In my last article I discussed the 5 mono-colored strategies in M11 draft, along with the base Green multi-color deck. This time I will talk about the remaining ten viable archetypes in M11 Limited, explaining what cards are necessary to make each archetype work as well as subtle interactions to look out for when drafting, constructing, and playing each deck.
Green / Blue
Zvi Mowshowitz taught me a lot about this archetype this weekend at U.S. Nationals. In the two drafts that we played in together, he drafted Blue/Green both times and went 5-1 in matches, two of those wins being against me. The key to this archetype is drafting tempo cards like Aether Adept and Unsummon so that your creatures can control the ground. Then you back this early tempo with card drawing in the form of Scroll Thief, Foresee, and Jace’s Ingenuity. Ideally you also want a finisher like Sleep or Overwhelming Stampede for when the opponent catches up.
The card drawing and sifting capability of Blue is usually sufficient to find your finishers by the time you need them. Moreover, Blue’s tempo spells and Green’s Giant Growth effects provide just enough advantage for the archetype to overwhelm an opponent without having any “real” removal (aside from Mind Control). Green’s mana acceleration compliments Blue’s tempo well. Cultivating into Spined Wurm is a great way to follow up a second turn Garruk’s Companion (a card Zvi is not unhappy first picking). Sylvan Ranger, Cultivate, and Terramorphic Expanse are also great at making sure you get double Green and double Blue in a timely manner, something that is very important for the archetype.
Black / Green
There are Black/Green decks and there are Green/Black decks. If you draft Quag Sickness, Corrupt, and Nantuko Shade, you can still end up with a 11-7 or 12-6 manabase that plays Green for random bombs (Protean Hydra or Overwhelming Stampede) along with creatures like Spined Wurm, Giant Spider, and Garruk’s Packleader). Black’s shortcoming in this format is its lack of good creatures; Green has enough splashable creatures to work well with Black’s abundance of removal without interfering with the heavy Swamp base required for Black to utilize its removal spells to worthwhile effect.
The other version of the archetype is Green/Black where Black is the secondary color. In this version of the deck, you want to play out a typical Green curve with Llanowar Elves into Sacred Wolf into Cudgel Troll into Acidic Slime. The Black is more or less there for removal spells. Doom Blade, Deathmark, and Stabbing Pain are each fine ways to get rid of blockers and make it such that opponents have no choice but to walk into Giant Growths and Plummets.
Black / Blue
Raphael Levy expressed his favor for this archetype in an article here. These colors are traditionally the most powerful in Magic and combine well in a variety of strategies. The most common is the control strategy that relies on Black removal to get rid of opposing threats and then draw into more removal with mid-game Blue card draw spells. Between Sign in Blood, Foresee, Scroll Thief, Jace’s Ingenuity, Gravedigger, and Preordain, Blue/Black is usually the last archetype to run out of gas.
Another strategy that I have seen used to good effect is the Mind Rot / Liliana’s Specter deck. When combined with Unsummon and Aether Adept, discard spells are never dead draws. This vastly increases the effectiveness of discard spells, and when you add these two card advantage cards to the mix of cards mentioned above, it’s hard for Blue/Black to not get ahead on cards before long. Rise from the Grave is also a premium card in this deck, since an early Mind Rot will often hit a late game bomb such as Ancient Hellkite or Vengeful Archon, or even just a Duskdale Wurm. Yeah, just a 7/7 trampler.
Another card that deserves mention is Assassinate. In this archetype you’ll have a lot of evasion creatures in the form of Azure Drake, Cloud Elemental, Howling Banshee, Liliana’s Specter, etc. So a lot of games are decided not by blockers but by who can keep the most creatures on the table and attacking for damage. Assassinate is often just as good as a Doom Blade for such a strategy, since your early turns involve playing threats and attacking while your later turns involve stopping opposing threats from outracing you. Most of the opposing threats are tapped by this point.
