The more I draft Alara/Alara/Conflux, the more I want to end up with a two-color deck. Being able to cast the good two-drops on the second turn (like all the Outlanders, Tidehollow Strix, Steward of Valeron) is insane, and it gives you a nice advantage when your opponent doesn’t do anything on his second turn, or is fetching up a land with the Panoramas or the land cyclers. Obviously I don’t always end up with a two-color deck, as there are some cards that are just worth splashing… if you can keep the manabase solid. I usually end up with one of the following three archetypes:
• The Solid: G/W
• The Powerful: U/B
• The Average: R/G
I will now take a closer look to all those archetypes.
The Solid: G/W
It is The Solid archetype because you usually get a fine card out of every pack. The power level of this deck is almost always the same. The deck usually has problems against Black/Red based decks. Pingers, Sweepers like Infest or Volcanic Fallout, and Kederekt Creeper are a real pain. This deck gets the most out of your opponent’s slow draws… an unanswered turn one Akrasan Squire followed by a two-drop gives you such a huge advantage.
Key Cards in Shards of Alara
Arkasan Squire
I pick this card over everything if I know that I end up in this archetype. The pressure he puts on all by himself is insane. The usual most powerful White common, Oblivion Ring, can easily be replaced by other less powerful cards that almost always have a similar effect, like Might of Alara or Resounding Roar.
Welkin Guide
This is another card I pick very highly. It breaks the ground stall easily on the turn he comes into play, and remains as a very solid clock combined with Exalted. Pay attention that you time playing the card well, or an Agony Warp or Branching Bolt will blow you out.
Sigil Blessing
As your deck features a lot of two-drops that do nothing on their own, this card helps you create a critical mass to overrun the opponent. I wouldn’t pick the card over the top commons, as you can replace it with other combat tricks like Might of Alara or Resounding Roar, which have the very same effect in the early game.
Steward of Valeron
Another card that punishes your opponent’s slower draws. Being able to cast the card on your second turn is a tempo advantage almost as good as the one from Arkasan Squire, but you have to follow it up with something like Mosstodon or Rhox Meditant to take advantage of it.
Excommunicate
This is often as good as a removal spell, and sometimes even better. If your opponent is under pressure, the card will always Time Walk them. The downside is that it is as good as your position is in the game; if you are behind, the card is the worst, but if you are dominating the board, it is as good as a card gets.
Oblivion Ring
I put this card in the key cards section because I want to feature the most powerful commons of every archetype — obviously one of the most powerful cards in the set shouldn’t miss the list.
Knight of Skyward Eye
The best bear you can get. It is almost unblockable as soon as you hit four mana, and it often forces your opponent to remove it, as a card like Rakeclaw Gargantuan is often not enough because you usually have one or two Exalted guys on the board.
Key Cards in Conflux
Wild Leotau
Another card that punishes your opponent’s slow draw. Combined with Steward of Valeron or Druid of the Anima, this card always wins the game if unanswered.
Aven Squire
As the deck usually has a lack of evasion and reach, this card gives you both, alongside being a very good tempo card. Definitely the best common you can get in the set for this archetype.
Might of Alara
This card is much better than Resounding Roar. The same effect for one mana less is crucial for a deck that wants to curve out as well as possible. While Resounding Roar might eat your whole third or fourth turn, you can easily play another two- or three-drop alongside Might of Alara.
Lapse of Certainty
This is another card with the “Excommunicate” effect, but a touch worse. Combined with Excommunicate and an aggressive start, it can put your opponent in a spot where he easily gets on tilt.
Cards that are worse than usual in this archetype:
Cavern Thoctar
This card is very bad for the deck (although not unplayable), as it destroys the curve of your opening hand and doesn’t put evasion on the table for the late game. Usually you should keep your fingers off this guy, but if you need another playable, feel free to pick it up. I would play a card like Savage Hunger over this.
Matca Rioters
In this deck, this card is only a Gray Ogre, which is not very impressive. As a strictly worse Cylian Elf, you should only play it if the curve needs it.
Rhox Bodyguard
The life swing of the card should never matter in this deck, so you end up with a 2/3 exalted guy. The body usually doesn’t have an impact on the board, as you should have several bears in play. You usually get the Exalted ability out of better tempo cards like Angelic Benediction, Arkasan Squire, or Aven Squire.
Yoked Plowbeast
Another curve killer. You don’t want to cycle the card in the early game as you want to curve out as quickly as possible. In the late game, it doesn’t bring the evasion it would need. It is better than Cavern Thoctar, as it is a midgame cycler.
The Powerful: U/B
This is The Powerful archetype because you get either a very good card out of the pack, or a barely playable one. This is why this deck usually ends up with a very good core and then some playable chaff like Spell Snip, Outrider of Jhess, or Dreg Reaver. It is my favorite archetype, as it as a lot of reach thanks to unearth, a lot of evasion, and a lot of removal.
Key Cards in Shards of Alara
Agony Warp
Same as Oblivion Ring in Green/White. The card by itself is very good. The shrink effect is better than in most other decks, as you can force through more damage, or turn a race to your advantage.
Bone Splinters
You usually have an unearth guy, or a creature with almost no impact on the board, which you can easily sacrifice. The tempo and effect you get is even better in this deck than in most others.
Executioner’s Capsule
This is another very good card on its own, which got even better with the release of Conflux. Being a Black permanent for a third turn Parasitic Strix is crucial, while Faerie Machinist can fetch him for an unfair advantage.
