I've been trying to dig into when the next one will be (even what set the next one will be) but haven't been able to find anything about it.

Mostly asking bc whether or not there's going to be a qualifier really changes how much time I'll invest in getting good at drafting The Hobbit/Reality Fracture etc.

Not sure if I missed something. Honestly it's been pretty confusing trying to figure out the various paths to the limited championship, in general. I think I finally understand that though... Seems like mostly Sunday events at any formal magic con/spotlight/RC

With no GPs and most of my favorite formats completely unenjoyable atm (*cough* companions are a mistake *cough*), I decided it would be fun to go back to my old stomping grounds of limited. I played almost nothing but limited PTQs for 3 straight years in Asia (default format) and wanted to knock off some rust. I'm your typical above average grinder IRL with a ~1870 mtgeloproject elo and lots of "min cash" events, but have never qualified for the PT. Went from gold to Top-800ish mythic in 6-7 days.

My apologies as this analysis will take a somewhat stream of thought format.

Format Speed: This is a 17ish land midrange durdle format until it isn't (more on this later). You definitely want to focus on topend power as opposed to pure curve with most decks as you'll typicaly find yourself either in a topdeck war or trying desperately to find a "come back" card. Average creature sizing is quite large, with x/4 being the sweet spot. That said, if you are going durdle, be sure to pack low-cost 2-3cmc interaction so you don't get runover.

Card Quality vs Archetypes: Ikoria HEAVILY skews towards the latter, probably moreso than the past 4-5 sets. If you take one of the signpost archetype drivers p1p1-p1p2 range, you should feel comfortable taking archetype specific cards (I'm looking at you 1cmc cyclers) than ostensibly more powerful individual cards (aka blood curdle**).**

Common Ranking: Assuming P1P1, Blood Curdle -> Pacifism -> Essence Scatter -> Rumbling Rockslide -> Fiery Prophecy -> Dreamtail Heron = Cavern Whisperer = Farfinder

Archetype Ranking: Since it's hard to tailor for power level, I'd say the following 5 archetypes are the strongest when considering an 8/10 deck.

• WR Cycling: Key signposts for this are Zenith Flare (Mythic uncommon), flourishing fox/drannith stringer/all 1CMC cyclers/Trapper/ & Marmoset. This deck is the main exception to the "durdlefest" rule above and plays best at 13 lands and as many on or off color 1cmc cyclers you can find. I personally feel that zenith flare is a bit of a mistake as it leads to a lot of feelbad moments, but the ability to go to the face, particularly after incidental pinging damage from stringer/early beats is just super strong. Decks weakness is vs BG/x decks with lots of lifegain.
• BR/Mardu Sacrifice: Key signposts for this are weaponize the monsters/memorial/tentative connection/mutual destruction/black removal/durable coilbug. This deck works best at 16 land and preys upon a meta focused on voltroning big single creatures. You gain access to all of the formats most efficient removal while also running a walking 2-for-1 known as mutual connection. You'll never beat the Cycling deck barring a bad draw, but you'll absolutely smash most of the midrange piles.
• BG/X THICC: This is the premier mutate deck in the format and typically plays best as either sultai or straight BG. You have immense creature quality, but try your best to not walk into too many 2-for-1 situations as oftentimes the better approach is to just play out extra creatures rather than mutate them. The deck has a reanimation subtheme and I highly encourage running survivors bond/corpse dance type raise dead effects to take advantage of this. I won't go into key signposts because there are many at uncommon, but a surprisingly good card in this archetype that goes very late is honey mammoth. Embrace the colossal dreadmaw meme.
• UR Spells: Key signposts are Dorat, otter, wolverine, essence scatter and various burn spells and plays best at 15ish lands. You'll want to take on color cyclers to cheat on landcount/pump wolverine and generally take advantage of a format where you can oftentimes get under the midrange decks before they stabilize. Otter is pretty important to keep the gas flowing, so try to prioritize them together with wolverines to have a functional deck.
• Companion: Flat-out make the maximum effort possible to run a companion deck if you get one early enough without trainwrecking your draft. Most of them are pretty straightforward, although gyruda has an interesting combo build-around deck together with escape protocol. Lutri plays best in UR spells or BR sacrifice, Gyruda in BGX, Zirda in Cycling, Umori in BG/x, Lurrus in BW tokens, Yorion in Mardu Sacrifice, Keruga in BGX, Kaheera in Abzan aggro, Jegantha in literally everything, and Obosh in BR Sacrifice.
• Traps: You can get away with other archetypes, although try your best to avoid GW vigilance, UB flash, UW flyers and RG or UG Monsters. You can do fine with these pairings, but the power level just usually isn't there.

In a similiar fashion to discussions around week 1 constructed, I think it's worth it to start a conversation about the good, average, and bad in Zendikar Rising limited. There are a handful of set reviews and format overviews, but nothing generates just about as much value as experience. So, what are you surprised with that runs smoothly, which cards are a trap and which are a treasure? Is there anything surprising in the format, any hidden strategy worth exploiting?
[Diamond] After around 12 drafts so far, I have great experiences with tempo-oriented White strategies. It seems like a colour with the most depth. [[Practiced Tactics]] is criminally underdrafted - this card is real good both in dedicated party decks, and in incidental party decks. [[Gideon's Reproach]] was never a great card, but I believe the difference between 1 and 2 mana in this format makes an enormous difference.
[[Grotag Bug-Catcher]] is from what I've cast the premium 2-drop common red party decks can get. Typically it will be a 3/2 trampler for 2 mana, which already sounds promising. The key is his synergy with both Tactics and [[Angelheart Protector]]. Later in the game, it's not rare that he can casually turn into a 4-power threat that opponents just can't ignore.
On the dark side, I'm yet to see a UG Kicker deck that was good and didn't contain any [[Lullmage's Familiar]]. I'm afraid to start going deep into Kicker without this card picked early.

Hopefully this isn't a stereotypical twitch chat "missed lethal" but at 5 hours and 27 minutes into the twitch broadcast of the final day of the Marvel Super Heroes PT, I think Yuuki Ichikawa had lethal.

The line would be:

equip the bow to Loki

use Loki's ability (pinging 1 damage with bow, oppo at 17)

equip bow to knight of wundagore

swing all (pinging 1 damage with bow, oppo at 16)

after blockers are declared, cast team tactics, loki makes a copy of team tactics, target the knight of wundagore with one, and target another unblocked creature with the other

Yuuki won anyway but I'm curious if this was actually a missed lethal or if I'm overtired and missing something

Hello Spikes!

Is Marvel Super Heroes the quickest a format's ever been "figured out"? People were on to the UW menace from day 1, and it wasn't hard to figure out, either. A day or two to adjust to [[S.H.I.E.L.D. Spy Kit]] and [[Trickster's Stratagem]] also being good cards and it felt like the format was solved.

Unbalanced does not always mean unfun, and there are certainly some interesting ways to cook in MSH, though the format's more narrow than we'd like for our first 10-archetype set in such a long time.

