Table of Contents
- Overview
- Izzet Phoenix – 69 Players – 30.9% of Metagame
- Golgari Food – 40 Players – 17.9% of Metagame
- Azorius Auras – 26 Players – 11.7% of Metagame
- Azorius Affinity – 21 Players – 9.4% of Metagame
- Rakdos Arcanist – 13 Players – 5.8% of Metagame
- Five-color Niv-Mizzet – 2 Players – 0.9% of Metagame
- Conclusion
New Capenna Championship is the next big tournament starting Friday May 20, 2022! There are 223 players invited to compete for a prize pool of $450,000 in Historic and Standard formats. Let’s find out what deck archetypes the top players of the world have decided to bring this weekend – you can find the article by Hall of Famer Frank Karsten here. All decklists will be published at the beginning of round 1, around 9 AM PT when the live broadcast also starts. Also be sure to check out the Standard Metagame Breakdown:
Overview
| Deck Archetype | # of Players | % of Field |
|---|---|---|
| Izzet Phoenix | 69 | 30.9% |
| Golgari Food | 40 | 17.9% |
| Azorius Auras | 26 | 11.7% |
| Azorius Affinity | 21 | 9.4% |
| Rakdos Arcanist | 13 | 5.8% |
| Selesnya Humans | 8 | 3.6% |
| Azorius Control | 7 | 3.1% |
| Jeskai Control | 6 | 2.7% |
| Selesnya Enchantress | 5 | 2.2% |
| Jund Food | 4 | 1.8% |
| Esper Control | 3 | 1.3% |
| Five-color Niv-Mizzet | 2 | 0.9% |
| Dimir Pact | 2 | 0.9% |
| Grixis Death’s Shadow | 2 | 0.9% |
| Azorius Lotus Field | 2 | 0.9% |
| Mono-Red Aggro | 1 | 0.4% |
| Selesnya Company | 1 | 0.4% |
| Rakdos Sacrifice | 1 | 0.4% |
| Gruul Aggro | 1 | 0.4% |
| Mono-White Humans | 1 | 0.4% |
| Mono-White Artifacts | 1 | 0.4% |
| Izzet Wizards | 1 | 0.4% |
| Mono-Blue Affinity | 1 | 0.4% |
| Rakdos Goblins | 1 | 0.4% |
| Esper Pact | 1 | 0.4% |
| Orzhov Humans | 1 | 0.4% |
| Rakdos Midrange | 1 | 0.4% |
| Temur Wizards | 1 | 0.4% |
Historic has seen minimal change to the metagame since the Neon Dynasty Championship back in March, despite the addition of Alchemy: Kamigawa and Streets of New Capenna. Some new and digital-only cards have definitely made an impact on some of the top decks, but a lot of the competitive focus has also seen a shift to the new Explorer format that exclude a lot of the overbearing cards in Historic.
Just over 75% of the total metagame is occupied by the top five decks, not counting the smaller sub-archetypes (e.g. Azorius Lotus Field and Azorius Control). While the format can be considered “solved” in its current state, it will be interesting to see what direction Wizards of the Coast takes with the upcoming Alchemy Horizons: Baldur’s Gate and Historic Anthology 6.
Historic is featured in a total of eight rounds of the tournament (out of 15), four rounds each on day one and day two.
