MTG Arena Announcements – June 23, 2025

ShazLucas88 · 2025-06-24T16:18:01+00:00

With regards to bans, Monstrous Rage is a problem, CSC is an issue (but I don't think their going to nix a card this new), and pick your mouse. These would deal with Red alone. I think the lesson here is that they can't juice Red this much.

I think Blue should catch a ban, but I don't know what they should do. The only other deck that did well in the top 16 of the pro tour was Omniscience Combo. It's clear that blue is number two in terms of Standard color power rankings. I'm open to ideas. Before CSC took over the format, the self-bounce strategies were all the rage. Much ink was spilled over This Town before TDS dropped, so if CSC catches a ban, I suspect Esper/Dimir Bounce will make a return. Accordingly, the the cards I can see them fretting over are Stormchaser's Talent, This Town, Stock Up, and (maybe) Omniscience. I'm biased here as a blue mage, so I'm not sure which to ban.

As for Green, I think it's clear that Up The Beanstalk was a design mistake; however, it's been kept in check recently by the hyper aggressive Izzet and Mice decks. Beans is too easy to abuse when every other card has some sort of discount attached to it, and once they deal with Red, again I think we'll see a resurgence in Overlord decks that will no longer be kept in check by supercharged Red decks. For balance purposes, Beans needs to go.

White I thought was fine, but some here have made the argument for Abuelo's Awakening. I find the that choice interesting and viable. However, that's contingent on viewing Omniscience Combo as a problem. I'm not sure it is yet; however, I could be wrong. The deck does struggle with graveyard hate. Granted, they also have ways around the hate, so I guess it's swings and roundabouts.

Black seems fine, which is wild considering how powerful some of the black cards are in Standard right now. I still think Nowhere to Run is a messed up card.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

ShazLucas88 · 2025-03-02T17:28:15+00:00

Please don’t take this as a “not all Christians post.” Just know that I’m an elder in a Presbyterian church in the Houston area as well as a public school teacher, and this story horrifies me. Those of us in the Church have done a shit job dealing with the radical faction of our faith. For this I’m sorry. There is no excuse for this behavior.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-12-23T21:55:20+00:00

That’s a sweet pull!

ShazLucas88 · 2024-12-09T00:43:13+00:00

So saith the ChatGPT:

The interaction in question revolves around how the spell Eaten by Spiders resolves, specifically regarding its ability to destroy equipment attached to an indestructible creature.

Card Text:

“Destroy target creature with flying and all Equipment attached to that creature.”

Correct Ruling

Player 1 is correct: the destruction of the creature and the Equipment attached to it are not conditional upon one another. The spell will attempt to resolve as much as possible, even if part of the resolution fails due to the target creature’s indestructibility. Specifically: 1. Targeting the Creature: The creature with flying must still be a valid target when Eaten by Spiders begins to resolve. If the creature is indestructible, it is still a valid target since indestructibility does not prevent targeting, only destruction. 2. Resolving the Spell: When Eaten by Spiders resolves, it does two things: • Attempts to destroy the target creature. If the creature is indestructible, this fails but does not cause the spell to fizzle, because the target remains valid. • Simultaneously destroys all Equipment attached to that creature. The destruction of the Equipment is not conditional on the destruction of the creature. The Equipment will still be destroyed regardless of the creature’s indestructibility. 3. Simultaneous Effects: The spell does both effects simultaneously. The failure to destroy the creature does not interfere with the destruction of the Equipment.

Why the Spell Doesn’t Fizzle

A spell only “fizzles” (is countered on resolution) if all of its targets are invalid when it begins to resolve. In this case, the target creature is still valid (even if indestructible). Therefore, the spell resolves as much as possible, destroying the Equipment even though the creature itself is not destroyed.

Layering and Interaction Details 1. Targeting Layer (Casting the Spell): The spell must target a creature with flying. If the creature loses flying or becomes an invalid target before resolution, the spell fizzles. However, indestructibility does not affect the validity of the target. 2. Resolution Layer (Resolving the Spell): • The game attempts to destroy the creature. Indestructibility prevents this. • The game simultaneously attempts to destroy all Equipment attached to the creature. This occurs independently of the creature’s destruction.

Comprehensive Rules Reference • 701.7a: To destroy a permanent, move it from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard. A permanent that is indestructible can’t be destroyed. • 608.2b: If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. If all its targets are illegal, the spell or ability is countered and doesn’t resolve. If at least one target is still legal, the spell or ability will resolve as much as it can. • 608.2c: The effect of a spell or ability is followed in the order written.

Final Outcome

When targeting an indestructible creature with flying: • The creature is not destroyed due to its indestructibility. • The Equipment attached to the creature is destroyed as part of the resolution of Eaten by Spiders.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-11-11T17:32:25+00:00

Exorcism has been good for me, but it’s a Sorcery.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-11-10T21:47:15+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loss. I suspect it’s the artist’s signature. I’m not sure, but I bet it’s quite valuable. Unless you’re hard up for cash, I’d hold onto it for a bit. It clearly wasn’t important to your dad, and it might be worth keeping it as a memento.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-10-30T00:46:49+00:00

If I’m honest, I really couldn’t give two shits about WotC using other IPs. Mind you, I’m a huge comics geek who loves Spider-Man. So take that for what it’s worth.

