I want to start this article very simply by declaring my desire to see Japan take the World Championship in Yokohama this week. I’m biased, and I won’t lie about it. If I end up working for the Wizards coverage team, I’ll have to put that bias aside and write objectively. So I’ll put my heart on my sleeve now and get that sentiment out of the way.
After reading this article, you should be able to understand the dynamics of Ravnica Team Rochester. We’ll gloss over the basics of Team Rochester that never go out of style, then dig into the new color wheel and what archetypes each team should draft.
There are two basic strategies in Team Rochester: Proactive and reactive. Proactive strategies come from teams that take a strategic look, trying to anticipate the other team’s preferred colors and the flow of the draft to figure out which colors to draft in advance. This style has the advantage of having a prepared, solidified game plan where each player knows their role. They’re going to get handed the deck that they know inside and out. Determination and focus are easy to come by here, and there are times when the format can be broken.
The reactive teams bide their time, waiting for their opponents to declare their archetypes. Then the reactive players spring into action, assigning colors and archetypes to maximize their odds of beating the opposition. This style takes considerably greater coordination to pull off. Players in reactive teams must feel comfortable playing a variety of different archetypes.
In team Rochester, the first pack is opened by the player sitting in seat 1B, proceeding to 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C, 1A, then reversing. (That is, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C, 1A, 1A, 2C, 2B, 2A, 1C, 1B, 1B, 1C, 2A.) The team that wins the coin flip chooses which team opens the first pack. However, the team that opens doesn’t get as many early first-picks, so it’s really the receiving team.
The proactive strategy doesn’t really care which team opens packs first. They know their plan, and they’re sticking to it. The reactive strategy will usually start off by opening pack one, giving their opposition plenty of time to signal their preferred strategy. With that strategy, it’s wise for the proactive teams to open first, assuming that their strategy will be harder to see when the opposition gets their first picks early.
One of the key strategies in Team Rochester is maximizing the amount of solid cards in your deck while denying your opponents bombs and game winning cards. Unless they’ve “solved” the format, most teams try to assign all five colors between the three players, keeping the opposition from getting all the good cards in a single color.
In my last draft of Champions-Champions-Betrayers Rochester at Grand Prix: Osaka with Gongsta Haircut against Hana Takkadaka, the Japanese team drafted W/B, R/W, and B/R decks, and didn’t even bother drafting Green or Blue. My team shifted from RU/BG/RW to GU/BW/RG between pack four and pack five. Both teams kept opening quality Green spells, and the opposition wasn’t able to play any of their hatedrafted Blue spells. My team went on to grab an invite for Pro Tour: Atlanta.
But that was then. This is now. Ravnica is a new animal. There are really only four solid color combinations, barring the non-guild combinations. The non-Guild archetypes are rare, but could happen. The Red/Blue monstrosity with Tidewater Minions and Viashino Fangtails and scads of removal has already been well-documented by the Magic community, and Pugg Fuggly SCG Daily series last week explored the murky depths of five-color drafting. Since I haven’t had enough personal experience trying them out, I prefer not to speculate upon these strategies, and will limit my speculation to the standard Guild approaches.
Red/White aggression, when correctly drafted, is incredibly hard to beat. Boros Fury-Shield makes opponents stop using large creatures in combat, a serious problem against the angry lawgivers. It usually gains the least from splashing Green. Due to the strict constraints placed upon its mana curve, Boros doesn’t play well with others, lacking the flexible mana of the Green guilds, and as such it can’t play the spells hate-drafted from your opponents. Boros looks like a good deck to place in the B seat.
Boros will benefit from the fact that at most tables, only two drafters will be dedicated to Red. As such, a Rochester Boros deck will have lots of Red to pick from. You will want as many Galvanic Arcs and Boros Fury-Shields as you can pack, and at least two copies of Rally the Righteous. These spells will mean certain pain for your opponents. Devour in Shadow usually should find its home here. Boros is the deck you want to hand your least-seasoned player, since it’s straightforward.
