War of the Spark Draft Archetype Guide

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I Can Feel it Coming Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com )
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons...

[@petersteiner993]

Timestamps 1:09 Rakdos amass sacrifice 6:32 Dimir amass 35:55 orzhov sacrifice 37:25 orzhov controll

[@redeagle45]

Thanks! This is always our most awaited video before each draft season. Lots of creators do color by color set reviews (but often focused on best cards for constructed) but your archetypes guides are pure gold for draft players.

[@gawdat3859]

This is my first time watching a video about drafting... after reading an article yesterday which ranted about how bad the popular card-by-card, color-by-color articles. They can cause you to focus too much on individual card-power and individual card synergies. I never would have believed I was guilty of this. I know this stuff. Archetypes, synergies, card powers... I know it all. Wrong! I was doing it! Half way through this video I looked at my current traditional draft deck and realized I had blended two archetypes in a RG deck and I totally could have avoided it. So I left that draft and started a ranked draft... WITHIN 5 PICKS I REALIZED I WAS NOW STRADDLING ARCHETYPES INSTEAD OF GUILDS! First pick red burn spell Second pick Bleeding edge, I'm thinking red black sacrifice Third pick Gateway plaza, I'm thinking GB ramp, splashable red burn spell... oh shoot, gotta go back to the video and fast forward to the GB ramp section and watch that! :) Fourth pick Spark reaper... maybe RB sacrifice afterall? Fifth pick Blooming Giant, okay GB ramp afterall (it turned out) By the end of the deck build I was both excited and nervous. Excited because I've been having trouble trimming to 40 lately but this time I landed right at 40 cards i knew I most wanted. Nervous... because the deck tuened our way different than usual. It had way less cards LSV would rate 3+... I'll tell you that much. But every card fit (or had exceprional value) I will admit I ended up with 8 removals... which tends to mean I will do well... But I DON'T usually go 6-1 to start a draft. And that's what just happened! WOW. This bland but strictly-archetyped deck is chuggin along! The plan is working almost every game! With cards I totally undervalued before because I wasn't really thinking ARCHETYPE til late pack 2 EYES OPENED. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO LOOK AT DRAFT FORMATS edit: I went 6-3... killed myself casting bounced tithebearer giants while pressuring for the win... definitely the funniest way I've ever lost a match, I had no idea what happened... can't even be mad

[@markman11111]

"Arlinn, Who Costs Six" sounds like a card name.

[@redeagle45]

she is “Arlin, Who Laughs At Mana”

[@tryzydrate]

This joke is just a bomb and I'm giving it an A

[@kentphillips373]

Not to be confused with Arlinn, who Cossacks

[@daladinn]

one point on black/white that i wished you mentioned.... there is a fair number of critters that buff "zombie tokens" which , in general would refer to your armies. however , both lilliana (black) and the white god (white) , both provide an additional source of "zombie tokens". doubt this is competitive , but , sounds FUN.

[@tryzydrate]

I know I've said this before but man, ever since I started watching your set reviews/archetype guide I have just gotten better and better at sealed/draft. Specifically the prerelease I can usually go 3-1 or 2-1 and I think it's mostly due to these videos. Thank you as always and keep up the good work brotha

[@Devynwithawhy]

I haven't yet had my own experience with what you describe yet, but I hope the results are the same for me yet ,as they were yet for you.

[@kvetchenfinks7044]

For U/B you forgot aven eternal which is probably the best amass common in the set

[@NizzahonMagic]

Indeed

[@reccaman]

glad there is going be another video on commons, they tend to be overlooked when they are the back bone of most draft style decks, seeing how they are the most

[@Rulox665]

Toll of the invasion is super strong in this format. highly underrated card

[@NizzahonMagic]

I definitely underrated it, but "super strong" is a bit much. It is a mainboard C, though, which is better than I thought.

[@c.d.dailey8013]

