Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™ released on MTG Arena ten days before the first draft of Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY. The task facing the players who will be competing is daunting; they have to learn the cards, draft archetypes, and interactions quickly.

From a big-picture perspective, there are three milestones the players are trying to hit. Some will barely make the first milestone and others (probably those with Limited-focused testing teams) will go further.

The first milestone is a basic familiarity with the format in terms of colors and archetypes. Which colors are performing the best? Are there standout archetypes? If so, how many, and which ones?

The next milestone is finding a few draft archetypes that they feel comfortable playing. Maybe they will get a handle on two or three different decks, understanding the nuances of which cards are important for that archetype and which aren't. If those colors are open during the draft, they can confidently draft that deck and play it.

The last milestone is where every player wants to be ahead of the Pro Tour. That's where they've effectively drafted all of the archetypes numerous times—even the ones they'd prefer to avoid in most cases. This gives them a deeper understanding of the format that allows you to proficiently draft and play whichever archetype their seat presents them, even if it's one that shows up rarely.

There's a stretch-goal milestone that almost no one, if anyone, reaches. This is where they've explored all of the niche rares in a set and the build-arounds that don't get played very often. At this point, the player in question is basically an expert at the set and would feel comfortable and confident in any setting where that set is being drafted.

From my experience behind the scenes with Pro Tour testing teams, their Limited specialists want to get to the last milestone and maybe knock out a few stretch goals if they can. The Constructed players, or people who don't have much time to draft, are usually good with the second milestone.

That first milestone is table stakes for the Pro Tour; if they haven't gotten there yet, it's going to be very, very difficult to make a legit run for the Top 8.

That's because Limited is a massive part of making a Pro Tour's Top 8. If you look at the records of the players who make it there, it's rare to find one who didn't have a great record in the Limited rounds. And so, with Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY being the Limited format of this weekend's Pro Tour, players have been eagerly studying the entirety of the card image gallery. What have their findings been?

Early Indicators for Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Draft

So far? This set has felt remarkably balanced.

It's typical in the early stages of a set's Draft format for things to get a bit out of whack as people gravitate to the more straightforward (and often aggressive) archetypes. This can lead to muddled data as the format self-corrects and things balance out.

But so far, it's been pretty flat since day one. The early frontrunners have been White-Blue Artifacts, Blue-Red Big Noncreatures, and Red-White Equipment Aggro.

Let's take a big-picture look at the white-blue and blue-red archetypes.

White-Blue Artifacts

This deck is somewhat self-explanatory as it's primarily a two-color deck centered around artifacts and payoffs for playing artifacts. For the most part, this is the only color pair that cares about artifacts, so you'll be able to get the key cards from the deck mostly unimpeded.

Mostly, though, this deck relies on the raw card quality from this color pair, particularly the commons.

Key White-Blue Commons

White Auracite
White Mage's Staff
Magitek Infantry
Gaelicat

White Auracite, White Mage's Staff, Magitek Infantry, and Gaelicat are all key white commons that play into the core theme of the deck.

White Auracite is both premium removal and an artifact, so it's the perfect fit for this deck. White Mage's Staff doesn't look amazing at first glance, but it's a great example of a key mechanic that this archetype takes advantage of: the job select keyword. Job select lets you treat Equipment that have it as a creature while still activating artifact synergies.

Magitek Infantry has also been impressive. It's a one-drop, which already means it's in a premium position, but it's also an artifact and can turn into an army of Robot Soldiers if you can get it rolling. I would start at three copies of the card before I got excited, and anything above that is just better.

Gaelicat is a payoff for all of these artifacts at common. Often the good payoffs are at uncommon or a higher rarity, but this one is pretty decent. And, as mentioned before, this is the only deck interested in artifact payoffs, so you can get them late if you're in white-blue.

The blue commons for this deck are interesting as they are mostly just generically good cards rather than artifact-centric picks.

Dragoon's Wyvern
Combat Tutorial
Ice Magic

Dragoon's Wyvern is just a straight-up power play and perhaps the best common in the set.

Combat Tutorial adds a little something to an already decent card. Given that this deck likes to turn its creatures sideways, that +1/+1 counter goes a long way.

Ice Magic is reasonably priced interaction at any of its three tiers.

