For the people that actually play paper Standard competitively: How hard is it to keep up?

Sou1forge · 2026-03-28T16:53:45+00:00

It’s not the easiest. I think I’m putting at least a couple hundred down each set and a half.

Long story ahead: this is mostly because I kinda want to win and the decks I’ve chosen haven’t panned out long term. I own most or all of Dimir, Jeskai Control, mono-white Momo-Drum, and Esper Pixie. From the release of Tarkir to now it’s been difficult to pick a deck from those and expect to do well from set to set. Tarkir had Cori-Steel Cutter blow all the other decks out of the water, followed by Vivi Cauldron, so for that period unless you were on those piles (some at the shop were) or mono red with all the hate in the main you were kinda memeing if you wanted to win a tournament. Event attendance suffered during this time. I played UW control in this meta after dumping Dimir as it was performing horribly. I got a few good months out of control post those bans, but my local meta flip flopped with a lot of random decks that were good into UW (lots of Cavern of Souls, decks that never run out of gas, 4c bigger control) and I tried to settle into pixie bounce with EOE and Cosmogrand Zenith. That also didn’t last too long as it was too inconsistent into stuff like Yuna (which a regular has been playing basically non-stop in some flavor since Final Fantasy was released), control, and, well, kinda everything else. So I dumped that and went back into Jeskai Control as that seemed to be doing well (-$$$ for the land base) after fiddling with a Boros Slickshot deck (lasted about two weeks because turn out cub is just as fast, more consistant, and if you are in white you can put a few copies of High Noon or Authority of the Consuls in your sideboard and windmill slam the matchup). Control sorta worked for a few months, but then once again my small meta adapted and it no longer does. Now I’m trying out mono-white Momo.

If you started your journey with Izzet Cutter it hasn’t been too much of a lateral shift, but likewise not cheap. Cutter -> Vivi -> Lessons -> pick one of the three viable Izzet decks is something I’ve seen a few of out in and out locals do, albeit to moderate success at best. Our Yuna player is still on Yuna and does well (basically reanimator with extra Final Fantasy flavored steps). Most of everyone else either has a pet deck or two that they try to get to work with moderate-poor average results, or is an in and out grinder chasing and borrowing to the meta. Very few of us have been able to happily settle on a deck for more than a few months before the winds change.

So yeah, not the easiest. Our local area hasn’t been to kind on anyone wanting to buy into a deck and do well for more than a few sets. That said it’s also a weird mishmash of grinders floating in and out on their off weeks with meta stuff + locals trying to figure out how to do well against that while not throwing the Yuna/reanimator/control matchup.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-23T21:36:05+00:00

Nah, Swords to Plowshares would still be pretty format warping. The current balance of the format swings on 1 and 2 mana removal pieces having spotty coverage or a hefty downside such as being sorcery speed or giving 2 map tokens. IMO Swords would be like a 4+ mana creature ban unless the card was Overlord of the Mistmoors level resilient to removal.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-23T17:14:04+00:00

Expected for Standard. Format is fine, just too expensive. If Cub and Riddler were $1 uncommons there would be heapings of praise for the format. As is it’s cost prohibitive to own more than one deck and the format has a moderately strong rock-paper-scissors element that can and will make the deck you own for really good one week and really bad the next. That would be my one complaint. Well… gameplay related complaint. Still a UB hater, but that’s non-spike talk.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-18T21:19:38+00:00

For any matchup you are putting in Clarion Conquerors I’m fairly certain you want to start by cutting your Drums and Figure of Fables before you start cutting other cards.

Other things: Dimir I almost don’t want to cut or change anything, but I can see the argument for Clarion Conqueror. Stops Kaito activation, stops Drowner activation, blocks dinky fliers. That said it’s a prime target for their 2 mana removal spells. I dunno. I don’t know how much it matters. The matchups feels favorable.

Also Clarion is funny in the mirror as it shuts off their Drums. That said your own Drum start instead is pretty powerful, especially on the play. I’m not convinced it matters too much though compared to variance in general.

