The Challenger Gauntlet kicked off this weekend as the first official event in the ’20-’21 Postseason. The three day tournament is an invitation-only event that pits some of the most successful non-MPL players from the regular season against each other for the chance to earn invitations to the upcoming World Championship XXVII as well as the Magic Pro League (MPL) and Rivals League for next season.

The first day of the tournament consisted of three Swiss rounds of Historic play followed by three Swiss rounds of Standard. Day two will look much the same, with six additional rounds that will determine the standings for the Top 12 showdown on Sunday August 8.

Players finishing in positions 1-4 will qualify for the World Championship and be invited to next season’s MPL. Positions 5-12 will earn a chance to compete in the Rivals Gauntlet, which also awards invitations to the World Championship, along with an invitation to compete in the Rivals League next season. For many of the Challengers, the Gauntlet is the one of the most impactful events of the entire season.

In Historic, the Challenger Gauntlet is the first pro-level tournament to feature the format since the Strixhaven Championship in June. In the time that’s passed, both Time Warp and Brainstorm have been removed from Historic in an attempt to improve archetype diversity and loosen the stranglehold that blue decks have had on the format since the printing of the Mystical Archive.

So, were the bannings effective in achieving their stated goal? Izzet Phoenix, one of the dominant decks in the format, appears to have fallen well out of favor in the pro scene, with only one Phoenix deck entered out of the 24. Jeskai Control, on the other hand, is still the most popular deck, making up 41.7% of the field with 10 examples entered. For comparison, the next most played archetypes only make up 8.3% of the meta with only 2 examples each.

The power of cards like Mizzix's Mastery paired with Magma Opus seems to be keeping Jeskai at the top of the Historic meta for now. Wizards of the Coast will surely be keeping a close eye on the winrate of these Jeskai decks as the tournament progresses. If there is to be yet another banning or suspension in the format, Mizzix’s Mastery is a very likely target.

Meanwhile, in the Standard Format, Gruul Adventures featuring Magda, Brazen Outlaw are the most popular deck in the Challenger Gauntlet. The treasure tokens generated by Magda can make for some seriously explosive starts for the deck, especially when combined with Jaspera Sentinel which can tap Magda for mana without having to send her into combat.

Additionally, Naya Winota decks have been hot in recent tournaments, and the archetype is the second most popular at the Challenger Gauntlet behind Gruul. Winota decks have always been powerful and widespread in the best-of-one ladder on MTG: Arena, but it seems the deck is here to stay in the competitive best-of-three scene as well- at least for now.

Naya Winota decks typically also run the Magda/Jaspera Sentinel synergy from Gruul Adventures, and both creatures serve as non-humans to trigger the deck’s namesake, Winota, Joiner of Forces. The deck is also notable because a couple of new cards from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms have really helped to push this archetype over the edge.

Prosperous Inkeeper helps to ramp up mana to cast Winota ahead of schedule, as well as providing some incidental lifegain against aggro. Ranger Class appears in some Naya Winota decks as well, since it creates a non-human creature and can continue to provide some value even if the creature itself is removed.

The other card from AFR that shows up in many of these lists is Minsc, Beloved Ranger. Minsc himself is a human, which makes him a fairly powerful hit from Winota’s ability, but the card also has the unique advantage of creating a non-human token when it enters the battlefield. While Minsc is rarely if ever a four-of in the archetype, the card’s capacity to play well with both halves of Winota’s ability has proven to be quite potent.

All play has finished for today, so it’s our pleasure to present the metagame and current standings in the Gauntlet, as well as Standard and Historic decklists from the top three players in each format. We here at MTGA Zone will be keeping up with the Challenger Gauntlet as it continues throughout the weekend, so check back each day for updates. For live coverage of the event, tune in to the official MTG Twitch stream starting at 9:00am PST.

Challenger Gauntlet Day 1 Standings

Historic Metagame

Top Day One Historic Decklists

[sd_deck deck=”vWCGkb661″]

[sd_deck deck=”QhSf7CAgk”]

[sd_deck deck=”xVCbCIB4c”]

Standard Metagame

Top Day One Standard Decklists

[sd_deck deck=”806ppGF4Q”]

[sd_deck deck=”ndtdgfQNS”]

[sd_deck deck=”8fABTU0-j”]