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Archetypes in M15
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Author:  rstnme [ Fri Aug 01, 2014 11:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Archetypes in M15
I wanted to start a thread about the various archetypes in M15--what you've played that works; what works all the time; what you notice other players are drafting. This is inspired by my very fun pod tonight. I went 2-1, losing to the pod winner, who had a nasty burn deck and welkin terns... and when I mean nasty, I opened Nissa, Worldwaker and picked that and he got a Cone of Flame from the same pack 5 picks later... ???

But it's my deck that I want to talk about tonight.

GB dredge.

OK, it's not really dredge, but at this point I'm beginning to think Satyr Wayfinder is the best green common. It basically reads: "1/1 convoke enabler. Draw a card." Which, for 2 mana, IS BONKERS.

With Unmake the Grave at common and Endless Obedience at uncommon, I think it's entirely possibly to bring all your boys to the yard, the graveyard, and pick and choose what you get to "draw" or convoke onto the battlefield from it. I mean, Unmake the Grave IS AN INSTANT. Block, convoke, draw cards, profit??? Hell yes.

Anyway, you pretty much need 4 common cards to make a dredge-ish GB deck:

1. Satyr Wayfinder - draws land, fills yard, if you don't have at least 2 you're not in the right deck
2. Undergrowth Scavenger - profits from yard, usually ahead of curve if you're thoughtfully sequencing
3. Unmake the Grave - usually draws you two spells at instant-speed (!!!)
4. Netcaster Spider - stops flyers, which suck and kill you good

Add in some Black Cats, Rotfeaster Maggots, and generic green beaters like, iunno, ANY OF THEM, and you're well on your way to a decent GB deck. Plummet is maindeckable here, as is Crippling Blight, and Restock is good as well.

Playing the deck feels very powerful. You start off with aggressive 2-drops, while always hitting your land drops via satyr, then curve into M15's nice 3-drops and continue to profit by either landing a giant scavenger or convoking a Siege Wurm onto the battlefield. You just never feel like you run out of gas... unless, obviously, you're playing against the guy with 3 forge devil and more burn than Satan's buffalo-wing-loving heart.

It also feels very linear. You don't worry about trading as much because you feel like your creatures are, even in the yard, playable, and your 4-drop scavenger becomes a bomb by about turn 4 or, failing that, your maggots give you life/reach. You just have to be smart about removing flyers and such, but that's totally fine if you have some experience.

Note too I haven't said "play Necromancer's Apprentice. Card is terrible. Why? Because it trades down and doesn't draw you a card.

Anyway, I think it's a fun deck. It allows you to be greedy in all the right ways. I think it can be unbeatable barring an unbalanced draft--I know I could've beaten everyone else in my pod had I played them, and I was drafting green in the middle of two players who were also drafting green.

I look forward to hearing more archetypes. Hope this helped.
Author:  Cato [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 2:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
Necroassist is fine. It's not good, but you need a certain number of bodies to make your convoke spells work, and sometimes you can't get enough of the better ones.

As for green/black in general, you can get some value out of the self mill, but not all that much, and I don't think it's enough to build around. I mean, you play wayfinder anyways because it lets you cast your big spells, trades for x/1s, and helps convoke, but undergrowth scavenger, really? Just play every removal spell you can get your hands on, along with a couple of finishers and a decent curve.
Author:  chinkeeyong [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
I did a run-down of M15 draft archetypes a while back. Here's my impression post-release:

: Fliers
: Pure control
: Removal-heavy midrange
: Stompy
: Convoke
: Lifegain
: Artifacts
: Graveyard value
: Auras
: Self-bounce
Author:  rstnme [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
@cato I would've agreed with you prior to this last draft. I scorned scavenger as main deck fluff. Having played it, not so much.

@ cky UG is really the convoke deck. WB is the weenie value deck. RW auras hinges on broodmaster. UR doesn't need artifacts to win but they REALLY help. GW is the weenies + value deck. WB is... not life gain, but... removal weenie? All this is from my POV and if you have examples please share.

I do think green and black are currently over drafted.
Author:  chinkeeyong [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
Of course, there's more than one way to build a deck. I'm just talking about possible subthemes in each color combination.
Author:  Cato [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
CKY, I think you overestimate the importance of a small number of low-impact cards in defining archetypes.

My rundown is as follows:
:u::w:: tempo aggro
:u::r:: Also tempo aggro
:u::g:: bad
:u::b:: skies
:g::w:: convoke midrange beatdown
:g::b:: rock midrange control, some convoke
:g::r:: midrange
:w::r:: weenie aggro
:w::b:: no real theme, just goodstuff
:b::r:: no real theme, just goodstuff
Author:  rstnme [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
UG is mainly terrible bc it has the worst removal. I feel like I could try going all-in on creatures though, like the Simic decks of gatecrash, with only a couple of void snares/encrusts as removal. I think I overestimate siege wurm in the format currently.
Author:  sixty4half [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
I had been thinking about this deck type the last few days actually because I always see these cards not being drafted. I'm interested why you don't like the necromancers assistant though. He seems to be right up your alley in terms of strategy. He puts guys in the GY and has 3 powered so he can trade with most other 3 and 4 drops putting two more creatures in the GY for your undergrowth scavenger.
Author:  rstnme [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 11:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
He's OK, but this format is very heavily reliant on powerful three-drops, and compared to those three-drops he's terrible. Also crippling blight and forge devil make him worse. Unlike wayfinder he doesn't net you a card he just dumps them into your gy, and it's not like you can run 4 unmakes or 4 endless d's to guarantee getting value off that.
Author:  Tymestalker [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
UG is beef/bounce I think. Most of green beaters will work, but if you're in this archetype, you want to prioritize Pathmage, Into the Void and Lynx in blue IMO. Gets your bigger creatures through.
Author:  Zenbitz [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 6:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
I like Peel + Frost Lynx with UG. I am not 100% on Into the Void because it's so expensive (relative to peel and void snare)
Author:  Cato [ Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
The problem with blue green is that it has neither removal nor the speed to end the game before you need it.
Author:  Dr_Demento [ Sun Aug 03, 2014 1:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Archetypes in M15
I was a big fan of U/R artifacts until people caught on and started picking Mongrels and Tinkerers highly.
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