What do different deck types mean?
General forum
Posted on Sept. 24, 2013, 10:57 a.m. by BloodWrathMage
Bear with me...I'm new. I keep hearing phrases like U/W Control, beatdown, aggro, midrange, Jund, ect. I know these are names of different decks but I don't fully understand them. What makes a deck a control deck? How is beatdown different from aggro? What does midrange mean? Why does Jund work? Is is a combo that I'm not seeing? Someone who is knowledgable in this area please help.
GreatSword says... #3
Here's a wiki that explains the 3 general types of decks in a little more detail, though Epochalyptik got the gist of everything.
http://mtg.wikia.com/wiki/Deck_Types
September 24, 2013 11:14 a.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #4
Don't worry buddy. It took me four years to learn these terms :D Welcome to the wonderful world of Magic, where battles rage and so do people XD
@Epochalyptik: I thought Aggro was weak against control and good against Combo.
September 24, 2013 11:43 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
@UmbrotheUmbreon: Exactly the opposite. Control players hate facing RDW and KRed. Control usually doesn't even sweep until turn 4, so fast aggro decks can brutalize them in that window.
September 24, 2013 12:13 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #6
@Epochalyptik: Control usually runs a lot of removal and bounce though, so I see not why it struggles to maintain aggro. I guess I can't say that since my mana ramp deck beat RDW
September 24, 2013 12:31 p.m.
Names like JUND usually refer to older card printings such as Jund Charm, which you BRG
likewise grixis, bant, naya, esper, all reference 3 color combinations
September 24, 2013 1:11 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
@UmbrotheUmbreon: Control runs some removal and bounce, but targeted removal is ineffective against swarm tactics, and sweepers typically cost 4 or more. As a result, control has few good early-game options against aggro.
September 24, 2013 1:22 p.m.
UmbrotheUmbreon says... #9
@Epochalyptik: Ah I can see that. I remember running a deck that was mostly removal and control
September 24, 2013 1:51 p.m.
SharuumNyan says... #10
Some of the three-color deck names come from Shards of Alara. There were five different shards - Bant (white, blue, green), Jund (red, black, green), Grixis (black, blue, red), Esper (blue, white, black), and Naya (green, red, white).
Some of the two-color decks come from the Guilds of Ravnica. There are ten guilds - Azorius (blue, white), Boros (red, white), Dimir (blue, black), Golgari (black, green), Gruul (red, green), Izzet (blue, red), Orzhov (white, black), Rakdos (black, red), Selesnya (green, white), and Simic (green, blue).
You'll hear these terms a lot.
Epochalyptik says... #2
Moved to General forum.
There are three primary archetypes in Magic.
Aggro is a fast deck focused on killing an opponent in the first couple turns. They often use a combination of cheap, effective creatures and flexible direct-damage spells. Aggro often burns out after the first five turns, so it loses momentum after that point.
Control is a slower deck focused on manipulating the game state until it can stabilize. It uses counterspells and removal to delay and destroy an opponent's strategy so it can launch its own threats.
Combo is a variable-speed deck that focuses on abusing interactions between cards. Many combo decks "go infinite" by endlessly looping a set of game actions.
Aggro is strong against control and weak against combo.Control is strong about combo and weak against aggro.Combo is strong against aggro and weak against control.
The colors are as follows:
W - White
U - Blue
B - Black
R - Red
G - Green
Beatdown uses creatures to kill an opponent. Traditionally, beatdown implies that you're using bigger creatures to deal more damage.
Midrange is a deck that focuses primarily on winning from turns 4-7. It's a medium-speed deck that has more stamina than aggro.
Jund is the combination of black, red, and green. Traditionally, Jund is just a pile of advantage-generating cards: draw power, removal, direct damage, efficient creatures, and overall good cards.
September 24, 2013 11:08 a.m.