rating: 5.0 (7.5 with Graft)

Going straight U/B proliferate can be successful if you’ve got the control cards to back it up and the bombs for late game.  However, compared to the other archetypes, this one falls a bit behind on tempo if left to it’s own devices. Without support from the Graft mechanic, there’s simply not enough synergy to stop most decks rolling over you.  On the other hand, if you happened to draft the best bunch of proliferate cards and you have enough removal, this can be devastating against creature decks.

G/U Graft

Strategy: This archetype fares better than it’s proliferate partner-in-crime and that’s largely due to the uncommons that are available to it.  Lorescale Coatl, Plaxcaster Frogling, and Cytoplast Root-Kin are all strong enough to stand on their own but benefit greatly from a solid graft deck. Proliferate cards can find more of home in this archetype much of the time as well with all of the cards that benefit from it.

Key commons and Uncommons: Helium Squirter, Aquastrand Spider, Thrummingbird, Lorescale Coatl, Plaxcaster Frogling, Tezzeret’s Gambit, Cytoplast Root-Kin, Algae Gha`rial.

Bomb rares in this Archetype: Scute Mob, Mystic Snake, Overwhelming Stampede.

Works best with: Using proliferate cards to boost your whole team is always strong. If you can manage Sultai colors, that’s the way to go.

Overall Archetype Rating: 7.0 (8.5 with Proliferate)

Casting graft creatures that make creatures fly or giving them shroud works a lot like Outlast did in the Khans block, making the creature more dangerous when they come in numbers.  The challenge with this is how to plan for removal. Losing a key member of your team can be backbreaking.  Splashing for black can help mediate this with removal of your own.  This archetype has potent synergy when it goes off but is a little too susceptible to removal to be excellent.

B/W Spirits

Strategy: Using the powerful mechanic ‘Soulshift’ from Kamigawa block brings out one of the best, if unreliable, archetypes in MM15. Having multiple Thief of Hopes on the field at once is completely devastating and that should be the number one draft target for this archetype.  Additionally, being able to bring back Nameless Inversion from your graveyard to kill another creature is straight feel-bads for your opponent. The other killer card in the line up is Waxmane Baku.  Pushing through your entire team for an alpha strike is essential and that’s what this guy does best. 

Key commons and uncommons: Thief of Hope, Moonlit Strider, Waxmane Baku, Otherworldly Journey, Devouring Greed, Ghostly Changeling, Nameless Inversion, Pillory of the Sleepless, Restless Apparition, Scuttling Death, Hikari, Twilight Guardian

Bomb rares in this Archetype: Ghost Council of Orzhova, Mirror Entity, Long-Forgotten Gohei (kind of)

Works best with: G/B sacrifice.  So Plagued Rusalka is a spirit and having access to sacrifice outlets to utilize Soulshift can strongly influence a game.

Overall Archetype Rating: 8.0

There’s simply a ton of support for this archetype in this set. Being able to recycle your important spells and creatures and having every creature gain you something when it hits the field is a big advantage.  The one big downside to this archetype is that there are not that many bomb rares to go with the cards.  With only one great rare backing up this combo (Ghost Council of Orzhova), it might difficult to determine when to move in on this archetype. Nonetheless, the synergies are there to make this a force to be reckoned with.

R/U Elementals (Could go 5 color)

Strategy: The number one card to be on the lookout for in this archetype is Smokebraider.  Casting a turn 4 Guile can sometimes just end the game. There are a ton of elementals in the set and this is a viable archetype, especially if you get an early Incandescent Soulstoke. Additionally, this is probably the archetype that is most willing to go down the classic counter/burn strategy of controlling the board early, making evasive creatures mid-game, and countering the end game.  

Key commons and uncommons: Air Servant, Mulldrifter, Smokebraider, Cloud Elemental, Aethersnipe, Water Servant, Spitebellows, Incandescent Soulstoke, Electrolyze, Shrewd Hatchling.