Sometimes games come down to tempo races, other times discard wars, and yet other times attrition battles. Blue/Black is superb at playing any of these games. Its primary weakness is its inability to recover from early damage. Hence sometimes it just gets Lava Axed or Flung right out of the game, despite being up three cards and having established board presence. To avoid this scenario, you typically want to play cautiously and sit back on Cancel or Negate once you’ve begun turning the corner against the Red/Green mage.
Blue / White
Unlike the darker counter-part to Blue, White is not worried about an errant burn spell ending things. White has Safe Passage and typically puts the opponent on a faster clock. Blinding Mage and Pacifism combine well with Aether Adept and Unsummon to keep opposing creatures from getting in the way of your Stormfront Pegasus, Wild Griffin, Cloud Elemental, Assault Griffin, and Azure Drake. I have had the most success with this archetype, when most of my creatures fly and most of my spells involve getting rid of potential blockers. It’s hard to pass Foresee for Blinding Mage, but in this archetype I do it.
The biggest problem I have encountered when drafting this archetype is mass removal, namely Pyroclasm, Prodigal Pyromancer, and Day of Judgment. Each kills almost everything, and makes it such that the opponent can suddenly take command of the board and only has to deal with a handful of creatures for the rest of the game. Depending on what the opponent is doing before that point, sometimes you can afford to play around or minimize the damage these cards will cause before untapping with counter mana open. If the opponent is playing out Llanowar Elves or Child of Night, you want to be matching his tempo by running out your most aggressive creatures. However, if the opponent is not doing anything outside of Sylvan Rangers, it’s possible they are just building up to something devastating, but more likely that they are sandbagging mass removal in the form of Pyroclasm or Day of Judgment.
Red / Black
This archetype has lots of internal synergy that make subpar cards into all-stars. Bloodthrone Vampire and Act of Treason is one of the most powerful interactions the deck has. Steal their Baneslayer Angel, attack for 5, then sacrifice it to the Vampire for a homemade Slave of Bolas at a reduced cost. It is not uncommon for each of these cards to table as a 9th or 10th pick. Another under-drafted card that works quite well with either of these cards is Fling. Steal their creature with Act of Treason, attack them with it, then throw their own creature at another one of their creatures. Or attack with all your guys, then when the Bloodthrone Vampire goes unblocked, Sacrifice everyone to the Vampire and post-combat Fling him at the opponent’s dome. Untap and cast Lava Axe and the game is over.
Ember Hauler is a fine creature, but not something that is generally high on people’s lists. You can usually get them between third and fifth pick if anyone on your side of the table opens one. They can really shine, though, when combined with Gravedigger and Disentomb. It’s a large mana investment, but recurring removal is worth the cost.
Black/Red is a hard archetype to categorize. It generally plays a bunch of low pick cards that work really well together and can come out of nowhere and end the game in the span of 1-2 turns. It can act like a control deck with all its removal spells, using Sign in Blood and Gravedigger to help reload. It can be aggressive, using Lava Axe, Howling Banshee, Lightning Bolt, and Fireball to get the opponent to zero just in time. It can also act as a weird combo deck that looks like it is getting destroyed until it end step Lightning Bolts you down to 14 and then untaps and kills you with some combination of Act of Treason, Fling, and Lava Axe.
Blue / Red
I’m surprised I have not seen more of this archetype because it can be really powerful when it comes together. I did a draft against Tim Lindale this weekend and he drafted a counter-burn Blue/Red deck that destroyed every male opponent he faced (but not the female who 3-0’d while Conley Woods and I each 1-2’d). Basically, the deck can just play out an Azure Drake, Prodigal Pyromancer, or Cloud Elemental and just play defense the entire game. Save Mana Leaks and Cancels for the important spells while getting rid of creatures with your burn spells and Mind Control.
Magma Phoenix is better in this archetype than anywhere else (it is also really good in Red / Green, but here it is phenomenal). I still wouldn’t take it over Fireball — ever — and probably not over Mind Control either, but I am certainly very happy to first pick it if I’m in this archetype. The tempo spells like Aether Adept and Unsummon are not nearly as impressive in Blue/Red, but they are still fine since putting a creature back in hand means being able to deal with it via counter-magic. Foresee is also at a premium in this archetype, since finding quality spells to win the attrition battle is exactly what you want to be doing.
