In terms of color philosophy, what are the strengths and weakness of each Shard / Wedge?
General forum
Posted on July 2, 2022, 4:47 a.m. by TypicalTimmy
We all know individual colors are strong in certain areas, and weak in others. We all know blue tends to be the overall strongest and white be the overall weakest.
We also know how to identify what each of the ten Guild pairings are good at.
But I am curious as to what each of the five Shards and Wedges are good at. That is to say, from experienced players, what patterns do you see emerge?
To me, for example, Naya tends to lend itself to combat-focused creature decks that rely on enchantments to really get the win. But that's the thing, Mardu can just as easily do the exact same thing. As can Jund. Or Bant, even, if you go tokens and go wide.
Jeskai is a strong spell slinger choice, where you rely on interactions and value pieces. But, so is Esper. And Grixis.
To me, as only a casual player, there appears to be a lot more overlap than I had anticipated. While mono colored decks and Guild decks offer strikingly unique styles of play, Shards and Wedges almost appear interchangeable in these same regards. As though adding an additional color actually blurred the lines, rather than defined them.
Thoughts?
plakjekaas says... #3
Well of course you see more overlap, because there is more overlap. Esper and Bant are both Blue-White-something, and will have more in common than Rakdos and Dimir, which are both just Black-somerhing. Three- color pairs are not just three colors paired, they're also three guilds paired. They all can overlap.
July 2, 2022 11:21 a.m.
As I see it:
: Strong tempo set. Establish an early game with cheap creatures and lots of resources, then protect and enhance your assets until you can push through your opponent's defenses and win. Its weakness is in quickly dealing with opponents' creatures and other resources. Without or , it's generally going to be using either temporary solutions or just being bigger, with no deeper strategy.
: Control all day. Arguably the three best colors at shutting down the opponent from all angles, this color set will prevent opponents from generating any sort of momentum. Of course, by exemplifying the strengths of control, it also magnifies the shortcomings. It can take a long time to establish a threat, stalling the game rather than developing its position.
: The color set with the fewest total creatures in each individual color, this one will usually be another controlling combination. It has discard, land destruction, and counterspells, the trinity of "unfun" play, and can proactively remove all of an opponent's options. Probably the best at indirect and unorthodox tactics. Its creatures tend to be fairly small and fragile, and it can be prone to self-sabotage.
: Strong midrange set. Deny the opponent's early threats through damage, discard, or removal, then start dropping bigger, meaner, angrier creatures than they can handle. It can be underdeveloped in its late game, though; if its creatures get shut down, it doesn't have many other options.
: Go wide, go tall, go creatures. This color set doesn't actually have the highest creature ratio (that would be ), but it has the best mix of big, strong, resilient creatures and lots of tokens, and it can easily go wide and tall with lots of big, strong, resilient tokens. It can also protect its investments and life total and has a strong Aura game, but is vulnerable to indirect strategies that don't rely on the combat step.
: Fast and aggressive. It will have swarms of smaller creatures backed up by offensive and defensive spells and enchantments, and might have the best array of removal options. Here, creature abilities are generally more important than P/T. While adds some longevity, it's not great in the late game without 's ability to pile up resources.
: Flexibility and resourcefulness are the highlights. It can dump out big evasive creatures, move through its deck quickly, and pivot back and forth between aggression and control. It can lack focus and doesn't have as much recovery as other sets--if it falls behind, it has to work harder to catch back up.
: As mentioned above, the individual colors in this set have the highest ratio of creatures, and those creatures are going to be hard to kill. Whether by regeneration, protection, tokens from death triggers, or sheer size, this set will almost always have a board presence. Its life total and general stability will be just as rock solid, and expect to see a lot of global enchantments as well. With stability comes inertia, though, and it can be predictable and inflexible.
: Tempo and control. It has good creature effects and a variety of ways to deal damage, and it can sustain both an offensive and defensive presence at the same time. It's consistent and reliable without being constricted. This color sets has the smallest average creatures, though, so don't expect to dominate the combat step.
: If you like resource management, this one's for you. Draw lots of cards, generate lots of mana, establish a board presence, and do exactly the opposite to your opponents. This color set is likely the best at building itself up and keeping everyone else down. Its creatures will be evasive and hard to remove and at least moderately big. If an opponent can keep pace with it, it can lose value, and it can be broken down while gathering its early game.
All of the above are my impressions of the broad strokes and generalities, and have plenty of exceptions, but I think they cover the basic ins and outs of each three-color set's identity and strategy.
July 2, 2022 11:43 a.m.
A couple of addenda, as I reread this.
has the best graveyard game, and and have the weakest.
For pure spellslinging, and are the best.
has the strongest artifact interactions.
July 2, 2022 12:07 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #6
Wow legendofa that's one hell of a breakdown. I think it is worth mentioning how bad is at dealing with enchantments though.
July 3, 2022 2:23 a.m.
did just get Extract the Truth from the new set. That only lets your opponent choose which enchantment to sacrifice though. Short of that, Grixis has to rely on “Exile permanent” effects from things like Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
July 3, 2022 3:37 a.m.
plakjekaas says... #8
I think you're doing a bit dirty in your assessment. can deal with noncreature permanents very well, a bit less with creatures, but specializes in removing all creatures, or all nonland permanents, or even all lands. On top of that, can interact with the stack, so I don't really understand what you mean by "Its weakness is in quickly dealing with opponents' creatures and other resources."
July 3, 2022 6:37 a.m.
plakjekaas is one of my less-knowedgeable color sets. I basically know it from a couple of drafts and one Rafiq of the Many EDH deck. So it wouldn't surprise me if I was off on that one. How would you break it down?
July 3, 2022 11:55 a.m.
Last_Laugh and Corvaxis is supposed to be getting more options for dealing with enchantments. Feed the Swarm and Extract the Truth are the first signs of that.
July 3, 2022 12:45 p.m.
Last_Laugh says... #11
legendofa it's not just . In all of you have Feed the Swarm and Chaos Warp... and that's it. I don't even count Extract the Truth because letting your opponent choose makes it trash imo.
July 3, 2022 12:54 p.m.
I didn’t know about Feed the Swarm, but that’s fantastic for . Hopefully we get more soon.
Wolfpig says... #2
For me, at least in the mainstream of color choices of each blend seems to lend to the colors of its shard/wedge. An example of this is that Bant tends to lend heavy in life, creatures, and counter/preventative magics. I think this is what initially sets them apart for me especially with shards like Grixis, which sucks down all the nasty. Learning that the synergies of B/U, W/B, or W/G is the foundations of what extenuates the power levels of each shard. I think looking at them as a three color combo is the wrong place to start. Breaking them down to duals and mono to access your synergies is very complicated but important to building a well curved and balanced Shard or Wedge deck. Also, your speaking in terms of CMDR if I'm correct. That being said, I think your onto something here, seeing keyword breaks or just straight up color shifters as I call them (Like a white creature with Trample) is the key to pulling more complicated synergies together. This is the crux issue of any CEDH deck I build these days. An interesting question that deserves attention.
July 2, 2022 9:45 a.m.