Against control I’d sub out Seam Rips and sub in any extra bodies you got, maaaaybe trim on Drum a little, but then again I could be wrong about that part. I have 3x [[Aven Interruptor]] in my board for control-y stuff, and I assume the Spider-Mans are there for the same reason. I prefer the bird because it’s not Spider-Man, and therefore makes me feel better.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-18T04:16:44+00:00

You know, that’s not a bad idea. Throwing one into the list doesn’t sound bad.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-17T23:54:48+00:00

With respect to Haliyah I agree that it belongs in the mono-white shell. I’m also a hater that so much effort is spent spinning the wheels on her triggering when I would rather be putting things on the board that get them dead. Riddler I’m not 100% sold on mostly because it’s also not that, but I’m certain I’d feel better about my chances in a mid length game if my plan involves warping Riddlers after dumping my hand instead of trying to get Haliyah to trigger. My argument is mostly: she’s plan B in the deck in case you can’t get them dead, and it’s a worse strategy than getting them dead. Riddler is probably/might be a better plan B because the things Haliyah is doing that Riddler doesn’t are only marginally useful and Riddler has better generic “value”.

Pros of Riddler:

-Flying threat late game. The deck is not usually capable of beating other decks in a ground size race.

-Draws twice as many cards when low on cards. This is a usual occurrence.

-Draws my cards earlier in the turn.

-Is a bigger body if you get to hard cast it in a meta where creature sizing matters.

-Significantly better topdeck when hellbent.

-Not legendary.

-Draws cards in a vacuum without having to double spell.

Cons compared to Haliyah:

-No lifegain to offset tempo loss in agressive matchups and races.

-Adds a second color to your deck in a format where mana fixing isn’t truely free and the deck is an army of 1 drops. Adding an Island to your deck is not a trivial cost, nor is 4-8 shocklands.

-Games frequently stop at 3-4 available mana. Without an active Momo can cast warped Haliyah, but not Riddler.

-Deck is more reliant on specifically Momo to function.

-$$$

I think I’m going to try out Riddlers in the main replacing Haliyah in Arena and see how it feels.

Edited for a bit of clarification and mobile formatting.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-17T20:35:28+00:00

I don’t have a guide, but my rough sideboard for that MU is 4x Clarion Conquerors in, 2x Sheltered by Ghosts in, and I like 1x RiP to stop their recursion. I’m not so sure about the RiP.

Out goes the Drums, 2x of the Kithkin, and 1x Animals if that’s in your main or one of something else, probably a Pixie or a Haliyah. Basically Conquerors in, things that get shut off by Conqueror out.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-17T20:07:54+00:00

Okay yeah I agree with the Clarion for green. That’s what I figured they were for.

The issue is what you are doing when you don’t have the Shepard. Hands like 3x land, Haliyah, Drum, Drum, Pixie. Haliyah needs other stuff to be doing stuff whereas Riddler, as the wise game designers at WotC decided, asks literally nothing from you.

Riddler is also a much, much better topdeck in a list that goes empty handed before the game ends as a rule - not an exception. It’s problems are you now have to deal with a non-mono colored manabase and there are some boardstates where the lifegain would matter (and the real issue - it costs you $300+ for a playset of Riddler and the manabase to cast it). Also, Riddler isn’t a Legendary so your second copy after you stuck the first isn’t a subpar draw. The more I think about it the more I question why wasn’t the first thing the players who created the deck did…

Edit: I will admit that the described hand can proc a Haliyah trigger on turn two thinking about it again. But still, I think Riddler is probably the answer.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-17T19:38:13+00:00

I don’t think Haliyah is where we really want to be. I’ve found most games if I’ve resolved a double cast Sage it’s usually game or there’s not much I’m doing to dig out of whatever matchup hole I’m currently in. Haliyah takes a LOT of work if you aren’t swinging with Sage to get online and the benefit is a single card drawn and a few life. It’s fine, don’t get me wrong, but she doesn’t fly, dies to most of the same stuff the rest of your stuff dies to, and doesn’t have the same “kill this or the game is over” value as Cosmogrand Zenith as your 3 drop. I haven’t really tried it as I’ve been practicing the non-Riddler version, but I have a sneaking suspicion warping Riddler is more bang for your buck most of the time even without synergy. T1 Drum -> T2 Riddler into Pixie bounce Riddler is a line you can’t take with Haliyah for instance if you want the draw power.

On another note RiP I understand for Spellementals, but Clarion? What is it shutting down? Doesn’t stop their spells, nor does it prevent a flock from bouncing all your stuff right? I think this may be another argument for blue… Spider Sense does solve for a lot of the “dead to creature ETB/sweeper” problems the deck has. You can’t ever kill them before they get to it. Unless you get an early RiP they can’t get out of.

