All MTG Commander Masters Draft archetypes

Reprints of popular Magic: The Gathering cards for formats like Commander are back through the Commander Masters set, which is also draftable and contains 10 staple Draft archetypes.

MTG Commander Masters (CMM) contains only reprints throughout the history of Magic with multiple rarity changes for Limited and Pauper. The set also includes four Commander Precon decks, each of which contains 10 new cards. All MTG cards in the CMM set are legal to play in Eternal formats like Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Pauper.

How MTG Commander Masters Draft works

Drafting for the Commander Masters set is different than drafting from a normal Standard-legal set, or even from a Modern-legal set like The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR). Players in a pod still start with three Draft booster packs, but pick two cards each turn as opposed to one.

Because CMM is a Commander set, players will want to draft a legendary creature as their commander for their deck. The color identity of the commander, or commanders, determines the colors that are allowed in the deck. To ensure players are able to craft proper builds, WotC allows for Partner commanders between two Monocolored or colorless legendary creatures as well. The Prismatic Pipers card can also get used as a commander, even if the card wasn’t drafted.

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Once the draft is complete, players build a 60-card deck. This is 20 more cards than a standard Limited Draft deck and 40 less than a Commander deck. Despite the similarities to the Commander format, the Singleton rule doesn’t apply to Draft, meaning players can include multiple copies of any card in their deck.

10 Commander Masters Draft archetypes

Archetypes within a set like Commander Masters are less literal than within a Standard-legal set, as they are more of a synergistic guide for the color pairs.

Players should remain flexible when drafting CMM and not focus too much on making their build fit into a specific archetype. Most players also like to find a commander early on and build around that if possible.

Here are the 10 Limited archetypes for Commander Masters, according to game designer Gavin Verhey. 

• UW (Blue and White): Artifacts
• UB (Blue and Black): Graveyard reanimation shenanigans (Flashback)
• BR (Black and Red): Sacrifice
• RG (Red and Green): Power matters
• GW (Green and White): Go wide with tokens and counters
• WB (White and Black): Token sacrifice that can also go-wide
• BG (Black and Green): A slow token archetype with Morbid triggers and a Saproling sub-theme
• GU (Green and Blue): Ramp
• UR (Blue and Red): Spells matter
• RW (Red and White): Equipment

All signpost cards in Commander Masters

In a Commander Draft, signpost cards are different from a Standard Draft. Signpost cards in a Standard Limited Draft help influence or support an archetype. Within CMM Draft, there are 10 two-color and 10 three-color legendary creatures. Legendary creatures are the signpost cards, serving as the commander for a player’s Commander Masters Draft deck.

The biggest difference between the two Drafts when it comes to signpost cards is rarity. Each of the 20 two and three-color legendaries that are signposts for CMM Draft have a rarity of Rare, instead of Uncommon. Many of the Rare signposts were downgraded from Mythic Rare, like Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist and Maelstrom Wanderer.

Two-color CMM Draft signpost cards

• Hanna, Ship’s Navigator: Blue and White (UW)
• Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow: Blue and Black (UB)
• Xantcha, Sleeper Agent: Black and Red (BR)
• Zilortha, Strength Incarnate: Red and Green (RG)
• Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist: Green and White (GW)
• Teysa Karlov: White and Black (WB)
• Meren of Clan Nel Toth: Black and Green (BG)
• Experiment Kraj: Green and Blue (GU)
• Mizzix of the Izmagnus: Blue and Red (UR)
• Gisela, Blade of the Goldnight: Red and White (RW)

Three-color CMM Draft signpost cards

• Rafiq of the Many: Green/White/Blue (GWU)
• Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign: White/Blue/Black (WUB)
• Nekusar, the Mindrazer: Blue/Black/Red (UBR)
• Sek’Kuar Deathkeeper: Black/Red/Green (BRG)
• Zacama, Primal Calamity: Red/Green/White (RGW)
• Queen Marchesa: Red/White/Black (RWB)
• Maelstrom Wanderer: Green/Blue/Red (GUR)
• Karador, Ghost Chieftain: White/Black/Green (WBG)
• Kykar, Wind’s Fury: Blue/Red/White (URW)
• Sidisi, Brood Tyrant: Black/Green/Blue (GBU)

Update July 17 2:15pm CT: All MTG Commander Masters signpost cards were added.