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Lutri, the Spellchaser Art by Lie Setiawan

Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Draft: Best Archetypes and Cards to Look Out For

What archetypes and cards should I draft in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths? Make the most of out of your free entry while the draft is around for the next six days! Here is our primer to the format.

Hey everyone! Another absolute banger of a limited format is making its way back to Arena! Ikoria: Lair of the Behemoths draft will be back on August 20th so it’s time to learn the in and outs of the format so that you can dominate the players who are unaware of how the format works.

Ikoria is unique in that it has what is most likely the most powerful limited uncommon to ever exist in the form of Zenith Flare, and knowing how to build around it and fully utilize its strength will give you an enormous edge against the average opponent. It’s also a really fun and unique set that allows you to experience the awesome Mutate play patterns, which besides Gemrazer and Vadrok, Apex of Thunder never really had the power level to see play in Standard.

Lastly, knowing how to properly draft certain Companions is not only a great way to demolish a draft, but also unbelievably fun. So let’s dive in, starting with the mechanics and archetype outlines of the set!

Ikoria’s mechanics are:

  • Mutate
  • Companion
  • Cycling

Powerful Companions can be found across every color since their mana costs are hybrid colored. Cycling is exclusively a Boros archetype if you want to make use of the powerful uncommons. Mutate is found in every color and makes it important to consider the type of every creature you’re playing.

The archetypes of the set are:

The power level discrepancy between these archetypes are huge and drafting them can be very complicated. I’ll break down below how to draft them and which are my favorite, from best to worst.

Boros Cycling

Boros Cycling Bo1 Standard Deck Guide: The Easiest Way to Get Into Standard  • Standard • MTG Arena Zone
Zenith Flare Art by Jonas De Ro

The best archetype in the set by far when it comes together. Your goal here is to use Cycling to power up the busted aggressive creatures and then finish the opponent off with a massive Zenith Flare. This archetype is consistent, brutally fast, and has a great late game.

Here are the key commons and uncommons you’re always looking to play: Valiant Rescuer, Flourishing Fox, Rooting Moloch, Savai Thundermane, Drannith Stinger, Snare Tactician, Spelleater Wolverine, Prickly Marmoset, Reptilian Reflection, Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor, and most importantly, Zenith Flare.

As an aside, I don’t plan to incorporate the powerful common removal in with each archetype unless it specifically interacts with the cards in it. Obviously every deck is going to want as many Fire Prophecy and Blood Curdle as you can get your hands on, so always keep that in mind.

As you can see, most of the above cards literally spell out that you need to Cycle to make them work. Getting the critical mass of synergistic playables needed for the archetype is pretty easy because there are so many good playable commons for the archetype. That and since you can fill the deck with one mana cyclers from any color, you only need a few cards that don’t have Cycling. However, actually building the Cycling deck can be very difficult because it is nothing like a normal limited deck.

First and foremost, you need way less lands to make the deck work. You’re aiming for 15-20 cards with cycling, which means that since you’ll be drawing so many extra cards you won’t have too much trouble hitting land drops, even when you’re only playing fourteen. Keep in mind, this means that splashing is nearly impossible in the cycling deck. You need every land to produce red or white since on average you’ll only be playing 6-7 of each. The only time I ever consider splashing is in the Cycling mirror match, where I need to cast Memory Leak in order to stop a late game Zenith Flare from killing me.

That brings us to the most important card in the archetype and one of if not the best limited uncommons of all time (maybe Pestilence is a better card and it’s a common, but that’s up for debate). Having one Zenith Flare in your Cycling deck is essential since because you draw most of your deck, you’ll almost always find it. By the time you do find it, it will be for 10+ damage, which is absolutely backbreaking for four mana. I take Zenith Flare over pretty much everything pack one pick one, and you should be doing the same if you want to easily win some Ikoria Drafts.

