Fall of Empires: Archetypes
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Fall of Empires aims to take a role somewhere between Modern Horizons and Throne of Eldraine, mechanically speaking. It started out as an idea for Pioneer Horizons, but was remade as a standalone set due to the more involved story and Pioneer's waning popularity. As such, it includes a mix of relevant reprints and new mechanics to bring some much-needed format policing to Pioneer, Modern, Pauper, and many other formats. This page will be a description of each color and color combination's intended role, as well as some of the specific mechanics and supported tribes in the set.
White: Very possibly the color with the least unique individual identity - WotC has constantly struggled with 'what White should be/do'. In this set, White's role as an aggressive 'go-wide' color with tempo advantage/utility is reinforced. Supporting mechanics include the usual suspects: exiling permanents, protection, life gain, flying, +1/+1 counters, etc. Primary tribes are Human/Elf, secondary are Soldier/Cleric.
Blue: Traditionally relegated almost always to the role of control, Blue's exceptional tempo/aggro potential is rarely explored in major ways. This set remedies that issue, with Blue acting as a more aggressive color with some flavor-appropriate tempo/utility such as tapping/freezing, good early counterspells that scale poorly into the late game, flying, and asymmetrical power/toughness. Walls and counterspells into powerful bombs is a play pattern Blue should have a viable alternative to. Primary tribe is Wizard, secondary are Elemental/Human.
Black: The other color that WotC has struggled to settle on a cohesive identity for, Black tends to have a little of everything (for a price.) In this set, the mechanical focus of Black is in interaction in the form of hand hate and creature/planeswalker removal. However, this all comes with decisions based on possible secondary color - discard vs. exile, destroy vs. -X/-X, and so on. Black is about paying prices to make decisions - things like paying life for card advantage vs. recouping life for card disadvantage. Mechanical subtheme is being rewarded for causing an opponent to lose life (similar to Spectacle from the latest Ravnica sets.) Primary tribes are Skeleton/Specter, secondary are Wizard/Cleric.
Red: Generally viewed only as the most aggressive color, Red tends to trade card advantage and individual card power for tempo/momentum and raw damage. In this set, Red's dual nature as both an offensive aggro/midrange color and a supporting control color (via removal and card advantage) is explored, with nods to traditional forms of Red interaction such as attacking the opponent's manabase. It is possibly the most dynamic color identity in the set. Primary tribe is Warrior, secondary are Human/Wizard.
Green: In recent years, Green gets everything: card advantage, powerful creatures, ramp, life gain, evasion, hexproof, you name it. Cards like Uro, Oko, Questing Beast, Veil of Summer, etc have solidified Green as a must-play color in many formats. In this set, Green's role is more narrow as a go-wide vs. go-tall midrange color with a lot of tribal and mechanical synergies, especially in the form of counters.. The longer the game goes, the better Green should be. Early power spikes should come at the cost of card advantage (mana dorks or combat tricks, for example.) Primary tribes are Fungus/Insect/Druid, secondary are Warrior/Elf.
As you might guess from the WUBRG descriptions, the guilds should function as a combination of the flavor and mechanics of its two colors.
WU/Azorius/Windwalkers: Aggro with disruptive/evasive elements - think flying creatures with freeze and card draw. Incidental life gain should assist winning damage races more than blocking. Primary tribe is Cleric.
UB/Dimir/Hidden Hand: One of the more unique mechanics in the set, Dimir focuses on card advantage through spell stealing. More of a control/midrange archetype, Dimir is meant to attack the hand more than the board. The spell stealing mechanic works by exiling cards from opponent's hand, then casting them from exile. This power often comes with a price, such as losing life. Primary tribe is Specter.
BR/Rakdos/Spiteful Coven: The primary control archetype of the set, Rakdos focuses on attacking the hand and clearing the board with spells. Unlike Dimir, Rakdos prefers to cause discard than exile from hand. This allows for some decks to counterplay control by using their graveyard or playing effectively from the top of the library. As such, Rakdos must balance hand hate with board interaction or they will lose quickly to more aggressive decks. Primary tribe is Skeleton.
GR/Gruul/Khathan Liberation Front: As is often the case, Gruul is an aggressive midrange guild. In this set, the primary mechanic is placing +1/+1 and ability counters onto creatures. This makes them more vulnerable to quality removal spells, but in return gives them a way to create the board presence they want in a more modular fashion that can quickly overwhelm opponents. The subtheme of sharing makes the spells more rewarding for go-wide strategies, though limited access to token generation means this must come in the form of individual cards. Primary tribe is Warrior.
WG/Selesnya/Royal Guard: Making use of counters as well, Selesnya is all about the go wide strategy with decisions between more tokens and putting counters on the tokens you have. Think Felidar Retreat as an archetype. Primary tribe is Soldier.
WB/Orzhov/White Star: Here is where the Treasures come in - Orzhov focuses on creating value in the form of temporary mana. It can be played more as a control archetype or more as aristocrat-style aggro. Much of the best removal is in these colors, but it can be expensive to cast (requiring Treasures to run smoothly.) Primary tribe is Specter.
BG/Golgari/Meek Tide: Halfway between Orzhov and Selesnya, Golgari generates tokens and sacrifices them for value. It can best be described as aristocrat-style midrange, but more go-wide than go-tall. Primary tribe is Insect.
UG/Simic/Awakened Wilds: Possibly the most controversial guild in recent times, WotC has really struggled with what the identity and mechanics of Simic should be. This has led to cards like Neoform, Oko, Uro, and others. In this set, Simic is the guild of land creatures. Making lands into creatures and putting counters on them or providing static buffs in the form of lords, etc is the unique mechanic of Simic. This makes it play out as a midrange archetype with a lot of utility and interesting decisions to make, such as which land to risk losing to removal/combat or not keep untapped for playing instants. Primary tribe is Fungus.
UR/Izzet/Elementalist Academy: One of the more dynamic guild in the set, Izzet has potential to play as both a hard control or aggro/tempo archetype. Incidental direct damage can wear opponents down over time or close out games after stabilization, while stack and board interaction provides offensive or defensive utility depending on how it is used. Primary tribe is Wizard.
WR/Boros/Imperial Army: In this set, Boros is an aggro archetype less oriented around a specific mechanic and more about cards that force interesting and dynamic combat decisions, with a minor focus on equipment. Boros players will need to decide which creatures (if any) they want to attack with to proc specific modes of a card vs. which creatures (if any) they will want to hold up as blockers. Damage is mitigated mostly through blocking and combat tricks will be a frequent part of Boros value generation/card advantage. They must choose whether to burn tricks on getting damage through or on trading favorably with their opponent's creatures. This should foster a high risk-high reward playstyle that is fun for both sides of the table. Primary tribe is Soldier.
Colorless: Artifacts should play a fairly minor role in the set, with a few utility artifacts to smooth over Limited and some equipment primarily for the Boros archetype and general use in Limited. A few of the artifacts exist to fill roles in various Constructed formats, as well.