Monthly Archives: May 2012

Avacyn Restored (AVR) Draft Archetypes

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I probably haven’t done enough AVR drafts yet to write about this (goodbye the 87% of you who just stopped reading) but I thought I’d write about some of the key AVR draft archetypes.

Initially I was very worried about the format; it seemed swingy and unfun on paper. Then I started playing and became very worried about the format, largely because I kept on losing.

However, the more I play, the more I notice how smart it is, and how much it rewards smart drafters and players. The signals are very hard to read, largely because the first 3-6 packs usually seem insane, but the rest are generally dreck. That means if you’ve read the signals wrong, you’ve wasted a pack, no matter if it comes around twice. This creates sub-standard decks amongst the weaker players, and therefore unfun game situations where one player dominates. Hopefully, as people learn the format, these things will slowly disappear and signaling will become a lot stronger.

Below I’ve noted key commons/uncommons that you’ll find in any draft, and the rares you open that might push you in that direction.

I’ll also note that many decks will end up containing elements of a number of these archetypes, as they end up sharing a number of cards across the builds.

Blue/Green Soulbond

This a very aggressive strategy that can put a lot of early pressure on, then finish things with Lumberknots soulbonded to Wingcrafters. Can blow out oppontents with Joint Assault and gets serious benefit out of Tandem Lookouts and Nightshade Peddlers.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Wingcrafter, Trusted Forcemate, Druid’s Familiar, Flowering Lumberknot, Nephalia Smuggler, Timberland Guide, Ghostly Flicker, Tandem Lookout

Suggestive Rares: Deadeye Navigator, Wolfir Silverheart

Blue/Green Aggro Tempo-Control

Yes, it has a healthy overlap with Soulbond, but it’s more a straight bash-face strategy, both in the air and on the ground, with a healthy amount of tempo-based ‘bounce’ cards, such as Mist Raven, Into the Void and Vanishment. Smushing Blessings of Nature onto a Wandering Wolf or Latch Seeker forces your opponent to come up with answers, fast.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Mist Raven, Blessings of Nature, Fettergeist, Latch Seeker, Wandering Wolf, Vanishment, Peel from Reality, Into the Void

Suggestive Rares: Captain of the Mists, Devastation Tide, Revenge of the Hunted, Spirit Away

Loner Black

A high varience strategy based around the ‘loner’ mechanic, this strategy feels somewhat bizarre to draft, however can be very brutal when done right. You don’t even need to be getting full value out of your Bone Splinters to keep the pressure on from Demonic Taskmaster or any creature with Homicidal Seclusion.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Barter in Blood, Bone Splinters, Death Wind, Demonic Taskmaster, Homicidal Seclusion, Corpse Traders, and as many Ghoul Flesh as you can get.

Suggestive Rares: Demonic Rising, Demonlord of Ashmouth, Treacherous Pit-Dweller

Suicide Black

The best under-the-radar archetype, it relies on attacking your opponent’s life total from alternate angles than just combat damage. It’s well supported by direct damage from red (eg. Thunderous Wrath) and can appear to win out of nowhere.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Blood Artist, Bloodflow Connoisseur, Butcher Ghoul, Soulcage Fiend, Marrow Bats

Suggestive Rares: Exquisite Blood, Killing Wave

Attrition Black

Attrition Black plays a long game, grinding out wins by slowly and carefully neutering opponents. It’s another high-risk strategy as there are so many swingy cards in AVR (Entreat the Angels, I’m looking at you) that you can still find a loss even after locking down a board. The deck seeks out as many two-for-ones as possible. This is one deck that Nephalia Smuggler works very well in, as it resets all the undying creatures.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Barter in Blood, Butcher Ghoul, Undead Executioner, Driver of the Dead, Evernight Shade, Grave Exchange, Maalfeld Twins, Necrobite

