With the release of the next Modern Masters set on the horizon, we’ll be walking through the format’s archetypes and key cards.
Blink- Most effective in the Blue-White color combination, any player that is familiar with “Brago, King Eternal” in EDH will understand exactly what this deck is trying to do. By abusing “enter the battlefield” triggers on cards like Mist Raven, Urbis Protector, Sea Gate Oracle, and Kor Hookmaster by making them re-enter the battlefield using cards like Mistmeadow Witch and Deputy of Acquittals. This archetype gets ahead by combining recurring card advantage, token creation, and tempo-based effects like that of Mist Raven. Cheap removal and effective blockers created a defensive early game as you build up to create a powerful board presence in the mid and late stages of the game.
Aggro- While not always viable in limited, Modern Masters 2017 contains many enablers for aggressive decks. As you might have expected red is the best color for playing aggro in this format. By creating a strong early game presence with cards like Mogg Flunkies, Mudbutton Torchrunner, and Madcap Skills your plan is to win the game as fast as possible and use burn spells to either clear a path or finish your opponent when they are at their last points of life. With a strong token subtheme use of cards such as Dragon Fodder and Goblin Assault make both Dynacharge and Giantbaiting very powerful in this archetype. Unlike other Archetypes in this format, there are many different paths to choose when going into a second color. Black offers cards like Terminate and Auger Spree to help clear a path for your creatures. White offers longevity by allowing for your deck to strengthen its board presence in the mid-game. And green offers potentially powerful attack steps that result from using Hungry Spriggan, Burning-Tree Emissary, and Ghor-Clan Rampager.
Midrange Tokens- Green-White offers an interesting midrange strategy that takes advantage of token creation by using the "populate" mechanic from Return to Ravnica alongside powerful enablers like Intangible Virtue. Some of the key cards for this archetype are Master Splicer, Vital Splicer, Slime Molding, and Wayfaring Temple.
Control- Control is strongest in the form of Blue-Black or Esper and uses lots of removal alongside early blockers, card draw, and some counterspells. Often your control finishers will be powerful flyers like Lingering Souls and Moroii. At times you are going to have to play your control deck as a tempo deck unless you have an answer for every threat your opponent has which is very unlikely. This makes creatures like Mist Raven very valuable to control strategies.
Sacrifice- The hardest strategy of the five to pull off, the strongest incarnation of a sacrifice deck in this format is Black-Red often splashing green if able, Black offers Mortician’s Beetle, Bone Splinters, and Vampire Aristocrat while red offers token producers and best of all the amazing interaction that results from having Traitorous Instinct alongside a Sacrifice outlet which then allows you to gain control of your opponent’s creature and sacrifice it before the end of your turn so they don't get it back. This archetype also benefits from creatures with the unearth mechanic allowing you to get twice the value from sacrificing your creatures. A lack of independently strong cards that enable this strategy often makes it a sub-theme of a black-red aggro or midrange deck for the same reason I would also advise against drafting this deck with the intention of winning every match but rather with the intention of experiencing some fun interactions and having a good time.
When it comes to the 3 color cards of the set I recommend splashing for them if you have the mana fixing, many of these cards are powerful in limited if you are able to cast them. Understanding that you may come across a powerful card worth splashing it may be worth it to spend a few picks in the draft on Guildgates or Tri-color lands if the pack doesn’t offer any other strong cards.
Have fun exploring this new limited format and picking up a few modern staples while you’re at it!