There are different formats in Magic: the Gathering that is currently existing, and choosing the right one to play involves a variety of factors. One, in particular, is your experience of the gameplay. Of course, there are formats that are beginner-friendly such as Booster Draft, and some experienced ones go with the older formats like Modern.

When choosing the best format to play in Magic: the Gathering, consider the following factors below:

1. Skill level: Some formats, such as Legacy or Vintage, require a high level of skill and experience to play effectively, while others, such as Limited formats or Standard, can be more beginner-friendly.
2. Budget: Some formats, such as Legacy or Vintage, require expensive and rare cards, while others, such as Limited formats or Pauper, can be more budget-friendly.
3. Available playgroups: Some formats may not be popular or played in your local playgroup, which may make it harder to find opponents to play against. Other formats, such as Standard or Limited, are played more widely, and may be easier to find events and opponents.
4. Personal preferences: Different formats offer different gameplay experiences, so consider your personal preferences when choosing a format. For example, if you enjoy playing with a wide variety of cards, then Limited formats such as Draft or Sealed may be a good choice. If you prefer longer and more strategic games, then a format such as Commander may be more up your alley.
5. Competitive vs. casual play: Consider whether you want to play in a more competitive environment or a more casual one. Some formats, such as Modern or Pioneer, are played in highly competitive events, while others, such as Commander or Casual play, are more laid-back and casual.

Ultimately, the best format to play in Magic: the Gathering will depend on your personal preferences, skill level, budget, and available playgroups. Consider these factors carefully and try out different formats to see which one you enjoy the most.

In the past Magic: the Gathering Standard format metagame, there is no missing point of facing a Mono-Red aggro match in your local game store and on online platforms like Magic Arena. This deck archetype seems to stick like a piece of gum on the shoe of every metagame and is barely affected by the Standard rotation. What makes it the best deck choice among most players is its consistency and fast gameplay that will certainly catch opponents off-guard.

So how do we deal with a Mono-Red Aggro matchup? Let me count the ways.

1. Play cheap spot removals. The Red aggro player usually starts with a one-two-three punch, starting a one drop like a Fervent Champion for example then followed by Robber of the Rich. You respond by killing their best creature turn after turn. Shock aimed to the Robber, ping the Champion, and then Heartless Act on the Torbran.
2. Play a bigger creature. In my experience against Mono-Red when I was playing Gruul Adventures, it usually stops their assault when I got out a Lovestruck Beast. A 5/5 body is hard for them to deal with especially that they only have burn spells that cover a maximum of three damage.
3. Fill your board with 1/1s. Their creatures are cheaper to cast, like 2/1s & Rimrock Knight’s 3/1, but the drawback of only having 1 toughness makes them vulnerable to trade-offs with your own 1/1 creatures. Your best source of having them is via token-producing spells such as the gameplan of White and Green token decks. One spell can produce three 1/1s is already a big problem for them.
4. Play Lifegain effects. What is more annoying for a Mono-Red Aggro player is when opponents are gaining life. This easily nullifies their early damage dealt and the longer they take to finish the match, the harder it is for them to win. There is a Mono-White lifegain deck existing in the Standard metagame that is 100% win rate against Mono-Red so just look for its complete decklist. Outgrind them with lifegain effects is an efficient way of winning the matchup.

Overall, it ain’t hard to answer the Mono-Red’s assault as long as you are interacting with them beginning from your turn one. I hope this list helps you in your future Mono-Red matchups. I am pretty sure after this year’s Standard rotation, Mono-Red is still here to stay in the format metagame.

Until the next blog post.

The current Magic: the Gathering Standard metagame under the aggro category considers Winota decks as one of the top-tier archetypes. Aside from the main strategy of Winota trigger and Blade Historian, the deck offers versatile gameplay that makes it last for the late game. The only major drawback would be its three-color deck build which is handled by Magda and Prosperous Innkeeper. Can we conclude that it is a top-tier house aggro deck? Yes, we can. Now how do we deal with it?

Here below are a few ways of dealing with Winota Aggro decks.

1. Do not let them develop their board early on. They can hastily curve from turns one to three so if you have ways to deal with their creatures that can benefit from Winota’s trigger ability, you can just kill them or block-trade with them before he/she can reach four mana. Sorcery spot removals such as Bloodchief’s Thirst get their one or two-drop and then later on if you have counterspells or instant removal, open your mana during their turn four. Dimir control does this well.
2. Discard Winota from their hand. The current Standard has a few Black discard spells that are cast on turn two or three which can check their hand to reveal their gameplan that which you can. If they don’t have it, then you just take their best card in the current situation.
3. Remove them from their library. This is one option but has less effect. “Extracting” Winota makes them into a lesser typical aggro deck though their recent build does not rely on the card. If this is the major way you want to deal with Winota, then add cards like Necromentia to your sideboard.
4. Prevent them from casting the card. A specific Blue card named Ashiok’s Erasure, a Flash enchantment that exiles a spell when it etb. In addition, your opponents can’t cast spells with the same name as the exiled card. That basically counters their Winota and stuck the rest of the copies in their hand. The only drawback is when the erasure leaves the battlefield.

