I didn't see Oko, I did see three Golos (1W2L). Only other L was Trostani (essentially, mirror), also won vs Torbran (see below), Dovin Grand Arbiter, Nienne, Alela.

 

I ended up playing Jeskai and went 5-2. One loss to Vraska in a close game where they curved removal into top decking good threats. They managed to close out with a top deck Cry of the Carnarium ending my 1/1 Flyer swarm and killing me before I could stabalize again. And the other loss was to a Keethis deck that curved out incredibly fast. Second turn black discard walker, into eventually getting it back and killing me on the upkeep before I would have killed him while I was in top deck mode. Overall I have been pretty pleased with the list. I do want to try to make the Esper commander work, but haven’t found time to tune a list to an acceptable standard.
My wins were against:
G/R 2-0(Domri and the guy who puts a +1/1 counter on every non-human you play)
U/R 1-0(The Royal Scions)
5 Color 1-0(Golos that also played Kenrick)
G/W 1-0(Emmara)


Here is what I played:

Commander: Kykar, Wind’s Fury

1 Conclave Tribunal (GRN) 6
1 Disdainful Stroke (GRN) 37
1 Sinister Sabotage (GRN) 54
1 Lava Coil (GRN) 108
1 Deafening Clarion (GRN) 165
1 Ionize (GRN) 179
1 Justice Strike (GRN) 182
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy (GRN) 195
1 Boros Guildgate (GRN) 244
1 Izzet Guildgate (GRN) 252
1 Sacred Foundry (GRN) 254
1 Steam Vents (GRN) 257
1 Shimmer of Possibility (RNA) 51
1 Absorb (RNA) 151
1 Azorius Guildgate (RNA) 244
1 Hallowed Fountain (RNA) 251
1 Finale of Glory (WAR) 12
1 Gideon Blackblade (WAR) 13
1 Prison Realm (WAR) 26
1 Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor (WAR) 56
1 Narset, Parter of Veils (WAR) 61
1 Sarkhan the Masterless (WAR) 143
1 Dovin's Veto (WAR) 193
1 Solar Blaze (WAR) 216
1 Teferi, Time Raveler (WAR) 221
1 Time Wipe (WAR) 223
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (WAR) 234
1 Planar Cleansing (M20) 33
1 Anticipate (M20) 45
1 Drawn from Dreams (M20) 56
1 Winged Words (M20) 80
1 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame (M20) 126
1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno (M20) 127
1 Evolving Wilds (M20) 246
1 Swiftwater Cliffs (M20) 252
1 Temple of Epiphany (M20) 253
1 Temple of Triumph (M20) 257
1 Tranquil Cove (M20) 259
1 Realm-Cloaked Giant (ELD) 26
1 Brazen Borrower (ELD) 39
1 Hypnotic Sprite (ELD) 49
1 Opt (ELD) 59
1 Bonecrusher Giant (ELD) 115
1 Scorching Dragonfire (ELD) 139
1 The Royal Scions (ELD) 199
1 Castle Ardenvale (ELD) 238
1 Castle Embereth (ELD) 239
1 Castle Vantress (ELD) 242
1 Fabled Passage (ELD) 244
2 Plains (ELD) 253
3 Island (ELD) 257
2 Mountain (ELD) 265
1 Wind-Scarred Crag (ELD) 308
1 Arcane Signet (ELD) 331
1 Command Tower (ELD) 333

Overall the deck played better than I expected and forcing people to over commit to race a token swarm and then board wiping never gets old. I think a properly tuned Esper list could be stronger, but balancing synergy with the commander vs overall card power would be a bit more difficult.

On the subject of post-Field Standard my Esper Control list 3-0(Bo3), which isn’t enough data to say anything, but damn does it feel good to be able to play control again.

 

I'm surprised no one here is talking about Pioneer. Standard is kind of dead in the water at the moment given that Oko is such a powerful, pushed card that wizards won't ban for a little longer at least.

Given the recent frenzy caused by the new format and people's desire to brew in it, anyone have anything they're excited to play? Anything they're dreading having to play against?

 

What's the point of it, exactly? Aside from no upward limit on deck size and the fact that you can go back a few years, it looks like Commander without the fun stuff.

 

I believe the point is that the cards in this format will be better balanced (individually), there are less non-interactive cards, and mana bases are something that need to considered.

