Hey everyone! I hope you’re all prepared to kick off the summer with some serious relaxation by the pool. At least those of you that win the die roll will be chilling on turn one. Those of you who are going second won’t be as stressed since there won’t be nearly as much early pressure on you. Sounds like a win-win situation for everybody.
If you haven’t figured it out (The title might have been a bit of a hint.), this week’s Midweek Magic is going to be Slow Start Standard. The short version is that the person who goes first has their initial land drop come into play tapped. It’s not a massive difference, but it does slightly alleviate some of the pain of going second. It also means that we’ll be playing some pretty standard Standard decks for this one. (Do you see what I did there? I am soooo clever.)
I know…I know…you just want deck lists, not the incoherent ramblings of an old man. Fine, you can have them right after this event info. (Is that sort of the equivalent of telling a kid to eat their vegetables before dessert?)
Event Details
Welcome to Midweek Magic! Each week, try out a different way to play MTG Arena!
Going first is always such a treat, but we all have to go second sometimes. To help smooth things out, in this Standard event the player who goes first will have their first land enter the battlefield tapped. Just take it easy for a turn!
Find out more details about this and upcoming Midweek Magic events HERE.
Duration: June 2nd, 2026 @ 2:00 PM PST to June 4th, 2026 @ 2:00 PM PST
Format: Slow Start Standard
Entry Fee: Free
Ends After: You can play as much as you like for the duration of the event.
Everyone loves playing against Ouroboroid. Alright, you got me, that was a giant lie. It is one of the most groan inducing cards in existence. That means you probably want to be the one playing it and this gives you that opportunity.
Sunder…Sunder…Sunder…Sunderflock..HOOOOO! You can’t really go wrong with a card that lets you make a Thundercats reference so whip out your Sword of Omens and do the battle cry every time you play big bird.
This one actually has a great game against the green decks because the one sided reset makes it almost impossible for them to get back in the game before getting beat down by your giant flyer.
Do you enjoy annoying your opponent? Maybe you really love letting them feel like they were so close to winning before snatching it all away. If that sounds like the way you like to live life, then this is the deck for you.
We all know about this deck because of all of the quick starts, but Sapling Nursery gives it some serious long game. It even gives you the opportunity to make a bunch of Entish references while doing it.
This is for those of you that don’t want to waste wildcards on a Midweek Magic. It might have some trouble getting there against legit standard decks, but it can still steal some wins against anyone who stumbles out of the gate.
Josh is a member of the elite limited team The Draft Lab as well as the host of The Draft Lab Podcast. He was qualifying for Pro Tours, Nationals, and Worlds literally before some of you were born. After a Magic hiatus to play poker and go to medical school, he has been dominating Arena with over an 80% win percentage in Bo3 as well as making #1 rank in Mythic.
