Arena Championship 3 Standard Decklists and Metagame Breakdown

Hi! My name is Vertyx and I will go over the metagame and all 32 Standard decklists at the Arena Championship 3. There are some really interesting deck choices and even decks you probably have not seen before! So stay tuned and see what the top arena players chose to register in this high stakes event!

What is the Arena Championship?

Before I go over the metagame I think its also correct to explain what the Arena Championship even is. Its a 32 slot tournament that you can qualify for by going undefeated in the qualifier weekend events! The format is Standard and draft. It is the most high stakes tournament at MTG Arena with a $200,000 prize pool and also a World Championship qualification for the winner! The image below should help you in understanding the path to qualifying for this event:

The Metagame Breakdown

Now lets go over the metagame of the event!

28.1% of the meta with 9 players is Rakdos Midrange which was expected. The deck has exploded with popularity after the Pro Tour which had 4 Rakdos Midrange decks in the Top 8! It is clearly the deck to beat right now but we will most likely see a shakeup with the upcoming Banned and Restricted Announcement:

The second deck with a 15.6% representation is a deck that many did not expect. We are talking about Jeskai Dragons. This shell has existed in Standard even before the event but the deck got a new toy in the form of Zurgo and Ojutai. Lets take a look at a sample decklist:

Jeskai Dragons by Nathan Steuer

by Vertyx

Buy on TCGplayer $365.89

Buy on Card Kingdom $530.91

Standard

best of 3

9 mythic

38 rare

3 uncommon

10 common

0

1

2

3

4

5

6+

Generate hand save deck (mtgo/arena) copy to clipboard (arena) Visual view Copy URL

Planeswalkers (4)

4

The Wandering Emperor

$131.96

Creatures (4)

4

Zurgo and Ojutai

$5.16

Instants (12)

3

Play with Fire

$13.47

2

Destroy Evil

$4.58

2

Abrade

$0.70

4

Make Disappear

$2.36

1

Disdainful Stroke

$0.35

Artifacts (1)

1

Reckoner Bankbuster

$1.99

Enchantments (8)

4

Wedding Announcement

$55.96

4

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker

$79.96

1

Invasion of New Phyrexia // Unknown Backside

$2.99

4

Invasion of Gobakhan

$25.96

Lands (26)

1

Plains

$0.35

2

Deserted Beach

$12.98

3

Shivan Reef

$2.07

3

Stormcarved Coast

$10.47

4

Battlefield Forge

$5.96

4

Seachrome Coast

$15.96

1

Adarkar Wastes

$7.49

4

Sundown Pass

$51.96

1

Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

$9.99

1

Otawara, Soaring City

$27.99

2

Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance

$12.98

60 Cards
$483.64

Sideboard

2

Chrome Host Seedshark

$8.98

2

Loran of the Third Path

$10.98

1

Archangel of Wrath

$0.49

1

Negate

$0.35

1

Disdainful Stroke

$0.35

4

Lithomantic Barrage

$5.16

2

Sunfall

$16.98

2

Reckoner Bankbuster

$3.98

15 Cards
$47.27

As I said previously, a similar shell has existed for a brief period even before the event but it was not that popular and shared only some of the card choices. The deck uses both of the the broken 3 mana enchantments (Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Wedding Announcement), a lot of interaction in the form of removal and counterspells, and a flying threat that replaces itself the same turn it was played if it gets to deal combat damage to the opponent! The deck has a lot of powerful spells and a very strong gameplan and I can’t wait to see how will do in the tournament!

The third most represented deck is Domain Ramp with 12.5% meta share. This deck has been putting up good results lately and has been proving how strong it can be in the Rakdos dominated format.

Then we got the less popular decks with ussualy only 2 players on the same archetype (Grixis Reanimator, Selesnya Enchantments, Rakdos Breach, Grixis Midrange, Boros Midrange, Orzhov Midrange and Azorius soldiers) They are still to be respected as they can also represent some strong plays but they usually lack some of the strengths the other more popular decks have.

At the end of the metagame breakdown there is one copy of a very interesting Mono-White “Aggro” list:

Mono-White Aggro by Tim Schaufert

by Vertyx

Buy on TCGplayer $83.02

Buy on Card Kingdom $161.31

Standard

best of 3

0 mythic

23 rare

16 uncommon

21 common

0

1

2

3

4

5

6+

Generate hand save deck (mtgo/arena) copy to clipboard (arena) Visual view Copy URL

Creatures (16)

4

Hotshot Mechanic

$1.40

4

Progenitor Exarch

$1.96

4

Norn’s Inquisitor

$1.40

4

Steel Seraph

$9.16

Instants (1)

1

Destroy Evil

$2.29

Sorceries (2)

2

Sunder the Gateway

$0.70

Artifacts (4)

4

Reckoner Bankbuster

$7.96

Enchantments (8)

4

Ossification

$2.36

4

Wedding Announcement

$55.96

4

Invasion of Gobakhan

$25.96

Lands (25)

18

Plains

$6.30

4

Roadside Reliquary

$1.40

2

Mirrex

$16.98

1

Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

$9.99

60 Cards
$143.82

Sideboard

4

Fleeting Spirit

$1.40

1

Serra Paragon

$4.49

2

Surge of Salvation

$2.98

3

Destroy Evil

$6.87

4

Lay Down Arms

$1.40

1

Sunder the Gateway

$0.35

15 Cards
$17.49

A very interesting Mono-White list using the new incubate mechanic! The deck’s core gameplan is presenting threats early in the game with the incubate mechanic (Progenitor Exarch and Norn's inquisitor) but also controlling the board with premium removal and disruption spells. The deck shares some card choices with White-based midrange decks but wants to win the game faster with damage instead of going more into the midrange-control gameplan.

You can check all the 32 individual lists down below. If you are interested in the event you can watch it at the official MTG Twitch channel. As always if you have anything on your mind you can always reach out to us with feedback which is greatly appreciated!