The Magic: the Gathering Arena Gameplay that we have been doing with the team is mainly to playtest our decks in the current Standard format. With the newest set, MTG Foundations, added, we are again forced or rather need to grind daily to acquire the new card components and update our deck builds in the Magic: the Gathering Arena platform.

One of the Standard decks that we have been consistently playing is the Dimir Midrange build. It had improved favorably with the inclusion of Duskmourn: House of Horrors and shifted to the version of Demons, utilizing the advantage of Archfiend of the Dross and Unholy Annex. We maintained our list to be more tempo-specific as it fits well against most of the matchups in the current metagame.

Recently, we have observed that Mono-Red Prowess variance has been plaguing the Standard ranked ladder in Arena. We decided to adjust our deckbuild so we can gain an advantage to the highly expected matchup as we do our daily grinds.

We recorded and uploaded some of the games for review later on and here they are below.

The current top-tier Magic: the Gathering Standard format metagame goes with adjustments on the existing deck archetypes and with uses of the best cards from the recent Outlaws in Thunder Junction set. It also goes well that playtesting against these different decks would help in strategizing the gameplay and making the best way possible to win the matchup. 

MTG Arena is the best platform for that as easy access and support are possible for most players who cannot do playtesting in the actual or drop by their local game store. 

The deck matchup highlighted today in a featured video upload is Domain Control going up against Mono-Red Prowess. We knew that Mono-Red got a huge upgrade from OTJ with Slickshot Show-Off which can attack for huge chunks of damage off playing noncreature spells. Domain Control, on the other side, has also made changes in the maindeck build and list to deal with the current metagame such as having more spot removals in support to board sweep cards like Sunfall.  

Do check out the YouTube video gameplay below. 

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.

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 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.

The playtest sessions on Magic: the Gathering Arena really help in checking the metagame in Standard, Pioneer, and other formats. The actual deck gameplay testing is very much different than just being familiar with the Top decks built such as Esper Midrange, Grixis, and Mono-Black Midrange. The point is that their unfamiliar cards are being used and you would get caught off-guard in the process. Also witnessing how certain cards interact would help you solve once you face a similar scenario in the future.

It is a good thing that my teammate and deck master Oliver has been doing these test matches on ranked and one of his recent deck features is the Domain Control deck with The Kami War mythic saga from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.

I asked him to record his matches and here below is the first match of the deck he played on MTG Arena. He was facing Esper Midrange. Check out the video below. Other Standard matches on MTG Arena were also uploaded on my Youtube Channel so please do check those out.

I was able to get permission from my friend and teammate Oliver to use his Magic: the Gathering Arena account. This lets me access the variety of decks that he uses for Standard and Historic as well as a huge card pool wherein I can get to experiment with a lot of deck builds. I can also copy deck brews from sites online and make some minor edits on them.

For today, I decided to play his Temur Lukka deck into the casual BO1 format as his current daily quests need him to cast Blue and Red spells. The decklist was based on the popular deck that finished in the Top 8 or Top 4 of the major MTG Arena tournaments in the past month. The deck has core components similar to that of the Gruul Adventures but its end game spells are very powerful, given the access to Blue to tempo and countermagic.

Check out the Youtube video I made of my gameplay today of the Temur Lukka deck for BO1 Standard.

I have recently decided to update my Magic: the Gathering Arena app on my mobile smartphone with the purpose of getting to experience the latest sets and to try if they have already added more features in the program.The update took about 1 Gigabyte on the application downloader and additional 2 Gigabytes of patch files. Good thing that my mobile data handled those by just having a strong connection in the area and that was in the Plaza Libertad area in the city.

After receiving the bonus packs courtesy of the promo codes, I decided to do a Quick Draft Kaldheim as we were discussing that time on the draft features on the mobile app. Initially, it was for the latest Strixhaven set but unfortunately, they didn’t have the cheaper quick draft and instead of the traditional draft which I think I needed more practice on.

Anywho, I drafted Black Red Berserkers in Kaldheim and here below are screenshots of the matches that I’ve won.

I then followed that with two straight losses, one in a close match while the other was caused by mana-flood. Lol. The features in the app are improving and hopefully, more types of gameplay will be added and also on the redeem code that is only available on desktop.

I will be doing dailies for now up until I can get cards to build a decent deck for the Strixhaven Standard.

Winning one game rather than the traditional Best-of-Three match makes the deck build look like having a taste of innovation. That is because of certain matchups wherein you’d need answer cards to counter their deck strategy.

I am a bit used to the usual sideboarded gameplays where you won’t really mind if you lost the first game, as your sideboard cards can help in the goal of winning by shifting your deck strategy that can handle a certain deck archetype. For example, for control decks, you have discards spells like Duress and counterspells such as Negate.

Going back in the BO1 scenario, you can have generic cards that are usual answers, for example, Thrashing Brontodon, where you have 3/4 body that can destroy the opponent’s artifacts and enchantments. That said, you tend to be considering more of these kinds of cards rather than having Duress in the deck which can be awkward when drawn against an aggro deck.

My current BO1 deck in Standard Ranked in MTG Arena is Red-Green Adventures and so my adjustment in the decklist somewhat reflects on my persona of being a fan of one-of cards. The Standard sideboarded build also has a few one-ofs in their main deck so I think it won’t really affect much of the gameplay but there are a few cards that are only counted two but I would add another copy.

One example is the Scorching Dragonfire, where I’ll have three copies in the deck as I expected more aggro matchups in my current rank and also that it can deal with planeswalkers.

My one-of card choices at the moment are Vivien planeswalker, The Akroan War, Radha, and Terror of the Peaks. I make sure my spot removals are enough in the probability of drawing them on the starting hand.

The next concern here is when the metagame would lean more on the midrange and control deck and so another adjustment will be made by cutting out the dragonfires for more two-drop creatures. We will see if that happens in the coming weeks.

That is a wrap for now. Until the next blog post.

I have playtested some pre-made decks on Magic Arena earlier today and also to accomplish the daily quest for the rewards and XP points. The latest deck I’ve acquired is a Rakdos sacrifice sort of type of deck with the Titan Kroxa as its top-end Mythic creature and while I liked the deck strategy, I am still getting familiar with how the triggers and ability activation works in the Magic Arena platform. I did a few misplays/misclicks but those are just learned lessons and which I should minimize from now on.

I did a few edits on the Rakdos list and added some spot removals to suffice the total number of removals and also increase the chances of drawing those cards. Here below is a screenshot of me winning the match against a Mono-Green deck.

The playtest hours are usually after office and I worry that I might get hooked again and extend the playing time. I still need to establish a decent Standard deck to start my rank grind. My friend suggested building a Mono-Red aggro deck but that might have me spending money to buy gems for the card crafting. That one I should avoid.

I have finally reactivated my Magic Arena account after almost two years of hiatus since playing it during the Open Beta days. I am getting familiar with the new setup as well as redeeming all of the necessary codes for booster pack and card freebies along with other items. It is a good thing that these codes are one Google search away and I found a Magic: the Gathering website with these compilations of Magic Arena codes. It is continuously updated and the expiry dates are also indicated.

You can check the full details of it here.

Anyhow, I will do the dailies (daily quest) for now as I still have to assemble my Standard deck just yet. I might also check on the rotated cards for the Historic deck build. Expect more blog posts and probably short You tube videos on this in the coming weeks.