75 Card Pickup

Standard may only be a week old, but there's already a pretty clearly defined best deck, that may even be facing a ban at record pace. We talk this week about our efforts to tune Omnath for the mirror in this weekend's events, how to attack the broken mirror in general

This week we look at our favorite new tools for aggressive decks and Baker breaks down Sea Gate Stormcaller and how to leverage it in every constructed format

Taking a look at our top picks from the first couple days of spoilers, including the planeswalkers, DFC lands, our favorite party cards and the old classic Lotus Cobra

Standard, and Pioneer received huge shakeups Monday, plus a light pass on Pioneer, so we're breaking down the philosophy behind the latest ban updates and how to adapt to the new environments

A new banlist has arrived and we're ready to explore what post-Astrolabe modern looks like and the many uses of Oath of Nissa

Nick and Baker have been exploring all the ways to run the Growth Spiral decks over before they can turn the tide with haymakers, including Gruul Haste, GW Conclave Mentor variants, and an Izzet Spells list that Baker top 8'd the standard challenge with

We're back this week, breaking down some of the most exciting new cards from Core set 21 and how to build around them

We discuss the gross nature of WotC's latest decision to strip most of the promised prize pools from the tournaments that were postponed to Arena and the impact it has on the trust of players

Baker's been working on a new twist on a classic archetype (if you can call any Pioneer deck classic anyway), and is sharing the best ways to build it and play the key matchup against burn The list: https://scryfall.com/@VTCLA/decks/10086c7d-9745-4c0a-8454-937db420a19b

We talk our way through which cards in standard are making it difficult to attack from novel angles (or enjoy) and the best choice for this weekend's arena tournaments

Turns out Yorion is a pretty good card! Nick has been working on the more conventional Bant Yorion deck, while Baker explores all the possibilities of Yorion Fires so now we pool our knowledge on the best ways to make use of your extra 20 cards

Now that we've gotten the chance to play with the cards, let's talk about how broken some of them are! Breaking down how to build the most popular standard decks in this episode, most of which come with a buddy

Thanks to the streamer event we got our first look at Ikoria, and we're breaking down which cards, decks, and interactions caught our eye and how to update them for week one standard.

Ikoria Lair of Behemoths is right around the corner, and we're talking about Companion, Mutate, which cards we think shine the most and how to take advantage of them

With Ikoria spoilers around the corner, we're taking one last look at Theros Beyond Death standard and how we expect it to play out over the next couple weeks in the MagicFest Online tournaments Top 8 lists: https://www.channelfireball.com/all-strategy/magicfest-online-weekly-championship-top-8-deck-lists/ Matchup data chart: https://mtgmeta.io/metagame?f=standard&e=4&p=2020-03-23:2020-03-30

Baker's fresh off a win with Temur in the MTGO Standard Challenge, so he walks us through how to update it this week for the MagicFest Online Qualifiers, as well as a look into the Sultai deck by Yuta Takahashi that had a breakout performance in one

Everyone has a lot of time to grind Arena ladder these days, so we cover the latest developments in Standard, including UG Adventures, RB Cat, and the return of Temur Reclamation

A new wave of bans just hit, but maybe not in the format you were most expecting. Quite a few decks were affected in Modern, so we talk through how much they each are impacted and what will happen to the metagame going forward

Fresh off his win at Dreamhack Anaheim and the meteoric rise of Temur Clover, Aaron sits down with Baker to go in depth about building and playing the deck. Find Aaron at https://twitter.com/AaronGertler

Nick's prepping for the Mythic Points Challenge this weekend, so we walk through his plans for how to attack the format in the wake of a big shakeup from Dreamhack weekend. Also: Baker's plans for Pioneer and Modern for the MOCS Showcases

Blue-White Control has established itself as the best deck in standard, so in the wake of Worlds we discuss the ways to attack it.

We get an early look in at which decks have stuck around from last format, and which ones are poised to break out with new cards. Also: a quick THB limited primer from Baker's testing

With a new set of bannings (and a new set of cards!) arriving, we go in depth on which decks are most likely to emerge and rise to the top.

A powerful new combo is being introduced to Pioneer with the release of Theros Beyond Death, so we're getting a head start by trying to find the best ways to build around it!

Baker won the MOCS Playoffs this week with his own build of Urza midrange, so this week we're breaking down how his preparation led him to these card choices, what we would change, and matchup with the new Simic Field deck he played against in the finals.

Fresh off a top 16 in GP Portland, Nick talks how he felt about GB adventures, and what he'd change going forward. Meanwhile, Baker is prepping for the MOCS Playoff and goes over the specifics of how to build Urza decks.

In the wake of the Oko ban in Pioneer, we talk about how to attack the new format, with some special attention to a GB Traverse the Ulvenwald + Emrakul the Promised End shell that Baker has been working on. Also covered: trying to attack Urza in modern, and how to update your standard deck for GP Portland. Baker's article with the GB list and his thoughts on it: https://magic.facetofacegames.com/where-to-go-next-in-pioneer/

Baker and Nick spent some time independently helping MC7 competitors Autumn Burchett and Ally Warfield prepare the Lucky Clover Adventures deck that they registered for the tournament, and now that decklists are public we're comparing notes on how to build the deck we think is the best in the room. Also, some talk about how to approach Pioneer after the latest wave of bans.