Izzet Phoenix – 69 Players – 30.9% of Metagame
izzet phoenix
50.5% global win rate
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vs dimir rogues (lurrus)
100.0% win rate
8 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist (lurrus)
85.7% win rate
7 tracked matches
vs esper greasefang
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs azorius control
71.2% win rate
73 tracked matches
vs mono-red burn
66.7% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs rakdos goblins
66.7% win rate
9 tracked matches
vs azorius lotus field
65.4% win rate
52 tracked matches
vs 5c niv-mizzet
63.6% win rate
44 tracked matches
vs simic merfolk
62.5% win rate
16 tracked matches
vs other
61.0% win rate
82 tracked matches
vs dimir control
60.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs selesnya aggro
60.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs orzhov auras (lurrus)
57.9% win rate
19 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist
57.7% win rate
104 tracked matches
vs jeskai control (yorion)
57.1% win rate
7 tracked matches
vs azorius control (yorion)
56.8% win rate
44 tracked matches
vs Tainted Pact
56.5% win rate
23 tracked matches
vs jeskai control
55.0% win rate
60 tracked matches
vs mardu greasefang
50.0% win rate
10 tracked matches
vs jund food
50.0% win rate
26 tracked matches
vs mono-red goblins
50.0% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs esper control
50.0% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs azorius auras
49.2% win rate
132 tracked matches
vs mono-red aggro
45.0% win rate
20 tracked matches
vs heliod company
43.8% win rate
16 tracked matches
vs rakdos sacrifice
42.9% win rate
14 tracked matches
vs orzhov midrange (yorion)
40.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs selesnya humans
39.4% win rate
33 tracked matches
vs gruul aggro
38.1% win rate
21 tracked matches
vs golgari food
36.3% win rate
204 tracked matches
vs rakdos midrange
25.0% win rate
8 tracked matches
vs azorius affinity
24.6% win rate
57 tracked matches
vs selesnya enchantress
21.2% win rate
33 tracked matches
vs jeskai creativity
18.2% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs mono-black aggro
14.3% win rate
7 tracked matches
(H) Izzet Phoenix
by DoggertQBones
Historic
Combo
best of 3
6 mythic
23 rare
13 uncommon
18 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (15)
Instants (14)
Sorceries (10)
Lands (21)
60 Cards
$201.86
Sideboard
15 Cards
$19.11
Abusing the power of Arclight Phoenix, Phoenix is a scarily efficient deck with it’s suite of excellent removal and cantrips. The deck is so good at finding their Phoenixes, putting them in the yard, and getting them back for free while accruing massive advantages with the rest of their spells.
Personally, I think Izzet Phoenix is far and away the best deck in Historic and would’ve very likely been my personal pick. It is just so powerful, so consistent, and so hard to keep down no matter what cards the opponent is packing. Even a Rest in Peace is far from game over for Phoenix now which is crazy for a deck that seems so reliant on the graveyard. Considering you have excellent interaction as well, it’s really hard for Phoenix to get blindsided by a strategy they aren’t ready for.
Golgari Food – 40 Players – 17.9% of Metagame
golgari food
56% global win rate
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vs rakdos sacrifice
100.0% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs mono-red goblins
85.7% win rate
7 tracked matches
vs jeskai creativity
85.7% win rate
14 tracked matches
vs mono-red aggro
83.3% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs simic merfolk
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist (lurrus)
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs other
72.1% win rate
43 tracked matches
vs rakdos midrange
66.7% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs izzet phoenix
63.7% win rate
204 tracked matches
vs gruul aggro
58.3% win rate
12 tracked matches
vs azorius control
57.9% win rate
38 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist
55.4% win rate
56 tracked matches
vs selesnya enchantress
52.0% win rate
25 tracked matches
vs 5c niv-mizzet
50.0% win rate
12 tracked matches
vs azorius auras
50.0% win rate
80 tracked matches
vs selesnya humans
47.1% win rate
34 tracked matches
vs jeskai control
46.9% win rate
32 tracked matches
vs esper control
41.7% win rate
12 tracked matches
vs azorius affinity
41.0% win rate
39 tracked matches
vs orzhov auras (lurrus)
40.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs jund food
38.5% win rate
13 tracked matches
vs rakdos goblins
37.5% win rate
8 tracked matches
vs azorius control (yorion)
36.6% win rate
41 tracked matches
vs azorius lotus field
33.3% win rate
21 tracked matches
vs dimir control
12.5% win rate
8 tracked matches
vs heliod company
10.0% win rate
10 tracked matches
(H) Golgari Food
by DoggertQBones
Historic
Midrange
best of 3
4 mythic
26 rare
22 uncommon
8 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (14)
Sorceries (1)
Lands (23)
60 Cards
$508.66
Sideboard
15 Cards
$59.77
Powered by the incredible synergy between Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven, Golgari Food is likely the grindiest deck in Historic. It has amazing inevitability, solid interaction, and excellent card selection through the use of Trail of Crumbs.
