THE LOWDOWN ON MODERN MASTERS 2
I'm looking mainly at the common/uncommons when considering decks etc,
the rares/bombs are surplus to the deck and consistency in my head is
always key for drafting. Modern Masters 2 is no exception. Of course if
you pull something crazy good in rare/mythic, then play it! But it's
wrong to put lots of emphasis on those cards when analyzing a set
because we're less likely to see them in our packs... We all know when a
rare is good enough to take/splash for, so let's really dig deep into
the meat of the set... The commons and uncommons and the gloriousness of
them in this set.
Firstly let's look into the Mechanics....
Anihilator - Mechanic of the Eldrazi/Ramp Strategy.
- It's the mechanic I'm not massively worried about, but if the game
goes late and your opponent lands an Eldrazi, then the 'toppling' effect
is quick. Be more interested in the Eldrazi coming down on 8 & 9
mana (common/uncommon) than the Mythic rare ones.
Metalcraft - Affinity/Robots Strategy.
- We've lost spellbombs in lieu of some more equipment. The Affinity
strategy is slower but more resilient than last time, cards like
"cathodion" are now bonkers since mana-burn has phased out and this card
came about in Urza's Block... Alloy Myr and Blinding Souleater are
phenominal picks in the common bracket. There isn't a huge amount of
artifact hate in the set, Sundering Vitae and Smash to Smithereens are
the only real threats at common level. White seems best to compliment
Metalcraft with Equipment seeking and Artifiers.
Exalted - Evasive/Defensive.
- I've not used Exalted in draft, it doesn't feel that great but we could do with looking into how this
Arcane - Value spells from Kamigawa.
- There is no splice from the spoiler I've seen, there is literally two
spirits which means Arcane matters.. Thief of Hope & Waxmane Baku.
I'm not going into drafts wishing for this card though.
Soulshift - Spirits which come back to your hand.
- Soulshift is cool, getting creatures back when your creatures die is
cool, but this format has some huge swings in power, so that makes me
think that playing the Soulshift came could all be for nothing if your
opponent hits a bomb (and the bombs really are game over in this set.)
- Nameless Inversion is also a 'spirit' in all zones, which makes Soulshift rather amazing.
Changeling - All creature types, all zones, all the time.
- Thge two tribes in this set are 'Elemental' and 'Spirit' in terms of
cards that matter about your tribe. Elementals were underdrafted in
Lorwyn era and were actually awesome. Elementals align with Domain
nicely too.
Graft - Super Swet Limited Mechanic from Dissention.
-
Fun fact: You can draft onto your opponents cards and play with them,
this mechanic is super sweet and there is a seriously cool U/G strategy
lined up in this set.
Domain - Basic Land Types Matter.
-
Unfortunately those 'Karoo' lands can really hamper your Domain,
changing the effectiveness of your spells. You are going to want as many
of those 'karoo' lands as possible if your planning 5 colours... I'm
underwhelmed by 'Domain' as an ability in this set, yet I feel 5 colour
decks will still be great. There are many artifacts to compliment.
Convoke - M15's flagship limited mechanic returns!
- Play around the common convoke spells and realise that only
White/Green have access to convoke. There is a token strategy for
Convoke which ties nicely into the Eldrazi/Big decks.
Wither - Shadowmoor's Dark Horse...
- Wither isn't to be underestimed in this set with Proliferate going
about. It's always been a good limited mechanic and I feel being backed
up with the Scars of Mirrodin cards abundant at common/uncommon level it
could be abused nicely.
Proliferate - Graft/Wither's best friend.
- I would use proliferate as an accompanyment to Graft/Wither for best
effect, but there are a couple of artifacts which can benefit from
Proliferate. This mechanic isn't vastly abundant however, do not rely on
seeing it but be happy if it compliments you.
Bloodthirst - Harder than it looks to achieve.
- My experience with this is that it's a lot harder than it seems to
gain Bloodthirsted creatures, but if you manage it then you're going to
roll the enemy over. A mechanic for R/B.
