MTG Deck Archetypes

⚔️ Aggro

An aggro deck is designed to win quickly by applying relentless early pressure. It aims to reduce the opponent’s life total to zero before they can stabilize or enact their own game plan. Aggro decks favor cheap, efficient creatures, direct damage, and aggressive tempo over long-term card advantage or board control.

🔍 Core Identity

Feature	Description
Win Condition	Fast, efficient damage from low-cost creatures and burn spells
Game Plan	Overwhelm opponents before they can build defenses
Pacing	Early-game oriented; aims to win by turns 4–5
Interactivity	Low to moderate – focus is on offense, not reacting

🧩 Deck Components

Card Type	Role in Aggro
Low-Cost Creatures	Fast board presence, pressure from turn 1 (Monastery Swiftspear, Goblin Guide)
Burn Spells	Finish damage or remove blockers (Lightning Bolt, Shock, Skewer the Critics)
Combat Tricks	Temporary boosts to force lethal swings (Infuriate, Giant Growth)
Haste Creatures	Immediate damage without giving the opponent time to react (Fervent Champion, Phoenix Chick)
Mana Base	Streamlined and efficient (18–22 lands max) to ensure aggressive tempo

🧪 Famous Variants

Sub-Archetype	Description	Example Cards
Mono-Red Aggro	Burn and fast creatures; often wins by turn 4	Lightning Strike, Eidolon of the Great Revel
White Weenie	Swarm of low-cost white creatures, often with lifegain or buffs	Thalia, Adanto Vanguard, Raise the Alarm
Gruul Aggro	Red-Green for haste and beaters	Questing Beast, Burning-Tree Emissary
Rakdos Aggro	Red-Black for aggression with discard or sacrifice synergies	Bloodsoaked Champion, Thoughtseize, Claim the Firstborn
Boros Aggro	Red-White for fast creatures with buffs and tokens	Heroic Reinforcements, Swiftblade Vindicator

🆚 VS Other Archetypes

Matchup Type	Aggro Approach
Control	Race before they stabilize or start countering threats
Midrange	Outpace before they drop bigger creatures or sweepers
Combo	Kill fast before combo pieces assemble
Other Aggro	Win the race or use tempo tricks (first-strike, haste, burn to finish)

⚠️ Weaknesses

• Poor late-game scaling: Loses to card advantage or top-end bombs
• Vulnerable to board wipes: 1 card can reset the game
• Countered by lifegain/stabilizers: Can’t maintain pressure past turn 5–6
• Predictable game plan: Easy to play around or sideboard against
• Low card advantage: Topdecking weak cards late
• Dies to cheap removal: High risk of 1-for-1 trades

🛑 Control

All about patience, resource management, and overwhelming inevitability. Rather than racing to win, you deny your opponent’s plan until your win condition is virtually incontestable. If you enjoy chess-like strategy, reactive play, and long games where every decision matters—control might be your archetype.

🔍 Core Identity

Feature	Description
Win Condition	Often slow and inevitable (e.g., planeswalkers, finishers like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or Shark Typhoon)
Game Plan	Survive early aggression, exhaust opponent’s resources, and win with a single resilient threat
Pacing	Late-game oriented (you prefer longer games where your more powerful top-decked cards shine)
Interactivity	Very high – you react to your opponent’s moves rather than proactively playing threats

🧩 Deck Components

Card Type	Role in Control
Counterspells	Prevent threats from ever resolving (Counterspell, Mana Leak, Dovin’s Veto)
Removal	Destroy or exile creatures or permanents (Doom Blade, Wrath of God, March of Otherworldly Light)
Card Draw	Refuel your hand to out-value the opponent (Fact or Fiction, Memory Deluge)
Board Wipes	Reset the board when overwhelmed (Supreme Verdict, Depopulate)
Win Conditions	Often hard-to-remove threats or value engines (Planeswalkers, control finishers)
Lands	Control decks typically run more lands (26–28) to hit land drops consistently

