Archetype Strategy
Core Set 2021
M21 is fairly aggressive, where 2-drops and curve are quite important. As such, aggressive and tempo decks are most important, and control is somewhat underpowered.
Colors
Decks
White
Aggressive / Curve-Out
White is very aggressive in M21. Powerful creatures make up for a lack of unconditional removal.
Power Level
Power Level
Above Average
White has powerful creatures and tricks, but poor removal - keep that in mind!
Seasoned Hallowblade is one of the most powerful cards in the set, you can augment it with counters - and there are very few answers.
Blue
Tempo / Control
Blue is very tempo-oriented in M21, but is bogged down by weak commons. However, it can play an important support role for both tempo and card advantage.
Power Level
Power Level
Below Average
Roaming Ghostlight is so powerful it is picked for any deck, but is best when tempo-oriented.
Capture Sphere is a little better than usual.
Sublime Epiphany may be the most powerful card in the set due to its versatility and power.
Teferi's Tutelage is a powerhouse on its own, but it requires being drawn early. Building your entire deck around it via card draw is not ideal due to being overrun too quickly.
Enthralling Hold is a very swingy card, sometimes it is excellent, but because the creature must be tapped it is difficult to position - there are also Vigilance and Hexproof threats in this format.
Tolarian Kraken is not a bad card, but it is very slow in a fast-paced format.
Mistral Singer is also not bad, but is slightly underwhelming, even in the Spells deck.
Black
Tempo / Control
Black has quite good removal but is light on threats in M21. What it lacks in powerful commons it makes up for in powerful uncommons.
Power Level
Power Level
Below Average
Grasp of Darkness is great, but black's lack of solid creature threats is sometimes risky.
Deathbloom Thallid is often a 2-for-1 in this aggressive environment.
While overcosted, Finishing Blow is still a fine removal spell.
Massacre Wurm is particularly great as most games are races.
Liliana's Devotee is a one-card engine that synergizes with many other cards and death triggers.
Malefic Scythe goes with Deathbloom Thallid and Fetid Imp quite well.
While Carrion Grub can be powerful, but is usually an overcosted 3/5 as many cards have too little power in the graveyard.
Kaervek kills most black commons! Avoid this card except for extreme sideboard options.
Bad Deal is too slow to affect the outcome of most games, as control is not viable.
Red
Aggressive / Spell-Oriented
Red has good removal and decent creature backup at common, and is a powerful color in M21.
Power Level
Power Level
Above Average
Red Removal is cheap and effective, which makes it a good color to get damage in early.
Red has a lot of powerful bombs which need no explanation.
Volcanic Salvo is easier to cast than expected, although can be a dead draw on the backfoot.
Green
Mid-Range / Aggressive
Green has both an excellent removal spell and great creatures, and may be the best color.
Power Level
Power Level
Quite Good
The top three green commons are among the best commons in the set. Don't underestimate a turn 2 dino into a turn 3 4/4 attacking!
Green has some powerful bombs on top of a very reliable card base.
White-Blue: Fliers
Tempo / Aggressive - Evasive fliers deck.
Power Level
Power Level
Very High
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
White-Blue Fliers is a common theme in formats, but is especially strong in aggressive tempo-oriented formats such as M21.
Swift Response is usually at ends with White's aggressive nature, but it shines in White-White where you can usually kill their bigger ground creatures while you attack in the air.
Random life gain also helps you win the race, so ground creatures like Annointed Chorister are good playables.
White-Black: Midrange
Midrange/Control - Minor lifegain trigger synergies.
Power Level
Power Level
Average
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
The lifegain trigger synergies require a lot of work to do, and only trigger on your turn, which is unfortunately difficult. As such, cards like Griffin Aerie are almost never worth it and may be traps. Many of the enablers are also traps, such as Revitalize and Radiant Fountain. They are just not worth the risk.
Despite this, White-Black is still a viable strategy because black's good removal mixes well with White's powerful creature threats.
