Hey Everyone,

I have been posting daily MTG Foundations drafts and would love to get to 1000 subscribers :)

I am not a perfect player but am trying really hard to improve my win rate. (currently 60% for MTG Foundations, 137-92)

Right now I am Diamond but usually get to Mythic in the 3rd or 4th week of the season.

https://www.youtube.com/@MTGFilipaDrafts

In my last year of drafting, I have never seen a format where blue/red was good. I've tried drafting it, and I have ALWAYS lost every game I played whenever I try it. Any other color or color pair felt like I could at least do something, but blue/red feels straight up unviable in every limited format. Is it just bad or am I just playing it wrong?

I've been perusing over 17Lands data, as well as looking back on the 40 Premier Drafts I've done, and the couple of in-person BO3 drafts I've played. It really feels like aggressive decks have the edge in this format.

The Data
On 17Lands, it looks like mono-color decks are the most successful, which is to be expected because they're very consistent in their mana base and can more afford to play utility lands like a Rogue's Passage, for example.
Looking at 2-color decks, the most successful are UW, which is generally an aggressive flyers deck, and RG, which is interesting because the consensus among top-level drafters is that green is the worst color in this set and red is the second worst color because of how shallow their commons are compared to the other colors. Third best by a slim percentage is BR, which is my personal favorite archetype of raid creatures. Worth noting that UB is just barely in 4th place, and it tends to be more value-centric and controlling than the other 3 top color pairs, but I'm sure the reason for its success depends heavily on [[Dreadwing Scavenger]], which keeps the cards flowing and is often an unblockable threat.
Looking at individual card data, the top common creatures by winrate when maindecked are [[Helpful Hunter]], [[Dazzling Angel]], [[Healer's Hawk]], [[Felidar Savior]], [[Gorehorn Raider]], and [[Cathar Commando]]. These are all notable aggressive cards either by virtue of having evasion (flying), being able to flash in and get some early chip damage in, or in the case of the Raider, giving extra value from attacking. Close to the bottom end are value-type cards like [[Elfsworn Giant]], [[Mocking Sprite]], [[Erudite Wizard]], and [[Grow from the Ashes]].
Looking at uncommons, one of the worst in the set is [[Tatyova, Benthic Druid]], which was surprising because in other sets it's been such a powerhouse and it's definitely a bop if unanswered on a stalled board.

My Experience
I've played 40 Premier Drafts on Arena, and trophied 4 times - twice with BR, once with WG, and once with RG. All 4 times I was running an aggressive deck with not many bombs, but a low curve with many 2 drops and plentiful cheap removal spells. There were times where I built a very good controlling deck or spells deck but went 1-3 or 2-3 for a very disappointing finish.

But Why?
There are several reasons that aggressive decks do so well in this format:
- Cheap removal in every color. White has Luminous Rebuke, Blue has Witness Protection which can remove flying from a creature, Black has Eaten Alive and Stab, Red has Burst Lightning, and Green has Bushwack and Bite Down. These can all be used in the first few turns to remove a 2-drop or 3-drop and keep the hits going and win an early game race to put your opponent on the back foot in the later turns.
- Equipment and combat tricks suited for Aggression. With Goldvein Pick and Quick-Draw Katana, and the Leyline Axe at rare, getting profitable attacks in the face of defenders is so easy. I especially like the Katana because first strike makes most blocks chumps, given the number of high-power, low-toughness creatures like Wary Thespian, Cathar Commando, Additionally, combat tricks like Snakeskin Veil, Fleeting Flight, Sure Strike, and Fake Your Own Death are great 1-for-1 that can leave you with a superior board presence.
- Creatures that make More Creatures. There are many 2-bodies-for-1 cards that exist in the format, like Prideful Parent, Dwynen's Elite, Goblin Surprise, Infestation Sage, and Faebloom Trick. This makes going wide very easy in just about any color combo. Also there are plenty of cheap creatures that gain you value in other ways, like Vampire Gourmand which can turn your less effective attackers into new cards, Helpful Hunter and Strix Lookout that can find you more bodies. Then at the higher end of the curve you have creatures like Elvish Regrower that can get back your best creature from the yard, and Squad Rallier which can gas you up for a good alpha attack.
- Many ways to eke out the last bit of damage. The higher-costed creatures aren't great attackers with their low toughness, but if your opponent is under 10 life, they can make a huge difference. Cards like Soul-Shackled Zombie to drain your opponent for 2, Gorehorn Raider to shock a blocker or your opponent, and Sower of Chaos can make the difference between stabilizing and a win.

All these things together make me believe that aggression really is the way to win in this format. Use your cheap removal early to get some decent damage in the first 4 turns, and you'll have plenty of time to build up for a nice Overrun or Claws Out attack, or gather enough flyers to have inevitability. Unless your opponent has a sweeper, in which case just cry.

A friend has an old box that he’d like to use to organize a draft. However, he doesn’t want to keep any booster packs. So, I’m thinking that instead of giving the remaining 12 packs for prizes, maybe we could have a bigger draft, of like 10 or even 12 people, so the entry fee would be lower.

Would this worsen the experience? Each player would see more packs during the draft but pick twice from the same pack less often.