Suggestive Rares: Dark Imposter, Dread Slaver, Harvester of Souls

Red/White Humans

The Boros deck you’re probably most familiar with, it simply tries to out-aggro everything else. This deck has a lot of supporting cards, and if you can get Riot Ringleader + Goldnight Commander + Thatcher Revolt on the table, you’ve near guaranteed a win. Can have a little trouble in the late game, or against an opponent with a hand full of Ghoulflesh’s, but is generally too fast to stop.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Fervant Cathar, Goldnight Commander, Hanweir Lancer, Kessig Malcontents, Kruin Striker, Lightning Mauler, Moorland Inquisitor, Riot Ringleader, Somberwald Vigilante, Thatcher Revolt, Thraben Valiant, Vigilante Justice

Suggestive Rares: Angel of Glories Rise, Cathar’s Crusade, Silverblade Paladin, Riders of Gavony, Zealous Conscripts

Red/Green Aggro

The archetype isn’t that great, but it gets the job done (Update: I’ve had feedback on Twitter that people are having success with R/G). One of the better cards in the archetype is actually a vampire, Falkenrath Exterminator, largely because you can pair it with Nightshade Peddler. Usually needs a high impact rare finisher, such as Bonfire of the Damned or Burn at the Stake. The fact that it’s cards get stolen by WR Humans and UG Whatever often makes it the poorer cousin.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Falkenrath Exterminator, Nightshade Peddler, Gloomwidow, Borderland Ranger, Howlgeist, Thunderbolt, Pillar of Flame, Triumph of Ferocity, Wolfir Avenger

Suggestive Rares: Champion of Lambholt, Bonfire of the Damned, Burn at the Stake, Ulvenwald Tracker, Wolfir Silverheart, Craterhoof Beheamoth

White/Blue Fliers

Ye Olde Archetype returns in AVR draft and is as good as usual. Control the ground, rule the skys, push through damage while your opponent stalls. Generally wins once it survives the early rush of the aggro decks as only black has the tools to deal with everything it has to offer.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Emancipation Angel, Fettergeist, Gryff Vanguard, Mist Raven, Into the Void, Scrapskin Drake, Seraph of Dawn, Vanishment, Defang, Angel’s Tomb

Suggestive Rares: Misthollow Griffin, Restoration Angel, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

Angels

Angels aims to go big or go home. It effectively needs to ramp to it’s 6CMC+ flyers that eventually dominate the game. There’s always someone in Angels, or at the very least fighting for them with UW Fliers, so you often need to take sub-par cards to help you survive to the early turns (such as Catherdral Sanctifier).

Key Commons/Uncommons: Angelic Wall, Banishing Stroke, Cathedral Sanctifier, Defang, Farbog Explorer, Goldnight Redeemer, Voice of the Provinces, Vessel of Endless Rest

Suggestive Rares: Herald of War, Restoration Angel, Divine Deflection, Terminus, Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Divine Deflection, Entreat the Angels, Bruna, Light of Alabaster, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Sigarda, Host of Herons

Mill

Yes, Mill is an Archetype, and it works. Naturally you’ll have to go blue, then choose what you’re going to do to support your mill cards (eg. black/red removal, white lifegain/defenders, green durdles). But it really does work, and not just in Sealed. Stern Mentor is a surprising clock, especially when paired with a Elgaud Shieldmate.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Stern Mentor, Dreadwaters, Crippling Chill, Defang, Peel from Reality, Alchemist’s Apprentice, Elgaud Shieldmate, Fleeting Distraction, Galvanic Alchemist

Suggestive Rares: Captain of the Mists, Devastation Tide, Temporal Mastery, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Stolen Goods

Blue/Red Aggro

A few people have a had success with fast Blue/Red aggro builds, generally built around humans. T1 Wingcrafter, T2 Falkenrath Exterminator (given flying), T3 Tandem Lookout seems like a dream draw that few other decks could beat. You get to bounce things with Mist Raven while continuing to smash in, but I’m not sure it’s better than going straight Blue/Green. At least in Blue/Red you get a little range with Thunderous Wrath and Pillar of Flame.

Key Commons/Uncommons: Pillar of Flame, Thunderous Wrath, Tandem Lookout, Falkenrath Exterminator, Wingcrafter, Lightning Mauler, Mist Raven, Fettergeist, Into the Void, Latch Seeker.

