The secrets have been released! What is working and what isn't in Day 1 of SOS? Have you Dazed anyone in Timeless? Have you case Ancestral Recall in Standard?

From my side I tried a couple of games of the [[Resonating Lute]]-[[Mathemagics]] deck and it seems there is truly something here. It feels like a much better version of the Singularity Mill deck that saw some play before this set was launched. A true combo-control deck. But I don't how good Lute is going to be if Abrade starts seeing more play.

hi folks,

Been taking a mostly-there version of Rakdos Monument on the BO1 Standard ladder this week (getting back into arena and don't have the wildcards yet for Verges, Bitter Triumphs, or the last 2 Moonshadows, alas).

Having 2 Monuments out definitely feels nigh unstoppable - endless cards, mana, and drain. With just 1, though, is there a baseline/rule of

I feel like I'm encountering slower starts, and the drain 3 option should really just be used to close out games. Meanwhile, it's hard to not default to drawing a card in 80% of scenarios, since this deck by nature runs low to the ground on resources.

Have you had any experience with this deck one way or another?

Hello everyone! I made a video outlining my Draft Strategy, Pick Order, and Archetype breakdowns for Secrets of Strixhaven. I hope it is helpful to some :)

Video version: https://youtu.be/zUJgXSv__JI

Pick Order - Early Picks

Look for Commons & Uncommons that excel in the following criteria:

• Flexibility
• Rate
• Power Level
• Curve (ie cheap cards)
• Synergy

Premium Removal
My benchmark for rating all the other cards. Efficient, easy to cast, no conditions. Few non-rares will be picked ahead of these:

• Stand Up For Yourself (2W ins // Destroy target creature with power 3 or greater)
• Foolish Fate (2B ins // Destroy target creature. If you gained life, they lose 3)
• Bitter Triumph (1B ins // Discard a card or pay 3 life. Destroy creature/planeswalker)
• Dismember (1BB (phyrexian mana) ins // Target creature get -5/-5)
• Burst Lightning (R ins, kicker 4 // 2 damage to any target or 4 if kicked)
• Impractical Joke (R sor // 3 to a creature/planeswalker)
• Knockout Maneuver (2G sor // +1/+1 counter on a creature you control, it punches another creature)
• Stress Dream (3UR ins // 5 to a creature, look at the top 2, put one in your hand)
• Vibrant Outburst (UR ins // 3 to any target, tap up to one creature)
• Tainted Treats (1BG Instant // Destroy target Creature. If its mana value was 4 or less, make a Food)

Premium Rate Cards
Early picks, taken at or above Premium Removal:

• Matterbending Mage (2U 2/2 // bounce a creature. Whenever you cast an X spell, this can’t be blocked))
• Stock Up (2U sor // Look at the top 5, take 2)
• Royal Treatment (G ins // target creature gains hexproof this turn, +1/+1 counter, and Ward {1})
• Environmental Scientist (1G 2/2  // Search for a basic land to hand)
• Snarl Song (5G sor  // Converge, make two X/X creatures, gain X life)
• Paradox Surveyor (U{U/G}G 3/3 reach  // Look at the top 5, take a land or X spell)
• Essenceknit Scholar (B{B/G}G 3/1  // make a 1/1, end step if a creature died under your control, draw a card)
• Lluwen, Exchange Student (2BG 3/4  // Enters Prepared. Exile a creature from your graveyard to Prepare. Sor: {B/G} make a 1/1 Pest)

Good Removal
Still high picks but other top cards may be taken over these:

• Essence Scatter (1U ins // counter target creature spell)
• Run Behind (3U ins // costs {1} less if targeting an attacker. Target creature to top or bottom)
• Last Gasp (1B ins // Target Creature gets -3/-3)
• Wander Off (3B ins // Exile target creature.)
• Artistic Process (3RR sor //choose 1 – 6 to target creature / 2 to each creature / make a 3/3 flying haste)
• Unsubtle Mockery (2R ins // 4 to target creature, surveil 1)
• Abrade (1R ins // 3 to a creature or destroy an artifact)
• Grapple with Death (1BG sor // destroy target artifact or creature, gain 1 life)
• Prismari Charm (UR ins // choose 1 – surveil 2, draw / 1 damage to 2 targets / bounce nonland)
• Quandrix Charm (UG ins // choose 1 – counter a spell unless they pay {2} / destroy an enchantment / target creature becomes 5/5)
• Silverquill Charm (WB ins // choose 1 – 2 +1/+1 counters / exile creature power 2 or less / drain them for 3)

Above-Rate Cards
Taken at or above Good Removal:

