Making Magic in the Arena - Dimir Rogues

It's that time of year again. The Ravnica sets, including War of the Spark, and Core Set 2020 are out, and Zendikar Rising is now in. That's right: Standard Rotation has occurred. And though many powerful spells have left, still many more remain.

Having said that, it's also time to beginning experimenting with new decks for this bold new frontier. And while I'm not convinced it's the most powerful deck in the rotation with four-color Omnath out in the wilds, seeing a viable Rogue tribal deck coming together, and in my favorite two-color combination, how I could possibly play anything else.

That's right. It's time to play Dimir Rogues!

Making Magic in the Arena - Temur Elementals

The best side-effect of the recent bans that we talked about the last time we entered the Arena was that it forced experimentation and cracked open a standard that had remained pitifully stagnant despite the influx of new cards from Core Set 2021.

As a result, we're seeing decks that just didn't get played enough due to the homogeneity of the pre-ban environment, like Izzet Tempo and Control decks that actually run counter spells. But we're not here to talk about those decks today. 

Rather, I chose to focus on this rad Temur Elemental concept that's been making the rounds. The elemental-tribal package isn't going to be in Standard for long, since Zendikar Rising is due to come out soon. But since the tools are all here, let's enjoy the moment and play with them while we still can.

Making Magic in the Arena - Orzhov Yorion

It's been a while since we've engaged with the Standard meta-game here in MTG Arena. To be honest, I'd been growing bored and disinterested since it seemed like nothing even the release of Core Set 2021 did anything to shake up or otherwise change the kind of decks being played. It was still mostly Bant/Sultai Ramp, with Temur Reclamation and Mono-Red Aggro trailing right behind, just as it's been for months now.

That all changed thanks to the recent update, banning a number of key cards that forced most of those decks out to make way for new archetypes to take the stage, while we still have the cards from the Ravnica sets and Core Set 2020 to make use of.

You can find the decklist here. 

  

Making Magic in the Arena - Jumpstart

Jumpstart is one of the innovative and interesting formats I've seen the designers at Wizards of the Coast come up with. This weird hybrid format, combining the focus of pre-constructed decks with the variety that comes from a Limited format like Draft or Sealed.

Though boxes of it are hard to come by and too expensive when they are, largely due to Covid-related manufacturing issues, a version of it has come to MTG: Arena for us to play in the meantime. Is this new way to play all it's cracked up to be? Or is Jumpstart dead in the water?

Let's find out.

Making Magic in the Arena - Brawlin' with Bolas

Especially after that last MTG Arena stream with the Esper/Sultai Control decks, I've found myself growing somewhat disinterested in the current standard environment. For that reason, it was important to give something else a try in order to keep me going.

That's when I remembered that time I played Brawl using Nethroi as my Commander. Those matches were some of the best I've had in Arena for a good long while, and maybe continuing down that path would rekindle the spark I have for the game.

Naturally, when picking a Commander, the first one that comes to mind is good ol' Tricky Nicky. After doing a bit of research into Brawl deckbuilding, I found a good-looking decklist that I wanted to try out. The only change I had was replacing the Rakdos Guildgate with a Temple of Malice.

Let the games begins!

Making Magic in the Arena - Under Control

Now that Core Set 2021 has been given some opportunity to percolate in the wilds, it's time to delve back into the Arena to see what we experience.

We played two decks today, both Control decks. Though one was in Esper colors and the other was in Sultai.

Making Magic in the Arena - Jund Sacrifice (Ikoria)

There's been a series of much needed shakeups in Standard as of late, and the dust appears to be finally settling. This isn't the first we've experienced bans on this channel, and we'll be able to adjust as we always do.

Thankfully for us, the field is wide open, and we'll be able to see new decks, and a few old ones that were forced out, take the stage. It's time to throw that Cat in the Oven, because Jund Sacrifice is back baby.

Making Magic in the Arena - Nethroi Brawl (And Some Kenrith)

Just to add some variety to my usual streams, I figured that it would to challenge myself to do something new in Magic the Gathering: Arena. For that reason, I thought it would be fun to give Brawl a shot.

Building myself some new brews to test out this new (to me) format, let us see how the format, and my deck-building, holds up.

You can find both my Kenrith and Nethroi lists on TappedOut.

Making Magic in the Arena - Jeskai Cycling

Every now and then, a deck comes to light that is so surprising in it's effectiveness that it takes seeing it in action to truly understand how powerful they can be. This is one of those types of decks.

That's right, we're staying in the bike lane with a Jeskai Cycling deck. Don't be fooled by the fact every non-land card in the main deck is either common or uncommon. In the hands of a good pilot, this deck can make miracles happen.

Allow me to demonstrate.

Decklist taken, as always, from MTGGoldfish.

Making Magic in the Arena - Lurrus Control (And I Muse About Companions)

Ikoria has proven itself to be a set of intriguing and mechanically complex new mechanics, from the new Keyword Counters to the Mutate ability many of it's non-Human creatures come equipped with.

This is the first deck we've played this season that makes use of one of the most controversial new mechanics: Companion. There are 10 creatures in Ikoria that have the companion keyword, each with their own unique condition that, when satisfied, allows us to cast them from the sideboard. However, we may only designate a single one of them as our Companion, and only a single copy of them.

The one we chose for this deck is a build-around, where most decks won't be able to neatly slot it in without preparation. That said, we don't need to warp our core strategy too great in order to take advantage of it. Yes, as the title of this post suggests, that Companion is Lurrus of the Dream Den.

Credit to MTGGoldfish for providing the deck list used in this episode.

Making Magic in the Arena - Sultai Flash (Ikoria)

It's a new set, and a new season of decks to play around with in Magic the Gathering: Arena, with the release of Ikoria.

Since one of my favorite decks since the support for it was added in Core Set 2020, the Flash deck, got some shiny new tools, what better way to start the season off than by playing around with these new tools, even if it seems moving from Simic to Sultai.

While I must credit this deck for the core skeleton I based my own on, I ended up heavily modifying it to create my own version, which is the one used in this video.

Making Magic in the Arena - Red Deck Wins

Giving the sheer number of decks that I have piloted in Magic the Gathering: Arena, it was only a matter of time that I would eventually give a version of this deck a shot at some point. No matter the Standard, this archetype always exists.

That's right, we're playing Mono-Red/Red Deck Wins. Our goal is to play a bunch of cards and turn them sideways.

The decklist can be found here.

Making Magic in the Arena - Temur Reclamation

Sometimes, it's not enough to just control the board and wait for a power creature to end the game. One might not want to just ramp all day while locking the opponent out of card draw and instant speed spells, but nor do they wish to be aggressive.

And in a situation like that, there's really only one thing left to do: Generate an absolutely enormous amount of mana and bump it all into a gigantic spell to instantly finish off the enemy.

You can find the decklist here.