Rivals of Ixalan Arena Draft Primer
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Rivals of Ixalan draft is coming to Magic Arena and this is something you won't want to miss out on. Not only is this a chance to fill out your collection with some cards from these lesser drafted sets, but it's also an incredibly entertaining format with a lot to offer! And just in case you've never played this set, or it's been a while and you want to get your Arterial Flow pumping, here's a primer to make sure you don't go extinct before going 7-x in your next event.
This ain’t your Grandfather’s Ixalan
We don’t have the “big set small set” draft environments that we used to. In fact, this was the last of its kind where the draft environment changed from XLN-XLN-XLN to RIX-RIX-XLN. Save for Hour of Devastation, this was probably the biggest shift in terms of speed of the format with the addition of two packs of a smaller set. Triple Ixalan was a very aggressive format with clunky removal being just a turn too slow to deal with impressive creature enhancements like One with the Wind and Pirate’s Cutlass. RIX is a whole different ball game.
The enhancements got worse and the removal got cheaper. Contract Killing
- There is a ton of fixing. Evolving Wildsand Traveler’s Amuletat common, Enemy ETB tapped dual lands at uncommon, and an incRedible number of treasure producers makes splashing for removal or off color bombs (looking at you Tendershoot Dryad) very doable.
- This is not a curve format. I want to have at least four plays that affect the board before turn 3, but I would not worry about filling up your two drop slot. Too many of the two drops get blanked too quickly. Your three drop slot is going to look super full a lot of the time and that’s ok.
- Creatures with one toughness are not good in this format. Dusk Legion Zealot, Sailor of Means, Shake the Foundations, Forerunner of the Empire, and most importantly Golden Demiseare all cards that embarrass x/1’s.
- There are some really powerful bombs in this set. Tetzimoc, Primal Deathis chief among them, but Profane Processionand Hadana’s Climbare not far behind. With the prevalence of enchantment based removal and some bomb rare artifacts and enchantments, cards like Crushing Canopy, Cleansing Ray, and Naturalizeare going to be serious main deck material in BO1.
So blessed.
If I had my choice in this format, I would want to play an Esper-based Ascend deck. The amount of powerful removal coupled with many ways to generate two-for-ones give these decks the ability to survive aggressive starts and handily take over the late game. Dusk Legion Zealot
The Tribe Has Spoken
There are four creature types that matter in RIX: Pirates, Vampires, Merfolk, and Dinosaurs. As I’ve already said, I would avoid any pirate based aggro decks. Vampires is my personal favorite of the kindred strategies as it reaps a lot of the benefits of the Ascend decks while also having an uncommon lord in Legion Lieutenant
Merfolk certainly took a hit from triple XLN but is still a very viable deck. Merfolk Mistbinder
Dinosaurs, concentrated in the Naya colors, was never really in the top tier of decks in either XLN or RIX. RW is really an aggressive deck without any kindred synergies and GW is often a base for a multi color value deck. (I am glossing over the white dino decks, but should take the time to mention that Sun-Crested Pterodon
RG, however, can get the job done if you are able to grab hold of some powerful uncommons. Forerunner of the Empire
Fringe Strategies
Golgari really got picked last in terms of support in this format. You could sometimes get an explore deck in Ixalan, but when Rivals came around even that part of its identity was taken away. However, this was still a totally serviceable deck thanks to the presence of Colossal Dreadmaw
Rakdos may not be the aggro deck you’re looking for (god help me if I ever put a Dire Fleet Neckbreaker
I’m incredibly excited to dive into this format. This draft environment was full of very interesting draft decisions and complex game play. And because the format slowed down quite a bit from Ixalan, it really opened up some powerful late game cards that were usually irresponsible to play otherwise: Sunbird’s Invocation
Practice Makes Perfect
And of course, no amount of advice can replace good old fashioned practice. Luckily, Cardsphere has us covered with RIX support on draft.cardsphere.com.
Happy Drafting!