All archetypes are graveyard archetypes. I am a graveyard enthusiast and enjoy playing graveyard-centric decks in every format, so this cube is a bit of self-expression and enables others to draft and play all of my favorite strategies. Every archetype and deck is aiming to utilize the graveyard as an additional resource or turn downside into upside. An emphasis is placed on synergy over raw power, but there's plenty of that, too. It is also important to have some balance and interaction. I've focused on targeted graveyard hate and restock effects over exiling entire graveyards, since that can easily lead to non-games. Double-faced cards are deliberately excluded for now. Number of players: 4 - 8 Size: 360 Complexity: High Power Level: Medium/High Format Speed: Medium --- >>> ## Archetypes <<< --- >>> #### {W}{U} Tokens <<< Emphasis on the Embalm and Eternalize mechanics but includes more traditional token creation effects as well. Be aggressive but also grindy. Look for cards that can create multiple tokens over time or creatures that create tokens or become tokens when they leave the battlefield. Includes some payoffs for going wide. >>> <<[[!Battle Screech]][[!Occult Epiphany]][[!Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun]][[!Aven Wind Guide]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {W}{U} Cycling <<< Control the board by cycling cards from your hand for extra benefit. An archetype built around [[Astral Drift]] to be controlling, more typical of a {W}{U} pairing. Most decks in this archetype will find some of the grindier cards from the {W}{U} Tokens archetype to be useful here as well. >>> <<[[!Valiant Rescuer]][[!Astral Drift]][[!Drake Haven]][[!Migratory Route]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {U}{B} Control <<< Discard counterspells, removal spells, and draw spells to cast them for their alternative costs and mitigate the card disadvantage, controlling the opponent in the process. After the opponent is exhausted of resources, quickly close the game out with a reanimated threat or use their own threats against them. >>> <<[[!Circular Logic]][[!Archfiend of Ifnir]][[!Psychic Frog]][[!The Scarab God]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {U}{B} Dredge <<< Recursive creatures that don't stay dead. Fill the graveyard via discard and self-mill and use it as a resource. Relentlessly bring back creatures over and over again to exhaust your opponent's answers while reducing their life total to zero. Slight emphasis on Zombies. >>> <<[[!Skaab Ruinator]][[!Gravecrawler]][[!Undercity Informer]][[!Prized Amalgam]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {B}{R} Madness <<< Use discard outlets to pitch creatures and burn spells, casting them for their Madness cost. Ideally, this deck wants to be fast and low to the ground with direct damage spells for the extra reach. However, the deck can also play bigger and more midrange with lots of removal and grindy creatures or a reanimate package. >>> <<[[!Asylum Visitor]][[!Kitchen Imp]][[!Anje's Ravager]][[!Reckless Wurm]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {B}{R} Sacrifice <<< This archetype likes to be aggressive early and low to the ground. Play creatures to the board, attacking with impunity. Use sacrifice outlets to gain extra value from the opponent's attempts to fight back and push through extra direct damage and add more fuel to the fire. >>> <<[[!Bloodsoaked Champion]][[!Priest of Forgotten Gods]][[!Goblin Bombardment]][[!Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {R}{G} Aggro <<< Paying homage to [[Hollow One]] and [[Vengevine]] decks of constructed formats, this archetype wants to be aggressive with cheap creatures by turning them sideways. Discard creatures with Madness to cast for a discounted cost or fuel graveyard-based payoffs. Look for burn spells to clear the path or give the deck additional reach. >>> <<[[!Blazing Rootwalla]][[!Basking Rootwalla]][[!Vengevine]][[!Become Immense]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {R}{G} Lands <<< The Lands archetype is supported across many colors, but the {R}{G} color pair excels at moving lands between the hand and graveyard. Discard lands for value and return them to your hand later to do it all over again. Somewhere between midrange and control, this deck likes to play the long game and generate obscene amounts of value along the way. >>> <<[[!Molten Vortex]][[!Life from the Loam]][[!Wrenn and Six]][[!Borborygmos Enraged]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {G}{W} Combo <<< Decks in this archetype feel like a clown car of creature-based combos. The goal is to assemble a pair of creatures that, once combined with a low cost or free sacrifice outlet, are able to loop each other indefinitely. Most of the payoffs to these combos are colorless or require a third color splash, but the combos themselves have lots of redundancy and cheap recursion should one of the pieces be removed. >>> <<[[!Extraction Specialist]][[!Luminous Broodmoth]][[!Saffi Eriksdotter]][[!Kitchen Finks]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {G}{W} Lands <<< The Lands archetype is supported across many colors, but the {G}{W} color pair excels at moving lands between the battlefield and graveyard. Play lands, sacrifice those lands, and play those lands again. Somewhere between midrange and control, this deck likes to play the long game and