Ravnica Allegiance Standard

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

This very weekend, Magic: the Gathering players will be vying for glory at their local gaming stores around the globe in Ravnica Allegiance pre-release events.  The set appears to have all the correct successful ingredients and something for every fan, no matter what their favourite format - Commander, Standard, Modern, or limited.  

Suggested reading ahead of this weekend's event is the Ravnica Allegiance pre-release primer, from Gavin Verhey as well as the Ravnica Allegiance Release Notes, posted to Wizards of the Coast Daily MTG page today.  As an side-note, we had seriously misunderstood a particular card and now clarified, it may now be one of our favourites in the set.

Anywhoos, let's get on to today's topic - post Ravnica Allegiance Standard format. As the official previews were under way, it had become evident that (1) Riot was a particularly good mechanic, and that (2) Gruul Spellbreaker & Rhythm of the Wild is a solid card.  As a result, we expect a lot of the early decklists will lean towards Aggro and specifically these cards.  Just be cautious of cards, now being splashed with the improved mana-bases that threaten to put a damper on your Simic 'Adapt' or Gruul 'Riot' tech, such as Suncleanser.

Also of note - the much anticipated HareruyaWayfinder 晴れる屋 deck suggestions have been posted to Hareruya should you want to either confirm your similar build or looking for a direction.  Here are the creative offerings :

• Deck 1 Rakdos - Good Stuff - By Grzegorz Kowalski
• Deck 2 Rakdos - Aggro - By Christian Hauck
• Deck 3 Rakdos - Theatre Burn - By John Rolf
• Deck 4 Gruul - Almost Mono Green - By Javier Dominguez
• Deck 5 Gruul - Midrange - By Lee Shi Tian
• Deck 6 Gruul - Riot - By Immanuel Gerschenson
• Deck 7 Azorius - Control - By Luis Salvatto
• Deck 8 Esper - Control - By Marcio Carvalho
• Deck 9 Temur - Prime Speaker Vannifar - By Lucas Esper Berthoud
• Deck 10 Bant - Midrange - By Piotr Glogowski
• Deck 11 Izzet Living End (Modern) - By Pascal Vieren
• Deck 12 Light Up the Burn (Modern) - By Jason Chung

• Deck 13 Pteramander Delver (Legacy)  - By Jason Chung

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M19 PreRelease Weekend

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Magic: the Gathering players around the world will be congregating at their local gaming store this weekend at the newest core set, Magic 2019 prerelease events take place.  Should you find yourself in Central Ontario (just a titch North of Toronto), do drop by OMG! Games in Barrie, just off Highway 400 in the North end of the city near Georgian College.  OMG! Games kick off the prerelease weekend tonight at midnight soon after the regular Friday Night Magic event and will tear through all weekend long, wrapping up with a 2-Headed Giant event Sunday afternoon.  If you looking for a PreRelease event near you, pop on over to this linky at the Wizards of the Coast MTG site.

After the dust had settled from the PreRelease weekend, many gamers will be looking to a new standard format with Core 2019 being officially release July 13, 2018.  There will be a massive card pool to develop your strategies with (from Kaladesh straight through to Dominaria and the new Core Set).  Some players will choose to 'cherry pick' new M19 cards to supplement existing decklists while others may see a clear path forward to victory with a completely blueprint.  Whichever way you may go, it is always inspiring to see what the professional players associated with the Japanese gaming store Hareruya want to try.  Not missing the opportunity to innovate, the popular 'HareruyaWayfinder' standard format suggestions by the Hareruya Pros have been posted here.  Here are the very creative and spicy lists :: 

Deck 1 - Izzet Paradox
Deck 2 - Naya Dragons
Deck 3 - Orzhov Life
Deck 4 - Mono White Monument
Deck 5 - Grixis Midrange
Deck 6 - Mono Black Zombies

Deck 7 - Selesnya Midrange
Deck 8 - Izzet Artificer
Deck 9 - Gruul's Unsealing
Deck 10 - Tezzerator
Deck 11 - Esper Control
Deck 12 - Orzhov Knights
Deck 13 - Selesnya Life

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Rivals of Ixalan Standard

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

This weekend is the much anticipated Magic: the Gathering PreRelease for the newest set, Rivals of Ixalan.  The best way to enjoy this cold 'n' icy weekend if you find yourself in Barrie, Ontario (an hour north of Toronto) is to attend one of many scheduled Ixalan PreRelease events over the course of the weekend at OMG! Games, conveniently located off Highway 400, near Georgian College in the City's North end.  If you are just getting into MTG and wish to learn more about PreRelease events, click on over to this informative Wizards of the Coast page here. 