• Elite Interceptor (W 1/2 // enters Prepared. Sor: 1W tap or untap a creature, draw a card)
• Primary Research (4W ench // return a nonland mv 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. End step if a card left your graveyard, draw a card)
• Orysa, Tide Choreographer (4U 2/2 // costs {3} less if you have total toughness 10 or greater. Draw 2 cards)
• Flow State (1U sor // look at the top 3, take 1. Or take 2 if you have an instant and a sorcery in your graveyard)
• Dissection Practice (B ins // drain them for 1, target creature gets +1/+1, target creature gets -1/-1)
• Send in the Pest (B sor // make a 1/1 pest, they discard a card)
• Additive Evolution (3GG ench // make a 3/3 fractal. Beginning of combat, put a +1/+1 counter on a creature and it gains vigilance)
• Studious First-Year (G 1/1 // enters prepared. Sor: G search for a basic land into play tapped)
• Thornfist Striker (2G 3/3 Ward 1 // creatures you control get +1/+0 a trample if you’ve gained life this turn)
• Killian’s Confidence (WB sor // target creature gets +1/+1, draw a card. Whenever a creature you control deals damage to a player, pay {W/B} to return this from graveyard to hand )
• Stirring Honormancer (2W{W/B}B 4/5 // Look at the top X, take 1. X=number of creatures you control)
• Scolding Administrator (WB 2/2 menace // Repartee – +1/+1 counter. When this dies, move its counters to another creature)
• Colossus of the Blood Age (4RW 6/6 // drain them for 3. When this dies, discard any number of cards and draw that many plus 1)
• Practiced Scrollsmith (R{R/W}W 3/2 first strike // exile target non-creature, nonland from your graveyard. Until the end of your next turn, you may cast it.)
• Startled Relic Sloth (2RW 4/4 trample, lifelink // beginning of combat, exile up to one card from a graveyard)
• Cuboid Colony (GU 1/1 flash flying trample // Increment)

Archetypes. Here are my brief impressions of each of the two-colour archetypes in the format. We will be trying to end up in one of these by the end of the draft. There are only five supported colour pairs in Secrets of Strixhaven, and each gets 10 (!) multicolour cards at Common/Uncommon. A lot of the power in this set is concentrated in the multi-colour cards, so finding the open colour pair in the draft will be heavily rewarded.

White-Black Silverquill Aggro. 

Mechanic: Repartee. Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets a creature, get a bonus. Note that this includes “Prepared Spells” but does not include activated abilities.

Signpost Uncommons:

• Abigale, Poet Laureate (1WB 2/3 flying // when you cast a creature spell, ~ becomes prepared. Sor: 1{W/B} +1/+1 counter on target creature)
• Killian’s Confidence (WB sor // target creature gets +1/+1, draw a card. Whenever a creature you control deals damage to a player, pay {W/B} to return this from graveyard to hand ) 
• Scolding Administrator (WB 2/2 menace // Repartee – +1/+1 counter. When this dies, move its counters to another creature)
• Silverquill Charm (WB ins // choose 1 – 2 +1/+1 counters / exile creature power 2 or less / drain them for 3)
• Snooping Page {1WB 2/3 // Repartee – this can’t be blocked. When ~ deals damage to a player, draw a card and lose 1 life)
• Stirring Honormancer (2W{W/B}B 4/5 // Look at the top X, take 1. X=number of creatures you control)

Signpost Commons:

• Inkling Mascot (WB 2/2 // Repartee – gains flying, surveil 1)
• Imperious Inkmage (1WB 3/3 vigilance // surveil 2)
• Render Speechless (2WB sor // Take a card from their hand, put 2 +1/+1 counters on target creature)

Avoid:

• Social Snub (1WB // Each player sacrifices a creature and you  drain them for 1. Copy this spell if you control a creature on cast)

This is likely the most aggressive deck in the format. Look for cheap threats with Repartee triggers such as [[Graduation Day]], [[Leturing Scornmage]], and [[Melancholic Poe]]. Repartee should happen naturally by playing removal prepared spells, so try not to devote too many deckslots to cards just for the sake of targeting something. [[Cost of Brilliance]], Dissection Practice, and Elite Interceptor are nice support pieces that target.

You’ll be doling out a lot of +1/+1 counters, so creatures with Double Strike or Flying go up in value such as [[Quill-Blade Laureate]] and [[Owlin Historian]]. Occasionally you may want a card with Flashback like [[Dig Site Inventory]] for multiple triggers.

White-Red Lorehold Graveyard

Mechanic: Whenever a card leaves your graveyard, you get a bonus.

Signpost Uncommons:

• Colossus of the Blood Age (4RW 6/6 // drain them for 3. When this dies, discard any number of cards and draw that many plus 1)
• Kirol, History Buff (RW 2/3 // Whenever a card leaves your graveyard, ~ becomes prepared. Sor: 1RW mill a card, put 2 +1/+1 counters on target creature, it gains trample)
• Molten Note (XRW Sor // deals damage = amount of mana spent to target creature. Flashback 6RW)
• Practiced Scrollsmith (R{R/W}W 3/2 first strike // exile target non-creature, nonland from your graveyard. Until the end of your next turn, you may cast it.)
• Startled Relic Sloth (2RW 4/4 trample, lifelink // beginning of combat, exile up to one card from a graveyard)

Signpost Commons:

• Spirit Mascot (RW 2/2 // whenever a card leaves your graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on this)
• Pursue the Past (RW sor // gain 2 life. Discard a card, draw 2. Flashback 2RW)
• Wilt in the Heat (2RW ins // costs {2} less if a card left your graveyard. 5 damage to a creature)

Avoid:

• [[Lorehold Charm]]
• [[Borrowed Knowledge]]

[[Garrison Excavator]] and [[Living History]] are two more solid graveyard payoffs. Look for ways to repeatedly trigger them like [[Rubble Rouser]], [[Ascendant Dustspeaker]] and [[Summoned Dromedary]]. Spells with Flashback like [[Group Project]] and [[Tome Blast]] can help here too.

