Draft Deck Meta

Guilds of Ravnica Draft Deck Metagame

Draft deck metagame only consists of decks with the maximum number of wins (3 wins in Traditional and 7 wins in Quick and Premier drafts).
Select an archetype to see the popular cards used in winning decks of that group.

Grixis card breakdown - 12 decks, 5.8% of meta

Creatures

4.5 Tajic comes down and adds a ton of damage to the board, especially if your opponent’s shields are down. He of course brings his own stats, but he will also typically have something to Mentor. Meanwhile, he can keep attacking later in games thanks to his ability to gain first strike, and he even makes it so your opponent can’t do non-combat damage to your other creatures. Now, that last part isn’t that exciting, because Tajic can still die to non-combat damage, and he’s probably what they want to kill anyway – but either way, Tajic is a bomb. 4.8 1x in 17%

3.5 This has pretty nice Flying stats and Surveil 2 on ETB is pretty powerful. This is Blue’s best Common in the set. 4.5 1x in 17%

1.5 The Adept’s ability can definitely lead you to victory late in the right situation, but in the early game it is not a very impressive card. 1.4 1x in 17%

2.5 This is a solid little two-drop that is pretty hard for your opponent to block effectively in the early game. 0 1x in 17%

2.0 A 3-mana ¼ has some not entirely horrendous defensive stats, and this one comes with the ability to get back key spells – with removal spells being the most interesting. While I think this will probably be best in a UR spells deck, I think most Blue decks in this format will probably run enough instants and sorceries for the Weird to be a solid inclusion in the deck. 2.1 1x in 17%

3.5 This is a bear with great upside – being able to Shock a creature or destroy an Artifact is very nice utility. 3.5 1x in 17%

4.0 This is a very powerful build around for both Dimir and the slower versions of Izzet. Cranking out a 1/1 Flying token for every spell is enough to quickly overpower most opponents. 5 1x in 25%

1.5 // 3.5 This is very much a buildaround, but the good news is that it has reasonable stats even if you can't quite build around it. When you do manage to have ways to sacrifice stuff in your deck, it is an incredible payoff, as doing 1 to anything can really make effects far more powerful! Worth noting too, that if your opponent sacrifices something, you get to take advantage of the trigger then, too -- so edict effects go up in value a little bit if you have Mayhem Devil. 2.6 1x in 25%

3.0 This is a big overperformer. It can really alter combat in your favor, both during your turn and your opponents, while adding a pretty decent body to the board. It’s a great common. 0 1x in 25%

2.0 Not too bad of a payoff if you’re in the aggressive Izzet deck, but certainly not one you go after very aggressively. 1.7 1x in 25%

3.5 Drawing cards with this is where most of the value comes from, but sometimes you have a bunch of extra mana, and copying one of your spells – especially removal or card draw – is a good way to get an advantage. 2.9 1x in 25%

3.0 Reducing the cost of spells is a pretty big deal, so its nice that it comes in a two mana 2/2 package. 2.7 1x in 25%

1.0 // 3.5 I do think this needs two grades, as you need a critical mass of instants and sorceries to really get there. Sure, if you get it to 3/3 you’re doing alright, but obviously you want a deck with 7+ instants and sorceries to fully take advantage of this thing. Doesn’t hurt that it has synergy with proliferate either! 3.3 1x in 33%

3.5 This is pretty good even without Spectacle, and if you can cast it with Spectacle it feels incredible. A 3-mana 3/2 that draws you a card is an amazing rate, and will virtually always give you a 2-for-1. 0 1x in 33%
Instant, Sorcery

4.0 This is excellent removal. You won’t have many legendary creatures to target, but that’s fine, because 4 mana to kill any creature at Instant speed and Surveil 2 is absolutely premium. 4.4 1x in 17%

3.5 You mostly only care about the Bedeck option here, which is a very efficient removal spell that also has a little bit of upside as a combat trick. The Bedazzle option doesn’t come up a ton, but people do play greedy mana bases in this format, and sometimes your opponent is also at 2 or less life, in which case you want to use Bedazzle. 0 1x in 17%

2.5 There are enough X/1s in the format that Carnival can do some stuff. Carnage can be pretty nice when your opponent has the cards to hit with it. 0 1x in 17%

