The decklists are in, the data has been crunched, and the second Pro Tour of 2025 is ready to launch. Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY kicks off tomorrow, running from June 20–22 at MagicCon: Las Vegas, where 331 of the world's best Magic: The Gathering players will clash for $500,000 in prizes, coveted World Championship invitations, and a prestigious Pro Tour trophy. With over 4,000 cards now legal in Standard, the competitors face one of the most high-powered metagames the format has ever seen.

The field is stacked with elite talent, including top finishers from Regional Championships, online qualifiers, and past Pro Tours. Among them are Javier Dominguez (the reigning Magic World Champion and 2024 Player of the Year) and Matt Nass (the winner of Pro Tour Aetherdrift). Both will be vying to add yet another trophy to their impressive resumes.

The competition begins with Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Booster Draft on Friday and Saturday mornings, followed by five rounds of Standard on each day. Then, on Sunday, the Top 8 will square off in a single-elimination Standard showdown for the title of Pro Tour champion.

To follow all the action, tune in to the live stream on the Magic Twitch channel or the Play MTG YouTube channel. The broadcast begins at 11 a.m. PT on Friday and Saturday and at 10 a.m. PT on Sunday. Be sure to check the viewer's guide for all the details.

Standard Metagame Breakdown

Standard, Magic's rotating 60-card format, currently encompasses expansion sets from Dominaria United onward. In recent months, as covered in my latest format primer, Standard has been shaped by the dominance of Cori-Steel Cutter, Stock Up, and Monstrous Rage. That trend has continued following the release of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY.

While the set introduced a wave of powerful new cards that opened the door to innovative strategies—some of which have found their way into this weekend's Pro Tour—the window to break the format was narrow. With only a short time span for the competitors to adapt and experiment, the addition of this sixteenth Standard-legal set hasn't dramatically reshaped the metagame.

Here's how the decks at the Pro Tour break down.

This weekend's competition showcases a broad spectrum of archetypes—aggro, midrange, control, combo, and a handful of innovative decks—but the spotlight belongs to Izzet Prowess. Commanding a staggering 42.3% of the metagame, it boasts the highest share of any deck since the Pro Tour's return in 2023, surpassing even Esper Midrange's 31.4% showing at Pro Tour Thunder Junction.

Cori-Steel Cutter
Monstrous Rage
Stock Up

Between Izzet Prowess, Izzet Proft, and Jund Midrange, a combined 43% of the field is using Cori-Steel Cutter. Monstrous Rage appears in 56% of all decklists, and Stock Up shows up in 61%. While these figures stop short of the historic highs set by Oko, Thief of Crowns (69% at Mythic Championship VI) or Omnath, Locus of Creation (72% at the 2020 Season Grand Finals), they leave little doubt about the central role these cards now play in Standard.

Still, dominance is not the same as invincibility. Izzet Prowess remains vulnerable to Temporary Lockdown, the format's premier answer to Cori-Steel Cutter and its army of tokens. High Noon offers another strong tool to prevent a flurry of spells in a single turn, and Magebane Lizard can also punish the game plan of chaining Opt and Sleight of Hand. With Izzet Prowess clearly marked as the deck to beat coming into the Pro Tour, it's safe to assume that every competitor came armed with well-tuned lists and precise strategies designed to take it down.

All Standard decklists for the tournament will be published on Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY at the start of Round 4 on Friday, June 20, around 2 p.m. PT. Until then, here's a closer look at the most-played decks of the tournament.

Izzet Prowess (140 players): The deck lives up to its name, applying early pressure with Stormchaser's Talent and Cori-Steel Cutter, often flanked by Monastery Swiftspear and Drake Hatcher. It fuels these threats with a flurry of one-mana spells and efficient card draw, allowing Cori-Steel Cutter to flood the battlefield with an ever-growing tide of Monk tokens. Vivi Ornitier is the most prominent addition from Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, and 91% of Izzet Prowess pilots have included this card in the 75, most commonly as a two-of or three-of in the main deck.

Azorius Omniscience (66 players): This intricate combo deck aims to mill or discard Omniscience, then return it to the battlefield with Abuelo's Awakening. Once Omniscience is on the board, you can cast Marang River Regent, bounce a second Regent, and repeat the cycle to draw your entire deck with Roiling Dragonstorm. The deck is rounded out with card selection for consistency and Temporary Lockdown to fend off aggro decks. Azorius Omniscience also features a transformative sideboard plan, capable of swapping out its combo elements for a creature-heavy configuration.

Mono-Red Aggro (36 players): A timeless archetype, Mono-Red Aggro delivers explosive victories through aggressive creatures and direct damage. Its core threats—Heartfire Hero, Emberheart Challenger, and Manifold Mouse—ensure fast starts. Manifold Mouse in particular enables valiant triggers and grants double strike to set up lethal Monstrous Rage attacks. Supported by a streamlined mana base with Rockface Village and Soulstone Sanctuary, the deck maintains relentless pressure. Most lists are tuned to combat Izzet Prowess by including three or four main-deck copies of Magebane Lizard.

Domain Overlords (14 players): Matt Nass piloted this four-color deck to victory at Pro Tour Aetherdrift, and it remains a powerful force. The strategy centers around Zur, Eternal Schemer, who animates the deck's Overlords into lifelinking threats with devastating attack triggers. Chief among them is Overlord of the Hauntwoods, which also triggers Up the Beanstalk and enables full domain for Leyline Binding. To shore up matchups against Izzet Prowess and Azorius Omniscience, nearly every version includes three or four main-deck copies of High Noon.

Together, these four archetypes command 77.3% of the field. All were established decks prior to the release of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, but the sheer popularity of Izzet Prowess and Azorius Omniscience has exceeded even the expectations of Pro Tour veterans and coverage insiders.

