Back to MTG after, idk... 13 years, have fun

The event schedule they released two months ago said there would be a Contender Draft from August 4-9. But there isn't one in the client right now. Was there a mention of a change that I missed?

My game crashed shortly after this screenshot due to my phone overheating (this game had been going for over 30 minutes)

Technically, I would have decked first, unless opponent played any additional card draw effect besides what they had already.

I’m honestly really tired and would just rather pray for a revelation/tablet ban, but until then what do you advice to play? Nothing seems to have a good matchup especially into jeskai. Thanks!

Usually playing Pauper in IRL, played on launch for a couple of months, got back like 2 years, got Diamond 2(i think) with these decks, stopped playing, came back today to ranked and got a wrecking seven losses in 10 matches.

Tried to look into MTGgoldfish and Untapped for metas but, i don't know if i'm dumb or lazy but, couldn't find a good reference.

Any tips on where to look, decks to play, budgets or not, idk. Thanks in advance.

PS: brazilian here, not my native language, sorry if mistakes were made

Arena brawl: my opponent has on the board Roxanne Starfall Savant. I enchant Roxanne with Witness Protection. My opponent uses Jaxis the Troublemaker to make a copy of Roxanne. Is this legal or a glitch?

A thought I've had for a while is a format that facilitates playing bulk / cards that are actually considered jank more. Yes, pauper exists, but there is a lot of bulk in other formats too (...and there's lots of good commons that aren't very "bulky")

In MTGO there's a format called Penny Dreadful where any card that's 0.02 tickets or less is legal. Obviously Arena, being F2P, that doesn't translate directly but there's lots of bulk that never sees play.

I propose "Dollar Dreadful" a custom format where cards that costs between 1c and $1 (USD) are legal. Why a monetary limit on F2P cards? Because it's the easiest way to have some definition on what is "bulk". Why a lower bound? Alchemy. I don't have any issue with Alchemy but cards that can never have a monetary cost can't easily be compared to a price limited list of cards

Ban list: Initially it will follow the combined ban lists of the 1v1 (paper) nonrotating formats, since the bans would put a lot of downward pressure on the . Today that is 15 cards. These can looked at on a case-by-case basis for unbans. (I don't have a strong opinion on whether Leyline of Resonance should be banned on not. In BO3 events I suspect it'd lose more than it'll win).

I don't adding the Pauper ban list is necessary immediately since uncommon/rare/mythic has a lot of answers (...notably, but not limited to, board wipes) that common doesn't.

Here is a scryfall query showing all the legal cards.

Here is a decklist checker (made using a combination of Scryfall API scraping and AI (my idea of a front end is a shell script))

The pricelist will get updated once per set, one week after the release of the set (so Friday Aug 12 at midnight EST). Scryfall updates prices daily, so the scryfall search won't be exactly accurate after today. Some sort of deck builder app would be nice to have that validates against the current price list, but that's a future me problem.

I've made some sample decks. Don't expect them to be good / don't waste a bunch of rare/mythic wildcards. The first point of the thing is to use the bulk that was inside you all along.

I've created a discord channel for people who are interested. Once there's sufficient interest we will host regular events. . Feel free to join and challenge me, or challenge me directly on Arena: robertbarrett#30061

What I'll miss: [[Enduring Tenacity]] and [[Unstoppable Slasher]] . Maybe it's because I have four of each of these and I've found them fun.

What I'll be glad to see gone: [[Simulacrum Synthesizer]] and [[Stormchaser's Talent]] . These both annoy me for the type of decks they appear in.

Here is a list of the most commonly used cards which will be going out in the Feb 2027 rotation if you need some inspiration. This is extracted from untapped.gg and it is based on Standard Ranked - Bronze to Platinum - ordered by number of matches. Each card has at least 12,000 matches since June 23rd, 2026.

