Every MTG player has their favourite formats. It’s Commander for many newer players, and then there’s Legacy and Modern for the old-timers. Personally I enjoy the idea of building decks and with a little twist – that’s where Limited formats (Sealed or Draft) come into the spotlight. While that may seem daunting to take a pile of random cards, build a deck and play some games, Wizards wants to bring the fun back to Limited formats.
For the month of October, Wizards of the Coast is sponsoring Collector Booster packs prizes to stores (Southeast Asia only) that run either Sealed or Draft events. If you were on the fence before, then this is the perfect time to dip your toes into a new format. And to help Limited newbies, Tap & Sac presents this quick cheat sheet on Wilds of Eldraine mechanics, which are going to come in very handy for any Limited event. Before that, here’s a quick intro into Sealed and a little bit more on the October Limited Festival:
As mentioned in our strategies for Draft gameplay, it’s very important to familiarise yourself with the cards in Wilds of Eldraine before you tackle a Limited event. Part of that familiarisation will mean understanding the new and returning mechanics of the set in question and figure out how to play them.
Bargain – Wilds of Eldraine Limited
Bargain is one of 2 new mechanics in Wilds of Eldraine that needs to be exploited in Limited games. Although Bargain requires you to Sacrifice either a Artifact, Enchantment or token, you’ll find that there’s plenty of available fodder in this. Firstly, Food tokens count as Artifacts, so while you may giving up on 3 life, triggering Bargain on certain cards could be worth it.
Another alternative for Sacrifice are the Role cards, that count as either an Enchantment or a token. Roles provide great value in Limited (as you’ll find out below), but at a certain point in the late game, you’re going to realise that your enchanted Creature is either unable to punch through, or sitting as a chump blocker. Sacrificing the Role tokens with Bargain is one of the best ways to get more value without losing too much.
Don’t forget, you can also use Bargain spell as a response to an opponent targeting your Creature. Since it was going to die anyway, why not get some benefit out of it by sacrificing it to Bargain?
Top Bargain Cards to Look Out for in Limited
Regardless of colour, here are the cards with Bargain that we think brings the most upside to your game:
Hamlet Glutton is a big headache for your opponent when you cast this 6/6 Trample Creature for just 5 Mana. Because it gives you 3 life when it Enters the Battlefield, Sacrificing a Food token becomes a net-zero cost. If you’re able to instead Sacrificing a Role card (that came free from another spell’s effect) or any of your 1/1 tokens, that’s even better.
Stonesplitter Bolt is one of those X spells that deals direct damage to any Creature or Planeswalker – the more Mana you have, the higher X will be. What if there was a way to double X without much cost? Using the above Hamlet Glutton as an example, if you don’t have 7 Mana to cast a regular Stonesplitter Bolt, you have the option to Bargain to turn X=3 into X=6. Again, Bargain targets are aplenty with either 1/1 Rat tokens or Role cards. Red can’t really create Food tokens, so we left out that one.
Johann’s Stopgap does what blue likes to do best – bouncing an opponent’s threat back to hand and then drawing a card to refuel your bag of tricks. What other cards like Blink of an Eye and Into the Roil had was Kicker cost, meaning you would have to pay 4 Mana to get both effects. Johann’s Stopgap already costs 4 Mana but can could only be 2 if you Bargain. Two effects for just 2 Mana is amazing value, even if you have to Sacrifice a Food or Role token.
Role Auras – Wilds of Eldraine Limited
Roles are Enchantment Aura cards that get put onto a Creature (often your own) as part of a card’s bonus effect. For example, a Sorcerer Role gives a Creature +1/+1 and “Whenever it attacks, Scry 1.” The Power/Toughness boost is not negligible, even if it’s a small increment. The additional benefit beyond the +1/+1 is what makes Roles stand out. Here are all the different Roles you can find in Wilds of Eldraine:
There are 35 cards in the set that create a Role, so in terms of focus, you might find building a deck around Roles is easier than Bargain (X cards). The great thing about Roles is that there is no additional cost, unlike Bargain. Often a Role token is created as a sort of ‘bonus’ to a card’s primary effect. The means Roles, like Adventure truly have no downsides to them. Let’s take a look at some of the best cards in Wilds of Eldraine that also give you Role Auras (we’ll exclude Rare and Mythic Rare cards since they are less likely to appear in your Limited pool).
