Now obviously, you can tell from my bio and from my articles that I’m a constructed player. I love deckbuilding to the meta and I like getting sneaky in my sideboard. What I also love is Limited theory. Actually, game theory on the whole is very interesting to me. Statistics are fun if there’s a way to make them relevant to playing games. So with Gatecrash spoiling I thought it’d be a great time to talk about Limited and how we’ll look at this set as it’s released as part of our sealed/draft meta.
Two Color Combos
Lets start with the obvious color combos that will be evident during prerelease weekend.
Boros: White/Red
Gruul: Green/Red
Simic: Green/Blue
Dimir: Black/Blue
Orzhov: White/Black
Its a set full of gold cards. Honestly, mono anything is utterly impossible. You are expected to play AT LEAST two colors. Common Guildgates help with mana fixing as do rare shocklands and I’m sure green will have something.
Three Color Synergy
In RTR we had America (RWU), Junk (BWG), Jund (GRB), Grixis (RBU), and Bant(WUG) as our supported color trifectas. With mana fixing from green you could splash a 4th at times (sketchy) or play some 3 color combo outside of those (borderline insanity), but because of Gold cards, you really only had those as options.
Right!
Orzhov+Boros aka Insane Clown Posse is RWB
Dimir + Simic is BUG
Gruul + Simic is RUG
Dimir + Orzhov is ESPER
Boros + Gruul is NAYA
Pre-release weekend is fast approaching. Have you chosen a guild yet? Best think about a few things.
Pre-release cards.
Which is the strongest/ suits your style of play?
Guild Mechanic
Battalion, Cypher, Bloodrush, Evolve, and Extort all seem balanced now, but as more cards are spoiled will we have a better idea of which guild trumps which? I found in my second Limited GP that siding in a different color combo often destroyed my opponents who were playing certain guild strategies. Will that hold true in Gatecrash?
Guild Synergies
What mechanics work well with each other? Bloodrush and Battalion don’t seem like they are conducive for a pair of guilds you might pair together. Does Cypher trigger Extort? I think it does! Hmm, I’m already brewing limited deck combos. Bloodrush and Evolve… not so much. Cypher and Evolve, not really. Extort and Battlion, kinda!
Plenty more to think about as cards get spoiled. As far as whether or not a card will affect Standard… IDK. But it’ll see play in limited I bet.
Tapping out and Cracking Packs
Z