menu

KTK Limited Focus: Two-Drops

Are you a Quiet Speculation member?

If not, now is a perfect time to join up! Our powerful tools, breaking-news analysis, and exclusive Discord channel will make sure you stay up to date and ahead of the curve.

With Khans of Tarkir Limited well underway, it is pretty clear that one of the most defining aspects of this format is morph. More often than not, your opponent's turn-three play will be a face-down 2/2 creature.

It's hard to tell how fast the format is at this point. I've seen five-color matchups that develop slowly and take forever to complete, but I've also seen races that end relatively early in the game. What is clear to me right now is that two-drops are important. They apply early pressure that slow decks will struggle to handle, and they also trade with face-down morphs on the draw. Let's go over the two-drops in the format and discuss their value.

Top-Tier Two-Drops

Top-Tier Two-Drops

Ainok Bond-Kin

Heir of the Wilds

Rakshasa Deathdealer

Rattleclaw Mystic

Seeker of the Way

Temur Charger

Chief of the Edge

Chief of the Scale

These are the best two-drops in the format. Each has utility beyond just combat, and you will often not want to trade these for unknown morphs even if given the opportunity. These are top-tier picks and should be prioritized highly if they fit in your color scheme.

Two-Power Traders

Two-Power Traders

Highland Game

Horde Ambusher

Leaping Master

Mardu Skullhunter

Smoke Teller

War-Name Aspirant

Wetland Sambar

These aren't the highest of picks, but they do get the beatdowns started early and you won't be at all sad to trade these off for unknown morphs. Having a few of these in your decks will make opponents' decision much more difficult—is it worth trading a good morph for one of these vanilla twos?

Defenders

Defenders

Archers' Parapet

Dragon's Eye Savants

I'm not a huge fan of Dragon's Eye Savants, but Archers' Parapet seems like a grindy win condition for slow Sultai decks or for Azban decks in a board stall. However, the zero-power stat for these walls makes them not at all scary to attack into, which means someone going wide with morphs (or non-morphs, for that matter) can overcome you pretty easily.

Questionables

Questionables

Jeskai Elder

Jeskai Student

Valley Dasher

Gurmag Swiftwing

I'm not crazy about Jeskai Elder or Jeskai Student, considering each needs help in order to kill a face-down morph. Both are probably decent in a Jeskai deck looking to maximize prowess, but I don't consider them to be auto-includes. Valley Dasher is probably where you want to be if you're committed to the beatdown plan, but you're only ever going to get one opportunity to block (if that), so it is easily played around by skilled opponents. As for Gurmag Swiftwing, I hope to never play this card and expect I will be happy when my opponent's play it against me. Despite all those abilities, one power is just not cutting it.

Two-Drop Morphs

Two-Drop Morphs

Master of Pearls

Icefeather Aven

Jeering Instigator

Finally, these three two-drops all have morph, and given their abilities, I can't imagine you'll be playing these on turn-two very often—unless you really need to block. The added flexibility is nice, even if you won't use it most of the time.

Get Started Early

My initial impression of the format is that with all the 2/2s for three mana running around, two-drops are super important, even in matchups that aren't particularly aggressive. Two-drops can also help you run over opponents who want to be doing things like playing banners. I like to have at least three or four two-power two-drops in my decks, and the results so far have been promising. Let me know what you think about two-drops, morph, and the speed of the format below.

One thought on “KTK Limited Focus: Two-Drops

Join the conversation

Want Prices?

Browse thousands of prices with the first and most comprehensive MTG Finance tool around.


Trader Tools lists both buylist and retail prices for every MTG card, going back a decade.

Quiet Speculation