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This is Part One of our deck archetypes duology!

There are many different types of decks across all of Magic's formats--what are they, and what is the difference between them? Today, we're talking about the proactive deck archetypes, the foot-forward, asking questions decks that seek to play ahead and stay ahead.

We'll dive in to the way these decks combine with one another, differentiate from one another, and ultimately how they stand out in the playing field.

Topics include:

• Combo aggro ≠ Aggro combo
• Temur Otters Combo 👎
• Orzhov Pixie: is it a Tempo deck? [Sources may disagree.]

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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Today we ask important questions: what is a judge? who are judges? why judges?

We're dipping our Standard toes into the deep, deep pool of judging: what is a judge's role? how can I find a judge? what are judges? Think of this a primer to judges for those of you who may never have interacted with a judge and/or are not familiar with the role judges play in Magic. Rest assured we will be going into much, much more detail about judges in the future, and perhaps we'll even have a special guest judge...!

Important topics include:

• How to use a judge at your event
• What a judge is for at casual events
• What a judge can provide for their players

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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It's post-ProTour season! Domain Overlords swept the competition away and Matt Nass is your new ProTour Champion! So...now what? Today we're discussing:

• What did the meta look like at PT Chicago?
• Standout decks & familiar faces
• What will Standard look like going forward?

A huge congratulations to Matt Nass and his victory at ProTour Aetherdrift! You can find Nass's list and all of the Top 8 decklists from PT Aetherdrift here at magic.gg. You can read Nass's article about preparing for and winning the ProTour here.

Benjamin Stark's Orzhov Pixie list can be found here. Seth (SaffronOlive) built an awesome Repurposing Bay Standard deck, you can find the list here. Ashlizzlle built a Golgari Beans deck prior to Zevin Faust's list at the PT, and you can find her list here.

The Standard Metagame Breakdown from Frank Karsten for PT Aetherdrift can be found here. His follow up article for the Metagame Mentor series can be found here.

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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I'm ready to start playing Standard!...Where can I find decklists? How can I buy cards for my deck? What cards are legal in the format? All of these questions and more answered in today's episode, where we dive in to building your Standard deck!

Topics include:

• Popular places to find decklists
• Where you can buy cards (both local and online)
• the 7-Point Highlander Committee Foundation TM TM LTD R Copyright 2025

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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Pack your bags and head to your local game store--it's time for FNM!* Today, we're straying a bit away from strictly Standard (shocking, we know!) and taking you through the motions of an FNM, including:

• What is FNM?
• What can I expect at FNM?
• Is FNM constructed, limited, or both?

Grab your playmat, check the MTG Companion app for your nearest FNM, and let's go!

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

*Friday Night Magic, for those who may be unfamiliar.

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We bring you a special BONUS EPISODE this week as we sit down to talk about the Standard Pro Tour that's happening this weekend at MagicCon Chicago! Topics of choice include:

• How has Standard changed since the last Pro Tour in Vegas?
• What decks do we think will dominate Chicago's PT?
• Just exactly how good is Sheoldred, the Apocalypse?

Join us as we speculate on this weekend's upcoming tournament, talk synergies and combos, and eagerly await the results of the event.

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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It's been three months since the release of Magic: the Gathering Foundations, a set designed to give Standard a, well...strong foundation to stand on! Today, we're looking at some of the most impactful cards from Foundations and discussing:

• When will we see Foundations hit its peak?
• Will more Foundations cards see Standard play?
• Why have these cards in particular seen such success in the current Standard meta?

As a 5-year non-rotating core, we haven't yet had the chance to see Foundations come into its prime, yet. With a huge set rotation on the calendar for August this year, we're bound to see some big swings and changes in the meta!

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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We bring you a bit of a shorter episode today, but one that is no less important! Who is Standard for? And why should you play it?

The audio for this episode is a bit up and down, and we apologise for that! There was an issue with the levels in the studio that went unnoticed until it was time to edit. Bear with us as we have a quick chat about the Standard format--it's for you! It's for us, it's for everyone. So grab your 60+15 and remember: this game is yours!

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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3...2...1...GO!

It's time to Start Your Engines because today is Aetherdrift pre-release and we're here to share with you Meia's Top 5 Speculative picks for Aetherdrift Standard. This aether-boosted set has it all: new mechanics, busted card draw, and a homunculus host to boot! We'll break down the cards we think are going to have a sizeable impact on the format and reflect on the well-known sentiment that Bloodghast = Good.

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.

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Today, we raise our Standard flag! In this inaugural episode of Raise the Standard, Kira and Meia set out to explore the dynamic world of the Standard format. Tackling core concepts ranging from metagame diversity to dollar dollar bills, Kira and Meia seek to "Set the Standard" for their discussions going forward.

Today we're untapping, moving to our main phase, and asking:

• What is Standard?
• Why Should I Play Standard?
• Is Standard Good?

| This episode of Raise the Standard was recorded at the State Library of Victoria. Raise the Standard and its hosts would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we operate on. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.

| Music from HitsLab via Pixabay.