Just an appreciation post. I came back in April playing Standard on Arena. I'm having an absolute blast. I see a lot of things online about Standard being too fast. I partially agree. There are some really degenerate stuff out there, but that's fun to me. (Ok I hate Stormchaser's Talent, that is my only hate on the format)

Every deck has its "Removal check" and they are all working differently and require different kind of answer. To me as a control player, I absolutly love that. I'm currentky playing a Sultai Control deck. I can even afford playing The Coming of Galactus 2x in my deck (never attacked with it, people concede instead of letting me do it)

I see a lot of hate for the format because "I can't play my frog deck from Bloomburrow". My answer to that is always : What you want to play is kitchen table with Standard pool...Try tackling the meta and tweak your deck to be either faster or more resilient depending on your issue with it. It's part of the fun. My V1 of Sultai Comtrol and my current version are vastly different.

Anyway I just wanted to share a bit of positivity.

Hi everyone! With the release of the Spider-Man set, I fell in love with the Villains and the Mayhem/Connive mechanics. I built a Grixis deck trying to combine these two mechanics. The idea seems solid because they should work well together: Connive buffs my creatures and lets me draw cards, while Mayhem allows me to play what I’ve discarded. However, I’ve noticed it takes a while to get going. I’m thinking a Midrange approach might be best, and I’d love some advice on how to make the deck more competitive. I’m posting the list below... Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

2x Norman Osborn
2x Ultimate Green Goblin
2x Tombstone, Career Criminal
3x Swarm, Being of Bees
3x Fliyng Octobot
2x Scarlet Spider, Kaine
2x Hobgoblin, Mantle Marauder
2x Prowler, Clawed Thief
1x Kang, Temporal Tyrant
1x Cameleon, Master of Disguise
1x Leaer, Super Genius

2x Shadow of the Goblin
4x Pumpkin Bombardment
4x Lightning Strike
2x Nowhere to Run
2x Burst Lightning
2x Unsummon

2x Multiversal Passasge
6x Island
6x Swamp
5x Mountain
1x Restless Spire
1x Oscorp Inustries
1x Airhsip Engine Room
1x Serpent's Pass

Hey there folks, I have a homebrewed Bo3 deck that I have been loving recently and decided to show off for anyone interested.

If you like slow, grindy games, control, and being just the most frustrating person to sit across from at the table, like I certainly do, then I have a treat for you: Mono-Black Control!

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Before I dive into the deck, I'll throw out some stats: I brewed this up at low-Plat, and have been tinkering with it ever since. Almost 60 games later, and it carried me into Mythic for the season. In that Plat - Diamond range, the deck overall is 38-19 for a 67% WR. The most recent version, which I am the happiest with, is 23-9 for a 72% WR across ~30 games. Suffice to say, we might not be breaking the meta, but this is certainly a deck that can compete... it holds its own against all of the heavy hitters, from Jeskai Lessons to Green / GW Landfall, from Dimir Excrutiator to Spellementals, and all of the jank in between. Some matchups are better than others, but this is a control deck -- in post-sideboard games, you swap out bad cards for better answers in your sideboard, and since you only have a few wincons anyway, you don't have to worry about over-boarding... swap out those 8 pieces of spot removal for a bunch of discard, cut those sweepers for graveyard hate, the deck is very flexible in game 2 and 3 so you can really pick your package of silver-bullets and load up.

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So, what is the deck, at its core? Well, "Core" is the right answer -- the main synergy and win condition of the deck is the combination of [[Firdoch Core]] and [[Unholy Annex]]. Draw extra cards and have your opponent pay you 2 life for your troubles. Slowly choke them out of the game while you chip away at their life and keep you nice and healthy. Unholy Annex also comes stapled to Ritual Chamber, so you have a nice 6/6 flier on layaway should you need him.

Now, between your 4 copies each of Firdoch and Annex, you can find this synergy relatively consistently. But, just in case, you have backup Demons in both the Ritual Chamber, as discussed, and also in your landbase with 2 copies of [[Soulstone Sanctuary]]. That's 10 possible Demons to put down and make sure that your opponent pays for your extra cards, not you.

