The Magic: the Gathering Standard Domain Ramp deck archetype is continuously evolving on the adjustment to the current metagame. It is justifiable as new strategies arise to counter the deck build in resolving Atraxa. Given that it has already acquired a powerful card in Cavern of Souls, which makes the Phyrexian angel uncounterable, the deck would still be open to new components. It is maybe easy for them to do so as the Domain lands build makes it flexible to almost any color of the card in Standard.

Here is one recent adjustment that we made with the access to the powerful Blue Merfolk from the Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Tishana’s Tidebinder. Check out the video gameplay below of the current Domain Ramp deck build of our card pool with a “twist”.

Please also check the other Magic: the Gathering Arena Standard ranked gameplay in my previous video uploads. Thank you in advance.

I am a personal fan of the Rakdos midrange deck archetype with the Magic: the Gathering strategy of disrupting opponents’ hand and board while also establishing powerful creatures. In this current setting of the Lost Caverns of Ixalan Standard, the metagame has developed a new version of the Black Red Rakdos deck that has evolved from the set’s mechanic: Discover.

This deck archetype is labeled as aggro as it can curve pretty well, but it feels to me more like a Midrange kind because of its powerful gameplay evidenced during the fifth turns, and onwards.

Here is a sample decklist of the build.

I was able to pilot the deck on MTG Arena via my friend’s account and the feeling of being the role of controlling the game is just the reason why this deck can be considered as a top-tier in the current Standard metagame.

Check out below my gameplay of the deck, recorded and posted on my YouTube channel DeathMarked TV.

The Magic: the Gathering Standard format continues to be interesting to play with the recent set Lost Caverns of Ixalan that had somewhat shaped some new archetypes and deck strategies to work with. Today’s blog post feature, however, goes back to the deck that utilizes the main card mechanic Toxic which was introduced in Phyrexia: All Will be One.

I found this decklist on the MTG Top 8 website and it was of the Green Blue White or Bant colors. It has great support card components from ONE that it somewhat made itself a standalone deck.

The build goes with having creatures with Toxic to deal damage and have opponents get Poison Counters. This also goes with Proliferating those while also preventing them from developing their board with bounce spells and counterspells.

Here below is a video discussion detailing the Bant Toxic Aggro deck strategy uploaded on my YouTube channel DeathMarked TV.

Checking on the Magic: the Gathering Esper Raffine gameplay & the deck’s performance in the Lost Caverns of Ixalan Standard metagame, the archetype proves to be still a top-tier level with the deck adjustment depending on the what other decks are popular in the format. This is evident with the recent tournament results posted online on Magic: the Gathering websites such as MTGTop8.com.

One of the first matches that we took in our daily MTG Arena grind was testing the Esper Raffine deck in the ranked matches on the platform. One of the highlight matches was versus Domain Ramp or Control for that matter because of that deck’s adjustment to lean more toward that strategy.

Check out the MTG Arena video below, and please also subscribe to the YouTube channel for new match video uploads on this archetype.

We have been looking at some other Standard deck builds on our Magic: the Gathering Arena account with the Lost Caverns of Ixalan as the recent set included. The popular decks such as Esper Legends are still under the Top Tier level of archetype but some new deck builds are looking to be of the same potential.

What we tried in one of our recent MTG Arena recordings was the Orzhov Breach Control deck, which is just a core of the Mono-White but splashing Black for the powerful Breach the Multiverse card which is very effective against the Domain Ramp deck.

Today’s YouTube video that I will share is a matchup against the Jund Midrange, which has also evolved with the LCI card components. Check out the matchup recap video below, and subscribe to my channel Deathmarked TV for more of this kind of content and deck gameplay.

With the reprint of the Caverns of Souls in the Magic: the Gathering Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, I am happy to see some new variance of the tribal decks in the Standard format and one in particular that I will feature in today’s blog post is the Jeskai Humans deck.

In the past and older formats, Humans can actually afford to cater the five colors of Magic and it is observed in the Modern format which I was able to play in an actual event back in Grand Prix Hong Kong 2018. The landbase from its Modern list is now somewhat being copied in Standard as two tribal mana-fix nonbasic lands are still legal to play.

A Jeskai Humans deck in Standard would likely focus on aggressive, creature-based strategies, leveraging the synergies among Human creatures that generates board advantage, and possibly incorporating elements from the Jeskai color combination (white, blue, and red).

I was able to do a deck tech discussion of the build right after checking on a reference deck list from MTG Top 8. Do check it out on the video below.

We have been doing the playtest for the Esper Legends deck in the Magic: the Gathering Arena format with the new set including The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. This is to consistently test the deck build and try some new components.

We faced some old previous deck archetypes as well as new strategies, in particular some tribal decks introduced in Ixalan. It is quite interesting to see these builds that look like a standalone list with a few mana fix support from previous sets.

One specific tribal Standard deck that I am going to share for today’s blog post is my matchup against Izzet Pirates. This tribe is one of the recognized powerhouse aggro decks during the Ixalan Standard days and seeing it here again is no surprise.

See the video below of the MTG Arena Standard matchup between Esper Legends vs Izzet Pirates.

As the magical realms of Magic: The Gathering continually expand, each new set release becomes a captivating chapter in the ever-evolving saga of deck building. With every fresh addition to the vast multiverse, players find themselves presented with a wealth of new cards, mechanics, and synergies that challenge and inspire their strategic prowess.

With every new Magic: the Gathering set released, we expect again some new deck strategies introduced, and improvements to current deck builds. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, introduced a whole deck strategy that revolves around a new land subtype: Cave. I found the decklist at the MTG Goldfish website and the build accommodates the five colors.

Here below is the video discussion of the Caves deck tech for Standard.

Yes, the Magic the Gathering official spoiler season is here for the upcoming Lost Caverns of Ixalan set and here we see some interesting new cards and mechanics to be introduced in various formats, among which are two of my favorites which are Standard and Pioneer.

From a typical YouTube content creator, I have also started recording my mumblings err card-by-card discussion of the new set, and seeing or ranking their playability in the constructed formats. I am not a pro-player who can thoroughly discuss it but I am basing on my knowledge of the game and some metagame & deck archetypes as reference.

I have recorded the first part of the Lost Caverns of Ixalan spoiler discussion in the video below. Enjoy!