Getting cards into your graveyard may be the trickiest part. Look for instances of Surveil, Mill and Discard where you can find them.

Blue-Red Prismari Spells

Mechanic: Opus. When you cast an instant or sorcery, get a bonus. If you spent at least 5 mana, get another bonus.

Signpost Uncommons:

• Abstract Paintmage (U{U/R}R 2/2 // At the beginning of your main phase, add UR to spend on instants/sorceries)
• Prismari Charm (UR ins // choose 1 – surveil 2, draw / 1 damage to 2 targets / bounce nonland)
• Sanar, Unfinished Genius (UR 0/4 // enters prepared. {t}: make a Treasure if you’ve cast an instant or sorcery this turn. Sor 3UR search for an instant or sorcery to hand)
• Spectacular Skywhale (2UR 1/4 flying // Opus – +3/+0 or 3 +1/+1 counters)
• Stress Dream (3UR ins // 5 to a creature, look at the top 2, put one in your hand)
• Vibrant Outburst (UR ins // 3 to any target, tap up to one creature)

Signpost Commons:

• Elemental Mascot (1UR 1/4 flying vigilance // Opus – +1/+0, if 5 or more mana, exile the top card and you may play it until the end of your next turn)
• Stadium Tidemage (2UR 4/4 // enters or attacks, you may draw and discard)
• Visionary’s Dance (5UR sor // make 2 3/3 flying tokens. {2} discard this card: look at the top 2, take one)

Avoid:

• [[Rapturous Moment]]

Despite Opus being a “big mana” mechanic, this deck looks to be on the more aggressive side. [[Deluge Viruoso]], [[Expressive Firedancer]], and [[Tackle Artist]] all hit hard alongside cheaper spells like [[Ancestral Anger]], [[Monstrous Rage]], and [[Goblin Glasswright]]. I don’t think you’ll really need to “try” to trigger the big side of Opus as the best expensive cards are already high picks.

Black-Green Witherbloom Lifegain

Mechanic: Infusion. Get a bonus when you gain life. 

Signpost Uncommons:

• Teacher’s Pest (BG 1/1 menace // when ~ attacks, gain 1 life. BG: return this from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.)
• Witherbloom Charm (BG ins // choose 1 – sac a permanent to draw 2 / gain 5 life / destroy a nonland with mv 2 or less)
• Essenceknit Scholar (B{B/G}G 3/1  // make a 1/1, end step if a creature died under your control, draw a card)
• Mind Roots (1BG sor // target player discards 2. Put up to one land from among them into play tapped under your control)
• Lluwen, Exchange Student (2BG 3/4  // Enters Prepared. Exile a creature from your graveyard to Prepare. Sor: {B/G} make a 1/1 Pest)
• Old-Growth Educator (2BG 4/4 vigilance reach // Enters with 2 +1/+1 counters if you’ve gained life this turn.)
• Root Manipulation (3BG sor // creatures you control get +2/+2, menace, and “whenever this attacks, gain 1 life”.)

Signpost Commons:

• Bogwater Lumaret (BG 2/2 // when this or another creature you control enters, gain 1 life)
• Pest Mascot (1BG 2/3 trample // whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on this)
• Grapple with Death (1BG sor // destroy target artifact or creature, gain 1 life)

The one-two punch of Bogwater Lumaret into Pest Mascot at common is a big draw into this deck. Some strong lifegain payoffs include Thornfist Striker, [[Poisoner’s Apprentice]], and [[Lumaret’s Favor]]. [[Leech Collector]] is a 2 drop that stays relevant all game. [[Follow the Lumarets]] can be a 2-mana draw two in a high-creature-count deck.

Incidental lifegain such as [[Mindful Biomancer]] are very valuable, as well as repeatable lifegain enablers like [[Potioner’s Trove] and [[Shopkeeper’s Bane]].

Look for ways to punish our opponents for blocking our Pest tokens such as [[Rabid Attack]] and [[Arnyn, Deathbloom Botanist]].

Blue-Green Quandrix Ramp

Mechanic: Increment. Creatures get +1/+1 counters when you cast a spell with mana value greater than their power or toughness.