White-Red: Hyper Aggro
Aggro - Extremely aggressive curve outs with with dog friends.
Power Level
Power Level
Very High
Key Commons
Powerful Uncommons/Rares
Underwhelming Cards
White-Red is hyper aggressive, combining strong attacking commons in White with cheap Red removal.
The key uncommon, Alpine Houndmaster, can flood the board to overcome your opponent as quickly as possible.
Despite the color pair being hyper aggressive, avoid Furor of the Bitten and Dub, as the removal in the format is fairly good.
Dog tribal is not very supported, BUT Alpine Houndmaster on its own is worth picking up the dogs, as it is a great addition to the deck already.
White-Green: +1/+1 Counters
Aggro/Midrange - +1/+1 Counter value for large creatures.
Power Level
Power Level
Very High
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
Many of the best commons come equipped with +1/+1 counters, so the payoff uncommons are easy to trigger.
Drowsy Tyrannadon is incredible in this deck as it can frequently attack as a 4/4 on turn 3.
Makeshift Battalion is still not great as profitable attacks with three creatures is difficult.
Blue-Black: Reanimator
Control - Looting and reanimate from graveyard.
Power Level
Power Level
Pretty Low
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
Unfortunately, control is just not very viable in this format, so despite having the tools to reanimate large creatures, it is usually too slow. Avoid blue-black if possible.
For similar reasons, Obsessive Stitcher - while great - underperforms, because of how often you get run over.
A version of this deck does exist that is extremely powerful, it is just difficult to build.
Blue-Red: Spells Matter
Tempo - Prowess and spell recursion value with explosive turns.
Power Level
Power Level
Above Average
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
This deck is unique and difficult to play in that it sets up explosive turns where your Goblin Wizardry tokens can attack as huge creatures.
Spellgorger Weird can become a massive threat in this deck, and you can also win just by using bounce-tempo and evasion
Some cards, like Kinetic Augur, are still slightly underwhelming as they take too long to set up - but you can definitely still play them.
Blue-Green: Card Draw Value
Midrange - Card draw value and card advantage.
Power Level
Power Level
Above Average
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
Since the trigger for this deck is... drawing cards, it is an excellent card advantage engine, which makes winning off of simple card advantage a real win condition.
That being said, Lorescale Coatl, Jolrael and even Burlfist Oak can be exposive synergy cards.
Overall the combination of good card quality and run of the mill card advantage makes this deck very powerful.
Black-Red: Sacrifice Value
Aggro - Sacrificing your own creatures for aggressive value.
Power Level
Power Level
Average
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
This deck can be an aggressive threat, but it is very reliant on uncommons - and the Black-Red gold card is somewhat overhwhelming, although by no means bad.
Since Traitorous Greed is uncommon, it is more difficult to steal-sac opponent's creatures.
Havoc Jester is a great card on its own just by being a 5 mana 5/5, which is very large in this set - but it can be a real powerhouse when combined with Hobblefiend.
Black-Green: Death Triggers
Midrange/Control - Death value triggers.
Power Level
Power Level
Above Average
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
Despite being a controlling deck, this deck has powerful cards that can help stabilize early to win games of attrition.
Malefic Scythe stands out in this deck because you are seeking for your creatures to die. Likewise, Sabertooth Mauler is just okay, but in this deck can grow and be a defensive wall.
Despite a reasonable power level, this deck still slants control so it is easy to get run over.
Red-Green: Ferocious (4+ Power)
Midrange - Large creatures with ramp and value enchantments.
Power Level
Power Level
Below Average
Key Commons
Powerful Additions
Underwhelming Cards
Unfortunately, having 4 power synergies means playing some number of less-than-ideal creatures in this format, which makes this pair suffer.
Still, both green and red are powerful enough in this set to warrant the deck despite little synergies.
Garruk's Uprising is fairly powerful, Furious Rise less so - but they are both difficult to reliably trigger.