Hello all of you starcitygames.com readers - before I get to the meat of some of my favorite draft archetypes available to you as an MD5 drafter, I want to provide you with some reason to believe what I'm saying. I've never won any major in-real-life events - in fact, I think I've only even got two or three FNM events to my credit.

But what I do have is a 1905 MTG:O Limited rating, and somewhere between 500-600 drafts worth of experience (spread out over MMM, MMD, and MD5) on Magic Online to draw from. I feel like I have a pretty damn good handle on the current MD5 format owing to the tons of drafts I've done of it, and also a ton of experience with MMD to tell you how they differ. So go out, grab that ham sandwich you were just dying to eat, and sit your ass back down in front of the computer screen to learn some stuff (and eat your food, but for God's sake stop spilling crumbs on the keyboard).

So enough of this - lets get down to business. The biggest hurdle any Limited format writer needs to overcome is how to best present the information they have to dispense of. I've seen fabulous articles all over this site that give the basics - there was a wonderful series by Geordie Tate about card advantage that I benefited immensely from, Flores again always provides insight into the inner workings of the game and game theory, and so with these types of aspects covered by other writers, I don't want to bore you by repeating what they have already said (and probably said better). What I do have to give you is analyses of archetypes.

So what the hell is an archetype? Think of an archetype as a blueprint - if you were building a house, you'd want to have a blueprint of the house you were building, or you'd wind up with toilets that don't flush correctly and very angry houseguests when they try to use your"creative" facilities.

Likewise, in draft, what you need is a general guide for what you're trying to accomplish. The biggest sin I committed as a new player was having no idea what the hell I was building before I set out to build it - experts always tell you to"keep your options open" and"draft what's being passed to you", but before you can actually identify what's being passed you to, you need to know what possible directions you can go. You need to know what sorts of cards play well together. Otherwise you'll wind up like the Roadrunner, out pacing the deserts of the southwest, running really fast but with no worthwhile destination.

So, today I'm going to cover the draft archetypes that involve White as one of their colors. I think that this is something everyone can benefit from - you'll learn some archetypes, appreciate a color that is designed to appreciate you (just rub some Healing Salve on that bedsore) and if you pay attention, become a better drafter in the process.

Now, when drafting MD5, there is always the possibility of playing three or sometimes even four or five colors to accommodate sunburst - I would highly discourage you from trying that with White as your base color. While it is beautiful about the Mirrodin block that you can conceive of playing five colors, we'll save that for another week when I'm better prepared to address it (as in, if I can start winning consistently with those archetypes). Right now, however, with White, what you need to do is focus on making a two-color monstrosity that will leave your opponents in tears. White is a color of tricks in MD5, and as such, you'll generally be using it to control your opponents' hearts and desires (Okay, so you'll probably just control their creatures and own them in Magic, but it's a start) with your instant-speed spells and effects.

Some quick (and obvious) combinatorics tells us that we've got four different options for two color decks, one of which is White: W/U, W/R, W/B, and W/G. Lets take 'em in that order.

The W/U Deck:
The Blue/White draft deck in MD5 is quite similar to any other format that has ever supported a good Blue/White deck - the basic idea is to play out some little wieners with evasion that can consistently crack your opponent upside the head, then drop down some guys with big backsides to protect your own dome from getting slammed. So, your overall game plan here should be to take those fliers that you see in Mir and DS with three power relatively high, the two-power fliers next (with the exception of Skyhunter Patrol, which you take as high as Somber Hoverguard because of the first strike), and finally picking up those beefy men later on in the 5^th Dawn pack. Hey, they're heavy, they'll settle to the bottom (I guess that was a fat joke).

Specifically, what I'm saying is this - aim for at least six good flying men, the more the merrier. Somber Hoverguard, Skyhunter Patrol, and Looming Hoverguard in Mir are all great picks, and in the DS pack you can aim for Hoverguard Observer in the uncommon slot. Neurok Spy is pretty decent, and the two DS commons, Neurok Prodigy and Spire Golem, are nice as well. Spire Golem is considerably better than Neurok Prodigy owing to its increased toughness (and its still relatively easy to cast somewhat early if you're only in two colors). All of these guys are wonderful and beat down quite nicely.

