Magic: The Gathering's newest set is no ordinary card set. Just like its predecessor, Modern Horizons 2 will bypass the Standard format entirely and flood the competitive Modern format with dozens of powerful new cards. Some of them are brand-new, while others are pre-Modern reprints being added to the format at last.
Of course, nearly every set can be drafted for sessions of booster draft Limited, and sets like Modern Horizons 2, Time Spiral Remastered and Double Masters are built with expert players in mind. Players who can see countless patterns and connections in a set can use these to create powerful, resourceful decks. Making a draft deck for Modern Horizons 2 will take some work, but understanding the 10 archetypes should make it a little easier.
Modern Horizons 2 equips Azorius players with the power of artifacts. Many of this set's white and blue cards are either artifacts themselves, such as Parcel Myr, or they work well with artifacts by having the "affinity for artifacts" ability. This ability is one reason why the original Mirrodin block was so incredibly powerful. Players in this archetype can wear down the opponent with fliers, or pump their creatures with +1/+1 counters via Steel Dromedary and Myr Scrapling, among other cards. Some white cards can help this deck's creatures become bigger and better, and white mana offers all kinds of removal as well.
Blue-black (Dimir) decks can draw extra cards, make the opponent discard cards, make use of the graveyard and even mill the opponent (an effect dating back to the game's early days). In Modern Horizons 2, a blue-black deck should have some evasive fliers, as well as removal spells to take control of the game and discard its own cards. Mystic Redaction scries for free on each upkeep, and discarding cards means the opponent will mill two.
Clattering Augur cantrips, and it doesn't mind being discarded since it can return from the graveyard to hand. Master of Death can be repeatedly discarded as well, since it can pay one life to return from the graveyard to hand. Lazotep Chancellor will pay {1} per discard to Amass 2, an ability associated with Nicol Bolas' Eternal army. Cards like Hell Mongrel can help the Dimir player discard cards, and this deck can also use the blue delirium cards from the blue-red archetype and the madness cards of black-red.
The black-red archetype of Modern Horizons 2 is roughly similar to the Dimir one, as well as the one from Time Spiral Remastered. Black-red decks share the discard-based cards of the blue-black archetype, and red mana does something similar with effects like Faithless Salvaging. In particular, the black-red deck makes use of the madness effect, and a card with madness may be cast for its madness cost if it's being discarded (regardless of timing restrictions).
Necromancer's Familiar and Rakdos Headliner are effective enablers, and spells like Terminal Agony, Blazing Rootwalla and Kitchen Imp have cheap madness costs. Therefore, not many discarded cards actually end up in the graveyard. However, if any cards do end up there, this deck is ready. Tizerus Charger has the escape ability to return from the graveyard, and Young Necromancer works best with a well-stocked graveyard.
The red-green deck makes use of Storm, but it can also beat down the opponent with powerful green spells like Hunting Pack even if the storm count is low. This set's green cards only get bigger and scarier from there. Such a deck can also ramp mana and take advantage of a diverse mana base with the converge ability from Battle for Zendikar, meaning a red-green deck can evolve into a five-color deck. As for enabling storm, this archetype can use Goblin Anarchomancer to make its spells cheaper. It also makes use of cheap spells of any color to build up its storm count, including cards cast for free such as those cast with evoke or suspend.
This archetype goes wide like white and goes tall like green, and in particular, green-white decks will use +1/+1 counters to strengthen their board state. Such decks can also use traditional creature-enhancement effects, including a variety of enchantments like Sylvan Anthem. Modern Horizons 2's green-white deck has an enchantment sub-theme that players should take advantage of, with cards such as Enchantress's Presence, Sanctum Weaver, Search the Premises and Seal of Cleansing adding variety to this archetype. Gaining extra life is another sub-theme of the green-white deck that pays off in many ways.
White and black mana can easily revive fallen creatures, and these decks should include cards that stock up the graveyard and plunder it. Vile Entomber and Unmarked Grave can set the stage, then creatures like Disciple of the Sun and Priest of Fell Rites can bring back the deck's biggest and best creatures. Additionally, this deck can sacrifice its creatures with spells such as Bone Shards, then revive them again later. Discard effects from the blue-black and black-red decks can be used here too, such as Tizerus Charger and Hell Mongrel.
This deck's delirium cards reap huge bonuses if the graveyard has four or more card types in it, and discard-based cards such as Foul Watcher and Raving Visionary can speed things along. Cards with the cycling effect also help, cheaply going into the graveyard to add another card type. Surveil is a strong effect in blue-red, and so are looting and rummaging cards, such as Faithless Salvaging. Burn spells and counterspells can help round out this archetype.
The black-green deck is an aristocrats one, going wide with disposable creatures to attack, sacrifice or both. Squirrel creature tokens are a staple for this archetype, and cards such as Chitterspitter, Squirrel Mob, Sylvan Anthem and Squirrel Sovereign help boost this tribal deck's creatures to create a powerful board state. Then, Vermin Gorger can sacrifice them to drain the opponent's life to zero if the board stalls out.
Red-white has always been about aggro, and recent sets are reinventing how red-white aggro works. In Modern Horizons 2, this archetype uses not just Equipment cards, but also lots of artifact creatures, some of which have the modular ability to pass around their +1/+1 counters when they die. Any variety of colorless artifact creatures can be added to this deck, even if they don't have modular. Then, burn spells and white removal/combat tricks can round things out.
The green-blue deck makes a huge variety of token types, from Squirrels and Crabs to Beasts, Thopters, treasures, clues and even food. Many of this deck's best cards either make those tokens or boost them, such as Combine Chrysalis, Specimen Collector and Burdened Aerialist will gain flying when a token is sacrificed, such as food or clues.
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