Kicker - Works in early & late game.
- Kicker cards should be considered higher than first glance because
they are often useful at 2 stages of the game, not many cards can say
this. This ability is dominant in R/G.
Evoke - Works in a similar vein to Kicker.
- Evoke is like kicker in a sense of it gives you an option to cast the
spell earlier in the game should you have an opportunity to do it.
Mulldrifter wins games, the fear is real. Pro's back in Lorwyn days used
to splash exclusively for Mulldrifter and it was nearly always the Pack
1, Pick 1 if it was there!
COLOUR GROUPS....
G/W - Selesnya Tokens -
This is all about the convoke and token generation, this will be a
standout strategy for me as the Thallids of MM1 were pretty poor, token
generation in limited is generally awesome and they've put some
seriously good cards in this set to help the strategy. A great sinergy
to support going large and if you're lucky enough to pull an Eldrazi at
Mythic!
U/W - Azorius Artificer -
Artifacts work best in
these colours as does Exalted, Mulldrifter and AEthersnipe are great
cards to pull you towards a U/W strategy, the classic evasion/tempo deck
is available but would really appreciate a couple of equipment cards.
U/B - Dimir Proliferate -
In the common slots there is plenty of wither and some proliferate
going on. U/B is the control deck of the format, no surprises here... I
feel that it's too slow to want to be in unless your incentivsed by a
damn good rare/mythic.
B/R - Rakdos Bloodthist -
It seems
like Lightning bolts and Burst Lightning are going to be vital to get
Bloodthirst actived consistently. Wrecking Ball might possibly be the
best uncommon in the set, playing these colours will have you going
full-speed and hoping you get there before your opponent can setup
properly.
R/G - Gruul Domain/Big Mana -
Kinda like green
white, except with a bigger emphasis on the fatties/Eldrazis...... If
your going classic Domain, I feel these are you two colours to work from
and splash the rest.
G/B - Golgari Morbid-Tokens -
There is
a lot of sac outlets and 'death matters' cards surrounding the vast
common suite of token production for green, Algae Gharial and Scavenger
Drake are key cards to draft if you want this deck to shine on a
consistency basis.
W/B - Orzhov Spirits of Kamigawa -
You'll get a LOT of removal, your creatures will be sub-par but if you
go soulshift heavy you can play the recurring strategies, there is such
little graveyard hate in the set that these colours could be a dark
horse. I feel rares may dictate your passage into Orzhov. The cards in
these colours aren't massively historic from drafts/era's I've played
in, perhaps it'll be underdrafted.
W/R - Boros Equip and Double Strike -
I think you've got to be on the ball to read if this strategy is open,
many of the good cards needed are at uncommon, but like the Orzhov decks
you'll be rich on removal, I can see many people in W/R wanting to
splash into green to gain some pump, I feel equipment is what you want
more than anything in a deck like this. Protection spells like Apostles
Blessing will be well received in a deck like this. There is an
abundance of double-strike cards in these colours at uncommon!
U/G - Simic's all about the hard Graft! -
I think this is up there with Selesnya in terms of raw power,
Simic/Bant Graft is going to be a brilliant strategy, if you can grab
some cheeky proliferate then the gains you'll make as you progress the
board will be really tough on the opponent. Be very aware of Savage
Twister at uncommon which threatens to shoot this deck down!
U/R - Izzet Elemental Tempo -
The ultimate for the tempo game, U/R is going to want some punchy
hitters and flyers to wrap the game up and probably quickly at that... I
don't see the same consitency in U/R as I do in the other colours...
Even if this archetype is open the premium cards will be snatched so
much quicker than the premiums in other colours due to the obscene and
obvious power of cards like Lightning Bolt and Mulldrifter and the fact
they're so splashable, so even if the person to the right of you is on
an Orzhov build, they could easily still pinch a choice card in this
deck away from you.
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