Draft Deck Meta

Ravnica Allegiance 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.

Rakdos card breakdown - 23 decks, 13.29% of meta

Creatures

3.5 The second ability is where most of the value is on this one, since pinging your opponent for only a single Red is a pretty darn good deal, and also sets up all of your Spectacle. Its nice you can disrupt your opponent’s hand in the late game too. 0 1x in 22%

1.5 The idea here is that this can set up your cards that have Spectacle. And, it can do that for sure, but its body is otherwise a pretty big liability, and the Rakdos decks don’t have that hard of a time of making sure Spectacle is online anyway. If your deck is really leading hard into the mechanic, Spear Spewer is a worthy inclusion, but it is by no means a necessity for those types of decks. 118 - Spikewheel Acrobat – 1.5 This really only feels worth it if you get the Spectacle going, and even then it isn’t exactly amazing, as most 2 drops in the set can still trade for it. 0 1x in 22%

4.0 Menace and death touch pair really well together, and in a lot of ways just makes Pestilent Spirit unblockable, as your opponent doesn’t really want you to kill two of their creatures a lot of the time. They may eventually end up with some tokens and stuff like that, but it will take awhile. Giving your spells death touch is sweet too, though it mostly only comes up in Red-Black. 0 1x in 22%

3.5 This thing is incredible if you’re an aggro deck. As always, making something unable to block is a big deal, and can often really open the floodgates on your opponent. Because of Riot, the Shaman can swing right away, and really alter the race. If she can’t attack your opponent does get a window to kill her, but making her a 2/2 and swinging on the next turn still feels pretty good. 0 1x in 22%

2.0 This can sometimes come down and kill some stuff, but most of the time it feels like it just pings the opponent for one damage. It is pretty sweet to combine with Bladebrand, though! 0 1x in 26%

2.0 This is pretty big for the cost. And…well, yeah that’s pretty much all it has going for it! But that kind of size is a decent thing to have around in some decks. 0 1x in 26%

2.0 This is a decent sacrifice outlet, as you end up with a 4-mana 5/5 that improves your next couple of draws. It isn’t that impressive, though, and you often won’t really feel like making the sacrifice is worth it. 0 1x in 30%

2.0 This can sometimes generate a 2-for-1, and at the very least it really makes life difficult for any opponent that has an X/1 in play. It is also pretty good sacrifice fodder, and gets Spectacle going. It is a surprisingly effective one drop! 0 1x in 30%

2.0 The upside this card has doesn’t really do enough to overcome the bad stat-line. It does help you get Spectacle going, but so does just attacking with a more efficient creature! 0 1x in 35%

4.0 This is one of the most aggressive cards in the format, and it can generate massive amounts of damage. A lot of the decks in the format are very slow, and this can really devastate most of those decks if it comes down early. Rakdos has enough sacrifice fodder that this can really work out, and it of course also gets Spectacle going. 0 1x in 35%

1.5 The idea here is that this can set up your cards that have Spectacle. And, it can do that for sure, but its body is otherwise a pretty big liability, and the Rakdos decks don’t have that hard of a time of making sure Spectacle is online anyway. If your deck is really leading hard into the mechanic, Spear Spewer is a worthy inclusion, but it is by no means a necessity for those types of decks. 0 1x in 35%

3.5 This is a really nice creature, whether or not you manage to cast it for Spectacle. It is a real challenge to block thanks to death touch, and it can hit really hard. If you do cast it on turn two it feels pretty insane! 0 1x in 43%

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 48%

3.5 A 4-mana 4/3 that kills a small creature and shocks the opponent is always a great deal! 0 1x in 65%
Instant, Sorcery

1.0 Most spells that are just 1-for-1 discard effects aren’t great in Limited. If you could always cast this for a single Black mana it would be pretty nice, but it will cost 3 mana way too often to be worth it in most cases. 0 1x in 9%

