Changes in the Type 2 atmosphere with Fifth Dawn

[Maraxus of Keld]

How do you think the release of Fifth Dawn will affect Type 2? Will Ravager Affinity be weakened? How about Goblin Bidding? Will there be any new deck archetypes?

[Baron Sengir]

Better belive it.

[Maraxus of Keld]

Any predictions on new deck types?

I think five-color green is definitely a viable possibility, probably the only way any of the Bringers are going to be tourney playable. Possibly grind; I'd like to think that my blue grinder deck could pull it off, but I'm not really sure.

[Maraxus of Keld]

Well, I can't get five-color green to consistently beat affinity, even without Ravager. Not really sure how if at all Ravager affinity will be challenged by Fifth Dawn. I imagine Cranial Plating will become a standard addition to affinity, although it seems to me to work better with Broodstar than with Arcbound Ravager, just as Ravager works better with Disciple of the Vault. Maybe we will see a resurgence of Broodstar Affinity decks?

I could see an Eon Hub deck being viable, based on getting it into play quickly, possibly with Reshape, and using cards like Cosmic Larva that aren't otherwise viable. Not really sure at this point.

[Volrath, the Fallen]

i think Broodstar affinity will be back to challenge Ravagers. i'd just run a deck with both....

[Maraxus of Keld]

Probably better to choose between them. Broodstar and Ravager work on opposing concepts; the stronger you make one, the weaker the other is. And like I said, Cranial Plating works better with Broodstar because you keep the artifacts in play, but Ravager works with Disciple because you get 2 for 1 on sacrificing artifacts.

Looks to me like Broodstar affinity comes out a little stronger overall, but still loses speed to Ravager.

[Maraxus of Keld]

I expect that Goblin Bidding decks will add Plunge Into Darkness to their repertoire.

[Maraxus of Keld]

Well, I thought I'd go ahead and post a few of the differences that Fifth Dawn has made that I know of.

Krark-Clan Ironworks has become the centerpiece of a Tier-2 deck. Overall, it hasn't been as powerful as people thought it would be.
There are two variations of Ironworks deck: those that win by using KCI to fuel a big Fireball, and those that use it to power Myr Incubator, flush out all the artifact lands from the deck, and finish the opponent with Goblin Charbelcher. The Belcher variant is more consistent, but still not a match for Tooth and Nail decks or Raffinity most of the time.

Speaking of Tooth and Nail, I have seen a variant of the deck that uses it to bring in, instead of Platinum Angel and Leonin Abunas, a Bringer of the White Dawn to combine with Mindslaver for infinite control of opponent's turns. The other creature to come out can be whatever (in this case it was Darksteel Colossus).

Eternal Witness has become the other chase uncommon, as it's part of a Crystal Witness deck with Crystal Shard to fetch things like Solemn Simulacrum out of the graveyard over and over. I'm not too clear on how this deck works because I've never seen it in action.

If anybody else knows how Fifth Dawn has affected the Type 2 scene, feel free to add to my comments here (or disagree with them if you know better).

[Volrath, the Fallen]

Aether Vial is played a lot in Raffinity. It is usually left at 2 counters to play Ravagers or Stingers

[Maraxus of Keld]

I myself am not convinced of its utility, but the Vial seems to have filled in the 4 slots that Skullclamp vacated.

[DontCare]

nothing is going to happen to Affinity infact its going to get even better and t&n is going to be good

[Baron Sengir]

Affinity isn't going away until the Mirrodin block is rotated out is my guess. I just hope the future Kamigawa sets stop that.

[Maraxus of Keld]

Hopefully people will get bored of it and start trying out other things.