Hello, and welcome back to Metagame Mentor, your weekly guide to the top decks and latest Constructed developments on the path to the Pro Tour. This week, Standard brewers are excitedly trying the hottest new Duskmourn: House of Horror cards, Pioneer experts are preparing for their upcoming Regional Championships, and Modern players are testing their mettle at Regional Championship Qualifiers. While these Constructed formats often take the competitive limelight with their paths to the Pro Tour, there's also an exciting time coming up for fans of even more powerful Magic.

Legacy and Vintage proudly showcase the entirety of Magic's card history, and they are featured at the upcoming 2024 Eternal Weekends. There are three in total, each hosted in different regions by different organizers:

• October 12–13, 2024: in Shizuoka, Japan—hosted by BIG MAGIC.
• November 21–24, 2024: in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—hosted by Card Titan.
• December 6–8, 2024: in Prague, Czech Republic—hosted by JK Entertainment.

Eternal Weekends are the premier annual events for Magic's eternal formats, each with unique prizes. Players can compete for sweet promos, as well as the glory of being dubbed the Legacy or Vintage Champion. Further details are available on the organizers' pages.

In Legacy and Vintage, gameplay is engaging and complex, and newly released cards have to compete with 30 years of Magic's most powerful cards. So, their metagames tend to change slowly. The formats were recently shaken up by the August 26, 2024 banned and restricted announcement. Grief was banned in Legacy and Urza's Saga and Vexing Bauble were restricted in Vintage. To give an impression of what to expect in the post-B&R metagame at the Eternal Weekends, today's article will provide a metagame snapshot and an early indication of the top decks to defeat.

The Legacy Metagame in September 2024

Legacy is a nonrotating format that allows tournament-legal cards from all Magic sets throughout the game's entire history, except for cards on the banned list. To learn more, I analyzed all Magic Online decklists and all Melee decklists with positive records from scheduled Legacy events held since the ban of Grief. I also considered the Top 8 decklists from the 386-player 4Seasons Legacy Tournament and the 112-player, qualification-only European Legacy Masters. The most-played cards from these decks show what Legacy is all about.

Brainstorm 598924 413790 Ponder 662376 662351 413586

Most of these format-defining cards have dominated Legacy for decades, as they provide amazing card selection or efficient disruption. Psychic Frog, a newcomer from Modern Horizons 3, has become fairly ubiquitous as well. The Frog can discard a creature to be reanimated, act as a growing threat, be pitched Force of Will, serve as an alternate win condition for combo decks, or just grind for card advantage. That's a lot of value for a two-drop, making it the premier threat in the format. Other heavily played new cards include Consign to Memory; Vexing Bauble; Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student; and Kozilek's Command, but none of them get close to the Frog's numbers.

To better understand the shape of the metagame, I awarded a number of points to each deck equal to its net wins (i.e., its number of match wins minus losses). Each archetype's share of total net wins can then be interpreted as its share of the winner's metagame, combining popularity and performance into a single metric. The breakdown is provided in the table below, where each archetype name hyperlinks to a well-performing, representative decklist.

The "Other" category included Selesnya Depths, Sneak and Show, Lands, Oops, All Spells, Dredge, and more.

Before the Grief ban, the winner's metagame was dominated by Dimir Reanimator decks, which were capable of evoking and returning Grief as early as turn one. These decks held an incredible 36.7% of the winner's metagame. After the banning of Grief, Dimir Reanimator remains the most prominent archetype, but it has been weakened and is far less dominant than before. So, we're beginning to see more format diversity.

Meanwhile, now that Grief can no longer tear hands apart, combo decks like Painter, Bant Nadu, and Doomsday are facing less disruption, and they've risen in popularity. To improve our understanding, let's take a closer look at the top five deck archetypes in the post-ban metagame.

