25 EDH Archetypes Plus Example Decks

Last updated on April 23, 2024

Warp World | Illustration by Ron Spencer

“Archetype” is a somewhat nebulous term in Magic. Most players understand what “control” or “aggro” means, but terms like “aristocrats,” “group slug,” and “superfriends” aren’t immediately obvious to newer players. Today I’m compiling a non-exhaustive list of some of the most popular archetypes for Commander, through these descriptors can be mixed and matched within the same decks.

Quick note: This isn’t a deckbuilding exercise or commentary on what’s optimal in Commander or not. The decklists are just here to highlight what kinds of cards you can expect in a given archetype. Plus, many of the decklists provided come from my own personal collection, and I only have so many Triomes and fetch lands, so cut me some slack.

Note: deck archetypes are numbered for clarity but not ranked.

#25. Ramp

Topiary Stomper | Illustration by Robin Olausson

Starting off with some of the broader macro-archetypes, ramp decks look to accelerate mana in the first few turns and drop haymakers and finishers way ahead of schedule.

While most green decks run some number of Rampant Growth effects, ramp decks usually play a large quantity of mana dorks like Birds of Paradise to kick off as soon as possible. They often forego mid-game 4-drops and 5-drops to load up on early ramp spells and late-game closers.

What better way to highlight a ramp deck than with Magic’s very own Veloci-Ramp-Tor precon (their name, not mine)? It’s a dinosaur-themed deck, which means a large number of expensive creatures. The package of Rampant Growth, Farseek, and Migration Path is a clear indication of a dedicated ramp strategy.

#24. Aggro

Adeline, Resplendent Cathar | Illustration by Bryan Sola

Aggro is a macro-archetype that simply means you’re trying to kill your opponents with damage as quickly as possible. Whether you do that through combat or burn spells, you want to start attacking as soon as you can.

Aggro decks play to the board heavily and can be vulnerable to board wipes, so it’s important to play the most efficient threats you can at every point on the curve. The list provided is an Adeline, Resplendent Cathar deck that was developed for MTG Arena’s Brawl format, but it could easily be adapted to paper Commander with a few easy changes. You’ll notice the deck has an extremely high number of 1-drops and nothing that costs more than 4 mana since it’s trying to wrap up games way before the turns where expensive spells would matter.

#23. Control

Nymris, Oona's Trickster | Illustration by Johannes Voss

Control is a reactive macro-archetype that wants to operate at instant speed and respond to what your opponents are doing. Control decks are usually much lighter on wincons and board presence, with more emphasis on interaction through counterspells, board wipes, and flash threats.

Control decks often have a combo element to them, biding time with interaction until the combo pieces can be assembled. This Nymris, Oona's Trickster decklist has a theme of casting spells during opponents’ turns, and it features almost exclusively instant-speed plays.

#22. Typal

The Ur-Dragon | Illustration by Jaime Jones

Typal decks reward you for biasing towards a single creature type. It’s one of the most popular Commander archetypes, especially with first-time deck-builders, with many of the most popular commanders in the game being typal payoffs.

Herold's Horn

Generic typal support pieces like Herald's Horn and Cavern of Souls are perfect for these decks, whether that be ninjas, zombies, elves, or something less popular like avatars and rebels. The decklist provided is a typical The Ur-Dragon build, with a mix of generic typal support and more specific dragons-matter cards.

#21. Tokens/Go-Wide

Kasla, the Broken Halo | Illustration by Martina Fackova

Go-wide decks want to flood the board with creatures and use Overrun or Impact Tremors style effects to turn an army of creatures into a victory. They don’t have to be token decks, but it’s hard to reach critical mass of creatures without doing some sort of token shenanigans.

These decks make cards like Parallel Lives and Mondrak, Glory Dominus staples in the format.

While go-wide strategies are usually associated with the color pair, I’ve linked to the Divine Convocation precon from March of the Machine Commander because it’s a cool spin on the archetype. Instead of trying to win with a Craterhoof Behemoth, it uses its token generators to fuel convoke spells, particularly instants that can be played when you’re technically tapped out to catch opponents off guard.

#20. Counters

Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener | Illustration by Mila Pesic

You can build a deck around just about any well-supported type of counter, whether that’s poison counters, charge counters, -1/-1 counters, and so on. The overwhelming majority of counter decks focus on +1/+1 counters, with an endless wave of support for the archetype.