🧪 Famous Variants

Sub-Archetype	Description	Example Cards
Blue-White (Azorius) Control	Focus on counterspells, sweepers, planeswalkers	Teferi, Supreme Verdict, Absorb
Esper Control	Adds black for discard/removal	Kaya’s Guile, Thoughtseize, The Wandering Emperor
Grixis Control	Blue-Black-Red for removal and disruption	Kolaghan’s Command, Nicol Bolas, Fatal Push
Jeskai Control	Blue-White-Red for versatility	Lightning Helix, Narset, Supreme Verdict
Dimir Control	Blue-Black, often a mix of mill, discard, and counterplay	Drown in the Loch, Ashiok

🆚 VS Other Archetypes

Matchup Type	Control Approach
Aggro	Use removal and sweepers to stabilize, then turn the corner
Midrange	Outlast their threats, out-draw them
Combo	Disrupt key pieces with counterspells and discard
Other Control	Win counter-wars, generate more value over time

⚠️ Weaknesses

• Slow starts: Vulnerable to fast aggression
• Situational answers: Hands can be mismatched to threats
• Vulnerable to card draw denial: Loses value engine if disrupted
• Complex sequencing: Misplays are punishing and easy to make
• Slow clock: Opponent may recover before you close the game
• Weak to recursion: Can be out-grinded by resilient midrange/graveyard decks

⚖️ Midrange

A Midrange deck is a flexible, reactive strategy that aims to survive the early game, then dominate the battlefield with efficient threats and value-generating plays in the mid-to-late game. It sits between aggro and control, adapting its role based on the opponent: playing defensively against aggro, aggressively against control.

🔍 Core Identity

Feature	Description
Win Condition	Efficient creatures and planeswalkers that generate value over time
Game Plan	Stabilize in the early game, then out-value the opponent with high-impact plays
Pacing	Medium – wins usually occur between turns 5–9
Interactivity	High – plays both disruption and threats

🧩 Deck Components

Card Type	Role in Midrange
Efficient Creatures	Flexible and hard-to-answer threats (Tarmogoyf, Graveyard Trespasser, Sheoldred)
Removal	Early and midgame control of board (Fatal Push, Abrupt Decay, Lightning Helix)
Hand Disruption	Strip away combo/control tools (Thoughtseize, Duress)
Planeswalkers	Persistent value engines (Liliana of the Veil, Wrenn and Six)
Card Advantage	Two-for-ones, draw, or recursion (Seasoned Pyromancer, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker)

🧪 Famous Variants

Variant	Description	Key Cards
Jund Midrange	Classic 3-color pile of efficient threats and removal	Tarmogoyf, Liliana, Thoughtseize
Abzan Midrange	Green-White-Black with graveyard recursion and lifegain	Siege Rhino, Kaya, Scavenging Ooze
Rakdos Midrange	Red-Black tempo/control hybrid	Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Sheoldred, Bloodtithe Harvester
Sultai Midrange	More control-oriented, with blue card draw	Uro, Hydroid Krasis, Assassin’s Trophy
Mono-Green Stompy	Creature-heavy midrange deck with ramp and pressure	Steel Leaf Champion, Old-Growth Troll

🆚 VS Other Archetypes

Matchup Type	Midrange Approach
Aggro	Use removal and blockers to stabilize, then outclass with bigger threats
Control	Pressure early and apply constant threats to exhaust counterspells
Combo	Disrupt the combo via discard and removal while applying a fast clock
Other Midrange	Win through card quality, better curve, or more resilient threats

⚠️ Weaknesses

• Unfair Combos: Can struggle if the opponent executes a combo before you can disrupt it
• Board Wipes: Leaning too hard into creature-based value can make you vulnerable to sweepers
• Mana Consistency: Multi-color builds may suffer from awkward draws or color screw
• Lack of Focus: Being a jack-of-all-trades means you may be outpaced by hyper-focused decks

🧩 Combo

A combo deck seeks to win the game by assembling a specific combination of cards that, when played together, produce a game-ending effect—often instantly. Rather than relying on traditional combat, combo decks bypass normal gameplay rules by creating loops, infinite interactions, or massive effects that win on the spot.