 

I am a Modern player at heart, so the concept of Pioneer does intrigue me as it allows people to slowly make their way into the Modern community. And what brewer does not love a new format to try and break? Sadly I do not have time for paper MTG at the moment, which leaves me stuck with what Arena has to offer. I may get back on to MTGO, but I am still annoyed at Wizard’s handling of MTGO in recent years.

For those of you who are taking the dive into Pioneer, I look forward to seeing how the format plays out and will offer a hand in deck optimization if needed.

 

I only started playing with GRN (Arena open beta and all), can follow modern coverage well enough to enjoy it but nothing more...

It's not something I'm interested in dipping my toes into for now.

 

Anyone up for play testing on Arena this upcoming weekend? The meta has been painfully narrow in my experience, I literally play against Oko variants, G/B Adventures, and R/Bx sacrifice variants in 90% of my games. A meta this narrow begs to be preyed on. Sadly this meta is symptomatic of Green being the best at everything in standard at the moment, which makes me uncertain whether the meta can be beaten without using it. Personally I think some variant of G/B or Esper have the best odds. Esper has performed decently for me against most the meta, but multiple Veil of Summer into your interaction can be back breaking. And the G/B Midrange list can have trouble if they resolve multiple Inn Keepers and I don’t get Legion’s End fast enough.

On a less draining note, I have not dropped a single game with Bant Scapeshift in Historic. When(if) they add BO3 and actually give rewards, the deck should be an easy way to grind free wins. If they add ranked, even better.

 

Bit late, but I should be around on Sunday. (Am in CET, which is +6 from NY, +9 from LA).

Made it to Mythic with BG adventures, had an outside shot at top 1200, but bricked a bit on the last day. Had an amazing match against an MPL player, though.

 

I read this way too late. Came down with a Flu this weekend that has kicked my ass up until today. However if you are up for testing this weekend, I would be ecstatic. I want to gauntlet Esper Control against all 3 Oko variants, G/B and G/W adventures, R/Bx sacrifice, Gruul, U/W control and whatever other meta decks you can think of. I can build any of the above decks as well as most jank if you have anything you would like to test. I am on Pacific Standard Time(LA), which may make the hours hard to coorindate, but I am more than willing to work with you on those.

 

Bleh, flu. Hope you're feeling better.

Rare WCs might be a bit of a limiting factor. I know I'm not great on Green rares, and assuming Oko's your primary target to test against, that's taking away 6 of the 11 I currently have. (2 Goose, 4 Wolf. Ironically, I have more RL Wicked Wolves than online ones.). Gruul looks to be the problem child, and had this been last week, Esper Doom Foretold/Danse would've been hard as well. (I opened 2 of each in the last 8 days.)

I'll check a couple of lists (also from MC Richmond) and see what I can fix. From your summary, Oko lists are doable (with the crafting caveat), I have Golgari and Selesnya Adventure decks lying around, Sackdos should be no problem whatsoever, and I should have most of UW control except maybe random Gadwicks or Brazen Borrowers. Luckily, WotC fucked up and made the last a Mythic.

 

@Oment
Thanks man, I am feeling considerably better today than I did this weekend. I am glad you brought up Esper Dance, as I had forgotten it was a thing after the first week.

As far as time goes, what would be best for you? I work Saturday from 4AM-2PM PST, but beyond that I can work around the hours that work best for you. I will probably focus on testing G/B Midrange and Non-Dance Esper Control. I am also for testing Historic if you are up for it and standard gets a bit tedious. My Bant Scapeshift deck has only dropped two games so far, both when I took weaker hands into fast aggro. I honestly think Bant or possibly Sultai Scapeshift will be the deck to beat in Historic. I think Bant edges out due to having both Teferi’s and Realm Cloaked Giant. I also think some number of Beanstalk Giant may be optimal, but haven’t been able to find room.

 

A couple questions to the other MTG players on DLP:

1. What are you currently playing and what are your results? The format is irrelevant on this one.

2. What do you intend to play post Oko ban?

A)1. I personally have been bouncing between Simic Flash, UW Control, Wafo-Tapa Esper, and G/R adventure. Since I retooled my flash list, I have gone 6-2(Bo3) with it, but have played it less due to the growing number of Aggro decks in Bo3. If Flash is not on the play against aggro, it is a massive uphill battle.

