Greetings, my eager audience! I’m here once again to shed some light upon the burning questions I brought up last time. I've gone over the basic elements that make up a control deck in multiplayer, and provided you with one of my own control decks. Today will be similar to last time, but it’s time to move onto question number two:

Aggro, Multiplayer, and you.

Aggro decks have to be the easiest deck to understand: play land, play creatures, attack until the opponent dies. Of course, most aggro decks are more complex than that — at least slightly — but all aggro decks have this main strategy as their core. Aggro decks tend to be fast, expending their cards for tempo, playing creatures and light removal spells, even burn, all in an effort to get to that elusive turn in which their opponent croaks.

There is, however, a problem with aggro decks; they always hate going into the late games. The longer the game goes on, the more resources you need to get past a player's defenses — and in the case of many aggro decks, it is this lack of removal, land, utility and cards as a whole that cause the aggro player to lose. It is also the quick expenditure of resources that cause other decks (namely, control) to gain major advantage over them with just a few key spells.

It has been this lack of late game that causes many players to look down on aggro decks in multiplayer, especially if they were netdecked from a tournament. You’re playing Ravager Affinity? Good luck; everyone and their brother will be sure to send at least one artifact destruction effect your way, and you have to deal sixty points of damage instead of a mere twenty. And let's do some more math: In an eight-player game, even if two people are aren’t playing colors with artifact destruction, you will still have five other players who just need to send one or two Disenchants/Naturalizes/Shatters your way before you realize that you won’t be able to win nearly as fast (if at all) like you would in a tournament. Heck, your Myr Enforcers become a liability as soon as an opposing Viashino Heretic comes online, not to mention Artifact Mutation.

But this has been the problem with most people playing aggro in multiplayer; they do not realize how to correctly build a deck to accommodate the environment — or play it correctly for their metagame, for that matter.

But aggro is a good deck in multiplayer, if it is built, and played, correctly. Successful Multiplayer aggro decks generally use elements that are associated with multiplayer decks such as repeatable effects, lasting effects, powerful one-shot effects, some minor (but vital) utility spells, and powerful late-game bombs. The goal of the aggro deck is to apply consistent, not necessarily powerful, beats to their opponents till they lose. Two of the most successful builds for multiplayer are Aggro/Control and Multiman Aggro.

This answer covers a few things, one of which I’ve already covered. All of the effects that make up a good control deck can also be applied to an aggro deck in multiplayer, though in a different sense (of course, the Ferrett beat me to my own punch line). While you want to use the same type of effects, you want to use different cards that perform those effects between aggro and control. For example, a multiplayer control deck would use Capsize as a repeatable effect, while the aggro deck would gladly go for Ashen Ghoul.

As for playing an aggro deck correctly, there are several deadly sins:

Thou Shalt Not Play More Than Thy Need
In other words, you should not overcommit. This has to be the ultimate game-killer for many multiplayer aggro decks; they continually play a bunch of creatures and they all end up getting slammed to a Wrath of God. But they could have won with just a few solid creatures to maintain the board! Heck, a Wall of Blossoms, Stampeding Serow, and a Wild Mongrel would be a simple way to keep some good beats going while keeping a good defense.

Thou Shalt Not Try To Be “Controlling”
What I mean by this statement is that you are not a control deck with all the answers. You cannot possibly destroy every last thing that gets in your way; not even good multiplayer control decks can do that. Instead, you want to focus your resources on dealing with only the most threatening targets possible; at least the most threatening to your forces. For example, if I’m playing a Fires of Yavimaya-style deck, I would not want to focus on destroying something like Engineered Plague set to Birds just so I can play my Birds of Paradise. Better targets for my Naturalize would be Moat or Worship.

Do No More Than What Is Required, But No Less Than What Is Needed
Have you ever seen a guy attack all-out in an attempt to kill an opponent, succeed, and die during the next player’s turn? You want to make sure you can kill an opponent, but you without spending all your forces to do so; a few key attackers and some hidden trick are usually enough. Likewise, if you are going to commit to a massive attack, make sure that you don’t fall short on damage and just signed yourself a death wish from the guy you just pummeled. Overall, you want to take things one attack step at a time, not attacking recklessly, but instead providing a continual stream of damage.

When In Distress, Seek Ye The Help Of The Heavens
Some may think I’m referring to topdeck mode.... but nothing could be further from the truth. What I mean is that ground assaults don’t always work — and when that happens, you either need more creatures (which is usually a bad move), or you need evasion. Flying tends to be the preferred choice for aggro decks, but it never hurts to surprise everyone with the Soltari Guerrillas that you dug out of your binder just for your Boros deck (ah, nothing like Shadow!).

