MTG Wilds of Eldraine draft archetypes & signposts

The world of Eldraine is making its return to MTG. Wilds of Eldraine deals with a wider fairytale landscape, which is shown off in Draft.

One of MTG’s freshest worlds is making its return four years after Throne of Eldraine. Wilds of Eldraine sees the fairytale world reeling from the effects of the Phyrexian invasion, as well as the power vacuum left after the death of the royals.

All of this appears to be shown off in the new archetypes coming to Wilds of Eldraine’s draft format. Things are quite simple this time around, with a clear indication as to what you need to go into.

Signposts, however, aren’t fully known as the cards spoiled during the first preview are spread across mythic and uncommon. We’d hope for a few more uncommon creatures to really nail in the signposting for which archetype to go into.

What we do know is, is that this set seems to heavily favor players going dual-colors. We’re sure that some players will bust this wide open and find something in it, but for now, during the serenity of the preview era, it’s more than enough.

There’s lore flavor all over these archetypes, with each one bringing a bit more story than other sets. While we’re sure there’s a definitive list of MTG’s story-to-draft archetypes out there, these are quite on the nose (in a good way).

What are the Draft archetypes of MTG Wilds of Eldraine?

The Wild of Eldraine archetypes are as follows, with the current signposts also listed:

• Greta, Witch Hunter – Midrange Food (Black & Green)
  • Without having seen any of the cards, this seems like your typical keep the enemy at bay, then swing for big damage after beefing up things with Greta.
• The Magical Misstep – Instant, Sorceries & Adventures (Red & Blue)
  • Red and blue? Instant and sorceries? What a surprise. However, being able to cast them from the top of the deck with Johann seems like an excellent strategy.
• The Dark Piper – Rat Token Aggro (Red & Black)
  • Make lots of rats and turn them sideways. It’s a favorite tactic of ours. Making them swing with deathtouch is just the cherry on top.
• Ruby & The Wolf – 4+ Power Creatures (Red & Green)
  • It might seem stereotypical for the Red and Green combo to go all in on big fat creatures, but from what we’ve seen so far, it’s a viable strategy.
• Brawl at the Grand Ball – Aggro & Play two permanents (Red & White)
  • One of the first to focus on a new mechanic, Celebration. As long as there are two or more permanents, be our guest and get a bonus effect.
• Enchanting Slumber – Faerie Typal & Control
  • For whatever reason, Wizards has traded Tribal to Typal. Maybe because they retired the Tribal mechanic? Who knows. Either way, all those faeries are going to work synergistically, while you shut down the other player via Control methods.
• The Kingdom of Storms – Ramp to mana value 5+ (Blue & Green)
  • Another stereotype for the color pairing, but ramping up to 5+ cards incredibly quickly should catch some players out.
• Pale as Snow – Bargain & sacrifice (White & Black)
  • The new Bargain mechanic allows you to boost a spell by sacrificing an artifact, enchantment, or token. This archetype, as the description tells you, is all about exploiting that new mechanic.
• Armont & The Beasts – Creature enchantment (White & Green)
  • On top of the new enchantments coming in the set, there are also Roles to now consider. This White/Green archetype could turn out to be one of the more powerful in the set – if the rest of the cards are up to the task
• The Frost Queen – Tap enemy creatures (White & Blue)
  • Do you know what slows a game down? Blue/White Control. Do you know what makes things even better? A 4/4 creature that for 1 colorless mana can spawn its own 4/4 creatures by doing exactly what the archetype asks for.

Of course, this is the best-case scenario for the Draft, but Wizards did give us a small glimpse at the true lot of uncommon signposts to gun for to complete your archetype.

Here, we can see Neva, Stalked by Nightmares, for White/Black, and Obyra, Dreaming Duelist for Black/Blue. We also have Sharae of Numbing Depths, for White/Blue.

We’ll update this as and when the next slew of cards come out – hopefully, some easier-to-get signposts will be included.

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