This deck will have some draws where Archfiend has to play defense and you won’t have enough pressure to kill the opponent before those oil counters all slip away. All that said, today I will be presenting my picks for the top decks of the weekend, so you can either choose to take one of them into the fray, or at least be aware of what your opponent’s will be bringing so you feel prepared. Both of these scenarios can severely hinder your deck’s performance and make it difficult to win games. You can determine the appropriate amount of mana sources for your 60-card MTG deck by considering the factors mentioned above and by playtesting your deck.
However, a general guideline is to include around creatures in a 60-card deck. In limited formats, players must build decks using a smaller pool of cards, which can sometimes lead to unexpected and exciting gameplay. You don’t want to include too many removal spells or board wipes at the expense of card advantage, but you also don’t want to neglect removal entirely. Creatures are the backbone of any deck, and they are essential for dealing damage to your opponent.
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Seemingly scruffy creatures see a lot of play and win a lot of games in Draft, which is one of the reasons why the format is both challenging and so much fun. Constructed formats allow players to build decks using any cards they own, while limited formats require players to build decks using a limited pool of cards. For a ratio on how many of each card type to include in a deck, you’re looking at about 36 playables like creatures and spells to 24 lands. Of those 36 playables you should split it down the middle between creatures and spells. The types of cards players choose should also take into consideration what their opponent’s deck might have. You don’t have many tools to fight against aggro decks so focus on executing your own game plan.
What Kind of Decks Run Lots of Lands?
This gives us possible pressure later in the game even after our opponent thinks they have stabilized the board. The powerful part of Screaming Nemesis is that if you damage an opponent with its trigger, they can’t gain life for the rest of the game. Against life gain decks or a life gain spell, you can cast a Burst Lightning or Shock on your own Screaming Nemesis, redirect that damage to your opponent, and give them that can’t gain life debuff.
These decks can function on just a few sources of mana and want to draw the bare minimum number of lands needed to cast a few cheap spells each turn. Aggro decks focus on dealing damage quickly and efficiently, often using low-cost creatures and spells. Control decks focus on disrupting the opponent’s game plan and winning in the late game. Midrange decks focus on a balance between aggression and control, using a variety of creatures and spells to maintain board presence. Combo decks rely on specific card interactions to achieve a powerful effect.
Additionally, constructed decks should be finely tuned to your playstyle and should include a mix of creatures, spells, and lands. Your mana base refers to the lands and other cards that provide mana for your spells. For example, a combo deck relies on specific card interactions to achieve a powerful effect, while a control deck focuses on disrupting the opponent’s game plan. When building a deck, it is important to consider the number and types of lands you include. Now think about how you can only have four copies of any card with the same name in your deck at one time. Let’s quickly mention Two-Headed Giant, a format where 2 players play against other two players.
When building a multi-colored deck, adjusting the land count becomes more complicated. You need to balance the number of lands of each color to ensure you have the right mana base to cast your spells. In this section, I will cover how to adjust land counts in two-color decks and how to build a mana base for three or more colors. Pauper is often referred to as the “Legacy Lite” version of the actual Legacy format for a good reason. It shares almost pauper decks the same card pool with Legacy, but the latter enjoys a better mana base thanks to dual lands like Tropical Island that can be searched to fix your mana using fetch lands. Brainstorm plays a crucial role in these decks, allowing you to manipulate your library alongside the search effects from fetch lands.
Even if you’re playing in a heavy aggro meta, you’ll still adapt to the needs of your own individual deck. If 75% of the meta is mono-red aggro and you’re playing an Esper () control deck, you still need the appropriate number of lands a typical control deck would need, regardless of what your opponents are doing. Obviously, it depends on your deck, but I believe players should look for reasons to play more lands, not fewer. People love cutting lands because it psychologically makes them feel like they’ll flood less (statistically true, but by a minor amount). However, mana screw is significantly worse than mana flood, and I’d rather ensure I’m hitting my first handful of lands than worry about how I’m going to fight mana flood.
Commander and Legacy Format
It’s rare that you get to draft many bombs, because other players want them, too. Therefore, good drafting is all about figuring out how to make your deck consistent while maximizing your use of the powerful cards. One of the single best tips I can impart to novice drafters is to draft your creatures on a curve. This will make your deck play dramatically better by giving you the best chance to cast a creature that matters every turn of the game. When you review your cards, keep the holes in your curve in mind and choose good creatures that plug holes whenever possible.
It can help you get key cards into your graveyard for reanimation, but is also a threat itself, as attacking with Threshold will give you an 8/8 token. It is worth noting that the token is legendary, so don’t think you’ll be able to keep attacking with Kiora and keep getting more and more tokens. You should also learn about the other corner case uses of Boros Charm so you are prepared for them to grant indestructible or double strike instead of just using it for four damage.
This deck has a lot of creatures, so you shouldn’t be too concerned when one dies. These will all help us get through or around blockers that may be in our way, and allow us to get in damage early and often. Feather of Flight and Demonic Ruckus also draw cards, the former on the way in and the latter on the way out, which can help us keep up if we are playing against a deck with a lot of removal. Best of One is usually dominated by aggro decks, and I don’t think that has changed. So today I’m going to go over the Top 2 aggro decks in the format, and then go over a midrange deck for those of you who want to slow things down. The goal of this deck is to have Enduring Vitality in play as well as Valley Floodcaller and some number of otters.
Additionally, it still gives you some heavy hitters in your lineup to break stalemates. As you draft more, you will realize that different deck archetypes work best with the hump of the curve at different points, but in the early days this should be enough to get you by. The general rule of thumb for most formats is that roughly 40% of your deck should be lands, which translates to 24 lands in a 60-card deck. Mathematicians much smarter than myself have done the analysis for us, and my experience tells me that it works out. Ramp spells can help you accelerate your game plan, allowing you to play your win conditions earlier than your opponent can respond.