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When browsing monored and Red + offcolor Lists i am quite baffled how many copies people dedicate to a 3 mana 3/3 Haste creature.

Yes the effect looks sick on paper but in the games i played against it it never felt worth it. It's simply too easy to play around for the opponent to really matter and often enough Nemesis won't even die from damage but the countless Black removals. In general I don't see why Red decks should even run 3 Drops given the plenty powerful 1 and 2 mana plays available to them.

But maybe I am missing something? I am for sure courious why it's not the most overrated card in current Standard so let me know.

I'm back, the same dude who's been working on a Standard Landfall deck for the last couple weeks. On the advice of the sub, I've removed extra colors and gone pure Selesnya. Overall, this color combo is working a lot better for me.

Here is the deck.

The main payoff this time is [[Felidar Retreat]]. This wincon can go tall, go wide, or both, depending on the matchup. [[Overlord of the Hauntwoods]], [[Spelunking]], and [[Case of the Locked Hothouse]] provide extra lands. The Case has been sneakily good in that most of the deck is lands, creatures, and enchantments, and so you can mostly just play off the top of your deck for huge card advantage. The other card advantage engine is [[Caretaker's Talent]], triggering off the Overlord and Retreat to draw cards. My favorite little synergy is using the second level up ability to copy an Everywhere land for an extra land. The two [[Awaken the Woods]] and one of [[Doppelgang]] can ramp early to mid game, but are meant to be mana sinks late game. A big X with Felidar Retreat out is usually game ending. The rest of the deck is [[Llanowar Elfs]] to get the big pieces out faster, [[Authority of the Consuls]] as another one drop that slows aggro, and interaction like [[Elspeth's Smite]] and [[Get Lost]]. Of course, I'm still tuning the interaction as the meta changes.

The deck is grindy and plays extremely well into creature decks or control decks because of the value provided by Retreat. Eventually, the card advantage and value is overwhelming for most decks (Domain might be the exception). It folds fairly easily to aggro, both burn and prowess style. I've tried solving this with more Smites, [[Temporary Lockdown]], and [[Beza, the Bounding Spring]] in the sideboard. [[Archangel Elspeth]] is for grindier matchups. Same with [[Tear Asunder]] as a generic removal spell for any nonland permanent. I'm a little torn on whether or not I need [[Sunfall]]. It stops some midrange decks or token decks that try to go faster game two and I don't mind exiling my board because it's easy enough to rebuild with Retreat. However, it's also too slow against aggro and ends up being a dead card. [[Pawpatch Formation]] is for the decks still running the Demon package and flyers in general. The Retreat generates enough tokens on the ground that chumping and double blocking to remove threats is not a big deal, but I do get hosed by flyers like [[Atraxa, Grand Unifier]] and demons. This is something I may just need to add more removal to solve. I've also just been absolute hosed by a [[Glissa Sunslayer]]. Golgari mid removed any chump blockers and destroyed all by value enchantments. Not sure how common she is as a main deck, but I may need to consider more removal there too.

Overall, the strength of this deck is in it's ability to grind. It will out value most midrange decks and even domain if you can remove Atraxa. The weakness is definitely any aggression and the deck needs a pretty good draw to stop aggro game one.

I'm always being reminded of cards/synergies from this sub and it's always good to have a fresh set of eyes while working, so please let me know what you think.

I won't make a uselessly long post, I have a simple question, but a rather difficult one:
How to beat Boros Charm, especially when paired with Slickshot Show-Off?

^(EDIT:) Ok so apparently, I haven't been clear enough in my post and that's my bad. Obviously I wasn't saying stricto sensu "How do you beat Boros Charm?": indeed, using a removal spell on the double striked creature is a good answer, but the situations I had in mind while asking the question were a bit more advanced than that, and that's why I am posting on r/spikes, a place where I expect a constructive approach. But my desire to keep it simple and succinct to open the discussion backfired. It's my fault and I hold myself responsible for it. This post isn't also a place to complain about X or Y, it's simply the result of a problem I faced and a solution I'm looking for, with the help of a community I hope to be benevolent.

