Limited Options

The evolution of a Limited format over the course of a block
is nearly as interesting as that of the Block Constructed format itself. Block Constructed, at its best, is generally driven by the health of the
rock-paper-scissors metagame and the innovation of deckbuilders. Meanwhile,
virtually the only changes that appear to occur to a Limited
format are generated by adding a set to the puzzle. However, in many ways the
influx of new cards into a Limited format may usher in changes at least as
dramatic as those experienced in the corresponding Constructed environment –
and they are experienced in a more personal way, since in the world of Limited
you are always your own deck designer and innovator.

The largest change that occurs over the course of a Limited
season is the shift from drafting-to-deck to drafting-to-archetype. Within the
confines of a one set card pool, certain “best” decks can be built out of a
given combination of commons. These decks, supplemented by the addition of a couple
key uncommons, are the building block of the format. They allow us to get our
feet wet and understand what mechanics and interactions will be the most
powerful in the new environment.

A great example of “building to a deck” was the Ivory Giant
deck that won more than a few people piles of packs during TSP-TSP-TSP limited.
The goal was simple; pick up some efficient white beaters (Benalish Cavalry,
Knight of the Holy Nimbus etc.) and ideally two or more Ivory Giants. Because
you had three packs, it was fairly easy to come to the table loaded with bears –
hit your opponent for 4-6 damage and then the Giant comes out and allows you to
alpha strike for another 7-9 damage accomplishing the bulk of your work for
you. If you were able to suspend Giants on back to back turns you were sitting
in fine shape indeed. This strategy paired with removal was very successful
during TTT draft but fell off a cliff after Planar Chaos was introduced.

One reason is that it depended to a degree on its namesake Giant. Early white beaters are solid but need a plan to finish – if you never
saw a Giant, you could audible into the W/U evasion deck or do your best to load
up on removal and go W/R and try and push your men through for the last few
points. The introduction of PLC cut the number of Giants down enough that what was once a
solid plan turned into a crapshoot.

Archetypical drafting naturally comes to the fore in a
mature 3 set draft. For example: in TPF, you can draft R/G(x) successfully in at
least two different archetypes. You can use the plethora of aggressively costed
creatures in both colors in combination with green pump and combat tricks to
curve out and win a game out of the starting gates – you can also use a slow
rolling approach - turn 1 Uptopia Micron, Turn 2 Thallid Shell Dweller is also a
start that will eventually overwhelm most decks (godforbid you draft Sprout Swarm in addition!).

The path to these two archetypes may not always be clear
initially (though sometimes you first pick a Tromp the Domains and run with it),
and there is certainly cross over in terms of how best to outfit the removal
suite. You can reliably expect to access multiple pieces of red removal in FUT
pack, but you may or may not get that Riddle of Lightning specifically. Being
actively aware of how your deck is progressing and how it will be built is a
great way to be a more efficient drafter, and being efficient and economizing
your playable picks is the one of the keys to pilings packs into your
collection tab.

The larger variety in a card pool has enormous consequences
for your initial goals when trying to read signals in a draft. In TTP and TPF
more than one promising draft has been undone by the prospect of hoping to pick
up blue removal in the Planar Chaos pack. One pack is simply too small a sample
to plan on picking up something whose
function can’t reliably be duplicated within the same pack. This is the key difference between drafting to a
deck and drafting to an archetype. Far far too often in draft discussions of
mature block we base draft plans on irreplaceable cards, you cannot count on
drafting a specific card, even a common, out of a single pack. Unless you
really, really want a Dashed Hopes! That you can probably count on

edit - I wrote this in Word before posting and the spacing and formatting came out truly awful, sorry about that.