Tolarian Tutor: Deck Archetypes - Aggro, Control, Combo - A Magic: The Gathering Study Guide
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
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If there’s something that humans are very good at, it’s categorizing things - themselves, cats, colors, even Hogwarts houses. That’s because we’re adept at recognizing patterns, not just in how things look, but how they interact with one another. In Magic, we often see recurring themes and patterns in how certain decks play out, and how they interact not just with your opponent, but the board state as well.
We call these archetypes, because we see them come up in almost every format again and again like an old friend, or in some cases, an old nemesis. By labeling these different deck archetypes, we can understand what a deck is trying to do just by hearing the name of it. If I say “Red Deck Wins”, you know this deck is focused on a Aggro strategy, has no Control elements, and uses cards like lightning bolt and goblin guide. It immediately tells you what the deck is trying to do, and how going about it.
In this episode, we’ll be exploring the three primary types of deck archetypes we see in Magic: The Gathering: Aggro, Control and Combo. We’ll talk about their strengths, their weaknesses, and how to evaluate cards to build these archetypes in both Limited and Constructed.
Which of these archetypes should I play?
This depends on the format, and also on the timing. If you’re looking for a good win rate, the best time to play an Aggro strategy is usually right after a set comes out in Standard. Because the format is still being in some ways “figured out”, being proactive and focusing on just killing your opponent is an effective way of getting those early wins.
Once a format becomes more defined, it’s easier to build a Control deck to beat what other people are doing, which is usually at the end before the next set is released, or before rotation. Combo is sprinkled throughout the lifespan of a format sometimes, when and if there is a good busted combo in a Control deck. If people are playing a lot of Aggro decks, then it’s a good time to do one of those Engine decks, as long as it’s fast and can kill by turn 5 if there isn’t interaction.
But honestly, the real answer to this question is: any of them you want! What is amazing about Magic: the Gathering as a game is its flexibility. You can express yourself through gameplay in almost any way you might wish. I love my Modern Merfolk deck, and no matter how it’s doing in the meta, I’ll continue to play it, regardless of what other people think. For you that might be your Cat tribal Standard deck, your Burn deck, or even 8 Rack. Whatever you choose, follow your bliss and fine tune it to the best of your ability. Different people play Magic differently, and in that lies the inherent beauty and freedom of the game.
Music Courtesy Of:
"Vintage Education" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons...
6 years later, this is still valuable for us noobs. Hope this the views are still providing some coin for the college and its faculty.
This feels so much like a college class that I feel bad for not taking notes.
If they had college classes on card games, I'd never leave
Awesome as always
Lol I started 2 weeks ago. I have note's a galore!
There’s someone out there writing Cornell notes.
same. well said.
50 years from now these videos will still form a core fundamental for teaching mtg.
Prof, you struck gold with the Tolarian Tutor series. Probably your most educational (and fun) series yet. Fantastic work!
I am really not into MtG but I must say I adore the way you speak. When someone fascinates you even when speaking about something you basically don't care about, it does mean something.
What a great series of videos! There are plenty of resources available for the beginner, but until now nothing for the intermediate player. Your Tolarian Tutor series fills a much needed niche, like classes in the 200-300 level. Well done Professor.
My son and I are just getting into mtg and I can easily say these are the best videos out there explaining the foundations. Thank you so much for providing this knowledge!
This has definitely been eye opening. I've been running around with Magic for a bit and settled on a creature type I really liked, good ol' Slivers. I really enjoyed their ability of sharing traits with one another, but always found myself on the downswing when playing with them. Finally, opponent sat down and looked over my deck to help give me a better fighting chance, his reaction to my deck was "You're playing an Aggro deck as a Control deck. You have so many creatures that you're doing nothing with because you can't pump out enough mana for them.". Thanks again for this, kinda had to learn how to act with them.
Prof I've been watching you for sometime now but with Tolarian Tutor I have to say that you've really found your style. Thumbs up for MtG academia
Will this be on the test later?
If you have to ask you already failed.
I think it's supposed to be on Thursday
The test is on the battlefield. 🙂
J'Zargo is not your *test kitty*! 😾
Just started MTG this year. Good stuff. More power to you, my dude.
You're in for a treat. This is a fantastic game.
I really appreciate these videos. I've been playing for years, but only in the last month or two have I been seriously learning all the little things about the rules and deck construction. I like that you take time to address both Limited and Constructed deck building. I'm looking forward to when you do your more indepth videos about each deck archetype, as well as the other deck archetypes that were not covered here.
This is exactly what I need! Can't wait 'til next week! THANK YOU!
This video is fantastic and this channel is quickly becoming my favorite. Can't wait for Ixalan!
