Metagame: Lost Caverns of Ixalan's First Week

Lost Caverns of Ixalan is upon us!

The Magic: The Gathering set of the year arrived at digital platforms last week, and has already brought great news and a significant impact to the game's competitive environment, with specific inclusions in already established strategies, in addition to the creation of new archetypes - one being potentially dangerous for Pioneer!

In this article, we'll delve into the presence of the new expansion in this weekend's Challenges!

Subterranean Schooner was one of the two most impactful cards from the new expansion in Standard this week. The boat found a direct home on the best deck right now, Esper Midrange

The new boat has become another important value engine in the format, where even the weakest drops can crew it, while guaranteeing efficient top filtering, in addition to the increase in power. It also interacts well with Raffine, Scheming Seer, where perfect sequencing and some luck allows you to draw up to two additional cards per turn.

Another tool for Esper Midrange was Deep-Cavern Bat. In addition to being a disruptive creature, its Lifelink is also very efficient alongside Schooner and Raffine, and can make it a threat against aggressive decks.

Allied with Spyglass Siren and Warden of the Inner Sky, Subterranean Schooner also found a home in more aggressive Azorius lists, where it bets on the individual value of their cards instead of synergies and /or focusing on a creature type.

The concept behind this list appears to be to resemble the current season's cards with Azorius Flash from Kaladesh Standard, where Smuggler's Copter has made it too strong. Despite the differences, this variant seems to work well in the current Metagame, it remains to be seen whether it will remain a good competitor.

Warden of the Inner Sky also stood out as an efficient one-drop on Humans, which now adopts a Boros version with the addition of Inti, Seneschal of the Sun and Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon, both capable of generating a lot of value on their own, or amplifying the board presence.

Another typal archetype that gained prominence this week were Dinosaurs!

Lost Caverns of Ixalan brought the necessary support so that Dinosaurs could emerge in the first week, with efficient low-cost drops and good synergies, and guaranteed it a position in the Top 8 of Sunday's Challenge!

Rakdos Sacrifice also gained new support, such as Tarrian's Journal. Furthermore, Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might found space in this new version due to the interactions it has with Kumano Faces Kakkazan, Voldaren Epicure and with Ob Nixilis, the Adversary.

The Pioneer is under a new threat! It took a few days for players to find ways to take advantage of the new mechanic, Discover, to establish combos with few pieces and a lot of deckbuilding concessions.

While some disregarded its potential due to these concessions, the two variants of the combo competed in the finals of the Pioneer Showcase Challenge!

The first version is based on using Geological Appraiser as early as the third turn to establish a loop with Glasspool Mimic and Eldritch Evolution to fetch Trumpeting Carnosaur, which will continue to cycle until the player has enough power to fetch Doomskar Titan and attack with everything.

The version with Quintorius Kand follows another pattern: in addition to the Five-Color Domain shell, which allows running spells like Leyline Binding, this variant seeks to clone the Planeswalker with Spark Double and Clever Impersonator to establish a loop where Quintorius's passive ability will deal lethal damage to the opponent.

Both lists have severe mana cost restrictions, which they are played around thanks to alternative cost effects such as Virtue of Persistence. Furthermore, both are one-card combos: the moment you trigger Discover's first effect, you start the looping, and it only stops if your opponent has a way to interact with the combo.

It remains to be seen whether this will be the new trend in the Metagame, and whether there are ways for the format to adapt so that this strategy does not become as prevalent as Cascade was with Valki, God of Lies.

Although not as predominant as the lists above, the combo of Amalia Benavides Aguirre and Wildgrowth Walker also had some occasional results in the Top 32, with versions that seek to simulate a mini-toolbox with Chord of Calling and The Huntsman's Redemption.

We also had a variant of Grixis Phoenix, where Bitter Triumph joins the other discard resources to put Arclight Phoenix in the graveyard, while the list follows a line closer to a Dimir Midrange, rather than of the traditional Izzet version of the archetype.

On the Aggro spectrum, Boros Convoke gained an excellent addition with Warden of the Inner Sky, whose ability is easy to enable in the archetype, and allows it to grow quickly. The fact that it flies when it has three or more counters makes it very relevant for certain matches.

Cavern of Souls brought back the multicolored variants of Humans, which now have even more consistency in their access to colors to cast cards like Werewolf Pack Leader and Mantis Rider without major problems. Kitesail Larcenist also presents itself as a flying threat and removal in the same slot.

And Merfolks, perhaps, will finally have the chance to appear in the competitive Pioneer Metagame. The addition of Tishana's Tidebinder and Deeproot Pilgrimage gave the deck new ways to interact with the opponent and secure a good board.

The most important expansion card for Modern this week was Tishana's Tidebinder.

The new merfolk has a dozen applications in the format, with several targets available in the Metagame:

Furthermore, its cost makes it pass the mana value test for Shardless Agent and Violent Outburst, which turned it into an immediate staple at Temur Rhinos.

Outside of Challenges, we see players also testing it in Murktide lists and Izzet Wizards, as the new creature interacts positively with Flame of Anor.

And of course, Tishana's Tidebinder has found a home in Merfolks, alongside Deeproot Pilgrimage.

Spelunking has also been tested in some Amulet Titan lists, both in the maindeck and in the sideboard, but its effectiveness in the archetype or format has not yet been proven.

In Legacy, the big news didn't come from the Lost Caverns of Ixalan expansion, but rather from its Commander decks, with Broadside Bombardiers.

The new Goblin has the right mana value to be cast as early as the first turn, and its ability is very punishing as recurring removal and clock. Next to Goblin Rabblemaster, Broadside Bombardiers becomes a mini-Siege-Gang Commander, where you don't need to pay mana to activate its ability.

So, it didn't take long for it to find a home in Mono Red Stompy and Goblins, both strategies that rely on using the Sol Lands (Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors) to cast creatures sooner, and the presence of Broadside Bombardiers allows for more explosive openings, where blockers on the other side are no longer a guarantee of surviving another turn.

Pauper had the presence of three cards from Lost Caverns of Ixalan in some of its lists in the Top 32: Goblin Tomb Raider, Tithing Blade and Mephitic Draught.

After two weeks of a slight decline, Kuldotha Red returned to filling the Leagues and achieving impressive results in the Challenges. The inclusion of a "Goblin Guide we have at home" increased the number of efficient one-drops in the list, and the pressure it can exert as soon as on the first turn.

Tithing Blade works as a Chainer's Edict in the form of an artifact for Affinity and archetypes that care about permanents and/or artifacts in play. Additionally, its second ability creates a certain level of inevitability for slower strategies.

Fanatical Offering also appeared in Black Gardens lists, as copies 5 and 6 of Deadly Dispute in an archetype that cares more about getting card advantage than life totals.

And, speaking of slower strategies, Runaway Boulder found space in Flicker Tron, as a more useful recurring removal than Meteorite, which also serves to filter your hand in the early game.

That's all for today.

The next few weeks will define the new pillars of the competitive environment, especially in Standard and Pioneer, where Lost Caverns of Ixalan seems to maximize its impact.

Modern, however, will see considerable changes if Tishana's Tidebinder remains a staple, and Pauper has the potential to bring a new rise to Midrange if Tithing Blade and Fanatical Offering prove themselves as good enough to compete with the format's speed.

Thanks for reading!