But while some people tried to be really helpful, some others tried to make fun of the question or said things like "be on the play" (which is not very loyal to the desired spirit of this subreddit in my humble opinion, but that's another matter). Therefore I'll illustrate the issue with a few situations (dilemmas!) I've run into:

Yes, you can take 1 damage from a Slickshot attacking, you don't need to react to it immediately. But what do you do if they've cast 2 spells on Slickshot? Do you let it reach you? No, obviously you can't afford to take 8+ damage from a single source, you have to try to remove it. But then Boros Charm prevents you from doing that.
You don't use your removal spell and wait for a later occasion? Then you haven't spent your mana, and the Boros player can hold Charm as a 4 damage card to finish you off with the rest of the burst he has. Now, an even harder situation: they cast two Slickshots from plot.
They cast two pump spells, you're at lethal range without double striking them. They attack you need to remove one, and if you do, they double strike the other one. What to do? Etc. etc. all these situations make the flexibility of Boros Charm extremely hard to beat "especially when paired with Slickshot Show-Off" because SSO has haste, plot and flying.

Heyo! I was thinking about buying a standard deck for my boyfriend and I to fiddle with at FNMs and tune together. We’re both big optimizers, so I figured a control list would be the most flexible / customizable since they’re naturally meant to be fine tuned. This is what I’m thinking of getting since I can get most of it for under a hundred right now:

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pbaefR2kIEm0nt1fnuQJ1w

The idea is that you have enough wraths and 1 mana interaction to run aggro out of gas, and in the midrange matchups you board into a superfriends deck and try to go over the top of them with value. The control strategy is that there isn’t one, since control looks pretty nonexistent atm.

Does this list seem like an okay investment for the price? Would really appreciate some advice, as I’ve been very tempted to pull the trigger.

Edit: I was also thinking about this Lunar Insight aggro list as it looks fun and is also pretty cheap -- https://www.moxfield.com/decks/rbjzScwnykW1Oj-JkqOItw but if that doesn't have legs it's not the end of the world

Long time off and on magic player that's played competitively, but at a crossroads here. I haven't even seen the standard meta, just jammed RDW for the BO1 day and went 6-2 then 7-1. After a break for many sets, what should I play for this weekends BO3? I'm not too worried about the wildcards costs of duals I don't have or whatnot here, mainly lack of reps with decks. Only played 10-20 games with a untapped.gg mono B midrange build and RDW, both bo1.

Not sure if this should be flaired as standard or discussion, but hope I don't get deleted. I'm looking to start reps with something asap, maybe pivot once when I get a feel for the meta so far, but hoping a hero can point me in the right direction.

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Deck

4 [[Matzalantli, the Great Door]]

4 [[Spellgyre]]

4 [[Sleight of Hand]]

4 [[Omniscience]]

4 [[Unauthorized Exit]]

4 [[Reenact the Crime]]

4 [[Confounding Riddle]]

3 [[Collector's Vault]]

3 [[Moment of Truth]]

2 [[Invasion of Arcavios]]

2 [[Thundertrap Trainer]]

2 [[Crystal Grotto]]

21 [[Island]]

Sideboard

3 [[Aetherize]]

2 [[Ghost Vacuum]]

2 [[Flow of Knowledge]]

3 [[Negate]]

1 [[This Town Ain't Big Enough]]

1 [[Let's Play a Game]]

1 [[Johann's Stopgap]]

1 [[Peerless Recycling]]

1 [[Chart a Course]]

Good morning! I've been brewing this ever since I saw that Omniscience was going to be reprinted in Foundations.

Game Plan

Get Omniscience into the graveyard with enough mana to cast Reenact the Crime on it. Then dig through my deck until I get an Invasion of Arcavious. This can grab Johann's Stepgap out of the SB. Using this with Invasion, and then using Invasion to put it back nito your hand from GY draws your entire deck. Draw deck and cast the 2nd Invasion, grabbing This Town Ain't Big Enough. Use that to bounce both Invasions. 1st Invasion puts TTABE back to hand. Second Invasion grabs Let's Play a Game from SB. LPAG to drain 3 (and discard if available) and use Invasions to loop these two spells infinitely until death.