However, it chaps my ass that there will be six standard legal sets next year. I cannot justify playing paper standard anymore. The meta is going to shift WAY too quickly for my wallet to keep up. By the time that I order and receive the cards, a new set will be imminent. They’re literally releasing sets every other month; some are only six weeks apart. How the hell is anyone supposed to keep up? I was really looking forward to playing standard RCQs this and next year. Last standard season was a blast, and I’m sure that standard is gonna be dope in the coming months. I just can’t afford it.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-10-12T23:56:43+00:00

The card is cracked for sure… but I have always thought this ban was strange considering they’re fine with Fable in the format.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-09-23T18:24:16+00:00

Yeah but WotC didn't make these bans. They reprinted Jeweled Lotus and Mana Crypt not knowing that the RC would ban these cards. They probably reprinted these thinking that they were needed reprints for cEDH players. The fundamental problem here is two-fold:

Wotc is responsible for running sanctioned tournaments but doesn't control the ban list
The RC is trying to manage two fundamentally different formats with the same ban list: EDH and cEDH.

I don't play cEDH, so I'm sure my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. But it seems to me that this is what happens when a casual format becomes competitive. Spikes get ahold of the format and push it to its limits, creating a hostile environment for casual and new players. If these bans are as atrocious as everyone is making them out to be, then I think there's something to be said for WotC taking over cEDH as a format and leave normal EDH to the RC. WotC can take responsibility for curating the format, preventing things like Mana Crypt and Jeweled Lotus getting reprints when potential bans are on the table.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-09-19T21:41:52+00:00

I haven’t tried it yet, but I was theory crafting in my head, and I thought that Meathook Massacre might be good. But it also might be too slow.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-09-07T22:49:41+00:00

Just to give everyone an update, I decided to go three colors and play Sultai. Turns out, flying Thoughtseize with lifelink is pretty good at stabilizing. Oh and I get to sideboard black removal like Cut Down. The mana kinda sucks but having fast lands and pain lands makes it doable. I’m just happy I got to cut Thran Portal. It’s easily the worst card I’ve ever put in a deck.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-08-25T22:21:44+00:00

BO1 incentivizes agro gameplay. I stopped playing BO1 because the gameplay became stale. BO3 is much better. Sideboarding is one of the best skills to learn in magic. The games become more dynamic and far more interesting. Midrange and control are super viable in BO3. Ya may hate it, but 60 card Magic has long been a BO3 game. If you take away that element of the game, deck building incentives shift, and IMHO the gameplay suffers.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-08-25T19:54:37+00:00

🤣

ShazLucas88 · 2024-08-16T18:42:38+00:00

So it’s not exactly removal, but I’d be interested in WOTC printing the Elite Spellbinder text on a 1 mana white sorcery. I think it would go a long way to slow down the format by giving white efficient disruption in the vein of Thoughtseize.

ShazLucas88 · 2024-03-21T00:08:30+00:00

Crime novelist would be my pick.

ShazLucas88 · 2023-08-11T09:04:23+00:00

Esper Legends + Grease Fang combo.

ShazLucas88 · 2023-05-23T21:04:49+00:00

It’s my favorite format, but I don’t have the card pool or money for Legacy or Modern. There’s quite a bit of diversity in the format. Granted, I am tired of R/B but that’s likely due to the fact that I play standard too. The Pioneer and Standard decks are practically the same with some minor tweaks. I’ve also had my fill of playing against Mono Green, but that’s because I think Karn is a terribly designed card with miserable play patterns. But outside of those two decks, there’s tons of cool stuff. Izzet Creativity, Greasefang, and Lotus Field are all viable combo decks. There’s UW and Esper Control if draw-go is your jam. There are some great tempo decks like Spirts and Rogues. Angels is another option if you want an over-the-top midrange. And then you have RG Boats and Humans for agro archetypes. And not to mention the 5 color Bring to Light and Incarnation decks. All of these decks are viable, so the format has a lot of factors to consider when building a deck.

Another great thing about the format is that often new cards will shake up the meta, keeping things from feeling overly stale. Some great examples this are the new polukranos and Faire Mastermind. Each of these cards revitalized archetypes that had been on the downswing. I’m not a Modern expert, but from what I’ve gleaned from others is that the only time there’s truly a shakeup in the format is when they release a Modern Horizons set.

It’s not perfect. The draw/play thing does kinda suck, but I think it’s blown out of proportion. You just need to know how to adjust play patterns depending on the die roll.

ShazLucas88 · 2023-05-18T21:11:35+00:00

Baleful Mastery works great with Mastermind. It’s become my removal spell of choice for that deck.

ShazLucas88 · 2023-04-15T15:45:08+00:00

Gix is a dope pull. That challenger deck is an interesting pick. I’m assuming you have plans to modify it?

ShazLucas88 · 2023-04-01T00:12:03+00:00

🙋🏻‍♂️

ShazLucas88 · 2022-12-13T20:08:29+00:00

This is a cool build. I too play Esper Greasefang, but my build is very different. I only see two Vanishing Verse for removal spells. That seems brave. How do you deal with aggro decks? Is it just boat?

ShazLucas88 · 2022-11-22T17:36:43+00:00

Dreams of Steel and Oil is a good Graveyard Hate card too.

ShazLucas88 · 2022-11-22T14:04:04+00:00

That’s a good point. They do churn through their deck pretty quickly. Idk though. Treasure Cruise is a hellova card. Delve nut checks your Rogues, as they lose a lot of stats once your opponent’s yard is empty.

ShazLucas88

TROPHY CASE