Of course, the alternative to evasion is the use of some sort of effect to directly deal with your opponent without the combat step (Consume Spirit, Beacon of Destruction, and so forth). In any case, just make sure you can get that damage (or other win condition) through.

With that said you’re all probably nodding your head thinking that it would make sense for aggro-control to be included as a good aggro deck in multiplayer — but what the hell is Multiman Aggro? Let’s start with the familiar ground...

Aggro-control decks are decks that serve as both — you guessed it — Aggro and Control. In general, aggro-control decks tend to slower than their pure aggro counterparts when it comes to killing their opponents. In exchange for this speed though, the aggro-control deck has the ability to deal with problems through the use of more controlling-type cards. For the most part, these cards are utility removal and small amounts of board-sweeping. If at all possible, the aggro-control deck will use creatures that perform the role of its more controlling like elements (Bane of the Living, Elvish Scrapper, and Golgari Guildmage).

The aggro-control uses its utility (in this case, read: “disruption”) to nullify its opponents' attempts to undermine it, and then wins through creature combat — usually with some powerful creature that fits the deck’s theme to finish off, but isn’t too expensive (Scion of Darkness, Kokusho, and, in more recent hype, Gleancrawler). Some of the best examples of aggro-control come from Green and Black with the ever famous “The Rock and His Minions” (a.k.a. The Rock).

The reason aggro-control is better than just plain aggro has to do with the different card types the deck should have and that thing I talked about earlier called “the long game." Aggro-control players generally have a way to reuse what they have. Creature recursion is the most popular way that aggro/control decks use for longer games, but even simple effects like that of Skull Collector + Nekrataal come in handy. In many ways, the aggro-control deck shares elements of both its parents; a fairly fast clock and beats from aggro, and the more “I’ve got an answer” of control. But aggro-control works to fit these two themes into each other (The Darksteel Swords are a good example of some very aggro-control type cards).

The main difference between a good multiplayer aggro deck and a multiplayer control deck is that the aggro uses that attack step more often and concentrates less on trying to neutralize a range of threats — it just targets the ones that foil its game plan. In addition, just like aggro decks, part of dealing with problem cards for aggro/control would be to kill the player who has them; no player, no cards, no problem.

The other type of aggro deck is the multiman aggro, is something that is usually not observed too often (at least, from my knowledge and experience). The multiman aggro is to the normal pure aggro deck as the staircase is to the stepping stool. To give an example of what I mean, think of how tournament aggro decks are generally designed: They load up on one-and two-mana cards, carry some threes and fours, and carry anything more expensive if it is absolutely a house or they can cheat it into play (see Myr Enforcer and Roar of the Wurm).

Multiman Aggro is sort of like adding a little fat to the mix. You start with one- and two-mana cards, but you mainly focus on three and four range. From there, you can expect the five- and six-mana cards with some sevens floating in there, and occasionally something more expensive than that to make sure you have a game-wrecker when the game goes late. An appropriate alternative name for Multiman Aggro might be “Timmy Aggro” due to what such aggro decks entail — but they can be quite competitive and creative in design, giving Spike and Johnny their say. Unlike other aggro decks, multiman aggro decks are specifically built for the later game with their creatures, usually with high ends to their curves, with more of the focus of the curve starting at the two-drop and working their way to the higher end.

Multiman Aggro decks pack utility — but just like aggro-control decks, their utility is usually (if not only) in the form of creatures. Also, just like any good multiplayer deck, Multiman Aggro decks have a back up plan for their creatures if things go awry. The usual method is recurring the creatures through some sort of repeatable effect, whether the creature itself has it (Ashen Ghoul, Eternal Dragon, Firemane Angel), or it is some other source (Lord of the Undead, Haunted Crossroads, Sigil of the New Dawn, Revive, Beacon of Unrest).

(Ever notice how everyone just hates to keep the good men down?).

To make sure it has a good threat base, it behooves the multiman aggro player to make sure that they have a diverse range of threats — but it's more important to have creatures that can resist the beatings that may come. Alternatively, you can use a bunch of quick mana acceleration (Sakura-Tribe Elder, Nature’s Lore, Wayfarer’s Bauble) to accelerate out some of the bigger guys to serve as your early defense.

