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Welcome back to Very Limited! Today, we’ll discuss what I believe to be the best archetype in JBT right now, U/R. The format is still young, but there’s a lot of power available to the U/R mage these days. We’ll be discussing the goal of our U/R deck and analyzing our pick orders for Journey into Nyx.
On the Power Level of the Archetype
I’ve been drafting a lot on Magic Online this week, and I can’t help but jump into U/R when I see a fourth-pick Stormchaser Chimera. I’ve noticed a very real correlation between the U/R deck and winning. In fact, I’ve won my last four 8–4s as the U/R deck.
What Do We Want Our Deck to Be Doing?
We want a very aggressive early start. We’re not playing a control deck. We want to be forcing the action—trading hits when possible without losing board presence. In a lot of games, it seems that we’re losing, but we’re taking our shots where we can get them, and that often forces players to turtle up and lose to Sudden Storm, Sea God's Revenge, Hubris, Voyage's End, Griptide, Retraction Helix, or basically any burn spell.
What Cards Should We Be Looking For? In What Order Should We Be Picking Them?
This our pick order for the U/R deck. We’ll discuss the cards in descending order, starting with the best, and ending with the barely playable. I’ve recycled a lot of our Theros/Born of the Gods pick orders for the archetype, but I’ve made some changes in accordance with U/R’s goals with Journey into Nyx. In Born of the Gods, Nyxborn Rollicker goes up in value a lot because of cards like War-Wing Siren and Satyr Hoplite. In Theros, Ordeal of Thassa, Ordeal of Purphoros, Flamespeaker Adept, and Coordinated Assault have all gone way up in value because of Sigiled Starfish, Sigiled Skink, Satyr Hoplite, and War-Wing Siren.
Journey into Nyx
- Harness by Force
- Prophetic Flamespeaker
- Keranos, God of Storms
- Hypnotic Siren
- Hour of Need
- Forgeborn Oreads
- Stormchaser Chimera
- Riptide Chimera
- Whitewater Naiads
- Mogis's Warhound
- Spawn of Thraxes
- Sigiled Starfish
- Magma Spray
- War-Wing Siren
- Hubris
- Wildfire Cerberus
- Starfall
- Daring Thief
- Satyr Hoplite
- Cloaked Siren
- Bladetusk Boar
- Triton Cavalry
- Scourge of Fleets
- Battlefield Thaumaturge
- Sigiled Skink
- Riddle of Lightning
- Polymorphous Rush
- Rise of Eagles
- Flurry of Horns
- Dakra Mystic
- Thassa's Devourer
- Lightning Diadem
- Cyclops of Eternal Fury
- Pensive Minotaur
- Akroan Line Breaker
- Aerial Formation
- Interpret the Signs
- Gluttonous Cyclops
- Eidolon of the Great Revel
Best rares:
Harness by Force is basically the perfect card for a tempo-oriented deck like U/R. This card will usually win us the game when we cast it. We can remove blockers from the foray and bash for a lot of extra damage.
Prophetic Flamespeaker is veritably absurd. The card turns bestow creatures into game-enders and pump spells into blowouts, and it generates card advantage as a creature that our opponent will never ever want to block.
Keranos, God of Storms may not do anything the turn it comes into play, but getting a free card or Lightning Bolt every turn afterward forever is kind of insane. Turning this into a creature isn’t usually happening, but it’s kind of an insane upside on an already-windmill-slam first-pick, almost-force-the-archetype kind of card.
Hypnotic Siren essentially kills our opponent’s best creature, gives us a copy of that creature with +1/+1 and flying, and then gives us a bonus 1/1 flyer when it dies. Sometimes, we’ll have an Ordeal in our opening hand, and it will just win us the game that way.
Best uncommons:
Hour of Need can end a game very quickly. It’s an extraordinary spell with a lot of versatility, allowing us to deal with huge bombs from the opponent, but usually turning all of our worst creatures into Air Elementals at instant speed.
Forgeborn Oreads lets us constantly trade up, often accrues card quality advantage the turn we play it, and gives us a 4-power body for 4 mana.
Stormchaser Chimera ends games very quickly if it’s able to attack uncontested. Have you seen this card in action? Then you certainly know what I’m talking about. We can often clear the path for Stormchaser Chimera late in the game and go fishing for the win on the top of our deck. It’s reasonably surprising how often this is a game-ending play.
Best commons:
Sigiled Starfish helps us ensure that we’re curving out and finding our game-enders at the right moments. Sometimes, we’ll be able to pick up a couple of these and take Flamespeaker Adept very high in the third pack.
Magma Spray is a fine removal spell that usually prevents our opponent from trading his or her 2-drops with ours.
War-Wing Siren isn’t quite as good as I initially thought, but it’s still a first-pickable card with a lot of power and synergy. It’s not quite Wingsteed Rider, but still very strong.
Hubris is good at removing key defensive elements from our opponent in racing situations.
Satyr Hoplite lets us be very aggressive. We can pick up multiple copies of this card and pick up late Fate Foretold and Stratus Walk for a lot of free value.
