There was a Banned and Restricted list update this past Monday. With it, they banned Uro and only Uro. While I think that might not be enough, we still must get out there and play the games. Uro is a card that has been a terror on standard and made it very hard to play control and non- midrange decks. …
How to Beat Omnath Decks in Standard
Week one of Zendikar Rising Standard is behind us, and there is a huge four-armed shadow looming over this format. Four-Color Omnath has been the breakout deck of the set, and like many decks before it (such as Fires of Invention) it can produce large sums of mana as early as turn four. This has led to a proverbial gold …
Standard Ladder Tier List: Zendikar Rising Week One
This week, we have another edition of the tier list article for you! This Standard format is super fresh — you can play any form of Omnath you like! Maybe things will be different next week? In the meantime, if you’re looking for the best build of Omnath — or how to beat the deck — check out my article …
Week One Zendikar Rising Standard Decks
Standard rotation is here, and we’ll be saying farewell to many format-defining cards. The powerful shock lands, the record-high number of planeswalkers, even the big payoffs for decks like Sacrifice — all gone. Expect some really big shake-ups with this rotation. If you’re looking for a deck to play in the Arena queues this week, I have a couple decks …
5 Zendikar Rising Cards to Watch in Standard
We’re just one week away from the release of Zendikar Rising on MTG Arena and the start of a brand new Standard metagame. The last two years have been defined by amazing mana from Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance and the burst in power that came with War of the Spark — but next week, things will be completely …
A Preview of Post-Rotation Standard
Waiting for Standard to rotate is like waiting for Christmas to come. If you’re excited about it, the weeks crawl by at a painful pace; if not, the big day will sneak up on you before you’ve had time to really think about it! But ready or not, we will soon lose half of the current Standard card pool: Guilds …
Mardu Winota Brings Aggro Back to Standard
The Magic community has filled great tomes with the discussion of the 2019-2020 Standard environment; at this point, it’s hard to justify repeating the analysis in detail. Suffice to say that the format is historically short on deck variety, and one reason why is how incredibly hard it is to play aggro decks right now. Standard has been dominated by …
4 Standard Brews for Core 2021
Hello readers — and please give a warm welcome to our new friend, Core Set 2021! They’re gonna need that warmth, because it is hard to be a new Standard set right now. Simply put, the new core set is entering one of the most powerful Standard environments ever. It’s not just the per-card power level of a format which …
B&R Breakdown: June 1, 2020
Last week, Wizards of the Coast released a much-anticipated Banned and Restricted announcement that has ramifications for Standard, Historic, and companion cards as we know them. As always, I recommend reading the official announcement yourself to get the long-form reasoning behind the changes. But for convenience: Agent of Treachery and Fires of Invention are banned in Standard Agent of Treachery …
3 Rogue Decks for Ikoria Standard
We’re somehow into May now, and I’ve found myself writing more and more about Ikoria Standard in recent weeks. We’re at what I’d call the “mature” end of the format, with the largest and deepest card pool possible all on the table to tinker with until the Ravnica sets and M20 rotate out in a couple months. With so much …