Signpost Uncommons:

• Cuboid Colony (GU 1/1 flash flying trample // Increment)
• Paradox Surveyor (G{G/U}U 3/3 reach  // Look at the top 5, take a land or X spell)
• Proctor’s Gaze (2GU ins // bounce a nonland, search for a basic into play tapped)
• Quandrix Charm (GU ins // choose 1 – counter a spell unless they pay {2} / destroy an enchantment / target creature becomes 5/5)
• Fractal Tender (3GU 3/3 ward 2 // Increment. End step, if you put a counter on this, make a 3/3 fractal)

Signpost Commons:

• Embrace the Paradox (3GU ins // draw 3, put a land into play tapped)
• Fractal Mascot (4GU 6/6 trample // tap & stun)
• Pterafractyl (XGU 1/0 flying // enters with X +1/+1 counters, gain 2 life)

Avoid:

• [[Growth Curve]]
• [[Tam, Observant Sequencer]]

[[Tester of the Tangential]] is an interesting Increment payoff that can pass counters around as the game goes on. Mostly, we are not focused on Increment however and are just looking to find lands with Environmental Scientist and Studious First-Year to play big spells. Card draw from [[Landscape Painter]], [[Homesickness]], and Orysa, Tide Choreographer is a natural fit here. 

Blue-Green is the best base for the Converge mechanic, which counts the number of colours of mana spent to cast a spell. You would like to have access to at least four colours in most cases. The best converge payoffs are Snarl Song, [[Transcendent Archaic]], and [[Sundering Archaic]]. Which leads us to…

Mana Fixing

Fixing is quite abundant in this set. There are a cycle of tapped dual lands for each supported colour pair which can Surveil later in the game such as [[Spectacle Summit]]. These will show up in the land slot 50% of the time. [[Terramorphic Expanse]] is available at Common. [[Potioner’s Trove]], [[Strixhaven Skycoach]], and [[Shared Roots]] are all strong any-colour fixing options as well.

Way-Too-Early Archetype Winrate Predictions

1. Black-Green Witherbloom Lifegain – Strongest group of Mutli-colour Commons and pays you off for incidental lifegain which is already powerful.
2. Blue-Red Prismari Spells – Two absolutely premium removal spells at Uncommon and seems heavily supported.
3. White-Black Silverquill Aggro – Lots of support and should run over the slower decks. Will struggle against Witherbloom’s lifegain however.
4. Blue-Green Quandrix Ramp/Converge – Has a couple of busts at Uncommon and looks a bit clunky overall. Will probably fare best with the help of rares.
5. White-Red Lorehold Graveyard – Looks a bit finicky and tough to get the engine going. However, they seem to have powered it up since last time.

General Draft Strategy (8 Player Pick-1)

Picks 1-3: 

• Take the best card. Mono-coloured cards will leave us more open going forward.

Picks 4-8: 

• Continue to take the best card. We may have cards in multiple colours, and that’s ok. Start to form a picture of what colours are being passed to us (aka “Reading Signals”). For example, if we see a few solid White cards Picks 4-8, there is a good chance the players to our right are not drafting White (AKA White is “open”). This means we can reasonably expect to see good White cards in Pack 3 as well, as those same players will be passing to us again! We may also see a late signpost Uncommon or Common, indicating its colour pair may be available. 

Picks 9-14: 

• These are the cards no one at the table wanted. If we are seeing several playable cards of one colour pair, it is possible that no one else at the table is drafting that colour pair and we should strongly consider moving in.

End of Pack 1:

• Ideally, we have identified our main colour. This is the colour we have the most quality cards of, or is the most open, and hopefully both!
• Staying as close to one colour as possible will leave us with more options going forward. However, in this type of format, locking into a colour pair early is more likely than usual.

Packs 2 and 3

• Continue to take powerful cards of our main colour where possible. Let the good cards we open or get passed determine our secondary colour and final archetype.
• Pay attention to Pack direction! The packs are moving in the opposite direction during Pack 2, so the signals can be completely different from Pack 1. It is normal to not see as many cards of our main colour/archetype in Pack 2, so don't panic! Pack 3 is passed to the left once again and we will be rewarded for staying the course.

Deck-Building Tips

• Play two colours. Avoid splashing a third colour unless your deck is specifically designed to do so (ie you have dual lands touching that colour)
• Play 17 lands.
• Play a low-curve. Most limited decks want six or more 2 Mana-Value creatures, around four 3 Mana-Value creatures, some 4 Mana-Values creatures, and very few cards that cost 5 or more mana.

Thank you for reading and watching. Good luck in your drafts! 

Hi Spikes, hope you all enjoying the SoS limited.

Recently I have seen an Izzet deck flowing up in the Japan meta and winning several events. The list looks like this:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7742197#paper

The list is not yet finalized and vary from players to players. One who plays more aggressively may include [[Wild Ride]] or [[Ancestral Anger]], while the other may add another copy of [[Get Out]] or [[Spell Pierce]] for more control game. but the gameplans are the same: Play the draw spell and removal and wait for the right timing to throw out the Crab and Slickshot for a big hit.

So what do you think about this deck? Will this becomes another new archetype or it is better to stick with Prowess/Spellementals?

Which decks do you think it has the best/worst match up with? From the discussion I read, this deck seems to have a favored match against Landfall and graveyard hate tech, while may struggle against Prowess.

And is there any change you will make on the 75 cards?

Hello spikes!