With Mono Black and Field of the Dead dominating Pioneer, Baker and Nick try to crack the code for beating both of them with the help of some dragons and one of the best cards left standing from Standard. Also: a discussion on the next move in standard with the MC coming soon Decklist here: https://imgur.com/a/tGzpXE3

In the wake of the latest wave of bans this year, we talk about what cards are primed to shine with Oko and Veil gone, how to adapt decks from the previous meta, and some theory discussion on the strength of Temples in a midrange meta

Baker is out for the week, and replacement MTGO grinder and deckbuilder extraordinaire Felix Sloo (probably better known as xfile) joins Nick to chat his PTQ win over the weekend, beating the Oko mirrors, and the state of Pioneer after the first ban announcement and big paper tournament

This week we take a deep look at six of the sweetest decks from the first Pioneer deck dump and how we can refine them to try and break the format open! The deck dump can be found here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/pioneer-league-2019-10-28 And the updated lists can be found here: https://twitter.com/75CardPickup/status/1189834459283120130

With the release of the new format Pioneer, we cover the rules of engagement for building the first wave of decks and some of the shells that are most promising. Also with standard getting a ban, we discuss the best ways to attack Oko to avoid a one deck metagame.

We go over the finer points of the decklists from the Mythic Championship and the insights they offer into deckbuilding and how to attack the format.

Now that Golos has emerged as the clear top deck, we explore the avenues each of us has been using to beat it, Nick with the mirror and Baker with Gruul

We work through the process of how Baker developed the BG aggro deck he's been crushing MTGO with and what we've learned about the format as its begun to take shape in the early weeks. BG list: https://scryfall.com/@VTCLA/decks/eff495f9-8f4d-426f-bea6-1d815fa77431

We discuss how different removal in a format can impact which cards you're willing to play in a format, and how the key new cards from Eldraine like Murderous Rider, Bonecrusher Giant, and Wicked Wolf will impact our deckbuilding

The Cauldron of Eternity looks absurdly powerful if enabled, and Emry, Lurker of the Loch seems like just the tool for the job. Join as us we build the deck we think uses these terrifying new tools best

It's basically Christmas morning and new cards have arrived! We talk about new potential standouts, how to abuse Shimmer Dragon and Rankle, and what RW Knights may look like as the standout aggro deck in the new format.

Now that we've had a week to try out Stoneforge Mystic and see what works (and what doesn't), we talk about what we don't like about them and how to build with SFM going forward (mana dorks and infinite combos) bobinchese's Devoted Druid primer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14KrgjrermN7tjW0CTVk4oA4GWArqt1kXhdc-2vFsCaQ/edit Baker's 4c Saheeli: https://imgur.com/a/phDbzbz

We discuss all the card choices to best leverage the newly unbanned Kor Artificer in modern UWx decks

Now that the MCQ is over, Baker's sights have turned to a new format, and unsurprisingly a recurring villain continues to be stupidly broken in this format as well

We talk about what deck to play this weekend to try to qualify for the arena MC (boros angels to beat the creature decks) and how to build it, as well as how inbred MPL metagames might warp the world at large and why you probably shouldn't play esper even if they are.

We go deep on a 3 turn game of modern Nick played over the weekend, delving into the intricacies of sideboarding, mulliganing, and reading your opponent's hand that feed into playing optimally.

Hogaak ate one ban and immediately came back just as powerful. At least it's on flavor? We look at the different builds that showed up at the Pro Tour and do a deep dive on how to build it for the next month.

Scapeshift took over Standard this weekend, almost out of nowhere! Is the deck so dominant that it will remain the de facto best deck, or can the metagame adapt? Baker and Nick talk about Scapeshift, and how to reconfigure decks and deck selection with this newcomer to the format in mind!

Baker and Nick are back to go deep on Blue tempo decks! After a look at the metagame following the first couple Standard tournaments of the season, they turn to the decks they've been having success with: aggressive and disruptive blue decks, both splashing another color to shore up weaknesses of the old Mono Blue decks.

After a week off between formats and the US Holiday, Baker and Nick are back to first about the Bridge from Below ban in Modern, what the format looks like and what decks they like! And with Standard live on both Magic Online and Arena, Risen Reef is all the rage: but which one is the best deck?

Baker and Nick launch right back into Preview Season with the exciting cards of the upcoming core set, Magic 2020! Nick is back on his bullcrap with an aggressive white creature strategy and Baker wants to play... elementals? Nick's M20 Vampire's: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2039506#paper Baker's Elemental Command: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2037008#paper

Nick and Baker take a week off from the Never Ending Preview Season to talk about the fundamentals of why and how to approach building a sideboard for specific match-ups.

Baker crushed it this weekend in the Modern Challenge with a deck he picked up Saturday, and that made up a third of the top 32 decks: Bridgevine. Featuring several powerful new cards from Modern Horizons, they deep dive on the archetype and why joining the Arisen Necropolis is better than beating them in this case. https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2019-06-09