So what the hell, I thought this was supposed to be about White! Well, it is. In White, you're looking for the goods like Loxodon Mystic, Auriok Transfixer, Raise the Alarm, and (he's essentially White) Razor Golem. Mystic and Transfixer are excellent in an evasion build because they tap down your opponents big men, and also allow you to put the moves on them by tapping their guys during their turn and yours for that huge finishing attack. That's just the first two packs. Where White really shines for this archetype (and for most of the other ones too) is in its contribution in 5D - Loxodon Anchorite is at his absolute best in this decktype, since he slows their beats significantly and saves your guys.

I've focused mainly on commons (and creatures) here, but there are some other things that need mentioning. This archetype is one of the very few I would consider playing Sun Droplet in - it's insanely annoying to your opponent when they're trying to kill you off and they just can't force that last few damage through because your sun droplet is keeping you around while you pick away at their life with the janky last minute Pteron Ghost you played (I said at least six good fliers!). But seriously, it's a good card in this archetype. Also, Talon of Pain is absolutely crazy when you have evasion. Normally an Achilles heel of the U/W archetype is its lack of removal - Blue has none (unless you count crap like Psychic Overload) and White has little (just Stasis Cocoon, Arrest, Soul Nova, Vanquish and Blinding Beam, which I'll get to in a minute) and so if you're able to pick up a Talon, by all means do. Unless it's running in the same pack as Hoverguard Observer and you're short on good men. Talon won't win you games by itself, because you'll always need creatures to hit your opponent with first, but it can be good synergy if you've got 'em.

As an aside about White in general, if you're the kinda guy/gal who has a hankering for equipment, White is probably the best color to do it with (that's probably not news to you, but I'll specify which equips are good for each archetype). Especially in an evasion deck like U/W. Now, the type of equipment you want is very specific - of course you love the Longbow, because almost every deck loves Longbow, but you really love Leonin Bola. It is absolutely insane in U/W because of the Trinket Mage, and if you manage to get two of these, you will leave your opponents wrecked because they'll never be able to touch you (again while you ping away with your fliers). The other type of equips you want in this build are those that increase the damage your creatures do by two or more. So Bonesplitter, Cranial Plating (90% of the time), and Vulshok Morningstar are great, whereas stuff like Golem Skin Gauntlets (obviously) and Leonin Scimitar (less obviously) are not playable.

As far as equips that you'll get late in the draft go, Vulshok Gauntlets are actually quite nice in any White deck, U/W in particular, as they combo excellently with both Skyhunter Prowler (who doesn't tap to attack) and Skyhunter Skirmisher (who will probably kill them in two turns). To make a note of him, Skyhunter Cub is acceptable, but please don't take this guy earlier than fifth or so, as there will almost always be something more useful to you in the pack. Remember, if you don't draw equipment, Cub is just sitting there as a 2/2 for three, which is nothing stellar, and also when you do draw equipment, he's the perfect Unforge bait.

To finish off my thoughts on this archetype, I want to address your spells. Bounce from Blue is awesome in this deck - in my MTGO experience, you'll be able to get really late Regresses quite often - way more often than should be allowed (if the Supreme Court really cared, they'd get on this one) - sort of like the way people used to charitably give you Blinding Beam really late back in MMM. So, aim for at least one of either Regress or Echoing Truth. I'd say Regress is easier to pick up, because in general Echoing Truth tends to be running with what may be better cards depending on your situation (Spire Golem or Prodigy).

