In Magic: The Gathering (MTG), deck archetypes refer to broad categories that define a deck’s overall strategy and theme. These archetypes help players understand how a deck functions, how it wins, and what its primary strengths and weaknesses are.

In my early years of the game, I’d prefer Aggro decks because of the simplicity of winning by just attacking your opponents and making their life total reach zero. Later on, I explored other unique ways to win while learning more strategies as I progressed.

While there are numerous deck archetypes, here are some of the common ones:

1. Aggro: Aggro stands for “aggressive.” These decks aim to win quickly by overwhelming opponents with fast and efficient creatures and attacking relentlessly. Aggro decks focus on dealing damage as quickly as possible, pressuring the opponent to make hasty decisions.
2. Control: Control decks focus on slowing down the game and maintaining control over the board. They use counterspells, removal spells, and various forms of disruption to neutralize opponents’ threats. The goal is to stall the game until they can win with a powerful late-game threat or combo.
3. Combo: Combo decks revolve around specific card combinations that, when assembled, create a game-winning interaction. These decks often use card draw and tutoring effects to find the necessary combo pieces quickly. The combo can range from a devastating one-turn kill to generating an unbeatable advantage over the opponent.
4. Midrange: Midrange decks aim to strike a balance between aggression and control. They use a mix of efficient creatures and disruptive spells to control the board and establish dominance in the mid to late game. Midrange decks often have a more varied game plan and adapt to different matchups.
5. Tempo: Tempo decks focus on maintaining a slight advantage in the game’s pace. They play disruptive spells to slow down the opponent’s strategy while developing their board and maintaining a strong presence. Tempo decks aim to pressure their opponent while disrupting their plans.
6. Ramp: Ramp decks prioritize accelerating their mana resources to play powerful spells earlier than usual. They use mana ramp spells and creatures to generate more mana than the typical amount per turn, allowing them to cast bigger threats or combo pieces ahead of their opponents.

7. Control Combo: These decks combine elements of both control and combo strategies. They focus on controlling the game until they can assemble a specific card combo that leads to victory. This archetype may be more reliant on the combo win condition than the control aspects.
8. Prison: Prison decks seek to lock down opponents’ resources and limit their ability to play the game effectively. They use cards that restrict the opponent’s options, such as tax effects, stax effects, or cards that prevent certain actions altogether.
9. Tribal: Tribal decks are centered around a specific creature type, such as Elves, Goblins, or Merfolk. They benefit from cards that support and enhance the chosen creature type, often creating synergies and powerful interactions.
10. Control Aggro: Also known as “Tempo Control,” these decks blend elements of control and aggro. They use disruptive spells to control the board while applying pressure with efficient creatures, seeking to close out the game relatively quickly after gaining a lead.

Keep in mind that deck archetypes are not always strictly defined, and many decks may fall into a combination of these categories. Additionally, there are possible metagame and deck archetypes that can evolve with new card releases and rule changes.

Here below is a video of one of the previously-played aggro decks, Mardu Vampires for Standard.