A number of Players that we have been talking to recently have expressed a dissatisfaction with the current dominance of (Kaladesh block) Energy decklists and are looking forward not only to the upcoming new set but anticipating possible ban / restriction announcements anticipated on Monday 15th January.

Whatever does happen, we are still very much looking forward to a number of cards in this set to complete and enhance tribal strategies.  As always, we love to see what the professional players are thinking, an to this end, pop on over to this link for the full HareruyaWayfinder "Rivals of Ixalan" edition from Kenji Tsumura and associates.  Hareuya has been doing this for some time now, and we do look very much forward to seeing their innovative and creative take on the new standard game.

Deck 1 "RW Metzali" by Yoshihiko Ikawa

Deck 2 "RB Pirates" by Pierre Dagen

Deck 3 "UW Control" by Christian Calcano

Deck 4 "UG Merfolks" by Martin Muller

Deck 5 "RG Dinosaurs" by Grzegorz Kowalsk

Deck 6 "Blue Aura" by Atsushi Ito

Deck 7 "Sultai Energy" by Oliver Polak-Rottmann

Deck 8 "GW Ghalta!" by Yuuta Takahashi

Deck 9 "UR Pirates" by Kenta Harane

Deck 10 "Vampire's Monument" by Petr Sochurek

Deck 11 "Jeskai's Gateway" by Kenji Tsumura

Deck 12 "Mardu Aura" by Tomoharu Saito

Deck 13 "Ascending Vampires" by Marc Tobiasch


Deck 14 "Blood Stompy" (Legacy) by Javier Dominguez

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Ixalan Standard

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Here in Barrie, Ontario we are experiencing unseasonably warm weather and with a record breaking humidex of 37ºC (about 99ºF) today, I fear that when winter does arrive, there will be no ice on Georgian Bay and we will receive an unholy roof-collapsing volume of snow fall.  Anywhoos, that is long off apparently - we should focus on the present.  

This weekend is the much anticipated Magic: the Gathering PreRelease for the newest set, Ixalan.  The best way to enjoy this weekend if you find yourself in Central Ontario (an hour north of Toronto) is to attend one of many scheduled Ixalan PreRelease events over the course of the weekend at OMG! Games, conveniently located off Highway 400, near Georgian College in the City's North end.  Expect air-conditioning, Pirates, Dinosaurs, Vampires, and Merfolk in this tribal-themed set.

Here at MTG Realm, we do love PreRelease and the chance of pulling sweet rares, winning prizes and most importantly, having fun, but today we want to yatter about the upcoming Standard constructed season starting next weekend during Friday Night Magic.  Over the last two weeks of official Ixalan previews, we have been imagining and contemplating the merits of a dozen 60-card decklists.  

Today is the day to see just how close we may have been in comparison to the MTG Professionals over at Hareruya. Here is this season's offering of innovative and exciting deck ideas - pop on over to this link for the full HareruyaWayfinder "Ixalan" edition from Kenji Tsumura and associates.

Deck 1 RB Pirates By Sebastian Pozzo

Deck 2 Grixis Tezzerator By Marc Tobiasch

Deck 3 Naya Dinosaurs By Marcio Carvalho

Deck 4 WB Tokens By Javier Dominguez

Deck 5 UW Approach By Martin Muller

Deck 6 GB Energy By Oliver Polak-Rottmann

Deck 7 UG Merfolk By Kenta Harane

Deck 8 Tishana Temur By Pierre Dagen

Deck 9 Grixis Pirates By Christian Calcano

Deck 10 RG Dinosaurs By Grzegorz Kowalski

Deck 11 Jeskai Monument By Riku Kumagai

Deck 12 GW Ramp By Kenji Tsumura


Deck 13 UR Prowess By Petr Sochurek

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Hour of Devastation Standard

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

The newest Magic: the Gathering set, Hour of Devastation is ready to be released tomorrow, right on time for the first opportunity to game with this new set legally in Friday Night Magic.  MTG Realm will be at OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario with a few tweaks to our existing decklists but nothing new just yet, until we've had an opportunity to discuss the merits of new deck ideas.  