The Top Five Decks to Beat in Post-Ban Legacy

4 Reanimate 4 Entomb 4 Underground Sea 4 Psychic Frog 4 Polluted Delta 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 4 Ponder 4 Troll of Khazad-dûm 3 Animate Dead 3 Daze 3 Wasteland 2 Thoughtseize 2 Undercity Sewers 2 Fatal Push 2 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student 1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier 1 Archon of Cruelty 1 Brazen Borrower 1 Swamp 1 Island 1 Flooded Strand 1 Misty Rainforest 3 Barrowgoyf 3 Consign to Memory 2 Brazen Borrower 2 Fatal Push 2 Orcish Bowmasters 1 Force of Negation 1 Toxic Deluge 1 Harbinger of the Seas

Even after the Grief ban, Dimir Reanimator remains a force to be reckoned with. It basically stuck with the same shell, replacing Grief with Thoughtseize; Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student; or other cards that support a "fairer" game plan. The archetype then took 1st, 2nd, and 4th place at the European Legacy Masters.

Congratulations to @NimblestM, your 2024 European Legacy Masters Champion!

Thank you all for joining us today. We hope you had a great time playing and/or watching #ELM2024. Top8 lists and VODs will be posted later this week.

And of course a big thanks to our amazing sponsors! pic.twitter.com/Q0wBp7lChZ

— European Legacy Masters (@EULegacyMasters) September 7, 2024

The deck's main game plan is to bin Archon of Cruelty or Atraxa, Grand Unifier with Entomb and recur it with Reanimate or Animate Dead. Alternatively, a swampcycling Troll of Khazad-dûm can turn into an impossible-to-block 6/5 as early as turn two. You can also discard an Archon or Atraxa with Psychic Frog or Thoughtseize. This reanimation plan is wrapped in an interactive shell that uses Daze and Force of Will to force through your own haymakers or stop the opponent's threats.

The essential new main deck additions from Modern Horizons 3 are Psychic Frog and Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, both of which can single-handedly win the game, especially when supported by countermagic, discard, removal, and Wasteland. When opponents board in anti-graveyard effects, a single Psychic Frog backed up with several pieces of interaction can still cross the finish line.

Nevertheless, it's worth having graveyard hate in your Legacy sideboard right now. Indeed, well over 20% of the field in total uses the card Reanimate, including more combo-oriented Golgari versions with Dance of the Dead and classic Rakdos versions with Faithless Looting. These versions lose out on blue's card selection, permission, and Frogs. Despite that, their presence reinforces the importance of Faerie Macabre, Surgical Extraction, and Leyline of the Void. In the current Legacy metagame, it's wise to respect Reanimator decks by including several graveyard hate cards in your sideboard.

4 Chalice of the Void 4 Thought-Knot Seer 4 Ancient Tomb 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Eldrazi Temple 4 Kozilek's Command 4 Sowing Mycospawn 4 Wasteland 4 Glaring Fleshraker 4 Lotus Petal 3 Eye of Ugin 3 Devourer of Destiny 3 It That Heralds the End 2 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth 2 Once Upon a Time 2 The One Ring 1 Blast Zone 1 Nulldrifter 1 Gaea's Cradle 1 Wastes 1 City of Traitors 4 Faerie Macabre 3 Wastescape Battlemage 3 Dismember 3 Mindbreak Trap 2 Null Rod

Mono-Green Eldrazi got an enormous boost from Modern Horizons 3. The archetype already had several two-mana lands in the form of Ancient Tomb, Eldrazi Temple, and Eye of Ugin, but when you add Glaring Fleshraker and It That Heralds the End, it's possible to sculpt even more powerful opening hands. For example, these decks can cast Devourer of Destiny or an enormous Kozilek's Command as early as turn two. Alternatively, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth and Eye of Ugin lead into a turn-two Sowing Mycospawn, allowing you to fetch Eldrazi Temple and speed further ahead.

With Chalice of the Void, Wasteland, and Thought-Knot Seer as disruption, this deck combines a fast clock with powerful interaction. There are also more aggressive Temur versions with Eldrazi Linebreaker, Nulldrifter, and Secluded Courtyard to support the mana requirements. Overall, more than 12% of the field uses Eldrazi Temple to rapidly outmuscle the opponent with these eldritch abominations.

