MTG March of the Machine Draft Archetypes
The full card list for Magic: The Gathering's latest set, March of the Machine, has finally been revealed, giving players the opportunity to theorycraft decks and strategies ahead of the set's release date. An integral part of every set are the Draft archetypes, informing players what kinds of decks will exist in the set's limited environment and how they might be adapted to Standard.
Draft is a popular "limited" format in Magic: The Gathering that has players create smaller decks from a randomized card pool. Players take turns picking cards from Draft Packs of the set they are drafting, then play those decks against one another. Usually Draft decks are less powerful than Standard decks but the strategies can be taken forward into Constructed if they are powerful enough in Draft.
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MTG March of the Machine Draft Archetypes
March of the Machine features 10 Draft Archetypes, each signified by a "signpost" Uncommon card in the set.
Color Combination | Archetype | Signpost Uncommon |
|---|---|---|
White-Blue | Knight Tribal | Marshal of Zhalfir |
White-Black | Phyrexian Tribal | Sculpted Perfection |
White-Red | Backup | Mirror-Shield Hoplite |
White-Green | +1/+1 Counters | Botanical Brawler |
Blue-Black | Graveyard Interaction | Halo Forager |
Blue-Red | Convoke | Joyful Stormsculptor |
Blue-Green | Transform | Mutagen Connoisseur |
Black-Red | Sacrifice | Stormclaw Rager |
Black-Green | Incubate | Elvish Vatkeeper |
Red-Green | Battles | Rampaging Geoderm |
In Draft, players will most likely gravitate toward one of these archetypes, depending on which cards they open in their Draft Packs. These aren't the only strategies that exist, however - one may make a successful Draft deck using only one or even three colors, mixing and matching these archetypes together.
Some Draft players ascribe to the BREAD method when drafting - picking obviously powerful Rare and Mythic Rare cards (Bombs) first, then looking for ways to eliminate threats (Removal), hard-to-block creatures (Evasion), aggressive creatures (Aggro) and finally suboptimal cards (Duds).
Decks that utilize Black, Red and Green cards have tradtionally been highly effective in Draft because these colors provide a mix of quality creatures and removal, leading to the catchphrase "When in doubt, Jund them out," referring to the nicknames of this combinatio