Ixalan - The 5 Best Draft Archetypes

Any deck that can cast Charging Monstrosaur.

In all seriousness, we're only a few weeks into the Ixalan Draft format but, so far, it has been pretty clear that the aggressive decks have been more successful than their control counterparts. A number of color combinations have a surprisingly aggressive leaning to them and, while that color balance keeps the format slightly in check, trying to win while not being aggressive is a tough sell. Regardless, whatever deck you draft, make sure it can handle small, evasive threats or you're going to get run over by a myriad of decks in this format

G/U Unblockable Merfolk

One the best archetypes, no questions asked, is the green-blue merfolk deck. With a ton of varied evasive threats, numerous powerful enablers, and a relevant top-end, it's tough to find a better  deck archetype than this. More than anything, what you want to be doing in this deck is assembling synergistic cards that benefit merfolk, grant evasion or give you tempo in some way. The game plan here is to constantly and consistently be attacking the opponent for small chunks of damage while holding the game in check down with various tempo spells. By the time that your opponent is able to stabilize, you should be far enough ahead in terms of life total to succeed. Some of the most important cards for this archetype are the aggressive blue evasive creatures such as River Sneak, Shaper Apprentice, and Storm Sculptor. Another important aspect to this strategy are the synergy pieces found in green such as Vineshaper Mystic, River Herald's Boon, Jade Guardian, and, especially, Shapers of Nature. Finally, to complete your package, you're going to want a fair amount of cards that give you a significant tempo advantage in each matchup such as Pounce, Perilous Voyage, and, surprisingly, One with the Wind which can steal games out of nowhere. As for the rares that you'll want to identify and, if you're lucky enough, snatch up Herald of Secret Streams, Entrancing Melody, and Waker of the Wilds.

B/R Aggressive Pirates

The next archetype that's worthy of further exploration is the aggressive, black-red pirate deck. Occasionally, you'll see this build with blue scattered in it, particularly for Siren Stormtamer, but, from what I've seen, the removal heavy B/R version is more popular and more successful. This archetype is less about synergy and more about smashing as quickly and as hard as possible with a small Pirate subtheme (basically to accommodate the incredible Pirate's Cutlass). The main purpose of this deck is to hit the ground running early while dealing with all the late game threats with targeted removal. A solid removal suite is vital to this plan and you should prioritize it over better creatures as you can basically slam any cheap creatures into the deck. It is a strategy that is particularly effective in a format that promotes the use of small creatures and therefore can prove to be quite potent when facing other aggressive decks. Primarily, you'll want to be prioritize cards such as Walk the Plank, Vanquish the Weak, Skulduggery, Contract Killing, Firecannon Blast, and particularly Fiery Cannonade which has proven to be an extremely potent and significant threat. Next you're going to want powerful and dangerous threats that can threaten a ton of damage quickly. Cards such as Charging Monstrosaur (the best uncommon in the set, not close), Headstrong Brute, Rigging Runner, Vicious Conquistador, and Desperate Castaways are all quality choices here. Finally, what brings this archetype over the top are the efficiency cards that provide advantage over your opponents such as March of the Drowned, Costly Plunder, and Swashbuckling. However, the best card in this archetype is Pirate's Cutlass. Slam as many of these as you can and you'll begin to notice how powerful a permanent +2/+1 boost is to your creatures. The rares you should be on the lookout if you're in this archetype are Captain Lannery Storm, Captivating Crew, Repeating Barrage, Ruin Raider, and Fathom Fleet Captain.

