Limited is a challenging format, especially while drafting. You may love to draft, but may not always end up with the optimal deck build, or deck style. Often in the Kaladesh drafts, I saw many different archetypes within the same deck, and it ended up being too convoluted to perform well. Do you go wide, and miss inspired charge? Try to draft energy, and just not have enough producers or payoffs? Archetypes are important to understand and remember, especially if you want to move off of a color, should another color be open.
For Aether Revolt, there are many different archetypes, all with their own merits. Some are harder than others to draft, and may rely too heavily on a bomb to be competitive. Wether you are playing the Friendly Single Game League, Intermediate Swiss League, or Competitive Single Elimination, it is imperative to identify which archetype you are in as quickly as possible.
We start this series with GW. Below are the packs, pick by pick. For this series, both myself and Jamie Rigatti, will be reviewing each pick, with a short explanation.
Pack 1, Pick 1:
This is an easy first pick [[card_link: Rishkar, Peema Renegade]]. One of the most powerful cards in the format, it goes in the archetypes of GW, and GB counters matter.
Pack 1, Pick 2:
There are 2 ways you can go, after a first pick [[card_link: Rishkar, Peema Renegade]]. While Jamie would take [[card_link: Airdrop Aeronauts]], and it is a strong card, that would put us in GW anyways, and [[card_link: Renegade Rallier]] I feel is a stronger pick overall. Being able to re-buy 2 drops or less is always a good thing, and a 3/2 for 3 is not terrible either. There is a case for [[card_link: Aether Chaser]] as well, but for now, I believe [[card_link: Renegade Rallier]] is the pick.
Pack 1, Pick 3:
By this point, we are sitting on [[card_link: Rishkar, Peema Renegade]] and [[Renegade Rallier]], so the pick for me is [[card_link: Druid of the Cowl]]. It is a great ramp creature, and the 3 toughness is relevant versus fast decks. Notable is the [[card_link: Outland Boar]], but for now we want to stick in GW.
Pack 1, Pick 4:
Both Jamie and I agree on this pick as well, in [[card_link: Dawnfeather Eagle]]. In a GW go-wide style deck, as it seems we are drafting at this point, it is a great 1 shot anthem effect, and gives your creatures vigilance so they can block on the crack-back. Notable as well is the late [[card_link: Sweatworks Brawler]], and if we had taken [[card_link: Aether Chaser]] and [[card_link: Outland Boar]], we would have a good RG deck shaping up. If there was a point to switch colors, to go into WR or GR, now would be the time, but [[card_link: Dawnfeather Eagle]] fits our GW shell too well to pass.
Pack 1, Pick 5:
We begrudgingly take the [[card_link: Unbridled Growth]] here, eventhough there is a [[card_link: Shock]]. We are pretty solid into GW right now, and if a late [[card_link: Shock]] comes up, we have unbridled to fix for it. Of note: Red is open, but we are drafting the GW archetype this time around.
Pack 1, Pick 6:
Another [[card_link: Shock]] tells us even further that Red is open, but [[card_link: Narnam Renegade]] is a solid creature for us, and we do have a revolt enabler already in [[card_link: Unbridled Growth]].
Pack 1, Pick 7:
[[card_link: Prey Upon]] is the pick, though it is very medium removal. They tend to go late, so it is not a signal that Green is open, but currently we are lacking removal, and this will suffice for now.
Pack 1, Pick 8:
[[card_link: Restoration Specialist]] is, I believe, one of the most underrated cards in Aether Revolt. Being able to return an artifact that you lost in combat, an impliment, [[card_link: Caught in the Brights]] that is in your graveyard, or a combination of the two, it works very well. It also triggers revolt for [[card_link: Narnam Renegade]] and [[card_link: Renegade Rallier]], if you really need to use it for that.
Pack 1, Pick 9:
[[card_link: Verdant Automoton]] is the pick, though likely not going to be used in our deck.
Pack 1, Picks 10-15:
We ended up getting [[card_link: Countless Gears Renegade]], [[card_link: Decomission]], [[card_link: Aether Inspector]], [[card_link: Resivor Walker]], [[card_link: Leave in the Dust]] and [[card_link: Swamp]] for our last 5 picks. Only the [[card_link: Countless Gears Renegade]] and [[card_link: Decomission]] would make the cut currently, though being able to pick up 2 playables in picks 10-15 was a great bonus for us.
Pack 2, Pick 1:
[card_link: Aethergeode Miner]] is a great pick, and enables revolt for us very often. It is hard to remove, and can be brought back with our [[card_link: Renegade Rallier]] if it dies in combat.
Pack 2, Pick 2:
[[card_link: Caught in the Brights]] was the pick here, primarily because we are already playing [[card_link: Restoration Specialist]]. [[card_link: Audacious Infiltrator]] was also a consideration, but we are looking for some kind of removal at this point that is better than our [[card_link: Prey Upon]].
Pack 2, Pick 3:
This is a fantastic pack for us, and one that we wish we could take the whole thing. [[card_link: Deadeye Harpooner]] is a little too conditional for my taste, and [[card_link: Dawnfeather Eagle]] number 2 seemed aggressive. [[card_link: Thopter Arrest]] is one of the best removal spells in this format, and is the best pick for us here.
Pack 2, Pick 4:
While [[card_link: Hope of Ghirapur]] seems good, there aren't enough non-creature spells to worry about in limited overall for 1 turn. While [[card_link: Prey Upon]] number 2 seems decent, I have a feeling it will wheel, so [[card_link: Ghirapur Osprey]] is the pick.
