MTG deck archetypes explained
These decks can’t do too much to remove the Combo deck’s key cards, and if the Combo is set up before they can deal enough damage, the Aggro player is toast. However, Control decks have enough interaction and staying power to cause big problems for decks that need specific cards on the board. Well, cheap interaction is useful in every deck, so stuff like Abrade and Silent Departure will come in handy. So make sure, you pack a mix of Ancestral Anger, Faithless Looting, and Think Twice when playing this deck. They tend to be two or three colours and have access to as many efficient creatures as possible.
Additionally, it’s quite difficult to deal with Aristocrat decks, as removing many of their creatures from play can be a direct benefit to that player. Making up a massive portion of Commander decks, Graveyard decks come in a wide variety of forms, but all aim to use their graveyard as a source of value. This allows a player’s graveyard to effectively function as a secondary hand, giving them more cards to access within their turn than they would have otherwise. Legacy has a great example in dragon stompy that uses cards like Chrome Mox and Simian Spirit Guide to accelerate out disruptive cards like Blood Moon and Chalice of the Void and lock your opponents out of the game. Another deck that turbos out threats is Urza Tron in Modern which uses the Urza lands to drop cards like Karn Liberated on turn 3.
If something bad happens, you probably have the answer somewhere in your library. The point is that most control decks are built with other common strategies in mind, so you will rarely face a situation that your deck can’t theoretically answer. A deck archetype is a name that we give to a common recurring strategy that a lot of different decks use. For instance, people noticed that many decks try to win quickly before other decks can stop them, so they gave that a name. One of the most popular Stax commanders is [c]Grand Arbiter August IV[/c], since he’s also an effective Stax card that can make the game difficult for your opponents. One popular commander for this strategy is [c]Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice[/c].
MTG Deck Archetype Examples
A combo deck is built around a small number of cards that, when played together, secure victory. That card combination can win directly, or it can make victory imminent. If your first meaningful creature comes out on turn four, then a control deck can probably handle it easily.
Combo decks aim to assemble a specific combination of cards that, together, produce a game-winning effect or infinite loop. Colors that are synonymous with Control decks are Blue, White, and Black. Each of these colors provides the means to put a stop to any deck strategy out there– so long as you have the cards in hand and mana to spare. The classic combo of Protean Hulk and Flash can overwhelm the board on turn two to the pain-wracked sobs of their opponents. Splinter Twin and Pestermite used to flood the board with endless Faeries that end the game on the spot.
Mono-Black Aggro is a relentless aggressive deck that focuses on deploying efficient creatures backed by disruptive spells. The deck typically features a mix of low-cost creatures with disruptive abilities, such as discard effects and removal spells, alongside aggressive threats that can quickly close out the game. Red Deck Wins is a classic aggressive Magic deck known for its simplicity and effectiveness. The deck typically consists of a low-to-the-ground creature base, complemented by a suite of burn spells and direct damage effects. Creatures in the deck are often cheap and efficient, allowing players to flood the battlefield early and apply relentless pressure. Fast creature deployment is crucial for maintaining pressure and seizing control of the game.
#3: GBx Midrange
They can let you put down another creature or two before playing Shatter the Sky. They can counter it before you get it on the board and have a whole turn to themselves. If you don’t have a particular rare card, it’s very likely that there is another card you have that fits your deck’s goal.
Using cards like [c]Trinisphere[/c], [c]Winter Orb[/c], and [c]Tangle Wire[/c], Stax decks slow down the game immensely until they find a few combo pieces to finish the game off. This might seem surprising, but I actually consider Mill to be an aggro deck. For those of you who don’t know, milling means putting a card from the library straight to the graveyard. If at some point in the game, you have to draw a card but you have no cards left in your library, you lose the game instead. Mill decks leverage this rule by milling their opponent’s entire library.
But as we mentioned at the beginning of this guide, this concept is only simple on paper. While Combo strategies excel against Aggro decks, they fall victim to the disruption that Control archetypes specialize in. A simple Counterspell or various forms of removal could put a mtg card stop to a Combo deck before it has the chance to get the ball rolling. Midrange archetypes try to marry the strengths of control and aggro. These decks are built for flexibility, but they do have their own identity and gameplan. Midrange decks generally rely on creatures that cost around four to six mana.
Some archetypes might be weaker in a format, but as the meta-chosen decks shift, they can become much better. An aggro deck in Limited will function similarly to its Constructed counterpart. You want a low curve of creatures to beat down early, backed by a stouter threat or two. You could find yourself running combat tricks like Giant Growth both to help win combats and push through some extra damage in lieu of burn spells. Don’t be afraid to play a less exciting option or two to make sure you’re consistently adding to the board in the early turns. Even the aggressive and controlling ones will be closer to the middle of the spectrum because of how unfocused the decks are.
Competitive Magic: The Gathering – Archetype Introduction
White Weenie, while capable of explosive turns, may struggle to maintain consistent damage output if its board presence is disrupted by removal spells or sweepers. The strategy of Mono-Black Aggro revolves around disrupting the opponent’s game plan while simultaneously applying pressure with aggressive creatures. The name ‘MTG Aggro’ comes from the word ‘aggressive’, and these decks are most powerful in the early stages of a Magic game.
Once a Prison deck assembles enough of its combo pieces, it essentially prevents the opponent from either casting spells or attacking with their creatures. From there, it’s a simple matter of playing a powerful creature or planeswalker to finish off the game. Prison decks aim to lock the opponent out of the game through a combination of unique artifacts and enchantments. [c]Chalice of the Void[/c] is one of the signature cards of the archetype, as it can shut out all cards of a certain mana cost.