2HG BASICS

In this primer we’ll review a few basic principles for approaching Two-Headed Giant and look at a few stand-out cards for the format. Let’s prepare for our collective escape from the underworld!

Deckbuilding

Power Level: In a Two-Headed Giant Prerelease you get to build with twice as many cards and share what you open with your teammate. Your team will get a total of two Prerelease packs, so 12 booster packs and two date-stamped rares. Decks will have a much higher card quality on average and you should be more selective while building.

Colors: It’s possible between both players to play all five colors. If one of your decks is in three colors you can theoretically play all the bombs you open. There is an argument for consistency over power, but your mana-fixing options will help dictate what’s possible. Don’t stretch your deck too thin and remember that games typically go longer. You’ll see more cards from your deck but you will be facing your opponents’ best cards as well!

Strategy: There are differing ideas about whether you and your teammate should both share a strategy (both aggressive or both controlling) or whether you should each be aiming for a different goal. The most important idea is that you each have a strategy. A good collection of cards without a cohesive plan is generally much less efficient and more likely to fall prey to a synergistic team on the other side of the table.

Evasion: With more creatures in play, board stalls can happen very quickly. Evasive creatures are critical! There are only two creatures with reach at common and one of them generally won’t be able to block ( Flummoxed Cyclops ) so be prepared to primarily engage fliers with other flying creatures. Wings of Hubris may be worth considering to keep your creatures in the skies.

Countermagic: Being able to shut down an enemy spell is twice as likely to happen with two spell-casting opponents. With stronger decks there are more must-answer bombs overall and the risk of devoting a turn to counter an enemy spell (say with Memory Drain ) is less problematic when your teammate helps advance the board. Even situational counterspells like Deny the Divine or Whirlwind Denial find their marks more often.