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 13%

3.5 So, when you kill something with this, it doesn’t feel very efficient, since you have to pay two Red in addition to X. However, the fact it can target anything – including players, does make it a pretty nice card. Especially because if you have a card in your hand with the right mana value, you can cast it from your hand! Now, that second part sounds really exciting, but most of the time by the time you want to be casting this, you aren’t going to be getting that much value out of that effect. Still, it is upside on a card that is already pretty reasonable, and it is nice that you can use this early to kill an X/2 and play a 2-drop. 0 1x in 17%

1.5 Most cards that are just temporary reanimation spells don’t tend to be very good, and that’s pretty much the case here. Sure, you can get something back and get a big swing in sometimes, but what you get often isn’t worth the card you spend. 0 1x in 17%

3.5 This is just great removal. This format doesn’t have very many artifacts or planeswalkers, so it often feels like a hard-to-cast Murder, but its still pretty good. 0 1x in 22%

2.5 Two mana for two damage at instant speed isn’t quite premium removal – but it is solid -- and the fact that this can exile stuff does come up sometimes. 0 1x in 22%

2.5 As usual, this type of card is something you want one of most of the time in Black. Returning two things to your hand late is a good way to keep the gas going, and because you can get Spectacle going on this, you’ll sometimes even be able to cast the things you bring back right away! 0 1x in 22%

2.5 This lets any creature trade with anything, while drawing you a card, so you don’t 2-for-1 yourself in the end. Of course, you’re still only 1-for-1ing, and using a kind of risky card. If your opponent destroys the creature you target it can be especially devastating. 0 1x in 26%

3.5 This efficiently deals with a whole lot of creatures in the format, and with many of them, you even get to trade up. 0 1x in 26%

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 30%

3.5 This jus tends up feeling like a one mana Divination a huge chunk of the time, and even casting it for three isn’t a disaster. The card advantage it grants you is just great. 0 1x in 35%

2.5 Its expensive, but it does answer everything, and the two damage you get out of it is decent upside. 0 1x in 35%

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 39%

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 52%
Enchantment, Artifact

0.0 This card is very sweet, but it is very difficult to consistently build around it in Limited. You just won’t have enough small creatures. 0 1x in 0%

2.0 This is a cheap Aura with Escape, and Escape really helps it get around the downside some Auras have – you won’t really be getting 2-for-1’d if they kill the creature you put this on, because it will keep coming back! 0.6 1x in 4%

2.5 Like Run Amok, this is a great card for aggressive decks, as it gives an efficient stats boost and can even help you close out a game because of the inevitable damage every time you attack, but it isn’t really very good anywhere else. 2 1x in 4%

3.0 If you get this on a creature early, it is going to allow you to really run away with the game. Your creature won’t be easily blocked and you’ll generate treasure that allows you to pull further ahead. It does have diminishing returns as the game goes on, but this is capable of effectively ending games very early. 1.6 1x in 4%

3.5 This basically amounts to being colorless removal – and colorless removal that is pretty darn flexible! You can use this to lock down an opposing creature, and keep it locked down as long as you want – but once something more problematic shows up, you can shift the Lyre to locking that creature down. This might sound mostly defensive, but you can also use this quite offensively – like tap something on your opponents end step, and then again on your turn, and suddenly your opponent has no blockers! 3.7 1x in 4%

3.5 I think I would play this most of the time even without the “completed dungeon” bonus. The Aura + Venture is going to be good enough for that, and then the completed dungeon bonus makes this far more potent. One nice thing about this card is that you can stick it on a creature and then get the bonus later once you complete a dungeon, at which point it slikely to just kill whatever it is. I think this gets into the lower range of premium. 3.5 1x in 4%

2.5 This isn’t a bad outlet to get food with, and it combos quite nicely with some cards in the set, like Cauldron Familiar! 3.8 1x in 4%

1.0 You’ll only play this if you have artifact synergies and/or you are short on removal. It just isn’t efficient at all. 2.7 1x in 4%