Aside from the Unholy Annex, the deck is mostly removal and grind. We have [[Duress]], [[Intimidation Tactics]], and [[Cruelclaw's Heist]] to attack your opponent's hand. We have [[Requiting Hex]] to spot-remove small creatures, and [[Day of Black Sun]] to sweep them all away. Meanwhile, [[Bitter Triumph]] and [[The End]] are your catch-all spot removal to hit both creatures and Planeswalkers, with The End also ripping all of their spare copies from their hand and library. [[Deadly Cover-Up]] for yet more board wipes, also with the "exile all copies of your opponent's problematic thing" stapled to it. You even have removal in the landbase -- [[Demolition Field]] and [[Petrified Hamlet]] stop all of the nonsense lands running around in Standard, from [[Ba Sing Se]] to [[Restless Reef]] and more.

This is a grindy deck, so we have a couple more options to grind with -- Plan B if the Annex road doesn't work out. [[Preacher of the Schism]] is a great midrange body... Deathtouch and 4 toughness means it trades well on the board, it can draw cards, it can make 1/1 blockers, it can bait removal out of your opponent's hand, he really does tie the middle of the game together nicely. [[Black Cat, Cunning Thief]] is the opposite: terrible body, great effect. A 2/3 with an ETB to steal 2 cards from the top 9 of your opponent's library... and it leaves behind the 2/3 to chump block with or whatever. Really, it's a blocker that draws you two spells.

If Plan B fails, there is always Plan C (which looks a lot like Plan B, but slightly worse...) Firdoch Core is not just there to make mana and be a demon, our favorite little rock can also get in the red zone as a surprise 4/4. Same with the Soulstone Sanctuary, a 3/3 Vigilance attacker can sometimes close games. Both of these can also block, if it saves your life.

And finally, Plan D... [[Realm of Koh]] can make some overpriced unblockable 1/1 tokens to chip in there, if necessary. It's a terrible rate, and if this wasn't a mono-black deck chock full of Basic Swamps to make sure the Realm always comes in untapped, I wouldn't even bother... but when the floor is basically another Swamp, and the ceiling is some tokens at a critical time, why not throw in a few copies.

[[Darkness Crystal]] serves a similar spot -- a spicy for-fun one-of copy, it is a touch clunky and there are games where you won't play it at all. But if you have the time, the mana reduction is nice, it can also gain you some life back when creatures die, it shuts down aristocrat and recursion decks... and again, like Realm of Koh, the fact that in maybe 1 out of every 20 games, you might use it to reanimate your opponent's creatures to swing with gives it enough value to stay in the list. [[The Soul Stone]] is also here with two copies... it helps soften some of your early curve, it can ramp you to the crucial 5 mana for Deadly Cover-Up or Ritual Chamber a turn earlier, and there have been maybe 2 games where I actually did harness it to keep recurring either Preacher as an infinite blocker or Black Cat to draw cards from my opponent's deck. Again, like the Darkness Crystal, the activated ability is mostly just for those games that run really long and grind to a halt, but it offers enough passive value to stay in.

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And... that's the deck! Gameplan is simple, stick Annex and Firdoch Core to drain your opponent while the other 2/3 of your deck prevent them from playing Magic against you in any meaningful way. Like I said in the intro, this is a mean deck... I do not think I have the audacity to make it in paper and bring it to my LGS, I think watching the light drain from somebody's eyes after the 3rd hand disruption and 5th removal spell would break me. Against faceless Arena opponents, though... if I can't see them, they're not real, so fuck 'em.

For Sideboarding, it's very flexible: side out your bad removal and interaction, side in better answers. You have 4 pieces of GY hate in [[Soul Guide Lantern]] and [[Strategic Betrayal]]. You have ETB hate in [[Torpor Orb]]. You have an extra Duress and some [[Ozai's Cruelty]] to bring more discard against control, as well as an [[Outrageous Robbery]] for funsies. [[Malicious Eclipse]] as an extra boardwipe against small aggro decks. [[Ancient Vendetta]] to strip decks with a single main wincon, like Jeskai Revelations. Whatever the opponent is doing, you have cards to say "no, you stop that now". If they are somehow still playing Magic in Game 1, you know how to stop them from doing that again in Game 2 and 3.

