Metagame: Bloomburrow's Second Week Highlights

The second week of Bloomburrow ended with some cards from the set gaining more notoriety and prominence in competitive formats, especially in Standard where we had, in addition to the Challenges, the Japan Open 2024 with 462 players and a dozen innovations emerging.

In other formats, Bloomburrow is also starting to show results: Mockingbird and Portent of Calamity were in lists that made Top 8 in Modern Challenges this weekend, while Dewdrop Cure has more timid appearances in decks like Boros Energy, while Pioneer points to more signs that the format needs interventions.

Check out this article for the main lists and highlights of this week's events in the main competitive formats of Magic: The Gathering!

The highlight of Standard this weekend was the Japan Open 2024, a tournament which took place on Magic Arena with 462 players, including some of the most famous names in Magic in the region.

Abzan Ramp

From it, new proposals and strategies emerged, such as Abzan Ramp, which swaps the core of Domain Ramp for a combination of cards in and with a plan more focused on attrition, where Atraxa, Grand Unifier is just the endgame for a list capable of winning without even seeing the Phyrexian angel.

Abzan Ramp is another interesting example of how Sheoldred, the Apocalypse has been competing for (and losing) space to Beza, the Bounding Spring, putting what was once considered the strongest creature in Standard in check.

Abzan Midrange

This example is also reflected when we look at the Challenges where the player Amarensneak brought together the best of two worlds in an Abzan Midrange list, with Zoraline, Cosmos Caller sharing slots with Glissa Sunslayer and Mosswood Dreadknight. Again, another list in which Sheoldred is replaced by the white elemental and where it doesn't even appear in the Sideboard.

Boros Midrange

Another archetype that migrated from one tournament to another and had notable results this weekend was Boros Midrange, or Boros Tokens, given its interaction with Caretaker’s Talent and recurring token generators like Urabrask’s Forge and Fountainport.

This deck is basically a “go wide” deck with attrition plays and an efficient late-game where White Sun’s Twilight can win games on its own, while its midgame is focused on constant attrition and resource exchange that ends up being favorable thanks to Caretaker’s Talent.

Mono White Midrange

A Mono White version with the enchantment is also starting to emerge from Magic Online Challenges, with a slightly more creature-oriented and, consequently, more aggressive plan than the version above.

Perhaps, a middle ground between the two proposals will become the ideal for a Caretaker’s Talent list in the coming weeks.

Naya Critters

In Challenges, a new variant of Convoke has emerged, benefiting from the typal interactions between Rabbits and Valley Mightcaller.

While slower than the traditional Boros or Jeskai version, “Naya Convoke” or Naya Critters seems more resilient against the current Metagame because its creatures are more than just enablers: Pawpatch Recruit provides benefits and can put two bodies on the board, Seasoned Warrenguard is often a 3/2 one-drop, and Valley Questcaller boosts all creatures while filtering the top.

Azorius Artifact Aggro

The Aggro version of Azorius Artifacts was already a relatively well-known deck last season, but the Meta's reliance on Go for the Throat, its fast clock and vaguely more resilience against cheap sweepers have put it back in the spotlight, with results in both Challenges and the Japan Open 2024.

Warden of the Inner Sky interacts well with any creature that puts a token into play, and this list includes Novice Inspector and Spyglass Siren, whose tokens can be enchanted with Zoetic Glyph to turn into creatures.

Azorius Mentor

Azorius Mentor also returned to Standard and without any major innovations compared to last season's version, aside from some specific replacements. The archetype didn't have any significant results in the Challenges, but it was one of the highlights of the Japan Open and could be a good promise for the format in the coming weeks.

Temur Phoenix

Pioneer is stuck in the same Metagame - and it's not a healthy one. Rakdos Vampires numbers have grown considerably since July, and it has established itself as the best deck by a notorious margin, and if the format already demanded an intervention before due to logistical issues involving Amalia Benavides Aguirre, now it also demands due to the combination of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Vein Ripper creating polarized environments.

The most recent iteration of Arclight Phoenix is proof of the current state of Pioneer: lists have included in their mana base to run Pick Your Poison, the best cheap answer to Vein Ripper and which is not a dead card in other matchups. If the format has reached this point, it is because the Metagame couldn't adapt to the point of creating a healthier environment, and we can expect more changes on August 26.

Jeskai Energy

Bloomburrow has started to show up in Modern after a first week of minimal and almost irrelevant results. In addition to the inclusion of Dewdrop Cure in Boros Energy as recursion, another variant of the archetype makes use of one of the best cards in the set for the format: Mockingbird.

Jeskai Energy takes advantage of the new bird to duplicate any interaction that the archetype would already have naturally: it can copy Guide of Souls to accumulate more energy and life gain, or Ocelot Pride to expand the snowball, be the 5-8 copies of Ajani, Nacatl Pariah to trigger the Planeswalker side, or even copy Amped Raptor to generate value.

This is the main deck I'll be playing in Leagues this week, so expect a guide soon!

Simic Calamity

Portent of Calamity may have found a home in Modern with the Eldrazi in a Delirium package.

This is yet another list in the already famous “big mana combo with The One Ring” category that has existed in the format since the release of Lord of the Rings, this time seeking to exile four cards with the new spell to cast them for free, and preferably with Emrakul, the Promised End among them.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!