Top Role-Producing Cards in Wilds of Eldraine Limited
Not Dead After All is an amazing Common because it can effectively revive any dying Creature, and make it bigger when it comes back. All of that for just a black Mana – did we read that right? And when the revived Creature dies again, each opponent loses 1 life thanks to the Wicked Role attached to it. There’s so much upside and zero downside. If you’re playing black, you should have a copy of this in your deck.
The Witch’s Vanity creates a Role, but it also has 2 additional effects as it is also a Saga. Getting to destroy one of the opponent’s low-costing Creatures can be incredibly useful, as Creature like Questing Druid and Regal Bunnicorn cost very little but can grow to become very big threats. The Witch’s Vanity only costs 2 Mana, which means mind-bogglingly good value.
Twisted Sewer-Witch is already pretty decent when you get 5/6 stats for 5 Mana. However it does shine when you are playing Rats in your deck. If you can have at least 1 or 2 other Rats in play when Sewer-Witch hits the Battlefield, the upside is massive. Each rat is going to be a 2/2 and when any of them dies, your opponent loses 1 life. It becomes a tricky situation for anyone to waddle through.
Adventure – Wilds of Eldraine Limited
Adventure first came into the scene in 2019’s Throne of Eldraine set, which was also the plane’s first appearance. Having the option to cast 2 different spells, each usually with very different effects, brings a lot of value in a Limited game. Whenever possible, always cast the storybook (left) side of an Adventure card first, and then cast the Creature (right) side later on.
The versatility with Adventure just cannot be overstated enough, as you can always just cast the Creature if you are in desperate need for blockers. With 51 Adventure cards in Wilds of Eldraine, you’re going to see a lot more of them than Bargain or Roles (and some cards are a mix of both), so it wouldn’t a be a bad strategy to build your Limited deck just by focusing on Adventure.
Top Adventure Cards in Wilds of Eldraine Limited
Stormkeld Vanguard ticks a couple of very important boxes in Limited games. The Adventure side Bear Down takes care of any annoying Artifact or Enchantment (either Roles tokens or the powerful Virtue Mythic Rares), and the Creature itself is a 6/7 chunky bear that is going to be very hard to kill by damage, simply because it can’t be blocked by small Creatures. In the late game, Stormkeld Vanguard is going to cause massive problems for your Limited opponent (albeit it doesn’t have Trample)
Threadbind Clique provides so much utility and stands out as an Adventure card because not only can it kill a tapped Creature for 3 Mana, it can then serve as a very capable 3/3 Flying attacker/blocker for just 4 Mana. The downside here is you have to be playing both white and blue to harness both sides of the Adventure. You’ll definitely want to play both sides in a Limited game so only pick this if you have a good pool of other white and blue cards.
Two-Headed Hunter is similar to the above Threadbind Clique, except that it doesn’t force you to dig into a second colour. The Instant Twice the Rage can give Creature Double Strike, often a saving move to prevent your Creature from dying or to get rid of a huge threat. The Creature side isn’t half-bad either, being a 5/4 Menace Creature for 5 Mana. Menace on a big Creature is very annoying in Limited to deal with, so it’s definitely going to frustrate your opponent.
End Step
Limited games in either Sealed or Draft are really the only times where you can really explore a set’s mechanics. Sure you can build an Adventure-focused Commander deck later on, but brand new mechanics like Bargain and Roles just don’t have enough support to fill a 100-card Commander deck.
If you’re an MTG player in Southeast Asia, this month’s October Limited Festival is really the best time to try your hand in Sealed or Draft. Most local game stores will be offering upsized prizes including Collector Booster packs so there really is no excuse to skip out. While this strategy guide was sponsored by Wizards, every analysis here is based on first hand experience. Want to play some Limited? Find your local game store and start cracking some packs!
