Wilds of Eldraine Draft Archetypes Are Based On Fairy Tales

Wilds of Eldraine is coming up quickly (After Commander Masters: MTG Release Schedule 2023), and we've recently gotten our first bit of official news and spoilers. This is our second trip to Eldraine, a fairy tale-inspired world. That said, in recent information, Mark Rosewater said that each of the Wilds of Eldraine draft archetypes was based on a classic fairy tale. So, today I would like to cover the archetypes we know and which stories they represent.

(View the first spoiler video here.)

(And the video where more archetypes were spoiled here.)

Wilds of Eldraine - Fairy Tale Draft Archetypes

There are 10 Wilds of Eldraine draft archetypes, each with cards, themes, and mechanics based on classic fairy tales like Like Red Riding Hood. We now know which stories go with which color combinations for six archetypes; we can guess the other four. So, let's jump right in.

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Archetypes Updated: 8/15/2023

The sign-post cards were revealed today and can be found below, with a discussion about how wrong (or right) my predictions were. Parts written before the official info was out have been struck through. 

Red/Green - Little Red Riding Hood

Theme: Creatures With Power Four Or Greater

"Our Red Riding Hood kicks a little bit more butt than the original," said Mark Rosewater while revealing this art. And it certainly seems to be the case. Gruul is usually an aggressive color combination, and I think this will be too. Given the name Ruby, Daring Tracker, I can't help but think of Tireless Tracker. Maybe Ruby here will have similar abilities and put +1/+1 counters on herself.

The whole reason for Red's quest is, of course, to bring her sickly grandmother food. And we know food tokens are returning in the set. So, I imagine the archetype will make use of that as well. Red/Green also has many wolves (and even werewolves) in its repertoire, so I imagine they'll also appear. Fingers crossed for a dual-faced wolf/Grandma card that flips from one to another.

We got our first look at the actual card today, and my guess was a little off - No Tireless Tracker-like abilities. Instead, we have a hasty 1/2 that gives itself a nice +2/+2 bonus (for the turn) on attacks if you control a creature with four or more power. Oh, and she taps for red or green mana, which is lovely with haste.

It also means you'll always have something to do with her. For example, if you cast this and don't have a big enough creature to get the pump, perhaps you'll want to hold off on attacks. If that were the case, you can always tap Ruby for mana as a backup. You can expect Wilds of Eldraine to have quite a few creatures in Gruul that meet the power requirement to trigger this too.

White/Black - Snow White

Theme: Aura's/Cursed Role

First things first, let's look at this awesome art. At first glance, it appears to be a young "snow white-esque" woman holding the magical apple. But look at the reflection in the cracked mirror of her collar on the left side (her right), and you'll see reality. There are some powerful enchantment effects at play here - And Mark Rosewater confirmed that the apple has its own card.

So, what might the Orzhov archetype play like? Probably reanimation. After the Queen tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, she is laid in a coffin and presumed dead until she is revived by "love's first kiss" (True Love's Kiss reprint incoming), breaking the curse.

This is a perfect setup for an "Oh, you just thought I was dead!" strategy. And mechanically and conceptually, reanimator works well for black/white in limited. If we didn't already have Seven Dwarves in red from the previous trip to the plane, I'd say they'd show up here.

Here you can see the card for Eriette of the Charmed Apple. Turnes out the Orzhov draft archetype isn't reanimator, as I guessed, but Auras! More specifically, cursed role auras, I'm sure, considering you'll want to slap them on opposing creatures to make use of Eeriette's first ability. Below is an example of a cursed role from the recent spoiler video. I'm excited to see what nasty stuff is included to ail opposing creatures.

Green/Blue - Jack and the Beanstalk

Theme: Ramp/Big Mana/X-Spells

I can't think of a better story for Simic than Jack and the Beanstalk. You can see from the art that Jack is now "Troyan," a daring Voldalken explorer. Nevertheless, the core story principles will surely be in place, as he's seen stealing what looks like a giant golden goose egg. I'd be surprised if Gilded Goose wasn't reprinted here.

Mark Rosewater elaborated ever-so-slightly on the themes here when he said, "The beanstalk is green, and stealing everything is blue." I'm guessing the green cards will provide ramp, and the blue cards, well, as he said, will be for stealing things from opponents, which is pretty sweet!

About time I got one right! Above, you can see the signpost uncommon for the Simic archetype, Troyan, Gutsy Explorer, and it certainly has some ramp going on. It can tap for two mana (one green & one blue), but you can only use it to cast spells with a mana value of five or greater or x spells. Then, for a single blue mana (and a tap), you can loot.