FINALLY got a chance to watch this. Very good, and many 'ahhh so THAT'S what it means!' moments for me. I'm finding I have to pause every now and then to absorb it because there IS a lot of info there. I don't know if pause spaces in the video itself would work or not. I love this series very much, I'm gonna become such a better player! :D
Magic is very complicated. But once you figure it out it's easy. Feel me?
will there be another video on i.e. Ramp, Midrange? I would like to see them too
keep up the good work
greetings from germany :)
+Cornelius Gerdes Yes indeed.
The video LITERALLY ends with him saying he'll cover midrange later.
Also Stax? ;)
AND TEMPO
Call me a prophet, as I foresee that next week there will be a part 2 covering midrange, ramp, etc.
Can you please do a video on sideboards?
Absolutely!
I thought you already did, but hell. I'll take another.
I still don’t get sideboards. I watched a video on it and it’s like a extra deck or a side deck ? I don’t understand
@@von4031 From what I understand that they are cards that are apart of your deck that exist separate from your library
@@diamonddemigod7 it's a long time since you commented but your side deck is a set of cards you can switch out into your main deck in between rounds or matches to counter your opponent
As a player that returned to mtg less than a year ago, I'm spending a great deal of time actually learning to play this game. I have tried many of the game's formats, (standard, limited, and commander). I really appreciate your videos on the mtg swag (saved me a bundle) and on learning to play this game in different formats. Many of my commander decks are the pre-constructed decks, and have not yet been modified, I have one deck that I built from scratch (initially a net deck that I have been tweaking) and I'm working on upgrading the commander 2017 decks thanks to you and others who have put out great videos with some ideas of ways to improve the already playable commander decks. Thank you for your great contribution to this game!
what a sweetheart! my son is learning magic and he loved this video! thank you
Love these Tolarian Tutor videos!!! Thank you so much for doing these. It's really nice to find high quality videos about these less-discussed topics on UA-cam.
Thank you for all of your hard work, Prof! As a relatively new player these videos are super helpful to me. Keep it up!
To answer your question: I just play midrange, tbh. The possibility to do a bit of everything is just more fun than vomiting your hand or just playing solitaire with combo decks. Also, depending of the format and the cardpool/match up, YOU can choose how to play the game (more defensive against aggro, more ofensive againt control/combo).
Since midrange is one (if not the most) interactive archetypes on every card game, it's always my first option for me. Some removal, some spells, with some mini-combos in the decks or just pure value... All at your choice. Also, generally speaking, Planeswalkers usually fits in midrange decks, and they are hella fun to play, so... Yep, midrange all the way!:)
Lilty mono white enchantment lockdown Angel win con.
Lilty Yeah but by playing Mid-Range you cannot enjoy some parts of the game.
Like an explosive Turn 4 win in Aggro !
Putting all of your combo pieces together and winning out of nowhere !
Controlling the game so much that you're opponent has to ask you to play.
Mid range is a bit of everything, but that is the problem, you don't go deep in certain aspect of the game.
Lilty midrange is kinda like chess. Especially in edh, most common midrange is toolbox decks, you just play the game and control or attack with whatever.
I’ve found that I find Black and Green to be the most effective color combo for a midrange deck. I like how powerful Green gets later on, but since I need to stay alive to get there, I like to utilize Black (White and Red, too, depending on the specific cards) for effects and defense, as well as Lifelink and Deathtouch. Black is great for removing threats, allowing me to use Green to it’s fullest extent. I like things that spawn tokens, as well. Speed and numbers is one of my main strategies, along with having a couple big creatures.
Thank you so much for the Tolarian Tutor series :)
It is a great resource for beginners like me :D
man ty so much for saying that at the end there. were you said, play what your bliss is. i have been racking my brain and my bill trying to build a great deck but i always lose. but now i understand why and i dont feel bad about the deck i choose to play with. thank you. what a great channel.
fun fact : my local game club for both MTG and Warhammer is called Tolaria !
yes that is fun
Also Prof - slight nitpick! a removal spell won't disrupt the devoted druid combo. In response to the spell, you just layer another untap trigger on the stack and 'go off' above the removal spell in the stack. There's no way (short of Sudden Shock) to disrupt that combo in Modern. You'll always get the infinite mana if you have both pieces on the board and druid isn't summoning sick. Cheers!
You are an excellent teacher! Your delivery and presentation are clear and informative. It also shows just how passionate you are about mtg, your excitement is actually rubbing off on me 😁 Thank you for these videos helping me get up to speed with mtg arena.
I still use this video and your other videos for references and refreshers when im stuck building a deck.
Honestly I watch your videos and genuinely learn how to play the game better. Thank you Prof, and team for making these videos.
And then there's the "I don't want to spend more than 5 cents on a card in mtgo" strategy.
Control with no win conditions.
