Games - Magic: The Gathering deck types

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	Games - Magic: The Gathering deck types

There are many ways to win a game of Magic: The Gathering, a fact made possible by its thousands of unique cards and their countless interactions. To construct an effective deck, the player must first choose a strategy, then design the deck around it.

=Winning and Losing=

There are three basic ways to make your opponent lose the game:

Reducing your opponent to 0 life - Each player starts with 20 life, and when all of it is gone, that player loses.
"Decking" your opponent - Each player starts with at least 60 cards in their library. If the player ever attempts to draw a card from this library but has no cards left to draw, he or she immediately loses.
Using "alternate win conditions" to break the rules - The golden rule of Magic is: "If a card contradicts the rules, follow the card." This allows Wizards of the Coast
to print cards that substantially alter the game environment, particularly by introducing new ways to win or meddling with the aforementioned ways to lose.

Typically, most decks are designed to reduce any and all opponents to 0 life. Decking and altering win conditions are rarely used in constructed tournaments, though there are notable exceptions like the Battle of Wits deck played by Billy Jensen to the top 8 at a Grand Prix , and the Tolarian Academy / Stroke of Genius deck made popular by Urza's Saga. On the other hand, in Limited play using 40-card decks, decking can be a viable win condition, depending on the card pool. In casual play, anything goes.

=Strategies=

Once the player has chosen a victory condition, he or she must choose how to achieve that condition via a strategy. Most strategies can be described by three different terms: Aggro, Combo, and Control.

Aggro is a strategy that places a heavy emphasis on using creatures as efficient damage sources. Aggro strategies can be slow and unrelenting or fast and ruthless, in both cases attempting to overwhelm the opponent's defenses and reduce him to 0 life.
Control is a strategy that attempts to interfere with, prevent, deny, or otherwise cancel the opponent's actions. It attempts to win the game by not losing.
Combo is a strategy that utilizes the interaction of two or more cards at the same time or in sequence, resulting in a powerful effect. This strategy can also refer to using a singular, powerful spell to instantly win the game. Many decks have small, combo-like interactions between its cards, which is better described as synergy.

=Archetypes=

The Aggro, Control, and Combo strategies can be further combined to describe archetypes, which are blueprints for decks based on Magic theories that have been successful in the past. However, for game as complex as Magic, there are always exceptions to a made and rules to be broken. Many decks contain elements of all three strategies, so one must keep an open mind on what constitutes an effective deck.

Aggro

:main article: Aggro deck

Aggro ("aggressive") decks attack the opponent with a fast and numerous swarm of creatures. They seek to win quickly or not win at all. Aggro decks typically have little interest in anything except reducing the opponent's life total to zero.

Red is the most aggressive color, with white and green's cheap, efficient creatures also contributing well to the Aggro archetype.

Aggro decks are favored against Control decks, attacking mercilessly to defeat them long before the Control deck's card advantage or mana-intensive spells come online.
Aggro decks are a natural foil to Aggro-Control decks, which have neither enough creatures nor control elements to keep up with or contain the Aggro deck.
Aggro decks are relatively ill-equipped to fight Combo decks. Since Aggro and Combo seldom interfere with each other's gameplan, this matchup is often a simple race to the finish.
Aggro decks are severely crippled by Midgame decks that use larger creatures and board resets.

*Example cards: , ,
*Example deck: Sligh
, Stompy, White Weenie

Control

:main article: Control deck

Control decks seek to enforce the pace and rules of the game. They are reactionary and often extremely disruptive to the opponent, protecting its resources and prolonging the game at all costs. Control decks require a large amount of mana over many turns to draw enough cards to eventually become unbeatable via an academic win condition (a creature or possibly a combo).

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