Building a better deck

Getting better

As you get more experienced with copying or building your own archetypes it becomes more important to build better decks and understand what exactly makes them tick.

The deck you're constructing or considering should conform to the rules of thumb discussed in the last chapter. In MTGA by intelligent design there should be no situation where a single deck is viable. Or where only two decks completely dominate the metagame. This creates an unhealthy format and Wizards of the Coast have teams dedicated to making sure it stays this way. In case any particular deck becomes dominant the cards may be banned to have a healthier format.

This leads us to how the metagame usually functions. Understanding this will advance your awareness of how to build better decks, anticipate the meta and anti-meta decks.

Aggressive decks are usually the bane of Control decks. Control is best in the late stages of the game. Aggressive decks win before control is able to stabilize.

Control decks are strong against midrange decks (combo, tempo and ramp as well). Control has bigger late game creatures, threats and answers then midrange if the game goes long.

Midrange decks have an advantage against aggro decks. Their creatures are more buff, more efficient in the midgame and will usually carry the game and overpower aggressive decks.

Analysis of the MTGA metagame

Magic Arena is quickly shifting as of January 2019. The professionals are getting ready for the $500,000 mythic tournament on 22nd of February and we'll see the strongest decks featured there. RNA has given us lots of new tools to play around with. Do note that the bo1 ranked, constructed event and traditional constructed have significantly different metagames.

According to the Rock, Paper, Scissors picture above, the first few weeks the set is released everybody is trying out the new cards. This leads to unstreamlined, janky builds that are being tested. Those builds are preyed upon by fast decks leading to a dominance of aggro. RDW and red/rakdos burn have gotten good tools in RNA and they prey not only on Control, but on inefficient midrange and aggro decks as well.

As the bo1 meta stabilizes we're likely to see the following: RDW and burn will still be hugely popular, but won't have such a huge winrate. The main reason is the budget: they remain some of the simplest decks to craft, pilot and jam the highest number or games. The winrate will depend on which version you run, but be aware that as more people play those decks, the meta will resolve to counter them.

Midrange bo1 decks remain a powerhouse if teched against RDW. Green midrange deck continue to clock stable wins with the Wildgrowth Walkers and explore package against aggro and carnage tyrants against control. The biggest change to the meta comes from an expected place - the shocklands for those who can afford them in MTGA provide such a good manabase that 3-color goodstuff (best of class cards from each color) is set to dominate the midrange bo3. Best of one midrange is only set back with the tremendous wildcard cost to craft those decks.

Control decks had gotten some very powerful tools with RNA. Wilderness Reclamation allows them to have untapped mana on all turns, lands allow them to play greedy spells, e.g. Kaya's Wrath. In bo1 true control decks are not that abundant though - aggro weights down on them heavily unless they specifically tech against it, but this hurts in other matchups. Wildcard cost is also a serious consideration.

How to deal with MTGA metagame?

We've talked of tracking the MTGO and paper bo3 metagame, especially of what's played on the championships and actually works. But we need to be aware of how you can tech your deck against the meta. It is highly encouraged that you use any of the trackers available.

They provide you with a deck by deck breakdown of what you are personally facing and your winrate. You want to be teching against the matchups you are actually facing, not against a rare 5% occurence. Don't base your assumptions of the metagame solely on reddit.

If you're facing burn or rdw 50% of the time, tech the explore package or something that prevents red from gaining advantage, e.g. moment of craving, absorb. If you're facing turbofog all the time, tech in burn spells that are unaffected by fogs. Use your knowledge of the RPS to your advantage.

Let's jump into how to deal with Aggro, Midrange and Control in the next chapters! [under construction]