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Deck Guides

In-depth guides for every major Premodern archetype. Game plans, key cards, stats, and strategy.

Phyrexian Dreadnought
#1 Stiflenought

Drop a 12/12 trampler on turn two with Phyrexian Dreadnought, then negate its drawback with Stifle or Vision Charm. Counter everything else.

Argothian Enchantress
#2 Enchantress

Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress's Presence draw a card per enchantment. Solitary Confinement makes you untouchable. Then assemble the win.

Lightning Bolt
#3 Sligh

Reduce 20 to 0 as fast as possible. Twelve one-drops, twelve burn spells, and Fireblast for the kill.

Goblin Lackey
#4 Goblins

The format-defining tribal aggro deck. Goblin Lackey on turn one cheats Siege-Gang Commander or Goblin Piledriver into play, and Goblin Ringleader keeps the gas flowing.

Replenish
#5 Parallax Replenish

Cycle Parallax Wave and Decree of Silence into the graveyard, cast Replenish, then exile the entire battlefield with Opalescence on the stack.

Standstill
#6 Landstill

Counter their threats, drop Standstill, then attack with manlands so they break the symmetry. Decree of Justice closes the game from a clear board.

Hypnotic Specter
#7 Mono Black

Hypnotic Specter on turn one off Dark Ritual. Strip their hand with Duress and Cabal Therapy. Engineered Plague kills tribal decks dead.

Terravore
#8 Terrageddon

Wasteland them, Armageddon them, attack with a Terravore that grows a counter for every land in every graveyard.

Oath of Druids
#9 Oath Ponza

Mana-deny them with Wasteland and Sphere of Resistance, then cheat Terravore into play with Oath of Druids — a 10/10 trampler from a wasted board.

Quirion Dryad
#10 Zoo

Cheap red creatures and burn, with Quirion Dryad growing a counter off every red spell you cast. Grim Lavamancer turns the spent graveyard into reach.

Stasis
#11 Stasis

Resolve Stasis. Untap with Forsaken City. Their lands stay tapped forever. Black Vise burns them out from a locked board.

Hermit Druid
#12 Full English Breakfast

Hermit Druid mills your library into the graveyard. Volrath's Shapeshifter copies whatever's on top. Combine with creatures that win on entry.

Psychatog
#13 Psychatog

A blue-black control deck that turns Psychatog into a one-shot kill — discard your hand, exile your graveyard, swing for 20.

Avalanche Riders
#14 Ponza

Mono-red land destruction. Strip their mana with Stone Rain and Pillage, keep it stripped with Wasteland and Rishadan Port, then win with manlands while they sit on two lands.

Pernicious Deed
#15 The Rock

Black-green midrange with the format's best catch-all answer — Pernicious Deed cleans up anything, then Ravenous Baloth or Treetop Village closes the game.

Gaea's Cradle
#16 Elves

Llanowar Elves into Priest of Titania into Gaea's Cradle into a turn-three lethal swing. Wirewood Symbiote bounces elves to untap your mana dorks for explosive mana.

Quirion Dryad
#17 Gro-A-Tog

Quirion Dryad grows huge off cantrips, Meddling Mage names their key card, and Psychatog closes the game in one swing.

Akroma, Angel of Wrath
#18 Reanimator

Discard Akroma on turn one, Exhume or Reanimate her back, and attack for 6 in the air with haste. Cabal Therapy and Duress clear the way.

Ill-Gotten Gains
#19 Iggy Pop

Storm combo through Lion's Eye Diamond and Ill-Gotten Gains, killing on turn 1-2 with Brain Freeze. Among the fastest decks in the format.

Vindicate
#20 BW Control

Black-white control built around Vindicate, Gerrard's Verdict, and inevitability through Eternal Dragon and Decree of Justice.

Goblin Welder
#21 Tinker Welder

Fast colorless mana into Sphere of Resistance, Tangle Wire and Winter Orb. Tinker finds Karn or Triskelion, and Goblin Welder keeps rebuying the lock pieces.

Contamination
#22 Contamination

Contamination turns every land in play into a Swamp, and Nether Spirit comes back each upkeep to feed it. Nobody casting a colored spell gets to keep doing it.

Exalted Angel
#23 White Weenie

Efficient white creatures backed by Swords to Plowshares. Mother of Runes protects them, Silver Knight walls the red decks, and Exalted Angel flips up to end it.

Hypnotic Specter
#24 Machine Head

Strip their hand with Duress, Cabal Therapy and Ravenous Rats, then punish the empty hand with The Rack, Lavaborn Muse and Cursed Scroll.

Wild Mongrel
#25 UG Madness

Discard Arrogant Wurm and Basking Rootwalla for free with Wild Mongrel. Counter their answers. Beat them down with cheap fatties.

Phyrexian Devourer
#26 Devourer Combo

Tinker out Phyrexian Devourer, exile your library to make it enormous, then sacrifice it to Altar of Dementia or Fling in response to its own trigger.

Aluren
#27 Aluren

Resolve Aluren, then drop Cavern Harpy and Raven Familiar for an infinite loop that mills the opponent or drains them out.

Fact or Fiction
#28 UW Control

Draw-go blue-white without the Standstill package. Counter what matters, Wrath what resolves, then win with a morphed Exalted Angel or a Decree of Justice at instant speed.

Frantic Search
#29 Frantic Storm

Mono-blue storm. Sapphire Medallion and Helm of Awakening make your untap spells free, then Brain Freeze mills them out on a twenty-spell turn.

Tireless Tribe
#30 WG Madness

Also called "Mad Dogs" — Savannah Lions, Wild Mongrel, and Glory-fueled madness creatures, with Swords to Plowshares for the mirror and Goblins.