Suggestive Rares: Archwing Dragon, Bonfire of the Damned, Deadeye Navigator, Reforge the Soul, Zealous Conscripts

The Rest

There’s a few colour combinations not discussed here: Black/White, Blue/Black, Black/Red, Black/Green (which are usually mono-black spashing the other colour) and White/Green, but I haven’t seen a great archetype for them yet. No doubt they will appear, in time, though usually they will end up as goodstuff.decs, rather than archetypes.

Five Minutes of Magic: Episode 2: Return to Ravnica

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Here’s a the second episode of Five Minutes of Magic, “Return to Ravnica”.

Podcasters: Neale Talbot, Bryan Prillaman, Chewie, Chris Lansdell.

This podcast is not recommended for anyone outside the ages of 13-16, is easily offended, believes in human dignity, or is in a long-term relationship with any of the podcasters.

This podcast is not safe for work.

Standard Podcast Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thatcher Revolt Synergy in AVR Limited

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In the next 24/48 hours, one of the most frequent questions people will ask themselves is “should I run this Thatcher Revolt?”.

To help those questions be answered, here’s a comprehensive list of Thatcher Revolt synergy in AVR.

Cards with Great Thatcher Revolt Synergy – Play it!

Cathar’s Crusade: TR produces 4/4s and adds 3 counters to every other creature you control.

Goldnight Commander: TR produces 4/4s and gives your other creatures +3/+3.

Champion of Lambholt: TR turns your Champion into a near-unblockable 4/4, and likely makes your tokens near unblockable as well.

Kessig Malcontents: For 2R + 2R you get 3 1/1s, a 3/1, and deal 4 damage to your opponent, which is fine.

Angel of Jubilation: TR produces 2/2s.

Riot Ringleader: Your TR makes 2/1s.

Kruin Striker: Becomes a 5/1 trampler when you play TR.

Blood Artist: You get 3 1/1s, EOT opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life.

Bone Splinters: A 1/1 token you’ll sacrifice anyway is a fine Bone Splinters outlet.

Vigilante Justice: 3 damage spead out over creatures & players is a very powerful effect to add to TR.

Good Thatcher Revolt Synergy – Consider it!

Emancipation Angel: Playing the Angel post-Revolt means not having to return a ‘permanent’ permanent.

Angel’s Tomb: They work well together in an aggressive deck, giving you 6/6 of power across 4 bodies that avoid enchantment and sorcery speed removal.

Mass Appeal: For 2U + 2R you get 3 1/1s and draw three cards.

Peel from Reality: As your token is going to disappear anyway it can make an excellent Peel target.

Druid’s Repository: Effectively makes Thatcher’s Revolt free. If you want to be very aggressive while still ramping, well worth it.

Banners Raised: Your tokens are 2/1s for a turn. You have to be hyper-aggressive to run this, however.

Mediocre / Overcosted Synergy – Value Edges Only

Devout Chaplain: More an emergency play than anything else, the two cards do work together to exile artifacts and enchantments.

Dual Casting: Ok, you get 6 1/1s for 2RR and tapping another creature. Is that really whant you to be doing?

Burn at the Stake: If you think you’ll find the time to have 2RRR + 2R in your mana pool then go for it.

Demonlord of Ashmouth: Technically it works, but only if you have 2BB + 2R to throw around.

Barter in Blood: Can save you having to sacrifice your larger creatures, though the synergy isn’t great and you’re paying 2BB + 2R for the effect.

Corpse Traders: Somewhat costly for the effect at 2B + 2R, it still works.

Goldnight Redeemer: If you can wear the mana cost of 4WW + 2R then you’ll gain 8 life.

Captain of the Mists: If you have 3R + 1U + 1U + 1U you can tap three of your opponents creatures (or untap three of your own)

Rite of Ruin: For 7RR + 2R you… oh jeez, please, don’t do this.