Always a source of inspiration when a new set comes out, the Hareruya Pros have once again gathered and produced yet another great set of 'HareruyaWayfinder' decklist suggestions.  Let these lists inspire you to create your own monster to unleash upon your local gaming store.

• BG Zombies, Tomoharu Saito
Updated Amonkhet Zombies decklist with new Driven // Despair B/G split 'Aftermath' card and new Afflict beater Ammit Eternal.

• Hour of Eternity, Pierre Dagen
Green, Blue, splashing White has tons of draw, filter, and self-mill to deliver a zombie army punchline.

• RG Ramp, Martin Muller
Early game threat removal consideration followed by a generous number of ramp spells to land Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger for the win.

• UW Control, Lukas Blohon
Largely ported from previous iterations of blue white control, with the new addition of board-wiper Hour of Revelation.

• Crested Sunmare, Yoshihiko Ikawa
Black / White good-stuff with Walking Ballista and Aethersphere harvester, with a full punch of four Crested Sunmare to take advantage of a number of life-gain cards in this build.

• Temur Reason/Believe Ramp, Oliver Polak-Rottmann
Red / Green / Blue with your fav energy producers.  Full deck-set of new Aftermath card Reason // Believe to 'cheat' Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger onto the battlefield.

• UR Mill, Kenta Harane
Self-explanatory tech employing new cards Fraying Sanity to mill and Hour of Devastation to keep the board clear.

• RW Deserts Aggro, Michael Bonde
Odd but interesting port from the previous season's Red / Whhite Human tribal build.  New sauce includes decksets of Earthshaker Khenra and Ramunap Ruins with a singleton of Shefet Dunes.

• WB Midrange, Jeremy Dezani
Exactly as the name indicates, with a total of 10 Planeswalkers (Gids, Lili, and single Sorin).  New tech tutor Djeru, With Eyes Open looks for the Walkers, Sunscourge Champion chumps, and three copies of board wiper Hour of Revelation.

• UR Control, Petr Sochurek
Essentially the major active ingredients of the previous control decklist (Torrential Gearhulk and friends) with the addition of Supreme Will (an 'auto-include') and red board-wiper Hour of Devastation.

• Turbo Nicol, Kenji Tsumura
Green / Red / splash Blue with a suite of choice mana accelerators with Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh at the end of the tunnel.

• UR Emerge, Riku Kumagai
Standard Emerge tech to open up an early Elder Deep-Fiend, Wretched Gryff, etc.  New spice added includes Strategic Planning and Champion of Wits.

• God-Pharaoh's Gift, Atsushi Ito

New Blue / Red / Splash Black list using a deck-set of the previous set's Gate to the Afterlife to delivery a singleton of God-Pharaoh's Gift.  The new Striped Riverwinder and the previous set's Curator of Mysteries gets cycled lickety-split to become seeds for hasty zombies.

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MTG Updates for 4-21

Happy Friday MTG peeps,

Magic: the Gathering players should be a rather happy bunch today as We are finally headed into the Amonkhet PreRelease Weekend.  Should you find yourself in Barrie, Ontario - just a little North of Toronto, then drop by OMG Games and Collectibles (near Georgian College in the City's North end).  Starting tonight at midnight (after Friday Night Magic), they will be running Amonkhet Prerelease events all weekend long.

