Hey guys, Josh here with Wizardden.com's Team Roguet3ch. Some time has passed since the release of Fate Reforged and with it's release, a vast amount of knowledge has been gained in regards to the cards limited and constructed implications. Today I bring you some of the lessons I have learned from FRF limited. I apologize I was unable to get videos of prerelease events up but I have been under the weather and was pretty much unable to speak. Not only that I also got engaged this week so I have been very busy. However, I did play a ton of pre-release events on MTGO as well as in real life, and also took down Boise's only limited PPTQ to lock up a spot in the RPTQ in April. I hope this helps you take down a draft or sealed event in your area!!
I'll start with sealed and move in to draft as there are quite a few differences between the two. Since Fate Reforged released the new sealed format is composed of three packs of FRF and three packs of KTK. One thing I have noticed is that FRF adds a slew of good non-creature spells and a few solid creatures where KTK offers some very strong creatures and very few efficient non-creature spells. This is a broad statement as all of the rare creatures in FRF are playable as is the cycle of choose to put a +1/+1 counter or get some extra value in some way or another and lest we forget the solid non-creature cards of KTK such as Feat of Resistance, Arrow Storm, Treasure Cruise and many more. For sealed there are several ways to build your deck and I still believe post FRF that Jeskai is the strongest color combination. As for the other four clans they are all very solid choices and you are not going to be punished for not opening the insane Jeskai pool (Which I opened at the PPTQ only to pass to Mr. Nick Crabs). The current sealed format is very open and as long as you are able to identify your strongest color combination, you will reap the benefits of a very strong deck.
Draft is where things get a little more interactive. With well over 70% of Fate Reforged being limited playable it makes it quite difficult to pick up on signals early on in the draft. To give an example of this, let's look at a pack one pick four. Your first three cards are Mastery of the Unseen, Lightform, Pyrotechnics. You look at the pack and find Destructor Dragon, Whisperer of the Wilds, Hooded Assassin, Douse in Gloom, Mardu Scout, Thornwood Falls, Harsh Sustenance, Cunning Strike, Dragon Bell Monk, Aven Surveyor, Refocus. I know that is a lot to look at but in this example, I would say that one of the two people to my right are also in white with green being grossly open. However, the people to your right easily could have run off with Whisperwood Elemental, another Pyrotechnics, or much more. With the power level of the green cards in the hypothetical pack I would take the Destructor Dragon simply to keep myself open. Even more than with the sealed format I believe that draft is very flat in regards to the clans power level meaning that there is no clear cut winner for the strongest clan; though if I were asked about this I would say Abzan is in the lead by a very narrow margin. It is very difficult to gauge where some packs are going, though that is not always the case as I have done several drafts where I go in to the KTK packs with only a single color of cards (generally white which always makes my head explode as I would say white is undoubtedly the strongest color for limited in FRF.) The important thing is making sure that you don't back yourself into a wall only to find you are getting cut out of all of the colors you chose in FRF. This means having a willingness to being open during the Fate Packs. As I mentioned earlier in this article, well over 70% of Fate Reforged is limited playable which means you can be very open in regards to colors during this pack and can very easily fill any holes with the cards of KTK. I have also found myself in situations where I will end up with four colors worth of solid picks, a Cunning Strike and a Harsh Sustenance only to be able to bring everything together in Khans walking away with a 3-0 or worst case 2-0 into my only loss kind of deck.
After having played with the set quite a bit I would like to list what are in my opinion the top five uncommons and top ten commons of both Fate Reforged and Khans of Tarkir in order to assist you in evaluating your picks.
Fate Reforged Uncommons:
1: Lightform
2: Cloudform
3: Valorous Stance
4: Destructor Dragon / Temur Sabertooth (very close between these they are probably 4-5 in my opinion)
5: Pyrotechnics / Elite Scaleguard / Wardscale Dragon (Same situation, all of these are cards you should be very happy to see, especially if you get them pick 3-5.)
Khans of Tarkir Uncommons:
1: Murderous Cut
2: Armament Corps (Color intensive but an insanely powerful card)
3: Mardu Heart-Piercer
4: Ride Down (Also a bit color intensive but for some reason your opponent never sees it coming)
5: This one really depends on the deck you are in but some very potent choices include: Jeskai Elder, Bellowing Saddlebrute, Dead Drop, Arc Lightning, Hordeling Outburst, Heir of the Wilds, Pine Walker, Sultai Flayer, any of the Charms. I'm sorry that there are so many coming in at number five but again, the picks will be determined by the colors you are in and these are all fine choices.
Before I jump to the commons one honorable mention for the uncommons that I believe skyrockets in playable value with the addition of the manifest mechanic is Ruthless Ripper. Playing around this guy is all but impossible as you can completely turn a game around with the Ripper. If you thought it was hard attacking into manifested creatures before, this guy keeps it just as scary, even if you are tapped
out.
Fate Reforged top 10 commons:
1: Reach of Shadows
2: Sandblast
3: Sandsteppe Outcast
4: Hunt the Weak
5: Bathe in Dragonfire
6: Typhoid Rats
7: Abzan Skycaptain
8: Whisk Away
9: Aven Surveyor
10: Douse in Gloom
This may not be the right order but I do feel as though these are the ten strongest commons in the set.
Khans of Tarkir top 10 commons:
1: Feat of Resistance
2: Kill Shot
3: Abzan Guide (purely for power level)
4: Arrow Storm
5: Debilitating Injury
6: Throttle
7: Alabaster Kirin
8: Ainok Bond-Kin
9: Mardu Warshrieker
10: Bitter Revelation
Again, possibly not in the right order. and to give you a better idea of how strong the commons are in Khans of Tarkir 25 cards went through my mind as options for this list.
I hope this helps you take down a few drafts and sealed events. I'd love to hear any arguments against these lists as well. I'll try to get up some constructed videos once I get back from vacation (probably Thursday) with the release of FRF I am on a very fun deck I'm excited to show you all. Don't forget to check out the YouTube page for a few videos and be sure to subscribe before Valentine's Day for your chance to win a KTK Bloodstained Mire and KTK Polluted Delta on MTGO! Thanks for reading and happy battles!
Josh Kreiter
Wizardden.com
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