Art by Christopher RushPauper cube - Gotta love those Commons!
Archetypes
Azorius - Blink
Utilize ETB effects of creatures to control the board or gain card advantage. Ephemerate and Ghostly Flicker are all stars here but other creatures that bounce your creatures back to your hand are also very effective. Keep an eye out for Whitemane Lion, Kor Skyfisher, and even Wormfang Drake in a pinch.
ETB creatures to focus on are the following ...
Augur of Bolas
Omenspeaker
Man-o'-War
Archaeomancer
Attended Knight
Also pairs well with Enchantments as a number of ETB creatures can help find those enchantments that lock down creatures.
Heliod's Pilgrim
Totem-Guide Hartebeast
Narcolepsy
Fall from Favor
Boros - Go Wide Aggro
Try to get enough weenies into play and then just overwhelm your opponent with combat tricks. Token makers are key to this strategy and you will find a number of them here.
Hordeling Outburst
Raise the Alarm
Triplicate Spirits
Combat tricks will help this strategy along and keep an eye out for these as well.
Rally the Peasants
Path of Anger's Flame
Trumpet Blast
Fortify
Dimir - Control
Keep the board free of creatures through removal, return to hand, and counter spells while building a board of your own. Card advantage is key in this strategy and some of the better creatures to focus on are the following ...
Augur of Bolas
Omenspeaker
Phyrexian Rager
Key Removal in this set can help you with this strategy and should also be a focus.
Ob Nixilis's Cruelty
Ashes to Ashes
Pestilence
Discard can also help trim down the opponents options. Keep an eye out for these.
Hymn to Tourach
Duress
Chittering Rats - Can be back breaking with some blink options too.
Golgari - Graveyard
The strategy is simple. Fill up your graveyard and then use it to your advantage. Keep an eye out for key cards in this strategy such as Grisly Salvage and Grapple with the Past. Additionally, Shambling Shell, Golgari Brownscale, and Stinkweed Imp can fill up the graveyard through dredging.
Some additional cards to keep an eye out for is recursion. Here are some examples...
Cruel Revival
Unearth
Disturbed Burial
Additional cards that help this strategy include...
Ghastly Demise
Grey Merchant of Ashpodel
Gurmag Angler
Gruul - Fight \ Smash
This strategy employs big creatures with Trample to not only crush through smaller creatures but to fight them as well. This package uses fight spells for its removal as you will be casting large fatties most of the time.
Bayou Groff
Imperiosaur
Vildin-Pack Outcast
Ramp will also be key for this strategy so keep an eye out for these...
Werebear - Essential as it can become big itself
Llanowar Elves
Utopia Sprawl
Izzet - Prowess
Use cheap cantrips and spells to beef up your creatures. Make sure to value creature removal or bounce to help with this strategy. Vapor Snag, Snap, Blazing Salvo, and Fire // Ice are all good picks to help this strategy shine.
Creatures to keep an eye on are the following ..
Nivix Cyclops
Wee Dragonauts
Burning Prophet
Thermo-Alchemist
Orzhov - Extorting Drain
Using a combination of creatures with extort and spells, this archetype looks to slowly drain the opponents while buffing our life total. Creatures that highlight this strategy are as follows ...
Tithe Drinker
Kingpin's Pet
Syndic of Tithes
Removal and graveyard recursion will be key with this strategy as well. Keep an eye out for some of these as well...
Late to Dinner
Ashes to Ashes
Unearth
And without question, Pestilence is an absolute all-star in this strategy.
Rakdos - Sac'ing Goblins
Use sac outlets to enhance your board or damage your opponents. Highlights of this strategy include the Goblin token creators of Dragon Fodder and Krenko's Command but creature token creators are key too. They include Mogg War Marshal, Goblin Instigator, and Beetleback Chief. Also, the Eggs - Rukh Egg and Dragon Egg are great in this strategy too and are typically sleeper picks.
Some of the value sac outlet spells/creatures include the following ...
Heartfire
Village Rites
Goblin Grenade
The creatures that take value in sac'ing things include the following ...
Vermin Gorger
Wakedancer
Goblin Lookout
If you make a bunch of Goblins, Sparksmith is an all-star for this archetype.
Selesnya - Enchantments
Selesnya Enchantments looks to not only buff up our creatures with enchantments but to also cripple the opponents. Use ETB creatures with enchantment find or recursion to get the right tool you need. These include the following...
Heliod's Pilgrim
Monk Idealist
Totem-Guide Hartebeast
Key Enchantments to look for include the following ...
Captured by Lagacs
Armadillo Cloak
Ethereal Armor
Cage of Hands
Simic - Ramp
Simic Ramp is trying to Ramp and control the board to finally lay down a big creature that is impossible to deal with. It is a good idea to not only focus on ramp but key counter spells too so your opponents don't get too out of hand when you drop your big guns.
Ramp to keep an eye on include the following ...
Growth Spiral
Eureka Moment
Wall of Roots
Arbor Elf & Utopia Sprawl
The haymakers to keep an eye on include the following ...