Simic Mutate / Five-Color Green

Pollywog Symbiote Art by Simon Dominic
Pollywog Symbiote Art by Simon Dominic

There are good Mutate creatures in every color, but Simic has the best synergies and payoffs. Here are the key commons and uncommons: Auspicious Starix, Archipelagore, Migratory Greathorn, Ivy Elemental, Pollywog Symbiote, Pouncing Shoreshark, Almighty Brushwag, Essence Symbiote, Dreamtail Heron, Farfinder, Fertilid, Boneyard Lurker, Lore Drakkis, Thieving Otter, Trumpetting Gnarr, Parcelbeast, and Primal Empathy.

Keep in mind that Migratory Greathorn, Farfinder, and Fertilid make it easy to splash in this archetype and allow you to snap up any of the multicolored Apex Predators that tend to go late because they’re hard to cast. Creatures with +1/+1 counters or with powerful effects when they hit the opponent work especially well with Mutate. Curving Thieving Otter into Dreamtail Heron for example is an incredibly powerful start.

With the Mutate deck it’s important to see the archetype as the multicolored green strategy of the set, which means that you need to prioritize powerful single color pip cards like Fire Prophecy, Blood Curdle, Chittering Harvester, Heartless Act, and Back for More.

Also keep in mind that every Human is way worse in the Mutate deck than any other deck. Humble Naturalist for example looks pretty good and seems to play well in the archetype, but ultimately is underwhelming in practice.

Also I know that Mysterious Egg in theory works with Mutate, but you want all your creatures to be good on their own. The egg is just too weak on it’s own and I would much rather be Mutating on to Thieving Otter, Essence Symbiote or some other creature that does something when I don’t draw my Mutate creatures with it.

Also keep in mind that Keep Safe is an especially potent sideboard card in this strategy versus removal heavy decks.

Izzet Spells

Pyroceratops Art by Jason A. Engle
Pyroceratops Art by Jason A. Engle

Most limited sets as of late have had Izzet’s play pattern be spell based aggro. It’s no different here with the key cards for this archetype being: Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor, Pyroceratops, Ferocious Tigorilla, Rumbling Rockslide, Spelleater Wolverine, Flame Spill, Lore Drakkis, and Sprite Dragon.

Izzet in Ikoria is loosely based around spells but is more so just an amalgamation of powerful, aggressively slanted Izzet cards. Spelleater Wolverine is a lot better in Izzet Spells and Cycling than it would be in other sets because of how easy it is to give it Double Strike just by Cycling 1-2 spells. Izzet just combines good threats and removal in order to tempo the opponent out, so it’s one of the easiest archetypes to draft.

Orzhov Humans

Dire Tactics Art by Daarken
Dire Tactics Art by Daarken

I know that a lot of players love this archetype, but I’ve found it to be very easy to end up with a subpar deck if you don’t get the powerful human payoff uncommons.

Dire Tactics, Bastion of Remembrance, Grimdancer, General’s Enforcer, Sanctuary Lockdown, Swallow Whole, Checkpoint Officer, Pacifism, Mutual Destruction, Nightsquad Commando, Patagia Tiger, and Perimeter Sergeant are all solid.

Keep in mind that Grimdancer may not be a human but is just way too good to not take early, even in the Humans deck. It’s important for this archetype and general limited success to always value the busted uncommons and removal over worse cards that synergize well with your deck. Going wide with a bunch of humans and Sanctuary Lockdown is disgusting though and makes it feel like you’re locking your opponent out with Opposition. I don’t love Humans because it can be risky to draft, but when it comes together it’s one of the most powerful things you can be doing.

Golgari Reanimator

Back for More Art by Daarken
Back for More Art by Daarken

This archetype is moreso a Golgari Mutate deck than a Reanimator deck, but I digress.

You can do some really fun and powerful stuff with some of the key uncommons here. The good removal and Mutate creatures are of course good, but this archetype banks heavily on Unbreakable Bond and Back for More. That’s a huge issue since both tend to go rather early, which makes living the dream of reanimating a Void Reckoner or Titanoth Rex very unlikely. However, there’s always a chance you get to live the dream and get an 11/11 Trample Lifelinker!

