This is a control archetype, and the plan of attack is through the air. These cards are good filler as long as they fit into your overall theme. On average your drafts are going to have cards that are the same power level as your opponents, which means that you need to pick cards that play into an overall theme or game plan. I don’t think Mutiny is bad, but sometimes it sits awkwardly in your hand in a way that the others rarely do. I drafted it once before (last time Ixalan was on quick draft) in pack 2 and was amazed how well it cleaned up in one game I was able to land it. Ixalan is not usually not 3-color friendly but this deck shows how to pull it off: The real MVP in this deck is Sailor of Memes. Everyone has that one friend who decides to play a SuperFriends Atraxa deck, and this will easily be their biggest fear come game time. In some games this acts like a 3/2. It's highly likely she'd be offed before she ever is able to activate her ability. It may be tempting to wipe your opponents side in your main and then get damage in, but in some cases it is better to attack with mana open. In this format we have Vampires (BW), Merfolk (UG), Dinosaurs (RGW), and Pirates (RUB). Obviously, it paid off. Also remember that Snubhorn Sentry can attack even with 0 power, as that can be another good way to enable Chart a Course. First off, the actual enchantment is great (being able to instantly have any creature you control return to the battlefield after death) but the flip side of the card is where it gets interesting. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. I teach high school chemistry full time and have a two year old daughter. I hope you find Ixalan as enjoyable as I do and that reading this guide will give you a leg up on your opponents. Overall, there are some uncommon cards to build around: These cards scream go pirates and dinosaurs! Due to the low CMC, this is an excellent card, as any higher would have made it near unplayable. Whether you are Commander only player, a Standard fanatic, or a Modern menace, there is a little something for everyone in Rivals of Ixalan. This deck had quite a lot of it. Altogether, this deck was very strong and only dropped 1 game moving through Diamond Tiers 3 and 2. Sometimes you don't have to explain why a card is good. Having 4 toughness that can block flying is really important for extending games. All of these guys are efficient and also further the overall plan of the deck. You must outpace, outwit, and overpower your rivals as you vie for control of this ancient metropolis. Once again, outside of a ramp deck like this I would never play the card, but being able to drop Knight of the Stampede turn 3 and unload the rest of my hand turn 4 (or Thundering Spineback/Zetalpa turn 5/6) makes them well worth the picks. Out of these, I would rather draft Vampires or Merfolk since I want to be in two colors, but if the right cards present themselves Dinos or Pirates are options to be aware of. In Ixalan there are a lot of playable cards in every color. We haven't really seen many cards come out of recent sets that have made the transition to modern, but this will be one of them. I fully expect to see this played on every Golgari colored deck until the end of time. The most relevant mechanic in this format is Ascend, which has cards that reward having 10 permanents on the board. Atzocan Archer is a card that I really like in this format. Now that we have proper cheap lords, I fully expect Metallic Mimic to drop in price, as it should, as it easily dies to almost all removal in the meta right now. So, throw an asterisk on there if you’d like. This guy just screams Azorius, from his built-in Sphinx's Revelation, or how he detains a player during their next turn, Azor was worth the wait. So, even on their own wayfinders are 3 mana 3/3 scry or 2/2 draw a card (pretty sweet!). I always enjoy playing both ‘moment’ cards and the extra life fits well into the control archetype. Any card with “X” in its CMC instantly becomes one of the best cards in your deck when paired with this card. Jungleborn Pioneer comes out as two creatures which adds value to Mistbinder and Spire Winder. Opponents are going to have a hard time attacking back with a deck like this because it is so easy to punish them for only holding back 1-2 blockers. Wind Strider is a solid creature and most people walked into it when I had 5 flash mana open, allowing it to pick off a 2/2. Having 8 removal spells is what felt unfair most games, and they included Repeating Barrage which is a perfect rare for this archetype. Journey To Eternity is not that card. He blocks like a champ, adds a permanent for Ascend, and helps with color fixing if necessary. For the unaware, Ixalan focuses on four tribes, Vampires, Merfolk, Dinosaurs, and Pirates. If they double block Horncrest, Vanquish one of the 3/3s and now your removal spell was a 2-for-1. There are four tribes to choose from to create the foundation of your deck, while the Ascend, Raid, and Explore mechanics add a lot of strategic depth. Visit The Brand New RAGE Works Podcast Network, NN2D Retro Review: ECW Yoshihiro Tajiri Action Figure, NN2D Retro Review: ECW Little Guido Action Figure, NN2D Statue Review: DC Gallery Scarecrow | Diamond Select, NN2D Statue Review: Trevor Belmont | Diamond Select, HBO Max To Be Distributed To Verizon Fios And Other Providers, Film Fight Friday: Warrior | Ah Sahm v. Li Yong, 4W Product Review: Sure Shot HD Video Game System: Big Buck Bundle, Jurassic World Evolution Returns to Jurassic Park in December, Word Life - a New Multiplayer Mobile Word Game is Out Now, Film Fight Friday: Master Of The Flying Guillotine (1977). Now, add the possibility of a shock on top of