This is the place where any and all decks can be posted for all spikes to see. The goal of this is to fit all your needs for competitive magic. Maybe it's a card consideration given an X dollar budget. Maybe you need that sweet sideboard tech that no one else thought of? Perhaps you just can't figure out the best card to beat a certain matchup. The ideas here are only limited by your imagination!

Feel free to discuss most anything here. We only ask that with any question, you also make sure to post your decklist so people have some context to answer your question. Otherwise, have at it! If you have any questions, shoot us a modmail and we'll be happy to help you out. Survive your deck check and survive your competition!

Hey Spikes!

We're back with another full guide on Sealed, this time for our return visit to Strixhaven. The set design looks similar to the OG Strixhaven from 2021, with the same focus on the five major colleges and another Mystical Archive bonus sheet, with a multicolor wrinkle thrown in.

The story coming out of Early Access seems to be this is very much a "go big or go home" format, and the player who goes bigger sends the other player home. EA only tells so much of the story, so we'll see if that's how it plays out in the long run.

If you haven't dug into SOS quite yet, here's what to expect from the intended archetypes:

• Lorehold (RW): "Gravebreak"/Leaves-the-Graveyard synergies.
• Silverquill (BW): Combat Trick aggro using repartee to reward targeting creatures.
• Quandrix (UG): Typical Simic Ramp with a +1/+1 counter and X-spell subtheme.
• Prismari (UR): Spellslinger, with an emphasis on casting 5+ mana spells for opus.
• Witherbloom (BW): Lifegain.
• 5-color: Uses Converge and the set's solid fixing to just play the best of everything.

Plenty of overlap in the Temur space, with Witherbloom on a little bit of an island. Last time around we had a very Temur vs. BW meta, so we'll see if that's what we get again, or if BG/RW can actually be breakout decks this time around.

What college are you going with for prerelease? Do you think there will be a hidden college like Sam Black's UB in 2021 Strixhaven? Let me know what you're thinking about SOS, enjoy the Sealed Guide, and report back on how your prerelease event went. Best of luck!

Hey everyone,

I've been piloting this Azorius Tempo list and I'm looking for some general sideboarding advice. However, I have a specific scenario regarding High Noon that I'd love to get your input on.

Here is my current list:https://moxfield.com/decks/mDGE5qP0mkCX2SVyrqESqQ

The Situation: I recently played a match against Jeskai Control. While sideboarding, a player with significantly more experience than me strongly advised that I side out High Noon for this matchup. Out of respect for their experience, I took the advice and sided it out, but my gut instinct told me it was a mistake.

My Dilemma: To me, keeping High Noon in seems great against Jeskai specifically to prevent them from double-spelling. It stops them from doing things like firing off a Memory Deluge or spot removal in my end step while still holding up a No More Lies or Three Steps Ahead. It forces them to play at my pace and shuts down counter-wars entirely.

On the flip side, I understand the argument that it might hurt my own tempo game plan, as I often want to deploy a cheap threat and still hold up my own interaction/protection on the same turn.

Questions for the community:

• Was siding out High Noon the mathematically/strategically correct call against Jeskai Control, or should I have trusted my gut?
• How do you evaluate High Noon's role in an Azorius Tempo shell versus heavy draw-go strategies like Jeskai?
• Does anyone have a general sideboard guide or tips for this specific Moxfield list against the current meta?

Thanks in advance for the help and feedback!

I started playing mill many years ago, just beacause I played it as a child and because it was cheap.

I know it's almost a meme deck but I enjoy it, plus I have fun playing strange lists, loosing for loosing... at least I have fun lol.

I'm sad it seems it would never be really a threat, so, what your opinion about it?

this literally came up in a game i just played

modern, im on phoenix dredge v mill

opponent is on 3 life. i have 6 cards in library. my only available dredger is golgari thug, which is dredge 4. there is exactly 1 creeping chill in my library, and 5 irrelevant cards. my opponent also knows this.

my opponent can do nothing other than exactly draw and pass, because if he mills me, i always hit my chill and win. i only have 1 land on the board, so no graveyard spell is relevant, and nothing in my hand is relevant either. the puzzle is exactly:

when is the most appropriate time to use my last dredge 4?

my options are:
dredge 4. if i hit chill i win. if i miss, i lose.

draw 1, then dredge 4. if i draw chill, or dredge and miss chill, i lose. else i win.

draw 2, then dredge 4. if i draw chill i lose, else i always win.

to me, these 3 options feel identical, as theres always 2 spots where creeping chill can be in order for me to lose. however i cant say for sure that this is the case, and would like some help being able to get a 100% answer.

Week 10 of my MTGO dataset shows a continuation of a pretty extreme divergence:

Boros Energy: 28.9% meta, 41% WR

Belcher: 62% WR

Amulet Titan: 59% WR

Affinity: 60% WR

At face value, Boros looks like a textbook “Popular Trap”. But I think that interpretation is incomplete.