No need to fear though, Golgari Mutate has some of the best early creatures to Mutate on like Zagoth Mamba, Boot Nipper, and the good ol’ Almighty Brushwag. Black also competes well with blue in the powerful mutate creature department since Insatiable Hemophage, Chittering Harvester, and Cavern Whisperer are all very good. With all these great black Mutate creatures and green color fixers I often find myself going Sultai, so don’t expect to be a two color Mutate deck often. Not to mention that Dirge Bat is one of the best rares and slots perfectly into this archetype, so expect to be pushed into a more black based version of the Mutate deck if you open it.

Companion Archetypes and Rankings

Gyruda, Doom of Depths Art by Tyler Jacobson
Gyruda, Doom of Depths Art by Tyler Jacobson

Here’s my order of the Companions from best to worst in draft. Some can be built around which I will go into, and others can basically just be included for free. Yorion, Sky Nomad has been nearly impossible for me to get to work as a Companion, so I usually just take it with the intention of playing it in the main deck. Starting the game with an extra spell is unbelievably powerful, so trust me when I say the hoops you have to jump through to play most of these Companions is worth the deck building constraint.

  1. Lutri, the Spellchaser
  2. Lurrus of the Dream-Den
  3. Obosh, the Preypiercer
  4. Gyruda, Doom of Depths
  5. Keruga, the Macrosage
  6. Jegantha, The Wellspring
  7. Kaheera, the Orphanguard
  8. Zirda, the Dawnwaker
  9. Umori, the Collector

Lutri, the Spellchaser is usually pretty free to play and is able to copy removal, which is fantastic. Jegantha, the Wellspring is similar in that it is easy to include but is way less powerful than Lutri. I really dislike Umori, the Collector because a limited deck that contains all creatures is destined to fail because it has no removal which means no way to push creatures through any powerful threat that the opponent plays.

Lurrus is my favorite Companion to build around and is incredibly powerful, so if you open one, buckle up and get ready for a wild ride of a draft. Your goal is to use cheap creatures, removal, and creature recursion to grind the opponent into dust with Lurrus. Cards like Springjaw Trap and Serrated Scorpion go from mediocre to fantastic when you have Lurrus recurring them and killing the opponent while you’re gaining value. What’s most important in this archetype is creature recursion effects like Call of the Death-Dweller and Corpse Churn, which ensure that you have constant access to Lurrus. 

Obosh is powerful like Lurrus and uses some of the same cards to great effect. Unlike Gyruda who you often play just for the huge threat, you get way more out of Obosh when all your cards synergize with it. Springjaw Trap, Serrated Scorpion, Whisper Squad, Flamespill, Weaponize the Monsters, and Blazing Volley are all nuts when combined with Obosh. Modern day limited is also so full of playables that the odd restriction shouldn’t prevent you from getting enough playables. Companions may have been a miss in Constructed, but they spawned interesting new limited archetypes entirely on their own.

Despite Cycling being a little too good and Zenith Flare being miserable to play against, Ikoria is a fantastic limited format. Companions have allowed for the set to be both replayable and exciting since there’s always a chance that you open one and get to concoct a sweet brew that’s nothing like anything you could do in previous limited formats. Hopefully this basic breakdown helps improve your win rate and fingers crossed that you get the pleasure of opening and building around a bunch of these sweet Companions!

Happy drafting!

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Chris Kvartek
Chris Kvartek

While Chris Kvartek technically kicked off his career in 2012, he burst onto the scene in 2019 like few before him. With an early season Top Finish at Mythic Championship II and narrow miss for his second at Mythic Championship IV, Kvartek earned invitations to two more Mythic Championships through online qualifiers. He secured his second Top Finish of the season at Mythic Championship VII, and now this rising star must prove he can stay among the elite of professional Magic.

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