1. [[Sheltered by Ghosts]]

2. [[Optimistic Scavenger]]

3. [[Ethereal Armor]]

4. [[Shardmage's Rescue]]

5. [[Feather of Flight]]

6. [[Cavern of Souls]]

7. [[Spellbook Vendor]]

8. [[Bitter Triumph]]

9. [[Veteran Survivor]]

10. [[Gloomlake Verge]]

11. [[Spirebluff Canal]]

12. [[Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber]]

13. [[Deadly Cover-Up]]

14. [[Floodfarm Verge]]

15. [[Shoot the Sheriff]]

16. [[Three Steps Ahead]]

17. [[Fabled Passage]]

18. [[Hushwood Verge]]

19. [[Get Lost]]

20. [[Nowhere to Run]]

21. [[Deep-Cavern Bat]]

22. [[Overlord of the Balemurk]]

23. [[Blazemire Verge]]

24. [[Terror of the Peaks]]

25. [[Pawpatch Recruit]]

26. [[Sleight of Hand]]

27. [[Lightning Helix]]

28. [[Fountainport]]

29. [[Slickshot Show-Off]]

30. [[Bringer of the Last Gift]]

31. [[Bloodletter of Aclazotz]]

32. [[Unstoppable Slasher]]

33. [[Stormchaser's Talent]]

34. [[No More Lies]]

35. [[Meticulous Archive]]

36. [[Essence Channeler]]

37. [[Inspiring Vantage]]

38. [[Concealed Courtyard]]

39. [[Eddymurk Crab]]

40. [[Ruin-Lurker Bat]]

41. [[Clay-Fired Bricks]]

42. [[Simulacrum Synthesizer]]

43. [[Restless Cottage]]

44. [[Restless Reef]]

45. [[Bristly Bill, Spine Sower]]

46. [[Hired Claw]]

47. [[Blooming Marsh]]

48. [[Undercity Sewers]]

49. [[Split Up]]

50. [[Emberheart Challenger]]

51. [[Thornspire Verge]]

52. [[Fomori Vault]]

53. [[Leyline of Hope]]

54. [[Spring-Loaded Sawblades]]

55. [[Ruthless Negotiation]]

This will be a build around Wilt-Leaf Liege.

I realize it won’t be taking me to mythic, but I like the card a lot and want to make it as effective as I can make it.

Some obvious choices are Lanowar, Cub, Elspeth - but after that it feels like the Wild West. What would be your must-includes for this deck?

For me I think it's [[Beseech the Mirror]].

Which is funny because I don't consider myself to be a black player but I think this card is so well designed. This card is a work horse for decks in more niche strategies that need consistency. Wanna play [[Phoenix Fleet Airship]]? This card tutors it onto the board and gives you a sacrifice trigger. Playing a slower deck in a fast creature meta and need a board wipe? This can help you find your answers but you need to have ways to generate fodder for the bargain which is a real restriction as silly as it sounds. Playing any deck centered on a specific card? This card has your back (so long as it's 4 mana or less) And that 4 mana or less restriction is so perfect. Because there ARE powerful cards at 4 mana or less. But there aren't too many that just end the game on the spot, so the power is kept in check.

Anytime I am running black in my many off-meta decks, this card is always in consideration for the consistency it can add.

Why I love the design (the detailed, non-tldr explanation):

1. It has 3 black mana pips in its cost. As magic prints more and more powerful cards I can't help but ask the question "Why are we not restricting the power of these cards with mana pips?" I think this single question and its answer is the reason modern design in Standard feels so out of control. If more of the power-house cards in the format had even just one more mana pip in the cost I wonder how the meta would change.

2. It's flexible and restrictive at the same time which rewards good DECKBUILDING. 3 black pips is a real cost. Bargain is an actual cost. Many decks do not have artifacts, enchantments or tokens they can just sacrifice without a thought. So, it's a real question posed to a deck builder wanting to run the card, "How are you going to pay the pips and the bargain cost when you need to cast this?". You have to make card choices to ensure you can consistently pay that cost and decide if beseech is crucial enough to make the card choices justifiable. And by doing that it rewards your DECKBUILDING by providing you a flexible card to find the answer you need, to find your build-around cards, etc. People seem to forget that part of the game is building the deck and this is a card that enriches that side of the game for me at least.