The win condition there is annoy your opponent so much that they just surrender
see thats been my strategy since 2017
Ouch
This is awesome. I’m so brand new to magic and this really helped me out. Especially about winning or losing lol I’m very competitive definitely makes me understand the game so much better. Thanks for sharing your knowledge will pass this knowledge to other people. :)
Amazing! Exactly what I was looking for! As an excentric player who wills to brew weird stuff. Understanding the game is a must and this series is about it! Thank you very much!
Great vid! Ive become a big fan recently lol. I started watching u as a non player and because of you me and my wife have been learning and playing mtg at night instead of zombie-ing out to netflix dribble. As a fresh returning player (2-3 weeks back after a 10 year hiatus) this is exactly the kind of vid I need to figure out some basic deck building options for my first few non purchased decks. IMO vids like this are INCREDIBLY valuable for noobs or returning noobs who want to catch up on general mtg knowledge or some basic-mid level meta play. Thx Prof! Your a good dude! If I stay in the mtg world long term I will def be investing in your Patreon account lol. Keep them coming for us! Thx again!
These videos are precisely my level, i know all the ins and out and this just helps structure all the info
Please never stop this series, I love it.
I love the Tolarian Tutor, want to see more and more, I belive that we would get to sideboards and preparation for the meta game in this lessons of Tolarian Tutor.
Great job Professor,
Greetings from Portugal
Really awesome video! I am still new at MTG and learning about the different types of decks, creating decks and learning how cards interact with each other. This was extremely helpful! Can't wait for part 2!
Professor, hands down , one of the best videos on this subject I've ever seen !!
I love this new series that you made Professor. In depth look in what you need to know about MTG. Thank you for that and keep up the good work.
It’s like a class for magic where the comments is whispering to your friends in class
As a new player this was tremendously helpful to transition from Yu-Gi-Oh. Great to see helpful youtubers giving info out like this!
Can you make a video about a new player's first draft and what would be his plan to make a playable deck with synergy?
Agreed. It would be helpful
I'll need to check it out as I'm easily getting my ass kicked. I only feel I can build aggro decks in draft or sealed.
Absolutely love the new series and can't wait for more episodes!
these tutor videos are just supreme prof, keep it up. even as a veteran its still packed with good refreshers and a few things i didnt know
I like watching these videos as I am a new player and like learning about the different ways to play and types of play thank you for the taking the time to do these videos
Jeff Daniels?
wow didnt expected him here
Yooooo! For real!
Where's Lloyd?
love this guy. im pumped for next week's cuz i never understood what exactly tempo tries to do
Thank you I'm getting tired of explaining this to my friends.
Now I can send them the link to this video.
I bet you they definitely will look at this video!
Very informational Doc. I really needed this info for a new deck I'm building, thank you!
Hey Prof! Could you do a video on the pros and cons of tribal decks?
LordFaron 269 pssshhhhhhhhh cons xD
LordFaron 269 cash money. Most of the good pieces for any tribal deck tend to be pricey. That's about the only downside. Even certain tribes that don't have many great pieces can be filled with creature type anthems and changeling creatures. So there's really no tribal I can think of that can't be good if you have the cash to spend
LordFaron 269 the downside is simple: being forced to run cards in the tribe, instead of the strongest card in your color. The pro is the payoff, or the cards that reward you for the tribe. These are mainly Lords, but can also be lands or supporting spells like spell stutter Sprite
Thank you professor! I really could have used something like this when I started playing but now I actually learn this stuff :D will definitely recommend this series to new players
Yay, a valuable topic and more headroom for the video :D
I'm brand new to playing magic and I got to borrow a commander deck at the local game shop recently for a few matches. One of the wins was the opponent fortifying themself to become literally unable to lose by shielding everything including their life points in several layers of protective enchantments, capped by two cards which protected the other enchantments and each other from being targeted. Combos get crazy
I love this series. I look forward to the midrange lesson because I think that's the archetype I gravitate toward. But I need a tutor to help make sure that is my play style and how best to draft it.
Great video! Just to let you know, the adapted Lunar White Monarch deck you got me started with is doing great! Just won a FNM and had to take out RDW and R/B Control the closest games were against RDW. I've changed about 25% of the deck now and I plan to take it to a GP. Avecyn is *awesome* in it by the way, and once it goes modern Smuggler's Copter will be joining the t.e.a.m. :)
I'm really enjoying this tutor series! You rock prof!
