Table of Contents
Hey everyone! You would think that I would eventually run out of introductions for these, but one does not simply walk into a draft without knowing the archetypes. That’s right, it’s time for everyone’s favorite article (well at least my wife likes it) where I build archetype skeletons and discuss them for you.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of archetype skeletons, they are a wonderful tool to see what an average, but unspectacular version of a draft deck should look like. There are specific limits set on deck building because let’s be honest, it doesn’t do much good to build a nuts deck that might happen one draft out of the entire format.
In this case, I am going with one rare, five uncommons, and not more than two of any common.
As far as the mana bases go, I am keeping them static with eight of each basic land and a Shire Terrace. Keep in mind that is just for simplicity’s sake and in no way, shape, or form condones that as a legitimate mana base. There are plenty of times where you don’t want Shire Terrace and obviously your mana base is fluid based off your needs. The only times I will mess with it are when Many Partings is involved.
The Lord of the Rings (LTR) Limited Guides
- Tier List - Updated!
- Draft Guide - New!
- Jump Into Middle-earth - New!
- Removal Guide
- Archetypes Guide and Example Decks
- Underperformers and Overperformers
- Combos and Synergies
- Mechanics Guide
- Prerelease and Sealed Guide
- White Review
- Blue Review
- Black Review
- Red Review
- Green Review
- Artifacts, Lands, and Multicolor (Part 1)
- Artifacts, Lands, and Multicolor (Part 2)
Azorius
The intended theme for the Azorius deck is supposed to be based around draw two triggers and humans. Strangely enough, there aren’t really any good payoffs for it outside of Prince Imrahil the Fair. I don’t mind drawing extra cards (I do think that is relevant in a lower power level set), but it makes it less of a focus.
This was by far the longest I spent on an archetype and I’m pretty sure that I could tinker around with it for a very long time. I just kept feeling like it didn’t quite get there and even as it is, I’m still not happy with it. Time will tell whether it is the archetype’s fault or if I’m just missing something.
Since you are mostly planning on winning by attacking, I included multiple ways to group pump in Eagles of the North and Esquire of the King.
For the rare, I went with Faramir, Prince of Ithilien because it goes wide all on its own or draws you extra cards. Either way is a great outcome.
LTR Skeleton Azorius
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (17)
Instants (2)
40 Cards
$13.44
Orzhov
The Orzhov deck is based around going wide with various forms of tokens while winning an attrition war. In this case we have plenty of ways to pay that off with Denethor, Ruling Steward and Mirkwood Bats pinging away at their life total while Rosie Cotton of South Lane pumps up the jams all around.
My initial build, where I threw in all the good cards and cut from there, ended up mono black splashing Shadow Summoning and Denethor. The most likely explanation is that a lot of the black cards are just generically good in everything while a lot of the white cards need more synergistic pieces. While that build appeared superior, it’s going to come up far less often than a normal Orzhov build like this.
I went with Call of the Ring for the rare because getting to name a Ring-Bearer every turn is really beneficial with your pile of tokens while also providing a card advantage engine.
LTR Skeleton Orzhov
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Sorceries (7)
Enchantments (1)
40 Cards
$17.72
Boros
The Boros deck is a go wide humans deck which looks to bring the heat straight at your opponent. Erkenbrand, Lord of Westfold and Theoden, King of Rohan get crazy with the triggers for humans coming into play. Luckily neither of them say non-token so you get two triggers off of Rally at the Hornburg which also plays double duty by giving all of your humans (aka your whole deck) haste until EoT.
I went with Flowering of the White Tree as the rare because a two mana Glorious Anthem can put in some serious work when you’re going this wide. Oh yeah, I can’t forget about legends getting even bigger and ward too.
LTR Skeleton Boros
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Instants (2)
Artifacts (1)
Enchantments (1)
40 Cards
$18.59
Selesnya
It’s a hobbit party up in here so you know they brought the food. Selesnya is a low to the ground food deck which is perfect for them. Rosie Cotton of South Lane makes the other hobbits go nuts as Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Samwise Gamgee ensure that the food keeps coming.
You can fill the best bois Mushroom Watchdogs up with treats as they destroy anything in their way. Second Breakfast is another way to lead to a nice blowout with, of course, even more food thrown in.
For the rare, I went with Samwise Gamgee for the extra food production and ability to bring back one of his hobbit buddies or Bill the Pony
LTR Skeleton Selesnya
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Artifacts (1)
40 Cards
$16.02
Dimir
The Dimir deck is based around amass control. Basically, play a pile of removal along with a bunch of potential two for ones while you slowly take over the game. I do have to warn you about going too hog wild on the amass because it is vulnerable to removal. Use it in moderation so you can have something back.
Pelargir Survivor gives you some mana acceleration for your instants and sorceries as well as a second black for Claim the Precious when you need it. Its also a great Ring-Bearer blocker and provides the option to mill them out late.
I went with Rangers of Ithilien for the rare because the only thing better than killing your opponent’s creatures is stealing them.