Issues

Duress effects + Counterspells from the UB Enduring Curiosity Deck (Just Duress effects or Just Counterspells is easily winnable.) Burn/Red Aggro is just too fast. Graveyard Hate (Thus lots of maindeck bounce spells. Things like Rest in Peace/Ghost Vacuum with no pressure to back it up never wins.)

Dimir Instead of Mono Blue?

Dimir gives us access to our own Duress effects. So we can rip things like Duress, burn, counterspells, etc out of our opponents' hands. However, this means cutting spells that help dig for our combo pieces. Black also gives us access to cards like [[Lochthwain Scorn]] / [[Virtue of Persistence]] to help with aggro. But again, cutting cards that Dig. Adding black also has the very real issue of the mana base. We cannot afford to play the Surveil lands or Fastlands (In my opinion) because the 4th land HAS to come into play untapped. I think the biggest draw of Black is the Duress effects as well as something like [[The Cruelty of Gix]]

Azorious???

I've also seen a UW version of the deck floating around, but it is much more like a traditional Reanimator deck. I feel like it MIGHT be okay, but also is more susceptible to Graveyard Hate.

Why Arent You Playing ____

I'm not a big fan of the looting Creatures like Malcomb, Kitsa, or Rona. Too many efficient removal spells in the format. Going with 7 artifacts gets around most removal. Also, you can transform Matzalantli sometimes and just hardcast Omni.

Not a fan of Beseech the Mirror. That triple Black is hard to make work and also it feels clunky.

Feedback

Constructive Feedback appreciated. Is this a Tier 0 deck? No. But I am a Spike Johnny. I want to make the most efficient non-meta combo deck I possibly can. (I want to play this in the Spotlight in Atlanta in January)

So I blazed through Platinum with Golgari Midrange and now want to mess around with mono green for a bit in Diamond to see if there is any possible way to make it viable. I've included a screenshot of the deck and the list in text below. Here are the major issues I am running into:

• Hard to figure out a specific win condition other than just having a dozen creatures out with tons of counters on them.
• Hard to hold off mono red or Boros aggro if I don't get a Hulking Raptor down ASAP.
• Can get into a situation where I am lacking cards in hand - no great source of draw unless I have one or two Tributes to the World Tree down.
• Sometimes feeling like I am drawing too many lands when I need other cards.

Any advice on how to shape this deck up a bit to be more competitive? I know mono green is pretty low on the tier list but I want to try what I can. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

• [[Llanowar Elves]] x 4
• [[Goldvein Hydra]] x 2
• [[Bramble Familiar]] x 3
• [[Innkeeper's Talent]] x2
• [[Quirion Beastcaller]] x 4
• [[Archdruid's Charm]] x 2
• [[Tribute to the World Tree]] x 4
• [[Hulking Raptor]] x 4
• [[Defiler of Vigor]] x 2
• [[Railway Brawler]] x 2
• [[Vivien Reid]] x 3
• [[Silverback Elder]] x 2
• [[Gruff Triplets]] x 2
• [[Forest]] x 22
• [[Soulstone Sanctuary]] x 2

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!

https://melee.gg/Tournament/View/152863

https://mtgdecks.net/Standard/saturday-10k-rcq-scg-con-columbus-tournament-175981

The second link has a bunch of collected data and winrates scraped from melee.

Over performing decks were Mono W Caretaker, Domain, Jeskai Convoke, Mono R, and Boros (specifically playing [[Sheltered by Ghosts]]. Gruul performered the worst despite being the 3rd most popular deck.

GB and UB midrange had 50% winrates and were the most played decks so no surprise there. Half of the top 8 was Bx midrange decks so don't be alarmed by that 50% winrate. A bunch of good decks had positive winrates against UB so something to look out for (Gruul had a 56% winrate against UB despite having an overall 39% winrate).

Two Mono W Caretaker decks in the finals. Ended up being the most well positioned deck for the tournament since you get to farm all the midrange and red creature decks and Domain being the worst matchup isn't popular.

As for Foundations cards, red obviously got the best upgrades. Llanowar Elves was good and from what I read on Twitter many BG players wished they had played more Vivien Reid. Also Spyglass Siren > Spectral Sailor.