4 Nethergoyf 4 Daze 4 Brainstorm 4 Force of Will 4 Ponder 4 Wasteland 4 Fatal Push 4 Polluted Delta 4 Psychic Frog 4 Underground Sea 3 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student 2 Brazen Borrower 2 Orcish Bowmasters 2 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Murktide Regent 1 Island 1 Swamp 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Undercity Sewers 1 Mishra's Bauble 1 Bloodstained Mire 1 Thoughtseize 1 Flooded Strand 1 Misty Rainforest 3 Consign to Memory 2 Force of Negation 2 Harbinger of the Seas 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Hydroblast 1 Unlicensed Hearse 1 Dismember 1 Null Rod 1 Toxic Deluge 1 Go for the Throat 1 Engineered Explosives

Dimir Midrange features a similar core as Dimir Reanimator, except that it uses Nethergoyf, Murktide Regent, and Orcish Bowmasters instead of the reanimation package. So, by sacrificing power, the deck gains resilience and consistency, running the strongest individual cards in the format. The lack of Entomb also frees up room for additional disruption in the form of main deck copies of Fatal Push and Nihil Spellbomb. Fatal Push in particular is one of the best answers to the format's new menace—Psychic Frog.

There are also Grixis versions with Dragon's Rage Channeler and Lightning Bolt, as well as Sultai versions that run Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath and Witherbloom Command. The original dual lands make splashes like these easy to enable. However, they make you more vulnerable to Wasteland, and there's already enough power in this Dimir list. In any case, over 16% of the field was on a Psychic Frog deck that uses a midrange plan rather than Reanimate or Doomsday.

9 Mountain 4 Goblin Engineer 4 Ancient Tomb 4 Painter's Servant 4 Urza's Saga 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker 4 Goblin Welder 3 Vexing Bauble 3 Pyroblast 3 Red Elemental Blast 2 Great Furnace 2 Grindstone 2 City of Traitors 2 Simian Spirit Guide 2 Lightning Bolt 2 Fury 1 Phyrexian Dragon Engine 1 Lotus Petal 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Chaos Defiler 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Arena of Glory 3 Magus of the Moon 3 Faerie Macabre 2 Blood Moon 2 Fury 1 Pithing Needle 1 Abrade 1 Pyroblast 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Mindbreak Trap

Painter is a combo deck based around the two-card combo of Painter's Servant and Grindstone. Painter's Servant turns all cards into the same color, which means that a single Grindstone activation will mill the entire opponent's library. For consistency, either card can be grabbed with Goblin Engineer, while Urza's Saga acts as extra copies of Grindstone.

As Force of Will is the most-played card in Legacy, the list uses Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast in the main deck to prevent the opponent from stopping the combo. Even against non-blue decks, the blasts can be enabled by Painter's Servant's color-changing ability.

From Modern Horizons 3, Vexing Bauble lines up well against Force of Will, Daze, Lotus Petal, and other Legacy staples. Moreover, it's never dead because you can always draw a card, making it an excellent addition to the deck. A more inconspicuous addition is Arena of Glory, which can give haste to Goblin Engineer out of nowhere, speeding up the kill. But above all, Painter gained from the removal of Grief from the format, as its combo plan was always weak to discard. It has risen to 7.4% of the metagame as a result.