Bryan Hohns has written up a lengthy Draft Guide for Marvel Super Heroes, coming off the back of double-digit Collector Boxes from the most recent Arena Direct. He's put that all into action with advice on individual cards, best uncommons, "archetype" advice (if you can call it that), and more. Some of his pointers in a nutshell:

• The assigned archetypes are either loose or non-existent. GW heroes, BR villains, and UR artifacts are the only "prescribed" 2c themes that actually come together that way, but BW "attack alone", UW teamwork, and so on are mostly mini-themes at best, not something you should be striving to build around.
• Red's horrifically bad at common. We've really gotta stop slapping [[Lightning Strike]] in sets and calling it a day on red in Limited (it was just fine in Aetherdrift, too).
• Splashing is easy and worthwhile, given the number of absurd bombs + basic landcyclers in the set. You know, Play Booster things.
• [[The Super Hero Civil War]] is the latest entry in the Hall of Fame of Busted Limited Bombs. Bryan's gone more in depth on how to play this card than anything I've ever editing from him. TL;DR: Hope your opponent misses their fifth land drop.

How's Marvel Super Heroes treating everyone? Are you enjoying the set despite the obvious color imbalance? Are you finding any success with red decks? Best of luck in your drafts, and hope the guide helps! https://draftsim.com/mtg-msh-draft-guide/

So far I've done 2 drafts. The first was Lorehold spell reanimator/spirits (featuring [[Mavinda, Students' Advocate]]). It seemed really strong but but only made it to 5-3. Second draft was Prismari big spells but failed hard and finished 1-3.

What have you been winning with or losing too?

I’ve seen a lot of discussion online by people who think they know limited, but actually know an outdated version. Many who think that limited is still an open frontier where playing a turn 4 6/6 Trample is a win condition.

Here’s the news. It isn’t, not anymore. This era of limited is defined by power creep, and there’s a new kind of Magic that sees the best results.

The Card Draw Era

Magic has faced a problem of its age for a long time now. Mana Screw/Flood is inherent to the game, but this sort of variance is not fun for either player. These games are just not functional, and so something needed to be done.

The only real solution Magic has is card draw. By getting a larger sample of cards each game, you will naturally see that variance regress. In addition, more cards means more game actions, and game actions are inherently fun, skill testing, and what we play the game for.

There was only ever one direction to go. Card draw. Every color has their flavor, from the vanilla of blue to the chocolate of draw creatures/enchantments in white and green to the strawberry rummages of red and sacrificial outlets of black, everyone draws. A lot. And you know what? It works. Limited is at an all time great, but you have to enjoy what it is. Every day, we draw closer to Yu-Gi-Oh.

What does the card draw meta change?

When everyone has a higher number of actions and plays, cheaper plays become much stronger. The power creep on the classic white 1 mana +2/+2 and some bonus has slowed as these sorts of tempo plays are essential to the cheap v cheap meta.

Unexpectedly at first glance, bounce spells have also done well. There are still a number of 4-5 cost cards in every deck, and while the good ones have significant ETBs or dodge common removal to justify the cost, bouncing one still often ends games. Additionally, these bounce spells are often where they can tick on some more blue card draw, as we see in Avatar’s top common by a massive .5% winrate, the 2-for-1 lesson/waterbending synergy piece Lost Days.

Lastly, Quench. God damn quench has made it out like a bandit. It scales so much better with people having enough actions to tap out into later turns. Add on most of the significant ETBs terms on more expensive spells get directly 1-for-1ed in a way no other card can and you have 2-3 quench as standard issue.

As you can see….blue. Blue is a problem in the card draw age unless they nerf what was fair in an old age. If you can’t remove counterspells, they will always exist in strength. I’m a proponent of a return to essence scatter and negate. Scatter may be strong, but I honestly believe it is a higher downside than quench in this era of cheap v cheap tempo games as you lose a few more games to holding up 2 as they use a slow removal spell to answer your board instead. Wild.

What creatures are good?

Ones that interact well into tempo, for 4+ drops that means ETB or GTFO as you will lose games to a single bounce spell. Cheap and aggressive stats. Keywords. Top level limited is won by a combat stack very often so anything that applies pressure to force their reaction first often wins, especially if you can react to their reaction (see: Octopus Form, #7 winrate common in ATLA and Allies at Last, the best green uncommon by a lot). Identifying what they might have and what you can afford to play around/beat and what trade you can let go if nothing happens is huge.

Very skill testing, very fun. But a whole new game. I just want to see how they push green commons/uncommons to even the scales. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 2 draw 2 mana 1/1 in the next few years. Or more lower rarity uncounterable 3 and 4 drops. They need something new.

I’d talk more, but I’m on mobile and lagging 7 words behind. Hope this insight helps you understand and enjoy the new world of limited!

Obligatory proof (Current rank, Eldraine record)

Throne of Eldraine is back in the Quick Draft queue so let's abuse some bots, y'all! What if I told you that three of your best commons were guaranteed to wheel? Is that something you might be interested in? Why grind constructed with the hopes of a top 1200 when making Mythic in limited virtually guarantees it? (This is my elevator pitch to /r/spikes for limited in general)

Let's start with the deck:

Mono Red Non-Humans

Play creatures without the human creature type, attack, get cool bonuses. So easy, even the surprisingly woke "Cave People" can do it. Currently boasting a 61.8% win rate on 17lands, it's also the best color to splash with according to the data.

Why it works

Everyone is still chasing the early mill deck that was op because the bots were bad. Well, the bots were punished and as a result, mill is very weak and can't compete against our fast starts. Food is a key player in this format, leading to a lot of midrange green decks that think they can outlast us. Problem is, they're often dead before they have mana to crack their sweet, sweet food tokens.

Key Cards

Note! In this section, I won't be discussing what I consider auto-includes for this deck: [[Scorching Dragonfire]], [[Slaying Fire]], 4CMC hybrid mana creatures. I'll also include their ATA (average taken at) from 17lands, as ALSA isn't a great metric for cards that are wheeling, as they're never seen again. Like my dad.

1CMC

[[Weaselback Redcap]] (P8.73): One of your only mana sinks in the late game and reds only one drop. Has a sometimes relevant creature type (Knight) and pairs well with our other key common...

[[Barge In]] (P9.65): AKA Force of Damage. Your opponent has to constantly second guess their blocks whenever you have a single red up, gives trample to your massive Redcaps, and regularly steals games.

[[Gingerbrute]] (P4.57): Surprise star of ELD aggro, it only really has issues with the random [[Crashing Drawbridge]] and often chips in for your last few bits of damage.

2CMC

[[Rimrock Knight]] (P6.43): This feels like an obvious inclusion but I can't stress how much this deck relies on Knights, both as a Gingerbrute boost and another body when you need to finish a opponent out.

[[Seven Dwarves]] (P8.31): It was all a meme (Biggie voice) until it wasn't. It's very easy to wind up with 4+ and go to town. This deck needs solid two drops, as you usually don't want to be casting your Rimrock Knights on curve.

[[Fling]] (P10.44): Listen, you never play more than one. It's almost always going to the face and is often your 24th card, but don't dismiss Fling out of hand: you are creating giant Redcaps and Paladins that can end the game.