Wow. I tend to focuse on Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegence sets. I tend to use War of the Spark as a set for suppliment cards. I see good supliments sprinkled throughout. Grim initiate makes a nice red weenie for a mono red cavalcade deck. Ral Storm Conduit is a great planswalker for a spell based Izzit deck. Ajani's Pridemate is good for an Orizhov healing deck. Elite Gardmage and Wall of Runes is good for an Azorious control deck. The Teferi guy in the background is really good for Azorius control. I like to use him to bounce my own Agent o Treachery. Then I get to steal more of the opponent's stuff. I use Agent of Trechery and Mass Munipulation as the powerful endgame effect. It is fun. I use control to help me survive untill then. Pirisn Realm is in a different part of the video. However I still like to use it for Azorious control. Wow. This video showed me that War of Spark can be so much more. It has its own mechanics. I even watched the mechanics videos for War of the Spark. It is on the official Magic the Gathering channel. I am familiar with Planeswalkers and proliferate. Amass is something that I don't have much experience with. There is Grim Initiate and that is it. Through my own ineptitude I don't grow army. I didn't know amass can grow army tokens. It is for the best. I just like Grim Initiate leaving a 1/1 token when it dies. Having only 1 power is actually benificial for triggering Cavalcade of Calamity for extra damage. The only color pair in the set I used extensivly is Simic. I had difficulty trying to get the adapt mechanic to work in my favor. So I switched to proliferate. A lot of the cards shown in the video are ones that I used. There is Merfolk Skydiver, Evolution Sage, Contentious Plan and Nissa Who Shakes the World. I did experiement with Paradise Druid and Arborial Grazer for ramp effects. There is more. I use Groth Spiral for card draw and ramp. I also use Sharktocrab, Galloping Lizrog and Hydroid Krasis as big creatures to grow in proliferate. I was at the point where Sharktocrab is the only one with the adapt mechanic. Even then I did have alternative options to put the first counter on it. I even went into the Eldrane set and used Oko. I did use the notorious food Oko. I used the other kind of Oko that puts on counters.

[@mekanator108]

great video. i like how you go over each archetype with card by card analysis of what might fit that particular archetype. Thanks

[@dzyer8359]

Black white sacrifice Sorin’s -X for zero getting back ugin’s conjurate and having cruel celebrate drain them 👍 Ps. Did this in draft with two celebrants on untap.in ☺️☺️☺️

[@goodingzane]

Bummer you can't do it multiple times a turn

[@dzyer8359]

Zane Gooding true but dealing two and gaining four every turn is still a way to make your opponent concede pretty quickly.

[@dzyer8359]

Lol sent this comment before seeing that he had put black white sacrifice on the list 😂😂😂

[@darthanakinII]

You've got amass wrong you get one token then put the counters on that creature if you don't already have one

[@lemoncobra2563]

I feel like for BR, Ugin would have been a worthy mention if it was pulled, the tokens he generates is essentially card return. It would be a nice addition if you did not get any other larger hits.

[@NizzahonMagic]

He is just good in every deck, though. I guess they are sacrifice fodder, but still.

[@lemoncobra2563]

@@NizzahonMagic oh yeah definitely. I think every archetype you presented were really spot on so it was less of "you missed a critical piece and thus I have more knowledge" and more of just some general observation. I'm new to your channel so I'm getting a feel for it all so please forgive if I came off in a rude manner.

[@Jm96RoCk]

I'm currently on my merry way to my prerelease. This is gonna be a first time for me so this guide helped a lot. Thanks man!

[@VulcanGray]

Will you put all your letter graded cards in a google doc or something? I wanna put a guide pamphlet together for my friends so we can sweep up

[@ellitbo9863]

I made this one myself: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tWsjKQuqCi64rldl8H7vI8cfRPPZg3UD-6JqXrSDEmY/edit?usp=sharing. Hope it's helpful!

[@ole86]

@@ellitbo9863 thx

[@jzoobs]

@@ellitbo9863 I've done some correction and color coding: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10MaFqoyfRkxTEPKXLxSMAx59L1cdMNc2n1Tl58jOIVA/edit?usp=sharing

[@VulcanGray]

@@ellitbo9863 you are a saint

[@raulortiz4998]

I just won a draft 7 1 with a GWB proliferate. Thanks for the guide, I was depressed because I didn't win in draft until now

[@GlitchLich589]

Heartfire is not Banefire

[@themustardjarz510]

WingDings Gaster lol

[@markman11111]

Banefire *is* a powerful removal spell though. Nizzahon was just reminding us.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Haha indeed. I do these videos unscripted and more or less in one shot, so mistakes happen.

[@SandstormGT]

You forgot Storrev in the GB review, one of the best cards in the set.

[@willemstrydom9819]

What color pair are you most excited to play, or which do you think is going to be the strongest

[@Sangrex2]

that depends how good your pre release pack is lmao

[@hellobillyjacks]

Ill be a happy man if I pull a Feather and get to build a low and mean aggro boros

[@brendanpowell9953]

I did a draft of this on a website where the cards are already posted with some friends. I built the Orzhov deck, and I felt like it was insanely powerful. You pick up a few fliers and other offensive pieces, and then smack in all the removal you can see. I had 4 Bleeding Edges, and my friends did not have a good time. This black white deck is gonna mess people up

[@NizzahonMagic]

Wow 4 bleeding edges should not happen haha

[@brendanpowell9953]

Yeah. To be fair, I never said my friends were the smartest magic players.

