Ixalan Draft Pick Orders



Hi everyone, this weekend is a triple Grand Prix weekend. Grand Prix Hong Kong, Grand Prix Phoenix, and Grand Prix Liverpool are Ixalan Limited events, so today I would like to discuss three of my favorite draft archetypes and share the pick order list.These are also the decks I've drafted the most often and those that I have the most experience with.



If you are attending one of these Grand Prix, maybe this article can help you out a little in Day 2!





White-Black Vampires



One of the reasons for drafting White-Black Vampires is that you open one of the Vampire rares in your first booster or if someone passes you a mid to late pick Anointed Deacon. That card is simply great in the Vampire archetype. Here is my pick order list of the most important cards.

1) Legion's Landing

2) Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle

3) Vona, Butcher of Magan

4) Sanctum Seeker

5) Settle the Wreckage

6) Vraska's Contempt

7) Imperial Aerosaur

8) Pirate's Cutlass

9) Anointed Deacon

10) Vanquisher's Banner

11) Territorial Hammerskull

12) Adanto Vanguard

13) Bishop of Rebirth

14) Vampire's Zeal

15) Skulduggery

16) Kinjalli's Sunwing

17) Ixalan's Binding

18) Pious Interdiction

19) Walk the Plank

20) Call to the Feast

21) Vanquish the Weak

22) Duskborne Skymarcher

23) Bishop's Soldier

24) Skymarch Bloodletter

25) Paladin of the Bloodstained

26) Inspiring Cleric

27) Contract Killing

28) Skyblade of the Legion

29) Queen's Commission

30) Fathom Fleet Cutthroat

31) Bishop of the Bloodstained



Anointed Deacon is the biggest payoff card for Vampire. It allows you to boost up your small Vampires so that they can go into combat and has great synergy with token producers such as Queen's Commission and Call to the Feast. Having it pump lifelink Vampires makes racing a nightmare for your opponent.



I also value equipment like Pirate's Cutlass and combat tricks such as Vampire's Zeal and Skulduggery highly as it allows your tokens to attack pass or trade with your opponent, which is what you want to do. Fathom Fleet Cutthroat is also a good way of letting your 1/1 token trade up with a better creature. One tip is to be careful not overload with too many five-drops as there are a lot of five-drops for this archetype. Normally, the prefered number for me is 3.



White and Black also offer some of the best removal like Ixalan's Binding, Pious Interdiction, Vanquish the Weak, and Contract Killing. I think this is one of the best archetypes for Ixalan booster draft.







Red-White Good Stuff



Take note that I'm calling this color combination Red-White Good Stuff rather than Red-White Dinosaurs. This archetype focuses on having aggressive creatures backed up with combat tricks and removal but you want to pick cards based on their power level and focus less on tribal synergy.







1) Captivating Crew

2) Repeating Barrage

3) Imperial Aerosaur

4) Charging Monstrosaur

5) Legion's Landing

6) Settle the Wreckage

7) Territorial Hammerskull

8) Rampaging Ferocidon

9) Kinjalli's Sunwing

10) Captain Lannery Storm

11) Adanto Vanguard

12) Rowdy Crew

13) Bishop of Rebirth

14) Lightning Strike

15) Firecannon Blast

16) Vampire's Zeal

17) Pious Interdiction

18) Ixalan's Binding

19) Unfriendly Fire

20) Sky Terror

21) Bonded Horncrest

22) Bishop's Soldier

23) Emissary of Sunrise

24) Inspiring Cleric

25) Raptor Companion

26) Fathom Fleet Firebrand

27) Headstrong Brute

28) Raptor Hatchling

29) Sure Strike

30) Shining Aerosaur

31) Sheltering Light





Territorial Hammerskull is likely the most important common in this archetype. It allows you to tap their biggest threat and let your other creatures force damage through. You normally want to focus on a good early mana curve and many combat tricks like Vampire's Zeal and Sure Strike. You can fill up your curve with two five-drops like Shining Aerosaur.



Red and White also has many good removal spells at common, such as Firecannon Blast, Unfriendly Fire and Pious Interdiction. One thing that I found out is that Cobbled Wings is actually quite decent for this deck if you lack combat tricks. It helps you push a lot of damage.



Cards like Thrash of Raptors, Priest of the Wakening Sun and Pterodon Knight transform from average to great if you are drafting a more tribal version of Red-White. Thrash of Raptors is just so hard to race if you have it backed up with combat tricks. It is also very hard to race Priest of the Wakening Sun when you're gaining two life a turn as early as turn two.





Here are some cards which increase in value if you are in Red-White Dinosaurs:



1) Thrash of Raptors

2) Tilonalli's Knight

3) Priest of the Wakening Sun

4) Pterodon Knight







Blue-Green Merfolk



Merfolk is a tempo deck that uses bounce, tap effects or pump spells to push damage. Reading signals is very important when you are drafting Merfolk. I would normally draft Merfolk if I get passed Vineshaper Mystic, River Heralds' Boon or a late pick Kumena's Speaker as these cards are much more viable in a Merfolk deck. However, Vineshaper Mystic and River Heralds' Boon are just so broken in a good Merfolk deck. This is my pick order for drafting Blue-Green Merfolk.



1) River's Rebuke

2) Waker of the Wilds

3) Ripjaw Raptor

4) Entrancing Melody

5) Vineshaper Mystic

6) Deathgorge Scavenger

7) Dreamcaller Siren

8) Shapers of Nature

9) River Heralds' Boon

10) Jace, Cunning Castaway

11) Herald of Secret Streams (goes up with more River Heralds' Boon)

12) Daring Saboteur

13) Tempest Caller

14) Watertrap Weaver

15) Storm Fleet Aerialist

16) Merfolk Branchwalker

17) Kumena's Speaker

18) River Sneak

19) Deeproot Warrior

20) Shaper Apprentice

21) Tishana's Wayfinder

22) Jade Guardian

23) One with the Wind

24) Perilous Voyage

25) Carnage Tyrant

26) Emperor's Vanguard

27) Air Elemental

28) Snapping Sailback

29) Run Aground

30) Dive Down

31) Wind Strider







Curving out is very important for Merfolk. Normally the game you want is to have one or two drop into Watertrap Weaver and then pumping your merfolk with River herald's boon or Vineshaper Mystic. For two mana, River Heralds' Boon allows you to match the size of your opponent creatures and it being an instant makes it even more difficult for your opponent.



Tempest Caller is a great finisher to close the game. Fight spells like Pounce and Savage Stomp are not great in Merfolk compared to Dinosaur because your creatures are usually smaller.



One with the Wind is pretty good in Merfolk as it allows your small creatures to push damage in the late game. Some games can also be won by casting Jade Guardian and enchanting it with One with the Wind. This is a two-card combo which a lot of decks cannot beat. If you have multiple One with the Wind, playing Dive Down to protect your enchanted creature could also be an option.



I hope this article helps you understand more on drafting some of the key archetypes in Ixalan Limited. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and I will gladly answer them.



@kelvinch3w

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