LTR Skeleton Dimir
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (12)
Sorceries (8)
40 Cards
$13.79
Izzet
I would be really ashamed of myself if I used the “Izzet a spells deck?” intro again. Of course, the answer is once again yes. I went with an almost creatureless deck here with the exceptions being Pelargir Survivor and Saruman the White. Saruman is mostly there as a big body that can pay you off for double spelling while durdling around. It also has the chance that you could get two modes of Flame of Anor.
This deck uses Gandalf's Sanction similar to a Zenith Flare to hit them in the face for a ridiculous amount (after killing a random 1/1 or something). If that doesn’t work out, you can use Treason of Isengard to bring it right back for round two. Optimally you would have more than one of them, but we’re dealing with limits here.
Erebor Flamesmith was a consideration and I think it would make the cut in a lot of versions. I just wanted to keep the spell count up. Keeping the creature count low also makes opposing Glorious Gales and Stern Scoldings much worse.
LTR Skeleton Izzet
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (9)
Sorceries (11)
40 Cards
$20.13
Simic
Simic is based around scrying because supposably elves have a thing for looking into the future or something of the sort. My look into the future shows this as being a very enjoyable deck to do crazy things with.
This deck scrys so much that it is almost impossible to get flooded with and it can start going crazy with
It was a difficult decision between Elrond, Master of Healing and Galadriel of Lothlorien for the rare. Honestly either one is great here, but I went with Elrond because I didn’t have to put a bunch of “the ring tempts you” cards in to maximize its value.
LTR Skeleton Simic
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (16)
Instants (5)
Sorceries (2)
40 Cards
$13.43
Rakdos
Rakdos is based around amass aggro backed up by the expected removal suite from these colors. There are a lot of quality cards available in this combination and I could see many builds including one leaning a bit into sacrifice.
I really wanted to get March from the Black Gate in there along with a bunch of other uncommons, but I’m dealing with limitations here. These colors are so stacked that you can’t really go too wrong, but optimizing your builds could be difficult.
I choose There and Back Againas the rare because I couldn’t resist the potential for those fourteen treasures to hit play with Mirkwood Bats out. Now that’s spicy!
LTR Skeleton Rakdos
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (12)
Instants (2)
Sorceries (6)
Enchantments (3)
40 Cards
$17.57
Golgari
This is Gollum’s time to shine as Golgari is filled with that special kind of self-loathing. One of the key combos in this is land cycling Generous Ent or Troll of Khazad-dum to bring back with Rise of the Witch-king. Preferably sacrificing something like the amass token you got off of a Mordor Muster while they lose a real card.
While Many Partings is a fine card for the land search, in this case it also provides food to sacrifice to Old Man Willow when you aren’t in need of that extra life. Between those and the three land cyclers, it is fine to drop down to fifteen lands.
I went with Smeagol, Helpful Guide because it combos so well with the sacrifice theme and even lets you ramp from stealing lands out of your opponent’s deck.
LTR Skeleton Golgari
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Instants (1)
Sorceries (9)
40 Cards
$14.18
Gruul
The theme of Gruul is power matters which basically means that you play very large critters and turn them sideways. I may have gone a bit overboard on the extra-large critters, but you have plenty of ways to retrigger Quickbeam, Upstart Ent in here.
Your biggest question is probably why do I have two Mirrormere Guardian in the deck. There is a surprising lack of good common three drops in these colors and you have some cheap ways to clear the way so it can get in. It also combos with Strider, Ranger of the North by turning it into a 5/3 with first strike.
I choose Doors of Durin for the rare because I have heard a lot of debate about it with some extreme takes in either direction. I think it has potential to be nuts in a creature heavy deck with an emphasis on the chonkers.
LTR Skeleton Gruul
by j2sjosh
Limited
best of 1
0 mythic
1 rare
5 uncommon
34 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (17)
Artifacts (1)
40 Cards
$15.22
Wrap Up
My major takeaway from this exercise is that it felt super easy building anything with Grixis colors, but everything else was a bit of a struggle. You may be able to take advantage of that in the early days of the set before it self corrects.
Thanks for reading! We finally made it to Mount Doom! Do you drop the ring into the volcano or do you combine it with this knowledge to become the new dark lord? The choice is yours.
Don’t worry though, I’ll be back this week to make updates as we go along. Until then, stay classy people!
I’m always open to feedback, let me know what you loved, what you hated, or just send dog pics. You can contact me at:
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j2sjosh
Articles: 303More Articles
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Draft Guide
Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Over and Underperformers Guide
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR) Limited Tier List
Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Combos and Synergies Guide
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Limited Removal Guide (Early Data)
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Limited Mechanics Guide
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Limited Set Review: Multicolor Cards Part 2
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Prerelease and Sealed Guide
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Limited Set Review: Artifacts, Lands, and Multicolor Part 1
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Limited Set Review: Green
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Limited Set Review: Red
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Limited Set Review: Black
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Limited Set Review: Blue