Rakdos Control playing zero creatures got top 16

Hi, I was hoping someone could explain why it wouldn’t be beneficial for a tempo deck to run protection for it’s creatures. I understand that counter spells are a form of protection but it seems like a lot of the time i get an oculus down it’s instantly removed. Just trying to deepen my understanding of how this deck should optimally be run. Thanks in advance for any help

Render Inert

With the prevalence of [[Archfied of the Dross]] has anyone experimented much with [[Render Inert]] in the sideboard? Worst case it cycles, but it also removes walkers and can accelerate impending overlords.

I imagine it's a pattern of board it in game 2 and if your opponent sees it they board out the Archfiends game three. So is the upside of this worth a couple of sideboards slots to occasionally win the game? Almost every black midrange deck is running the demon as a 4 of lately.

Hi everyone, a standard league was recently make in a store that I have near my house and I want to start improving more and more the decks that I like to play (generally they are midrange, hatebear or something like that, I think the only two What I don't like is aggro like mono red/gruul and control token talents).

So it's a budget for this very fun and friendly hobby, I'm seeing what I need to get and I have to finish my land base, paylands, fastlands, the new vergelands...

But I was seeing the surveilands are quite expensive compared to the others, like 20-40dls depending on the version.

Do you see it as very relevant to what I like to play?

I see it very necessary in slow decks as a control and I think a little now that the vergelands came...

I don't know what to think, what do they say? It is an important budget with those lands today.

Standard finally has a presence in my city again. What deck do I build?

I played magic most prominintly pre covid from.around 2012. Favourite decks are those with lots of interactions. Attrition decks, interactive combos but I'm not against throwing at my opponents face.

I know rg prowess has been good. And gb midrange is also I'm kind of stuck between those choices at the moment but I have almost 0 cards right now so need to buy everything except fast lands and pain lands as I still have those.

Hello all,

Fynn is back in print and I quickly made a Bo1 list for arena testing. The results were really good, and I climbed really fast due to cheap removal and the aggro approach to Deathtouch Fynn. The list is here:

https://www.moxfield.com/decks/MPmRba1110CO_C1McNIbtA

Looking for a transition to Bo3, so that I can take this list in paper form to my local tournaments. I'd imagine that [[Snakeskin Veil]] is an easy addition and probably some kind of enchantment removal like [[Carnivorous Canopy]]. Probably a [[Bloated Contaminator]] in the maindeck.

What are your thought on the transition to Bo3? Is it possible?

Hi Spikes! I mostly play limited but decided to dip into standard right now because there are some sweet 2 card game winning combos once more.

I've finished tuning my decks to survive RDW and Boros, However I now have a severe problem against Leyline Binding based decks that I am seeing standard flooded with.

Specifically my problem is there is no way to trade favorably with Beanstalk + Leyline. They are drawing a card and getting rid of something else at the same time, meanwhile even if I get rid of beanstalk its already a -1 for 1.

It seems like most of them are bant based, and as long as they have 2 mana open they can either counter with the 2 cmc azorious counterspell or ramp up with herd migration.

Any play standard the last 1 year and have some tips on what works best against these? Obviously rdw or aggro decks can try to race before they get enough mana to start doing leyline mana, but curious if there are other things that are working!

Decklist: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/520eBGHMe0-_8ON56eloCg

I've been climbing the Arena ladder with the Mardu Sac deck and it's felt quite strong, very much favored against creature decks. However, I am just dipping my toes into Historic and have basically no idea how to sideboard for it, either for which cards to include or which cards to cut against various matchups. The deck requires a certain density of sac fodder and sac outlets, so I am wary of sideboarding too aggressively.

Decks/Cards I am worried about:

Shifting Omniscience - They go faster than I can, and once they've resolved their combo, I have very little maindeck interaction. The very few games I've won have been to opponents drawing badly.

Affinity - A more even matchup if they play with an average draw, but the deck seriously struggles against Kappa Cannoneer. Edict effects could work, but feel particularly narrow, especially since they often have random tokens or Ornithopters lying around. Right now, my best solution is to out-heal Cannoneer damage through Guide of Souls and hope that they don't try to kill Ajani.