As I am watching the live stream on Youtube of the coronation night of the prestigious 69th Miss Universe, an idea came into mind. What is a Ms. Universe moment? Can it be compared to be a Eureka (not the actual Magic card) moment?

That spark of joy upon and a winning moment. Or let say just a turnaround event with you from the losing end to winning that Magic: the Gathering matchup. The dream topdeck going into reality. One example was the moment where Gabriel Nassif topdecked a Cruel Ultimatum to get back into the game. Almost all of the best Magic plays in history I saw on Youtube were also their Eureka moment. Drawing that game-winning burn spell before the turn losing to one alpha strike is just phenomenal.

I had a similar experience in a Ms. Universe Eureka moment in my Magic matches and battles. The one that proved memorable was the matchup with the Pro Player Brian Kibler in Grand Prix Singapore 2011 (Standard format).

I played Vampires and mulligan to 5 cards in Game 2. I lost Game 1, and so that was very frustrating that I am starting a crucial game down 2 cards in the starting hand. He kept seven, which is pretty basic, while I had a Swamp as my only mana source. I played that land on turn one and cast a one-mana dude. He played his land as well and passed the turn. I had given hope that time, that I will be stuck on one land and just lose the game after a few turns. It turned out to be a Eureka moment as I draw Dragonskull Summit, the dual land that could fix my mana, and cast my two-drop Vampire. To summarize, I was able to cast Arc Trail to his Myr mana dude while continuously pressuring with the two vamps and he ended up stuck on three lands. I won that game and later on, that match.

The Ms. Universe moment in the Magic: the Gathering sense is where the gameplay shines, even if the hope seemed to be lost.

What is your Ms. Universe moment in Magic?

The major tournament last weekend, SCG Tour Online – Satellite #3 @ Star City Games, garnered 205 players and the Top 8 finishers were a mix of aggro, midrange, and control decks. One of the decks that I will feature today is another favorite, the Rakdos Aggro, which got updated with a few Kaldheim components. Check out the decklist below, played by Pedro Schmitt Neves, where he finished in the 5th-8th place.

Rakdos Aggro
23 LANDS (25)
4 Blightstep Pathway
2 Castle Locthwain
4 Fabled Passage
5 Mountain
5 Swamp
3 Temple of Malice

19 CREATURES
4 Bonecrusher Giant
2 Egon, God of Death
2 Immersturm Predator
4 Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
4 Mire Triton
1 Valki, God of Lies
2 Woe Strider

12 INSTANTS and SORC.
4 Claim the Firstborn
2 Heartless Act
2 Shatterskull Smashing
4 Village Rites

6 OTHER SPELLS
4 The Akroan War
2 Tymaret Calls the Dead

SIDEBOARD
3 Duress
2 Eliminate
1 Necromentia
1 Ox of Agonas
3 Phoenix of Ash
2 Roiling Vortex
2 Shredded Sails
1 Suffocating Fumes

Reference: https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=30281&d=436777&f=ST

Making an effective sideboard list is usually a hit-or-miss scenario. That is not covering completely all of the specific matchups that you’d expect in an event or tournament. Going with a generic card list may not work all the time, especially in the varying metagame. So I am sharing today how you can get to straightforward sideboarding in your Magic: the Gathering matches.

Here are a few notes:

Know the best decks in the metagame – This is very applicable in the Standard format as the limited number of sets determines the possible deck builds. Of course, it is to be categorized into aggro, midrange, and control but what does each archetype offer best that can defeat you or destroy your main deck strategy? You should identify those specific cards so that you’d know how to sideboard the best cards to counter it.

For example, if playing aggro, you’d know that against control, Shatter the Skies is your mainboard sweep & that basically halts your assault. Know which cards to counter it, either bringing in Negates if you are with Blue or using an Instant spell that makes your creatures indestructible.

Use color-specific hose cards – The old school Magic has these Circle of Protection enchantments that are used to prevent damage from a specific. It was a strong sideboard card at that time, especially against opponents that had no way to destroy the enchantment I.e. Black and Red. Today, Wizards has somewhat eradicated all those color-hose cards but at times print a cycle of it but at a lesser effect. I am not sure if Kaldheim has a new batch of those as I have not fully memorized the spoiler. You know the drill though if you are using cards that reads “Destroy target <color-specific> creature.” or “Counter target <color-specific> spell.”

