What are the new limited archetypes in Magic: The Gathering’s Wilds Of Eldraine?
Much like Ravnica’s Guilds of the Realm, Eldraine’s new set has its own limited archetypes, each themed around a classic fairy tale. Some of these archetypes have plenty of payoffs, while others require a bit more finesse to get the most out of your deck.
The archetypes revealed so far include The Sleeping Beauty, Pied-Piper, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and The Snow Queen. Each archetype has its own signpost uncommon and specific cards to look out for when building your own decks. Here’s a breakdown of what each archetype does in Magic: The Gathering Eldraine.
The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen archetype revolves around controlling the board by tapping down and freezing opponent’s creatures. Creatures such as Snow White’s Knight highlight this strategy, though plenty of other cards in the set play into this archetype. Look for cards like Frost Giant and Winter’s Veil to punish your opponents for playing too many large creatures.
The Sleeping Beauty
The Sleeping Beauty archetype revolves around blue/black Faeries, using them to destroy creatures, control the board, and drain your opponent’s life. There are plenty of Faerie spells and creatures that fit into this archetype, with the best being Sleeping Beauty herself. Cards such as Briar Rose cast a wide net and produce a lot of Faeries, while Sleepwalker offers a nice payoff for going all-in on this archetype.
The Pied-Piper
The Pied-Piper archetype is a go-wide strategy centered around producing Rat tokens. Sacrifice plays a huge role in this archetype, with specific cards like The Pied Piper and Rat Queen rewarding players who find ways to get their Rat tokens killed. Look for red removal spells to help you clear the path for your Rats to get through.
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood is all about red/green, playing creatures with power four or greater, and emphasizing Role tokens. The Role cards in Magic: The Gathering Eldraine are all about enhancing your enchanted creatures, and this archetype is all about getting your creatures enchanted as often as possible. Token strategies are always popular in limited, so cards like Little Red Riding Hood’s Hood and Tree Spirit fit in perfectly.
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast focuses on utilizing Role tokens to enhance your enchanted creatures. This archetype is all about card advantage, using Role tokens to get bargains on powerful spells. The archetype is split between color combinations, with white-blue leaning more heavily on enchantments, while white-black uses Role tokens to enhance its creatures instead.
That’s everything we know about the new limited archetypes in Magic: The Gathering Eldraine. While it’s impossible to say which archetypes will be best in Eldraine’s limited format, we can say that there are plenty of payoffs at every rarity. If you’re looking for Eldraine spoilers, check out everything we know about Eldraine, the new Spirit tribe, and Eldraine’s no-dachi.