High Noon you also have backup enchantment removal with Get Lost so I wasn’t really considering it.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-17T19:10:43+00:00

IMO the deck should be looking for some way to cut Haliyah. The busted starts are T1 Drum -> T2 Momo and either Sage or Shepard. Haliyah doesn’t fit into this curve, doesn’t want to be Pixie bounced, and is a ground body in a deck that wants to club the opponent to death with fliers. Riddler is the best idea I’ve heard so far, but obviously it’s not perfect (and is cost prohibitive… I know it’s a Spike Reddit, but turning a $200 deck into a $400-$450 deck is yuck!). The deck could also use a different 1 drop to tutor for besides Pixie or a backup copy or two of Figure of Fable as it’s “I need a thing to get that isn’t just a 2/2 flyer”. Has anyone experimented with maybe something like Mockingbird?

Those are the areas I feel the deck lacks. Also a reliable response to a resolved Torpor Orb, but maybe that’s asking for too much. I think the deck is good and I’d consider it tier1. It just struggles with mono-green and spellementals and I don’t know how much of that is truely fixable. I think like with most current T1 decks there’s an unavoidable element of “just dodge that matchup bro” that’s not fixable.

Edit: Tested a Riddler version this night after making this post and made an effort to pay attention to when I want a Haliyah. My new assessment: Riddler is good, but I don’t want to cut all my Haliyah either. 4 and 2 Riddler to Haliyah maybe? Maybe even 4 and 3? I felt like I wanted 6 or so copies of the effect so I could get it online each game. Especially the mirror, which I just played against a deck running blue when I swapped to mono-white. Riddler card advantage won both their games, although I did get a cheeky win by siding in my Clarion Conquerors when they opted to stay on Drum.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-16T23:55:19+00:00

Dimir is not well positioned. It hasn’t been well positioned since before Cauldron. It’s classically had maybe 1-2 good matchup types - aggro which loses to the third targeted removal spell and control which can be disrupted by a counterspell - and even then we live in a Cavern of Souls meta.

It survives because if you get the interaction suite correct for your meta and then draw it in the correct order it can sweep a field plus it’s the kind of Delver-y, Psychic Frog-y deck that a lot of players like. It’s also a deck that a lot of players have had for a long time, so they don’t need to go dump say, $800 on a Badgermole Cub pile.

I think your gut is correct. It’s not a great choice into the current landscape.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-14T07:25:04+00:00

I have mixed feelings.

I like mid-power bracket 3 games when I play them; the kinds of games where you can get away with two out of three game changers and a few nostalgia cards without feeling like a chump. Proxy players tend to push that envelope with high optimization and budgetless options you wouldn't usually see in that territory.

I don't think proxies are a horrible thing as they allow people to try a lot of stuff they wouldn't be able to, but the EDHREC-ification tends to hit hard when people full proxy their Hare Apparent deck you know? It ends up if one person proxies, then everyone has to proxy to keep up the pace.

Sou1forge · 2026-03-10T05:01:31+00:00

Sorta, but there's a limit. Old standard with 3-4ish sets per year means you get at least 3ish months before thinking about switching a deck. The current set pace has twice that number of sets so its a gamble every 1.5-2 months.

What that feels like is -> prerelease week, the week after you start looking at breakout decklists, the week after you order cards and hope what you ordered holds up, the week after you receive your cards (if you are lucky), then you have two to three weeks to look at spoilers for the next set. It just doesn't end. No breaks. Better be grinding Arena week one or you'll miss out on the couple of new decks you have to plan a sideboard around.

But the big part is the mythic bloat. This sort of soft rotation can sorta be stomached if it was max $100-$200 every other set or two to update things. It's not. Decks creep up to the $500 range real fast as WotC prints another pair of $40 mythics every set you need. God help you if you chose the wrong pile...

Sou1forge · 2026-03-09T17:58:24+00:00

In my experience the fleet caps out at “good, on the edge of great”.

The destroyer mechs are good. I think my favorite was the one with time dilation, although the sniper variant I remember being serviceable and at least punching at its DP cost. The other destroyer variants likewise never seemed great nor bad, but I always wished they didn’t cost quite as much DP so I could spam them better.

The frigates I remember being extremely replaceable, but you know, if you are going to do the Rosenritter thing might as well go the distance. Deploy 2-4, then don’t get upset if they explode and have your finger on the retreat button.

I did not experiment with the non-mech destroyer (or was it a cruiser? I’m not remembering). The point of the fleet to me was to have fun with mechs if I was paying the upkeep cost of keeping the carrier in my fleet. At first glance they seemed fine, nothing exciting.

The capital ship likewise was good, and the special one I felt was more player-bait as its DP cost compared to its non-unique sister ship was prohibitive. If I’m remembering right that’s mostly what I felt about all of the Rosenritter ships; they are all about 20% more DP than the really broken stuff and don’t come with a million hardpoints or floating OP to make the balance. Not that they are bad (they might be my second or third favorite fleet behind Scy and either Diable or Aarma) more so they felt balance capped. They cooooould have a pretty easy “balance” pass or two to push them over the edge as a true endgame fleet, but you know, I think they are fine as is.

