Before I get to what the title suggests, I want to give a brief opinion of the current Draft (New Phyrexia, Mirrodin Besieged, Scars of Mirrodin) format. Personally, it is the best Draft format I’ve had the pleasure of drafting more than once or twice. While the issue of bombs certainly makes things troublesome for some decks, the sheer variety of directions a deck can take is astounding. I believe it takes a lot of skill to 3–0 a draft in this format, and it is no fluke that the Limited events since New Phyrexia’s release have seen familiar names continuously at the top.

With the addition of New Phyrexia things have changed, yet some remain the same. Infect is no longer a singular linear strategy, but one that can allow almost any deck to win. Yet, it still exists in that linear form often enough that one must be prepared for it. Almost all strategies from earlier Block Draft formats still exist in some form as well, though perhaps they require a bit more luck to snag the correct cards. Finally, all new archetypes have opened up. I’m here today to talk about one of those archetypes: W/R rush.

While the White Weenie strategy saw a fair amount of press at Pro Tour: Nagoya—and seriously altered the end result of the Top 8 draft—I think there are a number of forms it can take that haven’t been discussed. For those who didn’t follow the PT closely; the White Weenie strategy in Nagoya centered around Suture Priests and cheap White flyers. If you didn’t get those Suture Priests in the first pack, chances are you weren’t going to have the deck.

To combat one of the deck’s biggest weaknesses (overdrafting) I have been adding a secondary color—Red—with resounding success. While the addition of Red is not necessary, I feel that it increases the resiliency of the deck at a drafting table. It adds cards like Jor Kadeen, burn, artifact removal (more relevant than you might think), and random cheap creatures that help to simultaneously power up the deck and prevent the cards from drying up. Let’s break each down a bit.

Jor Kadeen and friends (i.e., Dragons!) – Any of these creatures are a beater on their own, but they often just end games when their abilities are relevant. While White has some nice high-end bombs, a lot of them require additional cards to end the game. (Angels, Kemba, True Conviction, etc.) In a fast aggro deck, you want your game-ending cards to provide the needed reach on their own.

Burn – In addition to being more permanent removal than most of White’s, most of these cards can go to the face. Yet another way to give the Weenie rush deck some extra reach.

Artifact removal – Artifact removal has fallen a bit since all-Scars drafting, but it is still highly relevant. While there are probably fewer artifact creatures you want to be removing in New Phyrexia, there are a lot of utility artifacts that help other decks slow yours down. Wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of those pesky things before they stop your deck cold?

Random dudes – This is more a card availability issue than anything strategic or relevant. Some drafts you aren’t the only White aggro deck at the table and need some help. Having a second color gives you more beaters.

That’s great, but how the heck do I draft these monsters? By going slightly against what many pros are saying is the best draft strategy for the format; forcing colors, or perhaps a bit more specifically, the archetype. While everyone else is taking non-color-committing cards, you can be scooping up all of the White (and Red) cards you need for your deck. While this won’t guarantee that other drafters will avoid the cards you want, it will definitely dissuade some of them. (“A fourth Forced Worship? Guess I’m going for a control deck.”) Cards you want to be taking earlier than usual: Suture Priest, Slash Panther, Porcelain Legionnaire, Inquisitor Exarch, Leonin Skyhunter, Necrogen Sensor.

Here’s an example draft deck from this past weekend:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

1 Glimmerpoint Stag

1 Glint Hawk

1 Goblin Wardriver

1 Leonin Skyhunter

1 Oxidda Scrapmelter

2 Suture Priest

1 Bladed Sentinel

1 Porcelain Legionnaire

1 Slash Panther

1 Trespassing Souleater

1 Vault Skirge

1 Vulshok Replica

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

1 Burn the Impure

1 Dispatch

1 Galvanic Blast

1 Into the Core

1 Metallic Mastery

1 Arrest

1 Darksteel Axe

1 Norn's Annex

1 Origin Spellbomb

2 Necrogen Censer

[/Spells]

[Lands]

8 Mountain

8 Plains

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Notice anything specific about the deck? Yep, there are only four cards at the 4 CMC slot, one of which was filler (hey, sometimes you just fall a bit short), two of which were removal, and one that could be classified as pseudo-removal and/or synergistic. Everything else has an easil -castable 3 CMC or lower, an incredibly important part of being a rush deck. Exceptions can be made for certifiable bombs. (Dragons!)

The deck started from the first pick, Norn’s Annex over Pith Driller. I had not played with the card, and really wanted to try it out because it had beaten me in the past. While the card feels very controlling, there is no better deck for it than an aggro deck so I quickly fell into the role. From there things went perfectly. A second-pick Slash Panther out of a fairly weak pack and a third-pick Porcelain Legionnaire solidified my determination for the deck. Fourth- and eighth-pick Suture Priests were a sign that the archetype wasn’t being drafted.

The last two packs involved taking any good creature or removal I could get my hands on. Picks of note were: A Burn the Impure third with a Leonin Skyhunter in the pack was great, but unfortunately the creature didn’t wheel. Glimmerpoint Stag over a second Arrest when it didn’t really do much might be incorrect to some, but I knew snagging Necrogen Censers was fairly easy and wasn’t disappointed. Also, by that time I had a lot of removal, and creatures are more important for the deck in general. (remember: Red burn > White enchantment removal) Finally, Goblin Wardriver and Bladed Sentinel were not desirable inclusions, but sometimes you just need more bodies—luckily, I didn’t draw either too often.

So how did this beast do? I went 2–1, scooping in the finals after losing my first game and with my fiancé waiting. I had two losses overall, one of which I should have mulliganed and didn’t, and the other where I saw exactly two lands out of twenty-two cards during mulliganing. Such are the perils of playing a sixteen-land deck.

To finish up, here are some notes on playing the deck: Don’t be afraid to use your artifact removal on noncreatures. Using Into the Core on a Shrine and a Gremlin Mine is perfectly acceptable, and has won me multiple games over the past few weeks. Norn’s Annex is the real deal. Don’t be afraid to sacrifice a creature or two to push in an extra few points of damage if you have one in hand/on the board. Chances are your opponent used up his artifact removal on your guys, and will be left at a life total that only allows three to four attacks. Generally, it is correct to hold your Glint Hawk until you can gain value from its bounce ability. If you are low on creatures or your opponent puts up ground defenses too quickly, by all means play it, but don’t be afraid to get a little greedy if you have multiple ways to abuse it.

In general, this is a sound draft strategy that is easily one of the most powerful archetypes available. While the pros are advocating a wait-and-see approach, there is an opportunity for a few brave men to claim their cards quickly, scaring others away. Try it out and see for yourself!

Have you had experience drafting this kind of deck? What worked for you? What didn’t? Feel free to post in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter (@bweisko).