3.5 This kills a bunch of cards in this format, and it can only cost one mana if you are willing to sacrifice something. Obviously killing walkers matters more in this format than in any other we have ever seen, and the ability to sacrifice a walker matters more too. A lot of the uncommon walkers eventually tick down to 1 loyalty, so turning them into fodder for this seems nice. It is made a lot better by the fact that you can also straight up pay 5 to destroy a creature or planeswalker. 3.5 1x in 25%

3.5 We’ve seen this exact card and others like it a few times, and it is always good. Being able to kill an X/2 is nice, being able to go to your opponent’s face is nice too when it will finish them off. Most formats also have enough X/1s in them that you can get a 2-for-1 with this a decent chunk of the time. I think that for me, this gets into the lower range of “premium removal,” and is first pickable in some weaker packs. 2.6 1x in 25%

1.5 Two mana to do 4 to anything at Instant speed would be premium removal. This asks you to do a little more work than that though, wanting you to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker to use it. Now, it looks like the RB deck is going to be interested in doing some sacrificing, and will also have creatures that are good to sacrifice, so maybe that's the best place for it. But either way, I think this is an alright card -- what saves it from being outright bad is the fact that it is an Instant, and the fact it can go to your opponent' face. As an Instant, it can be used in situations where losing the creature isn't as much of a downside -- like after you block something first, then sacrifice the creature to kill something else. The most attractive time to use this is in response to your opponent's removal of course. But still, even in those "ideal" situations, you're not really getting a 2-for-1. To do that you'll need to be giving up tokens. 1.9 1x in 25%

4.0 This is is Black’s obligatory premium common removal spell. 3 mana for -5/-5 is a great deal, especially at instant speed, and especially with the exile clause attached to it. The great thing about this kind of card too, is that it doesn’t have to outright kill a creature to give you value, sometimes, you can set up a block and use it to make your opponent’s creature smaller so yours survives in combat. Granted, -5/-5 is going to do the job on its own most of the time, but -X/-X Black removal spells always come with that bit of upside. This is probably the best Common in the set. 3.9 1x in 25%

3.0 This lets you see up to SIX cards in your deck for only 4 mana. That’s some pretty serious card selection, and not usually the kind we see at Common. Now, it is a Sorcery, which will sometimes make it really awkward. Like, you know, if you are getting beat down you don’t really want to be drawing the Epiphany. Still, I think the upside makes it worth playing one copy of in virtually every Blue deck. Going beyond one copy is probably a little dangerous. 3.3 1x in 25%

3.5 This is great removal, kills everything no questions asked, and increases the chance that the card you’re going to draw will be what you want! 0 1x in 25%

1.5 This can feel okay in the early game, but because your opponent is more likely to have mana around in the later part of the game, it has a pretty steep drop off. 0 1x in 25%

2.0 Because this is two mana, it’s a pretty reasonable counterspell, even if it does only hit creatures. Limited decks have tons of creatures, so it works out, and adding the counter even has a bit of synergy within the Simic deck. 0 1x in 25%

3.5 So, most of the time this is a two mana 1/1 that bounces an opposing creature. That’s great. Any time you can add to your board and subtract from your opponents’ with a single card, you’re going to be pretty happy about, and this does it pretty often. 3.1 1x in 25%

3.0 This is a really nice card for aggressive Izzet and Boros decks, as it often wins you the game. It is a key card in those decks, but also not something you want to go after super early, since it is pretty much only good in those decks – where you’ll always want 1-2 copies of it. 3.4 1x in 33%

3.0 5 mana for 4 damage isn’t an amazing rate, but you also effectively get to loot. Now, you do have to discard a non-land which tends to mean you lose a very real card, but if you combine it with Jump-Start it doesn’t feel too bad. 3 1x in 33%
Enchantment, Artifact

2.5 This is a very fun card – but not an amazing one. It costs a massive amount of mana, and your opponent will often be able to make the first two choices not really impact them in the immediate future. By the time they get to third choice, though, they are usually going to be in some trouble one way or another. Captive Audience is pretty nice if you’re already ahead or parity, but not that great if you’re behind, and it often feels like it doesn’t do anything for the first turn or two, and that hurts for 7 mana. 0 1x in 8%