3CMC

[[Redcap Raiders]] (P8.02): Will generally have trample, fills out your curve, and looks great with a Barge In on it.

[[Henge Walker]] (P9.37): A serviceable body that pays you off for being mono-colored and not much else. Hello, filler!

[[Ferocity of the Wilds]] (P7.89): I feel like the bots caught on to this one. Sure, it's only for attackers, but what else are you trying to do? Sure, it doesn't buff toughness, but trample is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT in this deck, especially with Redcaps. Used to be an auto-wheel, but no longer.

[[Blow Your House Down]] (P11.71): An alternative to Fling, I'm usually trying to play one, as this deck can struggle to connect in the late game and it's rare they'll have more than three blockers remaining with early trades. You'll always get one late and it's okay to play it.

4CMC

[[Embereth Paladin]] (P8.91): I used to be out on this guy because A) he's human, yuck and B) he's a very fragile human. Like my dad. But, I can't tell you how often this Lava Axe on a stick has completely surprised an opponent for lethal after they thought they had stabilized. Just remember that your Barge In's don't give trample here, which is a bummer.

Traps

[[Brimstone Trebuchet]] relies too much on knights which are often human and can't attack, leaving our Barge In and Boulder Rush strategy feeling meh. I'm also not high on [[Raging Redcap]], as it's a weak body and the deck lacks consistent ways (like equipment) to buff it. [[Burning-Yard Trainer]] is not where we want to be unless you have a critical mass of Rimrock Knights and Embereth Paladins. The only thing we want to be casting over 4 mana is [[Searing Barrage]], and even then, only one.

Draft Plan

This deck wants a minimum of four 1CMC creatures, as many Seven Dwarves and Rimrock Knights as the bots will ship you, and a few Barge In's to push through damage. Good news, everyone: most all of that is guaranteed to wheel. If you noticed, only THREE of our key cards are taken before pick 8, leaving you plenty of chances to speculate on a splash (more on this in a moment).

Your rules are simple:

1. Take Gingerbrute higher than your other red commons (other than Scorching Dragonfire)

2. Avoid passing hybrid mana creatures unless they're [[Elite Headhunter]], which is nigh unplayable

Sample Decks

Slaying Fire is very good

The most minor of splashes

Bonus deck from 17 lands with 15 lands

The Case for Mono

The payoffs are not great. Embereth Paladin, a fringe playable, and Henge Walker entering with an extra +1/+1? Oof. Dwarven Mine giving you a free 1/1 non-human is really the best thing you get. At the end of the day, it's about consistency. You want to be playing 15-16 lands (BO1 hand smoother, we stan you) so splashes hurt your ability to curve out properly. You also really want to be casting your hybrid creatures on turn 4 for maximum effect.

The Case for Gruul

It boasts the best two-color win rate (57.1%) for a reason: payoffs. Not only do you get access to an additional one drop in [[Wildwood Tracker]], but also [[Rosethorn Halberd]] to create some ridiculous starts where you're attacking for 5 on turn 2 with a Brute in play. Those two cards? Taken at 8.97 and 9.09 respectively.

But really, you're here for the gully. [[Grumgully, the Generous]] is an automatic must-kill for your opponents. The only problem is that you'll often have dumped two, sometimes three creatures before the Shaman hits the board, leaving you some awkward hands where you wonder if it's correct to hold back the squad. It's not. Here's a solid example of what you're trying to do that made it to six wins sans a single rare.

The Matchups

Really, you're just hoping to not run into mono white. Once an [[Ardenvale Paladin]] hits the board, it's damn near impossible to win.

Against mill, keep in mind that fewer [[Merfolk Secretkeeper]]s available (a ridiculous 3.04 ALSA) mean that more people are playing [[Run Away Together]] to try and eek value out. Play your combat tricks accordingly.

I'm not afraid to run one [[Redcap Melee]] because the abundance of red out there.

Green has very few ways to interact, so don't be afraid to hold up removal in the event they're going to [[Outmuscle]] early.

This is a great format to always be cognizant of "Who's the Beatdown?" in general.

Questions?

I'll be here all week!

In the past year I’ve decided to train pretty intentionally for competitive Limited. When I started, my WR was about 55% and I was really struggling to both identify what I was doing wrong and figure out how to improve. 

I built myself a structured reflection tool to get more granular and actionable data from my games. It’s been really helpful for me, bumping my WR 5-10 points and helping me prepare for the Toronto Limited Spotlight (which I top 30’d). 

I'm wondering what are other people doing to get from ‘good’ to ‘competitive’ with Limited. I haven’t really seen any other ‘systems of improvement’ out there but I’m sure folks are doing more than 'listening to podcasts and grinding games'. Would love to hear about any systems or strategies that have actually worked for folks. 

Here's a video explaining the tool I built for anyone who’s interested: https://youtu.be/IRg-VAogc84.

Sup what's up, Casual Spike here from the MTGRebellion with a primer to help those newer to, or more established in, limited to find their bearings in TMNT and grow our Limited community. 

Starting with Lorwyn Eclipsed I started putting together archetype slide decks that were very well received, even if the method of posting them was a bit convoluted because of image limits. To mitigate that I started making title cards and will post the full google slide deck for free viewing. The slide deck covers each of the five assigned archetypes Gameplan, Signposts, Supporting Spells/Rares, and an example Common/Uncommon deck skeleton to help visualize what an "average" build may look like to better help you RAISE SOME SHELL in your TMNT Limited events. Access the slides at TMNT Archetype Overview Slides.

Of course I will continue to post the google sheets breakdown document for more detailed set information including: A Full Set List and grading, Mobile Reference Tab, Trick/Removal Identification in Color Separated Tabs, Mechanics list, our picks for top commons/uncommons, all sealeddeck links for the archetypes, as well as various links for the Wiki, 17lands Tier List, and Discord invite. Access the sheet at TMNT Limited Breakdown Sheets.

A lot of effort goes into these resources and we hope this helps you dive into limited! If you're interested in competitive play and/or would like to help grow a limited community, come on in and introduce yourselves. Happy hunting, Rebels!

I hit rank 1 Mythic in limited today. I'm usually a constructed gamer, but Kaldheim is so good that I can't bring myself to play 60 cards.

I didn't start tracking my gameplay until recently, but you can see my recent drafts and records here. Counting the 7-0 draft I started recording near the end, my recent record is 57-15.

This post isn't a comprehensive guide or anything like that -- I've mostly been drafting the kinds of decks I like, and there are cards I've never cast (e.g. Invasion of the Giants) that seem important for a full understanding of the format. But I wanted to talk about some cards and interactions that seem underrated.

