10 Common Mistakes in Midnight Hunt Limited
While I’ve played Midnight Hunt Limited less this week, I’ve still been doing a draft or two most days, and the format has developed a little. People have realized the imbalance of colors in the format, at least on MTGO, and the drafts have been tougher to read.
I wanted to list a few mistakes that others and I are making in this format.
#1. DON’T FORCE COLORS
Blue and black are both stronger than the other colors by a noticeable margin. That said, you should still remain open in this format, and let the draft come to you rather than play a game of Zombie Chicken. While I still believe white is the worst color and most everyone else believes it’s red, I’m open to drafting these colors.
I’m usually successful when I do because it becomes obvious these colors are open. All else equal, bias yourself towards blue and black, but don’t try and force it if it’s not there.
#2. JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE IN THE COLORS OF AN ARCHETYPE, DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO BE THAT ARCHETYPE
Don’t try and force a Vampires deck if the Vampires aren’t there but you’re in B/R. Just draft good cards and a traditional nuts-and-bolts deck. Just because you took the one Vampire synergy card doesn’t mean you need to fill your deck with a bunch of 2/1s for 2 that can never attack into anything hoping you’ll get there.
Same is true with werewolves, spirits, and various other synergistic decks. There are enough hidden archetypes that you should remain open to drafting a variety of decks within each color combination. Don’t pigeonhole yourself.
#3. DON’T PLAY TOO MUCH AIR
Somehow my random tweet about Lunarch Veteran being overplayed is still brought up regularly to me, and I’ve since said several times there are times to, and not to, play that card. It’s fine when it works as a synergistic card for sacrificing in BW decks, or as a collective in a UW deck with other Disturb cards. It’s bad as an aggro card or as a card you evaluate in a vacuum as playable.
There’s a lot of cards I see people playing. I have tried most of them that can be considered air, and I find them to be low impact. There are cards like Unruly Mob, Otherworldly Gaze, Rotten Reunion, Turn to Earth and Vampire Interloper. The list includes most combat tricks and various situational cards.
This is not a format you can afford to stumble in, so make sure you’re holding your cards to high standards. The games end up going long when both players come out well, so each dead or low-impact card you draw adds up quickly.
#4. PROTECT YOUR LIFE TOTAL
The most common mistake I see people make in this format is not understanding the tempo of the game and making bad attacks or blocks.
Things can turn on a dime in this format with all the decay tokens running around. Even blue has reach in the form of cards like Startle. If you’re behind, protect your life total unless you have a plan to pull ahead in the race.
#5. DON’T WASTE YOUR REMOVAL
This is a format where I think you can usually hold your removal. That’s not to say you can’t spend mana, which is important in the early turns. However, when deciding how to approach a game early. I hold my removal for a bit longer than my opponents, as there are some disgusting creatures in this format that must be answered or run away with the game.
Try and get the most out of that one Eaten Alive and see if you can win the game by adding a creature to the battlefield rather than blowing your removal on a generic three-drop and dying to their Storm Skreelix or Liesa, Forgotten Archangel.
#6. DON’T MISMANAGE DECAY TOKENS
There are a lot of interesting ways to play your decay tokens, and many times my opponents have not sneaked in two damage when they should have or not held them back for better value. It’s contextual, but if you have stuff to do with your zombies later, such as Siege Zombie, Vivisection, or Corpse Cobble, it’s important to hold it back unless it’s going to turn the race into a short game.
Alternatively, if you see an opportunity to get the two damage and have nothing else to do with the zombie, take your two damage. It’s not getting better, and it may just become worthless. Let’s not forget an opponent could draw a card like Morbid Opportunity and make you regret the decision.
#7. DON’T LET YOURSELF FALL BEHIND ON BOARD
Games in this format can snowball quickly, so try not to spend your turns doing stuff that isn’t adding to the battlefield. Holding up a counter when you’re ahead is much different than when behind because Werewolves and various Disturb and flashback cards can punish countermagic.
Sequence and build to manage the battlefield on the early turns whether that’s with removal or low-curve creatures.
#8. MULLIGAN!
This is one of the most forgiving formats for mulliganing ever. There are so many built-in two-for-ones that it’s important to start with a functional hand. You can catch up with your various two-for-ones. It’s much easier to catch up on cards than it is on the board, so mulligan liberally.
My biggest contribution to the loss column is saying to myself “should have mulled” two seconds after hitting the keep button.
#9. TIMING IS EVERYTHING
I notice myself incorrectly managing Night and Day with my removal from time to time. I’ll cast my spell on my turn when it’s Day and my board and opponent’s board will be empty. When this comes up, try to figure out which time of day will most benefit you and your opponent.
Sometimes daytime is beneficial because you don’t want your opponent’s Werewolves to be big. Other times, even if your deck has Day/Night cards, such as Firmament Mage, you want to leave it Day because it’s easier to switch to Night when you want.
This is just another thing to think about even on an empty, or soon to be empty, board.
#10. DON’T BE AFRAID TO SPLASH
Between Jack’ O Lantern and Evolving Wilds, I’ve noticed far too few decks splashing these days. That may be because decks like UB Zombies, Vampires, and Werewolves are so linear that people don’t splash in them.
However, I think you should be branching out into midrange far more often, take advantage of the low-cost fixing and splash a rare or uncommon bomb if it fits thematically in your deck. Overall, these are things I noticed opponents and myself doing to cost the game.
Are there any mistakes you see frequently? Let me know in the comments.
Image Copyright: (c) 1995-2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC, All Rights Reserved