2.5 This card is a major overperformer, and another card that can really help control decks do their thing in this format. It looks like an Enchantment that doesn’t do enough up front, but the life drain it provides really makes it hard for your opponent to take you down. Basically, it will help you stabilize, and then gradually turn into your win condition in many games. Now, sometimes not adding to the board can be a real reliability against aggro decks, but this still does good work most of the time. 0 1x in 8%

1.5 If you need fixing you could do worse than playing this. 2.4 1x in 8%

1.0 The boost this gives is significant, but the risk of a 2-for-1 is very real, and it generally isn’t worth the risk. 1 1x in 8%

2.0 These are all fine. They can help you splash a color, they ramp you a bit, and you can cash them in for cards in the late game, which is good – because drawing mana rocks great is pretty bad. 1.3 1x in 8%

5.0 If you have a lot of spells, this thing can be a pretty big problem for your opponent. If you attack with it, they really can be put in a bind, wondering what exactly you have in your hand and how big the Cyclops will get. Because it has 8 toughness, it isn’t exactly easy to take down in combat, and it has trample, making the whole decision pretty miserable for your opponent. 4.4 1x in 8%

4.5 This can generate a ton of card advantage, and can really allow you to snowball your opponent. It makes sure that your aggressive Rakdos decks will virtually never run out of gas, and it can even do damage to the opponent all on its own! Sometimes it ends up feeling like a bad draw when you can’t damage your opponent – but you were probably going to lose that game anyway! 0 1x in 8%

2.0 These are all fine. They can help you splash a color, they ramp you a bit, and you can cash them in for cards in the late game, which is good – because drawing mana rocks great is pretty bad. 0.9 1x in 17%

2.0 These are all fine. They can help you splash a color, they ramp you a bit, and you can cash them in for cards in the late game, which is good – because drawing mana rocks great is pretty bad. 0.8 1x in 17%

1.5 As always, this kind of removal is super underwhelming. It doesn’t do enough to actually remove a creature, only downgrading it, and it often doesn’t give you a card’s worth of value. If you’re really desperate you’ll play it, though. 0 1x in 17%

3.5 This is a great Surveil payoff that can grow quite rapidly. Flying and Menace are a nice combination, and it means the Spybug is incredibly difficult to block. 4.5 1x in 17%

3.0 This is pretty nice, as far as Blue removal spells go. Locking down a creature for 4, and being able to do it at Instant speed is fine. Of course, not turning off activated abilities and stuff like that is a bummer, but this does a decent job. 3 1x in 25%

3.5 This kills a whole lot of stuff in this format for only one mana – including significantly more expensive creatures, and that makes it pretty great. 3.8 1x in 25%

2.0 If you need fixing, these are fine. Some mana rocks are pretty big duds once you have enough mana or the mana that you need, but its nice you can throw these away to get some cards. 0 1x in 33%
Planeswalkers

5.0 Well, if you pay 6 for a planeswalker you’re usually counting on the card being a bomb – and that’s what we have here. The best planeswalkers usually can protect themselves in one way or another – either by thinning out the opponent’s board or making creature tokens to block – Liliana can do both. If your opponent is going a little too wide, her -4 might be what you have to do immediately, but on a lot of boards, just using her +1 is some serious business. Even if that 2/2 is just chump blocking, her static ability means that it replaces itself with a card in your hand, which in turn can help you do a better job of protecting Liliana and having her be a win condition, because you’re more likely to find more creatures to block or removal spell. Her ultimate is going to be game breaking most of the time, and she really stands a chance of getting there. 5 1x in 8%

4.0 This planeswalker can be a win condition for control decks, pretty much all on its own. If you get other ways to mill your opponents, it becomes even easier! Mill cards normally just aren’t great in Limited, but there is enough support in this set and Ashiok is powerful enough that it is a very really way to win games in this format. 4 1x in 8%

4.0 For 5 mana you get to do 3 to something – not the greatest rate ever, but it allows for some impact on the board immediately. Then, if she can make it to your next turn with at least 2 loyalty, she can do it again.5 mana to do 3 to two target creatures would be a great card. And while this isn’t quite that since she can be attacked and taken off of the board that way, it seems like doing 3 to something and then drawing a bunch of attacks is some decent value. On top of all that, if your deck has more red sources of damage – and it almost assuredly will – she brings you even more value. Even if she just makes one combat more difficult for your opponent, she’s doing her job. 4.1 1x in 8%