[@DDRaHolic]

Your video was very easy to follow. I feel like I understand the archetypes better now!

[@alexcalhoun1382]

I'm ready to make a crazy Bant deck !!!

[@z.s.7992]

I can't wait to watch you draft this set nizza.

[@Kyriac]

Don’t forget that widespread brutality keeps THEIR army alive as well. Not ideal if theirs is better than yours

[@joho1095]

If theirs is better than yours it was not going to die anyways

[@kirsten9924]

good video but you forgot to mention Oath of Kaya for Black-White removal

[@gawdat3859]

Hmmm, I think you're missing Thunder Drake in UG. And Iron Bully is probably a decent pickup when nothing better

[@chrismarshall6621]

This is a great way of looking at a set, really helpful. Cheers mate.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Glad it helped!

[@Handlemaster_53]

Great video!

[@raynmanshorts9275]

I think RW is more accurately described as "combat tricks galore" instead of "aggro."

[@NizzahonMagic]

I don't think there are enough tricks for that name

[@cinderheart2720]

Bontu is still a girl

[@Luezoid]

Banger music on the vid!

[@patrickhenry7117]

In your games of limited unless something crazy happens youll only have one army token at any given point

[@darren5591]

u are doing gods work my friend

[@EloquentTroll]

Bontu is a lady, Kefnet is a gentleman.

[@sinf3rn032]

What's the best archetype/ archetypes for 2 headed giant?

[@heartshope6504]

J3553 Music It may not even bf and archetype do much as you want cards thst say all plsyers and all creatures etc

[@jodypschaeffer]

I think you're underselling Arboreal Grazer. It has reach and the meta has no shortage of +1/+1 counters. Guess we'll find out.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Seems like there are far better creatures to put counters on

[@Princeofwinners]

I got recked by a R/G toughness deck with grazer and the 0/4 haste guy with huatli. It is a jank deck but i got blown out by it.

[@dcaldwell1026]

The way you stack the third row of cards makes my OCD hurt.

[@kapilayyar6107]

Bant proliferate

[@itslikemagic123]

I’ve found this to be the strongest archetype as there’s so many uncommon that are bonkers... evo sage and skydiver will just steal you games

[@Devynwithawhy]

Right on schedule. It's like clockwork. How does he do it?

[@elliewong1698]

Am I the only one who didn't realize people were having issues realizing what Niz meant when he was talking about repeat saccing amassed tokens?

[@NizzahonMagic]

I didn't do the best job articulating what I meant. What I get for not scripting it!

[@Nolsie]

I'm really excited to play aristocrats In the coming meta

[@xdigits183]

ty

[@luizgagliardi6614]

Are 3 color decks gonna be viable in draft? With no dual lands and so many color intensive cards, that just doesn't seem the case. Of course, if you're in green, it gets a lot more viable. But the color fixing artifacts aren't that great. Maybe splash for a bomb?

[@NizzahonMagic]

Yeah I think splashing for a bomb or premium removal will be the best you can do outside of Green

[@luizgagliardi6614]

@@NizzahonMagic Btw, i think you forgot to mention the rares for UW and WB, but that's okay, great video!

[@razzer8880]

Love the content. Is it possible you can make a list of your ranks of all the planeswalkers, only because there is one in all packs

[@NizzahonMagic]

That is actually something I am planning on doing at some point, probably after having played the set a bunch though.

[@razzer8880]

@@NizzahonMagic Sounds great thanks for the reply =)

[@patrickhenry7117]

Just to clarify you only get one token off of amass 2.. One token 2 +1/+1 counters

[@NizzahonMagic]

I know this.

[@monkeybench]

The intent of that entire portion is that you're sacing the token/removing counters anyway. Infering information is important. Shows you're listening to and comprehending the information.

[@williamoldaker5348]

Soul Diviner's art upsets me, Domrai was killed so soon. He should've been able to go to Naya and live there.

[@justmagicmostly]

That's what he gets for being an "Anarch of Bolas." What sort of "anarch" serves a master, anyway!? Domri deserved death.

[@logannyf]

My best success has been with the izzet spells deck

[@seasikberry7120]

This video is great for my partner who gets a bit too nervous about prerelease

[@NizzahonMagic]

Great!

[@EdgePitSwing]

I feel like Simic is going to be very planeswalker centric this set. It wants to get loyalty counters.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Every color pair has the same number of planeswalkers, so I don't see why Simic would be any more interested, apart from having the rare Hydra who likes them.

[@EdgePitSwing]

@@NizzahonMagic you don't think Raolesk is good for loyalty?