🔍 Core Identity

Feature	Description
Win Condition	A specific interaction or series of cards that leads to a win (e.g., infinite damage, mill, or storm)
Game Plan	Stall, draw, and tutor until you assemble your combo
Pacing	Varies — can be fast (glass cannon) or slow (control-combo hybrid)
Interactivity	Low to moderate — some disruption, but often linear until the combo goes off

🧩 Deck Components

Card Type	Role in Combo
Combo Pieces	Cards that interact to win the game (Helm of Obedience + Rest in Peace)
Tutors	Help find missing pieces (Demonic Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Finale of Devastation)
Ramp	Speed up the game plan (Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Cabal Ritual)
Protection	Shield the combo from disruption (Silence, Pact of Negation, Veil of Summer)
Card Draw	Help dig through your deck quickly (Brainstorm, Ad Nauseam, Wheel of Fortune)

🧪 Famous Variants

Variant Type	Example Cards / Combo	Format	Notes
Storm	Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony	Modern/Legacy	Spells chain into each other for massive storm count
Two-Card Combo	Helm of Obedience + Rest in Peace	Legacy/EDH	Simple combos with two synergistic pieces
Infinite Combo	Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake, Kiki-Jiki + Splinter Twin	EDH/Modern	Create infinite mana, damage, or creatures
Life Gain Combo	Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood	EDH	Infinite life loss loop
Reanimator	Entomb + Reanimate + Griselbrand	Legacy	Not a loop, but a combo win by cheating creatures early
Polymorph/Cheat	Indomitable Creativity, Winota	Standard/Modern	Turn support cards into massive threats with one spell

🆚 VS Other Archetypes

Matchup Type	Combo Approach
Control	Race to combo before being disrupted — requires protection or baiting counters
Aggro	Survive early damage, then combo off before lethal
Midrange	Avoid disruption while assembling combo
Other Combo	Be faster, or run more redundancy/protection

⚠️ Weaknesses

• Disruption: Counterspells, discard (Thoughtseize, Force of Will) can stop you cold
• Graveyard Hate: Nullifies Reanimator or recursion combos (Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void)
• Timing: If you can’t go off fast enough, you risk losing to simpler strategies
• Reliance on Few Cards: Losing a single piece may be unrecoverable unless redundancy is built in

💀 Reanimator

A Reanimator deck aims to cheat huge, game-ending creatures into play from the graveyard, often within the first few turns. Rather than casting high-mana threats fairly, Reanimator decks use discard outlets and reanimation spells to shortcut the mana curve and gain a massive board advantage early. It’s a combo-adjacent strategy that blends explosive starts with graveyard synergy.

🔍 Core Identity

Feature	Description
Win Condition	Massive creatures cheated into play (e.g., Griselbrand, Archon of Cruelty)
Game Plan	Get a big creature into the graveyard → reanimate it ASAP
Pacing	Fast to medium — often aims to win or stabilize by turn 3–5
Interactivity	Low to moderate — some disruption, but focused on executing its own plan quickly

🧩 Deck Components

Card Type	Role in Reanimator
Massive Creatures	Win conditions you never intend to hard-cast (Iona, Jin-Gitaxias, Atraxa)
Discard Outlets	Put threats into the graveyard (Faithless Looting, Entomb, Liliana of the Veil)
Reanimation Spells	Bring them back for cheap (Reanimate, Exhume, Unburial Rites)
Protection	Prevent removal (Silence, Thoughtseize, Veil of Summer)
Backup Plan	Secondary threats or slower recursion (Persist, Animate Dead, Mulch)

