Standard
Top 5 per % of the Meta over the last 7 days per MTGGoldfish:
Overall win rates over the last 60 days per data pulled from MTGDecks.net – 55%, 55%, 51%, 52%, and 48%, respectively.
Looking over the Standard meta, we have seen tons of shifts happening, what felt like, every week since the release of Avatar. The dominance of Lessons at Worlds. The power of Dimi Excruciator at PT Lorwyn Eclipsed. The finals at Spotlight TMNT in Richmond demonstrating what would become the most important match up of the current format: Prowess vs MGL. However, over the last few weeks, the meta has overall seemed to stabilize with the above 5 decks solidifying themselves as the top contenders. I expect this to remain the case as we head into Secrets of Strixhaven Standard. With that being said, no matter what deck you play in the format, make sure you have a game plan to combat these 5 pillars of the format.
Modern
Top 5 per % of the Meta over the last 7 days per MTGGoldfish:
Overall win rates over the last 60 days per data pulled from MTGDecks.net – 55%, 43%, 55%, 53%, and 51%, respectively.
This weekend was the opening weekend of the new RCQ season and I even got a phone call from a close friend about how he managed to get 2nd place with Yawgmoth beating Boros Energy in Top 8 and again in Top 4 to dropping the finals to Jeskai Blink in a 3 game set that took over 2 hours. What a set of games that must have been! Why do I bring this up? Most players disregard Yawgmoth these days but how well my buddy did with the deck is a testament to something I have been saying about the format for months: the format is insanely wide open and pilot skill is a massive factor. Those 2 things lead me into my personal belief about the format right now, and that is that Modern is, by far, the healthiest format in MTG. I am a longtime Legacy “afficionado” and have, for years, talked about how it was the best format in MTG; but, right now, I love playing Modern. With a format so wide open, one of the most important skills (outside of your pilot mastery of the deck you choose) is just knowing the decks that exist. Do you know the Yawgmoth lines? What should you expect if your opponent plays an Allosaurus Rider (do you even know what that card is?)? If an opponent has Emry, Mox Opal, and Grinding Station in play, are you aware of what is coming next?
Pioneer
Top 5 per % of the Meta over the last 7 days per MTGGoldfish:
Overall win rates over the last 180 days (went with 180 instead of 60 here due to the lack of data for Pioneer) per data pulled from MTGDecks.net – 48%, 63%, 66%, 61%, and 60%, respectively. (Due to the lack of data mentioned, I do not believe these %s accurately depict win rates)
Pioneer has been mostly ignored by WotC for nearly two years now (maybe longer?) and nothing has indicated a change in that trend. It is not my favorite format, but I wish it was still getting one of our RCQ seasons each year. Over the last few months, the two Prowess variations (Izzet and Mono-Red) and the two Greasefang variations (Orzhov and Abzan) have overall been dominating the Pioneer format. Selesnya Company and Niv to Light have had a recent resurgence on dailies while Golgari Midrange has been a pretty consistent player in the format and is the current “flavor of Unholy Annex,” which has been the archetype that I have been playing since the banning of Sorin (man I miss that deck). Golgari Midrange is probably the best Unholy Annex deck at the moment because of just how good Abrupt Decay is right now, and the ability to board into 4 Culling Ritual vs certain matchups feels so filthy.
Legacy
Top 5 per % of the Meta over the last 7 days per MTGGoldfish:
Overall win rates over the last 60days per data pulled from MTGDecks.net – 54%, 58%, 50%, 51%, and 52%, respectively.
Legacy has been a format I played once (first ever event was a PTQ and I managed to top 8 with Fish, super exciting for a first time player in college) and fell in love with. It is no longer a supported format outside of MTGO, but the great thing is that in most areas where Legacy events are ran, they tend to now be full proxy unsanctioned events, and I think that is a great thing for the format. We don’t generally see a ton of shifts in the meta and so I probably won’t have much to say each week regarding this format. But, unless something busted rears its head, the one thing you can generally count on is that I am on Izzet Delver.
#AlwaysOnDelver
Closing Comments:
I am aiming to post a weekly snapshot each weekend here for Standard, Modern, Pioneer, and Legacy. If other formats really start to take off and take the center stage, I will incorporate them as well. I will also try to post a monthly snapshot at the end/beginning of each month (which will probably replace the weekly post for that week). There will be some weeks where comments for each format are way less or way more than others. This will depend on each major shifts in the meta or the appearance of new cards making an impact. Hopefully the information presented will help as you prepare for whatever level of event you are going to next. Whether it be locals, a RCQ, or even larger events like Spotlights or RCs. Till next time!
MAFinney
