With Mythic Championship VI around the corner, rather than go through a
draft like I usually do, I want to outline the key features of Throne of Eldraine Draft. My opinions of the format aren’t
necessarily correct, but it’s a good starting point for watching and
understanding some of the best players in the world navigate a Draft!
The Format is Balanced
I’ve heard so many opinions from white is unplayable, to green is bad, to
black is the best color, to blue is so overpowered that the format is
atrocious, to mill is the best deck, to mill is the worst deck… I can go
on.
Basically, Magic players love hyperbole.
This format is just balanced, and this isn’t something we are used to.
Every single color and color combination is viable. I’ve had the least
success with Orzhov and Simic, and the most success in mono-color decks,
but I don’t believe anything is much better than the rest. This doesn’t
mean that every color and archetype are equally balanced, but that the
power-delta between archetypes is small.
Draft The Hard Way
This is going to sound obvious, but I think it’s important to emphasize.
I’m of the school of thought where there are plenty of reasons to bias
towards and/or force a subset of archetypes rather than staying open.
That’s a whole article topic in itself, but I want to mention that, in Throne of Eldraine, I would not advise this without a substantial
read on the table or environment. Given the density of good archetypes
given the format-balance, staying open pays dividends. I put much higher
stock in sending and receiving signals in this format and try my best to
discover the open lane. Even if it’s an archetype I’m less familiar with or
think isn’t as good, it’s better to be in the open lane.
Please Play White Cards
Okay, maybe this is beating a dead horse since the last two points are
about a balanced format, but I think it’s important to mention.
White hasn’t been great the last few sets, and it seems that the world
refuses to adjust. Flutterfox and Silverflame Squire continually wheel on
Magic Online. They should not. White should not be this open. In fact, it’s
to the point where I do think it’s reasonable to bias towards white. My
previous statement that “I would not advise [forcing] without a substantial
read on the table” means that, while I believe the format is balanced, I
also believe that white is underdrafted enough online that it is correct to
begin the draft with a bias towards white. For more context on this
scenario, check out
Ethan Saks‘ article
on the topic.
The Format Is Faster Than You Think
While everything is viable, I bias towards aggressive decks. Rosethorn
Halberd is the key to green-aggro, which I believe is the best way to build
green decks. I have Rimrock Knight as the second best red common, only
marginally ahead of Searing Barrage. And the white decks all lean
aggressive. Dimir, Izzet, and Mono-Blue are the only archetypes that cannot
be built aggressively. Golgari Food and many other archetypes are still
solid as midrange and controlling decks, however I just prefer the
aggressive counterparts.
The key is the Adventure mechanic. Take Silverflame Squire and Garenbrig
Carver higher. They aren’t super-high picks but having cards that can play
like Briarhorn is a huge upside in Limited. It means that the aggressive
decks in this format, unlike any other Limited format, have access to a
good amount of card advantage. In most formats, when the game doesn’t end
early, aggressive decks get buried. While it’s still not trivial to win
games that extend for a while with an aggressive deck, it’s easier in Throne of Eldraine thanks to the adventure mechanic.
Optimize For A Good Manabase
The most important feature of Throne of Eldraine Draft is the need
for a good manabase. 9-8 just doesn’t cut it. If your deck does not have a
clear main color, it’s likely that there was a better way to draft your
seat. This isn’t guaranteed, but I find that there isn’t time to stumble
and there are too many cards with high color requirements. The heuristic I
use is that I want at least eleven sources of my main color when
my deck is above a 7/10.
Adjust Your Pick Order For Combos
There are a variety of two-card-combos at low rarity in Throne of Eldraine. Lucky Clover alongside Adventures, especially
on curve with Reaper of Night, but even also late-game with cards like
Shepherd of the Flock and Merfolk Secretkeeper. Witch’s Oven and Cauldron
Familiar is also a combination of cards many decks struggle to beat. There
are so many build-around cards that it isn’t difficult to optimize for
them. An example of “adjust your pick order for combos” is that you should
probably take Opt higher. It helps piece these combos together for very
minimal investment, and also provides synergy for the Izzet deck!