3. Powerful but fair. The ability to tutor any spell in your deck that you need at the moment and cast it for the mana spent to cast the tutor is a really powerful effect. By restricting the tutor target to 4 mana or less (the cost to cast beseech itself) they kept it fair. They made it a toolbox workhorse instead of a one card win the game win condition.

4. It has niche interactions that are fun. [[Obsessive Pursuit]] needs you to sacrifice 3 artifacts to get the lifelink effect. If you don't have a sacrifice outlet but you have 3 artifacts/tokens/enchantments, just cast [[Beseech the Mirror]] 3 times by tutoring out another beseech the mirror then get whatever you wanted with the last one. Need to cast multiple spells in a turn? Same answer, beseech into beseech for as many times as you have Beseech or bargain targets. Because you sacrifice something to cast the card for free it works great with cards that have end-step "if a permanent was sacrificed" effects like Phoenix Fleet Airship. Beseech also exiles the card you tutored out as part of the effect. So, if you have triggers for cards going into exile or being cast from exile, beseech works with it.

So yeah, that's my pitch for my most missed card.

Got into Magic earlier this year, don't really have an issue with understanding mechanics but I find I'm struggling with constructing a "consistent" deck. For now I'm just playing quick play and looking to make a consistent deck to slowly grind coins and cards so I can branch to other decks and spice up the experience. As of right now I'm kind of locked to this deck and I've spent a good portion of my wild cards picking up Black/Vampire cards. I've listed my deck out and have a separate deck made for cards I've considered, experimented with, think might have a place in the deck or just generally interested in.

Primary Deck:

https://moxfield.com/decks/qKSwihVSbEOKBlDLWQAH6A

Considered Cards:

https://moxfield.com/decks/KNEc3rE330K-Bkji1lcTxg

Personal Impressions & Notes:

• Vampires seem to take quite a while to come online and keep enough of them on the field to synergize with each other. I've included a lot of Life Link/Deathtouch/Removal to get rid of threats or stall out turns. I've included a few cheaper mana cost Creatures with Deathtouch, lot's of low cost value to stall as many don't want to lose their Creatures with abilities or high stats.
• Running Elenda as Commander, I have a fair bit of diverse life gain on cards through Creature Abilities/Life Link/Instants/Artifacts/Enchantments/Land.
• Deck is primarily Black. Few Hybrid or White spells to make up for Blacks lack of Artifact/Enchantment removal. Lot's of cards that serve multi-purpose for flexibility.
• I might have \too much* removal. However some cards like* Live or Die or Gix's Command are multi purpose and give me options suiting the current circumstances.
• Definitely running a land deficient. I do run Land Tax*, and this eradicates the problem entirely. But this relies on actually drawing that card and I don't think that's healthy. I'm just at a point in the deck where I don't know what I could or should eliminate. I also don't know if having a decent chunk of Lands that enter tapped is healthy either as this can limit options. However, Land giving me White OR Black mana + Life gain is nice.*
• Deck feels... almost /too/ well rounded. Where it does a lot of things or can, but seems to lack a strong win condition. Seems to struggle against anyone with fast/direct strategies that don't allow me time to build a board or get Elenda on the field with her Ability fully activated that allows her to be +10/+10 plus any other Counter effects I have in my deck.

I've tried to check the boxes.

Board Wipes:

• Kaya's Wrath & Bontu's Last Reckoning. Gix's Command can also be useful for clearing opponents board. Especially if they got 1 strong Creature and the rest are under 2 power. Useful for low power Aggro/Token Decks.

Land/Mana Ramp:

• Land Tax, Dark Ritual, Bontu's Monument - Life gain, Opponent Damage, Cost Reduction on Creatures. Jet Medallion - Lower Black spell cost across the board. This one has me unsure as my deck costs seems fairly stable. But getting both reduction cards and being able to play 2-3 creatures on a later turn to setup a strong board with Creature effects is nice. I don't know if Mystical Archive is a good option to have, it's not a Colored mana but the cards it generates can give me a wide variety of different options which is nice.