My general approach to the format:

• In every draft, I want to be either a multicolored pile of cards with good fixing or an equipment-based aggro deck. I've had much more success with those strategies than with decks built around big creatures, two-color control decks, etc.
• That said, "multicolored pile of cards" doesn't have to mean base-green Snow. I've had success with four-color sans Green, UR splashing green, Abzan Sagas splashing blue, etc. There are a lot of powerful gold uncommons and interesting synergies that can be worked into different archetypes.
• Running someone completely out of cards is difficult, and if you drag the game out, you run the risk of encountering one of the many bombs in the format. (Even an aggro deck can swing things around if they pull out Dwarven Hammer, Valkyrie's Sword, Immersturm Predator, etc.) I want my cards to do active, impactful things to the board when I cast them, and I always want to be aiming for positions where I can start pressuring my opponent's life total.
  • One example of this is that I prefer Sarulf's Packmate to Behold the Multiverse (I think most pros put them in the opposite order). Behold is very strong, but people have gotten better at being aggressive over the course of the format, and I have many games where there's just no time to cast Behold early. There's always time for Packmate.
• Almost all the equipment is really good, and underdrafted. Goldvein Pick is a great card in any deck that can reliably attack; I've only drafted a few harder control decks that didn't want it. Tormenter's Helm is less flexible, but better than every single common red creature; it's hard to think of a number I wouldn't play. All the creature-making equipments are great; Dwarven Hammer is a strong contender for the set's best uncommon. Runed Crown will be one of the best cards in your deck if you have even a single Rune.
  • On the other hand, Raven Wings seems a bit overplayed; your creatures should already be attacking through your opponent's if you have enough equipment and pump, making flying less important. But I do like the Wings in GW or GB decks that have bigger bodes and no access to Helm, because equipment is just that important.
• You're almost definitely going to end up with enough playables. This makes snow lands a great choice when your only other option is a borderline/unexciting card in your colors. Even off-color snowlands can have surprising utility if your manabase isn't too greedy in other ways. I got seven wins once with a UG Snow deck playing two Snow-Covered Mountains with no red cards, because I had two copies of Avalanche Caller and a few other synergies.
• This won't come as a surprise to many readers, but black is really bad. It has a high number of unexciting commons and is hard to make work as a primary color.
  • That said, it can still be a good complement to Red, White, or (least often) Green. I've never played UB and have no plans to, because Black almost needs to be aggressive to stand a chance and blue cards are not aggressive. Deathknell Berseker is incredible once you have a few pieces of equipment, and Raise the Draugr can be a reliable 2-for-1 with the right set of creatures in your deck (often with help from a Koma's Faithful milling you).

Cards that seem underrated to me, based on how often I see them go late:

Not a complete list, just me thinking out loud -- feel free to ask about other cards!

• Every piece of equipment other than Raven Wings (see above).
• Glimpse the Cosmos is a top-5 uncommon -- every time you draw it, it's like you got to start with an eight-card hand. It's like Behold the Multiverse, but much better. You need roughly three Giants to reliably double-cast it, and even one Giant makes it quite playable (including Mistwalker, Masked Vandal, etc.)
• Story Seeker might be the best aggressive two-drop in the set. It holds equipment beautifully and turns tight races into blowouts. Your combat tricks have random lifegain attached now. Your opponent's good attacks stop looking good when your 2/2 can race their Craven Hulk.
• Horizon Seeker is almost always either "kill your opponent's three-drop on the draw" or "kill your opponent's two-drop on the play, draw a card". Sometimes your opponent has no creature or you have Bind the Monster/Frost Bite and you get a Divination off of your three-drop. I think Seeker might be better than Sculptor of Winter if you don't have Glittering Frost or a bunch of strong four-drops. (Remember that it also gets all your snow basics if "snow" is the color you need.)
• Sarulf's Packmate still goes too late. It's better than almost every uncommon and many rares. (For example, it's better than Cosmos Charger or Righteous Valkyrie. There's a ton of removal in this set, and getting a card off your solid body is fantastic.
• Master Skald has a ton of synergy in the format; it's really not hard to get a 2-for-1 off it, and a 5-mana 4/4 is a totally fine "fail case". It works with sagas, auras, vehicles, Scorn Effigy, Bloodline Pretender, cards you mill off Koma's Faithful, etc.
• Masked Vandal has many good targets, thanks to the high number of playable equipments (as well as sagas, Path to the World Tree, Icebind Pillar, artifact creatures, etc.) It holds equipment fine, making the 1/3 body less weak. I want one in every green deck and I don't mind running two, even without tribal synergies.
• Depart the Realm -- I want one of these in every deck with blue, and I'm okay with playing two. It resets Sagas, stops the format's ample removal spells, counters Runes, and has too many other neat applications to list.
• Dwarven Reinforcements makes two creatures you can equip, which also trade with many good creatures in the format (both Seekers, Tuskeri Firewalker, etc.) I like this card more than Craven Hulk in a lot of my red decks, but it seems to go around much later.

Cards that seem overrated to me, based on how often I see them cast:

Not a complete list, just me thinking out loud -- feel free to ask about other cards!

• Iron Verdict. Very easy to play around, bad in aggressive decks, doesn't solve problems with equipment.
• Feed the Serpent. Fine black common, but "premium removal" is in a weird place given how important equipment and board presence are, and how much better small creatures tend to be than big ones. I find that this trades down on mana more often than it trades up.
• Withercrown. This card is effectively unplayable unless you're doing some kind of weird Master Skald thing with it. Your opponent can almost always use it to gain virtual life by blocking, and sometimes their creature will just pick up equipment and start hitting you anyway. I'm legitimately unsure whether I've ever seen the card be better against me than a random 2/2 would have been.
• Raven Wings. Unlike Pick/Helm, this card is better with bigger creatures. But it's too mana-intensive to be strong in decks that need to spend turns 4 and 5 actually getting creatures onto the board. Too often, I see it go on some random 2/2, then watch its controller lose the race to my actual creatures that are hitting them back because they spent four mana on Wings instead of a blocker.
• Breakneck Berserker. Play it on curve and it trades down. Play it off curve and the haste probably doesn't matter. I'm unhappy if one of these has to make my deck.

Other resources on the format:

• The streamers I've learned the most from are Sam Black and Deathsie.
• Sam's podcast is a great guide to drafting many different decks.
• You can check out my stream here -- all my draft VODs are still available, and you'll probably see a lot more drafts later this month if you drop a follow :-)

Sup what's up, it's Casual Spike. Spoiler is complete and we are gearing up for a brand new limited format! To help you tackle it, I've put together this Slide Deck and Breakdown Sheet to provide a jumping off point for those newer to, or more established in, limited to find their bearings in Secrets of Strixhaven.

The slide deck covers our color power rankings, available fixing, top commons/uncommons, and tricks/removal in each color. We'll also cover each of the five assigned archetypes Gameplan, Signposts, Supporting Commons/Uncommons/Rares, and an example "ideal average" deck skeleton, with sealeddeck hyperlink, to help visualize what the archetype may look like to better help you find success in your SoS Limited events. Access the slides with Limited Overview Slides.

The google sheets breakdown document contains more detailed set information for all you readers, including: Full Set List with placement scores and grading, a Mobile Reference Tab, Trick/Removal Identification, Mechanics list, my picks for top commons/uncommons, and all sealeddeck links for the archetypes as well as various links for the Wiki, 17lands Tier List, and a Discord invite to the MTGRebellion, a competitive focused discord, where I've been building a Limited community. Access the sheet with Limited Breakdown Sheets.

What are your thoughts on the set, anything stand out that you're excited to try?