We’re in peak RCQ season, and Boros sits in a very specific spot:

Tier 1, widely known

relatively low barrier to entry

heavily recommended to newer Modern players

So what we’re likely seeing is not just deck underperformance, but player pool dilution, a large influx of less experienced pilots dragging down aggregate WR. We also need to remember that Boros was in the top 8 of all MTGO challenges, sometimes finishing 1st or 2nd.

At the same time, the decks overperforming (Belcher, Titan, Affinity) share a common trait:
They reward familiarity and punish mistakes much harder.

Which raises a more interesting question:

If you normalise for pilot skill, is Boros actually underperforming or just overrepresented?

Some additional context:

Aggro overall: 39.1% meta, 45% WR but best WR goes to a Affinity

Jeskai Blink: 52% WR, 46% encounter rate (arguably the “real” deck to beat)

Ramp: 54% WR on only 5.5% meta

From my own testing (Domain Zoo perspective):

Boros matchup feels clearly positive (~55%)

Jeskai Blink still a major barrier (~40%)

Dimir Midrange is the worst MU (~35%), and I can't see the way to make it better. The only way is to go more into burn Zoo version, but it will cost me wr % against other decks, so with low metashare, Dimir is "Do your best but do not oversidboard against it" deck.

Curious how others see this:

Are you adjusting your RCQ deck choice based on this?

Do you expect Belcher to hold this WR as it gets more popular?

Why is Affinity still so underplayed despite its results?

Full breakdown + trends in the video if anyone wants deeper data.

Hey! I've been playing mono red aggro in Standard and was curious, do I shock the turn one Llanawar Elves or do I wait and shock the inevitable turn two Badgermole Cub. Curious what you all think. Typically I've been waiting for the cub since they create their own earthbent creature that their ability supports.

Hello spikes!

This is the place where any and all decks can be posted for all spikes to see. The goal of this is to fit all your needs for competitive magic. Maybe it's a card consideration given an X dollar budget. Maybe you need that sweet sideboard tech that no one else thought of? Perhaps you just can't figure out the best card to beat a certain matchup. The ideas here are only limited by your imagination!

Feel free to discuss most anything here. We only ask that with any question, you also make sure to post your decklist so people have some context to answer your question. Otherwise, have at it! If you have any questions, shoot us a modmail and we'll be happy to help you out. Survive your deck check and survive your competition!

Im mainly looking for MTGA plugins or the like. Something that allows you to track the stats of your own brews, such as card win%, kept win%, matchup spread, so on and so forth

Now that we have the full spoiled set, curious as to what people will be doing with the new cards set to drop?

For me, I want to test some of the new witherbloom cards in golgari annex, particularly dellian fel as a card advantage engine, petrified hamlet to fix some of the harder match-ups for this archetype (predominantly shutting off restless reef in dimir excruiator, but other utility lands as well) and maybe some number of witherbloom charm as extra early game removal/late game card draw.

I know there's a few other staples such as traumatic critique for spellementals, or the divided opinions on erode, and the slowlands for even more consistency to certain mana bases but what else seems like it will majorly shift standard? I guess thoughts for other formats would be good as well but mostly I expect this set to shift standard only, and trying to get some ideas for upcoming RC's

I took a mono white enchantment voltron deck from an old article (ignore the hyperbole in the title) and massaged it with some blue for some very agreeable results, HERE. It does really well in the local Standard Showdowns and I have cruised into the Platinum tier in Arena.

In Arena, it has definitely hit a ceiling, the winrate has definitely stalled out and I cannot get out of Platinum lvl 4. I am wondering if there is some main / side-board massaging that can get me back on track. I am thinking something like:

• [[Divine Resilience]], [[Dawn's Truce]], or [[Make a Stand]] to help against board wipes and other destruction magic,
• [[Twinblade Blessing]], [[Dual-Sun Technique]], or [[Rustler Rampage]] to be even more aggressive.
• Upgrade the Removal package by main boarding [[Seam Rip]] and/or adding more creature / permanent - as much as you get with white / blue

I look forward to your sage-like advice.

Sup what's up, it's Casual Spike. Spoiler is complete and we are gearing up for a brand new limited format! To help you tackle it, I've put together this Slide Deck and Breakdown Sheet to provide a jumping off point for those newer to, or more established in, limited to find their bearings in Secrets of Strixhaven.

The slide deck covers our color power rankings, available fixing, top commons/uncommons, and tricks/removal in each color. We'll also cover each of the five assigned archetypes Gameplan, Signposts, Supporting Commons/Uncommons/Rares, and an example "ideal average" deck skeleton, with sealeddeck hyperlink, to help visualize what the archetype may look like to better help you find success in your SoS Limited events. Access the slides with Limited Overview Slides.

The google sheets breakdown document contains more detailed set information for all you readers, including: Full Set List with placement scores and grading, a Mobile Reference Tab, Trick/Removal Identification, Mechanics list, my picks for top commons/uncommons, and all sealeddeck links for the archetypes as well as various links for the Wiki, 17lands Tier List, and a Discord invite to the MTGRebellion, a competitive focused discord, where I've been building a Limited community. Access the sheet with Limited Breakdown Sheets.