Soulbond Creatures (eg. Nearhearth Pilgrim, Tandem Lookout, etc: You can bond a creature for a turn with a token, though you should be aware the bonding will be removed when the token disappears end of turn.

Rush of Blood: 2R and a card to give one of your tokens +1/0 is not worth it.

Sheltering Word: Nor is 1G and a card to give one of your tokens hexproof at to gain a life.

Battle Hymn: Tap two lands, get 3 mana. They have synergy, but its not synergy worth having.

Poor Synergy – Forget it

Arcane Melee: Technically your TR can now be played for R – how you make this work for you is unknown.

Ulvenwald Tracker: If your 1/1s are killing your opponent’s creatures on T5 when you can activate this and play TR at the same, you’re probably winning anyway.

Wild Defiance: Only if you’re pushing synergy with Ulvenwald Tracker, but that’s a whole ‘nother deck.

Gallows at Willow Hill: Turns TR into 2R + 3 – Exile target creature and give your opponent a 1/1. Not worth it.

Equipment (Bladed Bracers, Tormentor’s Trident, Vanguard’s Shield, Moonsilver Spear): Generally not worth the excessive cost 2R + Equip cost on the same turn, though Moonsliver Spear may just be worth it as it leaves a 4/4 flying angel behind.

No Synergy – What the Hell are you Thinking??

Avacyn, Angel of Hope / Sigarda, Host of Herons: You still have to sacrifice your TR tokens.

Builder’s Blessing: Your TR tokens will never get to block.

Cloudshift / Ghostly Flicker / Restoration Angel / Nephalia Smuggler / Deadeye Navigator / Conjurer’s Closet: That TR token is never coming back from exile.

Herald of War: TR is not a human spell.

Lair Delve / Somberwald Sage: TR is not a creature spell.

Primal Surge: TR is not a permanent card.

Harvester of Souls / Soul of the Harvest: Doesn’t trigger from tokens.

Havengul Skaab: Makes your TR only produce 2 1/1s.

Dark Imposter: 4BB to exile a do-nothing 1/1 is not a combo.

Demonic Taskmaster / Descent into Madness: These make you sacrifice at the beginning of your upkeep, not at the end of your turn.

Homicidal Seclusion: 3 is more than 1.

Killing Wave: Why you’d cast this after casting Thatcher’s Revolt I will never know.

Necrobite: You still have to sacrifice the token you give Regeneration.

Unhallowed Pact: That token can’t return from the graveyard.

Blessings of Nature / Revenge of the Hunter: Those counters will disappear when your tokens do and Miracle is terrible with TR.

Aura Enchanments (eg Call to Serve, Commander’s Authority, Ghostly Touch, Infinite Reflection, Spirit Away, etc ): These will all fall of a token at end of turn.

Lands: Just no.

Hu-Mans in Pauper

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I had a suprising amount of success at the AVR pre-release with Boros humans. I noticed that a great deal of these cards were common and started to wonder if there was a viable mono-R pauper deck.

AVR essentially gives us the following cards to build around:

* Kruin Striker: An core part of the human strategy, Kruin Striker will usually be attacking as a 3/1 trampler on Turn 3. The lady is positively nutso with Thatcher Revolt.
* Riot Ringleader: The second core part of the human strategy, this guy essentially has Battle Cry for humans, including himself.
* Thatcher Revolt: The final core part of the human strategy, this card can push out crazy amounts of damage when planned well.
* Fervent Cathar: Not as exciting, it does help push Kruin Striker damage through or possibly save a Riot Ringleader. Would be nicer if it made something unblockable.
* Hanweir Lancer: I’m not sure if soulbound is the way to go with this deck, which wants to vomit out as many critters as possible as quickly as possible. It’s an option though.

That sequence of plays – T2 Striker into T3 Ringleader into T4 Revolt – if unmolested is an easy 17 damage by the end of Turn 4, nicely within Lightning Bolt range.

There are also a stack other humans out there to support the deck.