Rally the Righteous needs White/Red creatures to maximize its utility, so be sure to draft Boros Guildmages, Sunhome Enforcers, Thundersong Trumpeters, and Skyknight Legionnaires as much as possible. Good mono-colored creatures include Veteran Armorers, Sell-Sword Brutes, Viashino Fangtails, War-Torch Goblin, Nightguard Patrol, and other efficient creatures. (I am not too keen on the expensive fliers here. Screeching Griffin does not impress me. Nor does Conclave Equenaut. Boros players must run a very tight ship to get the most out of the archetype.)
With one side of the new color wheel determined, we need to pick through the decks that will be running Green. Green is the glue that holds the format together. Its Civic Wayfinders and Farseeks establish solid mana bases. Trophy Hunters, Nullmage Shepherds, and Bramble Elementals are all solid, versatile creatures that offer solid creature options. Green makes decks run smoother, so we’ll need to make sure that two decks are running it.
One player needs to draft Dimir. Dimir has the format’s best common flyer, Snapping Drake. It has the best defensive common in the format, Drift of Phantasms. Moroii is an absolute killer. Dimir even has evasive bears in Roofstalker Wight. Stinkweed Imp is an excellent card. Dimir has the alternate kill engine of Millstoning your opponent out. Vedalken Entrancer is the best non-flying creature at its disposal. Any team that hands these tools to the opposition is asking for a serious whupping.
That leaves one player to draft Green… But Green has two guilds! Most pros prefer the consistent, grueling persistence of Golgari to the slower but productive Selesnya Conclave. Can one player vacuum up all the good Green and deny their opponents solid resources? I don’t think so. In order to keep the opposition completely out of luck, you need to have two seats divvy up the Green cards. Golgari is the clear target.
Dimir has an easier time fitting Green into its curve than Boros, since most of its spells cost more. Decks with higher casting costs have better odds of fitting in three colors, simply because they have more room to breathe. However, it probably won’t be running a heavy Golgari component. Green cards don’t have great synergy with Dimir. Most Green decks want to win creature combats. Dimir has lots of evasion, making combat tricks less necessary. So give the Golgari combat tricks to the Selesnya crew, and the Black removal spells to the Dimir player. (And if there’s a glut of Black removal going around, well, isn’t that a crying shame?)
What Green cards deserve a home in the Dimir deck? Civic Wayfinder. Nullmage Shepherd. Elves of Deep Shadow. Thanks to Convoke, Selesnya can use any creature as mana accelerants, so put your creature accelerants here. Put your Elvish Skysweepers here. Give the Trophy Hunters to Selesnya.
The Selesnya drafter has the most work to do. You need to draft all the good Golgari creatures. You need to draft the solid Selesnya cards. Maybe you’ll end up with scads of good White spells, and all your gold beaters will come from Golgari. You have the biggest selection of men to choose from.
White creatures you want:
Veteran Armorer, Conclave Equenaut
White/Green creatures you want:
Selesnya Evangel, Selesnya Guildmage, Watchwolf
Green creatures you want:
Bramble Elemental, Fists of Ironwood (yes, I know, it’s not really a creature), Scatter the Seeds, Greater Mossdog
Green/Black creatures you want:
Shambling Shell, Golgari Rotwurm
Black creatures you want:
Mortivore, Stinkweed Imp, Dimir House-Guard.
That’s a lot of common staples to choose from… And I mean a lot. We haven’t even touched upon the combat tricks and removal spells yet. Seeds of Strength, Gather Courage, Gaze of the Gorgon, Pollenbright Wings, Putrefy – all of these cards are solid. This deck has many approaches to take, and probably takes the most skill of the three to draft properly.
I really think the Selesnya deck wants to have Dimir House-Guard. This deck has less evasion than Dimir, and less mana efficiency than Boros. So the weird skeletons go here.
The Selesnya and Dimir decks should be in seats A and C. Which deck is in A or C shouldn’t really matter. A good compromise strategy is to have two seats dabble in Golgari early, then separate into the appropriate side guild when they’ve formulated which guild best suits their opponent. This allows for some room for reaction.
This approach to the format could be totally wrong; maybe the way to go is to put both Dimir and Boros on the wings and have a G/W/B deck in the middle. Odds are that this formation won’t be able to play spells they’ve hatedrafted from the opposition. I’m looking forward to seeing what the national teams have up their sleeves soon enough.
Eli Kaplan
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