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Limited Experience: M13

Drafting M13

I have been drafting M13 a lot lately, in preparation for both the World Magic Cup and the Players’ Championship, and have come to a bunch of conclusions about the format. While I don’t really want to write an article about my constructed preparation because that would give away too much, I am happy to share what I feel I have learnt about M13. I feel that there are definitely multiple archetypes you can go into, and the draft format is fairly well balanced. Let’s start with what I think the best archetypes are, in my experience. Obviously premium removal spells are good in all these decks, but sometimes you need to go with synergy instead.

RG aggro:

The classic weenie strategy, I think this deck works best with cheap creatures, pump spells, and removal. You don’t really want to be playing [card]Vastwood Gorger[/card] in this deck. This is probably the premier red aggro deck in the format in my eyes, and like all red aggro decks in the format, you really want to take advantage of the goblins available, namely [card]Mogg Flunkies[/card] and ideally [card]Arms Dealer[/card]. Flunkies really wants 1 drops, so pick up those Arbor Elves and [card]Goblin Arsonist[/card]s so you can be getting in for tons of early damage. You basically want to put out early pressure quickly enough that your opponent struggles to stabilize, and you get them with a burn spell or a pump spell for lethal.

Best cards: [card]Rancor[/card], [card]Flinthoof Boar[/card], [card]Arms Dealer[/card], [card]Mogg Flunkies[/card]

Most underrated pickups: [card]Chandra’s Fury[/card], [card]Goblin Arsonist[/card], [card]Bladetusk Boar[/card]

UB control:

If RG is the classic weenie strategy, this is the classic grindy strategy. Removal, Card draw, and counter spells combine to form the perfect ‘answer deck’. Generally, you want to be first picking removal spells or bomb creatures (such as Vampire Nighthawk). Cards like [card]Servant of Nepharox[/card] and [card]Walking Corpse[/card] are not what you want here. You really want to play a defensive role until you can start to overwhelm your opponent with card advantage. [card]Divination[/card], [card]Sign in Blood[/card], and [card]Archaeomancer[/card] are your main sources of card advantage. [card]Scroll Thief[/card], while much worse than in previous formats, is still strong in this deck, as you are best at clearing a path for him to connect. This is perhaps my favourite archetype, and I once had a build that won with [card]Elixir of Immortality[/card]. Yes, I won by answering EVERYTHING, and making sure that I didn’t deck out.

Best cards: [card]Murder[/card], [card]Archaeomancer[/card], [card]Fog Bank[/card], [card]Essence Drain[/card]

Most underrated pickups: [card]Augur of Bolas[/card], [card]Kraken Hatchling[/card], [card]Essence Scatter[/card]

BW Exalted:

Like the name implies, the goal is to be attacking with one creature each turn. While this doesn’t always happen (due to Magic being a complicated game), you usually want to gather up a bunch of exalted dudes and swing in with the biggest/most evasive one. The advantage of this, of course, is that your inferior creatures can trade up, and that lots of removal, such as Encrust and Pacifism, hardly affect you at all. The bad news is that cards like Murder and Searing Spear can also be Time-Walks, but the next turn another creature is just going to attack for a ton. In my opinion, the difference between a good exalted deck and a bad one is not just the amount of exalted creatures (though obviously the more the merrier), but the deck’s defensive ability. You want to have good blockers and/or removal to deal with the scariest threats from your opponent, so you don’t die before they are under The Abyss every one of your attack steps.

Best cards: [card]Knight of Infamy[/card], [card]Knight of Glory[/card], [card]Aven Squire[/card], [card]Pacifism[/card]

Most underrated pickups: [card]Guardians of Akrasa[/card], [card]Crusader of Odric[/card], [card]Tormented Soul[/card]

UW fliers:

This is, as it usually has been, a racing deck. Your opponent attacks on the ground while you attack in the skies, and manage to tilt the race in your favour through trickery despite their superior ground forces. [card]Welkin Tern[/card] is the poster boy for this strategy, as an efficient 2/1 flyer if you don’t care about blocking. Generally, a couple of walls on the ground will go a long way to helping you win the race, as will cards like Downpour, which no one else really wants ([card]Feeling of Dread[/card]’s little brother, let/s play nice kids). While [card]Divination[/card] is a solid card, this deck usually doesn’t find the time to be casting it, and would rather instead be playing another beater or blocker.