[@NizzahonMagic]

Well, everything with proliferate is. That doesn't mean it is planeswalker centric.

[@EdgePitSwing]

@@NizzahonMagic I dunno. I feel like the following cards synergize so well... Hydra, Roalesk, Tamiyo, Vivien, Kiora. In fact, I feel like Neoform was in large part for upgrading to the hydra. I guess we'll see when we get our hands on it! 🙂

[@Nobody-zl3kk]

Bant, Grixis and Esper sound lime good color combinations

[@Nobody-zl3kk]

@vulkan435 orzhov control with azorius skies, orzhov needs finishers and azorius skies may need more control to survive, go esper, your cardpool in prerelease will probably make you want to go 3 colors if you have for an esper control/skies

[@the7A7dude]

I will sacrifice my red for a black

[@artificium_]

Forgot Ilharg for r/g rares! Ironically I opened some packs from my box and got him so don't see me getting him for draft... Aaand I would've but yea ha

[@travisbewley7084]

He is mythic rare and a single color. He was talking about rare color combos.

[@malign3158]

So what I’m hearing is that Wardscale Crocodile is the best card in the set

[@NizzahonMagic]

Hahaha

[@riccardocalosso5688]

I swear, I keep hearing war screecher as WORSE CREATURE, and turret ogre as TURD OGRE.

[@moogsynth87]

I wish banefire was in the set.

[@randym5824]

Saheli also good in br sac deck

[@NizzahonMagic]

If you have enough non-creature spells, that's true.

[@nsmbfan]

You have the info. Now get someone else to tell us. I sacrificed my laptop at 3:52.

[@michaelfulton8972]

What ??

[@nsmbfan]

@@michaelfulton8972 there's a phenomena that occurs when you hear the same word repeated ad nauseam. it loses all meaning and context. language is an agreed upon coalition of vocal cord vibrations. the word sacrifice being repeated as much as it was caused my ears to bleed. there's your answer.

[@michaelfulton8972]

Crease thank you I was wondering what u meant lol. But I mean when talking about sacrificing u gotta say the word sacrifice so people know ur talking about the sacrifice mechanic which means sacrifice your creature so you pay the sacrifice cost to get the sacrifice bonus

[@biorage6670]

Sometimes I get the feeling that Magic has become a token and counter game... accompanied by some cards. Planewalkers also give me the feeling that its an easy (lazy) way to build decks at the cost of creativity.

[@hamishallen2108]

Neato

[@Gandhiji87]

Heartfire, not banefire

[@NizzahonMagic]

K.

[@kylenelson6045]

Nice

[@borjakrl7089]

Dude, for as much as we care about the gender of gods, it's written goddess when it's a she. and god-eternal kefnet as a beard as long as my arm soooo.. You must have issues xD Nice video though, i'll dig in your content. Thanks !

[@NizzahonMagic]

It doesn't say "goddess" on the female ones, it still says "god" in my defense. I am good at reading cards, not so good at always paying attention to art.

[@borjakrl7089]

​@@NizzahonMagic You're damn right ! Fuck comics, now i just watch image and misread the rest... My apologies

[@5kMagic]

You're incorrect with the Amass mechanic. They don't always just make a new token, as you are intimating, you Amass X counters on an existing token, not make a new token. A new token only happens when you don't control an Army token.

[@NizzahonMagic]

I'm not wrong. I was talking about making a token with Amass, then sacrifice it. Then you make another, and sacrifice it.

[@5kMagic]

@@NizzahonMagic Ok but the way you talked about it could easily be misunderstood.

[@emilysmith3594]

So basically play Vraska? Anyone who went to the Prerelease could’ve told you that.

[@NizzahonMagic]

I made this before the prerelease!

[@mikejinxlints3988]

Been Awhile Bro.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Since what?

[@mikejinxlints3988]

@@NizzahonMagic since iseen your vids, i been busy, how you been?

[@cspeeds96]

Whooooo

[@tymiller8639]

For Gods in mtg I usually go for "they" because it's not like they can procreate

[@williamoldaker5348]

Also I keep saying this, YOU NEED TO LAUGH! Your voice is very monotone (lifeless), but your information is damn near perfect.

[@NizzahonMagic]

Most content creators don't laugh in videos like this! I laugh all the time in draft videos, though.

[@tryzydrate]

His voice isn't lifeless, it's informative. If want the joker to read my cards I'll go watch Seth misprounounce stuff while he giggles.

[@williamoldaker5348]

Are capable of laughing? If so laugh more often.

[@davidrosenberg9615]

You literally posted this twice.

[@stevenrice5116]

Great Video!

[@NizzahonMagic]

Thanks!