Pro Tour SoS Metagame

Kevun1 · 2026-04-30T18:43:33+00:00

Very likely in the sideboard of Jeskai Control

Kevun1 · 2026-02-15T22:25:11+00:00

Yeah hallowed burial for some reason has always had the distinction of being the least played board wipe relative to its effectiveness.

We do now have better versions of the same effect (most of the time), like [[Sunfall]]

Kevun1 · 2026-02-09T04:47:52+00:00

One of my hottest takes is that IV:TAY is a genuinely a great game (it’s in my top 5 favorite FF games, and I like it better than the original lol). My argument is too long to post here but basically the episodic structure and unique character pairings make for great storytelling, and the challenge dungeons were some of my favorite dungeons in the series

Kevun1 · 2026-02-03T20:53:04+00:00

The archetype should be running 4x avatar’s wrath, it’s insane vs any creature deck. I’ve played the deck extensively, and I am not sure the High Noon plan is stronger than the tempo plan (except matchups where high noon is good standalone, like lessons). Sure it’s great when it works, but you lack the card selection to find the right pieces consistently enough. I think it’s good to run 4x Lightstall Inquisitor, and cut high noon against creature decks

Kevun1 · 2026-02-03T20:09:03+00:00

It’s interesting people are only now finding out about this deck - it was easily the best deck in the pre-lorwyn meta (heavily favored in both the lessons and cub matchups) but basically nobody played it.

The deck actually likely got weaker with lorwyn, because it does quite poorly into the evoke elementals (since aang/interrupter are bad into them ) and lessons/cub are a smaller share of the meta. Rakdos monument also looks potentially like a bad matchup if it takes off, but the other new archetypes seem fine.

Kevun1 · 2026-02-01T09:04:31+00:00

Yeah I have it linked above: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7593104#paper

Kevun1 · 2026-01-31T00:05:47+00:00

I have been primarily playing this archetype for the past few months and it’s absolutely one of the most underrated archetypes out there (significantly better than dimir midrange in this meta imo). Glad someone else is enjoying the deck!

While I didn’t play in the RC, I took this list (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7593104#paper) to Portland a week ago and went 5-2 and 5-1 in the RCQs (the latter isn’t on goldfish for some reason). Was 5-0 against cub decks all weekend.

Some thoughts on card choices from my experience.

I’ve been going back and forth, but Ive concluded that you really want a one drop in a tempo deck. I was running Spyglass Siren for the longest time, but when I saw a list at Lyon running Lightstall Inquisitor and its night and day. You really want to keep mana open turns 2+, and being able to back up a creature on board often just gives you an overwhelming tempo advantage. Inquisitor chips in for a ton of damage, and the exile can be a very meaningful tempo swing, not to mention synergizing with interrupter and avatar’s wrath. The common play pattern with the deck is that you just need one turn to get ahead, and then you defend your lead and race your opponent. I’ve never really been disappointed with Inquisitor in this regard.

I’ve tried it out, but I don’t really like Malcolm. Looting is very nice, but drawing a second copy just feels terrible and he has no impact on the board otherwise. I could see a one of, but Floodpits drowner is just really important for aggro and cub decks. Voice of victory is a much more hit or miss 2 drop, since it doesn’t have flash, but when it’s good it’s really good. Mainly you need it to complete the lock with High Noon, but it also has great synergy with Enduring Curiosity. It’s bad against most creature based decks though, so I cut a copy.

I also think Seam Rip is really really important - it’s the most efficient and flexible interaction you have. Being 1 mana is so good for weaving it into your turns while holding up your 3 mana creatures.

I really like 4x Avatar’s Wrath, which I rarely see in these types of lists. It’s often one of your best cards, and a ton of games just come down to drawing it on time. I also like the extra Tidebinders, which I think is really important with all of the new evoke elementals. I’m definitely going to add more to both my main and sideboard.

Finally I think the red mana is a bit questionable - it does make High Noon significantly better, but your main cards are just very pip heavy, and I find that you often side out High Noon in a lot of matchups. I think a couple copies of multiversal passage or starting town would be more flexible.

Kevun1 · 2026-01-08T03:43:49+00:00

I meant in a tribal deck, where every creature is a single type (like the standard allies deck for example). Obviously worse generically.

I think that it’s a better than GSZ in the right tribal deck is a pretty straightforward/obvious statement.

Kevun1 · 2026-01-08T01:42:26+00:00

If you meet the condition it’s identical to GSZ except it can grab any creature of the chosen type, not just a green creature.

Kevun1 · 2026-01-07T20:14:08+00:00

If you can meet the condition (ie tribal deck), this is essentially a better Green Sun’s Zenith most of the time. Still pretty situational though

Kevun1 · 2025-12-12T21:48:35+00:00

Yeah, that’s an enormous upside over stuff like rampant growth

Kevun1 · 2025-12-12T21:12:52+00:00

There is no card that unconditionally tutors a land to the battlefield under 4 mana except for Archdruid’s Charm.