There are tons of Hardened Scales and Branching Evolution force multipliers for +1/+1 counter decks, with new support pieces in just about every new Magic set. The decklist is an upgraded version of the Call for Backup precon, using the backup mechanic as a basis for a +1/+1 counter deck that’s trying to make enormous threats and kill opponents through sheer combat damage.

#19. Lifegain

Liesa, Shroud of Dusk | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

As the name suggests, lifegain decks want to increase their life total and trigger lifegain payoffs like Sanguine Bond or Dawn of Hope. They’re naturally harder to kill due to their artificially higher life total, and they often feature one-shot wincons like Aetherflux Reservoir and Felidar Sovereign.

The list here comes from user Gangus on Moxfield and uses lifegain effects to counteract the life loss effects on Liesa, Shroud of Dusk. The deck also features a small angel-typal package and several other punisher-style effects that amplify Liesa’s damage output, making sure it’s always ahead on the damage race.

#18. Superfriends

Commodore Guff | Illustration by Matt Stewart

Superfriends is shorthand for “planeswalkers matter.” These have a bit of a stigma against them since they can take long, complicated turns and often extend the length of games due to players attacking planeswalkers instead of players. They also frequently load up on board wipes as a means to keep creatures from threatening their ‘walkers.

Magic released its first superfriends deck with the Planeswalker Party precon as part of the Commander Masters line-up. Whereas the average Commander deck probably runs 0-2 planeswalkers, this precon jammed in just shy of 20, with plenty of ways to protect them and get extra loyalty activations.

#17. Recursion/Graveyard

Dauthi Voidwalker | Illustration by Sidharth Chaturvedi

This is a huge category that could honestly be broken down a bit more into sub-archetypes like reanimator, self-mill, and small-ball recursion decks. Regardless of the specific strategy, graveyard-centric decks want to put as many cards in their graveyard as possible, treating it like a second hand of cards. Some of the most broken plays in Magic involve using the graveyard as a resource, and most decks naturally have some sort of recursive element to them.

This decklist comes from Mulciber113 on Archidekt and combines elements of reanimator, self-mill, and recursion packages to form a multi-faceted deck that can tailor its gameplan to whatever’s happening in the current game. “Graveyard Shenanigans” seems like an appropriate title for this entire category of archetypes.

#16. Landfall

Tatyova, Steward of Tides | Illustration by Howard Lyon

“Landfall” is used as a way of identifying any lands-matter deck. They don’t necessarily rely on landfall permanents, but they all share the goal of using lands beyond just tapping for mana. Whether that’s fueling Scute Swarm or creating a card-draw engine with The Gitrog Monster, landfall decks feature more utility lands than the average deck.

This Moxfield deck by GilderBairn takes a more controlling approach to a lands-matter deck with asymmetrical board wipes that don’t bounce creature lands. You’ll also notice a slightly higher land count than normal, and more emphasis on land-based ramp than artifact-based ramp, which are both common features of lands decks.

#15. Aristocrats/Sacrifice

Nethroi, Apex of Death | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

Players usually refer to creature sacrifice decks as “aristocrats” decks, a moniker coined by Sam Black, who piloted a well-known sacrifice-themed deck centered around Falkenrath Aristocrat and Cartel Aristocrat.

These decks usually feature three key elements: sacrifice outlets, sacrifice fodder, and sacrifice payoffs in the form of death triggers. It’s the best home for Blood Artist and friends, and sometimes features combo loops as part of its strategy. The Nethroi, Apex of Death deck is full of redundant pieces in each of the main categories.

#14. Voltron

Geist of Saint Traft | Illustration by Igor Kieryluk

A Voltron strategy focuses all its attention on building up one unstoppable threat and having that be your main wincon. Voltron strategies often rely on hexproof or indestructible creatures to ward off interaction, and they use equipment, auras, and/or +1/+1 counters to enhance that threat. These decks can be soft to certain kinds of removal and often draw the attention of opponents since they often play the role of the aggressor.

The decklist provided uses Geist of Saint Traft as a reliable early-game hexproof threat that piles on damage with a toolbox of equipment for different situations.

#13. Group Hug

Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis | Illustration by Willian Murai

Group Hug players just want everyone to have a good time. This strategy includes cards and effects that benefit multiple players. Howling Mine effects are a hallmark of group hug decks, though most of these decks also feature ways to punish players.

It’s the perfect political strategy for Commander, since you usually have more to offer other players in exchange for a reprieve from attacks or removal. It’s best to have control over your group hug cards though. If you just play completely universal effects that benefit everyone equally, the player with the strongest deck is often going to come out on top.