Sometimes Blue/Red has to manufacture win conditions, which is fine. Shiv’s Embrace on an Aether Adept or Canyon Minotaur is nothing to be ashamed of. Much like the heavy Black strategies, Blue/Red just needs to seal the deal at some point, regardless of method. Unfortunately, unlike Black/Red, it usually cannot rely on low pick cards like Lava Axe, Fling, or Act of Treason to get the job done. It needs sustainable sources of damage — beaters that can go the distance over the course of multiple turns while its pilot draws cards, counters spells, and lights up opposing creatures.
Black / White
Traditionally the mana never works out in Black/White decks, but in M11 the mana is actually fine. You don’t want to play the Black Knight / White Knight aggressive deck, but as long as you pick up a Terramorphic Expanse or two and are mindful about your color restrictions, you can end up with a solid deck. The advantage of drafting this archetype is that whenever you’re in it, it’s because you were forced into it by the people feeding you. Getting shipped Pacifisms and Doom Blades are usually the telltale signs that it’s okay to move in. White provides a number of fliers that are not mana intensive: Stormfront Pegasus, Wild Griffin, Assault Griffin, and Roc Egg.
Wait, Roc Egg? Yes, Roc Egg can work in this strategy. The more common route to making Roc Egg work is to play out a bunch of early fliers and force the opponent to attack into the Roc Egg in order to keep up with your evasive pressure. This only amplifies the pressure and makes it such that your flying army will get the job done that much quicker. The more aggressive route to victory, however, is by allowing Bloodthrone Vampire to quickly hatch your Eggs. I once mulliganed to 5 (on the play) and kept a hand of 3 lands, a Bloodthrone Vampire, and a Roc Egg. I played the Vampire on turn 2, then Roc Egg on turn 3, attacking for 3 and making a Bird. Then on turn 4 I drew and cast Disentomb on the Roc Egg, replayed it, sacrificed it to the Vampire to make another Bird, and attacked for 6. Not to be out-classed by my cuteness, my opponent attacking me for 10 with Chandra’s Spitfire after shooting me three times with a Triskelion (pronounced trisk’-a-lion for those unfamiliar with Mike Flores‘ way of pronouncing made-up Magic words).
Black/White is basically the same as Blue/White except with more removal spells. In general, you want to be base White or split down the middle. Sometimes you can splash for some White fliers and a Pacifism, but in general you’re better off getting your White early and following it up with Black. Also Blinding Mage + Royal Assassin = GG, and Assassinate also rises in value if you already have Blinding Mages.
Green / White
I tend to draft this archetype too often. The allure of Cultivate and Blinding Mage is too strong for me to resist. You almost always have an excellent matchup against anything Red, since half your creatures are too big to burn out and you have Safe Passage as a trump to whatever shenanigans they are trying to set up. This archetype generally fills a peculiar role in the metagame. It out-sizes everything on the ground while attacking with evasion in the air. It’s a little light on removal, but that’s okay because there are few creatures it needs to deal with anyway.
The most glaring problem is its stone inability to handle a Prodigal Pyromancer or Royal Assassin. Most of the time when Royal Assassin hits the board, the Green/White deck goes into super-linear mode. It continues to cast creatures and say go until it find its Serra Angel or Overwhelming Stampede. Crystal Ball is at a premium for any Green deck, but especially Green/White, though Serra Angel is still the better pick form that print run! Running out of gas and drawing lands and dumb creatures that can’t break the stalemate is a terrible, yet not infrequent, position for the Green/White mage to find himself (or herself) in. Splashing Foresee is an excellent choice, and even splashing for Sleep is a fine strategy since drawing the second Island to cast Sleep is a much better position to be in than just drawing more useless monsters that can’t crash past a Royal Assassin.