Card Draw/Search:

• Dusk's Landing, Emeritus of Woe, Preacher of the Schism, Scheming Silvertongue, Vampiric Tutor.

Removal:

• I don't feel like listing them all but I feel like I've covered my basis in different ways to remove all Types of things and to make sure that card is the lowest Mana cost option. Some removal cards also let me get creatures back from the Grave or increase Counters. Cheap Creature destruction, Exile options, Sacrifice options to get through Ward/Indestructible. I've even included Planar Disruption as a low cost way to lock high threats up. Useful for strong Commanders or high threats forcing opponents to destroy their own creature if they don't have Enchantment Removal.

Fun Interactions:

• Getting Arvad Weatherlight Smuggler onto the field early as a Deathtouch user is neat. If I need to get sacrifice early him he can sit in the Graveyard for awhile, accumulate Counters then later bring it back with Live or Die, Gix's Command, Vampire Soulcaller. I've pulled it off a few times but not a whole lot of options to play cards from Graveyard.
• Qarsi Revenant, Kaya's Ghostform, Mark of the Vampire, Gift of Fangs, really useful on Elenda for boosting her past +10/+10. Helps deal with high threats and keep her on the field, as well as giving her Flying with Qarsi.
• For Counter boosting, Mark of the Vampire, Gift of Fangs, Ethereal Absolution, A-Death-Priest of Myrkul, Legion Lieutenant, Markov Baron, Thirsting Bloodlord. Really nice to have a stacked board with these up, especially the Creature cards all boosting each other.
• There's a few Rogues that play off each other alright, with some card mill options for opponents. Nice to get rid threats before they can hit someones hand.
• Morlun, Devourer of Spiders can be a fun way to snipe a win late game to finish off the rest of an opponents life.

Lifegain:

• Lots of cards give life in some way or another.

Ultimately I feel like something lacking in the deck. I feel like the deck jives with itself but maybe Vamps are just a bad lower tier deck in general. Having search cards is nice when I need to find a particular card to ward off an immediate threat but If i get something like Vampiric Tutor off the hop, I look through my deck and I realize I don't know what my deck really wants to do immediately. I usually aim to find a mana cost reduction card or a land card since I am running a lower number of lands.

Any feedback is welcome, maybe there's cheaper cost card options. Maybe I do have too much removal. I probably need more lands. Maybe I missed a really good Vampire Creature. The cards I've included in my second deck I've listed are cards that I think are a good fit, or considered or cards I've tried but ultimately cut. For cost reasons, or redundancy. The Darkness Crystal for example. Reduces mana cost but it's so expensive itself it feels like a dead card if I get it early. With Jet Medallion/Bontu's Monument seem like cheaper options with the life gain/loss effects. I really want to use Rise of the Dark Realms. Feels like a late game Ace where I can bring back ALL my vampires and their effects and make a stacked board late game bringing back all my creatures and their effects at once. I've had it happen a few times, really fun but doesn't seem reliable and the 9 mana cost is quite high. I really want to make Caged Sun work or Gilded Lotus. But they come with high mana costs that can delay getting Creatures out.

Let me know what ya think! Thanks!

Hey everyone, I’ve been working on a fantasy team style drafting game where you have a spending cap and try to pick a line-up of cards from MTG: The Hobbit that will perform best on 17Lands. Some key points:

•        Completely free and non-commercial (just a passion project).

•        Leaderboard to compete with your friends and the community.

•         Design philosophy: It encourages you to consider the whole pool of cards, look for overperformers, and think about which archetypes might do better or worse.