Golgari Food also seems like a great choice for those who are well versed with the decks play patterns, don’t mind facing the mirror, and are prepared for the many tech cards that other players are likely to pack. Golgari can realistically beat any strategy which is huge for it, but Hidetsugu Consumes All is definitely scary for this deck and presumably many decks are going to be packing it this weekend.
Azorius Auras – 26 Players – 11.7% of Metagame
azorius auras
54.3% global win rate
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vs rakdos sacrifice
100.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs jund midrange
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs orzhov auras (lurrus)
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs other
73.3% win rate
45 tracked matches
vs jeskai creativity
71.4% win rate
7 tracked matches
vs gruul aggro
69.2% win rate
13 tracked matches
vs mono-red aggro
68.8% win rate
16 tracked matches
vs azorius control (yorion)
65.0% win rate
20 tracked matches
vs azorius lotus field
61.5% win rate
13 tracked matches
vs azorius control
60.9% win rate
23 tracked matches
vs Tainted Pact
60.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs jeskai control
57.9% win rate
19 tracked matches
vs 5c niv-mizzet
54.5% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs izzet phoenix
50.8% win rate
132 tracked matches
vs golgari food
50.0% win rate
80 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist
44.4% win rate
45 tracked matches
vs selesnya humans
44.0% win rate
25 tracked matches
vs mardu greasefang
40.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs selesnya enchantress
38.9% win rate
18 tracked matches
vs simic merfolk
36.4% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs azorius affinity
35.7% win rate
28 tracked matches
vs jund food
33.3% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs dimir control
28.6% win rate
7 tracked matches
(H) Azorius Auras
by DoggertQBones
Historic
Aggro
best of 3
0 mythic
20 rare
18 uncommon
22 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (16)
Instants (1)
Enchantments (21)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$111.38
Sideboard
15 Cards
$15.69
Looking to avoid playing a fair game of Magic, Auras is dedicated to getting a creature on board that likes Auras, suiting them up with a few of them drawing cards all the while, and killing the opponent in a few big swings. This is a hard deck to hate out as every threat and Aura in the deck can replace itself with the plentiful amount of “Kor Spiritdancers” in the deck.
While I don’t think I would’ve ultimately picked it, I am also a big fan of Azorius Auras as I feel like it’s a deck that is so ridiculously hard to hate out, but with the downside that it can lose to itself. Very few popular decks play enough removal to realistically stop the deluge of creatures Auras can present so I believe that to be the second best option for this event. Furthermore, Auras is so good at crushing any creature deck or non-tier strategy so it further helps it as a pick in an open field.
Azorius Affinity – 21 Players – 9.4% of Metagame
azorius affinity
58.4% global win rate
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vs 5c niv-mizzet
100.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs izzet phoenix
75.4% win rate
57 tracked matches
vs azorius auras
64.3% win rate
28 tracked matches
vs other
63.6% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs selesnya humans
60.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs golgari food
59.0% win rate
39 tracked matches
vs azorius control (yorion)
50.0% win rate
12 tracked matches
vs jeskai control
50.0% win rate
10 tracked matches
vs selesnya enchantress
50.0% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs azorius control
33.3% win rate
9 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist
26.7% win rate
15 tracked matches
vs jeskai creativity
20.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
(H) Azorius Affinity
by DoggertQBones
Historic
Artifacts
best of 3
3 mythic
34 rare
13 uncommon
10 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (3)
Creatures (15)
Instants (4)
Artifacts (20)
Lands (18)
60 Cards
$371.26
Sideboard
15 Cards
$52.63
A relatively new addition to Historic and championed by Jean-Emmanuel Depraz, Azorius Affinity looks to get ridiculous mileage out of the artifact matters cards like Thought Monitor and Nettlecyst while playing every strong artifact in Blue and White.
Affinity is not a deck I’m super well versed with, but with the times I’ve played with and the many times I played against it, I wasn’t particularly impressed. It seems decent against the field, but only really exemplary against Auras as they have so much exile based removal. It could be my inexperience with the archetype, but I feel it will do decently, but not incredibly.