🧪 Famous Variants

Variant	Description	Key Cards
Legacy Reanimator	Fast combo deck with turn 1–2 kill potential	Entomb, Reanimate, Griselbrand
Modern Reanimator	Slower, toolbox-style builds	Unmarked Grave, Persist, Archon of Cruelty
Rakdos Reanimator	Red-black mix with looting and burn backup	Faithless Looting, Animate Dead, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Sultai Self-Mill	Focus on dumping cards into graveyard naturally	Satyr Wayfinder, Mulch, The Scarab God
Esper Reanimator	Blue for counter backup and reanimate targets	Unburial Rites, Teferi, Gifts Ungiven
Reanimator EDH	Commanders like Chainer, Muldrotha, Karador	Long game value engine using recursion

🆚 VS Other Archetypes

Matchup Type	Reanimator Approach
Aggro	Get a blocker/lifelinker out early to stabilize
Control	Race their interaction — bait counters or duress first
Combo	Often faster, but needs to win before they combo off
Midrange	Go over the top with bigger threats and recursion

⚠️ Weaknesses

• Graveyard Hate: Cards like Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, or Tormod’s Crypt can stop the deck cold
• Counterspells: Losing your one reanimation spell to a Counterspell or Dovin’s Veto can be devastating
• Topdeck Reliance: If you draw reanimates without targets, or fatties without discard, hands can stall
• One Threat at a Time: Focused removal or bounce (Swords to Plowshares, Teferi) can undo a full turn of setup

🔒 Prison/Stax

Prison and Stax are archetypes that seek to lock the opponent out of playing the game by restricting access to cards, mana, creatures, or key phases. These decks don’t win quickly — instead, they aim to deny resources, tax actions, and slowly grind out a win through inevitability, often without ever letting the opponent really play.

“Prison” generally refers to hard lock pieces and resource denial.

“Stax” (short for Smokestack, a key card) emphasizes symmetrical effects — everyone sacrifices, everyone gets taxed — but the deck is built to break the symmetry.

🔍 Core Identity

Feature	Description
Win Condition	Slow, methodical — typically a token engine, planeswalker, or indestructible creature
Game Plan	Establish a lock, exhaust opponent resources, win with incremental advantage
Pacing	Slow — control the game entirely before pushing for a win
Interactivity	Very high — you control how much the opponent can interact at all

🧩 Deck Components

Card Type	Role in Prison/Stax
Lock Pieces	Prevent actions (Ensnaring Bridge, Ghostly Prison, Trinisphere)
Tax Effects	Make actions cost more (Sphere of Resistance, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben)
Resource Denial	Destroy or prevent mana (Armageddon, Winter Orb, Blood Moon)
Symmetrical Effects	Everyone sacrifices or skips phases (Smokestack, Tangle Wire, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale)
Break Symmetry	Cards that ignore your own locks (Crucible of Worlds, mana rocks, indestructible creatures)
Incremental Wincons	Tokens, emblems, drain effects (Elspeth, Ugin, The One Ring)

🧪 Famous Variants

Variant	Description	Key Cards
Mono-White Stax (EDH)	Classic commander tax and resource denial	Smothering Tithe, Rule of Law, Elspeth
Colorless Eldrazi Prison	Legacy/Modern prison with lands + taxes	Chalice of the Void, Thought-Knot Seer, Karn
RW Prison (Modern)	Lockdown with Blood Moon, Chalice, and planeswalkers	Blood Moon, Chalice, Nahiri
Smokestack Stax (Legacy)	True symmetrical sacrifice lock deck	Smokestack, Crucible of Worlds, Mox Diamond
Heliod Stax (EDH)	Lock pieces + combo win via infinite life or damage	Heliod, Rule of Law, Walking Ballista
Enchantress Prison	Builds lock from enchantments	Ghostly Prison, Solitary Confinement, Sphere of Safety

🆚 VS Other Archetypes

Matchup Type	Prison/Stax Approach
Aggro	Stop combat and flood with taxes (Ghostly Prison, Moat)
Control	Prevent spell casting with tax or denial (Trinisphere, Sphere of Resistance)
Combo	Lock critical pieces or phases (Rule of Law, Damping Sphere)
Midrange	Starve them of mana or card advantage and outlast