Best cards: [card]Talrand’s Invocation[/card], [card]Welkin Tern[/card], [card]Serra Angel[/card], [card]Arctic Aven[/card]

Most underrated pickups: [card]Downpour[/card], [card]Healer of the Pride[/card], [card]Show of Valor[/card]

UG tempo:

This is sort of a hybrid between UW fliers and RG aggro. You basically want to be playing cheap threats, often with evasion but sometimes just cheap green fat, but instead of backing them up with red removal and more speed, you want cards like Unsummon, Prey Upon and Sleep to keep them off their feet long enough to build up an unbeatable board position and/or kill them. [card]Watercourser[/card] and [card]Centaur Courser[/card] are at their best in this deck. Flyers are always good, but sometimes all you need is to play is fatties and tricks. Tricks of the Trade is another card that shines in this deck, especially on a [card]Primal Huntbeast[/card]. Good Luck racing that.

Best cards: [card]Watercourser[/card], [card]Prey Upon[/card], [card]Sleep[/card], [card]Centaur Courser[/card]

Most underrated pickups: [card]Primal Huntbeast[/card], [card]Tricks of the Trade[/card], [card]Unsummon[/card]

WR swarm:

This is an archetype I first came across in a draft with Vincent Thibeault. Both red and white have cards that can produce multiple creatures at common ([card]Captain’s Call[/card], [card]Attendant Knight[/card], [card]Krenko’s Command[/card]), as well as cards to pump them up (Trumpet Blast, Glorious Charge). Combine them and you have the makings of a potential token deck. Griffin Protector is another potential ‘combo’ piece. I find this is a fairly fringe deck, however, and I wouldn’t recommend drafting it unless you notice multiple pieces in the first pack, or get a bomb for the deck such as Krenko, Mob Boss (who is obviously insane in his own right), or Odric, Master Tactician. Sometimes, this deck ends up as just WR aggro, but I really think that in M13 limited you want focus over raw power.

Best cards: [card]Arms Dealer[/card], [card]Attendant Knight[/card], [card]Krenko’s Command[/card], [card]Griffin Protector[/card]

Most underrated pickups: [card]Captain’s Call[/card], [card]Trumpet Blast[/card], [card]Glorious Charge[/card]

While there are other archetypes that can work, these are the ones I have seen be most successful. Similarly, I have changed my viewpoint on many different cards in the set after seeing them be successful. Here is the list of the 10 cards that surprised me the most (one way or another)

10. [card]Duty-Bound Dead[/card]

At first, I thought this would be insane. A 1 mana regenerating blocker with a bonus! However, the black decks tend to be fairly controllish and not really need the 1 extra point (except perhaps the BW exalted deck). Four mana is also quite a lot to keep open every turn, and often death comes from above, so this guy doesn’t block as well as you might think.

First impressions: Amazing

Current thoughts: Mediocre

9. [card]Vedalken Entrancer[/card]

I started playing during Ravnica, and the first draft I ever did I was trounced by my friend playing mill. How was I killed? I bet you can guess. During Ravnica, the Entrancer was a legitimate bomb, resilient to most removal and tough enough to survive most attacks. In M13 however, he is very underwhelming. First of all, creatures are a lot better than they used to be. This guy often comes down at the same time as opposing 4/4s! Also, due to exalted being in the format, even the little guys don’t get blocked. While I think Vedalken Entrancer is a fine card for control mirrors, I really would not look to pick him up outside of a dedicated mill deck, whereas before I though he was quite good.

First Impressions: Solid

Current thoughts: Bad

8. [card]Scroll Thief[/card]

As I said earlier, in previous formats this card was an all-star, and now just average. What happened? Well, this is probably the first draft format in awhile where Grizzly Bears are just not very good. There are just so many defensive creatures on the ground, combined with Exalted, which means that your bear on defence won’t trade for mine. Scroll Thief was a master at holding off said bears, because even if they had 2, they couldn’t attack with both in fear of you drawing a card. Now, Bears are getting +1/+1 bonuses when they attack, and they are also simply getting more time on the bench, so Scroll Thief should too.