Overall, white-blue decks tend to play like assertive midrange decks, trending toward the aggressive end of the spectrum rather than the controlling side. Curve-outs and proactive plays are the name of the game. Go for the win by taking advantage of the deck's synergies in combination with the raw power of the cards accessible to this deck.

Blue-Red Big Noncreatures

This deck is an interesting take on two things we've seen before: noncreature spells and big spells. What are the key cards from this combination of past archetypes?

Key Commons for Blue-Red

Four of the best commons for this deck are Thunder Magic, Call the Mountain Chocobo, Ice Magic, and Dreams of Laguna.

Thunder Magic
Call the Mountain Chocobo
Ice Magic
Dreams of Laguna
Sahagin

What's one thing all of these non-creature spells have in common? They all can cost four mana if you want them to.

Thunder Magic is flexible and powerful, and its {3}{R} mode hits the sweet spot for this deck since it will trigger all of your payoffs while killing most opposing threats.

Call the Mountain Chocobo lets you hit your land drops, makes a creature token, and acts as a four-mana spell. This card is a perfect fit since these decks can struggle with finding enough creatures to attack and block while casting noncreature spells. The Mountain it finds also helps you get enough mana for expensive flashback and tiered cards.

Ice Magic and Dreams of Laguna are both solid noncreature spells with the upside of being castable for four mana when needed.

Sahagin is similar to Gaelicat in that it's a common payoff for the archetype. But there's a key difference: Sahagin is just better. This little guy is annoying and only costs two mana. With three toughness and the ability to grow later in the game for essentially no cost, it has a lot to offer for a common no other deck is interested in.

Shantotto, Tactician Magician
Ultros, Obnoxious Octopus
The Emperor of Palamecia

As for uncommon payoffs, the deck has some nice legendary creatures like Shantotto, Tactician Magician; Ultros, Obnoxious Octopus; and The Emperor of Palamecia.

Uncommon payoffs like these are a real draw for an archetype like this since you'll have cornered the market on them. They're niche cards, so nobody else at the table will be interested in taking them. If you're the only one in blue-red, an Ultros, Obnoxious Octopus that gets opened in the third round of Play Boosters will likely make it to you.

Lightning Bolt [4xTvv4Ed8uuV49Dbpbzhd0]

And yes, I would be remiss if I did not to mention that you have access to one of Magic's all-time greatest spells in this format: Lightning Bolt as "Thrum of the Vestige."

Going to Value Town

With two top-performing archetypes mapped out, I have to mention a deck I've been experimenting with to some success.

It's unwise to put too much emphasis on week-one success with any archetype, but the Towns deck has been really fun and done quite well in my testing.

I found that a black-green-blue base is best for the deck. You get green-blue's Town payoffs alongside black's removal and value cards to shore up any weaknesses. Sometimes I also splash for red, pushing the deck to four colors, or even the full five-color build if I get a great card in white.

This is the best kind of a deck: a slow value deck. As such, card draw, removal, and two-for-ones are the name of the game.

Sephiroth's Intervention
Town Greeter
Vayne's Treachery
Dragoon's Wyvern
Combat Tutorial

Each of these top commons for the deck fit one of the above descriptions. Sephiroth's Intervention is kind of the perfect turn-four play, with the extra life it provides being critical. Vayne's Treachery is flexible against quick aggressive decks and midrange decks alike. Town Greeter, Combat Tutorial, and Dragoon's Wyvern all are pure value plays at common. Even though it's incremental, they really do add up over the course of the game.

Travel the Overworld

Payoffs like Travel the Overworld are cool, but there's already a lot of card draw available in the format, so this isn't the kind of card that's at the heart of the Towns deck. The deck is really about being able to run any number of rare and mythic rare threats that having good mana allows you to cast.

Jenova, Ancient Calamity
Sin, Spira's Punishment
Emet-Selch, Unsundered
The Wandering Minstrel

These are just a few of the options available here, and the deck's mana lets you dip into red or white as needed.

I am curious if this deck is the kind of thing that can perform at the highest level.

Only one way to find out! Tune in on Friday, June 20, for the first draft of Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY. I'll be in the booth with Paul Cheon covering all the action, and I can't wait to see you there!

@Marshall_LR