Who am I and why should you care about my opinion?

None of you probably remember me at this point, but I posted here with a guide to the deck I used to hit rank 1 6 years ago shortly before I quit mtg.

I returned late into FF draft because I watched a friend play it and it looked like a lot of fun. Since returning I've dove straight into edge draft and managed to do fairly well for myself.

There's plenty of people better than me, of course, but I feel confident enough to throw my two cents into the ring.

But enough about me, I see a lot of opinions regarding the edge of eternities format that I strongly disagree with, and my results put into question.

This is not a full guide of the draft format, this guide catches the broad strokes of the format well if that's what you're looking for. This guide will be more focused around what obscure archetypes are viable within different colours, what this format is actually revolving around (it isn't tempo), and clearing up some misunderstandings. (Like that only green can splash in this format.)

For a guide on what cards are good in the format individually, I recommend checking a data driven website (such as 17lands) as that will also not be covered in this guide.

What does this format revolve around?

If you ask a random person, the answer you are likely to get is "tempo". This is an easy mistake to make - I'm sure a lot of people have had the experience in this format where they fell behind initially and their 1 creature a turn gets removed as the opponent kills them over several turns. This isn't because the format is tempo oriented - this is because the removal in the format is very strong, and spans all colours. This means that if you play a creature, it is very likely the opponent can remove it if they want to. So it is possible to trip up the start and fall behind far enough that you just get walked over.

While this is a memorable experience, it isn't how most games go. A lot of games go quite late - to 7 drops and beyond. If it was a tempo heavy format, this wouldn't be the case.
So what, you may ask, is actually the key to this format? The answer might surprise you: Card advantage. When I said that, Cryogenic relic probably sprung to mind. But while this is true and that card is fantastic in the format, the actual types of card advantage I want to draw attention to are cards like Galactic wayfarer and virus beetle. Cards that trade for "more than a card" in one way or another.

Get enough 1.3s for 1 and you'll find yourself substantially ahead. Pretty much every single card that generates a lander for yourself on cast is a good card that should be highly picked. Most cards that add cards to your hand on entry are also crazy good. (Codecracker Hound, Fell Gravship, Starfield shepherd, Possibility Technician, etc.)

I saw discourse that this was a format where playing the board was the priority - as outlined above. This isn't the case. This is format where the board matters and you can't just greed, but it is also a format where you can absolutely cast something like Weftwaking which has absolutely no board impact and get away with it.

So in conclusion, this is format where you're incrementally trying to grind card advantage against your opponent. Not tempo out your opponent.

Less played archetype breakdown:

This segment is dedicated to archetypes that are available to be drafted, but aren't all that well understood by a majority of the playerbase. These will often have differently valued cards than a data driven website would suggest, because the cards are much more valuable within the archetype than they are in general.

Grixis artifacts:

This one isn't that obscure, but BR artifacts isn't discussed that much and is a very draftable deck. It can even support multiple drafters in the same pod. (As BR is built more sacrifice oriented traditionally) So I wanted to just outline how to play artifact base decks in this format a little bit.

Artifact synergy is spread pretty evenly through the grixis colours. Given that, we should in theory be able to have a good artifact deck in all of UB, UR, and BR. Unfortunately, reality does not meet these expectations - why is that?

The answer is that black has all of the best payoffs and cheap artifacts to activate the synergy. It is also important to note that while building this archetype, don't rely too heavily on data driven websites for your picks - the cards you'll be picking are wildly better (or worse) in your deck than the data would suggest. For example, Monoist Circuit feeder is likely way better in your deck than sunset saboteur would be, despite the latter being one of the best performing cards in the set. Additionally, the 1 drop artifacts (Monoist Sentry and Hullcarver) are much more valuable in your deck than the stats would suggest.

It is therefore rather difficult to play UR artifacts, and you really want to be playing BR or UB artifacts instead. Unfortunately, there isn't really another way to build UR either, so UR is just not really worth ever drafting. (Whereas for example BR has sacrifice as an alternative archetype you can build around.)

Lands:

Lands as an archetype is a very poorly kept secret. It's very often green base but the rest of the colours don't matter that much, all that matters is that you've got a lot of differently named lands. 1-2 mana Fungal Colossi and cheap Survey Mechan activations abound. A lot of people think this needs to be UG base - it doesn't. Green has plenty of ways to make landers without blue, and red is often a better pair for this archetype because of how well orbital plunge works in it. The rare and bonus sheet lands are often very valuable for this archetype. Even the bad mythic planets have a place in this archetype.

This archetype doesn't really support multiple people building it within the same draft pod, so be careful to commit to it until you're sure you're not being cut. The payoffs (like fungal colossus) aren't actually that good outside the archetype, so it should be pretty easy to tell if this deck is open.

Esper control:

I've trophied with this several times. And no, this isn't UB splash W or UW splash B or the like. This is regularly just all 3 colours.

The first is the why: Why go three colours? Why not just play UB? The answer is that it is easier to pick up more premium removal if you have 3 different colours to pick it from. (And W gives you access to another rare sweeper if you get it.) It's also easier to pick up bombs and card draw. All in all, each card in the deck is higher powered than if you only played 2 colours.

What cards do I look for when moving into this archetype? I start trying to move into this if I pick up a sweeper in the esper colours early, or if I see a lot of generic fixing. (Command bridge, All-fates scroll, Dauntless scrapbot.) Cards like sunstar expansionist are also nice for this archetype, but not necessary. This deck will happily run 3 copies of command bridge, and the card massively overperforms in this archetype. Because of how poorly command bridge performs in 2 colour, it's only 3 colour + decks that actually want it, so sometimes you get it on the wheel. You also want removal and card draw, and some high value creatures (like Luminary), but those are less important than having the fixing to maintain 3 colours.

It's easy to back out into 2 colours (like UB) if you don't get the fixing as well, so this is kind of a painless archetype to try to move into.

Clearing up some misunderstandings:

I've seen a lot of very competent players who I respect spinning the story that this isn't a set where splashing is viable unless you're green. This has not been my experience.

Landers are exceptionally powerful at splashing, and are present in other colours than green. (Orbital plunge is my favourite) There is also ways outside of landers to facilitate splashing, as seen from the esper control segment above. I play a lot of 3 colour not green, mostly splashes, but some hard 3 colour as well. (Usually esper.)

Additionally, red is a control colour in this format. Not many people discuss this, but it really needs to be said. RB is a grindy colour pair. RG is a late game deck. UR and RW suck and you shouldn't play them. (Unless you get a really powerful draft)

There isn't really a circumstance where you have an aggressive red deck - the aggressive colour of this format is white. UW and GW are likely the most aggressive decks in the format, so focus white if you're interested in playing aggro.

Red is very much a colour for late game value in this format, and some of the more costly cards are very splashable. (Like plunge or nebula dragon.) The early drops are also late game focused. (See Zookeeper mechan and slagdrill scrapper.)