2.0 // 4.0 This is one of the better spell payoffs in the whole set! Saheeli is one of the few walkers in this set where most of the value actually comes from her static ability, and not her loyalty ability. Making a 1/1 Servo every time you play a noncreature spell is really good, as it suddenly makes all those spells add to the board in addition to doing whatever else they are doing. Obviously she is a build around, but she is a really powerful one. 3.8 1x in 17%

4.0 This is one of the best uncommon walkers in the set. 4 mana for a 2/2 that loots would already be kind of a passable card. I mean it wouldn’t be great, probably a D, but the point is that’s what this card is at its worse, and it obviously can do way more. I think getting two 2/2s and looting twice is a great deal for 4 mana, and adding the static ability is sort of just an extra bonus. 4.5 1x in 17%
Lands

2.5 This is nice fixing that happens to be a Gate, though having to effectively pay one mana for it is a bit of a bummer. 1.6 1x in 17%

2.5 This offer some very nice fixing, and if you’re in the market for that they are definitely nice. They are worth taking any time you are splashing a color or they are in both of your colors. 0 1x in 17%

2.5 These are pretty important in this format. As usual fixing is always nice, but this format also has a ton of excellent gate payoffs. Its kind of funny, but in this Limited format, the Gates are actually a little better than Shocklands, since the payoffs you can get for playing Gates are so good. 0 1x in 25%

2.5 These are good fixing, but they get bonus points because there are several cards in the set that pay you off for playing Gates. 2.4 1x in 25%

2.5 These are good fixing, but they get bonus points because there are several cards in the set that pay you off for playing Gates. 2.3 1x in 25%
Top Rated Cards

4.0 This is excellent removal. You won’t have many legendary creatures to target, but that’s fine, because 4 mana to kill any creature at Instant speed and Surveil 2 is absolutely premium. 4.4 1x in 17%

4.0 This is often just one Red mana for a Sorcery-speed Lightning Bolt, and that’s amazing. Even if you could only ever pay 3 for this card, it would be premium removal, so the upside of only costing one Red really makes it an excellent card, and one of the best Commons in the set. 0 1x in 17%

4.0 Ok so, on vanilla test alone, this is good. But obviously Neheb comes with a huge block of text after that. When it hits a player or planeswalker, you get to get rid of any cards in your hand that you don’t need – like excess basic lands – and you get Red mana and get to reload your hand. This works nicely together too, because if you are drawing new cards, it doesn’t hurt to have mana to play them! The Trample here makes it so people can’t just chump block Neheb so you don’t get that combat damage trigger. 4.8 1x in 17%

4.0 This is is Black’s obligatory premium common removal spell. 3 mana for -5/-5 is a great deal, especially at instant speed, and especially with the exile clause attached to it. The great thing about this kind of card too, is that it doesn’t have to outright kill a creature to give you value, sometimes, you can set up a block and use it to make your opponent’s creature smaller so yours survives in combat. Granted, -5/-5 is going to do the job on its own most of the time, but -X/-X Black removal spells always come with that bit of upside. This is probably the best Common in the set. 3.9 1x in 25%

4.0 This is a very powerful build around for both Dimir and the slower versions of Izzet. Cranking out a 1/1 Flying token for every spell is enough to quickly overpower most opponents. 5 1x in 25%

4.5 This can generate a ton of card advantage, and can really allow you to snowball your opponent. It makes sure that your aggressive Rakdos decks will virtually never run out of gas, and it can even do damage to the opponent all on its own! Sometimes it ends up feeling like a bad draw when you can’t damage your opponent – but you were probably going to lose that game anyway! 0 1x in 8%

4.5 This is really, really strong. Like most cards with Amass, we can kind of look at it as a creature with an ETB ability. In this case, you are playing a 5-mana 4/4 that kills something and gains you 4 life, while also milling 4 cards. That’s an insanely good play in Limited, as adding to your board while also subtracting from your opponents can really turn a game around. 4.6 1x in 8%

4.5 This is very strong. Just paying 5 mana for this often feels great, as when you cast it on turn 5 or so, you’ll often be able to wipe your opponents’ board. Then, it can scale as the game goes on, until it absurdly lets you reanimate all the creatures you killed too! This is a bomb. 4.7 1x in 8%