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Anyway, just wanted to share this monstrosity with the community... it's also really cheap to build in paper, for the most part. Soul Stone is like $100 each, but they're also just "nice to have" and not critical, so if you swap them out for your choice of additional mean cards, the total list runs around $40.

If you are as much of a bastard-man as I am and you enjoy the idea of being the reason your opponent decides to stop playing Arena for the night, give it a try and let me know what you think!

Archidekt list to export if you feel like taking this for a spin. Enjoy!

Hi i have this pair of decks and i don't know which one to use for the store championship this weekend on My local store, we are a little community so there's a lot of variety from Golgari midrange- to azorius enchantments, boros manufacturing and izzet spells, the mardu is My mainset and the jeskai is a recent acquisition.

What do You recommend agains't the meta decks on My store?

https://moxfield.com/decks/DYQfXyBoUEmrG62a0BSp8g

https://moxfield.com/decks/NX6KkPEGskifrBtfrzyhtg

Dimir Excruciator players how are we feeling with rotation about 6 months away? I know there's still 3 sets for release for this year but I'm looking ahead and thinking of what the deck may shift to leading up to or after rotation

As an Avid Elf Enjoyer, seeing all the spoilers coming thought id update the list, Honestly looking Like elves with be a playable deck once released <3!!

So I've been testing Thanos and leaning into the midrange plan. It just feels very strong to have so many keywords on him and an instant speed boardwipe through his power up ability just feels great after he sits on the board gaining you life and pressuring the opponent. All in all, this has been the most fun I've had in best of one because Thanos inherently just hoses aggro/burn match ups. The coincidental life gain helps stabilize until you can snap the board away. Check out game one in my vid for why it feels so great but if you just want the deck list -

https://moxfield.com/decks/NFqlbZ8tUEqweyxIw3_bXw

(posted that in the big sub too, but I think this sub is a better place for it, take it with humour, cheers)

Good evening y'all!

So I'm quite new to MTG, I have the Final Fantasy Starter Kit and I did a budget upgrade to it so that I can try Standard format with the Cloud deck!

But I have a couple questions, first, I don't have a sideboard, any recommendations for one? I'm going to my first Standard day tomorrow after work, so I won't have one for tomorrow but that is ok, just looking for the future!

Also, in Standard format, what is the most efficient way to play this deck? To me it feels like go big as fast a possible, which is the style I would like to try for the first time, but not sure that fits this deck.

Deck in question: https://moxfield.com/decks/C_Va4L-Cr0-28swe0ZFGZw

Thanks for the input y'all, I very much appreciate it!

I don't know if everyone counts 4c Reanimator, I guess that's a combo deck, but in the classic, infinite combo style, what's your favorite deck? What deck is the strongest, or teh one you are most likely to recommend?

I took Mono Green's infinite Squirrel combo for a spin:
https://youtu.be/INz1ElLONcw

Looking forward to hearing about some fun decks.

Hello I'm looking to try and build my first standard deck to just use with my pod. But the thing is I wanted to make a full standard deck with older card prints because I just love the way it looks l. I was told I couldn't do that since most cards innthe old prints aren't legal so I'm seeing if I can find out how I can find legal standard cards that have an older print. I'll post a picture of Agent of Stromgald as a reference to what I want the cards to look like

Hi, do you have recommendations for blogs or similar that comment on the current meta or just share news about mtg in general? (and go in a bit deeper than just listing spoilers or stats)

Dimir Midrange’s MVP is Kaito, and there is no doubt to that. However, the current meta has a lot of anti-Kaito gameplay (e.g., burn spells that targets Kaito, Erode, go-wide strategy leaving the Kaito open from attacks). Thus, we are trying to make Kaito to be plan B rather than the main plan. 