R/W Smashing Dinosaurs

While we're on the topic of aggressive decks, let's get the final archetype that rewards aggression out of the way. While this deck can be more challenging to construct successfully, especially in Draft, it also has the highest upside in terms of power level. The red and white Dinosaur deck is a complete monster when given time to expand, easily dominating the game with undercosted, overpowered creatures and significant combat tricks. Prioritizing the specific creatures that benefit the deck is a must while picking up reliable removal is also necessary. Combining evasion with size, the complementary creatures for this archetype are Charging Monstrosaur again (basically, if you're playing red, put this in your deck), Tilonalli's Knight, Thrash of Raptors, Territorial Hammerskull, and Sky Terror. Now, after you have the appropriate creatures, you can snatch up the best removal, such as Ixalan's Binding, Pious Interdiction, and Lightning Strike. What really makes this deck shine though are the glorious combat tricks that can produce brutal blowouts unlike any other archetype. These cards include Dinosaur Stampede, Rallying Roar, and Sheltering Light. The rares can separate this deck from being just good to being oppressively great and getting started on the right foot can ensure victory with cards like Huatli, Warrior Poet, Rampaging Ferocidon, and Bishop of Rebirth.

R/G Dinosaur Ramp

Another archetype that manages to survive through the competition is the red and green ramp dinosaur deck which can quickly put down enough efficiently huge creatures to stabilize before being steamrolled by the various aggressive decks. The biggest and most important key to this deck is the ramp package that you draft. Assembling a quality group of creatures, enchantments and artifacts that allow you to cast your big creatures ahead of time is essential. Furthermore, you need to have things that are actually worth ramping into, that can take over games by themselves. For the ramp package, you should be looking for cards like Drover of the Mighty, New Horizons, and Ranging Raptors. Then, make sure you have some beef to shut down the ground with cards such as Raging Swordtooth, Bonded Horncrest, Raptor Hatchling (Maybe not beefy, but does the job just the same), Charging Monstrosaur (shocker, that is), Colossal Dreadmaw, and Thundering Spineback, which can and will win the game with no help from anybody. Finally, to really survive the onslaught you need a fair amount of cards that accomplish niche goals such as Atzocan Archer to stop flyers and nuke a small creature, Crushing Canopy to nuke flyers, Pounce and Savage Stomp to eat your opponents small creatures and even Dual Shot can be valuable, especially if you have a few enrage creatures. Again, many times the rares can make or break this deck with cards like Regisaur Alpha, Ripjaw Raptor, Burning Sun's Avatar, and even Verdant Sun's Avatar bringing the deck over the top.

U/W Flying Flyers

Finally, I'd like to talk about a less talked about but equally potent archetype that, I believe, belongs in the top tier: the blue and white flyers deck. Cruising above your opponent's threats takes a little longer in Ixalan but the quality of the airborne creatures is undeniably high in this Ixalan. Getting the best flyers early is essential for this deck meaning that you basically never pass an Air Elemental. Later in the draft, you need to be prioritizing removal for your opponent's creatures that stop flyers and then the ground blockers that will hold their own while you're soaring to victory. For flyers, the best ones include Glorifier of Dusk, Imperial Aerosaur, Siren Lookout, Siren Stormtamer, and Storm Fleet Aerialist. Next, to get those pesky reach creatures or opposing flyers out of the way, I recommend Run Aground, Pious Interdiction, and Depths of Desire. To hold down the ground defence, you want cards that not only block well but also provide some other incremental advantage. These include Bishop's Soldier, Emissary of Sunrise, Inspiring Cleric, and Sailor of Means. Finally, this archetype doesn't have a bunch of synergy to back it up but what it does have is power. Favorable Winds is an incredible pick-up for this strategy, provided you have seven or more flyers and don't ignore the powerful effects of cards such as Rallying Roar and Bellowing Aegisaur. The rares that you'll be looking for to capitalize on this color pairing are fairly obvious but nonetheless include Jace, Cunning Castaway, Dreamcaller Siren, Kinjalli's Sunwing, and River's Rebuke.

In my opinion, these five archetypes are a step above their contemporaries and, if you're looking to move into a color combination, I would certainly check to see if one of these is open. That's not to say that it's impossible to build a deck with a different color identity, for example I've seen some nasty black and blue pirate decks, but these archetypes appear to have a higher chance of success.

Thanks for reading!