Outlaws of Thunder Junction Card Evaluation/Archetype Deep Dive! | Limited Level-Ups 

My winrate in this format was abysmal, my worst ever. 1 trophy in 16 drafts at a 54% winrate. I didn't know what I was doing wrong! I'd draft crimes, but get stomped while I was stuck between deciding whether to burn them or go for value. I'd try to draft RB aggro! I'd listened to heaps of videos on the format to no avail. This episode has completely revitalised my view of the format, and is saving my winrate (and gems!). I'm currently 6-2 in a draft after watching this. I just wanted to say thanks a lot, and that this is definitely the most important piece of content on OTJ that I've found, across a very long search. Thank you so much Alex!

I have never lost so much in a format, thank you for helping me suck less

Fantastic content. You are an incredible educator

49:32 this content really did “Level Me Up” - he said the thing!!! 😂

Best Limited update content on RU-vid! Thanks for sharing ❤

I reach mythic every season on average but i have never been so oblivious to why my drafts derails so much, my drafts had been trophies and 0-3 and i had no idea why. I still made it to mythic and have positive win rate but i burnt all my gems with the 0-3 😢 thank you so much Alex, you are a gem in the magic community.

Love these videos. I think I have a bad habit of completely ignoring cards I've never played/rarely see played, even relatively early in a format's life. Its always exciting to see the possibilties that exist out there that I hadn't even considered, really makes me excited to get back in there and try new things out.

Thanks for not only the archetype analysis, but also the helpful big picture concepts! I do still think BW grindy flyers/removal remains an unsung archetype that's continued to put up the 3rd/4th highest winrates out of the color pairs. Don't think I've seen you draft it much but would be great if you could give it a try sometime and share your thoughts!

Excited for this! Appreciate all the youtube content (as an Aussie who is asleep when you're streaming!)

I've been getting my hindside handed to me consistently this format. And I think part of this is that each colour has also to choose an archetype (is it blue double spell or blue don't-play-in-your-turn? Green stomps/mounts or green graveyard? And so on. This one helps a lot to think about things more clearly and beyond the colour pie. Much appreciated.

What a fantastic episode. You clearly and concisely summed up what the pillars of the format seem to be shaping out to be

Fantastic episode as always Alex! Love seeing the context for all these cards. Very helpful.

thanks Alex, framing every deck in one of this macro-space is very very useful

Great episode as always

I'm really liking this set a lot. Might be showing my age, but it reminds me a lot of old school magic when games went long and creatures were meh. It's less about having an incredibly strong turns 1-4, and more about grinding out those edges over a long game.

Hi alex! Just listened to the Podcast version of this episode on Spotify and i thought id let you know via youtube; i really enjoy the way you talk and give the information in this episode! Dont know what you have done on your Personal life but imo this episode you seem to have more calmness and it's like you know more what you want to bring over. Its very easy to follow and it sounds like your more in tune with yourself. Hope you're doing as well as you sound and thanks for always making awesome content and upgrading my fun in magic

Super helpful!! Thank you!

Great video Alex! Really helped me understand the format

great episode, thanks Alex! so clearly explained

Most helpful content on OTJ yet ! thumbs up!!!

A+ Episode, thank you!

i have struggled a fair bit as well with this format but i definitely want to second the Grixis crimes thoughts. i've had a lot of success (especially with two marchesa 7-x drafts) just sliding into that archetype as everyone fights over green.

I love this video! For me even better than lr and lol! Thank you! Great work!❤

i think part of the reason red white aggro hasn't been as successful is that it's really *not* a go-wide deck. because of the way mercenary tokens work, it's in this weird space between going wide and going tall. i think the deck is actually very good at making blocks difficult for your opponent, you just need to rely on mercenaries to pump your attackers' power and offer your opponent bad trades (or bad blocks with first strikers). the tapper and the white uncommon whip equipment card both play into this strategy as well. plus you can just pump up flyers with mercenaries and get in that way as well. it plays out in a really weird way and i think the depth of the archetype hasn't been fully appreciated or explored because it gets shoved in the same category as the green stompy decks but is pretty different from them.

I have really liked the blue spree cards, jailbreak scheme and phantom interference have been allstars when I'm playing crime decks :)

Thank you for the helpful tips. I've been struggling in this format and have often been pushed into U/W, which has been less than good for the most part. I never seem to be able to open the bomb rares, and when I do, i get completely cut off the colors.

thank you :3

The one thing with phantom interference is that against some people, by the time you get to five mana, they always got extra mana to pay the 2

Definitely making better sense for my better vs worse drafts for the archetypes I've been given. White-Green Mounts carried me on Pre-Release but I really should start learning to draft the White and Green Hex-Proofs as those have blown me out when I was on the other side of it. Yet to play enough of the good Black cards at my LGS so I'm still waiting on the dream draft, but I will say Red-Black Mercs tend to get way better aristocraty benefits on their key uncommons (Rakish Crew and Vial smasher), Plus it hedges the fight when you get Mercenaries to help buff up your weaker creatures to trade up. Maybe it's an extra bias that my pods have gotten a key piece like a Hellspur boss or Ertha Jo and flooding the board is it's own "anti-removal" choice since Trick Shot and Skullduggery are less reliable than hard removal.

Thank you for the tips, I love the way you broke down the pillars. I'm a little confused though, you just highlights 5(!!!!!) recursion spells in BG, which like, I don't ever remember seeing that many in another set, and said it was less prevalent than removal. Considering how other decks don't often use those recursion effects very well (you were talking about WG doesn't fit with that plan, and crime-y decks don't always have big ones), wouldn't you expect to wheel a few more of those effects when compared to removal? I mean you were saying that one of the main pillars of the format was making sure you get at LEAST 5-6 quality removal spells, so wouldn't it make more sense in that example to pick up an unfortunate accident over a mourners surprise early? Especially considering rarity?

Algo. 🚀 Your insights are really good Alex.

Bedtime listening before sealed RCQ. Most timely.

I feel like the comments at 12:02 and 12:58 conflict unless I'm misunderstanding. I often end up with only these lackluster 2s. Would you recommend still filling my curve in with them up to ~qty 6 (in an aggro deck, but lower in non-aggro I'd assume)?

Any thoughts on the Temur ramp/plot/multi-spell decks?

Damn, now the cat is out of the bag, people will stop passing me Bandits Haul, rip my crime decks

Nezumi breaks links, not lines. Like train track links. They're not a football player ;)

Perhaps I missed it, but I'm uncertain of what your definition of "pillars( of the format)" is. It doesn't make this episode less helpfull, simply that I hope people don't assume that, if green and black aren't open in their seat, they should be RW rather than UW or RU.

I keep getting killed by bomb rares.

Feedback: Maybe you want to add like a episode-number in the title. "Limited Level-ups #123" ... Episode number 123 It would make it easier for me to know which videos are what on your channel. Less searching for the viewer. Just a suggestion. Otherwise: awesome awesome content!