Bomb rares in this Archetype: Horde of Notions, Guile, Thunderblust, Cryptic Command, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind.

Works best with: Five-Color Domain. Blue and Red can easily become the primary colors of 5-color domain deck, particularly with Horde of Notions as a bomb rare. 

Overall Archetype Rating: 7.0

One of the biggest problems with the deck is that many of the finishers can be used by any archetype. Air Servant, Mulldrifter, Spitebellows, Shrewd Hatchling can all be played by other decks making it tough to draft them specifically. However, once this archetype is online with flyers, burn and counters, it’s extremely difficult to deal with.  Having big evasive threats at the end game is important and that’s how you win.

Ramp Eldrazi (G/B or Jund)

Strategy: Draft all the cards that make Eldrazi Spawn, that fetch you lands, or produce mana and then play an unbeatable bomb.  If you open one of the Eldrazi lords, you’re most likely going to try your hardest to cast it. Nest Invader and Kozilek’s Predator are the go to’s for the ramp but hitting some of the nice artifact ramp spells is important.  Also, you want to make sure you have enough win-cons that you can actually do something with that land.  Bringing in a Pelakka Wurm or Ulamog’s Crusher can absolutely devastate an opponent if they’re not ready for it.

Key commons and uncommons: Nest Invader, Dread Drone, Kozilek’s Predator, Sphere of the Suns, Alloy Myr, Rampant Growth, Pelakka Wurm, Everflowing Chalice, Ulamog’s Crusher, Artisan of Kozilek.

Bomb rares in this Archetype: Kozilek, Ulamog, Emrakul (if you can ever cast him), Karn Liberated, All is Dust, Primeval Titan, Apocalypse Hydra.

Works best with: This one’s tough as no one is trying to ramp as hard as this archetype.  Probably the domain deck who already need a lot ways to get out their five color spells. Otherwise I’ll just say the color red.

Overall Archetype Rating: 6.5

Yes, you can draft a deck that reliably casts a Kozilek but it’s not too often that it turns out as well as you hoped, especially with limited ways to ramp. Personally, I think that this set needed just one more ramp-y spell to put it over the top. Also, with the smorgasbord of removal available, sacrificing all of your own chump blockers to cast something that’s just going to get shut down by either Narcolepsy, Blinding Souleater, Oblivion Ring, Dispatch,  or Tumble Magnet is just depressing.  With all of that said, it is certainly possible to make this deck work but be warned that you need to be careful about when you cast your giant monster.

R/W Equipment

Strategy: A big mistake that a lot of people do when trying to build this archetype is drafting the creatures over the equipment, even the bad equipment. That’s not correct.  You need at least 6-7 pieces of equipment to make someone like Kor Duelist or Bloodshot Trainee work. But when you do, these guys rock. Equipping a Darksteel Axe to a Sunspear Shikari on turn 3 is just destructive.  This archetype probably has the greatest variance in power.  Dropping relatively bad creatures that get a lot better with equipment is a dangerous gamble.

Key commons and uncommons: Bloodshot Trainee, Kor Duelist, Lightning Bolt, Myrsmith, Taj-Nar Swordsmith, Sunspear Shikari, Skyhunter Skirmisher, Darksteel Axe, Kitesail, Copper Carapace, Flayer Husk, Sickleslicer, Boros Swiftblade.

Bomb rares in this Archetype: Sunforger, Mirran Crusader, Spikeshot Elder, Battlegrace Angel.

Works best with: U/W Artifacts. Getting extra, metalcraft bonuses out of playing equipment is great and this is the obvious and correct archetype to match it with.

Overall Archetype Rating: 6.0 - 9.0

As I said, this archetype has the greatest variance of power.  With even some of the synergy available, you can get some absolutely insane draws.  The fact that many of the creatures in the set are susceptible to early power, this deck can absolutely annihilate a slower deck in a space of 3 turns.  However, when this deck draws poorly, it hurts really bad because your either playing bad creatures or your playing useless equipment.

Thanks for reading!