Beware of MTG Amass goblins and orcs at prerelease and Lord of the Rings Draft events

An early look at Limited Magic: The Gathering Sealed and Draft gameplay during the MTG Arena Early Access The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth event on June 15 highlighted the power of the Black and Red Amass Aggro archetype. 

The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR) set is scheduled to drop into local game stores on June 16, featuring a total of 10 Limited archetypes for prerelease Sealed and Draft events. I attended the MTG Arena Early Access event for Dot Esports, where I witnessed the true power of BR Amass Aggro within the LTR Sealed format.

Strengths of the BR Amass Aggro LTR archetype

Limited Sealed is a slower format most of the time when compared to Draft, with decks typically having multiple five-cost or more creatures and spells. Within the LTR Sealed format, a solid BR Amass build should run like an Aggro/Midrange deck rather than a more aggressive version that’s suitable for Draft. But it’s still low-to-the-ground, focusing on multiple two and three-drops to whittle an opponent’s life total down for a lethal strike. And the archetype is strong against creature-heavy builds, Tempo decks, and Control decks. 

My BR Amass Sealed deck that earned seven wins at the MTG Arena Early Access event contained two Rare and Mythic Rare bombs: Orcish Bowmasters and Spiteful Banditry. And both performed exactly as expected. I also had The Balrog, Durin’s Bane on the top end, which wasn’t used for any of the seven wins. 

Éomer of the Riddermark is in the running as the best Uncommon in the LTR Limited format and Claim the Precious is a solid removal spell. Uglúk of the White Hand and Mauhúr, Uruk-hai Captain—as the signpost cards of the BR archetype—performed much better than I expected. Mauhúr, Uruk-hai Captain was a constant threat by stacking extra +1/+1 counters on Amass Armies while Uglúk of the White Hand scaled in stats quickly upon an aggressive attack or through sacrificing an Army token. 

Weaknesses of the BR Amass Aggro LTR archetype

Aggro decks need a good opening hand that can curve out somewhat and the BR archetype isn’t an exception. Once a board state is established, the build has plenty of flexibility through powerful creatures that scale in power and plenty of removal. 

The BR archetype in LTR Limited can take advantage of “the Ring tempts you” mechanic but it shouldn’t be relied upon. Flyers in Blue and White (UW) are a weakness, especially without removal options in hand. I don’t feel the deck needs a huge creature on the top end, and players can opt to run 16 lands instead of the traditional 17. 

You can test out the BR Amass Aggro Limited archetype at The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth prerelease events starting on June 16 at local game stores and start drafting the LTR set when it drops into MTG Arena on June 20.