Welcome Magic lovers!
In Part 1 of this series, we spoke about the Modern Horizons 3 limited environment after the first week that it had been available, touching on the pre-eminently powerful archetypes: Eldrazi, energy and aggro. While those strategies are certainly capable of producing the most powerful and difficult to interact with decks in this limited format, that means they're also the most contested. Thus, what does one do when it's clear that energy isn't open after taking that first pick Aether Revolt, or that black is the only color that's being generously passed? Well, fortunately the format is quite deep, meaning there are plenty of oft-underdrafted archetypes that can easily crush a draft pod or 7-0 a limited event on Magic Arena, provided the tools it requires are available and one is incentivized to move into it via a powerful bomb, like the insane Crabomination.
Dimir Draw Three
In fact, black is considered to be the worst performing color by many players, and the data from sites like 17lands.com backs this up. However, the difference between the worst-performing and best-performing colors is often only a few percentage points. The advantage of moving into an underdrafted color like black is that one will often wheel key pieces for the decks centered around it. For example, the blue-black slice of the color pie in Modern Horizons 3 revolves around the 'draw three' mechanic, which can be clunky and not very proactive. However, when one is capable of consistently wheeling the payoffs, such as Sneaky Snacker, Kami of Jealous Thirst and Mindless Conscription, it allows one to devote earlier picks to the draw-three enablers like Tempest Harvester, Serum Visionary, Eviscerator's Insight and Tamiyo Meets the Story Circle. Getting all the pieces for a synergy-based deck like this is all it needs to absolutely crush other archetypes, especially when backed up by the efficient black removal like Breathe Your Last, Wither in Bloom, Consuming Corruption and Lethal Throwdown. Knowing when to commit to a strategy like this takes careful timing, however, as missing a critical mass of crucial pieces like removal, card draw and payoffs can lead to a very subpar final list. To know when Dimir Draw Three is open, look for cards like Sneaky Snacker or one or more of the other black common payoffs for this archetype to wheel in pack one. This often means no one at the table is interested, leaving one to move in and take advantage.
Rakdos Artifacts
Another archetype that plays out in a similar fashion is the red-black artifact aggro deck, built around the keystone common, Cranial Ram, and filled out with powerful uncommon artifacts such as Etched Slith, Arcbound Condor and Etherium Pteramander. At common is where the cheap, durable fuel for this forge resides. Cards like Retrofitted Transmogrant and Dross Claw provide ways to keep generating value, while Refurbished Familiar for only one or two mana nets some crucial card and mana advantage. Molten Gatekeeper alongside non-artifact bangers like Marionette Apprentice can also make a big impact in this deck, giving it the reach it needs to close out games.
Remember, when many of these key pieces tend to show up in picks twelve to fourteen during the draft, it frees one up to take excellent black and red removal spells early, like Galvanic Discharge, Breathe Your Last and the excellent Pyretic Rebirth, knowing that the rest of the deck will fill itself out at the end of the pack. Perhaps one finds a spot to hedge on a potential future splash by taking a couple of all-important mana-fixing lands instead of having to waste a pick on a Refurbished Familiar. That in turn leaves one open to slamming that pack three, pick one Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury, if fate cooperates, which can really take a deck to the next level. To figure out if this lane is open during the draft, keep an eye out for sixth to ninth pick Cranial Ram or one of the other strong artifact uncommons and then see what else wheels in pack one.
Orzhov Bounce
The last black-based archetype to call attention to that also doesn't get much love in Modern Horizons 3 is white-black modified. This is a tricky deck to nail down, as it can change form from one build to the next. It often comes together as a low-curve deck stuffed with aggressive white two-drops and efficient black removal spells, built around leveraging the modified mechanic. Indeed, the white-black signpost uncommons instruct the player to approach this color combination in exactly that way. However, one can also build a much more controlling value-engine deck, built around the very underrated Essence Reliquary. This unassuming uncommon often wheels, which is a sign this archetype may be open. The Reliquary pairs perfectly with almost every creature in the deck, triggering enter-the-battlefield abilities like those found on Hexgold Slith, Solstice Zealot or Static Prison to gain energy, or on Inspired Inventor or Aerie Auxiliary to trigger backup and distribute additional +1/+1 counters, or spread the shield counters from a Proud Pack-Rhino.
Pairing Essence Reliquary with the black creatures that often wheel yields equally satisfying results, such as rebuying the discard or draw ability on Refurbished Familiar or making a massive Zombie Army token by blinking Mindless Conscription. Even something as straightforward as playing Accursed Marauder into an empty board then bouncing it with its own trigger on the stack feels fantastic. Essence Reliquary requiring zero mana to activate, even if one can only do it on one's own turn, makes it an all-star in a deck like white-black. Don't forget: the main reason to go into a deck like this is that these pieces often come around late or even wheel. Many of the black and white common creatures that fit perfectly into this deck often wheel, and it's not rare to see an Essence Reliquary twelfth pick or later, though now players may be starting to pick up on how insane this engine can really be as it seems to not come back around quite as often as it once did.
Hopefully this dissection of the lesser played, yet still potent, archetypes that can be pieced together in Modern Horizons 3 draft gives some of you limited grinders some new inspiration to get outside of your Eldrazi/energy comfort zone and try something new. Keep your eyes open for one these banger black-based decks in your next draft!
