The decklists are not fully revealed at the time of this recording but the metagame has been made public and many players have already shared their lists on social media. Omnath is towering over Standard with 72% of the field playing either one of the two big decks that have sprung up around the elemental. Only NINE players chose to play without it in Standard. Omnath has even nabbed the top of the metagame list for Historic at 34%, pushing Jund Sacrifice, Rakdos Arcanist and Goblins, which...

With less than a week until the Grand Finals Brian David-Marshall and Magic: The Gathering Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz discuss the state of Standard post-Uro ban and pre-grand reveal of the 32 Standard decks the players will bring to the virtual tables. Topics include: Has the over/under on the number of Omnath's changed? Why aren't people playing Arboreal Grazer in their Omnath lists? Red Bull Qualifier decklist discussion. What does the Walking Dead Secret Lair mean? Has WotC lost...

Normally Brian David-Marshall and Magic Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz would be doing a preview show for the Mythic Invitational -- showcasing the Arena-only Historic format -- but with the decks being revealed so close to the starter pistol for the event that was not possible. Instead they are looking through the decks while the early rounds of the event play out in the background. Metagame Breakdown Mythic Invitational Decklists Your...

With Zendikar Rising previews in full swing, Brian David-Marshall and Magic Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz go on a quest to find the most messed-up Magic cards in the set so far. The duo go through the 41 rares and mythics that had been previewed as of Thursday Sept 3rd looking for the cards that most like to party, which ones are going to impact your Commander games and which ones meet the highest honor Zvi can bestow upon a card -- "That's a messed up Magic card!" Your hosts: Brian...

With the Temur Reclamation dominated Players Tour Finals in the rearview mirror, Wizards of the Coast announced a huge swath of bans in Standard, Pioneer, Historic, and even Brawl. The announcement takes the total number of banned cards in this Standard format to ten -- a number of cards we have not seen banned at the same time since Urza's Block. Brian David-Marshall and Magic Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz walk through the history of banned and restricted cards in Standard, talk about the...

BDM and Magic Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz climb back on the virtual bicycle to resume creating new episodes of the game's longest running (okay, okay, walking) podcast about all things MTG. In this episode the duo talk about: Zvi's wolf ratio -- how often has he cried wolf accurately and how many times has it just been a stray dog? SPOILERS Wilderness Reclamation was a MF'n wolf. This weekend's upcoming Player's Tour Finals Top 8 and the various weapons the 8 players will be bringing to...

The longest running Magic podcast is back with a new (and long-running) episode. Brian David-Marshall is once more joined by Magic Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz as the pair discuss the upcoming Players Tour, recent bannings, the changes to companions, and how Zvi's Stompy deck has found a lane in the Standard metagame. With Magic 2021 spoilers coming fast and furiously they spend the rest of the episode going through the cards and trying to determine if the reprinting of Baneslayer Angel...

The much heralded Banned and Restricted announcement has come and gone. While there is some immediate relief for Vintage and Legacy players from Lurrus, if you are a Standard player looking to avoid getting paired against a Companion deck anytime soon you are not going to be happy. There was an interesting nugget buried in the last paragraph of the "Other Formats" section of the announcement in which Ian Duke said, "If we see signs of long-term health issues resulting from high metagame...

BDM and Zvi catch up early in the week as Zvi mulls his options for the upcoming Mythic Qualifier on MTG Arena, which he qualified for largely by playing Limited and rarely sporting more than 13 lands in his decks. Fortunately that same deck -- with not that many more lands -- is reasonably playable in Standard. The duo talk through some of the recent metagame shifts from the Weekend Championship which former Rookie of the Year Oliver Tiu won with Jeskai Yorion Fires. Standard is not only...

At this point it is widely accepted that Ikoria Limited's shining star is the cycling deck that features uncommon build-arounds like Flourishing Fox and Valiant Rescuer; super-efficient red removal like Flame Spill and Fire Prophecy; and other key cards like Drannith Stingers and Healers, Ominous Seas, and Zenith Flare. There is a plethora of cheap options all at common or uncommon. As Brian and Zvi get to the rare and mythic cards in their set review they do so with an eye to how many of...