Since this is my second article after my long absence, I think I’ll treat all of you to both an aggro/control and a Multiman Aggro deck. Let’s start with the Aggro-control:

Multiplayer Aggro-Control Featured by Matthew Lubich on 2005-10-23 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/10714.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 1 Bane of the Living 1 Eternal Witness 1 Genesis 2 Gleancrawler 3 Golgari Guildmage 2 Grave-Shell Scarab 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 4 Spiritmonger 1 Viridian Zealot Enchantments 4 Pernicious Deed Instants 1 Entomb 4 Putrefy	Sorceries 2 Buried Alive 2 Diabolic Intent 3 Life from the Loam Basic Lands 6 Forest 4 Swamp Lands 4 Bayou 4 Llanowar Wastes 4 Overgrown Tomb 1 Strip Mine Legendary Lands 1 Miren, the Moaning Well 1 Volrath's Stronghold	Stats: Average mana: 1.85 Average creature mana cost: 3.68 Average creature power: 3.47 Average creature toughness: 3.32 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 16.67% Creatures: 31.67% Lands: 21.67% Enchantments: 6.67% Instants: 8.33% Sorceries: 11.67% Legendary Lands: 3.33%
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

Nothing like good old-fashioned Black/Green to get us started in the direction of Aggro-control. Early on, your main goal is to use Sakura-Tribe Elder and Life from the Loam to accelerate your mana, then use Buried Alive to tutor up Genesis, Eternal Witness, and another creature (usually Bane of the Living or Viridian Zealot, depending on the problems you’re having). From there, you start beating your opponents down using your Spiritmongers and Insects.

To continue your war machine, you continually recur Buried Alive and Diabolic Intent using your Eternal Witness and Genesis. This allows you to fetch any answer card you need; whether you need to Putrefy an opposing Ensnaring Bridge, or you need to Deed/Bane away Saproling Tokens, you’ll be sure to have the answer. Of course, you don’t always need to rely on Buried Alive to get your stuff in the yard; Life from the Loam works just fine, and it even gets back Volrath’s Stronghold when you need it. Keep in mind, though, that I did not put Strip Mine as a mana denial strategy; it just happens to deal with any lands your opponents might be trying to use, and after Ravnica there are quite a few.

The only thing you really need to be on the lookout for with this deck is graveyard removal, which will probably give you some of the biggest headaches you’ve ever had.

So there you have it; the classic aggro-control. In any case, let’s look at Multiman Aggro:

Multiplayer Aggro Featured by Matthew Lubich on 2005-10-23 As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/10714.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 1 Firemane Angel 4 Loxodon Hierarch 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 4 Selesnya Guildmage 4 Watchwolf Enchantments 3 Armadillo Cloak 3 Aura Shards Instants 3 Eladamri's Call	Legendary Creatures 1 Arashi, the Sky Asunder 1 Nemata, Grove Guardian 1 Rith, the Awakener 1 Tolsimir Wolfblood 1 Verdeloth the Ancient Sorceries 4 Sylvan Scrying Basic Lands 2 Forest 1 Mountain 1 Plains Lands 1 Plateau 4 Savannah 1 Taiga 4 Temple Garden 4 Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree 4 Windswept Heath Legendary Lands 1 Eiganjo Castle 1 Karakas 1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers	Stats: Average mana: 1.78 Average creature mana cost: 3.41 Average creature power: 3.00 Average creature toughness: 3.18 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 6.67% Creatures: 28.33% Legendary Lands: 5.00% Legendary Creatures: 8.33% Enchantments: 10.00% Sorceries: 6.67% Lands: 30.00% Instants: 5.00%
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

Here is a perfect example of what I call Multiman Aggro. Just as I’ve outlined, the multiman aggro deck focuses some of its efforts on the early game, but then follows up with a powerful mid-game. The deck’s main goal is to produce many creatures (Saprolings) or quality creatures (Watchwolf, Loxodon Hierarch, Rith, the Awakener) and beat down for the win. The deck’s implications are obvious: attack with Rith, use Nemata, the Guildmage, or Vitu-Ghazi, or just play Verdeloth and produce a bunch of saprolings.

However, there are some neat little interactions that might not easily be seen from just a decklist, most of which involve Karakas. This little lost gem allows you to do neat things with your legendary creatures like save them from kill spells, retrigger Aura Shards, and, in the case of Verdeloth, make more Saprolings. Also, you can return Arashi to your hand just in case you need a Hurricane. When playing the deck, just make sure you keep in mind the basic pointers of aggro, and you should do fine.

Once again, it comes that time where I must bid you farewell. Until next time, bring home the good aggro — the multiplayer kind!

Matthew Lubich