Pithing Needle - Most often names Goblin Bombardment and can be fought around. Still, answers to it are nice.

Stone of Erech/Replacing death triggers with exile - If I'm ahead, Stone isn't a problem. If I'm behind, it locks me out of my best ways to grind back into the game. Very common sideboard card on the ladder, I'd love to get an answer for this that also works against the field.

The Field - I am still new to Historic, so I haven't got a full handle on all the decks in the field. I could 100% be missing a deck that is a huge problem for me that I need to solve.

So far, I am not particularly worried about general creature-based decks because Ajani/Bombardment dunks on them so hard. I'd love some advice on cards to include in the sideboard, as well as some advice on what cards to trim from the deck in certain matchups. I've been doing the obvious things like trimming creature removal against control, but I feel like I am missing some of the subtler cuts against non-obvious decks.

All advice appreciated!

Going in to the weekend, what are you seeing in the new set? What new tech are you developing? What decks have piqued your interest?

Recently, I’ve been trying really hard to make Orzhov Lifegain work. I’ve done some wild stuff involving Alchemy Boars and [[Bloodthirsty Conqueror]] and [[Putrifying Rotboar]] to make an instant win lock, but it’s had mixed results at best.

Show me your decks!

Article

In competitive Magic, the difference between a win and loss can be very small. Today in the 4th edition of my Level Up series I discussed three quick ways you can shift the margins in your favor. This article is targeted at good players who want to pick up extra percentage points. Like all of my content, the specific examples are based on Mono Red while the ideas can apply to any deck

The basic idea was to do your homework and learn how to get the most out of your cards!

Previous level up articles:

Git Gud Scrub

Biggest Myths

Practice Like a Pro

.

If you liked this please check out:

Cheaters Never Prosper

Modern Burn Primer

Modern Burn Tips & Tricks

Modern Burn Mulligans

Hi all dimir players! I love this deck so much because we can play well against all the field. Foundation has release a lot of resources to play burn again in standard and this match up i think is so frustrating for a midrange tempo deck. How do you play against it? We have no way to gain life and they play less creatures then monored and gruul prowess decks. Any solutions?

Hey there!

Sergio Gimenez, who made it to the finals at the latest Regional Challenge in Lille, has just published a comprehensive guide on the deck he played: Rakdos Demons. It includes a complete sideboard & matchup guide along his tips and tricks for mastering the deck.

It also explains the key card choices and the three factors that led his team to choose Rakdos Demons over other versions, including why Blade of the Oni became a perfect fit for the deck.

https://mtgdecks.net/guides/mastering-rakdos-demons-guide-pioneer-mtg-311

Enjoyyy!

Hello,

I wanted to share with you my Simic Merfolk Tempo deck that I was able to pilot to an undefeated 7-0 record after brewing and tuning in the Standard Bo3 ranks.

Decklist: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/gO9u47lC4kWBd4z98sKyJw

The list is still a work in progress (especially the sideboard), but the core cards offer a really solid tempo strategy in this early metagame. Tempo is gained by using the Explore mechanic to build incremental advantage, Stun Counters and Bounce Spells for board control, and cute glimmering cats for card advantage.

Card Choices:

Merfolk

• 4x [[Cenote Scout]] - easy explore enabler
• 4x [[Mistway Spy]] - Flying 1 drop or clue generator
• 2x [[Jadelight Spelunker]] - Enables multiple Explore
• 4x [[Floodpits Drowner]] - Nasty flash tempo
• 4x [[Vodalian Hexcatcher]] - Merfolk lord + Counterspell utility
• 3x [[Nicanzil, Current Conductor]] - Explore synergy

Supporting Cast

• 4x [[Deeproot Pilgrimage]] - Adds a go-wide dimension to the deck
• 4x [[Subterranean Schooner]] - Great explore enabler and synergy with Deeproot Pilgrimage and survives boardwipes
• 2x [[Enduring Curiosity]] - Enables great card drawing / can be easily replaced with new Kiora

Tempo All-stars

• 4x [[Into the Flood Maw]] - Bounce
• 3x [[Phantom Interference]] - Counter
• 2x [[Lodestone Needle]] - Stun Counters / Permanent Map Token

The other merfolk available in this format are also worth considering, depending on how you want to build your deck. The new Kiora, Harbinger of Tides, and Tishana's Tidebinder can offer other dimensions to the deck, but I focused on a very low curve and cards that synergize with Explore that they weren't able to make the cut. I would play Kiora over the Enduring Curiosity if I didn't love the cat so much.

