Zendikar Rising Championship Standard and Historic Metagame Breakdown • MTG Arena Zone

Table of Contents

Standard
Historic

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!

Premium >

Enjoy our content? Wish to support our work? Join our Premium community, get access to exclusive content, remove all advertisements, and more!

No ads: Browse the entire website ad-free, both display and video.

Exclusive Content: Instant access to all exclusive articles only for Premium members, at your fingertips.

Support: All your contributions get directly reinvested into the website to increase your viewing experience!

Discord: Join our Discord server, claim your Premium role and gain access to exclusive channels where you can learn in real time!

Special offer: For a limited time, use coupon code L95WR9JOWV to get 50% off the Annual plan!