Check the probability of facing an aggro, or control deck whichever is higher – Applicable in local metagames, you will observe what decks they play based on previous events. Start by taking notes on each of the deck archetypes and then tally them later under three columns, Aggro, Midrange, and Control. You can add another column for Combo if applicable. After identifying which archetype is the highest in the tally, further break it down into color-specific categories. For example in the Standard aggro metagame, we have Mono-Red, Gruul Aggro, Mono White, Black-Red Sacrifice, etc. Analyze then what specific cards that be a problem to them. For aggro, of course, we have the board sweep. If you are using aggro facing another aggro, it is not unusual to board in sweep spells. You will just have them over-commit their board and then wipe them in one swoop.

An example of a straightforward sideboard is this one from the SCG Tour Online tournament. The deck is Boros Cycling Aggro but we decided to have Blue access to counterspells.

1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den (Companion)
2 Mystical Dispute
2 Negate
3 Redcap Melee
2 Roiling Vortex
2 Shatter the Sky
3 Shredded Sails

Reference: https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=29323&d=430630&f=ST 

Mystical Disputes and Negates works well in Ultimatum midrange matchups as well as for Blue-White control decks. Roiling Vortex is also good grinder damage but also gives bonus damage, punishing free-spell decks. Redcap Melee is a cheap removal for Mono-Red matchups but can also be used against other aggro decks with its slight drawback. Shatter the Sky as I’ve mentioned is an efficient aggro board wipe so having two on the list is ideal. Shredded Sails are archetype-specific to Rogues as a way to deal with their flyers.

As a wrap, it is easier to straightforward your sideboard because of the knowledge of the metagame, and the popular decks of that week & the previous ones. Until the next blog post.

After attending the workshop on the Enhanced LCCAP (Local Climate Change Action Plan) conducted by DILG about three weeks ago, I have learned about the steps in the development of the plan starting from the current situation analysis. One part during the workshop that I would like to share is the Steps 5 to 7 where it involves project identification, prioritization, and implementation. Under this is the list of questions that act as identifying options. One of them is “What other adaptation options (PAPs) should be taken given the technical findings of the assessment?” I think this can be applied in the Magic: the Gathering gameplay which is my topic for today’s blog post.

Here below are the categories in the identification of the types of actions that can be taken.
1. Temporary
2. Managerial
3. Technical
4. Strategic

In the setting of Magic, these adaptation actions can be in the form of a sideboard card or a whole deck built specifically to counter the intended archetype. It can be short term or long term depending on the deck’s popularity in the metagame. An example is the Red Green Artifact destruction deck that was built against Artifact Affinity way back in Mirrodin Standard. We will detail each category starting with the first one, Temporary action.

The term temporary in its context is only for a limited period and not permanent. We might have cards in our deck that can temporarily answer a specific threat. That is a 1:1 card answer. In the current Standard, we have cards that deal with creatures or planeswalkers of a specific color. For instance, Noxious Grasp is an Instant that destroys the Green or White creature or planeswalker. It is an immediate answer, though only for a single card. You might want to add more copies of the card so as it can be drawn later on. Old school card examples are Gainsay, Red Elemental Blast, and Cryoclasm.

Next up is Managerial. That is how you would manage when you encounter a certain scenario or board position. I think my definite example here is in the Throne of Eldraine booster draft. There is one archetype that focuses on milling out opponents. They will mostly pick the cards that have mill effects and set up the deck on the base color of Blue.

If this is the known draft archetype, you would likely adapt by your deck build to be more than 40 cards. You can do it during sideboarded games but the deck should be already adjusted pre-sideboard. Another example is having more lands in the deck if there is a land destruction deck archetype in the meta.

The third category is Technical, means relating to a particular subject, art, or craft, or its techniques. In this approach, the deck adjustment is made specifically to counter an archetype. One example is the Esper Control adjusting its card components to contain life gain effects (i.e. Absorb, Elite Guardmange, Oath of Kaya) to combat aggressive Mono-Red or related Aggro decks. In the typical Standard scenario, they lean more on basically two categories of deck archetypes: Aggro and Control. They can be anti-aggro in the main deck and sideboard against control in games 2 and 3.

Lastly, Strategic is likely similar to the Technical approach but this time it is card specific. The best example here is the recent results of the Standard MCQ in Arena. People are playing maindeck Noxious Grasp to combat the Oko planeswalker and these Oko decks also maindeck Veil of Summer to counter them. What is worse here is that almost half of the metagame in that event is a variation of the Oko Food archetype, may it be SImic, Bant or Sultai. This category can be a result of an unhealthy format. For other format examples, we have Dredge in Modern wherein it was intensified by the printing of Hoogak from Modern Horizons. The deck was fast and consistent in getting the right pieces. That led people to maindeck Leyline of the Void to stop the graveyard shenanigans and eventually Wizards had to ban the card along with Bridge from Below.

To summarize, you can add a set of check questions before determining what kind of adaptive action to implement mainly in your sideboard plan. Of course, you can opt to a multi-category or balanced between the two depending on your preference and game style.