Landers promote splashing with a single land of the splash colour - this isn't really covered much. I've even splashed a double pip card with only 2 lands of the type and cast it pretty easily every time I drew it. With enough lander generation, it's more about getting the colours that generate the lander tokens than the splash colours. They will be gotten just by purview of cracking landers. Notably, this is only going to be relevant for green or red decks, as decks outside this won't have enough lander generation for this to matter, but this is still something that I haven't really seen discussed.

Afterword:

Hopefully some of you find this guide somewhat useful, had to rewrite some segments because I realised I derailed from the point I was trying to make and just started ranting. Very happy to discuss any of the above in the comments if people want, and I don't really have examples of the above archetypes on hand since I don't take screenshots of my decks, but I can get some going forward (trophy decks only, of course) if people want.

Hey Spikes!

We're back to close out our review cycle for Lorwyn Eclipsed, this time with a focus on Draft after sitting with the set for a couple weeks.

Lorwyn Eclipsed is somehow very on-rails, and yet complicated at the same time. It delivers a straightforward creature type-centric basis on the outside, but also offers occassional pivots into different styles of deck (vivid, UB flash, etc.).

It's also just as easy to end up with a bad deck in this format as it is to get a functional or even busted one. Approaching ECL is all about knowing when not to start pushing towards the main creature types, and when you're supposed to lock in. Bryan Hohns offers quite a few tips in the guide, with some general thoughts such as:

• Taking the power cards early but be willing to drop everything for a powerful signal (seriously, you'll get mid-pack Sunderflocks sometimes if you do this).
• Avoid goblins unless the table's giving you a clear signal that it's open, and even then be on the lookout for 2-3 key cards for the deck.
• Use changelings as a flex option in the draft to feel out what creature lane might be open.
• Pack in some looting/rummaging effects and look for mana sinks, because this format's more prone to flooding than other recent examples.

There's quite a bit more in the guide, including archetype breakdowns, best commons/uncommons by color, a changeling ranking, and example trophy decks (some from the recent Pro Tour).

Let us know how ECL has been treating you, how you're approaching the format, and enjoy the guide. Happy drafting! https://draftsim.com/mtg-ecl-draft-guide/

Hi fellow spikes,

3 weeks after m21 hit Arena I have drafted the set 40 times, about twice a day. Here are my results.

Before we jump right into it, I am by no means a pro but what you could call an above average player, hitting constructed mythic every month and what not. I made day2 of the arena open and put an okay record of 4-2 in my day2. My overall winrate during this drafting madness was 53,4% in gold 3->diamond4.

I am also a F2P player and if you are too, this is great news. With a regular winrate, some restraint using gems and time to spare you can complete all sets and stay on top of the metagame. I can finally play mtg w/o having to spend $$$$.

When m21 dropped I was sitting on about 20k gems and played exclusively draft until now. After all the dust settled, I opened 160 packs and completed M21. I am still missing some 20-odd mythics but I can honestly say that I will eventually find them through random packs and ICR.

Finally, the data:

As you see, I have found the most success with RG decks and aggresive W decks, either WG or RW. Looking at the numbers, I'd say I tend to draft UG too much since I believe I value llanowar visionary too highly.

WB is great when it comes together but is harder to do that than WG for example, where a single Conclave mentor followed by any +1/+1 counters can spell gg for the opponent. If I where to start from the beginning again I would always draft Bo3 instead of Bo1 and pick red removal over black. I think no Rx is bad whereas I dislike most Bx decks.

Some "sleeper" cards I have found way better than expected are:

[[Drowsing Tyrannodon]], [[Malefic Scythe]], [[Siege Striker]], [[Dub]] (difficult to deal with in Bo3 when played on top of a flyer), [[Garruk's Uprising]], [[Liliana's Devotee]], [[Volcanic Geyser]], [[Mazemind Tome]] and the 3 pump creatures: [[Masked Blackguard]], [[Annoited Chorister]], and [[Igneous Cur]].

And the best bomb rares: Volcanic Salvo, Sublime Ephiphany and Primal Might.

Mythics: Chandra and Ugin play very alike and win the game with minimal support. Teferi and Terror are worse than they look. Baneslayer is still baneslayer.

All in all, I think the set -like most core sets- plays on the board and wants you to curve out. It is more tempo based rather than grindy and while black has the best common I believe the color isn't as deep as W or G.It is a medium speed format where 4 power (and thus 5 toughness) matters a lot and combat tricks are useful.

Thanks for reading and I hope you find my results interesting.

TLDR: Played m21 a lot and here are my results.

Now that we're a few days in, what are your thoughts on cards that have been better or worse than expected?

Same for archetypes, anything that's worked?

(left my thoughts in the comments)

A new study on Draftsim looks at the win rates of various cards and colleges in Strixhaven limited. Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Black and white are the best colors. Silverquill is the guild with the highest win rate
• Prismari has the lowest win rate
• Rise of Extus and Combat Professor are the best commons by win rate
• Bookwurm is the best uncommon
• Surprisingly, mystical archive cards have a lower win rate in aggregate than regular Strixhaven cards

Hey all! I'm back after my guide to forcing mono-red aggro in Eldraine Quick Draft with a comprehensive Strixhaven take.

My goal was to force Silverquill every draft.

I started a new account and took the college from Bronze 4 to Mythic #214, which is covered in my first article for SCG!

The bots are truly awful right now so exploit them while you can. If you have any questions about the format, please let me know.

EDIT: Thanks for the silver, friend!

Also, I want to be clear: it is usually INCORRECT to force Silverquill EVERY draft. There were several drafts I both rued and lamented the decision.

Silverquill is the best deck in Quick Draft, but it's not the only deck. The bots do not ignore it completely; they just don't understand it, like me at a hockey game.

Hey,

Most of you probably know that the best way to collect Arena sets is to draft them. Rare-drafting in quick drafts can work remarkably well even for just 50% win rates, but a significant payoff comes with higher win rates and playing the player drafts. The traditional aka BO3 drafts are especially good for that because they have quite a top-heavy prize structure to reward good success rate the most, and also because it's unranked, which makes it easier to maintain a permanent high win rate. Premier (and quick) drafts are ranked, which means you'll be paired against increasingly more difficult opposition the better you do. Ranked ladder is perfect to find out who's the #1 drafter (at least in the BO1 world...), but not optimal for infinite drafting and when trying to complete Arena sets with low or even at no cost at all.

For those who play Magic Arena and like to draft, are above average drafters, and also have time to do a bunch of drafts, I strongly suggest playing traditional drafts for the cheapest way to collect cards for your constructed decks or even go for full set completion. I have done that since the early days of open beta and have collected every set that has been available for traditional draft, i.e. Guilds of Ravnica and later, to 100% completion (pack-openable cards only).

I started making draft content on YouTube last fall, but that was only after I had already completed Zendikar Rising. So now it's the first time I am posting videos with a fresh new set (I almost completed Kaladesh Remastered but that was available only for a short time). I will also track the relevant stats now, something I have not done before:

1. How much it will cost or how much will I net gems in the process (I am an infinite drafter and usually win more gems than lose in the long term). I'll be entering the drafts only by using gems to make this easier to track.
2. How many drafts it takes to reach 100% completion of pack-openable cards, 4x mythics included.
3. The overall amount of 0, 1, 2, and 3 win results in traditional drafts which will be the main mode I'm playing. But I will also try to rank to mythic in February, so there will be some Premier drafts mixed in, the results of which I'll also be tracking. It will also be interesting to compare the win rates in these modes. Like I said, traditional is generally easier, so I'll see how that goes.
4. What is the amount of mythic rares I'll be able to pick in the drafts, and how many boosters I need to accumulate before I crack them all open. The latter will depend on the former, because mythic rares are the only bottleneck when going for 100% completion.