Sideboard:

• [[Unable to Scream]] - for creatures I don't want to bounce
• [[Haywire Mite]] - against problematic enchantments
• [[Soul-Guide Lantern]] - graveyard hate
• [[Kaito, Cunning Infiltrator]] - good against midrange
• [[Shore Up]] - good against removal heavy decks
• [[Aetherize]] - pet card of mine and a hail mary against go-wide strategies

-

Quick matchup commentary:

Reanimator or Oculus strategies feels like a favorable matchup due to how good our Bounce/Stun cards are - the only consistently problematic creature to try and deal with is Valgavoth due to their Ward cost.

The deck does really well against mono-red with all the bounce and stun counters to punish their attack step. You can still very much lose to their nutty draws though.

Boros burn is not as favorable as mono-red since we have no way of gaining life. The tempo deck does well if they rely more on creatures or if you can pressure them to using their burn on your creatures.

Golgari/Dimir midrange is really about how you go about navigating their hands. If they have threat-heavy hands, it is easy to out-tempo them, but if they have removal heavy hands, you really have to be careful about overextending.

Token strategies and other go-wide strategies feel like an unfavorable matchup since it is hard to out-tempo decks that are pumping out multiple creatures and anthem effects.

-

The list is not perfect so I hope others will try and expand on this strategy as the metagame evolves. The list is definitely fun to pilot though and really rewards players who have a disciplined tempo mindset.

I appreciate any feedback!

Hi Spikes, I've qualified for the Arena Qualifier next weekend on the 23rd and it is Standard. I haven't prepped for any major competitive Standard play since Lorwyn block released, so I'd love some help with some insight and feedback on a deck I'm considering playing, "Big Red". I'm hoping some constructive feedback and discussion can help me make the most of my last full week of practice. Ultimately, I might end up going with something else as there are a lot of strong brews with the Foundation's release, however, this current version of "Big Red" I've come up with strikes me as particularly well suited to handle UW Tempo, Domain, Red flavored aggro, and Golgari (when they're not loaded up on bats and other hand disruption). I've been playing with the deck since DSK released and Boilerbilges and Nemesis came along to enable a more mid-range take on Red.

The Deck:

17 Mountain

4 Burst Lightning

4 Lightning Strike

4 Demolition Field

4 Hired Claw

4 Fountainport

4 Enduring Courage

4 Overlord of the Boilerbilges

4 Screaming Nemesis

3 Ghost Vacuum

4 Searslicer Goblin

4 Twinflame Tyrant

Sideboard

4 Lithomantic Barrage

4 Torch the Tower

3 Slagstorm

4 Urabrask's Forge

I've been playing with the deck since DSK released and Boilerbilges and Nemesis came along to enable a more mid-range take on Red. I currently have a record of 23-12 across 10 different versions I've tried, with this build above being 4-0 right now. Currently the deck's bad matchups appear to be anything running Sheoldred with discard packages or a heavy suit of counter magic, but even these seem like coinflips with tight play.

This version of Red seeks to produce a steady pressure of damage at all turns of the game and can finish with a combo kill of Ghost Vacuum tokens + Enduring Courage. I find myself using Vacuum on my own graveyard as much as I do my opponent's. I've settled on non-exiling burn cards in the main deck because of the Vacuum synergy.

