Explore the Realm of Magic: The Gathering - Articles and Insights

Welcome, Magic lovers! With the sudden, unexpected banning last week of not one, not two, or even three, but seven cards from Standard, the community is witnessing the largest number of cards artificially removed from the format since Disciple of the Vault and friends were forcibly ejected exactly twenty years ago. Normally, this would throw a format into total flux; however, that's not the case this time around. This is mostly due to the fact that there was no 'tier 0' deck plaguing the format. None of the tier 1 decks' overall win rates during the Regional Championship Qualifier season, which just culminated in Pro Tour Final Fantasy last month, surpassed 55%, the typical high-water mark for a dangerously oppressive deck. This has created a bizarre and untamed landscape where many players are happily testing wild, new decks, while others have returned to the finely-tuned, established archetypes that already possess a long and storied Standard format resume. Yuna, Hope of Spira reanimator lists clash with the tried-and-true Dimir Midrange decks that haven't added a single new card in months. Considering rotation is coming in a few short weeks, and with the majority of the competitive crowd currently engaged in the Modern format, testing and tuning those decks for the various RCQ's and eventual Regional Championships that they'll have to play, not much attention is being paid to Standard, and for good reason. However, there are some interesting developments occurring on Magic Online, where the weekly MTGO Challenges have been producing some spicy lists. One such deck is a sleek, twenty-one-land Izzet spells deck that recently took down a sixty-player event:

We are fresh off of an absolute KNEECAPPING of the Standard Meta. The top two aggro decks, domain, graveyard combo, and bounce all took a huge hit. We are currently operating as if these decks are now unplayable, so by default, there will be questions. Can we keep playing the other decks that were decent in the meta? Will they get better? And even, can I finally brew in Standard the way that I want to? The answer for now might be yes to all of that. In a format that feels as if it is wide open, we have a chance to take a wild-west approach to the current Standard format until we have rotation and the next set. While there will be plenty of brews to come, I would like to examine the decks that will now move up into the upper echelon of the meta. There are three different archetypes that I believe will benefit from the bans. Let's start it off with one that might seem pretty obvious: This probably doesn't come as a surprise. Many people have had success with this deck, and have used it as somewhat of an anti-meta list to deal with all different types of threats. Although the meta is a little bit more wide open, I still think this list is equipped to take down anything that is thrown at it. Dimir Midrange

At MagicCon Las Vegas, Wizards of the Coast unveiled the first glimpse of the upcoming space fantasy set, Edge of Eternities, and our first glimpse looks promising. While the vast majority of the set remains unknown, it seems only appropriate, as Magic: The Gathering fans, for us to look at the cards previewed and speculate wildly on how they'll affect Standard moving forward. Disclaimer: any predictions called out here are purely speculation. This exercise is especially challenging because we also have a banned and restricted announcement coming next Monday, June 30th, so the effective meta decks will likely be completely different by the time Edge of Eternities drops. All the same, we're going to have a great discussion and look at some fun cards, so let's get into it. Mother Flipping Shock Lands

Welcome Magic lovers!   As we close in on the upcoming Magic Pro Tour at Magiccon Las Vegas this week, many players are trying to determine which, if any, of the new Final Fantasy cards will have an impact on the format.

I'll never forget what it was like to come back to magic a few years ago after taking a seven-year break to stumble across a meta that was so diverse, it had a deck that was centered around equipment, and the deck was actually really good. It was the golden age of Standard. Kaldheim was the most powerful set in the format by far, and the rares and mythics from that plane set the tone for what the meta would be in our beloved format. Sadly, it ended up rotating, and it did not get to stick around long enough to see the three-year rotation cycle like we have now. The good news is, we are going to try and bring it back! We will look to use cards that go all the way back in Standard so far to the point where the deck might only be playable for a couple of months. That's okay, we will have our fun while we can. I want to throw my hat in the ring for a powerful Boros Equipment list in our new Standard that comes out with Final Fantasy. I think there are too many powerful equipment both in this set, and that have come out within the last year to overlook giving this a shot. It may look a little different, and be a bit janky, but we have enough powerful cards to make this deck awesome. What I love most about it is that we will be able to tutor for equipment cards, and that is where we can kind of use a toolbox of equipment and have a few different one-ofs to diversify our threats. This also allows us to use our sideboard for additional equipment cards if needed. We should expect the deck to change as we see what the meta turns into after Final Fantasy is released. I believe that people are expecting change, and even if we don't get it in the first two months, we will also have rotation. That will guarantee change if nothing else does. We will take a look at the deck and then go over some of the new cards that are showcased within it, and we can see a pretty cool combo that will form. I included a lot of new cards in this deck, so forgive me if I don't get to all of them - but I promise that they all fit well for their own reasons. You can see that we definitely want to set things up early with this deck. The meta is very fast and we want to have our engines going on turns two and three and start trying to amass value from there. We will even try to get maximum value out of cards like Leyline Axe to try and get it going before we even lay our first land. Some of our creatures create their own equipment, and some creatures allow us to tutor for equipment. Some allow us to equip for free, and some even reanimate equipment from our graveyard, or allow us to attach them from our hand. We have many different ways to get value in this deck, so let's take a look at the key players. Key New Cards

If you thought aggro was dead in Standard, think again. Gruul Delirium brings the heat with fast threats, graveyard synergy, and enough tricks to keep your opponents guessing. It's aggressive, grindy, and way smarter than it looks—exactly the kind of deck that punishes slow starts! Gruul Delirium Standard Deck Overview Best Card Choices for Gruul Delirium in Standard

Welcome Magic lovers!   I never wanted to write this article. 

We are about to embark upon the most unique set in Standard we have ever had, while also going into a new era where Universes Beyond cards are all Standard legal, and they are released multiple times a year. Many are up in arms about the game possibly being ruined, or losing its integrity. I personally am waiting to see how things play out, and doing my best to enjoy the new cards as much as I can. Final Fantasy is an interesting set for me. I haven't ever played a Final Fantasy game and I am completely in the dark on any of the lore or story in general. I've felt a bit left out in regards to the hype for the set, and I have been taking a different approach to the cards in the set as they are spoiled. I have strictly been looking at things from a card evaluation standpoint. One could say it's essentially the same as how I've always done it, but in this case it feels like I am an outlier. Although I don't know much about Final Fantasy, I was able to find a card with a mechanic that is near and dear to my heart. Gain and drain will always be my favorite mechanic/ability in MTG, and anyone who has been reading these articles long enough already knew that. Today we are going to look at everyone's favorite villain: Sephiroth. Trust me, I didn't know that before, my friend who is a Final Fantasy enjoyer told me all about it. We will use some other gain and drain effects, and some aristocrat creatures to hopefully drain out our opponent and flood the board with creatures that can go wide. We'll take a look at the deck and then I'll go over the new cards that I included, and why I think they'll be useful in Standard. Let's check it out! I tried to include a good amount of new cards for the deck. A lot of it was pretty easy to build around and the deck somewhat ended up building itself. It was refreshing to have support for this ability. Without further ado, let's check out these new cards and why they are good.  Relevant New Cards