Pack 2, Pick 5:
I took [[card_link: Monstrous Onslaught]] here, though [[card_link: Irontread Crusher]] was probably the better pick. While Onslaught can be quite powerful, we don't have a big enough creature to warrant picking it this high.
Pack 2, Pick 6:
[[card_link: Renegade Map]] is the pick here, as it enables revolt and removes another land from our deck.
Pack 2, Pick 7:
Not much for us here, and [[card_link: Wind-Kin Raiders]] is not a splashable card for double blue. We took the [[card_link: Cogwork Assembler]], though will not likely play it.
Pack 2, Pick 8:
[[card_link: Aetherstream Leopard]] is a great pick at this position. While conditionally a strong card, and with little in the way of energy at the current point in time, being able to attack with a 4/3 trample on turn 4 is often good, and with [[card_link: Dawnfeather Eagle]] already in the deck, it will be at least a 3/4 trample when that drops.
Pack 2, Pick 9:
Another great pick with [[card_link: Renegade Rallier]] number 2. Clearly Green White is open, and we chose the correct color combination here.
Pack 2, Pick 10:
Again, not much for us, we took the [[card_link: Crackdown Construct]].
Pack 2, Picks 11-15:
Gained another [[card_link: Druid of the Cowl]], which was surprising overall. Other picks included [[card_link: Aegis Automoton]], [[card_link: Alley Evasion]], [[card_link: Negate]], and [[card_link: Forest]].
As a note, [[card_link: Alley Evasion]] is a cute trick that can enable revolt, but falls well down the line of picks overall. The +1/+2 often isn't enough to make a huge impact on the board, and is best left in the sideboard.
Pack 3, Pick 1:
There really wasn't too much to be excited about here. [[card_link: Chief of the Foundry]] seemed like the best pick at this point, and we are hoping that we can pick up a [[card_link: Cogworker's Puzzleknot]] down the road.
We took the [[card_link: Fairgrounds Warden]] here, as it is great removal and puts another creature on the battlefield for us. There is a case for [[card_link: Armorcraft Judge]] as well, since we have a decent amount of counter effects, but I felt it was not enough to reliably draw cards from it.
Pack 3, Pick 3:
There are a few directions we could go with this. [[card_link: Resoration Gearsmith]] is an incredibly strong card, and fits our curve well, but we went with the [[card_link: Propeller Pioneer]] here. Having some sort of flying blocker outside of [[card_link: Ghirapur Osprey]] and [[card_link: Dawnfeather Eagle]] can be relevant.
Of note: [[card_link: Welding Sparks]] is also playable, especially since we had an [[card_link: Unbridled Growth]] and [[card_link: Renegade Map]]
Pack 3, Pick 4:
While [[card_link: Longtusk Cub]] is the pick, we are low on energy producers, and it is slightly weaker in the current limited. [[card_link: Glint-Sleeve Artisan]] is another possibility, but we are high on 3 drops.
I took [[card_link: Whirlermaker]] here, though [[card_link: Thriving Ibex]] was most likely the pick, or even [[card_link: Attune with Aether]]. Since we haven't taken a splash color yet, it was a little late to take fixing, but had we taken Red, then fixing would be key.
Pack 3: Pick 6:
[[card_link: Built to Last]] or [[card_link: Harnessed Lightning]] is the pick. I chose the [[card_link: Built to Last]], because we only have the [[card_link: Renegade Map]] and [[card_link: Unbridled Growth]] right now, but [[card_link: Harnessed Lightning]] is probably the best splash card you will see for GW.
Pack 3, Pick 7:
[[card_link: Servo Exhibition]] fits perfectly for us, and there is nothing else we want in this pack.
Pack 3, Pick 8:
[[card_link: Engineered Might]] is second only to [[card_link: Inspired Charge]] for our GW deck, and can make blocking difficult on the opposing side, and can outright win games if you are aggressive enough.
Pack 3, Pick 9:
This is between [[card_link: Skyswirl Harrier]] and [[card_link: Sky Skiff]]. [[card_link: Sky Skiff]] is probably the better pick, but we don't have many flying blockers, and are limited on removal. I took [[card_link: Skyswirl Harrier]] to bring in as added protection against UG variants and UW Flyers.
Pack 3, Pick 10-15
We ended up rounding out our deck with [[card_link: Take Down]], [[card_link: Narnam Cobra]], [[card_link: Workshop Assistant]], [[card_link: Weldfast Monitor]], [[card_link: Cowl Prowler]], and [[card_link: Forest]] to shape up our 45, with a final deck that looks like this:
GW is an exceptionally strong archetype, and one that you will see in every draft. While we weren't able to get cards like [[card_link: Ridgescale Tusker]], [[card_link: Lifecraft Cavalry]], or [[card_link: Scrounging Bandar]], this deck is fast enough to outright win games against slower decks, and goes wide enough to win through [[card_link: Engineered Might]] later on.
Hopefully this article helps you learn what to look for when drafting the GW archetype. We will continue looking at different archetypes, with breakdowns of each pick, in the weeks to come.
[[published_at: 19 Feb 2017, 12:00 pm]]
[[category: article]]
[[preview_content: Step by Step Draft]]
[[preview_image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoWBYQEiRR1mMecloJ96-x3dP8-Bup_dgDnf0SSa4_tvjqVcOYIJ0Y_dRo0ZBuQbvQn4q1jAHhkCbYQfAz_0NM5YK0rYISmv3U31vEij_otwFfqDPYZOYIbJZIRgbTLpWSpD4pjPhWg_X/s1600/Draft+Packs.jpg]]
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