* Keldon Marauders: A core part of very aggressive pauper red decks, this is a no-brainer 2-drop. You especially don’t mind going T2 Striker, T3 Ringleader, T4 two of these. That damage really piles up.
* Vulshok Sorcerer & Vithian Stinger: Two options if the deck needs a little reach. The haste on Vulshok is nice, though the unearth on the Stinger could also be useful.
* Akoum Battlesinger & Highland Berserker: I’m inclined not to run these as the other humans aren’t allies, so there’s very little synergy in running these 2/1s.
* Gathan Raiders: I’m not sure about these guys. Does the morph trigger the Kruin Striker?
* Hinterland Hermit: I’m pretty sure you’re never flipping this guy when you want to.
* Keldon Halberdier: A cute kind of storm combo for your Riot Ringleader and Kruin Striker, but probably a little slow.
* Sparkmage Apprentice: Probably doesn’t do enough fast enough.
* Vulshok Heartstoker: Is a real posibility, as it effectively gives Striker +4/0 and leaves behind a 2/2 body.

And there are also a couple of non-humans that may support this type of aggro strategy.

* Goblin Bushwhacker: Regardless of not being a human, I think it makes it into the deck. Having to leave Thatcher Revolt to turn 5 isn’t great, but if you’re using T4 to clear out blockers so you can push through 11 damage using Revolt, Ringleader and Bushwacker, it is probably worth it.
* Furnace Scamp: Likely our only 1-drop creature in the deck. If it does 4 damage, it’s done its job.

And there’s a spell I’d like to try to give the deck some reach

* Dangerous Wager: I think running 2 of these is probably worth it. You’ll want to vomit out your hand ASAP, and even losing a land isn’t the worst thing.

There’s also a some white spells that could help immensely:

* Gather the Townsfolk: This seems pretty dirty with Ringleader and Striker and forms a core part of a Boros build.
* Unruly Mob: I’m not sure if the deck wants it, but going Unruly Mob into Thatcher Revolt seems fine. It can certainly make blocks awkward for your opponent.
* Youthful Knight: With all the other two drops, I’m not sure whether it’s good enough.
* Icatian Javelineers: A possible 1-drop for the Boros deck, though more likely a sideboard card.

Due to card availability it leaves the deck in the uncomfortable position of having no solid 1-drop creatures. That means the 1CMC slot will be largely be taken up by burn baby burn.

* Chain Lightning: Instantly in, either for clearing the path for our dudes or finishing off opponents.
* Lightning Bolt: Another instant in (no pun intended), the single best 1-mana red instant in the game.
* Shard Volley: Would probably make it into a mono-Red strategy, but not a Boros one.
* Reckless Abandon: Not available on MtGO yet, once it’s available, as a follow up on Turn 4 after Thatcher’s Revolt it seems fine.
* Searing Blaze: A great sideboard option, though probably not maindeck.

The other thing I would consider trying is a U/R control list based around ninjas, abusing Ninja of the Deep Hours and Mistblade Shinobi.

Here’s a mono-red list.

Mono-Red Pauper Hu-Mans

Creatures (20)
4 Furnace Scamp
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Kruin Striker
4 Keldon Maruaders
4 Riot Ringleader

Instants (10)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Shard Volley
2 Dangerous Wager

Sorceries (8)
4 Chain Lightning
4 Thatcher Revolt

Lands (22)
16 Mountain
4 Teetering Peeks
2 Smouldering Spires

And a Boros list that goes all-in on the Human strategy

Boros Pauper Hu-Mans

Creatures (16)
4 Unruly Mob
4 Kruin Striker
4 Keldon Maruaders
4 Riot Ringleader

Instants (10)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Shard Volley
2 Dangerous Wager

Sorceries (12)
4 Chain Lightning
4 Thatcher Revolt
4 Gather the Townsfolk

Lands (22)
10 Mountain
6 Plains
4 Teetering Peeks
2 Evolving Wilds

Once the cards are on MtGO I’ll give them a run and see how I go.

Rebuilding Building on a Budget

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I’m getting old.

In the past I would of been quite happy to write a hit-piece. In fact, I would of reveled in it. I would of taken extreme, perverse joy in the tearing down of someone.

