Out of all the core sets I’ve played limited with so far, M12 is shaping up to be the most enjoyable one to date. Wizards seems to have put in a lot of effort to balance the colors and make people have a reason to play each of them. Also, there are more archetypes than usual in core set limited. The increased amount of synergy within archetypes helps to overwhelm bombs that would usually take over games in core set limited, which is usually a big problem.
For part 1 of my guide to M12 limited I’m going to talk about an M12 draft archetype that I’m very fond of, BR Aggro. I’m also going to go over a few cards that have stood out for me in my experience with M12 limited thus far.
BR Aggro
This is an archetype that I’ve had success with. Ideally, when drafting this deck you want to have 15 lands, lots of 1 and 2 drops, a few 4 drops, and very few, if any, 4 and 5 drops. Your 4 and 5 drops should be your finishers, or else they probably shouldn’t be making the cut. The great thing about having so few lands is that you will usually have a lot of gas, and the deck can generally run off 2-3 lands. You want to be spending early picks drafting as much cheap removal, and burn, as possible like [card]Shock[/card], [card]Incinerate[/card], [card]Doom Blade[/card], and [card]Sorin’s Thirst[/card]. Generally, you can then get the bulk of the deck, random durdles, in the later picks because no one else is interested in them. You want to have as many creatures with evasion as possible, like [card]Goblin Tunneler[/card], [card]Tormented Soul[/card], and [card]Duskhunter Bat[/card], as well as cards that give you reach like [card]Lava Axe[/card], [card]Tectonic Rift[/card], and [card]Goblin Grenade[/card].
Here is a sample list of mine that went 3-1 in an 8-man team draft:
[deck title=BR Aggro by Francis Toussaint]
[Creatures]
2 Goblin Arsonist
2 Goblin Fireslinger
2 Tormented Soul
1 Crimson Mage
1 Goblin Piker
1 Goblin Tunneler
2 Fiery Hellhound
1 Bloodrage Vampire
1 Blood Ogre
1 Gorehorn Minotaurs
1 Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Shock
1 Goblin Grenade
2 Dark Favor
1 Fling
1 Scepter of Empires
2 Chandra’s Outrage
1 Tectonic Rift
1 Lava Axe
[/Spells]
[Lands]
1 Dragonskull Summit
9 Mountain
5 Swamp
[/Lands]
[/deck]
Something to take note of for this deck are the 6 creatures that cost 1. 1 drops are really important in this archetype because they enable turn 2 Bloodthirst on [card]Stormblood Berserker[/card] and [card]Duskhunter Bat[/card], and they play well with [card]Dark Favor[/card] and [card]Goblin War Paint[/card]. Another reason it’s important to have a lot of 1 drops is because they help you curve out. Curving out is especially important for this archetype because you want to make sure you end the game as soon as possible.
Here are important cards in the deck, and combos within the archetype:
[card]Tormented Soul[/card] + [card]Dark Favor[/card]/[card]Goblin War Paint[/card]
Turn 1 [card]Tormented Soul[/card], turn 2 [card]Dark Favor[/card] is probably the most devastating thing this deck can do. They need to come up with an answer to this quick, or else it is game over. [card]Dark Favor[/card] and [card]Goblin Warpaint[/card] are great in the deck even without putting it on a creature with evasion. Just slapping it on a creature and getting in for an extra 2-3 damage, then having the creature removed the next turn isn’t even that bad. When you play enchantments you always run the risk of getting 2-for-1’d, but in a deck like this, the risk is worth the reward.
As far as [card]Dark Favor[/card] versus [card]Goblin War Paint[/card], I prefer [card]Dark Favor[/card]. In my opinion, the extra power is more relevant than the extra toughness. Id rather be able to do more damage, than be able to rumble better with opposing creatures. [card]Dark Favor[/card] is obviously better in conjunction with creatures that have evasion. The haste bonus on [card]Goblin War Paint[/card] isn’t too relevant because you’re not usually going to have too much mana to work with in this archetype anyhow.
[card]Goblin Tunneler[/card] + [card]Fiery Hellhound[/card]
This is another combination that will punish opponents unless they have an answer quick. It’s also important to note that you can give a creature with power 2 or less unblockability, and then slap a [card]Dark Favor[/card], or [card]Goblin War Paint[/card], and get in for unblockable damage.
