We were fairly excited to hear that the Intro Packs for the Magic: The Gathering 2011 Core Set would be featuring a full complement of sixty cards plus a booster pack, so we decided to play around with all five of these decks and pick the best of the best.
Have a friend you're trying to introduce to Magic: The Gathering? M11 Intro Packs are a pretty great way to do it - but which one is best?
Rank 5: Blades of Victory. This one just didn't do it - pseudo white beats combined with some highly quality common removal spells failed to impress.
Although it's certainly a decent choice for a beginner, trying to ramp up into the deck's main selling points (Angelic Arbiter and Vengeful Archon) takes quite a bit of time, and these large creatures don't really fit into the quick beats/fast removal theme of the rest of the deck.
In the end, this deck isn't terrible, but really has a lack cohesive focus and feel - it's just a random assortment of black and white cards from M11 lumped together.
Rank 4: Breath of Fire. This one is definitely a step up from Blades of Victory, and can be a pretty formidable assemblage of direct damage and creatures that benefit from aggressively pounding your opponent with a torrent of spells like Chandra's Spitfire.
Despite adding flavor and style to this Intro pack soup, the giant dragon provided seems slightly out of place - you'll have won or lost the game long before you have a chance to blast off with Ancient Hellkite,
To be fair, the Cyclops Gladiator that also comes with the deck works very well, and can keep an opponent underfoot rather easily when combined with any of the lush removal options - A Chandra's Outrage followed by with a swing from the cyclops will put any other Intro Pack under heavy pressure.
Rank 3: Reign of Vampirism. Now this deck is actually really strong for a starter product, but it's not the vampire theme revolving around Captivating Vampire that knocks it out of the park - Solid removal options combined with Rise from the Grave turn the opponent's best creatures into your best friends. Royal Assassin comes with the Reign of Vampirism pack as well, and with creature destruction and creature stealing themes, this Intro Pack is a solid choice.
Check out the top 2 Intro Packs!
M11 Best Draft Commons: Red, Black, Green, White, and Blue.
Want more M11? Check out our draft guide (commons), prerelease guide, Intro Packs, and single card commentary!
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