generate obscene amounts of value along the way. >>> <<[[!Sevinne's Reclamation]][[!Turntimber Sower]][[!Titania, Protector of Argoth]][[!Knight of the Reliquary]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {W}{R} Artifacts <<< The Artifacts archetype resembles a traditional reanimator strategy. Use cheap discard or sacrifice outlets to get artifacts into the graveyard to recur them directly onto the battlefield effectively cheating their mana cost. This color combination offers some of the most efficient tools at the expense of being specific to artifacts. >>> <<[[!Goblin Welder]][[!Daretti, Scrap Savant]][[!Osgir, the Reconstructor]][[!Myr Battlesphere]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {W}{R} Cycling <<< Play aggressive creatures early and turn them sideways, then augment the game plan with cycling effects. Look for cycling effects that provide additional threats to the aggro plan, such as removal, burn, or just digging for more gas. The archetype can easily lean into tokens for extra support as well. >>> <<[[!Timeless Dragon]][[!Drannith Stinger]][[!Tectonic Reformation]][[!Venerable Warsinger]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {R}{U} Madness <<< Use discard outlets to pitch counterspells and burn spells to cast for an alternate, cheaper cost via Madness. Look to supplement this plan with effects that benefit from discarding cards or cast powerful Delve spells with all the cards being put into the graveyard. >>> <<[[!Careful Study]][[!Firestorm]][[!Fiery Temper]][[!Rielle, the Everwise]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {R}{U} Spellslinger <<< Get double the use out of your instant and sorcery spells. This archetype includes payoffs for casting instant and sorcery spells and having a graveyard full of them as a result. Win the game with effects that grant Flashback or otherwise let you cast spells from the graveyard to overwhelm the opponent. >>> <<[[!Snapcaster Mage]][[!Lier, Disciple of the Drowned]][[!Mizzix's Mastery]][[!Crackling Drake]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {U}{G} Madness <<< This archetype pays homage to the {U}{G} Madness decks from Odyssey block. Use discard outlets to enable playing creatures for below-rate costs and beat down the opponent before they are ready. A little bit slower than some of the other Madness or aggro archetypes in the cube, but at the tradeoff of playing creatures that are much larger or with better evasion. >>> <<[[!Bazaar Trademage]][[!Wild Mongrel]][[!Arrogant Wurm]][[!Honored Hydra]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {U}{G} Self-Mill <<< There has to be at least one mill archetype in a graveyard cube, right? The primary gameplan with this strategy is to mill yourself, extending the resources that you have available to you to out-value the opponent. Mill yourself enough to win the game through a [[Laboratory Maniac]] alternate win condition or pivot to milling the opponent until they have no library left to draw from. >>> <<[[!Hedron Crab]][[!Laboratory Maniac]][[!Jace, Wielder of Mysteries]][[!Tracker's Instincts]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {G}{B} Delirium <<< Fill the graveyard with discard effects and self mill to turn on powerful delirium payoffs. This archetype plays like a constructed midrange deck, trying to exchange removal and threats with the opponent and using the graveyard to provide additional benefits and recursion. >>> <<[[!Nethergoyf]][[!Traverse the Ulvenwald]][[!Grim Flayer]][[!Grist, the Hunger Tide]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {G}{B} Dredge <<< Fill the graveyard as quickly and as much as possible to turbo out massive creatures. Recursive creatures and payoffs for milling or cards leaving the graveyard add more fuel to the fire to keep the opponent on the back foot until they are eventually overwhelmed. >>> <<[[!Bloodghast]][[!Tormod, the Desecrator]][[!Splinterfright]][[!Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {B}{W} Reanimator <<< Classic reanimator. Use cheap discard outlets to put huge threats into the graveyard with the plan of reanimating them back to the battlefield for far below rate. With this game plan in mind, this archetype can dodge color requirements to play some nasty finishers that might not be castable otherwise. >>> <<[[!Reanimate]][[!Unmarked Grave]][[!Priest of Fell Rites]][[!Unburial Rites]]>> <<< --- >>> #### {B}{W} Sacrifice <<< A light stax archetype, this deck wants to sacrifice artifacts, creatures, and sometimes even lands to out-grind opponents with resource denial. Look for cards that create extra bodies or give you access to your graveyard as a resource to break parity on some of the recurring sacrifice effects or to mitigate effects that would be a downside otherwise. >>> <<[[!Doomed Traveler]][[!Braids, Cabal Minion]][[!Lurrus of the Dream-Den]][[!Smokestack]]>> <<< --- >>> ## Other Combos & Notable Inclusions <<< --- #### Asmo & Her Cookbook <<[[!Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar]][[!The Underworld Cookbook]]>> #### Combo Lark <<[[!Karmic Guide]][[!Reveillark]][[!Body Double]]>> #### Combo Crab <<[[!Hedron Crab]][[!Aftermath Analyst]][[!Splendid Reclamation]][[!Hedge Shredder]]>> #### Saffi Combos with a Sandwich <<[[!Saffi Eriksdotter]][[!Extraction Specialist]][[!Karmic Guide]][[!Sun Titan]]>> #### Gifts Ungiven <<[[!Gifts Ungiven]][[!Unburial Rites]]>>