No Rares Required

Welcome to my final episode of No Rares Required. Thank you to all who have followed this series throughout the years. I have learned a lot about draft and I hope you have as well. This weekly podcast dives deep into each archetype and this week I cover the last archetype for Outlaws of Thunder Junction: Gruul. The theme for Gruul (red-green) in OTJ is 'Power 4+'. In this episode I go over...

Welcome to my Draft Guide for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. This weekly podcast dives deep into each archetype and this week I cover the last two archetypes: Boros and Gruul. The theme for Boros (red-white) in OTJ is 'Mercenary Aggro'. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, what traps to avoid, and when to take certain cards during a draft. Enjoy :)

Welcome to my Draft Guide for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. This weekly podcast dives deep into each archetype and this week Azorius had the 2nd number of votes. The theme for Azorius (white-blue) in OTJ is 'Take a Break'. The idea being to take a break on your turn and cast spells on your opponent's turn. And it has been a bit hit-and-miss. There are a couple great payoffs for taking a...

Welcome to my Draft Guide for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. This weekly podcast dives deep into each archetype and this week Orzhov won the vote. The theme for Orzhov (white-black) in OTJ is Attrition. Many of the signposts feel like 'Orzhov Sacrifice' would have been more fitting, but you do have access to a lot of removal so 'attrition' is fairly accurate. Focus on removal and fly...

Welcome to episode 80 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction. The theme for Simic (green-blue) in OTJ is Plot. Plot is a trap. Focus on the good green creatures and protect them at all costs with Snakeskin Veil and Counterspells. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, what traps to avoid, and when to take...

Welcome to episode 79 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction. The theme for Izzet (blue-red) in OTJ is Second Spell. To accomplish this task, you need spells that draw cards so you can keep double spelling. I've had the most success with this archetype by treating it as a spellslinger with a low creature count. In...

Welcome to episode 78 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction. The theme for Rakdos (black-red) in OTJ is Outlaws. All of your creatures should be Outlaws but there are some traps to avoid that on first read appear that they'd fit well into the archetype. You have great removal in black-red at common and uncommon as...

Welcome to episode 77 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction. The theme for Dimir (blue-black) in OTJ is Crimes. You want as many crime enablers as you can manage. It is a classic control archetype so don't be afraid to run a lower creature count and focus on interaction to answer your opponents plays. In this epis...

Welcome to episode 76 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction. The theme for Golgari (black-green) in OTJ is Creatures in the Graveyard. As with most sets, it plays out more as a midrange deck with some graveyard synergies as a plan B. Green has great midrange threats while black has excellent instant speed removal. Als...

Welcome to episode 74 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Outlaws of Thunder Junction. The theme for Selesnya (green-white) in OTJ is Mounts. This is the most drafted and most winning archetype in week 1. Green is the best color and has some amazing midrange threats. White has great removal with several Oblivion Rings. And the signpost uncommo...

Welcome to episode 74 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. The theme for Gruul (red-green) in MKM is Big Disguise. Take advantage that there are several commons with big disguise that go late. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, what traps to avoid, and when to take certain cards.

Welcome to episode 73 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. The theme for Golgari (black-green) in MKM is Gravebreak. However, many people have been unsuccessful at getting Insidious Roots and Chalk Outline to actually work. The archetype splashes well, especially for blue into the Sultai space, and you'll want to fo...

Welcome to episode 72 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. The theme for Selesnya (green-white) in MKM is Go-Wide Disguise and it's, again, rather accurate. You want cards that are multiple cards in one and there are some disguise synergies although I do think it can be overdone. In this episode I go over the top pe...

Welcome to episode 71 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. The theme for Orzhov (white-black) in MKM is Pint-Size Disguise and it's rather accurate. You want disguise creatures, which all have power 2 or less, but try to focus on keeping your disguise cost low. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, wha...

Welcome to episode 70 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM). The theme for Rakdos (black-red) in MKM is Suspect Aggro and, again, it's rather accurate. However, Repeat Offender is a major trap and one of the leaders among "Total Wins Destroyed". You'll want to focus on starting on turn 1, especiall...

Welcome to episode 69 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. The theme for Dimir (blue-black) in MKM is Clue Control and it's rather accurate. The problem is spot removal is weak to the go wide strategy of Boros. As we reach the later part of the set Boros has been overdrafted so I expect Dimir to become more viable....

Welcome to episode 68 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. Simic (green-blue) is all about collecting evidence. I've found Green to be underdrafted, and there are some cards that get better the more green you pick up. But green also has great fixing for splashing. The choice is yours! In this episode I go over the t...

Welcome to episode 67 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. Azorius (white-blue) is all about detectives. The more the merrier as they synergize quite well off one another. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, what traps to avoid, and when to take certain cards.

Welcome to episode 66 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. Izzet (blue-red) is all about going wide and sacrificing clue tokens. Unlike Boros, it looks underdrafted. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, what traps to avoid, and when to take certain cards.

Welcome to episode 65 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Murders at Karlov Manor. Boros (red-white) is the early frontrunner after week 1. Focus on flooding the board and overwhelming your opponent. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, what traps to avoid, and when to take certain cards.

Welcome to episode 63 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Boros (red-white) is overdrafted. At least for what the cards can support. The general strategy is "go wide" though sometimes it's more about just "make lots of rectangles". When it is open it is a very powerful archetype. In this episode...

Welcome to episode 63 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Boros (red-white) is overdrafted. At least for what the cards can support. The general strategy is "go wide" though sometimes it's more about just "make lots of rectangles". When it is open it is a very powerful archetype. In this episode...

Welcome to episode 62 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Simic has the 3rd lowest winrate on 17lands. Explore doesn't perform better in Simic. It's a good mechanic that works in any archetype. I do think it makes a decent back up plan if you get cut out of a color during the draft. In this episode I go over the...

Welcome to episode 61 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Orzhov has the 2nd lowest winrate on 17lands. The sacrifice theme is a trap but you can take advantage of people avoiding the archetype. In this episode I go over the top performing cards, what traps to avoid, and when to take certain cards.

Welcome to episode 60 of No Rares Required! A weekly podcast focused on strategies for drafting the current set: Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Gruul has the 3rd highest winrate on 17lands. It's rather straight forward to draft, that is, if the cards are available. The archetype can lack good 2 drops and leans heavily on some uncommons. I go over the top performing cards and when you should try to ta...