Evaluating Card Roles: Threats, Answers, Engines, and Utilities

Now that we have an idea of what we want our deck to do, we have to actually pick the cards that will make the deck. So how do we pick the right cards? In Standard alone there are at least 1000 unique cards to choose, and that pool skyrockets as we get into older formats. But a deck will often contain no more than 20 unique non-land cards. That's quite a filter we need to make!

If there were a simple formula to making a competitive deck, we'd all be using it.  I'm not going to pretend that this is an easy process, and most of the decks you make will initially be terrible.  I know this because most of the decks I make are initially terrible, and many stay that way, despite my experience and knowledge of the game.  The best way to learn is to do; deck-building is more art than it is science. Don't be afraid to scrap an idea that isn't working and try a different angle.

However, there are categories for our cards that will aid our decisions.  It's a bit of a simplification, but I've found it useful to divide cards into Threats, Answers, Utilities, and Engines. Most decks will have examples of each category, but the mix thereof often depends on your deck's archetype (last post).

• Threats: Threats are cards that, if left alone, will win the game. Many of them are creatures, but many Planeswalkers and even some artifacts or enchantments can constitute Threats.  When you play a Threat, the opponent only has a limited amount of time/turns to get a suitable Answer or a comparable Threat of their own (referred to as a "clock"). Some Threats are scarier than others, usually because they have a faster clock.  Many Aggro decks rely on deploying a lot of threats in a short time.  These combined threats reduce the opponent's overall clock significantly at the risk of losing all the threats at once to a large Answer.  Other decks rely on using a Threat that is very difficult to Answer, such as a hexproof, unblockable, or indestructible Threat. Examples: AEtherling, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Pack Rat, Elspeth Sun's Champion, Assemble the Legion, Polukranos World Eater
  
• Answers: Answers are cards that stop Threats. Most "removal" cards -- cards that destroy or exile one or many cards on the battlefield -- are Answers.  Many Answers are conditional, meaning that they can only stop certain kinds of threats. Because almost anything can be a threat in the right context, a common saying is "There are no wrong Threats, only wrong Answers." Therefore, Answers that cost less mana, have less conditions on them, or can stop multiple Threats at once are the best for most decks.  Once a player has successfully Answered all Threats the opponent has deployed, they have "stabilized" and can typically start to mount a counterattack.  Occasionally, a player will actually use an Answer to stop an opponent's Answer, such as a spell to make creatures indestructible Answering an opponent's attempt to destroy all creatures. Examples: Detention Sphere, Hero's Downfall, Supreme Verdict, Chained to the Rocks
  
• Engines: Engines are cards that make a deck "run."  They usually serve as enablers for the rest of a deck.  The most common engines either draw cards or produce mana, giving the player more resources for later in the game.  Engines are powerful and can lead to snowballing, but often they do not impact the battlefield on their own, so a player must always consider if his/her time is best spent setting up an engine or deploying a Threat or an Answer. Examples: Underworld Connections, Sphinx's Revelation, Jace Architect of Thought, Whip of Erebos
  
• Utilities: Utilities are cards that are useful in a wide variety of circumstances but do not take consistent roles as Threats, Answers, and Engines.  Good Utilities efficient in mana cost and offer fleeting but useful benefits.  Utilities are most difficult to quantify because they can usually take multiple roles, depending on the context of the game, but this is what makes them so powerful.  Modal cards, cards that require the player to select one or two from a number of options, are usually Utility cards. Examples: Azorius Charm, Snapcaster Mage, Brave the Elements, Giant Growth

So how do these roles factor into our previous discussion about deck archetypes? Here's a basic rundown.

• Aggro decks usually want to fill their decks with Threats and a few Answers.  A couple Utility cards are nice if they can double as a Threat, but because Aggro wants to end the game ASAP, Engines are not useful.
  
• Control decks want to use plentiful, various Answers to opposing Threats. Knowing what Threats the opponent will use may dictate which Answers are correct for that match. After surviving the first few turns, selective Utility and Engine cards let Control decks set up their classic late-game domination. Control decks typically only play a couple of Threats, all of which are very difficult to Answer but require more mana than other decks' threats.
  
• Midrange decks often contain many cards that can serve multiple roles. Most Midrange Threats either serve as an Answer or bring another Threat alongside them, and efficient, unconditional Answers are a staple of the archetype. Most Midrange Engines are either Threats or Answers too.  Utilities see a bit of play, but are redundant in many Midrange decks because so many cards already serve multiple roles.
  
• Combo decks' contents usually use very few Answers and instead try to set up the Engines for their combos  The Threats, of course, are the combos themselves.  Some Utilities may be used to provide temporary Answers as well as aiding the Engines, but they are clearly not the focus of the decks.

Many cards' roles in these categories depend on the context of the game.  A large creature can be both a Threat against the opponent's life points and an answer to his/her smaller creature, not allowing it to attack.   A card like Underworld Connections in mono-Black Devotion is clearly an Engine, but because it aids Gray Merchant of Asphodel, it might also be a threat later in the game.  Knowing what role a card usually fills AND what role a card might need to fill in one context will win us a lot of games we might otherwise lose.

I hope this helps in your game.  On a side note, I'd like to thank everyone who came out last Friday for the biggest FNM Big Ben's has ever hosted! We're so glad to support such an awesome community.

Happy Planeswalking!

-B-Tops