Kathari Screecher
This creature does everything you want for this deck. It’s an early drop with evasion to create pressure, it is hard to deal with thanks to unearth, and it has a nice synergy with cards like Bone Splinters and Fleshbag Marauder.
Tidehollow Strix
The fact that this is two-color is very good in this archetype (the same goes for the Zombie Outlander), as they enable both a turn 3 Sedraxis Alchemist as well as a turn 3 Parasitic Strix. This is another card that is very good on its own, and it got better with Conflux.
Viscera Dragger
The unearth cost of this card is very cheap, which makes it very effective with Bone Splinters and Fleshbag Marauder. The haste effect of the cycling combined with unearth is usable, while a Hill Giant by itself would be solid enough.
Key Cards in Conflux
Parasitic Strix
As you should be able to cast this card on the third turn, triggering its ability, it’s better here than it is in most other archetypes. It is usually even Branching Bolt proof, as it is a perfect follow up for Zombie Outlander, Tidehollow Strix, or Executioner’s Capsule.
Sedraxis Alchemist
Man-‘o War is exactly what this deck wants. Bounce effects are very good if you are creating pressure, but you get a Gray Ogre along with it, which is perfect for swinging a race.
Faerie Machinist
This card is usually better in Esper, as the artifact count in this deck is not very high. If you hit, it is an excellent advantage, as the cards you hit are usually very good (as you are not running cards like Obelisks or Etherium Sculptor).
Cards that are worse than usual in this archetype:
Wretched Banquet
As you usually have a two power guy on the table, you can’t kill a guy with three or more power. It’s still a good card for the deck as it deals with any pinger or bear without losing too much tempo.
Cloudheath Drake
This card is a bit too expensive for the deck. As you’ve got a lot of stuff going on thanks to Unearth and the Capsules, it is very hard to commit five mana for one card in one turn. Obviously, you end up playing it most of the time, but I wouldn’t pick it high.
Courier’s Capsule
This card gets much worse in this deck, as you usually want to play a two-drop on the second turn followed by a good curve. As with most cycling cards, this card gets worse in a deck in which you want to curve out.
The Average: R/G
This deck usually has a well-rounded base of Removal, Curve, and Combat Tricks. It has a lack of well suited cards in the third pack thou as Conflux doesn’t really help the deck. You usually end up in this archetype when you open a card like Branching Bolt or Vithian Stinger.
Key Cards in Shards of Alara
Branching Bolt
If you can kill two creatures with it, it is very hard to lose, as the tempo and card advantage will be enormous. As a one-for-one, it is still a very solid card.
Magma Spray
This is better than Resounding Thunder in this deck, as you don’t skip your turn when dealing with a guy. I would pick Branching Bolt over it, as the potential to blow people out is amazing.
Rip-Clan Crasher
This is the standard bear of the deck. Even though it is not amazing, the deck needs early pressure, and you are missing the cheap White guys for your curve; that’s why you must pick cards like this over “better” cards like Jungle Weaver.
Wild Nacatl
This card obviously shines in the Green/White archetype too. I only note it here as the Green/White deck has access to more early drops, and doesn’t have to concentrate on the few that it is able to get. Obviously this card is a touch worse if you don’t have access to Plains, but Isamaru is still a very good card.
Key Cards in Conflux
Ember Weaver
This is the only really good card you get out of Conflux. Not only is it very hard to stop, it can also stop most of your opponent’s attackers. Be aware that a removal spell on a Red permanent doesn’t blow you out.
Maniacal Rage
As you are running several bears that don’t have a big impact on the board in the mid or late game, this is the perfect card to tune ‘em up. Enchanting an irrelevant creature with this or Lightning Talons doesn’t create a too huge a disadvantage when they’ve got the removal, but it creates a huge advantage if they don’t. Keep in mind that you can use this card as a Falter effect.
Might of Alara
As you don’t have access to Sigil Blessing, this is your combat trick of choice. It pretty much has the same advantages as it has in the Green/White deck, but it is less necessary as you have access to plenty of removal.
Cards that are worse than usual in this archetype:
Cavern Thoctar
It is a bit better than in the Green/White archetype as you can make room for it thanks to your removal spells. Still, if possible you should keep your hands off that guy.
Fiery Fall
It is a very expensive removal for a tempo deck like this, and you usually can’t get advantage out of the land cycling part. But as Conflux is pretty bad for this archetype, you usually end up picking the card pretty highly (but not over a card like Outlander).
…
I wish you the best of luck and fun with exploring two-color tempo decks in Alara/Alara/Conflux. I’ve had a really good experience with it, and I recommend you try it out.
Finally, here is a Block Constructed deck I like. A friend of mine is rocking the MTGO queues right now with this. I can’t write too much about it as I haven’t played it much myself, but if you are interested I will spend some time on it next week, and share the progress I’ve made.
4 Jungle Shrine
4 Arcane Sanctum
2 Seaside Citadel
4 Exotic Orchard
2 Mountain
3 Island
6 Plains
4 Elspeth, Knight Errant
4 Ajani Vengeant
4 Kiss of the Amesha
3 Martial Coup
4 Courier’s Capsule
4 Armillary Sphere
1 Obelisk of Alara
Sideboard
1 Martial Coup
1 Obelisk of Alara
4 Celestial Purge
2 Resounding Wave
4 Cancel
3 Relic of Progenitus
That’s it for this week… I hope you enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading.
Manuel B