Though severely outdated, 2018’s Stalwart Unity precon is exactly what a typical group hug deck looks like, full of cards like Veteran Explorer and Humble Defector, but also sneaking in wincons like Psychosis Crawler and Keening Stone (severely outdated). To this day, Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis remains one of the most balanced and definitive group hug commanders.

#12. Group Slug

Mogis, God of Slaughter | Illustration by Peter Mohrbacher

Group Slug players just want everyone to have a bad time. The antithesis of group hug, group slug players seek pain. This strategy attacks players’ resources, which often includes the group slug player themselves. Sulfuric Vortex and Painful Quandary are examples of group slug cards that sap players of their resources, whether that’s life, board presence, or cards in hand.

I’ve pulled a Group Slug decklist from fellow Draftsim writer A.L. Walser that exemplifies this playstyle perfectly. The commander’s mean, the cards are mean, and the entire premise of the deck is making sure players are dying, even if that means taking damage from your own cards.

#11. Chaos

Okaun, Eye of Chaos | Illustration by Yongjae Choi

True chaos decks are ones that maximize the randomness of the game by casting spells with huge splashy effects that don’t necessarily have a specific goal in mind. Chaos players are often less interested in winning and more focused on creating wild game states and memorable moments that don’t happen in a typical game.

Warp World is the quintessential chaos card, basically swapping everything on the board with a random arrangement of other cards that no one really has any agency in choosing. It’s also very common to see a coin-flip element incorporated into chaos decks, making Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom and Okaun, Eye of Chaos the most popular commanders for the archetype.

In the spirit of chaos, I generated a completely random decklist featuring chaos cards all mashed together. That comes courtesy of EDHREC’s “Average Deck” tool, so it’s more of an amalgamation of every chaos deck listed on their website. Is it functional? Who cares, it’s chaotic!

#10. Blink/Flicker

Lagrella, the Magpie | Illustration by Donato Giancola

Blink decks are two-parters that look to combine powerful ETBs with effects that let you reuse them.

They usually end up being value piles that draw tons of cards with things like Mulldrifter or Coiling Oracle, using repeatable blink effects like Soulherder and Teleportation Circle to turn those ETBs into a value engine.

The decklist here doesn’t have a concrete plan it’s trying to enact. Instead, it’s attempting to accrue so much value through ETB creatures that it just buries its opponents in card draw and options. Blink decks often cut back on removal spells since most of their interaction is tied to creature ETBs, though you still need a few Disenchant effects to make sure you’re not completely dead to a Torpor Orb.

#9. Spellslinger

Kraum, Ludevic's Opus | Illustration by Aaron Miller

Spellslinger decks usually feature a low creature count in favor of instants and sorceries, sometimes just non-creature spells in general. This is an A+B archetype that combines spells with spell payoffs.

Your Ponders and Brainstorms are already solid in most decks, but they’re even better when they’re triggering cards like Guttersnipe or Archmage Emeritus.

The decklist here comes from user KitKatBars on Moxfield, with a spellslinger deck that focuses on flashback and casting spells from the graveyard. While this deck features a fairly high number of creatures, it showcases the types of payoffs you can expect from the spellslinger archetype.

#8. Enchantress

Anikthea, Hand of Erebos | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Enchantress is all about enchantments. What a twist!

These decks have a much higher-than-usual enchantment count, using cards like Argothian Enchantress and Enchantress's Presence as payoffs.

Enchantress decks often feature a pillow-fort element, stacking effects like Ghostly Prison and Sphere of Resistance to ward off combat. The decklist featured here comes from GibButtkins98 on Moxfield and uses Anikthea, Hand of Erebos as a value commander combined with constellation cards, pillow-fort enchantments, and all the typical enchantress card advantage engines.

#7. Affinity/Artifacts

Armix, Filigree Thrasher | Illustration by Daniel Ljunggren

The analog to enchantress decks, artifact decks, sometimes nicknamed “affinity decks,” are exactly what they sound like. They use artifacts as a central theme of the deck, though that covers a wide array of different mini-archetypes, like equipment or vehicles. It’s the most popular deck archetype according to EDHREC. Basically, take any other archetype you can think of, slap artifact onto its name, and you have a viable sub-archetype.

The decklist here has most of the elements you can expect from an artifact deck, regardless of color identity. It has sac outlets, tutors, ramp spells, and wincons, all of which are tailored specifically towards artifacts.

#6. Infect

Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt | Illustration by Viktor Titov

Everyone’s fave. Infect refers to any deck that’s trying to win with poison as an alternate wincon.