4 Llanowar Elves 4 Springheart Nantuko 4 Gaea's Cradle 4 Windswept Heath 4 Nomads en-Kor 4 Allosaurus Shepherd 4 Quirion Ranger 4 Green Sun's Zenith 4 Chord of Calling 4 Nadu, Winged Wisdom 3 Noble Hierarch 3 Tropical Island 3 Misty Rainforest 2 Savannah 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 1 Boseiju, Who Endures 1 Birchlore Rangers 1 Dryad Arbor 1 Elvish Herder 1 Sylvan Safekeeper 1 Endurance 1 Delighted Halfling 1 Snow-Covered Forest 4 Faerie Macabre 4 Swords to Plowshares 2 Deafening Silence 2 Mindbreak Trap 1 Collector Ouphe 1 Harbinger of the Seas 1 Force of Vigor

Nadu, Winged Wisdom dominated Modern due to its synergies with zero-mana ways to target your own creatures, and it's also making waves in Legacy. Modern decks used Shuko or Outrider en-Kor, but Nomads en-Kor is an even better option in Legacy. Each land put onto the battlefield by Nadu triggers Springheart Nantuko, creating another 1/1 creature that can get targeted by Nomads en-Kor twice. Once you get that going, you can easily draw your entire deck, tap Gaea's Cradle for mana, and cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn for the win.

Bant Nadu decks in Legacy come in many variations. For example, there are various lists that marry Nadu with the classic Cephalid Breakfast plan of Cephalid Illusionist, Shuko, and Narcomoeba. The more novel and more prominent versions have incorporated Nadu into an Elves shell. That version has been gaining traction in the metagame, and it was favored by my aggregation algorithm, producing the list shown above.

Traditionally, Elves decks may have relied on Glimpse of Nature, but that was vulnerable to Orcish Bowmasters. Nadu circumvents Bowmasters while having great synergy with Quirion Ranger's targeting ability. Moreover, Allosaurus Shepherd forces Nadu right through countermagic. The two game plans mesh well together, and we shouldn't forget that with the right Gaea's Cradle draw, Allosaurus Shepherd can turn Llanowar Elves and Quirion Ranger into lethal attackers by turn three. Having ways to win games that don't involve Nadu is sweet, making for an awesome build overall.

Bloomburrow's Spicy Legacy newcomer: Golgari Landfall

Over the past few months, the biggest changes to Legacy have been the addition of Modern Horizons 3 and the ban of Grief. However, Bloomburrow has also introduced several new cards. The most-played new Bloomburrow card is Keen-Eyed Curator, which has been adopted by various Green Sun's Zenith decks as an anti-graveyard silver bullet. Yet the second-most-played card, Iridescent Vinelasher, enabled a brand-new archetype—Golgari Landfall.

3 Bayou 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Boseiju, Who Endures 1 Dryad Arbor 4 Elvish Reclaimer 1 Expedition Map 4 Fatal Push 1 Forest 3 Freestrider Lookout 2 Gaea's Cradle 4 Iridescent Vinelasher 1 Lavaspur Boots 3 Life from the Loam 1 Maze of Ith 2 Misty Rainforest 4 Mox Diamond 1 Shadowspear 4 Springheart Nantuko 2 Talon Gates of Madara 1 Underground Mortuary 4 Urza's Saga 2 Verdant Catacombs 4 Wasteland 4 Wight of the Reliquary 2 Windswept Heath 1 Wooded Foothills 2 Dismember 2 Endurance 1 Haywire Mite 2 Orcish Bowmasters 1 Scrabbling Claws 3 Surgical Extraction 4 Thoughtseize

Springheart Nantuko and Wight of the Reliquary from Modern Horizons 3 already made waves in Cradle Control—Andrea Mengucci's favorite—but they also work wonders in any deck that leverages the landfall mechanic even further. In the above-shown decklist, which Flossed took it to a 2nd-place finish at a Magic Online Challenge, the highlight is the interaction between Iridescent Vinelasher, Freestrider Lookout, and fetch lands.

When you play a fetch land, Iridescent Vinelasher commits a crime, allowing Freestrider Lookout to put another land onto the battlefield. This nets another damage and, if you control Springheart Nantuko, a 1/1 Insect. On your opponent's turn, you crack your fetch land and set off the same chain of triggers once again. This synergy can quickly overpower your opponent, especially when Freestrider Lookout hits Wasteland to disrupt them.