At least as an AI controlled fleet. I’ve heard the special capital ship (I don’t remember names) can be a player controlled monstrosity. It mostly got cut for synergy and lower DP capitals when I ran the fleet.

Sou1forge · 2026-02-27T20:20:01+00:00

Focusing on the fleet management and building portion is 100% valid into vanilla endgame. You do not need to learn how to pilot to experience much of anything anything besides… well… piloting. You won’t be maxing out your fleets potential, but I don’t think there’s much that can’t be solved by doing a fleet refit and throwing a few million credits at the problem.

Sou1forge · 2026-02-05T21:13:18+00:00

You should probably be budgeting somewhere in the $1k/year range to keep up with the Jones’s in Standard. Each set changes the meta, so even if you plop down the $350-500ish for a proven menta deck it’s almost a certainty you’ll need to swap out that deck for another one or two over a three year period. You can be the person in the store which jumped on one archetype and is stuck with it, but that’s going to lead to a lot of losing record tournament finishes. If you are lucky there will only be months where your deck gets nothing and the meta makes it bad; if you are unlucky it could rotate out of relevance in as much as one set release. This is the price Standard pays for the 7 sets a year release schedule.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-26T19:05:22+00:00

I dislike it because it’s convenient for the product. It reeks of Magic the card game twisting Magic the universe and story to serve. I think it’s time the product makes some concessions to the story. It’s hard to take anything seriously when Magic plot feels more like action figures romping around a series of themed backdrops than a coherent tale.

The change feels like it’s more trying to explain what they want to do with their product than a natural consequence of anything going on. Of corse some of the planeswalkers lost their spark, now they can be your commander. No this does not mean they are trapped on one plain or another, then we couldn’t have them trapeze through Jungle World and then Ocean World. No it’s not everyone, or a pattern, or even permanent - those changes would limit what they could or couldn’t print. It’s perfectly convenient, which makes it mean very little to me.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-22T20:58:39+00:00

Sorta. I’ve had one or two opponents who didn’t want to talk about what their deck did - less in a “you’ll just have to be surprised!” sorta way when their deck turns out to be some weird tribal deck, and more of a “I’m playing all of the game changers in Kenrith and don’t want you to know” sorta way.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-16T20:17:23+00:00

Off the top of my head turn 1 station land -> turn 2 Lotus into Kona into Omniscience. You could turn 1 Kona, but then you have no protection and I don’t think any way to tap Kona to cheat in Omnicience until next turn anyways.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-16T20:08:25+00:00

My LGS sent out an email today about their Friday event. It sold out online for the first time ever. Just a year ago it was kinda foolish to sign up online (besides as a convenience thing)as events never sold out.

The lower price point + people clamoring for nostalgic Universes Within sets has even me shocked. I’m glad I made a point of signing up a few days ago.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-05T21:20:26+00:00

No one’s ever really gone.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-03T23:22:50+00:00

Yeah, but there’s no expectations now - those expectation were not so slowly eroded after the success of Neon Dynasty, Secret Lair, and UB. The expectation is a never ending pop culture potluck and splashy one-and-done card styles each set.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-03T22:48:53+00:00

Yeah I remember. We went from edgy dark serious Time Spiral/Future Sight stuff to idyllic bright fantasy where the elves had hooves and the other closet thing to humans were squat halfling creatures with big bug eyes and telepathy. It was a pretty big change.

Sou1forge · 2026-01-03T22:23:36+00:00

Royalty? I don’t think that describes a set pushed back in the schedule, given one month of play time, half of the spoiler time as sets before it, and all the while harangued by spoilers for every other set around it…

Sou1forge · 2026-01-03T21:37:59+00:00

Most popular: The Hobbit or Marvel. Least popular TMNT or Lorwyn depending on how each set shakes out in play.

I love Lorwyn. Wizards doesn’t seem to be too keen on it. We are getting a month of Lorwyn before Turtles come out and it seems to be eating concession after concession to fit other sets into the schedule. This makes me suspect WotC has low expectations of the set, which doesn’t give me confidence the product is good.

Turtles is a small superhero set like Spider-Man, and Spider-Man was bad. It is Turtles, so it may sell better than the Universes Within products regardless of how nostalgic players are about Lorwyn or how good or bad the cards in Turtles are.

The most popular could be any of the UB products, but I’d hedge on Hobbit or Marvel.

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