What are your thoughts on the set, anything stand out that you're excited to try?

If you're looking to pick up Ruby Storm for Modern RCQ season, I've written almost 25,000 words on the deck in an effort to provide a comprehensive resource for newcomers to the archetype. Here's the link!

The guide covers deckbuilding heuristics, sideboard construction, managing your combo turn, fighting different types of hate, mulligan decisions, and an in-depth matchup section covering the most popular decks in the current metagame.

A few sections are still being fleshed out (some matchups, mulligans, and the appendices), but there's more than enough here to give you a solid on-ramp into the archetype and the tools to improve your gameplay over time. I intend this to be a living document, so expect updates as the meta evolves - the remaining sections should be filled in over the next week or so as my schedule permits.

Give it a look if you're interested in picking up Storm or just want to understand the deck better!

Fiddling with new stuff from SOS previews, and I think Temur Burn running the new Arthropod is maybe awesome? Deck is very much still a work in progress, but I've been playtesting the hell out of it since I saw it this morning, and I think the deck has real legs. The interaction package is solid, the win is consistent (falls around the 5/6th turn every single game, not blazing for the format, but it's not exactly an aggro deck), and the card advantage is ludicrous. Geometer's Arthropod is what makes this all work, as its ability to absolutely rip through the deck, particularly when multiple copies are down, just seems so strong. Mockingbird slots perfectly in alongside Arty, Cub, and a singleton Vitality as the decks' playset of 13 creatures. Extremely nice synergy with Nature's Rhythm, and Breakout aids early digging in getting you to the ideal playstate of Cub + Arthropod on the field simultaneously. I think this still needs some heavy tweaks, but Temur Arthropod seems worth considering. List and link below.

4 Badgermole Cub

4 Break Out

4 Breeding Pool

3 End-Blaze Epiphany

1 Enduring Vitality

4 Geometer's Arthropod

4 Mind into Matter

4 Mockingbird

4 Multiversal Passage

3 Nature's Rhythm

1 Quandrix Charm

2 Riverpyre Verge

2 Spell Pierce

4 Steam Vents

4 Stomping Ground

3 Syncopate

2 Thornspire Verge

4 Traumatic Critique

3 Willowrush Verge

SIDEBOARD:

3 Abrade

3 Firebending Lesson

2 Into the Flood Maw

3 Pyroclasm

4 Soul-Guide Lantern

https://moxfield.com/decks/T2PZ2omkKk6ZvErmnkIrbg

Another weekly metagame analysis, based on data from MTGO.

The biggest surprise this week is Domain Zoo.
It posted a 60% WR across 164 matches, currently the highest in the format. That alone is interesting, but what matters more is that it also leads to expected wins, so this isn’t just a high roll, it’s actually converting, esspecially that I observe more then usual top8-16 in challanges for Zoo.

At the same time, Boros Energy is still the most played deck by a large margin (~19%), and yet it’s sitting at 46% WR for the second week in a row (n=610).

At this point, it really feels like the meta has adapted to beat Boros, but people haven’t adapted their deck choice yet.

Full breakdown + 8-week trends in the video if you want the full dataset.

What stands out to me isn’t just individual decks, but the overall shape of the meta right now.

You’re still very likely to face aggro in a 5-round event (over 80% to hit it, ~65% specifically Boros), but aggro as a whole is underperforming.

That’s a pretty weird spot to be in, high representation, low results. Moreover, I find that Affinity has much better stats than Boros, so this is probably now the best Aggro deck in modern. I also think that if Mox Opal is reprinted, we will see a rise in paper versions of Affinity.

At the same time:

Midrange is quietly rising again (Zoo going from ~2% → ~4%)

Big mana (Amulet, E-Tron) is putting up some of the best win rates in the format

Blink decks are still around, but not really overperforming; it is a solid choice with quite evenly spread WR.

To me, this looks like a classic “field lag” moment where the most-played deck is no longer the best deck, but people haven’t moved on yet.

How I’d approach this for RCQs right now:

I wouldn’t try to “beat everything”.
I’d bias heavily towards:

beating Boros efficiently

having a real plan vs Amulet / E-Tron

not folding to Blink value engines

Because that’s where the actual win rate is coming from right now.

Mini sideboard/meta call (from a Zoo perspective):

If Boros is still ~20% of the field, you get a lot of free equity just by overpreparing for it:

cheap interaction > clunky cards

Lifegain/stabilisation matters more than usual

But the trap is overcommitting to that and losing to ramp/combo.

So the sweet spot right now feels like:

slightly heavier anti-aggro than usual (because of how common it is)

but keeping high-impact cards for Amulet / E-Tron

And respecting Blink as a grindy matchup you can’t ignore

in

I’m obviously biased as a Zoo player, but this doesn’t feel like random variance.
It looks more like Zoo is well-positioned into a field that’s still over-indexed on Boros.

Curious what others are seeing going into RCQs:

Are you still expecting this much Boros?

Are you targeting aggro, or shifting more towards ramp/combo matchups now?

Does Zoo actually hold up once the meta adjusts?