It's an interesting approach, and I love seeing players find success with innovative card choices. I also look forward to seeing the impact of the upcoming Duskmourn expansion at the Eternal Weekends. From this new set, there is plenty of hype for Metamorphosis Fanatic, which could excel in miracle-based reanimation decks. At the same time, the new Ghost Vacuum could answer such strategies, slotting perfectly into Urza's Saga decks that can easily ramp towards six mana and that want to commit crimes every turn. Golgari Landfall might be an ideal home.

The Vintage Metagame in September 2024

Vintage is a nonrotating format that allows almost every card in the history of the game. In addition to a banned list, which includes cards that feature ante or dexterity mechanics, Vintage also has a restricted list. Cards on the restricted list are limited to a single copy per deck. The restricted list includes some of the most powerful cards from Magic's history, such as the iconic Power Nine.

Black Lotus 489948 Mox Sapphire Mox Jet Mox Ruby Mox Emerald Ancestral Recall Time Walk Timetwister

To provide a metagame snapshot, I analyzed all Magic Online decklists from scheduled Vintage events held since the restriction of Urza's Saga and Vexing Bauble. I also added the Top 8 decklists from the 4Seasons Vintage Tournament and the Emperor of Vintage tournament in Osaka. Using the same weighting methodology as for Legacy, we get the following winner's metagame.

The "Other" category included Jeskai Breach, Grixis Midrange, Jeskai Control, Affinity Shops, Orzhov Cats, Tinker Saga, Mono-Red Prison, and more.

Compared to my Vintage metagame snapshot in August 2023, made before the release of Modern Horizons 3 and the restriction of Urza's Saga, there are several notable differences. First, due to the introduction of Psychic Frog, Esper Control and Dimir Control have supplanted Jeskai Control. Second, after the restriction of Urza's Saga, Tinker Saga ticked down, while Jewel Shops retained its power. Third, Dredge has become more popular than HollowVine. Finally, Mono-White Initiative ticked down a bit, though it remains popular.

All in all, Magic doesn't get more high powered than Vintage. Games can end quickly, turn-one kills are more than possible. There's a long list of fast combos that can run away with Vintage games.

• You can use Tinker to fetch Time Vault, use Urza's Saga to grab Manifold Key, and combine the artifacts to take infinite turns.
• You can play Doomsday to craft a combination of card draw, free mana, permission, and Thassa's Oracle, put them on top, and win on the next turn.
• You can use Underworld Breach plus Brain Freeze to recast Black Lotus and Brain Freeze multiple times, eventually milling your opponent after your storm count gets high enough.
• You can play a Paradoxical Outcome that returns five Moxen and Mana Vault, effectively turning into a double Ancestral Recall plus a Black Lotus.
• You can activate Bazaar of Baghdad to discard three Vengevine, follow up with two copies of Hollow One, and pass the turn with 20 power on the battlefield.
• You can combine Mishra's Workshop and several mana rocks to play Coveted Jewel on turn one, allowing you to run away with the game.
• You can use Show and Tell to put Atraxa, Grand Unifier onto the battlefield, dominating the game from turn one.

Clearly, Vintage is not a fair format, which is why the seven most-played cards provide ways to interact with all of these powerful combo cards, lands, and graveyard engines.

Force of Will Wasteland Leyline of the Void Force of Negation Underground Sea Psychic Frog Ancient Tomb

In the most powerful format in Magic, you need answers to prevent your opponent from winning on turn one or turn two. That's where Force of Will, Wasteland, and Leyline of the Void come in and balance things out, although the Leyline is mostly found in sideboards. Note that this list of most-played cards is based on sheer quantities, so it doesn't include restricted cards like Black Lotus or Ancestral Recall, nor does it feature deck-defining, narrow cards like Mishra's Workshop or Bazaar of Baghdad. But make no mistake: these cards are all pillars of the format as well.

In any case, it's quite telling that, amongst all of this power, a Frog has appeared. Based on the current Vintage and Legacy metagame, Psychic Frog is clearly one of the best creatures of all time. To see it in action, let's take a closer look at the top five deck archetypes in the post-restriction metagame.

