In-depth guides for every major Premodern archetype. Game plans, key cards, stats, and strategy.
Drop a 12/12 trampler on turn two with Phyrexian Dreadnought, then negate its drawback with Stifle or Vision Charm. Counter everything else.
Reduce 20 to 0 as fast as possible. Twelve one-drops, twelve burn spells, and Fireblast for the kill.
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.
Hypnotic Specter on turn one off Dark Ritual. Strip their hand with Duress and Cabal Therapy. Engineered Plague kills tribal decks dead.
Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress's Presence draw a card per enchantment. Solitary Confinement makes you untouchable. Then assemble the win.
Counter their threats, drop Standstill, then attack with manlands so they break the symmetry. Decree of Justice closes the game from a clear board.
Cycle Parallax Wave and Decree of Silence into the graveyard, cast Replenish, then exile the entire battlefield with Opalescence on the stack.
Wasteland them, Armageddon them, attack with a Terravore that grows a counter for every land in every graveyard.
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.
Resolve Stasis. Untap with Forsaken City. Their lands stay tapped forever. Black Vise burns them out from a locked board.
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.
Hermit Druid mills your library into the graveyard. Volrath's Shapeshifter copies whatever's on top. Combine with creatures that win on entry.
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.
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 grows huge off cantrips, Meddling Mage names their key card, and Psychatog closes the game in one swing.
Black-white control built around Vindicate, Gerrard's Verdict, and inevitability through Eternal Dragon and Decree of Justice.
A blue-black control deck that turns Psychatog into a one-shot kill — discard your hand, exile your graveyard, swing for 20.
Discard Arrogant Wurm and Basking Rootwalla for free with Wild Mongrel. Counter their answers. Beat them down with cheap fatties.
Resolve Aluren, then drop Cavern Harpy and Raven Familiar for an infinite loop that mills the opponent or drains them out.
Also called "Mad Dogs" — Savannah Lions, Wild Mongrel, and Glory-fueled madness creatures, with Swords to Plowshares for the mirror and Goblins.