Threat Levels

Categories

We try to separate threats into 4 tiers, categorized primarily by the time frame you have to interact with them, or their “threat level horizon”.

• Tier 0: Needs to be countered
• Tier 1: Needs to be removed now
• Tier 2: Needs to be removed this turn cycle
• Tier 3: Needs to be removed in the next couple of turns

Tier 0

Tier 0 threats care very little about existing board state, and can virtually end games with very little setup. These threats have a very small window of interaction, and most often need to be countered (if possible).

Examples: Cyclonic Rift, Torment of Hailfire, Korvold (in a treasure deck), some assembled combos (that can win over-top of interaction)

Tier 1

Tier 1 threats will immediately start making a huge impact if they aren’t removed or dealt with immediately. They don’t necessarily need to be countered, but they need to be removed at the next possible opportunity.

Examples: Consecrated Sphinx, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, other assembled combos (that can be interacted with), things that trigger each turn

Tier 2

Tier 2 threats are probably okay to leave on the board for a turn cycle, but they can get very out of hand if they make it to their next turn. Many advantage engines fall into this category, as they often require stuff to happen after they are played.

Examples: Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm, Toxrill, The Corrosive, Sheoldred the Apocalypse (combo deck), Tasigur, the Golden Fang (pod deck), Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study,

Tier 3

Tier 3 threats are very powerful cards and effects that don’t immediately threaten wins or large advantages, but can generate greater advantage over time.

Examples: Sheoldred the Apocalypse (in the 99), Tasigur, the Golden Fang (as a value engine), Zulaport Cutthroat

Deckbuilding

When considering including a given effect, it’s important to ask yourself 2 questions:

1. What is the threat level of this card?
2. Would decks at my desired power level be equipped to deal with it in a timely manner?

Let’s imagine we are considering putting a Kiki-Jiki combo line in your Mid-power deck as a win condition. Depending on the line, we would consider that a Tier 0 or Tier 1 threat. Would Mid-power decks be equipped to interact with that combo? Potentially… they may run the appropriate types of interaction to stop this combo. But they likely wouldn’t expect a Mid-power deck to even run an efficient Kiki-Jiki line.

For vegetables, which are threats in their own right, a more pertinent question is usually “where does this fall on the distribution of this kind of effect?”

We typically don’t play cards like Rhystic Study or Smothering Tithe in Mid-power decks, because while they probably represent a only Tier 2, they are the best at what they do.

The other side

While we use these categories to determine which threat levels to include in our decks, it’s also important to let them educate the interaction you are playing as well.

Ask yourself, “What kind of threats do I expect to see at this power level?” and include an appropriate quality and quantity of interaction to defend yourself against those threats.