Rakdos Arcanist – 13 Players – 5.8% of Metagame
rakdos arcanist
55.6% global win rate
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vs dimir control
100.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs simic merfolk
87.5% win rate
8 tracked matches
vs gruul aggro
85.7% win rate
7 tracked matches
vs jeskai creativity
85.7% win rate
7 tracked matches
vs jeskai control
81.3% win rate
16 tracked matches
vs mardu greasefang
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist (lurrus)
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs selesnya enchantress
75.0% win rate
8 tracked matches
vs azorius lotus field
75.0% win rate
16 tracked matches
vs azorius affinity
73.3% win rate
15 tracked matches
vs azorius control
65.0% win rate
20 tracked matches
vs Tainted Pact
60.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs other
58.7% win rate
46 tracked matches
vs azorius control (yorion)
56.3% win rate
16 tracked matches
vs azorius auras
55.6% win rate
45 tracked matches
vs heliod company
54.5% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs mono-red aggro
45.5% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs golgari food
44.6% win rate
56 tracked matches
vs izzet phoenix
42.3% win rate
104 tracked matches
vs selesnya humans
38.1% win rate
21 tracked matches
vs 5c niv-mizzet
30.8% win rate
13 tracked matches
vs mono-red goblins
0.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs boros feather (yorion)
0.0% win rate
6 tracked matches
(H) Rakdos Arcanist
by DoggertQBones
Historic
Midrange
best of 3
14 mythic
34 rare
4 uncommon
8 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (14)
Instants (9)
Artifacts (2)
Enchantments (1)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$303.49
Sideboard
14 Cards
$20.78
A new spin on an old Historic archetype, Rakdos Arcanist is a midrange machine looking to eat up any deck that isn’t going big or doing something extremely unfair. Packed to the brim with removal and value creatures, Arcanist can easily go toe to toe with any of the giants in Historic and grind them out with the right draws.
For the last pillar of Historic, I think Arcanist is an extremely bold choice for this event. Despite being extremely good against a vast majority of Historic, it’s poorer matchups against Izzet Phoenix and Golgari Food is definitely an awkward proposition. If an Arcanist player can dodge Phoenix and keep drawing their Hidetsugu Consumes All against Golgari they could do extremely well, but I personally wouldn’t want to leave it up to fate as much.
Five-color Niv-Mizzet – 2 Players – 0.9% of Metagame
5c niv-mizzet
51% global win rate
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vs azorius control (yorion)
80.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
vs azorius lotus field
72.7% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs rakdos arcanist
69.2% win rate
13 tracked matches
vs jeskai control
62.5% win rate
8 tracked matches
vs other
53.3% win rate
15 tracked matches
vs golgari food
50.0% win rate
12 tracked matches
vs heliod company
50.0% win rate
6 tracked matches
vs azorius auras
45.5% win rate
11 tracked matches
vs gruul aggro
42.9% win rate
7 tracked matches
vs izzet phoenix
36.4% win rate
44 tracked matches
vs azorius control
22.2% win rate
9 tracked matches
vs azorius affinity
0.0% win rate
5 tracked matches
(H) 5C Niv
by DoggertQBones
Historic
Midrange
best of 3
13 mythic
39 rare
7 uncommon
1 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Planeswalkers (1)
Creatures (11)
Sorceries (14)
Artifacts (1)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$490.45
Sideboard
15 Cards
$21.87
With a deck packed with two-color spells to leverage the power of Niv-Mizzet Reborn, this deck has incredible grinding potential between their excellent card quality and the massive draws from resolving Niv itself.
While I personally think that the only 3 best options by far were Phoenix, Food, and Auras, if any outliers may surprise us this weekend, I would have to pick Five-Color Niv-Mizzet. While it isn’t great against some of the fast decks of the format, it does sport really strong matchups against both Phoenix and Food so with the right build, the right matchups, and right draws, I wouldn’t be shocked to see one of the two player do well this weekend.
Conclusion
For my taste, I think the players who are on one of the five most popular archetypes have the right idea. I would consider these decks the long-standing, five pillars of Historic as they are all extremely powerful in their own right while being good in different scenarios. That said, I don’t think all of them are created equal!
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