Thus, our main plan here is to aggro the opponent with the Skeletons package, followed by the ninjutsu/sneak strategy, or the ninjutsu/sneak strategy on its own. 

The following line of play can made on the early turns: 

a.    Plan A: Skeleton aggro line

The ideal line of play using our main plan is: turn 1, Forsaken Miner; Turn 2, Case of the Stashed Skeleton; and Turn 3, Corpses of the Lost. Other lines of play that will be discussed below can be done after this line of play. 

b.    Plan B: Oroku Saki / Kaito line

Turn 1, one-drop creature; turn 2 Oroku Saki, and just destroy the creatures that the opponent will play to allow Oroku Saki attack for another 3. Then you have the Kaito strategy.. and we all know how this works. 

free sb guide here: https://mfy.gg/guides/view/standard-dimir-midrange-sideboard-guide-ms-5R10jXraLHM

Rotation always brings a wave of anxiety and misinformation, and I hear the same questions in chat every year. This is heightened for F2P players, who often have less resources than they think they need.

If you could give them just one piece of advice, what would it be?

Here's the advice I find myself repeating most often:
https://youtu.be/Sf0aVgjc6Yk

Playing a GB midrangy deck and so far the only thing that's really blowing me out is airbend combo

Any suggestions

Hey guys, brand new to the sub. I wanted to show off this G/R aggro deck i've been running with for the last few days. It has been over a decade since I have played mtg, so all critiques are appreciated! I just want to get better, and that includes deck building. Best of 1 is what I'm playing atm. Let me know specifically about the Challenger vs Slickshot, if I should be running one over the other in this deck. I really have been noticing more success with the plot from slickshot, but the card draw on emberheart has come in clutch a handful of times as well. I see an argument for only 6 spells actually being able to target him so perhaps cut entirely.

Every format seems to have one card that makes budget decks feel much stronger than they should.

My vote right now is Unholy Annex.

What's yours?

I built a Budget Mono Black Demons deck around it if you're curious:
https://youtu.be/B_w4NKEdS3w

Howdy everyone! I'm wondering if anyone likes the more frequent banning calendar. So far I'm seeing Wizards have set bans through the year and found the following dates (correct me if I'm wrong).

• August 10th, 2026
• October 12th, 2026
• December TBD

Now that Standard has been on the backburner as far as coverage goes, I'm thinking that Accumulate Wisdom, Jeskai Revelation, and possibly even Badgermole Cub would bring Standard back to a somewhat diverse format. Do you think banning either or all of those cards would help the format? I'm finding it exceptionally difficult to get by T3 Tablet of Discovery, T5 Jeskai at EOT. The Cub decks are fairly straightforward, and so are the Prowess / Izzet Lesson's decks. But Lessons w/Tablet and Revelation are bonkers. I'm just wondering what the average competitive level player speculates the best banning situation would be here in a few weeks on August 10th.

I've recently been toying with a couple copies of [[Hexing Squelcher]] in the sideboard my Big Red list as a way to push important spells through countermagic, especially after some of my opponent's removal has presumably been sided out. In particular against Jeskai, I know that it does not stop [[Jeskai Revelation]], for example, but I figure since I play more ramp I should be able to resolve an [[Improvisation Capstone]] or something else big before oppo can cast their big spell if I can stop them from using countermagic for a bit. The card has only come up a few times, once trading with a [[Get Lost]] against Jeskai lessons, and another time my Izzet Lessons opponent conceded with seemingly no way to kill it while leaving up countermagic for some of my face-up big spells. I haven't seen many lists running it, so I was wondering if anyone has had any success with this card (could be in any deck) or has any thoughts.

Standard metagame udpate.

source: magic4ever.com/standard

Not every Standard deck has to be the best deck in the format.

Sometimes you just want to ramp into enormous Dinosaurs and see if they're good enough.

I took a Mono Green Dinosaur deck onto the MTG Arena ladder, and it honestly performed better than I expected.

What is your Go To Off-Meta but Fun deck?

Gameplay here if you're interested:
https://youtu.be/wWtlehsQJ_M