Lord of the Rings prerelease archetype guide
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth set is releasing shortly and with it comes the prerelease. This time, the limited format is sealed and features many new and returning mechanics such as food tokens and "The Ring". This article acts as a guide to help you understand all the archetypes and cards you want to be looking for during your prerelease.
Selesnya - Food aggro
The selesnya color pair is about the returning mechanic - food tokens. Use these tokens for synergy rather than gaining life with them. There are plenty of creatures that generate or sacrifice food for value. Play aggressive creatures and beat your opponent to death with food!...
Payoffs: Rossie Cotton of South Lane, Mushroom Watchdogs, Shire Sherriff
Rares: The Shire, Samwise Gamgee, Battle of Bywater
Simic - Elfes and scry
Simic is all about scry. Build an army of powerful elves and find answers using your plenty of scry cards. The set features many cheap ways to scry and even more powerful elves to choose from. Find the best card for the situation and overwhelm your opponent!...
Payoffs: Legolas, Counter of Kills, Council's Deliberation, Lothlórien Lookout
Rares: Galadriel of Lothlórien, Fall of Gil-galad, Elrond, Master of Healing
Orzhov - Legendaries// Sacrifice
If you want to play orzhov, fill your deck with plenty of legendary creatures and sacrifice payoffs. In the set are many cards that care about you having legendary creatures. Orzhov also allows you to sacrifice tokens or any other permanents to harm your opponent. So find those legendary heroes and sacrifice everything at your disposal for value!...
Payoffs: Errand-Rider of Gondor, Faramir, Field Commander, Nasty End
Rares: Barad-dûr , Frodo, Sauron's Bane, Isildur's Fateful Strike
Golgari - Sacrifice
Golgari is all about sacrificing everything you have. There are plenty of ways to sacrifice and return stuff. Use food tokens or your army of orcs for value. Drown your opponent in value while you reanimate and sacrifice creatures and tokens!...
Payoffs: Rise of the Witch-king, Lash of the Balrog, Gollum, Patient Plotter
Rares: Sméagol, Helpful Guide , Orcish Bowmasters
Rakdos - Goblins and Orcs
If you are a fan of goblins or orcs you are probably gonna play rakdos. This archetype showcases the returning amass mechanic which allows you to quickly make a giant creature. There are plenty of cards in the set that get better as your army token grows. Swarm your opponent with goblins or bash your opponent with a giant orc army? The choice is yours...
Payoffs: Uglúk of the White Hand, Rush the Room, Grond, the Gatebreaker
Rares: Moria Marauder, Barad-dûr, Call of the Ring
Gruul - High power
Gruul is as always, about playing big creatures and ramping. Use ramp spells to quickly gain a ton of mana to play your high power creatures. In the set are plenty of powerful combat tricks and payoffs to help you. Use these to crush your opponent with giant creatures and legendaries!...
Payoffs: Entish Restoration, Oliphaunt, Friendly Rivalry
Rares: Delighted Halfling, Doors of Durin
Izzet - Spells
The izzet archetype is yet again about casting a ton of spells. Slowly burn your opponent with various wizards and burn spells featured in the set. Cast a ton of spells in a single turn and kill your opponent with magic!...
Payoffs: Fiery Inscription, Erebor Flamesmith, Saruman the White
Azorius - Draw two// Flying
Who doesn't like drawing cards? Azorius is all about drawing more than one card each turn and evading those pesky blockers by flying. This color combination allows you to play cards that put counters on your creatures and draw you a ton of cards. Go ahead and beat your opponent in the air with this color combination!...
Payoffs: Gwaihir the Windlord, Ithilien Kingfisher, Reprieve
Rares: Dawn of a New Age, Borne Upon a Wind, Pippin, Guard of the Citadel
Boros - Humans// Equipment
This set features many powerful equipment and boros is the color combination to play them. Use cards to go wide with humans and overwhelm your opponent. Play equipment and suit up your creatures to activate powerful payoffs. Humans will easily beat your opponent so suit them up and go to combat!...
Payoffs: Éowyn, Lady of Rohan , Dúnedain Blade, Rally at the Hornburg
Rares: Merry, Esquire of Rohan, Forge Anew , Andúril, Flame of the West
Dimir - Amass mill
If you like more grindy and slower games, dimir is the choice for you. This archetype doesn't have that many payoffs so it will probably end up as just a solid control deck. Winning the game isn't hard to accomplish with a giant army token or even mill. This deck makes full use of the amass mechanic and will easily grind out your opponent...
Payoffs: Gothmog, Morgul Lieutenant , Surrounded by Orcs, Saruman's Trickery
Rares: Sauron, the Necromancer, Sauron's Ransom, One Ring to Rule Them All
Author: Tomas Solovic