Cards I'm uncertain on:

1. [[Searslicer Goblin]] is just something I'm trying. The token it produces seems good, but if I've ever gotten more than 1 activation out of this in a game it has been win-more. I think any resilient or value generating 2 drop makes sense. I've run [[Magda, the Hoardmaster]] here previously and it seemed to ramp well, but really wasn't great at contributing board pressure. I'd love suggestions on other 1 or 2 drops that might work well in this more mid-range version of Red Aggro. I don't think [[Fear of Missing Out]] will reach Delerium very reliably with this current build. [[Heartfire Immolator]] is something I've been thinking about and would love to know if anyone's tried it with any success. It can reasonably hit players because of Nemesis among other things.
2. [[Overlord of the Boilerbilges]] is weirdly becoming on the cards I'm unsure of. It IS great at the top end, but I'm more and more realizing that the 4 damage Impending cast only really works out when I don't have something else to play. It plays very well with an active Enduring Courage and is hard cast though. I'm wondering if this is a flex spot and if I should consider something else to help against Dimir and black discard. EDIT: I'm considering a split of [[Trumpeting Carnosaur]] and Boilerbilges might be better than 4x of the Overlord. Would love to read some thoughts on this, but 2/2 split seems reasonable, I'm just not sure what the 3 damage channel ability will do better than the impending 4 damage. Both are great revived under vacuum for different reasons, Carnosaur might be better actually.
3. [[Demolition Field]] feels like too many at 4. When I was running a more crime-centric build they helped a ton, and they're great for matches when you have to grind out a control deck fielding fountainport or manlands. I'm wondering if I should cut this down some and maybe run some other utility land like Blast Zone or colorless manland (some number of Crawling Barrens comes to mind). Because the deck is mono-colored this selection is really flexible, so I think there are a ton of possible replacements for 2 or more Demolition Fields.

Ideas I'm considering:

-This might be better adding black, but I think will lose consistency and explosiveness depending on what is added and how much. The core idea strikes me as Screaming Nemesis+ Enduring Courage + Twinflame Tyrant + Ghost Vacuum, and while adding black gives hand disruption and better removal options main and post board, I think the damage clock of the deck suffers by splashing or working in another color.

-Blue. Man, I really don't have time to test out an Izzet build. Could be good. Could be awful, I have no idea. [[Enduring Curiosity]] could fill your hand up with more burn though, and who doesn't love drawing cards. I also low-key love Niv Mizzet and always considering playing his Izzet versions when I can in some form, so there is some inherent bias here. All that said, if anyone has been trying something similar as UR, would love to read your take!

Other Cards from Foundations that have impressed me:

-[[Twinflame Tyrant]] is an absolute monster by himself. Pair him with his little doggo buddy Enduring Courage and he will quickly just end games. I originally had this slot as [[Terror of the Peaks]], which did well filling the role as an explosive damage enabler, but Twinflame is about a turn or two faster than Terror at closing a game.

-[[Burst Lightning]] has won me exactly one game because of its kicker. It feels like Shock did, which shouldn't be surprising, but this card is waaaay better when you've grinded a game to a topdeck war.

-[[Slagstorm]] this version of red doesn't care as much about opposing Urabrask's Forges, so the player damage is kind of nice. It has done just fine again red aggro and gruul, and contributes to outracing them if you've got the better board state by going face. Overall, I think it's staying, but there might be better options as the current maindeck already fights red aggro and gruul decently without needing a board clear.

Anyway, I've written as much as I can off the top of my head here. I'll try my best to answer any questions about the deck if anyone's interested, but I'd love some ideas and suggestions from the community if possible. Ultimately, this might not be the right choice for next weekend for me (I'm expecting a lot of what was shown to be good at Worlds with Foundations upgrades) and might follow suit instead of going rogue. Tonnel's red aggro build strikes me as a deck that will be always viable for a long time, as well as Dimir Mid-Range. Would love to hear other deck suggestions and reasons why they'll be good for an early Foundations Standard Qualifier.

My boyfriend and I used to play 60 card formats about a decade ago — he played standard in the Innistrad/RTR era up to about Amonkhet, and I played modern from 2015 to 2017. We both enjoy value decks that are lighter on creatures. (Think classic Jeskai Snapcaster/Helix for him and mono blue tron for me. If those references are even still understandable, lol)

However, the format seems really hostile to that style of deck judging by the meta on mtggoldfish. The Monstrous Rage shells specifically seem incredibly pushed relative to what we as millennial boomers “grew up” with; we’ve noticed basically every deck is playing 22+ creatures and that Cut Down is really rampant while MR is the most played card in the format from what we’ve seen.