Born of the Gods
- Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
- Forgestoker Dragon
- Arbiter of the Ideal
- Felhide Spiritbinder
- Sudden Storm
- Fall of the Hammer
- Siren of the Fanged Coast
- Akroan Conscriptor
- Bolt of Keranos
- Nyxborn Triton
- Retraction Helix
- Searing Blood
- Everflame Eidolon
- Aerie Worshippers
- Stormcaller of Keranos
- Archetype of Imagination
- Oracle of Bones
- Kragma Butcher
- Chorus of the Tides
- Archetype of Aggression
- Satyr Nyx-Smith
- Oracle's Insight
- Meletis Astronomer
- Thunder Brute
- Deepwater Hypnotist
- Flitterstep Eidolon
- Fated Conflagration
- Vortex Elemental
- Nyxborn Rollicker
- Fearsome Temper
- Perplexing Chimera
- Divination
- Nullify
- Pinnacle of Rage
- Rise to the Challenge
- Tromokratis
- Reckless Reveler
- Crypsis
- Eternity Snare
- Fated Infatuation
- Floodtide Serpent
- Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass
- Pharagax Giant
- Impetuous Sunchaser
- Sphinx's Disciple
- Kraken of the Straits
Best rares:
The best rare for the deck in Born of the Gods is Flame-Wreathed Phoenix. The card has tremendous implications for longer games and functions as a game-ending force when it comes down early and the opponent is forced to pay tribute.
The next-best rare for the deck is Forgestoker Dragon. The card seems perfect for this type of deck, shooting stuff, faltering, and being a Dragon. We should be happy to snap up this bomb whenever we see it.
Arbiter of the Ideal is also a huge bomb; the card can take over a game by itself if it goes unanswered. Even if the opponent is able to block for a turn or two with Nessian Asp before he or she has mana for monstrous, we’re still putting free cards directly into play.
Best uncommons:
I wouldn’t take either of the best uncommons over Sudden Storm or Fall of the Hammer.
Siren of the Fanged Coast gives us a huge, flying body. It’s rare we’ll be able to Control Magic with this, but it’ll usually be lackluster when we do.
Akroan Conscriptor dominates games in which it goes unchecked in the U/R heroic strategy. People like to build Voltrons in this format with bestow, and this is the perfect card to punish people for it.
Best commons:
Sudden Storm is at its best in the U/R deck. We are able to scry, and we continue beating while our opponent is trying to assemble the perfect construct via bestow. It combos very nicely with Flamespeaker Adept, which is among the better cards we can pick up pretty late in packs two and three.
Fall of the Hammer and Bolt of Keranos are great spot-removal spells.
Theros
- Stormbreath Dragon
- Prognostic Sphinx
- Master of Waves
- Hammer of Purphoros
- Thassa's Emissary
- Sea God's Revenge
- Ember Swallower
- Bident of Thassa
- Shipbreaker Kraken
- Nimbus Naiad
- Lightning Strike
- Voyage's End
- Griptide
- Triton Tactics
- Coordinated Assault
- Ordeal of Purphoros
- Ordeal of Thassa
- Magma Jet
- Purphoros's Emissary
- Flamespeaker Adept
- Artisan of Forms
- Anger of the Gods
- Vaporkin
- Horizon Scholar
- Prescient Chimera
- Thassa, God of the Sea
- Ill-Tempered Cyclops
- Labyrinth Champion
- Wavecrash Triton
- Fanatic of Mogis
- Rage of Purphoros
- Rageblood Shaman
- Triton Fortune Hunter
- Arena Athlete
- Spearpoint Oread
- Borderland Minotaur
- Meletis Charlatan
- Omenspeaker
- Spellheart Chimera
- Two-Headed Cerberus
- Dragon Mantle
- Titan's Strength
- Sealock Monster
- Fate Foretold
- Stoneshock Giant
- Titan of Eternal Fire
- Minotaur Skullcleaver
- Portent of Betrayal
Best rares:
Stormbreath Dragon comes down and immediately declares a race that you’re probably winning. Protection from white is extremely relevant in the air in this format, and it isn’t unusual to assassinate an opponent with the monstrosity activation.
Prognostic Sphinx dominates the skies and helps us set up the big finishing turn we’re looking for with the U/R deck.
Master of Waves usually gives us about 8 points of power for 4 mana. Sometimes, it gives us 12.
Hammer of Purphoros makes the top of our deck very exciting and ensures that even our flooded draws will have plenty of action down the road.
Best uncommons:
Thassa's Emissary is an efficient body that can take over the game if it is able to connect a few times. Throw a cheap bestow cost into the mix, and we have the best possible uncommon for the U/R deck.
Sea God's Revenge is very good at helping us set up a big turn to win the game. This card is much better when we’re ahead or close to it, and with the U/R deck, we have an archetype with which we really want that to be the case in the midgame, when Sea God's Revenge is at its best.
Triton Tactics and Coordinated Assault are usually huge blowouts. This is especially true now that we have Satyr Hoplite.
Best commons:
Nimbus Naiad lets us be aggressive with our 3- or 4-drop even when it becomes trumped. It’s also a Wind Drake on turn three if we don’t have anything else to do. The versatility and power of every angle of Nimbus Naiad make it a slam dunk here.
Lightning Strike is a great removal spell that can finish off our opponent. We see these going later than they should because so many players have been conditioned to avoid drafting red.
Voyage's End is a cheap trick that really pushes the tempo angle of the U/R deck.
Go forth, and call upon the storm! U/R is better than ever (in this block’s Limited formats) with Journey into Nyx thrown into the fray.