As far as White's end of the table, Arrest is still insane, as it's going to be your only answer to obnoxious Spikeshot/Vulshok Sorcerer antics that would otherwise ruin your day, and Stasis Cocoon is great for the same reason (it puts bola and longbow on ice). Vanquish sucks in this deck, as you don't want to be wasting your mana killing stuff that's blocking your creatures since the whole plan of the deck is to avoid getting blocked in the first place by having flying. The champion of the deck is Blinding Beam - if you can land one of these bad boys (and you'll probably have to use one of your first few picks in Mirrodin if you're gonna get one) it will provide you with countless opportunities to outrace your opponent.

The biggest weakness for this deck as far as I've seen is any deck with either multiple Sorcerers or Longbow. It's similar to the Nim decks from MMM and MMD because a lot of the fliers you'll have only have one or two toughness, and you don't really have a permanent fix for their weapons outside of the two mentioned above. Also, nobody attacks with Spikeshot, so forget about Soul Nova-ing him when he has Splitter on - most likely you're gonna be scooping up your cards and heading home to cry and blame things on manascrew.

The W/R Deck:
The W/R Deck is definitely one of my favorite decks to draft in MD5, much like it was in MMD. It's a control deck at heart, and you can get away with playing stuff in it that most people consider jank because of the great removal Red offers.

Specifically, I'm talking about the trio of Titanium Golem, Arcbound Bruiser, and Anodet Lurker.

Okay, when you've stopped screaming that I'm a freaking idiot and that I shouldn't be allowed to procreate, sit back down and let me explain myself. This format is not a fast one; tempo decks are really really really hard to pull off because Fifth Dawn is so slow, and if you've got Steel Wall or Anchorite to hide behind, you will actually get to cast these guys. I can't tell you how many 1800 players have threatened to castrate me because I beat them down with Lurker.

So why are these cards passable to good in W/R? Because both colors offer quite awesome contributions. Awe Strike is White's main contribution, but your ability to manipulate what creatures they have available to block via Transfixer, Mystic, and if you have it Bola all give your guys significant weight advantage when you're attacking. Neither color really has the huge bodies to throw in, so the mediocre men with three-power for five mana fill in pretty well.

Also, in this particular archetype, you're likely to have used your early picks grabbing the likes of Shatter, Barbed Lightning, and Vulshok Sorcerer. You can use the first two to pick up card advantage quite often, as many times your 3/3's will be double blocked by two 2/2's, and you can knock one off with instant speed removal, netting you a card when the other one dies. The sorcerer can also be a two-for-one (though you'll lose your Anodet Lurker, frowny face) if you throw him down after combat damage has been dealt and pick off the remaining life of one blocker.

Additionally, when you're in W/R, you tend to grab equipment - if you have a Spikeshot, you probably took Vulshok Morningstar really high as well. Now you have a 5/5 monstrosity with first strike, or modular, or, well, Onulet's janky ability.

So now that I'm done explaining, ask yourself this - traditionally, W/R decks have run 2/2 dorks for three like Krark-Clan Stokers, because they use their early picks to grab removal instead of creatures. In a slow format like we have now, is it really that inconceivable of a switch to run bigger guys? Have a glass of water.

That said, there are of course other cards you're gonna want besides the semi-janky ones I've just described. You can aim to get some flying out of White, and also some creature manipulation, but you're going to be gunning to overpower them with your later drops and your tapping abilities. Leonin Battlemage shines in this build in particular for his ability to make your late game pushes all the more effective.

The W/B Deck:
You know how I said in the W/R Deck above that tempo decks are really really hard to pull off? Well, I wasn't lying, but the W/B deck is one of the best places to try it. Black has some really insane creatures early, a la Blind Creeper, that when combined with the equipment that White loves and guys like Leonin Den-Guard, can produce quite lethal results.

With this build, you'll be gunning for removal, power-enhancing equipment and tricks in the first two packs. You'll still want to grab the good guys (Patrol, Transfixer, Mystic, Razor Golem, Dross Golem, etc) when you see them, but if you have the choice between good equipment (Morningstar) and medium-good creatures (Razor Golem) you'll probably want to go the route of the equipment.

