Philosophy Behind #2: Aggro

To follow about more of the Philosophy behind Magic: the Gathering, I wanted to address the three major deck types: aggro, control, and combo. In my last entry, I talked more about other ways the game utilizes philosophy (namely in game state, colors, and gameplay decisions). For this entry, I wanted to discuss how constructed decks usually follow one of these three archetypes. The following two links are probably the best authorities on describing the three types of strategies (for beginnings or those warranting more information): 'Aggro, Combo, and Control' and MTG Wiki Deck Types.

Most individuals design their decks around these three strategies in mind and it affects all the aspects the design mentioned in Part 1. Every deck might have some aspects of aggro, control, and combo (though most can probably characterize their decks as one of the three). Once an individual recognizes what kind of deck they intend to make, that person can commit their strategy more aptly to that approach. As such, let’s take each of the three strategies one by one, and assess the strengths and weaknesses (and examine some great examples of each).

"Aggro is a strategy that aims to win by producing maximum damage output in the shortest number of turns. This strategy often places a heavy emphasis on using creatures as efficient damage sources. Aggro strategies can be slow and relentless or fast and ruthless, in both cases attempting to overwhelm the opponent's defenses and reduce them to 0 life. “

When it comes to building aggro decks, here are some good guidelines:

• Most aggro decks focus on a lot of creatures. For an effective beatdown deck, I usually suggest 21-28 (30-40%) so that you have a steady supply of creatures. Creature power and toughness are most important in aggressive strategies.
• Damage spells are useful because they allow the option to trade those damage spells against creatures or directly to end the opponent late game.
• Often include spot removal and/or mild disruption.
• Although some may end the game very late on, most capitalize on trying to end the game early.
• They don’t focus as much on card draw.
• They often leave the player exposed defensively. Cards that cause early game drawbacks are usually most affordable in aggressive strategies (i.e. fetchlands).
• They are sensitive to mass creature/permanent removal.

How the colors generally approach aggro strategies:

White has great early beaters (like Steppe Lynx or Savannah Lions).  White also plays well at giving bonuses to other creatures you own (like Glorious Anthem or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite) and is the best at token generation. At the same time, white has some great end-game beaters, like Akroma, Angel of Wrath. White also is one of the better colors at spot removal as it does an adequate job with most kinds of permanents (often exiling nonland permanents, and destroying artifacts/enchantments). It has great evasion with flying and protection. In addition, in combat, it’s often resilient (in the case with creatures like Baneslayer) with first-strike, vigilance, and even lifelink. Sometimes they even have indestructibility or double-strike.

Blue is probably the weakest at aggro (since it’s a heavily control color), but can have strong-late game finishers, like Stormtide Leviathan or Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Blue is great at returning permanents back to their owner’s hand (allowing for head on damage with creatures) and is the color with the strongest evasive abilities (like unblockablility, landwalk, and flying). They can also allow for combat tricks with abilities like flash and can tap things down to get in for damage. They are also pretty resilient by having shroud.

Black aggro often comes at some cost. Though black can have strong creatures and direct damage spells, they often come at the cost of life loss, creature sacrifices, and other forms of in-game consequences. Great beaters include vampires, like Vampire Lacerator or Vampire Nighthawk, as well as powerful demons, like Abyssal Persecutor. Black interacts heavily with graveyards and disruption, like discard, can deal with early threats to get into the red zone. Black also utilizes some evasion mechanics, like those listed in the blue section, as well as intimidate. Deathtouch and Regeneration also help in a creature race.

Red is great for its early game. It has the best creatures at low costs, like Goblin Lackey or Ball Lightning. It also implores powerful damage spells like Arc Trail, Burst Lightning, and everyone’s favorite, Lightning Bolt. Red loves to utilize haste and sometimes trample or even flying. Red also utilizes first- and double-strike for added damage. Red can involve a lot of early-game commitment though; however you tend to get more out of each spell cast as they often deal the most damage.

Green is also a great color for aggressive strategies. Its creatures are often the best for their mana costs, in terms of not only power and toughness, but also abilities. Green takes advantage of that by providing cards that allow for “mana ramping” (like Birds of Paradise, Lotus Cobra, and Primeval Titan), which allows for playing even more powerful spells earlier than your opponent. Green utilizes a lot of token generation like white. Green is known best for trample, but has been known to utilize reach, shroud, and vigilance. To a lesser degree, it also uses indestructibility, lifelink, haste, intimidate, deathtouch, and first strike.

So, that is all for today. I hoped you enjoyed this look at the aggro strategy and look forward to follow-ups as I also address control and combo archetypes.

-Michael Hood-Julien