But I’m getting old and by sheer incidence of time and existence, I’ve now interacted with various Magic personalities and WotC people and found them almost universally friendly, helpful and all-round good people. While I’m sure Jacob Van Lunen is equally friendly, helpful and an all-round good guy, he is not one of the people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and thus I have no emotional hang-ups about tearing the poor bastard a new one.

Building On A Budget, as written by Jacob Van Lunen, is one of the worst Magic columns on the web today.

Dear God I used to love Building on a Budget. It was, without a doubt, my favourite column on the mothership, back when Ben Bleiweiss was at the helm (having taken over from Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar).

By the end of his lengthy run, Ben had really got the heart of what Building on a Budget was all about – tight constraints on deck budget, interesting decks that attacked the metagame from unique angles, and keeping it fun.

Ben seemed to really love that little column, endlessly testing and tinkering with some ridiculously decks, playing up to 20 games and showing how the deck evolved over time. Sure, he had his weak points – his match writeups were really just chicken scratchings – but his smart and funny writing, combined with the level of effort he put into most columns really made the column come alive. When I think about my EDH decks, I can see just how that cheap-ass column really influenced my building style.

Jacob Van Lunen is no Ben Bleiweiss.

Jacob has been writing the column since Ben gave up the job in 2008 and since then the quality has just dropped and dropped to the point that I think Ben really doesn’t have his heart in it. Jacob’s style has certainly been more about the originally deckbuilding thought process than the gameplay and deck evolution that Ben emphasised, but recently even that has started to be relatively weak.

Where Ben had a great time discussing his budget and what he could cram into it (even spending time discussing the MtGO bots and where to find the cards on the cheap), there is nary a discussion in Jacob’s columns. How much does Jacob’s latest deck cost? No idea. Being mono-red it looks pretty cheap, but who knows? Certainly his deck from the week before couldn’t have been that cheap, starting with 4 x Venser the Sojourner. That’s about $30 right there, which would of generally blown Ben’s tight cap out of the water. As a result the ‘Budget’ part of ‘Building on a Budget’ doesn’t really exist anymore.

Then there are the decks themselves. Mono-Red Burn. UW Venser Control. Cheaper Delver. These aren’t exactly originally ideas. And while occasionally something new and interesting pops up – his Modern faithless looting deck is pretty unique – most of the decks are simply cheap versions of existing archetypes rather than anything new. Or fun.

Combine that with some very dry writing, very few match reports or deck evolutions, and long laundry lists of hypothetical match-up sideboards that we never get to see and you get the worlds most boring column.

So what would I do with the column?

Two things come to mind.

1. Find a writer who wants to write this stuff and can be as humorous and innovative as Ben. I mean, if I were to give someone like Patrick Chapin a trial-run on the mothership, this would be the perfect column for him. Funny, insightful, informative, and unique, Patrick would lend a lot to the column. My only fear would be that he’d see BoaB as a little below his unique talents, though neither do I know if he’s that precious. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of Patrick’s around. Someone like Conley Woods, who has been know to attack the metagame using cards no-one else would touch with a ten-foot barge-poll, might also be attractive, or a young up-and-coming deckbuilder like Smi77y, might be the one. I’m sure there are people out there who would shiv a guy just to write for the mothership. Does anyone know how well Jackie Lee writes?

2. MtGO happens to have a thriving format called Pauper. A few months ago, when people like LSV took a renewed interest in the format, the Pauper scene exploded. I can think of no better subject for Building on a Budget than Pauper, which has so many avenues of attack, and changes with every set release. Hiring someone like LSV to write Pauper articles for the mothership for Building on a Budget would give the format renewed legitimacy and would be perfect for the column.

Either way, something has to change. After almost 4 years I just don’t think Jacob’s heart is in it anymore, and the quality of the column reflects that. However I don’t want to see that little column, that won my heart so many years ago, die-off from neglect. Let’s get Jacob off onto bigger and better things and find someone eager to reclaim BoaBs former glory by seeking innovation in constraint and fun in failure.

BoaB deserves better than this.