4.5 This has great stats, and improves the quality of your draws. Getting it in your opening hand really makes it insane, since it can let you Scry before the game even begins, and that’s something that can give you a very really early game advantage. 0 1x in 8%

4.5 This costs quadruple Blue mana, which can be a little rough, but it also utterly reshapes the board. Even just casting it for six is often game breaking, and if you get to 8 the game is completely over. That’s a lot of mana, but not an unusual amount in this format. 0 1x in 17%

4.5 Tajic comes down and adds a ton of damage to the board, especially if your opponent’s shields are down. He of course brings his own stats, but he will also typically have something to Mentor. Meanwhile, he can keep attacking later in games thanks to his ability to gain first strike, and he even makes it so your opponent can’t do non-combat damage to your other creatures. Now, that last part isn’t that exciting, because Tajic can still die to non-combat damage, and he’s probably what they want to kill anyway – but either way, Tajic is a bomb. 4.8 1x in 17%

5.0 Well, if you pay 6 for a planeswalker you’re usually counting on the card being a bomb – and that’s what we have here. The best planeswalkers usually can protect themselves in one way or another – either by thinning out the opponent’s board or making creature tokens to block – Liliana can do both. If your opponent is going a little too wide, her -4 might be what you have to do immediately, but on a lot of boards, just using her +1 is some serious business. Even if that 2/2 is just chump blocking, her static ability means that it replaces itself with a card in your hand, which in turn can help you do a better job of protecting Liliana and having her be a win condition, because you’re more likely to find more creatures to block or removal spell. Her ultimate is going to be game breaking most of the time, and she really stands a chance of getting there. 5 1x in 8%

5.0 If you have a lot of spells, this thing can be a pretty big problem for your opponent. If you attack with it, they really can be put in a bind, wondering what exactly you have in your hand and how big the Cyclops will get. Because it has 8 toughness, it isn’t exactly easy to take down in combat, and it has trample, making the whole decision pretty miserable for your opponent. 4.4 1x in 8%

5.0 Don’t be put off by the somewhat challenging mana cost here – Niv-Mizzet is a bomb. You do need to have basically all of the lands in your deck produce either Blue or Red, but that’s pretty doable and well worth it, since you get a massive Flyer who gives you all kinds of value. Pinging something every time you draw is pretty powerful, and you get to draw extra any time a player cast an instant or sorcery. This means that if your opponent kills Niv right away, you get a card and a damage out of it, and that’s a pretty good fail case! 4.6 1x in 8%

Boros	365 matches	43 decks
20.77% of Metagame
Dimir	198 matches	24 decks
11.59% of Metagame
Selesnya	194 matches	23 decks
11.11% of Metagame
Izzet	114 matches	14 decks
6.76% of Metagame
Abzan	111 matches	13 decks
6.28% of Metagame
Grixis	102 matches	12 decks
5.80% of Metagame
Golgari	100 matches	12 decks
5.80% of Metagame
Sultai	75 matches	9 decks
4.35% of Metagame
Esper	77 matches	9 decks
4.35% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-red)	68 matches	8 decks
3.86% of Metagame
Jeskai	59 matches	7 decks
3.38% of Metagame
Naya	61 matches	7 decks
3.38% of Metagame
Mardu	52 matches	6 decks
2.90% of Metagame
Jund	25 matches	3 decks
1.45% of Metagame
Temur	25 matches	3 decks
1.45% of Metagame
Bant	25 matches	3 decks
1.45% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-blue)	16 matches	2 decks
0.97% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-green)	17 matches	2 decks
0.97% of Metagame
Rakdos	9 matches	1 decks
0.48% of Metagame
Mono Red	8 matches	1 decks
0.48% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-black)	7 matches	1 decks
0.48% of Metagame
Orzhov	9 matches	1 decks
0.48% of Metagame
Five Color	8 matches	1 decks
0.48% of Metagame
Azorius	8 matches	1 decks
0.48% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-white)	8 matches	1 decks
0.48% of Metagame

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Guilds of Ravnica Draft Deck Metagame

Grixis card breakdown - 12 decks, 5.8% of meta

Creatures

Instant, Sorcery

Enchantment, Artifact

Planeswalkers

Lands

Top Rated Cards

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