Green/White can really control the air between Plummet, Giant Spider, and its own flyers. In order to draft this archetype effectively, you have to prioritize Blinding Mage and Pacifism very highly, along with the White Flyers, particularly the big ones like Serra Angel and Armored Ascension. Green fatties will come a dime a dozen, and your mana fixing is not as high a priority. Llanowar Elves are fantastic, but you cannot take them over flyers or removal — though you can certainly take them over Green fatties (except Cudgel Troll).
Red / White
Boros is the typically “get there” deck that attempts to clutter the board with weenies and then use a few cute tricks and burn spells to finish things off before the opponent is able to find their bearings. The regular arsenal of White flyers provides the base of attack, though Infantry Veteran generally plays an important role. I usually look to play this type of deck when I start with Pacifism, Blinding Mage, Lightning Bolt, and Chandra’s Outrage as my first few picks of the draft. If you start taking Angelic Arbiter, Pyroclasm, and Magma Phoenix, you should be looking to go base Green control instead since these cards are great in Green Control but mediocre in Boros.
One combo to look out for is Safe Passage with Pyroclasm. I watched Tom Martell use this combination to good effect in one game. Also Inspired Charge can work even better with Pyroclasm, assuming your board is properly set up for it. When drafting Boros, make sure your creature base is solid. Ending up with Fiery Hellhound, Silvercoat Lion, and a bunch of crappy Goblins is not a recipe for success, no matter how good your spells are. So make sure you remember to prioritize the White flyers in this deck. Canyon Minotaur is fine, but a single copy of Squadron Hawk should not be making the cut.
Also, Excommunicate is deceptively bad in this archetype. In theory it is great, since Boros is the beatdown and Excommunicate is basically a Time Walk. In practice, however, the reason you go Boros is because of all the Lightning Bolts, Pacifisms, Blinding Mages, Chandra’s Outrages, and Fireballs that you picked up in the draft. Adding Excommunicate to the mix means you’re playing an aggressive deck with only 10 creatures, half of which are Goblin Balloon Brigades. Unless you somehow pick up a bunch of flyers and are planning on just splashing for a Fireball and a Lightning Bolt, Excommunicate is probably not something that will help you. If you do have the good creature base and the Red splash, however, Excommunicate can shine.
Green / Red
We have finally arrived at Tom Ross archetype. Aggressive creatures backed by burn spells and gimmicky Fling combos — that’s usually how this archetype pans out. Arc Runner. Attack. Giant Growth. Fling. GG. I actually saw Tom pull that one off when I drafted with him at GenCon. Granted, his opponent, Brian Kowal, was mana screwed, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
The only time you are ever really in Red is when you have multiple quality burn spells. Patrick Chapin said at Nationals that the only way he could play Red as more than a splash is if he gets passed multiple Cyclops Gladiators. In one of his U.S. Nationals drafts, that is exactly what happened, and he ended up in Mono Red. Even still, Green is probably not going to be your splash color if you are on the Cyclops Gladiator plan — you’re probably looking to splash Blue for Foresee or Black for Doom Blade and Bloodthrone Vampire (or just stay in Mono Red).
So if you are in Green/Red, you are most likely evenly split or you are splashing Red. Green is excellent at powering out ground creatures, and is even sufficient at holding off an aerial assault with its Plummets and Giant Spiders. Add some Lightning Bolts, Chandra’s Outrage, and a Fireball to the mix, and you have quite the splash for your Green creature deck. Magma Phoenix is another card of merit in this archetype, since it does a pair of things that are exactly what Green needs: it has a large evasive body to fight through the ground stalemates, and it is also a way to deal with problematic creatures. Moreover, Green’s mana fixing makes it such that recurring the Phoenix from the ashes is a reliable occurrence.
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Hopefully this two-part analysis helps to put M11 Limited into perspective. The purpose of this type of analysis is to consider which cards are most important for each archetype, and why. Others have already discussed pick orders at length, and this analysis is intended to supplement those discussions by placing them in the context of deck archetypes. With Grand Prix: Gothenburg and Pro Tour: Amsterdam on the horizon, I’ll be putting my analysis to the test. Good luck to everyone in your M11 Limited endeavors!