We’ve been having fun brewing, but we can’t help but feel like the specter of Heart-Fire Hero + Monstrous Rage (and Screaming Nemesis) make a lot of our brews just feel kinda pointless.

Is our apprehension justified? Or is it not as bad as we get the impression of? We ordered a budget UW flash deck plus a RG ramp list and worst comes to worst we can just enjoy jamming games against each other. We’ve both been brewing nonstop since Foundations dropped cause we’re really excited about the card pool.

Nobody else has put a thread up yet, so I shall.

I've been furiously trying many different achetypes, mostly in alchemy.

One that is surprisingly doing better than expected is selesnya landfall - decklist here. Still very much a WIP, but when it hits, it goes insane.

What are you seeing or working on?

Hi guys. I entered Magic comp play for real about 2 months ago and created the Boros Convoke deck with my WC. Funnily enough a guy from my meta sold me his entire Boros Convoke deck, so I am basically grinding the deck online and offline for some time.

There are seveal little tournaments and a RCQ qualifier in January coming up and I will definitely stick to the only deck I got. Also, there won't be a new set since February.

What are your current thoughts on the deck? Does FND provide any good options besides the Consuls? What are your plans with the deck and how do you think will it be affected by Consuls itself?

Event Link on Melee

Metagame Breakdown (Video)

Metagame Breakdown at a glance (3 Pictures)

Goldfish Deck Dump

Thread of Interesting Decks (Deck Pics, Opinion)

RC Lille end caps a span of 8 different Pioneer Regional Championships over the last few weeks, culminating in the 8th unique deck archetype to win an RC in that stretch.

Aside from the resurgence of [[Ygra, Eater of All]] decks, there were Azorius Humans lists that did well, iterations of Red decks with slightly different splashes, and a [[Zur, Eternal Schemer]] list that made the Duskmourn Overlords threats super quick by cheating their Creature clauses!

Pioneer is getting snubbed for the foreseeable future as no RCQ Seasons for the 2025-2026 Competitive Season have been scheduled. The format looks quite diverse & is iterating new decks post-Duskmourn, while Phoenix and versions of Rakdos continue to rise to the top.

Are you optimistic on the Format as a Spike? Has the lack of an RCQ Season diminished your fire for the format entirely? What about the decks at Lille - was anything exciting to you? What do you think the future is for some of the newer lists that popped up, or older lists that underperformed?

My Foundations draft guide is now available on TheGathering! This is meant for people who already draft a lot, and need the stats and pick priorities for different archetypes. I tried a more streamlined approach than usual, so let me know what you think!

I'll be streaming today and tomorrow at Twitch.tv/ScuffleDLux to try and climb from ~Mythic200

(Edit- fixed link)

I basically stopped playing Orzhov since the release of DSK, then I switched to Mono White Control. But now with the Foundations out, did someone figure out how to play Orzhov most effectively? I'm open both to midrange (both Zoraline and Demon variations are viable as far as I have seen) and control (I played planeswalkers deck but I'm interested in any orzhov control variation, maybe new Liliana is a little upgrade?). Is Elenda hit or miss? I imagine Authority of the Consuls goes automatically into sideboard.

Hi All,

I'm working on UW Oculus for the upcoming (well I suppose now started) standard RCQ season. My current list is on the below link:

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6753779#paper

The main inclusions from Foundations are Opt and Parting Gust

My main question at the moment is surrounding the inclusion of Parting Gust as the removal. White's removal isn't great, with the commonly used options being Get Lost and/or Soul Partition. Neither of these are great. So post foundations I have started to test Parting Gust.

Pros:

Exile based removal

The downside of a tapped fish is fairly irrelevant to my plan of hitting with fliers (unlike maps with Get Lost)

Instant Speed (unlike Exorcise which has been in sideboards)

Doubles as a protection spell for my Oculus/Djinn

Cons:

Double White is rough (so no discount from Djinn) (this has been the main sticking point so far)

Doesn't hit tokens (6/6 demons)

Doesn't hit non-creature permanents

Also will happily listen to any and all other suggestions/feedback