The Top Five Decks to Beat in Post-Restriction Vintage

4 Orcish Bowmasters 4 Psychic Frog 4 Force of Will 4 Wasteland 3 Force of Negation 3 Swords to Plowshares 3 Underground Sea 3 Tundra 3 Lórien Revealed 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Scalding Tarn 2 Mishra's Bauble 2 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade 1 Flusterstorm 1 Mental Misstep 1 Ancestral Recall 1 Brainstorm 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Mox Pearl 1 Mox Jet 1 Black Lotus 1 Time Walk 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Strip Mine 1 Dig Through Time 1 Treasure Cruise 1 Gitaxian Probe 1 Spell Pierce 1 Flooded Strand 1 Polluted Delta 1 Ponder 1 Urza's Saga 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student 4 Containment Priest 2 Consign to Memory 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Long Goodbye 1 Flusterstorm 1 Yixlid Jailer 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Null Rod

Esper Control, at 14.2% of the winner's metagame, could also be called Esper Frog, Esper Midrange, or Esper Lurrus. The deck uses Force of Negation, Force of Will, and Swords to Plowshares to keep fast combo strategies in check before ultimately locking up the game with card advantage–generating creatures. Several blue selection spells help find the right answers, and I find it hilarious that despite the unrestricting of Ponder, the aggregate list runs exactly one copy.

Earlier this year, many of these decks used Urza's Saga as a win condition that could fetch the game-winning combo of Time Vault or Manifold Key. After the restriction of Urza's Saga, that element has largely been removed. Now, you typically win the game with creatures like Orcish Bowmasters and Psychic Frog. Lurrus of the Dream-Den can return these creatures or recast Mishra's Bauble turn after turn, providing the deck with a long-game inevitability.

4 Mishra's Bauble 4 Orcish Bowmasters 4 Psychic Frog 4 Force of Will 4 Polluted Delta 4 Underground Sea 4 Wasteland 3 Force of Negation 3 Fatal Push 3 Spell Pierce 2 Ponder 1 Mox Pearl 1 Daze 1 Black Lotus 1 Mox Jet 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Brainstorm 1 Ancestral Recall 1 Mental Misstep 1 Treasure Cruise 1 Demonic Tutor 1 Time Walk 1 Gitaxian Probe 1 Urza's Saga 1 Island 1 Strip Mine 1 Timetwister 1 Dig Through Time 1 Swamp 1 Flooded Strand 1 Undercity Sewers 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 3 Consign to Memory 3 Tormod's Crypt 2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale 2 Soul Rend 2 Mindbreak Trap 1 Fatal Push 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den 1 Steel Sabotage

Dimir Control is very similar to the Esper version, and at 15.1% of the winner's metagame, it's even more popular. Instead of Swords to Plowshares and Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, the deck runs additional copies of Mishra's Bauble, Fatal Push, and Spell Pierce. Due to its focus on only two colors, it is less vulnerable to Wasteland.

In the sideboard, I want to point out Consign to Memory as another strong Modern Horizons 3 addition, especially in a format where you can counter Black Lotus.

4 Serum Powder 4 Golgari Thug 4 Grief 4 Hollow One 4 Ichorid 4 Narcomoeba 4 Shambling Shell 4 Stinkweed Imp 4 Noxious Revival 4 Bazaar of Baghdad 4 Creeping Chill 4 Prized Amalgam 4 Force of Will 3 Silversmote Ghoul 2 Force of Negation 1 Golgari Grave-Troll 1 Mental Misstep 1 Chalice of the Void 4 Sickening Shoal 4 Force of Vigor 4 Leyline of the Void 2 Wasteland 1 Strip Mine

Dredge, at 13.3% of the metagame, is the most prominent graveyard-based deck in the current Vintage metagame. Through the aggressive use of Serum Powder and the London mulligan rule, the probability of starting the game with Bazaar of Baghdad in your opening hand is higher than 99%. Bazaar single-handedly powers the entire strategy without requiring any mana.