While many players associate infect with Blightsteel Colossus, Tainted Strike, or Triumph of the Hordes, those are cards that win independently of an actual infect strategy, and they’ve kind of sullied the strategy as a whole for many players.

A true infect deck loads up on infect/toxic creatures and proliferate effects. Those creatures are often woefully under-stated, so you’ll need evasion and pump effects to try and push through as much poison damage as possible.

The list provided is a powered-down infect deck that combines poison creatures with a mutate package. It’s intentionally weaker than your average Commander deck to accommodate for people’s disgust towards poison, though it can still pull of some exciting wins.

#5. Stax

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician | Illustration by Michael Komarck

Stax derives its name from the card Smokestack, which should be an indication of how these decks play out. They aren’t really interested in anyone having fun; instead, they want to lock players out of certain game actions, either by cutting off access to mana or punishing certain types of cards and colors.

Be warned that Stax decks are typically frowned upon at casual tables. People don’t really sit down to play Magic in the hopes of not playing Magic, so you should probably save your Stax deck for a table of players you know well or for a more competitive setting.

The Stax list presented comes from an Anonymous user on MTGGoldfish. It’s lead by the infamous Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, using its ability to untap permanents to play around lockdown pieces like Stasis and Winter Orb while opponents struggle to get enough mana to do anything. The list is from 2018 and would likely look different if rebuilt today, but it captures the essence of what Stax decks want to do.

#4. Theft Decks

Evelyn, the Covetous | Illustration by Marta Nael

Theft decks want to turn their opponents’ decks against themselves. The strategy revolves around borrowing creatures and spells from your opponents and using them to your advantage.

Some versions rely on Threaten effects which steal creatures temporarily, while others use abilities like the one on Gonti, Lord of Luxury to “draw” cards from opposing decks.

This Evelyn, the Covetous list features very few wincons of its own. It’s heavy on interaction, but otherwise relies on the opponents’ best cards to win the game instead.

#3. Paradox

The Thirteenth Doctor | Illustration by Pauline Voss

The term paradox comes from the mechanic of the same name introduced in Doctor Who. While the mechanic itself is pretty general, there now exist quite a few cards that reward players from casting spells from zones other than their hands, usually from exile.

These make for very popular cards, with some notable commanders being Prosper, Tome-Bound, Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald, and Vega, the Watcher. The Paradox Power precon is a perfect showcase of just how many different mechanics in Magic work with this type of strategy.

#2. Legends Matter/Historic

Dihada, Binder of Wills | Illustration by Nestor Ossandon Leal

Legendary-matters decks are easier to build than they’ve ever been. Legendary spells and payoffs are a key part of so many new sets that you can build legends-matter decks across a variety of different color pairs without much overlap.

The strategy often boils down to “legendary good-stuff,” though you might incorporate a historic theme into these decks since legendary cards are indeed historic. The Dihada, Binder of Wills precon has a fair amount of fluff and filler, but it’s easily customizable and highlights exactly how a legends-matter deck tends to look.

#1. Mill

Phenax, God of Deception | Illustration by Ryan Barger

Another fan-favorite. Self-mill is its own sub-category of graveyard decks, but real mill decks are trying to put their opponents to zero cards in library. Like infect, mill is loathed by many players, even though it’s really just as viable of a strategy as any other and often backfires (most decks benefit from having more cards in their graveyard).

The list comes from username vantharion on Moxfield. It features a small flash package to play control (mill decks often incorporate a control plan), and a healthy number of untap effects that work specifically with Phenax, God of Deception. You’ll notice an abundance of graveyard hate to mitigate the risk of milling graveyard strategies and other opponents into valuable recurrable pieces.

Commanding Conclusion

Yasmin Khan | Illustration by Andrey Kuzinskiy

Today I learned how long it takes to type up 25 different Commander decklists. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration since I recycled some precon lists I already had on my computer. Let’s call it a paltry 20 then. Either way, hopefully you learned something new here or reinforced something you already knew.

Just to reiterate, this isn’t a list of every archetype in Commander, but it encompasses the majority of the most widely-played strategies, with overlap between them, and plenty that split off into their own subsets of micro-archetypes.

I tried to be representative of the major players and deck classifications, but thankfully I have you, the reader, to check behind me. If I missed a key archetype that should’ve been mentioned, or if you have any particular favorites you want to chat about, let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

Thank you for making Draftsim your #1 stop for all things Magic!