The Zendikar Rising Championship tournament will be held starting this Friday, and Hall of Fame Frank Karsten has published the metagame breakdown. Check out the below links for more information on the Magic Esports website:
There are a total of 184 players competing in the event in both the Standard and Historic formats. Let’s check out what the best Magic players brought to the table for the big occasion! Please note, all decklists will be published at the beginning of Round 1 on Friday, December 4.
Standard
| Deck Archetype | # of Decks | % of Field |
|---|---|---|
| Gruul Adventures | 44 | 23.9% |
| Mono-Green Food | 32 | 17.4% |
| Dimir Rogues | 31 | 16.8% |
| Temur Adventures | 20 | 10.9% |
| Dimir Control | 19 | 10.3% |
| Esper Doom Foretold | 17 | 9.2% |
| Mardu Doom Foretold | 4 | 2.2% |
| Selesnya Adventures | 2 | 1.1% |
| Boros Cycling | 2 | 1.1% |
| Temur Ramp | 2 | 1.1% |
| Naya Winota | 2 | 1.1% |
| Gruul Food | 2 | 1.1% |
| Sultai Ramp | 1 | 0.5% |
| Jeskai Blink | 1 | 0.5% |
| Esper Control | 1 | 0.5% |
| Mono-Red Aggro | 1 | 0.5% |
| Rakdos Midrange | 1 | 0.5% |
| Jeskai Control | 1 | 0.5% |
| Orzhov Doom Foretold | 1 | 0.5% |
- For a more detailed analysis on the Standard format, check out this article.
- The metagame is still relatively top-heavy, with the top three deck archetypes occupying 58.1% of the tournament metagame.
- Lovestruck Beast (408 copies) and Kazandu Mammoth (379 copies) were the most-played nonland cards, being part of most Green based decks, Adventure and Food. This has essentially shut down the likes of smaller aggro decks.
- Dimir Yorion has seen a rise in its popularity as it looks to keep the grindier decks in check.
Historic
| Deck Archetype | # of Decks | % of Field |
|---|---|---|
| Four-Color Midrange | 37 | 20.1% |
| Jund Sacrifice | 36 | 19.6% |
| Goblins | 23 | 12.5% |
| Rakdos Sacrifice | 20 | 10.9% |
| Sultai Midrange | 15 | 8.2% |
| Azorius Auras | 12 | 6.5% |
| Azorius Control | 9 | 4.9% |
| Colorless Ramp | 5 | 2.7% |
| Dimir Control | 4 | 2.2% |
| Kethis Combo | 2 | 1.1% |
| Sultai Paradox Engine | 2 | 1.1% |
| Azorius Cycling | 2 | 1.1% |
| Mono-Black Aggro | 1 | 0.5% |
| Orzhov Auras | 1 | 0.5% |
| Orzhov Yorion | 1 | 0.5% |
| Mono-Red Planeswalkers | 1 | 0.5% |
| Boros Burn | 1 | 0.5% |
| Bant Control | 1 | 0.5% |
| Esper Yorion | 1 | 0.5% |
| Mono-Red Aggro | 1 | 0.5% |
| Nine Lives | 1 | 0.5% |
| Mardu Vehicles | 1 | 0.5% |
| Esper Gift | 1 | 0.5% |
| Rakdos Arcanist | 1 | 0.5% |
| Four-Color Control | 1 | 0.5% |
| Golgari Stompy | 1 | 0.5% |
| Boros Knights | 1 | 0.5% |
| Dimir Rogues | 1 | 0.5% |
| Neostorm | 1 | 0.5% |
- For a more detailed analysis on the Historic format, check out this article.
- Similar to Standard, Historic is also top-heavy even if the marginally different deck archetypes are split (e.g. Jund and Rakdos Sacrifice, Sultai and Four-Color Midrange). The strongest decks got even stronger after Kaladesh Remastered, compared to the 2020 Mythic Invitational.
- Stats on the new Kaladesh Remastered cards played this weekend:
- Fatal Push: 255 copies
- Blooming Marsh: 109 copies
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance: 107 copies
- Scrapheap Scrounger: 94 copies
- Sram, Senior Edificer: 51 copies
- Yahenni’s Expertise: 33 copies
- Aether Hub: 27 copies
We will be back with coverage of the event and the top decklists later today!