Ideally, you draw and discard Stinkweed Imp or Golgari Grave-Troll, making future Bazaar of Baghdad activations even more powerful. With a second Bazaar, you can basically put your entire deck into your graveyard in two turns. Creeping Chill drains the opponent, and Narcomoeba and Ichorid as your assault force to win the game. In turn, these creatures bring back Prized Amalgam, pressuring the opponent even more. Meanwhile, even though the deck will never add any mana, it can use Grief and Force of Will as manaless disruption.

4 Witch Enchanter 4 Ancient Tomb 4 Anointed Peacekeeper 4 Archon of Emeria 4 Chrome Mox 4 Seasoned Dungeoneer 4 Wasteland 4 White Plume Adventurer 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Chancellor of the Annex 3 March of Otherworldly Light 2 Plains 2 Solitude 1 Mox Emerald 1 Lotus Petal 1 Mox Ruby 1 Black Lotus 1 Karakas 1 Mana Crypt 1 Mox Jet 1 Mox Pearl 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Strip Mine 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Trinisphere 1 Chalice of the Void 4 Containment Priest 4 Leyline of the Void 3 Archon of Absolution 2 Swords to Plowshares 2 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

Mono-White Initiative, at 11.7% of the winner's metagame, combines disruption and aggression. First, it reveals Chancellor of the Annex and uses a bunch of fast mana to ramp into creatures like Anointed Peacekeeper or Archon of Emeria, preventing opponents from pulling off fast combo wins. Meanwhile, March of Otherworldly Light can answer their Psychic Frog or take out Moxen to slow down the opponent.

Soon after, White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer come down, taking The Initiative and venturing into the Undercity. As the deck runs more creatures than normal, opponents often have a hard time damaging you in combat to take back the initiative. As you keep venturing into the Undercity every turn, a fast clock arises—it's two +1/+1 counters on the next upkeep, followed by 5 life loss on the turn after. The deck has been a major part of the Vintage metagame for over a year, and it recently gained Witch Enchanter from Modern Horizons 3, adding more interaction without having to sacrifice any spell slots.

4 Phyrexian Metamorph 4 Coveted Jewel 4 The One Ring 4 Paradoxical Outcome 4 Force of Will 4 Sink into Stupor 4 Mishra's Workshop 4 Ancient Tomb 3 Grim Monolith 1 Vexing Bauble 1 Time Vault 1 Time Walk 1 Karn, the Great Creator 1 Otawara, Soaring City 1 Trinisphere 1 Mana Vault 1 Black Lotus 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mox Jet 1 Mox Pearl 1 Mox Ruby 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Sol Ring 1 Mana Crypt 1 Manifold Key 1 Ancestral Recall 1 Tinker 1 Urza's Saga 1 Tolarian Academy 1 Voltaic Key 1 Island 1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge 1 City of Traitors 1 Mystic Forge 3 Argentum Masticore 2 Hurkyl's Recall 2 Dismember 2 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Hullbreacher 2 Defense Grid 1 Archive Trap 1 Mycosynth Lattice

Jewel Shops, at 11.3% of the winner's metagame, includes more mana rocks than pretty much any other deck in Vintage, and it uses the broken Tinker and Tolarian Academy to their full potential. The name of the deck stems from the ability of Mishra's Workshop to ramp into Coveted Jewel, which draws cards and adds more mana. You can then copy it over and over with Phyrexian Metamorph, bounce it with Paradoxical Outcome, and draw your entire deck in a single turn. Eventually, Time Vault and Manifold Key give infinite turns, and Karn, the Great Creator wins the game.

From Modern Horizons 3, the deck gained Sink into Stupor, which improved its monocolor mana base and gave an answer to Null Rod. It's an incredible piece of interaction. Even though the restriction of Urza's Saga has weakened Jewel Shops' main backup plan, it remains a powerful strategy, and it rounds out my selection of decks to defeat at the Vintage portion of the 2024 Eternal Weekends.

