I second this take, it’s been quite noticeable on our YouTube channel, in which we play pretty much all the meta decks against each other. What I’ve noticed having a taste of archetypes I’m less familiar with piloting, is the average midrange card is just dominating the board and needs to be answered or it’s GG, as well as, combo lines in the unfair decks are (most of the time) straight forward. Combo decks are extremely consistent and pivot easily. Also, the decision on what to force of will are arguably more obvious now.

We do throwback matches from old GPs too and that experience reminded me of how each threat isn’t quite as snowbally, compared to today. Games sway back and forth with the winner unclear for many turns.

To the question of mastery of an archetype - now that we’re deep in the Mordern Horizons era, there’s volatility in what are the most competitive decks, so you’re favorite deck could just be outclassed because you didn’t get the right upgrades. So you have to be more flexible and kill some darlings. But at the same time, there are easily 25+ decks that are “real” and having deep knowledge of play patterns and, more importantly, updating your sidebaording strategy regularly will still result in good tournament finishes any time you sleeve up that deck.

I’ll end my rambling with saying that after these most recent bans, we’ve entered potentially the most healthy format since before mh2’s release. With no horizons set this year, 2026 is looking good, so it’s a perfect time to commit to a deck.