Breakdown Analysis
Zendikar Rising
Summary
Zendikar Rising is a fairly complex format, but has good balance between both aggressive and control style decks. It is all about synergy - and the spell/land mechanic makes things very interesting!
Speed
How quickly most games are decided.
Speed
Speed
Slower than Average
ZNR is fairly average in terms of speed — both aggressive and control decks are viable. It leans to be a little slower than the average format due to the presence of synergy decks and lots of life gain.
Watch out for extremely aggressive Landfall decks! Party can also be very aggressive with a diverse curve out.
Early plays (as usual) are a must, but Kicker makes that easier — your early drops are also your late drops! Synergy also helps — your 2-drop can help fill out your Party or Tribal synergies.
Prince/Pauper
Power difference between rares and commons.
Prince/Pauper
Prince/Pauper
Fairly Pauper
ZNR has a wealth of extremely powerful, synergistic commons, which makes this format more Pauper-oriented.
Synergy
Importance of cards working together.
Synergy
Synergy
Extremely Important
Synergy is extremely important in ZNR, with most color pairs leaning toward a particular, powerful synergistic strategy.
Enablers and payoffs — such as clerics + lifegain or rogues + mill — are what this format is all about. Make sure you are drafting an archetype!
Removal
Effectiveness of the available removal.
Removal
Removal
Very Good
Balance
Power balance between colors and decks.
Balance
Balance
Somewhat Balanced
After one week, ZNR appears to be be fairly balanced between each color and color pair. Initially, Red seemed underpowered, but plays an important aggressive role which speeds up the format.
Some color pairs have a very obvious synergy-based strategy, meaning the other pairs may wind up less powerful and possibly worth avoiding.
Please note the format is new, this opinion in particular is prone to adjustment!
Lands/Colors
How many lands and colors generally see play.
Land Total
18+ Lands*
Color Total
2 Colors*
MDFCs! A key mechanic in ZNR — Modal Double-Faced Cards — make this format extremely unique. Most are very high picks in draft, even the worst ones are better than mid-pack picks.
MDFCs can replace lands, but in many cases, the more MDFCs you have, the more lands total you will want to play. After all, they are spells as well.
You can sometimes play 17 lands, but with Kicker and Landfall as key mechanics, you will usually want to play 18.
MDFCs change everything, since they can replace some number of lands. With 1-2 MDFCs, you will likely still want 18 total lands, with 3-4, you may want 19, and 5+ you can even play 20 or 21!
Mana Fixing
Ability to fix for more than two colors.
Mana Fixing
Mana Fixing
Somewhat difficult with exceptions
The fixing in this format is primarily in green, although Cleansing Wildfire and Lithoform Blight can both be used as fixing. Still, fixing is somewhat difficult unless you are base Green.
However, if you have enough MDFCs you can run 19-20 lands, giving your deck enough land slots to enable 3, sometimes even 4+ colors.