Hello, everyone! It's been a few weeks since I've written an article, but I'm back and ready to discuss the new Draft format. So far, drafting Avacyn Restored has been both fun and frustrating. Learning new Draft formats is always fun, but the format is much slower and less synergistic than what we were used to in Innistrad block mostly due to the lack of good 2-drops and removal spells.

I did an extensive number of Drafts in this format in preparation for Pro Tour Avacyn Restored, and I found that there are quite a few powerful archetypes. This week, I'm going to talk about some of the common Draft archetypes, and next week, I'll conclude with some of the more obscure decks of the format.

All decklists below are real Draft decks that either I or one of my teammates drafted.

U/G Soulbond

You want to round out the deck with any other creatures, but in particular, Flowering Lumberknot. He looks really bad, but believe me: He is awesome. There is so little removal in this set that it's very easy for the Lumberknot to attack and block. If you are in this archetype, be sure to grab this guy. You really need at least six or seven soulbond creatures to make him work, so be sure to draft them aggressively.

Another card that is pretty good in this archetype is Ghostly Flicker. You can blink out one of your soulbond creatures, and when it returns to play, it can pair with a different creature if you need it to, making it a decent combat trick. It is also a good way to dodge what little removal there is out there.

Here's an example of one of the better U/G soulbond decks that I've drafted so far:

"U/G Soulbond"

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Alchemist's Apprentice
• 1 Borderland Ranger
• 1 Druid's Familiar
• 1 Elgaud Shieldmate
• 1 Gryff Vanguard
• 1 Mist Raven
• 1 Nightshade Peddler
• 1 Pathbreaker Wurm
• 1 Timberland Guide
• 2 Flowering Lumberknot
• 2 Scrapskin Drake
• 2 Trusted Forcemage
• 2 Wingcrafter

• Spells (6)
• 1 Ghostly Flicker
• 1 Joint Assault
• 2 Peel From Reality
• 1 Into the Void
• 1 Mass Appeal

• Lands (17)
• 8 Island
• 9 Forest

Buy This Deck

U/B Loners

Playing black gives you the best removal spell in Avacyn Restored Limited: Death Wind. Barter in Blood is also amazing in this deck because it's very easy to set it up in your favor, and you will rarely have multiple creatures on the battlefield. Bone Splinters is another great card in this deck because you will always want to sacrifice your extra creatures.

It's important to draft ways to sacrifice your extra creatures, such as Bloodflow Connoisseur and Corpse Traders. This deck is very vulnerable to enchantments such as Defang and Spectral Prison. Your Demonic Taskmaster will look pretty silly if it can't deal damage in combat. Also, there will be times when you'll need to play blockers to stay alive, and you will need a way to get your creatures off the board when you draw the Homicidal Seclusion.

The great thing about this deck is that you don't need the Homicidal Seclusion in play to win because the deck is very good on its own. However, if you are able to cast the Seclusion, it's very hard for you to lose.

Here is the decklist:

"U/B Loners"

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Bloodflow Connoisseur
• 1 Corpse Traders
• 1 Crypt Creeper
• 1 Fettergeist
• 1 Gryff Vanguard
• 1 Renegade Demon
• 1 Searchlight Geist
• 1 Undead Executioner
• 2 Butcher Ghoul
• 2 Demonic Taskmaster
• 2 Mist Raven

• Spells (9)
• 2 Death Wind
• 1 Barter in Blood
• 2 Bone Splinters
• 1 Demonic Rising
• 2 Ghoulflesh
• 1 Tormentor's Trident

• Lands (17)
• 8 Island
• 9 Swamp

Buy This Deck

R/W Humans

The key cards for the deck are Riot Ringleader, Kruin Striker, and Goldnight Commander. Once you have those, you need to draft as many creatures as possible, preferably Humans, because they will all be pumped by the Ringleader. 2-drops are very important for this deck. R/W is the color combination that has the most 2-drops in the set, so you should be able to pick up quite a few of them. Most of the important cards in this deck cost 2 and 3, so playing only sixteen lands is not uncommon.

The support cards you need for the deck are mostly combat tricks to keep your creatures alive. Vigilante Justice works very well in this deck also. It can be removal or it can finish your opponent off. Cloudshift is another nice card because when the creature returns to play, it triggers Goldnight Commander, Kruin Striker, and Vigilante Justice.

Surprisingly, this deck doesn't need much removal because the creatures work so well together. Obviously, when drafting any deck, you want removal, so don't pass up a Pillar of Flame for a random 2/2. One of the reasons this deck shines is that removal is so scarce in this set and it's very hard for your opponents to stop the assault that this deck is capable of.

Here's a R/W Humans decklist:

"R/W Humans"

• Creatures (15)
• 1 Fervent Cathar
• 1 Goldnight Commander
• 1 Lightning Mauler
• 1 Mad Prophet
• 1 Midvast Protector
• 1 Moorland Inquisitor
• 1 Nearheath Pilgrim
• 1 Riot Ringleader
• 1 Seraph of Dawn
• 1 Somberwald Vigilante
• 1 Thraben Valiant
• 2 Falkenrath Exterminator
• 2 Kruin Striker

• Spells (8)
• 1 Cloudshift
• 1 Dangerous Wager
• 1 Divine Deflection
• 1 Zealous Strike
• 1 Thatcher Revolt
• 1 Lightning Prowess
• 1 Vigilante Justice
• 1 Bladed Bracers

• Lands (17)
• 7 Plains
• 9 Mountain
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold

Buy This Deck

Mono-Black Attrition

The deck finishes off the opponent with a large creature, usually Evernight Shade. A 1/1 for 4 mana doesn't sound very exciting, but in mono-black, it is very hard to trade with. If it dies to a Ghoulflesh or Guise of Fire, it just comes right back as a 2/2. It's an excellent card for this archetype.

Since this deck is about attrition and grinding your opponent out, it usually can win by just attacking with some small creatures when you can. With all of the removal and card advantage that this deck plays, it's not uncommon to play a Searchlight Geist on turn three and ride it to victory.

Drafting a mono-colored deck is hard. Most of time, you won't be able to draft mono-black. It's perfectly fine to draft this deck and pair it with another color. I've been successful with pairing these black attrition cards with blue for things like bounce and flyers or with green for large creatures. Of course, if you do play a second color, cards such as Evernight Shade become much worse, so build your deck accordingly.

Here's the decklist.

"Mono-Black Attrition"

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Crypt Creeper
• 1 Evernight Shade
• 1 Maalfeld Twins
• 1 Renegade Demon
• 1 Searchlight Geist
• 1 Soulcage Fiend
• 2 Blood Artist
• 2 Butcher Ghoul
• 2 Driver of the Dead
• 2 Undead Executioner

• Spells (9)
• 1 Death Wind
• 1 Human Frailty
• 1 Necrobite
• 1 Barter in Blood
• 1 Grave Exchange
• 1 Mental Agony
• 2 Bone Splinters
• 1 Ghoulflesh

• Lands (23)
• 21 Swamp
• 2 Seraph Sanctuary

Buy This Deck

Those are just some of the common decks that you should see while drafting Avacyn Restored. Join me next week for the conclusion of my Draft archetype review, and I'll show you some of the more interesting decks that are possible in this format. As always, thanks for reading. I'll be at Grand Prix Malmo this weekend, so if you're there, feel free to say “Hi.”

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