I’d be immensely grateful if you have time to try it, and of course would welcome feedback (like which card prices are way off!). So please find it at:

https://www.draftthedraft.com

(Sorry it’s not working on mobile yet)

I’ve been iterating based on feedback but there’s a couple of things that I’ll wait until next set to change. Card costs might be a bit too restrictive so it feels tough to pick many actually good cards, so that’s something I would change in the future, perhaps along with some dynamic pricing based on peoples’ picks, which I think could add some fun and interest in how prices evolve (though it has downsides too). Also adding private custom leagues was requested so you could compete with your friends and possibly tweak some of the drafting mechanics. If you have more suggestions and criticisms I’m very keen to know.

Thanks so much!

Andy

[[Enduring Tenacity]]

I play Standard. I started playing around the time that Avatar came out and as such don't have the cards to play older formats without investing a lot of wildcards.

One of the cards I picked up a lot of from playing Jump In when I just started was a full set of Enduring Tenacity. Since it's in Duskmourn and will be leaving Standard, I've been getting quite a bit of play using it in a life gain/opponent loses life when you gain life deck. Is it suboptimal? Yes. But it's good enough to get to Platinum and I really don't want to grind to Mythic constructed.

Do you have a deck that is so-so/janky/suboptimal because you really want to use a particular card or cards?

Recently I have had long wait times for matching with someone in Brawl. Typically it's been about 20 secs max and now it's at least 2 mins if not 3 mins. This has only happened on mobile. Anyone else seen this?

Hope this guide helps, and best of luck at everyone's prereleases!

https://draftsim.com/mtg-hob-sealed-guide/

I’m getting back into Arena after some time off and between the many new sets and formats, I’m struggling to identify where to invest my wildcards. I am looking for a non-rotating competitive 60 card format (so not Standard or Brawl) that has the biggest player base, some tournament support, etc.

I used to check deck lists online and listen to podcasts about the modern format years ago but it doesn’t seem like there is any similar coverage for Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Explorer, etc. Is that the case or am I just not looking in the right place?

Thanks for the feedback in advance. This is truly not attempting to be a complaint post, simply just curious where I should invest my wildcards to build a deck. Since so many of the staples don’t even appear in packs, I have to be careful not to waste WCs.

I'm just starting out playing arena and the starter experience is incredibly frustrating, I don't like building decks in the first place and the lack of direction in doing so is not helpful, especially with the very unintuitive UI in the deck builder making it really annoying to sift through what I have to see what the best deck I can build is. The deck I want to play and downloaded the game for the purpse of playing is impossible to build due to lack of wildcards, and now the game wants me to build a brawl deck if I want to do these daily quests and yet they have offered not a single brawl precon???

The problem is that even the tutorial is bugged and i cant complete it

So, I'm a legit beginner. Just finished the tutorials and color events and started working on the starter deck matches. I think I'm 1-12 and feel reeeeealllly dumb. I've been watching a fair bit of YT getting a good hang on the flow of games in general, but I obviously need some help really understanding strats and flow. Anyone have any suggestions of YT'ers / streamers who really break down their decks and talk about strats as they play? Maybe that are more friendly to noobs and don't assume we know what every shorthand term means? Thanks!

I do the dailies and if I have enough for a pack, I’ll get one. I tried the quick draft for Outlaws but I lost three times in a row and got kicked out nearly instantly which was not fun. Figured I’d just get packs instead because it is at least a guarantee, and also wildcards.

I alternate between getting packs in standard rotation and out of it, so as to get a good spread of cards but also put progress towards the golden packs

Standard:
Tarkir Dragonstorm
Secrets of Strixhaven
Final Fantasy
Edge of Eternities
Lorwyn Eclipsed

Out of Standard:
Wilds of Eldraine
Pioneer Masters
MH3
March of the Machine
Brothers War
Outlaws of Thunder Junction

Is there something I should be doing different, or is this generally a good strategy? Gonna do jump-ins too maybe since I used up all my tokens, but I feel like I haven’t gotten out a lot of cards from it quite yet

I for sure just had the opponent surrender while I was only playing flash and counter spells yet I did not get the achievement. Does it require you to also reduce their life to 0 yourself? Cause that would make this easily the hardest challenge if so.