Archived Analysis

Pioneer's still holding steady, but the aggro decks are relentless. The main story this week is whether anything can consistently take down the Red Deck Wins and Rakdos Aggro juggernauts. The format feels somewhat solved at the top, but there are still plenty of interesting decks to play further down the tier list.

Looking at the numbers, the Final Health Index is a decent 73.1. Metagame Diversity is a bit lower than previous years at 65.0, and Archetype Distribution is high at 90.4. Aggro is running wild. Event growth and Player growth is trending negatively, though MTGO is growing at 0.9% monthly.

Red Deck Wins is king at 25%, followed by Rakdos Aggro at 17%. Arclight Phoenix is hanging in there at 6%, with Golgari Aggro, UR Aggro, and Spirit Aggro also putting up results. It’s definitely an aggro-heavy format, with Aggro taking up 67% of the meta. Control is at 17.8% and Combo is at 15.2%.

The Reddit threads are buzzing about how to beat Rakdos Midrange. Players are experimenting with different sideboard options, but the deck's adaptability is a real problem. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker are also hot topics. The format seems diverse, but some players are feeling the pinch from Rakdos’ dominance, and the high cost of entry to some decks. Good news on the B&R front: no changes, indicating the format is considered stable.