The third pack is where you'll really want to grab your men. Blind Creeper is a great high pick, and so is Leonin Squire. Skyhunter Skirmisher is also great in this build, as double strike becomes very relevant with equipment, and sometimes, if you have four or more pieces of good equipment, you can actually play that Darksteel card Auriok Glaivemaster off the bench in this build. Fleshgrafter is also quite amazing, as (forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I'm pretty sure it was) Ken Krouner pointed out in one of his articles analyzing the Fifth Dawn cards a while back. Disciple of the Vault and Leonin Elder aren't bad in this build either, because they're one-drops, their abilities are nice as lots of stuff will be going on, and with equipment, they are no longer irrelevant late in the game.

Dross Golem should not be underestimated in this build. He's almost always down on turn 3, and fear is not irrelevant - if you have the ability via Transfixer or Bola to tap down their artifacts, you'll really rail them quite quickly with his flaming nun chucks (assuming that's what they're supposed to be - either that or he's just got back from Oz and is holding Scarecrow on fire).

Mystic and Anchorite aren't as key here, because they're pretty slow. What you'll be looking for is more along the lines of Blinding Beam and Wail of the Nim. Wail can be quite spectacular in this build, because you can bash and with damage on the stack, ping everything for one and/or save your guys to bash again next turn.

One thing that I have to emphasize about this build is its dependence on creatures. You'll generally want to have in the neighborhood of 14-15 for the W/U and W/R builds, but for the W/B deck, you'll be gunning for seventeen or more. The effects you want to have are those that act globally and help a lot of your guys, like Wail, Stir the Pride, and of course Beam. Bola as always is great as you'll probably be able to overrun them with your massive amount of dorks available at any given time to tap their stuff. Try to stay away from slower spells like Consume Spirit and Essence Drain, as the vast majority of the time they'll be too late, and the lifegain shouldn't matter at all to you in this deck because either they'll die fast, or you'll die soon after if you fail to kill them. Devour in Shadow is always good, so this probably won't be surprising tech to you, but it really shines in aggressive builds like this one.

The W/G Deck:
The W/G deck is my least favorite of all four archetypes I've talked about today, but not because it can't be done right. Rather, I have personal reasons for disliking Green; I can't seem to get a date with Glissa. She's always busy"unlocking secrets at the heart of the world" or saying that"she needs to shower and so should I", so there's some lingering bitterness that I just can't get over right now.

Seriously though, Green can be fatal to you because it tempts you with its high-end fatties. As slow as this format is, if you're playing a deck full of Fangren Pathcutters, Tyrannaxes, Tangle Golems, and Wurmskin Forgers, you're boned.

You have to remember that White is generally slow too, so you want to tailor your approach to deal with this. The way to win with W/G is to rely on tricks to clear out their early blockers so your big boys can hit when you eventually, and it will be eventually, drop them. Also, you'll really want mana acceleration with this deck, so the mana myr and Sylvok Explorers are welcome additions. You've got great spells at your disposal with Green; all of their pumping spells (Predator's Strike, Echoing Courage, and Ferocious Charge) will probably trade for a creature if your curve isn't terrible, and so you'll be able to really smash face starting turns 5 and 6 if you can draw into land.

This is the only build involving White that doesn't like equipment. The only outstanding common equipment with this deck, and this speaks to its credit to show you just how good it is, is Leonin Bola. If you're not taking Bola ever, and coincidentally not winning, you need to re-evaluate your position on this card. Bonesplitter is passable, but not nuts; Morningstar is just a waste of your mana.

"But how can this be!" you're probably exclaiming. Well, most of Green's creatures are already huge - what's it matter if you throw Bonesplitter on Tyrranax - who was gonna block him and live anyway? Equipment like Specter's Shroud, Mask of Memory, and Loxodon will of course still be welcome here, but they are definitely at their best in other deck archetypes.

We're pretty close to the end.

I hope that this article has provided you with some insight into the workings of draft.

That's all, Folks.

Whoop some ace for me,
Nick Morley
hothalfjap on MTGO