The remaining 22.7% of the metagame is where things get interesting. Dozens of archetypes, most representing between 1% and 3% of the field, reflect the depth of today's Standard. While familiar faces like Dimir Midrange, Jeskai Control, Jeskai Oculus, and Orzhov Demons are appearing in lower numbers than before, the field also includes a few spicy surprises. Chief among them are the Jund Roots and Golgari Roots decks, which can flood the battlefield with Plant tokens. As the tournament unfolds, it will be exciting to see which of these off-meta strategies can turn heads and make a deep run.

Most-Played Cards from Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY

Standard's existing card pool set a high bar, but Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY still made its mark, strengthening established archetypes and introducing powerful new build-arounds. The table below breaks down all new-to-Standard cards across the 331 submitted decklists.

Vivi Ornitier [28WE0HISLlXd19BnHk7Q0w]
Astrologian's Planisphere

When it comes to raw numbers, no card made a bigger impact than Vivi Ornitier. Between main decks and sideboards, 374 copies were registered across 127 Izzet Prowess decks, 3 Izzet Cauldron decks, and 1 Izzet Proft deck. Among main decks of Izzet Prowess builds specifically, 6 players are running four copies, 75 are running three copies, 32 are running two copies, 8 are running one copy, and 19 are running no copies of Vivi Ornitier.

Vivi Ornitier shines brightest on turn four: after Vivi Ornitier resolves, you can follow up with Monstrous Rage to bring the Wizard up to four power, activate its mana ability, and still have four mana left to cast additional spells. Although Vivi Ornitier is vulnerable to removal, it can easily take over the game by himself. Vivi Ornitier's activated ability becomes even more potent when exiled by Agatha's Soul Cauldron—an explosive synergy that the Izzet Cauldron decks are built to exploit.

While Vivi Ornitier is clearly the breakout star, another new card made a modest showing in Izzet Prowess as well: Astrologian's Planisphere appeared in a handful of Izzet Prowess lists as a new prowess-adjacent threat that grows with every card-drawing cantrip. The Wizards are certainly out in force.

Opera Love Song
Self-Destruct

The second-most played new card is Opera Love Song, which appeared in 16 Mono-Red Aggro decks, 3 Boros Aggro decks, 3 Izzet Prowess lists, and a smattering of others. This versatile trick excels in combat, especially when boosting valiant or double-striking Mice, but also pulls double duty as a source of card advantage, digging for lands or removal as needed.

Self-Destruct made it into 13 Mono-Red Aggro decks. Functioning much like the adventure half of Callous Sell-Sword, its effect is amplified when targeting Screaming Nemesis. This combination allows you to hurl additional damage at your opponent. It also has the potential to serve as creature removal without killing your own Monastery Swiftspear.

Dark Confidant
Cecil, Dark Knight

Dark Confidant was embraced as a reliable draw engine for decks with low average mana costs, particularly in the sideboards of Golgari Roots and main decks of Orzhov Pixie. Meanwhile, Cecil, Dark Knight is a popular inclusion in Dimir Midrange as a powerful one-mana creature that can ultimately transform into a 4/4 lifelinking threat.

The two black creatures pair well together because Dark Confidant reduces your life total, enabling Cecil to transform more quickly. Due to this synergy, they were frequently included together in decks like Orzhov Pixie, Rakdos Aggro, Mono-Black Midrange, Golgari Midrange, Jund Midrange, and Jund Sacrifice. Overall, Cecil, Dark Knight and Dark Confidant mark a new direction to approach both early-game aggression and long-game resilience.

Terra, Magical Adept
Town Greeter

The set also introduced graveyard enablers. Terra, Magical Adept found a home in Jund Roots as a self-mill engine that digs for Insidious Roots. Once transformed, Esper Terra can copy Overlord of the Balemurk for additional value and further combo potential. Town Greeter fills a similar role in Golgari Roots and Golgari Graveyard, stocking the graveyard while generating card advantage.

Starting Town

Several new cards offered incremental upgrades across a variety of decks. Starting Town, for example, improves the deck's colored mana consistency in archetypes like Jund Roots, Boros Mice, Orzhov Sacrifice, Jeskai Artifacts, Rakdos Aggro, Jund Midrange, Esper Pixie, and more. The land is especially valuable in three-color aggro decks, and it can even help transform Cecil, Dark Knight.

Ultima

The five-mana board sweeper, Ultima, is seeing play primarily in Domain Overlords and Azorius Control. While five-mana sorceries may feel a bit slow in today's Standard—Sunfall has largely fallen out of favor—Ultima has an edge: it removes both Cori-Steel Cutter and the Monk tokens it creates, addressing one of the format's key threats. Unlike Temporary Lockdown, Ultima is not vulnerable to Into the Flood Maw. Interestingly, one Domain Overlords list ran both Starting Town and Ultima, illustrating how different support tools from the set can converge in a single build.

Yuna, Hope of Spira
Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER

Finally, Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY brought along true build-arounds that have already spawned new archetypes. Yuna, Hope of Spira appears not only in several Domain Overlords decks but also as the centerpiece of new Bant Omniscience and Naya Enchantment decks. Meanwhile, Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER has breathed new life into Orzhov Sacrifice, where this three-drop creature rewards you for sacrificing creatures to Bartolomé del Presidio. These additions, as well as many others, have helped various fringe decks gain competitive footing.

The Stage Is Set

Even in a format dominated by established powerhouses, it's exciting to see so many new cards from Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY leave their mark on the format. But the real test is yet to come: Who will rise to the top and carve their name into competitive Magic history? Can Izzet Prowess keep up its pace, or will it stumble against a metagame armed with answers?

Don't miss a moment of the action. Coverage of Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY kicks off Friday, June 20!