I analyzed the decks that went 3–1 or 4–0 in a Magic: The Gathering Online Standard Daily Event from January 10 to January 23. The following is a graphical review of the metagame and the most played creatures, removal, planeswalkers, and other cards from those decks.

Online Magic Metagame

The Magic Online Standard metagame is a little like the Wild West right now: almost anything goes. Eight different deck archetypes have a 4% or greater share of the metagame.

Five more archetypes have between a 1.5% and 4% share.

Breaking Down Mono-Red

Mono-red aggro is everywhere and clearly the dominant deck in Standard Daily Events. A typical list looks something like this:

"Mono-Red Aggro by DarkestMage (4–0 in Standard Daily #4910667 on 01/23/2013"

• Creatures (28)
• 2 Stonewright
• 2 Thundermaw Hellkite
• 4 Ash Zealot
• 4 Hellrider
• 4 Lightning Mauler
• 4 Pyreheart Wolf
• 4 Rakdos Cackler
• 4 Stromkirk Noble

• Spells (9)
• 2 Brimstone Volley
• 4 Searing Spear
• 3 Pillar of Flame

• Lands (23)
• 21 Mountain
• 2 Hellion Crucible

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Archwing Dragon
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Frostburn Weird
• 4 Mizzium Mortars
• 1 Pillar of Flame
• 4 Reckless Waif
• 2 Volcanic Strength

Buy This Deck

Mono-red aggro lists consist of three main components: cheap early threats to jump off to a fast start, midgame monsters to finish out a game and add reach, and burn to be used as removal and direct damage to finish off a stabilized opponent.

The following tables identify the key cards of the archetype, the percentage of mono-red aggro decks in which they appear, and how many copies are played on average.

Some versions of the deck, like this one, opt to include Gore-House Chainwalker as an additional early attacker. Those decks generally skip playing Thundermaw Hellkite but may include a couple copies of Zealous Conscripts.

Almost all mono-red aggro lists play two copies of one of the two 5-drops: Zealous Conscripts or Thundermaw Hellkite. This list skips both and opts for a pair of Volatile Rigs instead.

There is almost no variation in the burn package. A couple of copies of Traitorous Blood make it to the main deck every so often, and this deck played Geistflame; otherwise, it’s the big three.

Creatures

The following graph shows the most played creatures in the Magic Online decks ranked by the percentage of decks in which they appeared. The table shows number of decks the card appeared in, number of copies played in total—in the main and side—and average number of copies played main deck and sideboard.

Thragtusk is a mainstay in Jund midrange, Bant control, Naya midrange, and Junk Reanimator, appearing in 100% of those decks.

Removal

Here is the same information for removal spells.

Ultimate Price is a staple of Esper control, appearing in 100% of the decks in that archetype. It also has a home in 95% of the Jund midrange decks and 56% of B/R Zombies decks.

Planeswalkers

Planeswalkers can be just as big threats—or even bigger—to your game plan as creatures are. It’s best to know which ones you’re likely to face.

Garruk, Primal Hunter appears in 97% of Jund midrange, 92% of Naya midrange, and 35% of Junk Reanimator lists.

Other Cards

Finally, here are some other cards that appeared in 20% or more decks.

Rest in Peace plays as graveyard hate of choice in the following decks: Bant control (97%), Naya midrange (96%), Esper control (82%), and Bant Auras (79%).

The Close

That wraps up my review of online Standard. If you liked it and want to see more, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter. If there is interest, I’ll look to repeat this review from time to time. Thanks for reading!

Nick Vigabool

@MrVigabool