Part 2 of BDM and Zvi's journey through Ikoria limited. This episode covers Red, Green, Multicolored, Artifacts, and Lands. Your hosts: Brian David-Marshall - @Top8Games Zvi Mowshowitz - @TheZvi --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support

Magic Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz has gotten as low as 13 lands in the Ikoria Limited decks thanks to the power of "Cycling 1." He sits down with co-host Brian David-Marshall to look at the commons and uncommons in White, Blue, and Black as they try to figure out which cards make this draft format tick. They have already discussed the Companions and each other them have had success with them in Draft but is this a Prince or Pauper format? Do the commons and uncommons dominate the strategies...

BDM and Zvi braved the scary new world of Skype-casting so the Hall of Fame Magic player and game designer could vent about free cards. Free cards are fun but not when everybody has them on exactly the turn they need them. Join Brian and Zvi for a brief discussion about the 10 cards with Companion and why Zvi is very wary about them. Your hosts: Brian David-Marshall - @Top8Games Zvi Mowshowitz - @TheZvi --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support

Brian "BDM" David-Marshall is joined by Magic Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz as they discuss the similarities and differences between the 16 Standard decks being played this weekend at the 26th World Championship. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support

Just another day at the office for BDM and Zvi as the Hall of Famer returns from his weekend in Phoenix to play in his first regional Players Tour event. Topics covered in this episode include: - The Mono Blue Devotion deck designed by Sam Black and played by Zvi - Zvi gets Fblthp'd - How Mike Flores "saved some money" on a hotel room - OH. MY. GOD! Was that an Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis in the Top 8?? - Are bans called for? (spoilers: they are not) - Does a regional Players Tour "feel" like a...

With the Prerelease coming up this weekend, Brian and Zvi talk their way through the newest Magic set with an eye toward what decks get some new toys and what building blocks will allow for some new decks. This episode covers gold, artifacts and lands. . --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support

With the Prerelease coming up this weekend, Brian and Zvi talk their way through the newest Magic set with an eye toward what decks get some new toys and what building blocks will allow for some new decks. This episode covers black, red and green cards. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support

With the Prerelease coming up this weekend, Brian and Zvi talk their way through the newest Magic set with an eye toward what decks get some new toys and what building blocks will allow for some new decks. This episode covers white and blue cards. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support

Brian "BDM" David-Marshall and Mike "MichaelJ" Flores get together for another episode of the longest-running Magic podcast. BDM's office is in the process of moving to a new building so they duo went back to the mall to sip iced tea and talk about some of the new cards that have been coming out for Theros: Beyond Death, Topics covered in the discussion include: -Valuable life advice MichaelJ picked up from his dad. -The incredible editing and Magical prowess of Roman Fusco -Some Theros...

For Part 2, Michael J Flores showed up with cake from Carlos's bakery in Hoboken to celebrate his PTQ win -- more than 23 years after his first PTQ win -- as is the tradition in NY. Topics included the PreTQ, PTQ, and what makes a good Magic format. Followed by some spoilerific discussion of the season finale of WATCHMEN as well as the first three parts of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. Simic Flash by Michael J Flores 2 Aether Gust 2 Brazen Borrower 2 Mystical Dispute 1 Negate 3 Quench 3...

The whole gang is together for this one -- sort of. First Brian David-Marshall and Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz chatted about ***spoilers*** Michael J's PTQ win this past weekend, the state of Standard, and what Zvi is hoping to find under his Utopia Tree this holiday season from the slowly-being-revealed Theros Beyond Death set. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support

We got your new deck hot takes hot off the presses. With Mike Flores on the road for business, BDM and Zvi had to maintain the homefront and get down to the business of looking at the decks for this weekend's MC. They started recording minutes before the decks went live and kept going until they had covered at least one of each of the archetypes with an eye out for the Dune Award for the deck with the most spice. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/top8magic/support