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 4%

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 13%

3.5 This can be really powerful. Obviously you need a decent number of multicolored cards, but that’s very doable in the format. This will net you a ton of cards in most decks. The main downside is the fact that you have to play this clunky 5-mana artifact and hope that you get to untap and start getting those cards. 0 1x in 13%

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 13%

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 13%

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 30%
Planeswalkers

4.0 Liliana might be one of the strongest planeswalkers ever printed when it comes to constructed, but in Limited she’s merely…really good. The symmetrical discard isn’t always going to be attractive in Limited, and sometimes her -2 won’t be that impressive either. That said, if you play her on turn three and your opponent has one creature and you make them sacrifice it, they will have a pretty hard time catching back up before you rip apart their hand and use that ultimate. But if you play her when it isn’t turn three, and your opponent has a built out board, she is useful but not going to drastically alter the game in your favor. You’ll just resort to using her +1, which might hurt you more than help you, and you’ll try to get to her ultimate – which definitely is impressive, but getting there isn’t easy if you don’t play her early. But yeah, play her on turn three and she’ll feel like a 5.0. The rest of the time? She’ll feel more like a 3.5. I think that makes her a 4.0. 5 1x in 4%

3.5 This Domri doesn’t do a very good job of protecting himself, and that’s always a pretty big liability in a Limited planeswalker and keeps him from being even close to a bomb. He does synergize with himself pretty well, though. If you play him and use his -3, and then use his +1 a couple of times, you’re going to feel pretty good, as you can play the cards you drew with his ability and give them Haste. One problem, though, is that his -3 won’t always hit you two creatures, since you’re only looking at four cards. 0 1x in 4%
Lands

3.5 This is a Snow land to value fairly highly. It gives you snow mana and fixing, and it is in colors that have some nice snow payoffs at lower rarities. 3 1x in 4%

2.5 This comes with the “Gate” type, which means you’ll want it in many decks, and it also does a decent job of fixing. 0 1x in 4%

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 9%

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 13%

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 48%
Top Rated Cards

4.0 Liliana might be one of the strongest planeswalkers ever printed when it comes to constructed, but in Limited she’s merely…really good. The symmetrical discard isn’t always going to be attractive in Limited, and sometimes her -2 won’t be that impressive either. That said, if you play her on turn three and your opponent has one creature and you make them sacrifice it, they will have a pretty hard time catching back up before you rip apart their hand and use that ultimate. But if you play her when it isn’t turn three, and your opponent has a built out board, she is useful but not going to drastically alter the game in your favor. You’ll just resort to using her +1, which might hurt you more than help you, and you’ll try to get to her ultimate – which definitely is impressive, but getting there isn’t easy if you don’t play her early. But yeah, play her on turn three and she’ll feel like a 5.0. The rest of the time? She’ll feel more like a 3.5. I think that makes her a 4.0. 5 1x in 4%

4.0 This is great. The Thrash side is the best side, as its just a great removal spell. But the downside with that type of removal is that you need to have a creature – and if you don’t have one of those, you can get a 4-mana 4/4 with Trample which isn’t bad either. 0 1x in 4%

4.0 Two mana for 3 damage at Instant speed is always premium, and the added upside of hitting an Artifact with it sometimes is nice. 4.2 1x in 4%

4.0 This is great at 4 mana, and insane at 3 mana. It is going to enable you to win most races, so the fact that hurts both players doesn’t really matter, especially because it starts getting bigger too, making it even more unstoppable. 0 1x in 4%

4.0 If this were just a two mana 2/2 that let you rummage when it entered the battlefield, you would pretty much always play that card – so the Spectacle upside here is massive. Sure, it becomes a 4-mana 2/2, but it also allows you to completely reload your hand with three cards. If you cast this for its Spectacle cost and effectively just draw 3 cards with it, you’re going to have a hard time winning the game. 0 1x in 4%