that, and you have a great payoff card for Lurking Chupacabra. Both of those cards will go pretty early (because sailor of means is ridiculous and evolving wilds thins the deck), so you will need to reach on them instead of other cards that actually win you games. But, as I keep saying, your deck needs to get damage out of these cards with low cost evasive creatures that can capitalize on the bounced creatures or all you’ve accomplished is stalling and don’t net any gain out of them. As I mentioned before, Giltgrove Stalker and Mist-Cloaked Herald are good for beginning the aggression and enabling raid. Easily the best of all the Elder Dinosaurs, Etali combines a frightening, potentially overpowering ability, with a low CMC. But then he doesn’t die and archer comes in to finish their 3/3. And by the way those two guys work really well together because Hammerskull can take away key blockers that would take advantage of the 2 toughness on Frillback. This archetype looks to stabilize the board and then chip away with flyers. I opened Zetalpa pack 1 and said **** it, I am going to build around this thing. I decided to re-release this as a guide since Ixalan has found its way back into the Ranked Draft rotation this week. Every time a new set comes out there is a wave of limited reviews and tier lists for each card. Finally, here he is, the best Azorius Commander ever printed. Ultimately, if you can assemble at least six cards that can be stars in your deck and build the rest of the deck around those, you are (pretty much) guaranteed to have a solid opening hand each game. I have been playing MTG for 20 years and am an infinite drafter on Arena. Ruthless Knave was a good way to get more value out of those as well. This means that just because you pick a good card or two in a color early doesn’t mean you have to force that archetype. Rivals of Ixalan Bundle The legendary city of Orazca has been found, but it will not be claimed without a fight. Buccaneer’s Bravado was a good incentive to play a lot of Pirates, but this definitely was not a Pirate deck. My explore cards were good without Lurking Chupacabra, but with it they became great. For example, you have this card: This is a good card in an aggro deck, even though at best it is an elephant. The biggest downside is the CMC for a 1/1 with no haste. evasion) they may just sit in your hand all game or you may end up needing to cast them as under powered vanilla creatures. The best part about these creatures (excluding Skymarch Bloodletter) is they can be picked late in each pack. I drafted two Overgrown Armasaurs here because those saprolings get +2/+2 if I manage to draw Tendershoot Dryad. The set contains 196 cards (5 basic lands, 70 common, 60 uncommon, 48 rare, and 13 mythic rare) and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all cards. Early on in this draft I picked up Strength of the Pack, Thrashing Brontodon, and Ravenous Chupacabra. Usually the best clue for the arch types of a given set are the tap lands. It didn’t hurt that this deck also contained the single best card in the format. Even though a hand full of good removal (and no creatures) will be tempting to keep, you should mulligan those hands to ensure you are getting damage out of the removal spells. Elenda is a total bomb and you should always draft her unless she arrives in pack two and you haven’t taken any black or white cards. Getting 2x Thunderherd Migration for this deck was awesome. This can mean an easy bounce back for multiple phoenixes to the battlefield, or an extra layer of protection in case your opponent offs one of the tokens. Buy this card. Rivals of Ixalan (R) Legendary Enchantment Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, create a colorless Treasure artifact token with " , Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool." It also has great synergy with the ascend mechanic, which I will discuss more in a minute. Whenever another creature you control dies, create a colorless Treasure artifact token with ", Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, create a colorless Treasure artifact token with ". Ruthless Knave is another card that probably isn’t worth drafting too early in most decks, but when you have several powerful cards you should add card draw whenever possible to increase your chances of seeing them. It's crazy that Etali doesn't have to deal damage for this effect to trigger. If you draft a deck like this, remember that even though there are only 14 creatures they are imperative to you winning. [+2]: Angrath, Minotaur Pirate deals 1 damage to target opponent and each creature that player controls. Quark previously hosted The Buried Show alongside John Blade and now pops in to sound off on Magic: The Gathering and the occasional video game. This was honestly my favorite deck to pilot during my Ixalan run (once again, if it is difficult to see the image or if you want to be able to read each card just click the link in the caption). If you connect on some really good Merfolk or Vampire cards, those are great decks to go for in two colors. Or, it might end up a 50 cent bulk rare, who knows. I cracked my first booster pack of Rivals of Ixalan last night and was quite bummed to see a legion conquistador and a colossal dreadmaw, two cards I already have plenty of from all the Ixalan I’ve opened. Drifter and I will be tackling the core set beginning next weekend as we review every card for Limited prior to release! While I loved this deck, I don’t recommend *trying* to draft it. Hunt the Weak and Luminous Bonds are great picks for any deck. This set looks to be building off the success of Ixalan while trying to fill in some of the gaps that are clearly missing substance.