We hope you have great fun.  If you are new to PreRelease events which are sealed or limited format games, just have a look around online as there are some great resources out there.  As sealed events use more commons and uncommons in their decklists, a good place to start is identifying which of these rarity cards work best.  Zen Takahashi has a good article today over at MTG Mint Card (linked here) to help.  Important as well is the use of instant-speed tricks in your games - to this end, see Sameer Merchant's lists over on MTG Goldfish (linked here).  All we know here at MTG Realm is the tried 'n' true acronym of "BREAD" when constructing our 40-card list :

B - Bombs 
R - Removal 
E - Evasion 
A - Advantage (card) or Abilities 
D - Dudes

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Here at MTG Realm, our favourite format of choice is Standard Constructed.  We are happiest sequestered within our lair and brewing up decklists, most of which would not likely graduate beyond our kitchen table to the game store.  For the last few years, we've been fans of "KenjiWayfinder".  These were batches of standard constructed lists created by Kenji Tsumura and friends of Japan's premier Magic: the Gathering gaming store 'Hareruya'.  Great ideas using the new set's card offerings were created into new lists or supplemented existing strategies.

This year with the upcoming Amonkhet release KenjiWayfinder has been rebranded as HareruyaWayfinder, which is perhaps more appropriate.  In this new set, the following master deck-builders provided input - Mr. Anchan (Yuta Takahashi), Hara (Kenta), Igawa (Yoshihiko), Matsura (Atsushi Ito), and Jeremy Dezani who had recently arrived in Japan to participate.  Here is the HareruyaWayfinder "Ammonket" edition !

 CLICK TO IM-BIGGEN DEM IMAGES

Deck 1 "Infinity Zero" by Atsushi Ito and "God of Modern" Yukio M

Deck 2 "Orzhov Zombies" by Kenji Tsumura

Deck 3 "Azorius Cycling Control" by Yuuta Takahashi

Deck 4 "As Foretold"  (Modern) by Jeremy Dezani 

Deck 5 "Embalam with Nahiri's Wrath" by Yoshihiko Ikawa

Deck 6 "Canadian Threshold" by Yuuta Takahashi

Deck 7 "Red Deck Wins" by Jeremy Dezani

Deck 8 "Bant Approach of the Second Sun" by Kenta Harane

Deck 9 "Abzan Midrange" by Riku Kumagai

Deck 10 "New Perspectives Combo" by Riku Kumagai

Deck 11 "Orzhov Tokens" by Kenta Harane

Deck 12 "Boros Humans" by Yoshihiko Ikawa

Deck 13 "Izzet Dynavolt Tower" by Kenji Tsumura

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Eldritch Moon Standard

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

The the newest Magic: the Gathering set, Eldritch Moon, now joining standard format, fans are now looking to see just what sort of an impact this will have with the first big tournament.  

This weekend, Columbus hosts the StarCityGames Open Weekend, where many will attend but only a few will prevail to shape the evolution of standard format over the next months.  Here at MTG Realm, the current decklists of our playgroup will be modified every so slightly with new Eldritch Moon cards but no big changes are anticipated just for the moment.  

With each new standard season, we look to the largest card shop in Japan, Hareruya (@hareruyaEnglish), and the wildly popular suggestions of #KenjiWayfinder as a way to peer through a crystal ball into the potential future of standard constructed.  Undoubtedly, the tournament in Columbus taking place right now as we write the article will have a few of these lists on the game tables.

The proposed decklists also serve as a sounding board of sorts to determine whether similar ideas we've spawned are all that off the mark.  Anywhoos, here is the offerings provided - 

Deck1 "Deploy the Gatewatch"

Deck 2 "Spirit Company" (shown below)

Deck 3 "Splendid Reclamation"

Deck 4 "Emerge Green"

Deck 5 "UB Zombie"

Deck 6 "Eldritch Evolution"

Deck 7 "UR Puzzle"

Deck 8 "Mono Black Vampire" (shown below)
 

Deck 9 "Naya Legends"

Deck 10 "RG Token"

Deck 11 "Jeskai Moon"

Deck 12 "GW Stitcher's Graft"

Deck 13 "Abzan Delirium" 

 Previously printed cards such as Rattlechains, Reflection Mage, and Collected Company support an essentially tribal spirits list - love this list.  We've had restricted ourselves to U/W and think the green splash for CoCo and Tamiyo Field Researcher well worth the third colour.

 

A handful of skeletons and vampires take a supporting role in this build which is all about churning out a massive volume of zombie tokens.  The MVP here is Liliana, the Last Hope, whose ultimate is a game-changer.

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