Draft Archetypes in Mirrodin Besieged
by Roberto Castro-Mahoney

(Today is the prerelease of Mirrodin Besieged on Magic the Gathering Online.
Take Berto’s advice and find the deck that will take you to flawless victory!)

New sets always add hiccups to existing draft formats – new interactions, new rules, and new plays. Mirrodin Besieged draft provides an entirely new twist. For the first time in Magic history players will be opening the NEW set first. Yes, in case you haven’t been out of your cave recently (or only play on MTGO), the draft order goes one pack of Mirrodin Besieged, followed by the two packs of Scars of Mirrodin. But you may be asking, what are the implications of this? Does it really matter all that much? The answer however, is a resounding yes.

For the first time you can now attempt to draft a “new-pack archetype” without waiting to see if the cards will show for it later on in the draft, letting players try new things without getting bogged down in two packs of the same old decks they’re tired of playing. It’s always been a problem in the old draft formats, wanting to try something new but not knowing whether it would pan out in those later packs. For instance nothing was worse than taking Pandemonium in Time Spiral block draft only to not see any Whitemane Lions or Stonecloakers in the Planar Chaos packs. However you can now draft the archetype-defining uncommons and commons from Besieged and for the first time build around cards from the newest set instead of crossing your fingers and praying to see the fates line up later. So let’s look at some archetypes that got obvious buffs and nerfs and then try to hit the gap and discover new decks.

Metalcraft

While this theme obviously envelopes a large pool of cards, the idea is simple: draft lots of artifacts and thus create powerful bonuses to your Metalcraft dudes. The problem is that Razorfield Rhino and other Metalcraft robots are so expensive! I think that Robot strategies have been hit hard. You still have two full packs of Snapsail Glider and Chrome Steed but there is hardly enough support from Mirrodin Besieged. Obviously the Phyrexians are laying a strong siege.  Also note that Steel Sabotage and Quicksilver Geyser can BLOW YOU OUT.  So be very careful with the guys you have on the battlefield and sometimes it may even be right to play your artifacts pre-combat.

How do you draft Metalcraft then? Look for cards like Dross Ripper even if you aren’t playing Black. Sure, as an artifact he’s easier to kill, but a solid 3/3 body goes well in any deck. If you see the uncommon Peace Strider and its nemesis Pierce Strider pick them up. Sphere of the Suns will be a good way to accelerate into the plethora of 4-drops Metalcraft is forced to play. By cutting (passing zero) artifacts HARD you’ll be the only person who can afford to take the Robot Horse (Chrome Steed in packs two and three.  While it’s important to grab some robots in pack 1, know that Concussive Bolt can end games quickly, so keep an eye peeled.

Infect

Obviously the archetype has exploded in power. There’s so many good cards in three different colors, not to mention some bombs in Blue like Corrupted Conscience. There’s a new Infect flyer on the block: Tine Shrike. But with all the Phyrexians flying around you are bound to fight up to three other drafters at the table for it. Look to pick up Mirran Mettle, Infect’s new best friend. Untamed Might can still steal games but the Mettle will prove a staple in racing down your opponents. (Note: Unless you are in a pure race with an opponent, sideboard OUT your Mettles when playing against Infect. The temporary pump doesn’t actually save your dudes.)

To combat the excessive Infect armies with your own Phyrexian deck, look to grab Flesh-Eater Imp and the Shrike. The Imp is one of the most underrated cards (and that’s with people calling it a first-pick!) I can’t preach enough how godly this card is. It dodges your opponents creatures, can outbuff a Galvanic Blast, and when push comes to shove, it can sacrifice your team for the lethal swing.

While the flyers are obvious pickups for Infect decks, think about how Priests of Norn can affect your draft table. Against Mirran decks it provides a solid body that will whittle down their team. Against Infect it will 1-shot your opponent’s X/1s and live to block again. For Green check out Rot Wolf and Blightwidow. During the Pre-Release events it was this common tandem that let many Phyrexian decks to scourge the Mirran. The Wolf and sometimes Septic Rats led to the some of the biggest blowouts of the weekend.

Dinosaurs!

