Wanted to go over many of the archetypes/synergies in MH2, long thread incoming, please share with friends/drafters! #MODERNHORIZONS2 #MTGMH2 #OvertheHorizon
UB in this set seems to be a grindy gy-oriented color pair, getting value from discarding recursive cards and uncommon "discard matters" payoffs such as Mystic Redaction and Feast of Sanity. UB may splash as it has some nice overlap with UR Deli, BR Madness, and BW Reanimator.
On the other hand, RW is likely the most aggressive color pairing in the set. RW wants to play a ton of cheap artifact creatures, buff them with Shikari, and finish the game with Foundry Helix before your opponent can stabilize. Overlaps a bit with UW affinity, and not much else.
UR is a midrange deck built around achieving Delirium and grinding out card advantage. Storm God's Oracle is an impressive common, as it's a strong defensive creature that provides 2 card types. Discarding, cycling artifacts/enchs, Mine Collapse, and more can enable delirium.
BR focuses on the Madness mechanic, which appears on only 7 cards, but 5 of them are common and all of them are playable. There are many discard outlets in this set as well, so setting up Madness won't be difficult. Hell Mongrel gets a nod as both an enabler/payoff for Madness.
UGx Tokens is another grindy archetype, and one that seems very well supported in this set. There are many decent enablers/payoffs for this archetype, as any token works. Expect to splash frequently as UGx has strong overlap with BG sac/UW affinity, and might need extra removal.
As Graceful Restoration shows off, BW does a mix of reanimating fatties ahead of schedule, and grinding out value with cheap creature recursion. Solid overlap with BR/UB, poor overlap with Wx artifact decks. Soul of Migration and Landscaper Colos are great commons for this deck!
GW Proliferate is an aggro/midrange archetype that is generally looking to exploit +1/+1 counter synergies. All three Proliferate cards in the set are commons in these colors. Modular seems good here at first, but most +1/+1 payoffs are not artifacts which is awkward.
As mentioned above, UW is another artifact heavy archetype. It wants to bridge cheap artifacts like Chrome Courier into large artifact beaters ahead of schedule. UW Affinity is fairly likely to splash great cards from other colors, as it's not pure aggro and has Orni of Paradise.
BG can be built as Squirrel tribal, a sacrifice oriented value deck, or a mix of both. There aren't actually many Squirrel creatures in the set, but there are a several ways to make Squirrel tokens. Clues are nice for triggering sac synergies, so expect to splash blue sometimes.
This surprised me at first, but RG Storm is actually a thing. The only Rebound common is R, and the only Suspend commons are R/G. Anarchomancer also provides vital cost reduction for going off, Electromancer style. Seems best as a high synergy aggro deck with explosive draws.
Is that all there is to the set? Of course not. Converge is a thing, and it will usually be Gx 5c as G has some very nice common fixing. Domain appears on two cards but requires more fixing to be good (can't use Treasures). 5c Converge will usually be UGx or GRx.
Merfolk is definitely not supported enough to be an actual archetype (these are the only Merfolk in the set), but you might occasionally have Svyelun + a few fish friends together in a Ux deck. Svyelun hardly needs any help to be an excellent Limited card regardless!
Another lightly supported theme, coin flipping also shows up on just 4 cards. Tavern Scroundel seems like a generally weak card, which is good news for Chance Encounter memers who can scoop up all copies no one else wants. Lastly, note that Yusri is just a good card on its own.
GW Enchantress is rare but possible in Limited, so long as you open/get passed 2+ Enchantress rares. Blue makes for a great splash for So Shiny, Shattered Ego, and Seal of Removal. Note that the excellent Captured by Lagacs does duty as a +1/+1 counter and Enchantress spell!
I mentioned "overlap" above a lot because the fixing in this set is excellent! Even non-G decks can get in on the action between this cycle, Orni of Paradise, and common artifact dual lands. Don't be afraid to splash bombs/removal, particularly if it overlaps with your archetype!
There's probably more I could cover, but this should be a good introduction to MH2 Limited, especially given that I have yet to play any games of it! Best of luck, and if you found the above useful please check out my stream (twitch.tv/veveil) too!
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