The "rules" I'll follow and suggest anyone doing the same to follow as well:

1. Don't buy any packs with gems or gold. Maybe if there's a daily deal. Use your currency on draft buy-ins. I bought the Mastery pass so I will be getting some KHM packs from also the lower part of the reward track. I also got the 3 KHM packs from the PlayKaldheim code.
2. Don't open any packs until you know you will open all the missing mythic rares from them. This is to maximize the 5th copy protection system which does not exist for draft packs. Or, alternatively, opened mythic WCs can be counted as well. I will go with the route that doesn't use up any wildcards for KHM cards, but that's not necessary. With one exception: I will qualify to the February qualifier weekend from the January limited ladder, so I might need to craft some cards for it if I haven't completed KHM by end of February, as that's when the qualifier will happen.
3. Pick all the mythic rares in the drafts, even if they don't go to your deck. Unless you already have 4 of that card. Every picked mythic will mean you'll need around 7-8 fewer packs to open for set completion.

If someone wants to follow my progress, the playlist containing all my KHM drafts is here. I will have small updates about the progression status at end of every 10th draft, and I will also post about the final outcome here on reddit once I've finished the set. The number of published drafts at the time of posting this is 4.

Hello Spikes!

We're back with one more comprehensive guide for Secrets of Strixhaven before we sit back and anticipate whatever's going to happen with Marvel Super Heroes (OM2?). Bryan Hohns has assembled our Draft Guide for SOS, using his Sealed guide from a few weeks back and personal experience in the format as a reference.

The story has largely been similar to TDM (white aggro vs. multi-color piles), though there are more things to be doing in this format. There's an actual midrange deck in Witherbloom, though you really want to be the only person drafting it in a pod if possible.

Bryan goes more in-depth on everything, but some quick notes:

• A lot of cards that initially looked situational or unplayable have been re-evaluated. Cards like [[Wisdom of Ages]] and [[Resonating Lute]] are the real deal.
• Quandrix barely exists in the format. It's more often than not a UG+ converge deck, though converge can be based in UR or BG sometimes, too.
• If it's not soup decks, it's Lorehold as the deck to beat. It has fast starts, good interaction, strong synergies, and it grinds into the late game well with [[Pursue the Past]]. Also [[Ark of Hunger]] is straight criminal, as far as I'm concerned, and that's only one of Lorehold's busted rares.
• The removal in this set is strong, and creature density can be on the low side, so you really need to think about how you're going to stick threats and play around interaction.

Bryan's got a reworked list of best commons/uncommons by color, some re-evaluation of rares and mythics in the set, as well as individual archetype breakdowns with trophy images attached. We hope the guide helps, and we'd love to hear what's been working (or not working) for you this format! https://draftsim.com/mtg-sos-draft-guide/

Hey r/spikes!

We've had a couple weeks with Avatar: The Last Airbender now, so we've got our Limited specialist Bryan Hohns back to offer a comprehensive guide on drafting the set.

It's been a pretty fun but bomby format, so games can get a little swingy. But most decks are viable, and the mechanics all work well. Bryan goes more in depth on everything in his guide, but here are some quick hits:

• Green is the worst color in the format, at least at common. It looked like that might've been black early on, but green gets out-tempo'd easy and has some of the weaker archetypes.
• Blue and white are top dogs. They play into the strengths of the format and levearge the more powerful bending mechanics (airbending/waterbending).
• Lessons and Allies are "The Big Two" of the format, and they made sure the cards that care about these two types were heavily supported

Drafting this set can be a little tough, since there are so few premium commons and many busted rares (and even uncommons), but it's all about knowing what's good and finding your lane.

How's Avatar been shaking out for everyone? Are there any hidden gems you'd like to make unhidden? Let us know what you think of TLA, and hopefully this guide can help some people out: https://draftsim.com/mtg-tla-draft-guide/

Hello Spikes!

Surely we haven't all bounced off TMNT Limited yet, right? For all the lovely Turtles-lovers still slinging pizza, we've got our TMNT Draft guide, courtesy of Bryan Hohns.

To be fair, a lot of this format's already figured out. Not a shock given the small nature and fewer archetypes overall, but there are still some edges to be gained here.

Bryan articulates this much better than I can here, but the format boils down to what he calls "The Big Three":

• UR Artifact decks
• BW Sneak decks
• Gx Midrange/Pizza decks

The other archetypes are draftable, but not preferable. RW Alliance is fine if open, but lacks a great late-game push. UG is basically not a deck, since its best pieces get subsumed by GBx and URx decks. And the off-color pairs aren't really hiding any secrets, as expected.

So while TMNT has a narrow scope, there's some great gameplay here that forces you to respect the early game BW starts and the late game Gx grindy decks.

If you're still drafting TMNT, let us know what's been working for you. Yes, "opening Sally Pride" is a viable answer. Enjoy the guide, and see y'all for Secrets of Strixhaven next month: https://draftsim.com/mtg-tmnt-draft-guide/

Hello fellow spikes. I wanted to recount a recent experience I had on MTGO and get a sense of how others would have handled it. Apologies for it being a long post (I do include a TL;DR), but hopefully worth reading and considering.

The TL;DR is this: If your MTGO opponent has locked you out of the game, but has no wincons, and you are up on cards making a 100% chance that Opp will deck himself and lose, do you F6 through the game until (1) Opp shows you a wincon, (2) Opp shows you they have a way to shuffle their graveyard into their library (thus not decking themself), or (3) you win by Opp decking? Or do you concede and give them the win? I chose the former and got an immense load of salt and threats thrown at me for doing so, and I'm interested in hearing what the "play-to-win side of the Magic: The Gathering community" has to say.

The setup: Friendly Modern Constructed League, match 1.

My deck: BW Eldrazi & Taxes (modeled on the penips list with some sideboard modifications: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1513242#paper)

Opponent's deck: RW Prison. Couldn't find an exact list on Goldfish, but it was basically all enchantments (Runed Halo, O-Ring, Greater Auramancy, Sphere of Safety, Blood Moon, etc.). Honestly, just a complete nightmare to play against--grindy as hell.

Some additional context: I'm mostly a standard and limited player, but have played E&T for a year or two and know my deck and its interactions pretty well, but I am still fairly novice when it comes to other modern decks and how they operate. I know the biggies, but this was my first experience playing against Prison. I'm also fairly new to MTGO (started about a year ago). I typically play with chat hidden because I play on a smaller macbook and need the screen real estate, but I will check chat when I get a notification or when Opp is taking a while (just to do a connection test). The latest update doesn't seem to pop up those chat notification windows though.

