Magic: The Gathering - The Best Theros Beyond Death Draft Archetypes
Magic: The Gathering players have now had a few weeks time with the Theros Beyond Death set and some powerful play patterns are starting to emerge. As the community gets more games under its collective belt, certain cards and decks are definitely rising in popularity for both Limited and Constructed play.
Magic players who prefer to stick to Drafts and Sealed tournaments are likely keeping a close eye on the pros and popular streamers to see which decks are delivering the best results. As always, winning will take individual skill and practice, but knowing which archetypes are the best is definitely an important skill to have in your Limited toolkit.
Archetypes for each set definitely rise and fall in popularity which will influence how strong they are at each table. For example, if G/B Escape seems like the best archetype and everyone starts drafting it, the format will autocorrect course and that archetype will become weaker because everyone is fighting for the same cards. That is all part of what makes drafting such a fun tournament style, but keep in mind that which deck to play really will depend on which colors are open for your seat and what signals you are being passed.
With that in mind, let's dive into some of the most exciting archetypes that have arisen during the first few weeks of Theros Beyond Death play...
This Rakdos color pairing just has some amazing tools in Theros Beyond Death. The Escape mechanic is no joke, but even without bomb Escape pay offs, Red/Black is still a great place to be if the color pair is open. The main selling point here is access to some of the best removal in the set, but the color pair is also surprisingly flexible for a change. A lot of decks will definitely be super aggressive like players may expect, but the card pool is deep enough to support some slower controlling decks as well if players manage to pick up some of those big pay off cards.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that an Auras deck is delivering in Theros (a plane popular for its love of the enchantments). The white/green color pair has some very fun tools to work with here and, although enchantments are usually too risky in drafts because of the potential for 2 for 1 exchanges, this set is built around making it worth the risk. These aggressive decks really take advantage of efficient and cheap creatures who are powered up by enchantments for maximum value, card advantage, and damage output.
Magic fans who like to slowly squeeze the life out of their opponents are probably already loving the strengths of the blue/black control archetype. This archetype is all about taking advantage of the strong removal spells that blue and black have access to and slowing the game down. Players who are able to snatch up some solid removal and some early game creatures who can basically function as walls will be rewarded with some late game payoffs long after their opponents have run out of steam. In a format with some strong aggro decks this can be a bit of a risky archetype, but so far the format's most popular fast decks don't seem to outpace this one by too much.
Once again, Escape is a very powerful mechanic. Although there aren't a ton of big fancy cards to highlight this color pair, both green and black are just full of very playable cards. The fantastic removal in black paired with green's ramping and help with splashing make the pair very versatile and flexible. Green is also stacked with powerful creatures and there's enough self mill going around to really take advantage of the Escape arsenal that comes with this archetype.
Magic veterans likely remember Ferocious as an ability from Khans of Tarkir that cares about players controlling a creature with power four or greater. Although the keyword doesn't appear in Theros Beyond Death, the spirit of Ferocious is strong with the Red/Green archetype. This deck provides some awesome heavy hitters and pairs the deep green pool of creatures and mana abilities with some red removal and additional creatures. Players who manage to assemble the fairly realistic start of mana dork into powerful creatures by turn four are going to be able to run away with a lot of games as the most powerful mid-range deck at the table.
This is just a highlight of the most popular archetypes currently bouncing around, but there are definitely some niche decks that players shouldn't be ashamed to draft and try out. The set is full of some interesting build around cards that can really lead to trouble if the deck doesn't come together, but have some high ceilings when all the pieces are in play. There isn't anything quite like the Gates decks that players got used to last year, but the format is still young, so let's give everyone a little more time to try and push the limits and see what sort of damage they can do.
Be sure to check back in the near future for more Magic: The Gathering strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, draw well, planeswalkers!
Magic: The Gathering's Theros: Beyond Death set released January 24, 2020. Magic Arena is available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices. The Magic: The Gathering Throne of Eldraine expansion set is available now.
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