[card]Goblin Tunneler[/card] is solid in general at being a slightly more awkward evasion creature, with a great pay-off when using one of the combinations above. [card]Goblin Tunneler[/card] is also great against blue opponents who play with [card]Phantasmal Bear[/card], or try to [card]Ice Cage[/card] your creatures.
[card]Goblin Fireslinger[/card] + [card]Tormented Soul[/card]
In a deck like this [card]Goblin Fireslinger[/card] and [card]Tormented Soul[/card] are huge role players. You want to be playing 1 of the 2 on turn 1, and then have it deal up to 6+ damage throughout the game. Having a recurring source of damage throughout the game is huge because it gives you the reach the do the final points of damage once an opponent has creatures to stall you out. Even [card]Scepter of Empires[/card], which doesn’t seem too exciting, is superb in this sort of deck because of the consistent damage it provides. Scepter is harder to deal with than [card]Goblin Fireslinger[/card], or [card]Tormented Soul[/card], and will generally do as much damage as a [card]Lava Axe[/card], or More.
[card]Tectonic Rift[/card]
I’ve been impressed with this card while playing it (other than accidentally running my creatures into fliers). With this card, you can set up big turns, where your opponent is relying on being able to block, and snatch games. It’s also great to curve into. Going turn 2 guy, turn 3 guy, turn 4 [card]Tectonic Rift[/card] can push through additional damage, as well as disrupting your opponent’s mana. I would advise against playing multiples of these because it’s pretty awful when you don’t have many creatures to push through.
Standout cards in M12 limited
In my experience with M12 limited, so far, there are quite a few new cards that I think are underrated, overrated, or under-appreciated. Here are a few of those cards:
[card]Phantasmal Bear[/card]
This card has impressed me a lot so far. A 2/2 for 1 is unheard of in blue, and the downside isn’t even that bad. Sure, sometimes your going to be playing against [card]Gideon’s Lawkeeper[/card], and the bears are going to suck, but a lot of the time when an opponent is targeting it otherwise, they are either wasting a card, or a removal spell. The great thing is that it’s not even a big deal when they do destroy it, since one mana is such a small investment, and if you get it down early, the damage will already be done if it gets to attack for a few turns. At 2 power, [card]Phantasmal Bear[/card] can trade with a lot of respectable creatures in this format, and definitely can hold its own.
[card]Arbalest Elite[/card]
I think this guy is overrated. Most of the time this guy will just stall the board, and prevent your opponent from attacking. And for this great ability of discouraging your opponent from attacking you have to keep up 3 mana each turn, preventing you from using all the mana at your disposal, while your opponent continues to take full advantage of all the mana at their disposal, thus developing their board. Then, when you decide to tap out to play your large creature, they take the opportunity to attack with the creatures you were previously locking down. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t play this card at all, but I am saying that it’s much worse than it looks, and should be drafted later accordingly, but still, it should almost always make the cut if you’ve drafted it.
[card]Frost Breath[/card]
At first glance I thought this card was somewhat underwhelming. However, once I connected the dots and realized this is like an instant-speed [card]Sleep[/card], I realized how truly powerful this card is. I’ve had quite a few games where I’ve had 2 big creatures dominating the board, and then had an opposing [card]Frost Breath[/card] lock them down, and have the opponent steal the game. [card]Frost Breath[/card] is great on the offensive at tapping down 2 blockers that an opponent was relying on to survive. It’s also great on the defense taking 2 opposing creatures out the equation for 2 turns, and giving you some time to stabilize.
[card]Gorehorn Minotaurs[/card]
This guy is quite the fattie. It’s not hard at all to get bloodthirsty on turn 4, and the payoff is absolutely huge. This card may seem fairly innocent at first glance, but it’s a stone cold killer. In M10 limited, [card]Berserkers of Blood Ridge[/card] was actually a good creature, and this guy makes the Berserkers look like a joke. It’s ludicrous how many times I’ve seen people cut this card, or even consider cutting this card. For those of you who already accept that this guy is ridiculous, I’m sorry you had to read this, but people need to know!
Well that’s all I’ve got for you today. I’ll be back soon with part 2. Thanks for reading!
Francis Toussaint