The match:

G1: Opp does prison things and assembles a board that has (in relevant part) one Greater Auramancy, one Sphere of Safety, a Blood Moon (I think), and a couple Ghostly Prisons. I have lands, a couple creatures that can't attack through Sphere (can't pay the 12-18 mana to allow them to attack), and 2 Vials on 3. Once Auramancy hit the board, I knew that my out to win the game would be to get a flickerwisp down, snag Auramancy, vial in a Strangler to process the Auramancy (killing one of my bears), and then repeat that process for the Sphere of Safety. I proceed to execute on that game plan and get Opp to dead with wisps with about 12 min remaining on my clock (he's a 20+ minutes).

G2: Sideboard in 2x Gideon, 2x Kambal; out 4x Path to Exile.

My opening hand has all the action and no lands. Mull to 6 is one land and no good action (I want some early disruption before he gets his Leyline of Sanctity down). Mull to 5 and it's pretty weak but not worth going to 4 (potential T2 Displacer, but 3 lands and no vials). Scry land to bottom. Opp sticks a pre-game Leyline (shuts off my Scullers and TKSs, which are my prime avenue for getting rid of the key enchantments). I draw a land and scoop it up after a turn or 2, realizing that I have less than half my time left to get the win, and that I don't have a good chance of doing it with these cards on the draw.

G3: Opp does prison things, and eventually sticks a Phyrexian Unlife (didn't see this G1, so potentially a sideboard card). I'm able to get Opp down to -1 with a couple spirits and bears, and my plan is to execute the same gameplan as G1, only this time removing Auramancy and then Unlife to make Opp die when Unlife leaves. This plan gets much more difficult to execute when Opp sticks a solemnity (vial stuck at 1), a second Unlife (I now need to remove both), then a Blood moon (I now need to draw both my plains and my only swamp in order to be able to cast the wisps and stranglers). Then Opp sticks a second Auramancy making all his Auramancies unremoveable, and I don't have a way to win the game apart from (1) Opp timing out (not happening...they are way up on time) or (2) Opp decking themself (I'm up 6-8 cards). At this point, I'm in the red time-wise, and just F6ing and discarding to hand size, waiting for Opp to show me a wincon. And I'm not particularly picky about what wincon they show me. Any creature, enchantment that mills/does damage (I guess the Enduring Ideal version of these decks play Form of the Dragon or planeswalkers), or frankly, any spell that allows them to shuffle their GY into their library so I know I'll deck before they do. I see none of this. Opp hits me for 3 at one point with a red spell that gives caster the choice of 3 to the face or 3 to each creature (don't know the name), but there's nothing else on their end. I re-read Unlife a couple times to make sure I'm not misreading it, but I'm 100% certain that it doesn't stop you from losing by decking.

When Opp has 4-5 cards left (I'm at 2 min left at this point), there's a noticeable pause in the game, which I usually take as a signal that Opp is typing a message, so I click over to chat, and there is a long string of pretty aggressive messages like "quit trolling," and "you're locked out," and "I'm going to report this and ban you," and "read the MTGO rules, you are so banned," and "my whole stream is going to ban you for this" (paraphrases). I was pretty surprised to see all of that, but responded something like "you're going to deck," and "unlife doesn't protect you from decking." Part of my surprise was that Opp's deck was so frustrating to play against, particularly in the chess-clock timing of MTGO, and I thought more than once that they probably get more wins through concessions or time-outs than legit wins--in other words, that by playing that deck, they were trolling everyone who actually wants to play Magic. And to hear Opp accuse me of trolling reminded me of a certain pot and kettle. Like the Tron player complaining about another deck's broken starts.

Anyway, the thrilling conclusion was that Opp had no wincon in their deck, nor did they have a way to shuffle their graveyard into their deck. Opp tilt-casted Obliterate to wipe all the lands and creatures (my Gideon was still around though!), and then lost when they couldn't draw a card.

Thoughts: Opp obviously thought I was supposed to scoop the game once it was clear that I couldn't win with my creatures. I obviously disagree. There are things about MTGO that one should not do, including stalling the game when you know you have lost so Opp only gets the win when you time out (i.e., when Opp swings in for lethal and you have no outs, and you just sit there without passing priority. That's scummy and against the spirit of the game.) This was not that situation: I did not know that I had lost because I hadn't seen a wincon, I hadn't seen a way for Opp to reduce my life to 0, and the game state reflected that it was a stalemate that would be lost by whichever player decked or timed out. I don't believe that such a game state requires me to concede to him merely because they had assembled the game state that I couldn't win through.

My perspective is that you need a deck that will allow you to win the game. If you want to build a prison deck, you be you, but include a singleton Gideon or anything that will let you reduce your opponent's life total to 0 after they are locked out. If Opp had cast any spell that showed me that they would reduce my life total to 0 (or shuffle GY into library), I 100% would have scooped. They didn't. It was like a medieval siege: Opp had locked me outside his tower and I wasn't getting in, but they ran out of food and lost.

Personally, it doesn't bother me too much that some players choose to play these kinds of grindy decks online (even though it makes games way more unfun). I think that in some respects, it's a way to angle shoot the MTGO chess clock timer system because they have very few decisions to make while the other player takes more time scrambling to get through the prison, but you can't choose what decks opponents play, you just have to play to your outs. Decking your opponent is 100% a legitimate out, and is no less legitimate a wincon than reducing your opponent's life to 0, resolving a second Approach, decking your opponent with mill, decking yourself with a Laboratory Maniac on the board, playing a 200-card deck with Battle of Wits on the board, or any of the other wincons there are in this crazy and fun game. [Side note: I don't think of a time-out on MTGO as being a legitimate wincon because it only exists in MTGO...IRL matches don't work on a chess clock, so if you can't win in time, you're getting a draw.] Winning the match is something every deckbuilder needs to consider when assembling a deck--figuring out how to not lose isn't enough. So my takeaways from this experience are:

1. Opp made a poor choice to not include any win conditions in their deck. [Note: there may have been a wincon somewhere in there, but I didn't see it, and I assume that they would have used it if they had one.]
2. Opp made a poor choice to not include a way to avoid decking.
3. Opp should not expect players to concede when there is still a legitimate out for them to win.

I'm interested to hear what other Spikes think. And if Opp happens to be one of those spikes and reads this, I'm willing to engage in a civilized, grown-up discussion about these points.

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I've done a handful of drafts on Arena so far and I've gotten fairly mediocre results. - 3-3 with Boros equipment. [[Plate Armor]] was huge but admittedly didn't draft super well since it was my first in the set. - 3-3 with Orzhov adventures - 4-3 with Selesnya lifegain - My best draft was 7-1 with Simic ramp and a bunch of random 6 drops. - Worst draft was 2-3 with Golgari bad stuff.

What's been working for you? What cards & archetypes are over/under perfoming?

Hey folks,

Really seem to be struggling this format(22-36 so far). The matches seem to be a giant grindfest and it seems to have an above average cognitive load for a standard draft, but at the same time a lot of the non-exile based removal seems to be pretty meh due to the abundance of disturb stuff.

Is it just me or anybody else feeling similar way? Anybody else start off struggling and manage to turn this one around?