Standard: Metagame structure healthy, players absent.

Standard is sitting exactly on the fence this week with a Final Health Index of 50.5. The format is currently defined by pure speed, as Aggro holds a dominant 86.4% of the metagame, a drastic skew compared to the Historical 5-Year average of 62.9% for the super-archetype. While the format is functionally capable of producing diverse matchups, the data reveals a critical underlying problem: participation is crashing. Both Event and Player Growth Scores sit at 0.0, reflecting a severe -100.0% decline across both Paper and MTGO platforms, culminating in zero reported events in the latest reporting month.

Despite the severe participation drops, the Archetype Distribution Score looks structurally healthy at 79.5, suggesting that the limited pool of active decks is well-spread across its color combinations. However, the Metagame Diversity Score of 54.5 confirms the narrowness of the current viable strategies. We do see the B&R Health Score sitting strong at 80.0, indicating that the recent extensive ban wave—aiming to increase diversity and reduce early pressure—was structurally effective, even if it has not yet translated into renewed player confidence or growth.

If you want to win in this current environment, you must be fast. The format is currently owned by UR Aggro, which holds a commanding 30.1% share of the metagame. Closely following are Red Deck Wins at 20% and Dimir Aggro at 16%. The overall super-archetype breakdown shows Control and Combo combined only account for 13.6% of the overall field, confirming that the competitive mandate is to pressure life totals quickly and early, forcing slower pilots to adapt or risk being completely overrun.

Community chatter confirms the heavy tension between the established Domain Ramp strategies and the fastest Aggro decks. Tournament results continue to show Domain’s resilience, powered by cards like *Herd Migration* and *Leyline Binding*, but the increasing prevalence of aggressive options is forcing adaptations. Specifically, *Slickshot Show-Off* is generating major buzz, having propelled Boros Aggro into a tier-one threat alongside *Wojek Investigator* and *Gleeful Demolition*. On the control side, players are experimenting with *Stoic Sphinx* for Azorius lists and valuing *Restless Anchorage* as a crucial staple that dodges sorcery-speed removal, suggesting dynamic tuning is underway to solve this fast, top-heavy metagame.