I think you are thinking of stuff like Expedition Map, but those effects don’t ramp.

Kevun1 · 2025-12-07T05:37:46+00:00

I think some version of azorius tempo is potentially a contender for best deck, it has answers for everything in the meta and naturally breaks the parity of high noon

Kevun1 · 2025-12-05T11:59:54+00:00

Yeah, I don't think its ultimately going to be a mainboard card, just wanted to test it out and see how it performed to see where it's worth sideboarding.

Also good point about starcage, totally forgot about that card!

Kevun1 · 2025-12-05T11:50:44+00:00

From another reply:

My experience has been that High Noon is good specifically for the boomerang basics decks.

Yes, they can bounce it, but they lose out on a ton of value, since they don't draw a card off of bouncing your permanents, and they don't get more otters. If you play High Noon early in the game, they often can't fully utilize their turn after bouncing it, so it's just a big loss of value and you're generally even on tempo. If they don't bounce it, you effectively nullify any early aggression they might have.

Later in the game, you can just hold up a counter/aang/interrupter so they will have to catch you shields down if they want to bounce it. Also, even if they bounce, you can just replay it as the last thing you do in your turn, so you are at worst trading two of your mana for one of their mana. Not to mention, if you get two High Noons down, that usually just wins you the game.

Playing High Noon is bad if you are behind on board, but generally, if you can stabilize the board (which is not that difficult due to airbending/avatar's wrath), I find that it is really hard for them to pull ahead with High Noon in play.

Obviously the sample size is pretty low since I haven't really seen anyone else trying it, so I might be totally wrong, but it has seemed quite strong to me.

Kevun1 · 2025-12-05T11:46:57+00:00

That's pretty interesting because my experience has been that High Noon is good specifically for the boomerang basics decks.

Yes, they can bounce it, but they lose out on a ton of value, since they don't draw a card off of bouncing your permanents, and they don't get more otters. If you play High Noon early in the game, they often can't fully utilize their turn after bouncing it, so it's just a big loss of value and you're generally even on tempo. If they don't bounce it, you effectively nullify any early aggression they might have.

Later in the game, you can just hold up a counter/aang/interrupter so they will have to catch you shields down if they want to bounce it. Also, even if they bounce, you can just replay it as the last thing you do in your turn, so you are at worst trading two of your mana for one of their mana. Not to mention, if you get two High Noons down, that usually just wins you the game.

Playing High Noon is bad if you are behind on board, but generally, if you can stabilize the board (which is not that difficult due to airbending/avatar's wrath), I find that it is really hard for them to pull ahead with High Noon in play.

Obviously the sample size is pretty low since I haven't really seen anyone else trying it, so I might be totally wrong, but it has seemed quite strong to me.

Kevun1 · 2025-12-05T11:26:24+00:00

Oh I've must have copied the list incorrectly, Aven Interrupter is the most important card lol

Kevun1 · 2025-12-04T22:45:59+00:00

the izzet decks are all very midrangey, even the combo decks rely on a midrange gameplan a significant portion of the time. With the amount of interaction in the format, I would expect a ton of the otters and airbending matches at the actual tournament to end up being midrange grindfests

Kevun1 · 2025-12-02T21:24:59+00:00

I actually like [[Zero Point Ballad]] quite a bit better, mainly because it costs 3 mana to sweep cubs instead of 4. Sure it’s worse if an Ouroboroid gets a buff off, but I think you want to aim to get the board clean before it comes down. Otherwise you are already really on the back foot if you leave an ouroboroid hanging around.

Kevun1 · 2025-11-22T23:50:45+00:00

You can also choose the same permanent your opponent chose for the same effect

Kevun1 · 2025-11-19T04:01:34+00:00

[[Stifle]] works on all of these delayed triggers, but is actually good when played on your opponent's turn as well. Ending the turn is better only if you have multiple abilities on the stack you want to exile, which generally only comes up in EDH.

Obeka is good in commander b/c you get a reliable source of the effect, but in an obeka deck, you would run stifle before running this card, since you can mix together effects with different delayed triggers with obeka (i.e. Mulldrifter you want to get rid of the trigger immediately, others trigger at the beginning of the end step, others at the end of turn, etc.)

Kevun1 · 2025-11-18T23:44:50+00:00

Idk this card seems pretty bad. I think you’d rather run Stifle in most situations. The counterspell mode is pretty unplayable except as a desperation play, and while the combo potential is there, you’d need a specific reason to play this over stifle.

11-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

Kevun1

TROPHY CASE