This is spicy at the uncommon slot, and I love this as the Simic draft archetype for Wilds of Eldraine. In limited, the spells with a mana value of five or greater might be the build-around unless there are more spells like The Goose Mother. However, this will be a blast with hydras in formats like Commander.

Black/Green - Hansel & Gretel

Theme: Food Tokens/Sacrifice/+1/+1 Counters

Hansel and Gretel is a classic that had to be included here. An MTG draft archetype based on a story about a witch eating children - How will that play? Well, there will undoubtedly be food involved. We've already seen some spoilers that guarantee that food is making a comeback and in green. Plus, I guessed it would make sense in other situations in the set. Given her whole house is made of food, that much is pretty obvious. What about black?

The art and card name above gives me some major Witch's Cauldron vibes. That said, I think that aristocrats/sacrifice would make sense here for Golgari and the story and the other archetypes we've covered so far. It goes hand-in-hand with the reanimation strategy that would go with black/white (Snow White) as you could sac things and bring them back.

It turns out Agatha of the Vile Cauldron is not the uncommon poster card for the Golgari, Hansel & Gretel theme. Instead, we have Greta, who survived her encounter with the witch, while Hansel did not. Now, she has a bone to pick with food that's alive. And as I guessed, we have a bit of a sacrifice theme that revolves around food tokens.

There will likely be some +1/+1 counter synergies in one or both colors since she gives them to your creatures whenever you saca token. Overall, a 3/3 that gives you a food token, can gain you some life, make other creatures bigger, and draw cards is very solid, especially at uncommon. I like this a lot.

Blue/White - The Snow Queen

Theme: Tapping Opposing Creatures

This is an exciting choice to be included because it's a lesser-known, non-Brothers Grimm fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. And it's a very dense story, much longer than many other fairy tales mentioned here. As a result, there are a ton of directions you could take this and it's a bit harder to nail down exactly how the archetype might play in Azorious.

That said, it's a classic tale of good vs. evil that revolves around a reality-distorting magic mirror, two little kids (Kai and Gerda), and the Snow Queen, who takes the corrupted Kai to her palace of permafrost. Maybe this takes shape in-game through cards like Ice Cage and other controlling cards.

I could imagine seeing things tap down opposing permanents and keep them that way. The Ice Queen also has a flying chariot - So there are some possibilities to grant things flying (typical u/w draft archetype) or maybe even have some vehicle themes present. Your guess is as good as mine on this one - If you're familiar with the story, comment below and let me know what you think this may be.

Sharae of the Numbing Depths is the uncommon that shows off what Azorious wants to be doing in Wilds of Eldraine Limited. And I was right - The theme is tapping down opposing creatures. If you've never played cards that tap down opposing creatures in limited, let me tell you, they're usually incredible. I played Law-Rune Enforcer in War of the Spark sealed to great success.

This is one of the more flavorful archetypes for its story, and I'm glad they included it. Tapping down creatures in limited can be very effective and even more so when they won't untap for a turn, thanks to the stun counter. Furthermore, you'll add gas to your game plan while slowing things down. Disruption + Card Advantage = Good.

Black/Blue - Sleeping Beauty

Theme: Faeries

The wicked slumber that rid the multiverse of the Phyrexians has put most Eldraine (at least the courts) into a deep sleep. Dimir is the color combination that takes its archetype from this portion of the storyline and is based on Sleeping Beauty. Since we know how Talion, the Kindly Lord works, top deck manipulation and guessing what cards your opponent will cast next could be a theme.

However, there are also some mill cards spoiled in Dimir as well, so you never know. And how you tie either of these themes into the story of Sleeping Beauty, I don't know. Comment below and let me know what yall think. Talion, the Kindly Lord is a fascinating card, and I hope more things in the set work like this.

Obyra, Dreaming Duelist was officially spoiled today as the face of the Dimir archetype, which we now know is, Faeries! I'm not surprised because it's a perfect fit for the story and the color combination. However, I am a bit (pleasantly) surprised, in general, because it's been a very long time since we've gotten new, devoted Faerie cards.

And what a comeback they're making! Obyra here has fine stats as a two-mana 2/2 with flying and flash. And will sit on the field and drain opponents as you add to your board. Faeries as a tribe can be quite tricky, controlling, and disruptive, which makes them suitable for tempo and defense.

But at the same time, they almost always have built-in evasion in the form of flying, making them pesky and hard to deal with in combat. That said, the drain ability here will go a long way in chipping away at your rivals. And just for the record, this is very good in EDH where you can win on the spot with infinite enter the battlefield triggers.