I'm looking forward to watching the next episode on Midrange decks
I have built a grand total of 1 combo deck, I built it to be as fun as possible to play with/against and almost immediately upon playing it I found that it could also do a surprisingly good impersonation of a "try to make them throw their deck at you" deck.
the deck had a bunch of different cards in it that did weird things to the gamestate on their own and comboed with at least 2 other cards in the deck to do something else weird, nothing in it was useless but none of the combos were a win condition in and of themselves, just a bunch of helpful interactions that could make a huge difference in the right conditions. what made the deck so fun to play with/against is that almost none of these effects had anything to do with eachother which made it very unpredictable and _very_ interactive with the opponent: because everything you had on the board interacted so much with everything else everything the _other_ guy did to it MATTERED so it was on the person playing it to make use of whatever resources they had available to matter _MORE_
I did have a card engine and mana engine built in there to make sure that the deck could play reliably but I intentionally left out any form of go-get-the-thing because I wanted everyone involved to be thinking on their feet as much as possible and for it to be next to impossibe for any 2 games played with it to look anything alike, I suceeded to the point where it didn't even play as the same archetype from one game to another or even playing the exact same draw order against the same draw order for the opponent with both players making different decisions.
This was a super well made video, as a new player (like myself) - this was very helpful!
I love my enduring ideal deck back in the day, nver have so much fun than when i was playing that deck, oh my magic days, how much i miss them
This is the info i was looking for. Trying to pin down my style of game play. After 20 years i finally decided to figure my game style cause man im still a noob lol
Professor, thank you for this great video, I've been learning a lot of with you since I start watching your channel.
Your content just keeps improving. Keep up the excellent work professor!
Thank you so much for these videos! I missed so much in terms of sets and wanted to brush some knowledge up and maybe even get a little better, and your stuff just helps with that. Also, with cheering up at the end, I had some warm feelings remembering my saproling deck. Was it the most efficient? No. Was it fun as heck to toss a ton of tokens right in my opponents face? Heck yes! Also double that when you meet another fellow token army-maker
Excellent video! Really enjoyed the overview of different styles. Thank you, again!
These are great! Thank you for doing this series!
Side note: Loved the Joseph Campbell reference!
I also want a part about toolboxing, which is really for larger singleton formats. A deck that uses tutors to reach into their toolbox, and pull out the correct tool for the job. I mean, in MTG the correct tool is usually a Sword of X and Y but...
8:06 Never shows Condemn?
Clearly it's on the bottom of his library.
Turbo Saxophonic it was a bluff. you fell. a can see you not attacking this turn. :)
the first time i saw a video from this channel i thought it was an actual community college doing some sort of video project and using MTG as the subject. Obviously they did a good project.
Production value on these is insane
Great video Professor! Very enlightening! I'm looking foward very much to hear what you have to say more about Tempo decks. I'm currently playing with UR delver but i'm having difficulties to fight some of the aggro decks in the meta. And the Exarch + kiki jikki i found interesting but it seems too slow, so it have to be in a heavy control shell (i guess), but anyways this video gave me some inspiration , i may try to make work this "fake Splinter Twin". Thanks for the excelent work professor.
Really enjoying these vids! And, since i am kinda new to the game, they are super mega helpful. Thanks, Prof!
Loving the new series so far Professor!
Been waiting for fresh content and good information from Prof.
Excelent content. You should put them all in a playlist, like SCG does with their Split Second section
Really enjoying this series! Thanks, Prof!
You sir have a new sub a great channel and even though I've been playing MTG for 15+ years and this a great insight thanks very much
Does anyone else sincerely love the high production value
:15 Prof is confirmed a Ravenclaw
+Kevin Stokes I'm Slytherin, actually. WE'RE NOT ALL EVIL! Merlin was a Slytherin.
Tolarian Community College I'm a Hufflepuff, myself.
Wasn't Merlin Pre-Hogwarts?
Greetings fellow Slytherin!
I'm a Ravenclaw
Nice episode, professor! Thank you. For the next lesson, can we have an explanation of the quadrant theory for drafting, please?
This is really quality content! I learned so much! Thanks TCC!
Excellent class professor see you next week
I'm really liking this series
Wow, such a good video
Love the new series. Missed saying hi in person at HASCON on Saturday.
Amazing video as usual. Thank you professor! I'm looking forward for more
I love these videos! Keep up the great work with the channel, Prof!
Thank you Professor. Another great tutoring episode
Great new series. cant wait to see the next one.
Great series! Cover aggro in depth in EDH.
This is such a good series.
After watching two of his videos I feel like he likes cats and I respect that
you have a very nice selection of suits.
Death Gate cycle is my favorite book series, great taste man
I'd love to see another part of this that goes over midrange and tempo
Eternal tutoring format gold :)
So taking your example of devoted druid, all a removal spell would do with both creatures on the board is force the combo early. You could simply respond to the removal with instant speed abilities infinitely until you had the mana to play, say a helix pinnacle. Removal only stops the combo if used in response to a combo piece still on the stack. Felt that was relevant to mention.
Great video once again :D
I'm really looking forward to the next one !
I’m learning more on UA-cam than I do in school...
Thanks a lot for this video, love the idea. =) You should definitely keep working on this series.