The Road to Magic World Championship 30

Throughout Magic's long and rich competitive history, the World Championship has always been the crown jewel of organized play, and the upcoming event at MagicCon: Las Vegas will be one to celebrate. As Corbin Hosler and I count down the weeks leading up to Magic World Championship 30 at MagicCon: Las Vegas in late October, each week I'm taking a look at a great deck from a past Magic World Championship.

In October 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Magic World Championship XXVII was the first and only edition that was played remotely on MTG Arena. The field of sixteen competitors featured Japan's Yuta Takahashi, who unfortunately started off the tournament with a 0-3 record in draft. This meant that he had to win every single Standard match to remain in contention. And that's exactly what he did. Takahashi stayed focused, rattled off eleven straight match wins, and claimed the title. Yatta!

1 Spikefield Hazard 4 Dragon's Fire 4 Memory Deluge 1 Negate 7 Island 2 Divide by Zero 4 Expressive Iteration 4 Riverglide Pathway 1 Prismari Command 3 Frostboil Snarl 4 Goldspan Dragon 1 Fading Hope 3 Alrund's Epiphany 4 Smoldering Egg 2 Hall of Storm Giants 4 Mountain 4 Shatterskull Smashing 1 Dissipate 2 Thundering Rebuke 3 Jwari Disruption 1 Saw It Coming 1 Fading Hope 1 Environmental Sciences 4 Malevolent Hermit 1 Heated Debate 3 Burning Hands 2 Cinderclasm 1 Prismari Command 1 Mascot Exhibition 1 Test of Talents

The most-played card at Magic World Championship XXVII was Alrund's Epiphany—the premier endgame spell in the Standard format at the time. It was usually flanked by Expressive Iteration, providing incredible card advantage to the strategy. The World Championship competitors either played these cards or chose an aggro deck based around Esika's Chariot or Luminarch Aspirant.

Goldspan Dragon 534939 Dragon's Fire

Takahashi's winning Izzet Dragons deck could use its burn, countermagic, and bounce spells to handle early aggression and eventually turn the corner with Smoldering Egg and Goldspan Dragon. These 4/4 Dragons provided a fast clock, and Goldspan Dragon added a substantial mana boost along the way.

Interestingly, only two of the sixteen World Championship players put Goldspan Dragon in their main deck, and both of them made it to the Grand Finals. As the tournament showed, an essential part of deck building is analyzing metagame trends and then selecting the right threats that line up well against the metagame. At Magic World Championship XXVII, Wrenn and Seven was on a decline, making it the perfect moment for Goldspan Dragon to shine. The Dragon was used to great effect by champion Yuta Takahahi and finalist Jean-Emmanuel Depraz, who would later clinch the title in 2023.

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Takahashi's winning list also contained Alrund's Epiphany, but its game plan didn't focus on it. This was in stark contrast to the more prominent creatureless Epiphany decks that aimed to copy it with Galvanic Iteration. With his flexible creature-based win conditions, Takahashi had a strategic edge at a time where the metagame was moving towards countermagic like Test of Talents.

Moreover, he leveraged the power of transformation by frequently boarding out Alrund's Epiphany. It was a clever move when opponents would often target the expensive sorcery with cheap countermagic post-board. When you can make post-board games revolve around something else than your opponent is expecting, then you'll hold an advantage and can reap the rewards. Thanks to his well-positioned deck and expert play, Takahashi was rewarded by having his likeness featured on Faerie Mastermind.

The upcoming Magic World Championship 30 features Standard and Duskmourn Draft, with $1,000,000 in prizing up for grabs. It will be an awesome celebration of competitive Magic and the stories it creates, so don't miss it on October 25–27, 2024. Even if you aren't at MagicCon: Las Vegas to see the action unfold from the sidelines in person, all three days of the event will be broadcast live on twitch.tv/magic as well as on the Play MTG YouTube channel!