⚠️ Weaknesses

• Slow Starts: A weak opening hand can mean you never lock down the game
• Card Draw Deficiency: Many lock pieces are reactive — you can stall but not win without engines
• Asymmetry Requires Setup: If you can’t break your own lock, you suffer too
• Multiplayer Hate: In EDH, being the “fun killer” often makes you a table-wide target

🛡️ Voltron

A Voltron deck is a strategy—most common in Commander/EDH—that focuses on building up a single, powerful creature, often your commander, using auras, equipment, and pump spells to deliver lethal damage quickly and repeatedly. The name “Voltron” comes from the anime robot composed of many smaller parts forming one powerful entity—just like the strategy of suiting up one creature with multiple enhancements.

🔍 Core Identity

Feature	Description
Win Condition	Deal commander damage (21 in EDH) or massive combat damage via a single creature
Game Plan	Cast your key creature early and suit it up fast with buffs and protection
Pacing	Medium to fast — often goes for the kill by turns 5–7 in EDH
Interactivity	Moderate — some disruption, but mostly focused on protecting and enhancing your one threat

🧩 Deck Components

Card Type	Role in Voltron
Commander/Key Creature	Central to your strategy (e.g., Sram, Sigarda, Uril)
Auras/Equipment	Buffs that enhance stats, grant evasion, or protection (Rancor, Sword of Fire and Ice, Ethereal Armor)
Protective Spells	Keep your threat alive (Swiftfoot Boots, Teferi’s Protection, Counterspell)
Card Draw	Synergistic draw with enchantments or equipment (Puresteel Paladin, Kor Spiritdancer)
Ramp/Mana Fixing	Accelerates the commander and equips early (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Sword of the Animist)

🧪 Famous Variants

Variant Type	Example Commanders	Color Identity	Notes
Aura-Focused	Uril, the Miststalker	Naya (R/G/W)	Hard to target, scales with enchantments
Equipment-Focused	Sram, Senior Edificer, Wyleth, Soul of Steel	Mono-White, Boros	Equipment triggers card draw
Hexproof/Evasion-Based	Sigarda, Host of Herons, Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon	G/W, Mono-Black	Hard to remove or infect-based
Hybrid	Rafiq of the Many, Volrath the Fallen	Bant, Grixis	Combine pump, keywords, and surprise

🆚 VS Other Archetypes

Matchup Type	Voltron Approach
Control	Hit fast before they can remove your threat—protect it at all costs
Aggro	Outclass individual creatures with a massive single threat
Combo	Kill before they go off—use disruption or fast clocks
Stax/Prison	Struggles against sacrifice, tax, and mass removal unless properly teched

⚠️ Weaknesses

• Overreliance on one creature: Easy to disrupt with spot removal or exile
• Low redundancy: Few backup win conditions
• Weak to edict/bounce/exile effects: Circumvents hexproof/indestructible
• High tempo and mana investment: Risky if disrupted mid-setup
• Risk of card disadvantage: Auras and equipment can be dead cards post-wipe
• Minimal interaction: Struggles against combo, token, or control decks

🎲 Other Strategies/Archetypes

• Land Destruction: Destroys lands or a deck with the main goal of destroying its opponent’s lands. Primarily centered in red, with green and black getting tertiary.[1][2] White used to have Armageddon as a mass land destruction spell, but this ability has been moved to red in a rearrangement of the Color pie.
• Aggro-Control: A hybrid between an aggro deck and a control deck. An aggro-control deck’s game plan is to play enough creatures to kill the opponent in a reasonable number of turns (e.g. a “five-turn clock”), then protect those creatures through disruption for that many turns to win the game.
• Pillowfort: Pillowfort is a strategy for certain multiplayer formats, particularly the Commander format. The strategy is political in nature, attempting to make being attacked by an opponent undesirable or futile, thus making the rest of the opponents attack each other. This is achieved through cards that prevent damage or punish players for attacking so-called Pillows. This also allows players enough time to assemble a combo or series of plays which lets them win the game.