4.0 The baseline of a two mana 2/2 with Menace is a pretty good starting point, and then you add in all the vampire and pseudo-bloodthirst upside, and you have a pretty nice signpost uncommon. One really nice thing here is that you get paid off if you already have vampires in play when you play it and if you play it first. This looks like a strong signpost uncommon. One that might be worth taking with a first pick sometimes. 3.1 1x in 4%

4.0 If this gets through for damage, it is going to be pretty crazy. Because it has double strike, you’ll get to cast two instants or sorceries for free every time! If you can do that even once, that will win most games. Now, given that it’s just a ¼, getting through with it won’t always be a cake walk, but its worth remembering that this thing has such a scary combat damage trigger that your opponent will have to be pretty careful, and they will leave back blockers they just wouldn’t have before. Using a removal spell to get a blocker out of the way, and then attacking with the Flamepainter and casting that spell for FREE is going to come up sometimes, and that’s going to be amazing. 4.6 1x in 4%

4.0 This does a good Siege Rhino impression. Ok, maybe that’s hyperbolic, but this is a very good uncommon. 5 mana for a ¾ flyer is already a serviceable card, adding the Lightning Helix to your opponent’s dome effect makes this even better. The Sovereign is much better than her bite, since she brings an impressive body with her. The 6-point life swing means you get value out of it even if it dies. 4.6 1x in 4%

4.0 Menace and death touch pair really well together, and in a lot of ways just makes Pestilent Spirit unblockable, as your opponent doesn’t really want you to kill two of their creatures a lot of the time. They may eventually end up with some tokens and stuff like that, but it will take awhile. Giving your spells death touch is sweet too, though it mostly only comes up in Red-Black. 0 1x in 22%

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 30%

4.0 This is one of the most aggressive cards in the format, and it can generate massive amounts of damage. A lot of the decks in the format are very slow, and this can really devastate most of those decks if it comes down early. Rakdos has enough sacrifice fodder that this can really work out, and it of course also gets Spectacle going. 0 1x in 35%

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 13%

4.5 This is a bomb, even if you do have to hold your breath a little bit when it comes to the coin flips. You’ll almost always come out ahead, since you’re adding a massive Flyer to the board at the same time, and your opponent doesn’t have that luxury. You can make it work a little more in your favor by playing other Demons, Devils, or Imps – and they are around, but you don’t really need to build around this for it to be good. 0 1x in 13%

4.5 Judith comes down and drastically improves just about any board state. The power boost can make a big difference, but what really pushes her into the bomb range is the fact that she let you ping anything when one of your nontoken creatures dies. This really messes with how combat is going to go for your opponent. Simply playing her and attacking with your board is often going to end the game in your favor in the mid to late game, and in the early game she also causes all kinds of problems. 0 1x in 22%

Gruul	270 matches	32 decks
18.50% of Metagame
Orzhov	266 matches	31 decks
17.92% of Metagame
Azorius	247 matches	29 decks
16.76% of Metagame
Rakdos	193 matches	23 decks
13.29% of Metagame
Simic	183 matches	22 decks
12.72% of Metagame
Esper	113 matches	13 decks
7.51% of Metagame
Bant	52 matches	6 decks
3.47% of Metagame
Golgari	26 matches	3 decks
1.73% of Metagame
Izzet	25 matches	3 decks
1.73% of Metagame
Temur	15 matches	2 decks
1.16% of Metagame
Jund	17 matches	2 decks
1.16% of Metagame
Boros	18 matches	2 decks
1.16% of Metagame
Mardu	18 matches	2 decks
1.16% of Metagame
Selesnya	9 matches	1 decks
0.58% of Metagame
Dimir	9 matches	1 decks
0.58% of Metagame
Sultai	8 matches	1 decks
0.58% of Metagame

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Ravnica Allegiance Draft Deck Metagame

Rakdos card breakdown - 23 decks, 13.29% of meta

Creatures

Instant, Sorcery

Enchantment, Artifact

Planeswalkers

Lands

Top Rated Cards

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