Scars of Mirrodin draft seemed to be an eternal struggle between Infect vs. Metalcraft until Grand Prix Nashville (and our forums) unveiled a solid meta-game choice with the best archetype name in the history of Magic: Dinosaurs! Ari Lax played all of his Day 2 drafts and made the finals at the GP by forcing Dinosaurs. Based around beasts like Alpha Tyrannax and Molder Beast, the deck shoved fat creatures in the way of Steed or Cystbearer and lived to swing back next turn. Dodging all the Shatter effects of the format, the Dinos romped the GP and was an instant popular choice on MODO.
Dinosaurs! receives some HUGE buffs in MBS/SOM/SOM. First we’ll look at the obvious bomb rare you can grab in your first pack: Creeping Corrosion. This is an emblematic card of the Dino archetype as it kills virtually none of your guys and maybe all of theirs. Infect also loves this card so, by all means, grab it when you see it. Another huge addition to the archetype is Fangren Marauder. I noticed that this card hardly received the love it deserves and I’m sure you’ll be able to get it too late. Easier to cast than the Tyrannax, and with far-greater impact, the Marauder has won every game I’ve seen it cast against Metalcraft. Even Arrest, the universal kill-all card in White, can’t stop the Marauder from stealing games. Lastly let’s look at Meliras Keepers. At five mana this 4/4 is nothing to scoff at. Apart from single-handedly stifling an entire Infect onslaught, he also cannot be Proliferated to death, touched by a Skinrender, or whittled down by a certain regenerating Blight Mamba.

Suicide Red

I promised to look into the new meta-game breakthrough decks, and here I deliver. Red has strong and synergistic cards in the new set, and paired with some late-picks from Scars (Oxidda Daredevil and Ferrovore) and the unforgettable Furnace Celebration, it should be easy to manufacture a strong Sui-Red deck.
The new guys:

• Mortarpod- Hugely underrated, this card is an easy first-pick. It provides cheap removal for Myr and Infect flyers, and also pings for Poison damage and is a Metalcraft target. This card goes in every deck.
• Kuldotha Flamefiend- Bomb. Not just in description but in shear function. This card blows up your enemy’s team and quickly leads to victory.
• Metallic Mastery- I certainly love this card more than most. Grabbing their robot can sometimes be the surprise Metalcraft your team needed, the extra push into the red-zone, or simply a removal spell when paired with Rusted Slasher or the Scars sacrificers.
• Rusted Slasher- At four power he’s large enough to take out any Infect creature, while also fighting off Chrome Steed and the Striders. Another bonus: he dodges Arc Trail like a champ.
• Blightstick Shaman- For three mana this guy is my favorite tempo-play in the format. Come in and kill a Myr, Stinger or Skimmer and then block or swing as needs be. This little-goblin-that-could is the poor-man’s replacement for Spikeshot Elder.

But the mack-daddy of the group and the card I will first-pick every time I see it is Spine of Ish Sah. While the expensive price-tag on this bomb will turn some players away from it, the Spine is a sure-fire way to seal games. Universal Removal for every permanent in the format besides Tel-Jilad Fallen, this Vindicate effect is unparalleled in the format. It kills Dragons, Angels, Demons, Dinosaurs, Robots, Enchantments, and Lions and Tigers and Bears. Not just that, but for every turn afterwards the Spine comes back and ruins some more. Daredevil, Slasher, Ferrovore are just some ways to repeatedly summon this 7-cost death-stick.

I’m sure that we’ll see more and more innovative technology (can anyone else see Proliferate as another sleeper archetype?) as the set matures and players learn to evaluate cards. For now, look at the decks you already know and ride them to victory with the new toys from Mirrodin Besiged. If you derive a totally new deck and want to share it, please comment or visit our forums! (Now cleaned up of porn bots! – Gesualdi) Even if you lose the first round maybe you’ve stumbled onto the best deck in the format, and we’d love to hear about it.

SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST:

Mirrodin Besieged boosters are rigged.  That’s right.  Rigged.  The faction of the Rare is OPPOSITE of the Uncommons.  If you get passed Corrupted Conscience then start thinking about the Red Suns Zenith that might have been taken.  Also the commons are an even 5:5 split between factions.  This is an unreal amount of free information during draft so LEARN THE FACTIONS and you’ll sometimes know the exact card your daddy first-picked!   (Cool story: there are 77 Phyrexia cards and 77 Mirran cards.  The one non-alligned card?  You guessed it- Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas!

Peace!