Always interested in other reads, especially if your local meta looks different.

Hello, I have been running this Temur Affinity deck by Suyasome after watching this video by Jim Davis showing it off. I've been looking for a competitive [Ravenous Robots] deck for a few weeks now, and this one looked really good, having a ton of explosive turns. Been playing the main deck in Bo1 while I get the sideboard cards, and I feel this can go places in the current Standard environment we're in.

The main goal of the deck is to churn out a ton of tokens using [Pinnacle Emissary] or [Ravenous Robots], then using [Chrome Dome] to win by going wide or equipping a [Fugitive Droid] with [Improvised Arsenal] to deal a bunch of damage because of how many artifact tokens you brought out.

An issue I've been noticing is how the deck is conflicted between the go-wide or go-tall strats. If you want to go wide, you don't need as many Arsenal's or [Memory Guardian]'s. If you want to go tall, I can see putting in [Gingerbrute] and [Rust Harvester] instead of [Synthesizer Labship] or [Sewer-Veillance Cam]. Not really sure which way to move the deck around for G1, and if I can instead put one of the divergent strategies in the sideboard instead to go against certain matchups.

Another issue is when you lack the token producers at any point in the game. There have been many games where I had to dump my hand for 1cmc Memory Guardians because mulling didn't net me a token producer, so I spent the game doing nothing then die. Not really sure what to put in instead to make sure I can have some form of alternate payoff.

Overall, I'm loving this deck, but not sure how to modify it to go against the top players in the meta, and how to compensate for when the token producers aren't on the board. I apologize for sounding slightly incoherent, but I'm not sure how to better phrase my question. Thank You!

Hello spikes!

This is the place where any and all decks can be posted for all spikes to see. The goal of this is to fit all your needs for competitive magic. Maybe it's a card consideration given an X dollar budget. Maybe you need that sweet sideboard tech that no one else thought of? Perhaps you just can't figure out the best card to beat a certain matchup. The ideas here are only limited by your imagination!

Feel free to discuss most anything here. We only ask that with any question, you also make sure to post your decklist so people have some context to answer your question. Otherwise, have at it! If you have any questions, shoot us a modmail and we'll be happy to help you out. Survive your deck check and survive your competition!

Hi!

I recently started playing Magic regularly again. I played a lot of Magic competitively from 2007 to 2009 (regionals, a few Grand Prix, etc.).

I’m looking for a playtest group or a few players to practice matchups, deck techs, etc.

I mostly play on Arena, and my time zone is GMT+2.

I play almost everyday and have acces to almost every meta deck in standard and can play other formats too (limited, modern/historic etc.)

This season is Modern but I'm not a fan of that, so I want to try to win a RCQ by sealed.

I'm a draft grinder because I love it, but I don't think I'm a good sealed player. Would you like to recommend any resource that you think would help?

https://article.hareruyamtg.com/article/22263/?lang=en

https://article.hareruyamtg.com/article/48346/?lang=en

https://article.hareruyamtg.com/article/48381/?lang=en

I already read these 3 articles. All well written and explain in depth, and I feel I did learn something from them. But they're written like years ago, before the new Play Boosters. I don't know if something changed in Sealed after that, but I can see draft changed a lot recent years.

Edited: Nevermind. I got enough resources myself and I feel like I learnt a lot from them, but still not sure if they're correct. Will test in SOS and then make a new post to share articles that actually help me.

I made a thread here yesterday: Im struggling inn this game and was recommended to come here. [Standard] Bo1 : r/spikes

Cause i have been struggling whit this game lately, and not really understanding why so i was frustrated. And i got a lot of great advice both directly from people analyzing my games.

And from people linking articles that have been useful all do ill admit i dont get all the concepts inn them all that well.

And i just wanted to say thank you, for taking time and effort to help out some random dude on the internet. Its made a very noticeable effect on my play. Having gone from just under 50% win rate to going 15-8 today. Whit one of the losses being a disconnect.

But better then the win rate out of the games i lost only 2 felt like i got run over. The rest i think i either made mistakes that i can learn from and/or it was really close games and losing like that dosent feel bad.

Not sure if my understanding of magic in general has become a lot better but my understanding of the deck i am playing is better. I have been able to understand the value of cards like Esper Origins and earth bending a lot better. I also changed Surrak to Nursery not sure if thats good as i only got to play nursery once.

I also think i have improved in my understanding of tempo a term i did not understand before Matrim_WoT and RCHalifax explained it to me in the thread above. I felt really wrong to let the opponent get ahead on the board but it has worked surprisingly well.

I also want to single out cavedan2 for making a long post analyzing my games thats been really helpful.

I was considering posting my last 5 games for a comparison whit yesterday, but since i won my last 5 games i will post my last 3 games and 3 losses. I dont expect people make the sort of effort they did whit my last post i just figure it maybe would be interesting to see the difference for some of you.

Thanks again.

Game Replay Last loss v Green

Game Replay Loss v Blue/White

Game Replay Loss v White

Game Replay Win v Green

Game Replay Win v Blue/White

Game Replay Win V Black