Welcome Magic lovers! With the largest Standard tournament since Grand Prix Nagoya all the way back in 2019 concluding this past weekend, players are abuzz with talk of the emerging shape of the metagame, the new decks on the block, Esper Pixie and Selesnya Cage, as well as the metamorphosis that Dimir midrange seems to be undergoing. However, buried deep in the standings were plenty of other hidden gems, such as the return of the Temur Fireballs deck, as well as several flavors of reanimator, among other assorted rogue decks. While all eyes were on Atlanta and the Magic Spotlight tournament, one such rogue deck did have an interesting run, taking down a fifty-six player Regional Championship Qualifier in Spain. A 'reanimator' deck that's not bringing back any creatures, but that also kills the opponent on turn four? Let's talk about Azorius Omniscience combo.

Welcome Magic lovers! Happy New Year! As the rest of the world ushers in the coming year, competitive Magic: the Gathering players are still stuck in late 2024…at least until the end of the ongoing Standard Regional Championship Qualifier season, which won't wrap up until a couple of months from now.  The format up to this point has seen several big shifts as players try to get an edge over one another in their attempts to find the best deck for any given weekend, and uncover any hidden gems that may be lurking in the new sets that have been released since the qualifier season began.

Welcome Magic lovers!   The Standard format saw more high-level competitive play as the Arena Championship 7 happened this past weekend, where just under fifty players battled for a piece of the hefty $250,000 prize pool, pro tour invites and a couple of entries into the Magic World Championships 31 taking place in 2025. Now that the dust has settled, there's plenty of data to pore over, giving us a pretty good snapshot of where the Standard format currently sits, and where it may trend in the coming weeks.

Welcome Magic lovers!   The story of the Standard format is told in numbers, and the numbers don't lie.

Welcome Magic lovers!   As the strongest decks in Standard cement their places at the top of the various tournament leaderboards, it's hard to justify not playing one of the existing tier 1 archetypes. Dimir Midrange is the overall best deck, as its flexibility, backed by powerfully efficient spells, makes it very difficult to defeat, even when other pilots are gunning for it. Golgari Midrange, while not as adaptable as Dimir, also plays such individually powerful cards at every spot along the curve that it's very tough to go toe-to-toe with the deck in a fair game of Magic.

Welcome Magic lovers!   As Standard continues to evolve with an ever-increasing number of high-profile events being run each week, the innovations to existing decks and even the formation of brand-new archetypes are happening at a breakneck speed. Take this past weekend, for example, where the top 8 included a couple of previously unseen lists, Azorius Aggro, a low-to-the-ground deck built around cheap white and blue creatures plus removal, and the list we'll be talking about today, Simic Tempo.

Welcome Magic lovers!   With the first week of post-Foundations, Standard Regional Championship Qualifier tournaments in the books, it's now time to peruse the plethora of lists to see which tried-and-true decks are succeeding and perhaps which promising new archetypes may merit further exploration.

Welcome Magic lovers! With the release of the massive Foundations set this week, the Standard format is abuzz with new ideas, new lists, and potential new archetypes to tweak, test, and tune in preparation for the upcoming Regional Championship Qualifier season that's set to begin on November 16th. Today, let's take a look at a couple of new, potentially powerful, deck ideas that may inject new life into the Standard format.