Magic: The Gathering Zendikar Rising Championship Standard & Historic Metagame Breakdown Revealed

Zendikar Rising Championship, the last major Magic: The Gathering tournament this year, is almost here. 72 members of the Magic Pro League and the Magic Rivals league as well as the top competitors from qualifying events held on MTG Arena and Magic Online will begin this Friday, December 4 at 9 a.m. PST. 184 players will battle it out in Standard and Historic for their share of the $250,000 prize pool. Top finishes will also contribute towards qualification for the 2020-21 postseason, which will determine the new invitees to the next season's MPL and Rivals League.

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Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Today, Wizards of the Coast has revealed the Standard and Historic metagame breakdown for the Zendikar Rising Championship.

Standard Metagame

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Credit: Wizards of the Coast

It looks like green decks continue to dominate Standard, but the metagame looks more diverse now. Lovestruck Beast and Kazandu Mamoth are the most-played nonland cards across Standard decklists, with 408 copies and 379 copies. Dimir Control is also on the rise with 19 players choosing to play this archetype that's said to be strong against everything that's trying to beat Gruul Adventures.

Historic Metagame


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Credit: Wizards of the Coast

Historic format looks more diverse, and the recent additions of Fatal Push, Bomat Courier, and Chandra, Torch of Defiance from the recently-released Kaladesh Remastered helped push the power level of red and black decks in the format. Rakdos, Jund Sacrifice, and Goblin decks are not new Historic archetypes but Kaladesh Remastered elevated their positions in the meta.

Zendikar Rising Championship takes place on December 4-6. You can watch it live on Twitch.tv/magic.

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