Red/White - Cinderella

Theme: Celebration

Red is the color we have the least info on. The Little Red Riding Hood theme in Gruul is the only thing we've seen of red. But I have a hunch - Cinderella is probably the most famous fairy tale of all, and I'd be shocked if it wasn't included. Given that we had cards like Crystal Slipper from the last set, I think Boros will be Cinderella-themed equipment.

My Cinderella guess may be incorrect. However, I don't know what fairy tale this card represents, even after seeing the card. If you have an idea, comment and let me know. That aside, what is certain is that the Boros archetype is the new Celebration mechanic. So, you'll want to have at least two non-land permanents enter the battlefield on as many turns as possible.

If you can keep the permanents flowing, Ash, the Party Crasher will get quite big. The only thing I'm not fond of is that you can only ever trigger this once per turn. I understand why - If you could just storm off and pump this to oblivion, it might be broken in eternal formats. That said, +1/+1 each turn, at best, feels a bit slow.

White/Green - Fairy Tale Unknown

Theme: Enchantments/"Role Auras"

Mark Rosewater said the set would have a strong enchantment theme, including a new enchantment-based mechanic. White/Green is the perfect place for this mechanic, and the archetype for Selesnya revolves around it. As far as a fairy tale goes, I would guess Rapunzel.

They touched on the story in the first set, and I think it could support an enchantment-based strategy. Trapped in the Tower is a nod to the story and an enchantment, for example. And if you want to play enchantments, there's no better color combo.

Syr Aramont, the Redeemer gives us our Selesnya theme for Wilds of Eldraine, which is enchantment-based.

Green/White does enchantments very well, and the "Role" mechanic is a brand new way for it to do its thing; I'm sure there will be a ton of support in the set to back this up too. As far as Syr Aramont goes, the stats are ok, but I think it'll take some help from other cards to shine. After all, if you don't have another creature on board when this ETBs, you won't get anything.

However, if things do align, the card stands to add quite a lot of power and toughness to the board. Your guess is as good as mine for what fairy tale this will represent.

Blue/Red - Fairy Tale Unknown

Theme: Spellslinging

Usually, Izzet gets spell-slinging in limited, so I'm not shocked to see it here. What story are they using? I'm not sure. My initial guess was Rumpelstiltskin - A little goblin-like creature that generates mad value from casting spells made sense to me, but that didn't happen.

This is the signpost uncommon for Izzet, and the theme is indeed spellslinging. This thing can really be a card advantage engine if built correctly. First, you'll be playing with a lot of information since you can look at the top card of your library whenever you want. Second, you have access to one extra spell per turn. If you have a critical mass of instant and sorcery spells, this feels a whole lot like "draw a card."

Another thing I like is that it says, "Once per turn." This wording allows you to cast spells (so long as they're instants) from the top of your deck on your opponent's turn. Not only does this give you access to even more cards, but means you can make great use of counterspells and removal by leaving your mana open. I would also say it means you want to draft more instants than sorceries when possible.

Black/Red - The Pied Piper

Theme: Aristocrats/Rat Tribal

There isn't a fairy tale that comes right to mind for Rakdos. More often than not, Rakdos has some sort of aristocrats/sacrifice theme. And I think that will be in the set, but maybe more in Black/Green this time. That said, if I'm right about how I interpret the archetypes that have already been spoiled Red/Black would have some reanimation/aristocrats pieces from black and equipment/spell-slinging from red. I don't know how that becomes a cohesive draft archetype based on a fairy tale. But I'm excited to find out.

Ah, the Pied Piper rat tribal! Touché Wizards. As someone who loves tribal decks, and rat decks, I couldn't be happier about this. There are some aristocrats vibes here as well, considering you make tokens when creatures you control die. I love that he triggers when he dies and the ability to give an attacking rat deathtouch too. Considering the tokens can't block, you should have no problem turning them sideways.

I'm excited to see what other rat cards WOE may have in store for us. In my experience, Rakdos Sacrifice is usually a pretty hard-hitting draft archetype. So, if we get a few decent sac outlets and way's to make fodder, I think this could be one of the stronger Wilds of Eldraine draft archetypes.

Conclusion

I love that the Wilds of Eldraine draft archetypes have a whole extra layer to them in these classic fairy tales. I'm a big fan of the Grimm stories, and it was a lot of fun trying to piece together the missing archetypes and what stories they'll be. This set is shaping up to be excellent and gives many players hope for the game's future.

I want to hear from you guys and gals on this one - What do you think of the draft themes and Wild of Eldraine in general?