Wafo-Tapa Esper and UW have both shown promise, and I would like to thank Oment for helping me test them. I think in a post Oko world Wafo-Tapa’s style of Esper might incredibly strong, especially if played into an aggro heavy field. The deck combines a good amount of general answers to low costed threats/creatures and with counter magic for the high cost threats. If Veil of Summer is banned along with Oko, a variant of this deck might be the best control deck in standard. U/W is a deck specifically designed to prey on U/Gx and aggro shells, if those remain strong, the deck should remain viable. As a warning U/W vs Sultai Sacrifice feels 50/50ish, but is one of the most absurdly grindy match ups I have ever played. If you are trying to speed climb, I would just conced when you see Sultai colors and a cat, if not be prepared for at least a 45 minute match. Being the stubborn bastard I am, I tend to play it out. So far if I win at least one game, most Sultai Sacrifice players have conceded rather than suffer through a game 2 or 3.

And finally G/R Adventure, so far the deck has consistently impressed me. It has a great Simic match up, and punishes any stumbling rather quickly. It’s match up vs G/W adventures is interesting. G/W tends to be more explosive with its good hands, and can stall you out before out-valuing you with tokens in a long game. That being said I think G/R is a bit more consistent and punishes G/W incredibly hard if it stumbles event slightly. I haven’t had a chance to test it against G/B Adventure yet, so I cannot comment on that match up.

2. Due to Veil’s banning in Pioneer, I firmly expect it to be banned along with Oko later this month. If Veil goes as well, I expect control to come back in a big way. As a result of that I also expect a fair amount of incredibly fast aggro that will try to go under control for free wins. After the meta stabalizes, I think some variant of Gx Adventure will be the best deck. Initially I will likely play G/R adventure, it’s strong aggro and value game seem like a safe bet in an uncertain meta. Once the meta settles I will try to adapt my U/W shell and Wafo-Tapa’s Esper list to suit it. I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts.

 

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/mtg-arena-historic-rollout-2019-11-13

Finally an announcement on Historic and some cards that make the format a bit more interesting to brew in. Captain Sisay makes Keethis even more consistent and Obnoxious, especially when Once Upon a Time is also considered.

Bant Scapeshift has been testing well(87% win rate), but I haven’t encounted a competent Keethis pilot. I am looking forward to seeing how the format plays out.

 

I played a pioneer this past weekend. first impression - meh. Doesn't really catch my interest when the format is only 2 weeks old and everyone is already just playing boring netdecks. It's a brewers paradise man, do something interesting. Only thing I liked is how easy it was to sell 40 dig through times and smugglers copters.

 

If I had time for paper MTG, I would be brewing my ass off in Pioneer. My only exposure to the format has been /r/ spikes where it seems to be a shitshow dominated by Mono Red, Mono Green Devotion, or linear degeneracy. I hope the format stabalizes and becomes interesting with a more fleshed out ban list.

@Anarchy in your experience with the format, were answers an issue? And if so, was it proactive answers like Path/Bolt that were lacking, or reactive answers such as countermagic/spell bouncing effects?

 

I played bug, which never felt lacking. The removal suite builds itself, as you got fatal push, assassins trophy, abrupt decay, backed up with thoughtseize and counter magic. And to top that off, we had veil of summer.

 

I don't think I've seen a single mono red pioneer deck in 20+ hours I've watched since the format came out. Mono G Devotion, Mono G Ramp, and Simic Stompy are all decks I've seen a fair amount of, but there's rogue decks all over the mtgo queues.

Shit I'm playing Selesnya Superfriends...

 

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articl...8-2019-banned-and-restricted-announcement?tij

Oko, Once Upon a Time and Veil of Summer banned in standard. There were also cards banned in Brawl(Oko), Legacy(Wrenn and Six), and Vintage(Narset, Parter is Veils).

I expected Oko and Veil, but was a little shocked by OUaT, I agree that banning it was smart so we didn’t just shift to a meta dominated by another flavor of green. I look forward to seeing how the meta plays out from here, and trying some weird shit to see what sticks.

 

I honestly thought Veil was just used for the mirror matchup like Noxious Grasp. OUaT I get because it's absurdly consistent.
Then again I also thought Garruk would be the most busted card in the set. Shows how good I am at gauging power levels.

Just hoping oven aristocats won't rise to the top because that shit takes forever to play against with all the triggers that have to manually resolve. Might have to throw some embereth shieldbreakers into my redder deck wins main if that happens.