First impressions: Excellent

Current thoughts: Good in certain archetypes

7. [card]Crippling Blight[/card]

-1/-1 for B has always been a playable card in Limited, but nothing that you really got excited about. In Avacyn Restored, I would often receive 12-13th pick Ghoulflesh and often would only ever play 1 in my main deck. It is really incredible what a single line of text can do for a card. Being able to eliminate blockers is really huge in this format, and combined with neutralizing a point of attack, along with the obvious benefit of killing of X/1s, makes this card a real hit. People just often don’t realize how easy it is for a black deck to get past blockers now.

First impressions: Good

Current thoughts: Excellent

6. [card]Mark of the Vampire[/card]

I really like 2 for 1s. Similarly, I really dislike getting 2 for 1ed. However, some cards are simply worth it, and Mark of the Vampire is one of them. After playing enough M13 and watching this card dominate games, I really began to like it more and more. Sure, sometimes they have the removal spell, but usually you can wait it out. Other times, even the one hit while your opponent is tapped out is enough to swing the game in your favour, and of course, sometimes they simply have nothing and you just dominate the game. I saw a match where one player was at 68 life against an aggressive red deck! Of course, this is best against Red and Green, because Unsummon, Murder, and Pacifism all answer it efficiently, but usually they would rather save those for your bombs instead of your dorks with enchantments on them. And what happens when you enchant Primal Huntbeast with this? Yes, your opponent does cry.

First impressions: Bad

Current thoughts: Good

5. [card]Rise from the Grave[/card]

I like killing my opponents bombs and returning them on my side. However, this format seems to usually be less about bombs, and more about swarms, either of exalted creatures or goblins. Occasionally there is something nice to take, but I have generally found it to be much, much worse than it was in previous formats. Seriously, think about what you are going to take. Zombie Goliath is a card that you aren’t excited to play, and this card’s best case scenario is pretty much taking a 4/4. To say nothing of what happens when your opponent has an unsummon.

First impressions: Good

Current thoughts: Almost unplayable

4. [card]Downpour[/card]

Feeling of Dread at least had flashback. I really didn’t even consider playing this at first, until it was played against me, and I had to use my Negate on it or die. I continued to watch it get played to good effect, and I continued to change my opinion on it. While I would not advocate playing it in all your decks (for instance, this is terrible in UB control), this is a solid role-player in certain decks.

First impressions: Unplayable

Current thoughts: Role-Player

3. The Rings

I thought they were all pretty good if you had enough creatures of that colour. I was even considering first-picking the black one out of an average pack. Now, I can see myself playing any of them in the right deck, but I really don’t think that they are auto-included. The black one is clearly the best, and I like the red and green ones, but I would definitely play a fairly average creature over one of them (except maybe the black one). They just take so much time to really get going, and can cause some awkward draws.

First impressions: Good

Current thoughts: Mediocre

2. [card]Chronomaton[/card]

I thought this guy was ok, a solid 1 drop. Then I kept losing to him. Then I started picking them up 3-4th pick, and it would either flat out win me the game, or eat a premium removal spell. The key is that you can usually delay your curve for a turn to pump him up, and he gives you stuff to do with your mana in the late game, and is a way to break board stalls. Basically, he is everything that I had hoped for from the Rings.

First Impressions: Fine

Current Thoughts: Nuts!

1. [card]Archaeomancer[/card]

I was really not impressed with this card, and expected it to wheel a ton. Well, it still wheels a ton, but my opinions sure have changed. The more and more I played the format, the higher and higher this card went on my pick orders. I don’t know why I didn’t remember how good Izzet Chronarch was, but this card is only one colour and costs a mana less for the same thing (with 1 less power, but lets be serious here, the body is not the most important thing). Being able to rebuy key cards (such as Murder) with additional value, plus they synergy with Unsummon, really makes this guy fantastic. Obviously, you need Instants and Sorceries to go with him, but its not hard, and he gives you whichever one is good at the time. Have advantage on board? Get back Essence Scatter. Need to push through more damage? Get back Downpour. Need to kill that pesky dude? Get back Murder. Need to win the game? Get back Sleep. He is basically the equivalent of Snapcaster for limited. Grab them before they are all gone.

First Impressions: Fine

Current Thoughts: Essential

Thanks for reading, and may you not Franky Richards* your drafts!

*Franky, normally an excellent drafter, has been cursed to be unable to win at M13 limited. As his friend, I feel it is my duty to make fun of him. There you have it.

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