The Pro Tour Deck That Won By NOT Playing Magic

July 5, 2026 · 15 sources

Set News — spoilers, previews, announcements, bans, upcoming releases

Pauper B&R Shake-Up: Joe Dyer breaks down the recent Banned & Restricted announcement for Pauper, specifically focusing on the implications of the "Seeker No More" changes. If you're grinding the 60-card fetchless format, you'll want to see how the meta is adapting to the latest bans. Read more here.
Are Competitive Players Fleeing to Riftbound? Jim Davis and the Brainstorm Buddies crew tackle a growing concern in the community: are competitive MTG formats languishing as players migrate to the highly anticipated Riftbound TCG? It's a fascinating deep dive into the current state of organized play. Check out the discussion.
QC Issues Plaguing Marvel Beginner Boxes? Multiple players are reporting an unidentified, easily removable "gunk" on cards pulled straight from Marvel Super Heroes Beginner boxes. Keep an eye on your pulls and maybe give your cheap cardboard a quick wipe before sleeving up. See the pictures.

Top Commanders of 2026 (So Far): Draftsim takes a look back at the first half of the year to rank the absolute best commanders released. With four sets already out, powerhouse cards like Ashling, the Limitless are completely warforming the format's power level. See who made the cut.
Building Unknown Event Legends: A player looking to break a Gen Con Unknown Event promo is asking the community for spicy tech for Genevieve, Conniving Dragon. It’s always a fun exercise figuring out how to bend mechanically bizarre playtest cards into functional EDH lists. Help them brew.
Damage is Mill: The latest episode of Commander Clash brings a wild format variant to the table: whenever a player takes damage, they mill that many cards instead. Expect absolute chaos as mill decks essentially become premium burn strategies. Watch the gameplay.

The Pro Tour Deck That Won By NOT Playing Magic: Sam Black's recent Pro Tour deck tech is making waves for all the right (and frustrating) reasons. This is the archetype that literally "tries to prevent both players from playing," a masterpiece of competitive prison magic that forces the opponent to scoop to board stalls. Read the breakdown.
"Don't Think, Just Jam" Legacy Sneak and Show: Looking to windmill slam an Emrakul on turn two? A new gameplay video explores the classic Legacy Sneak and Show archetype, proving that sometimes the best competitive strategy is just cheating massive Eldrazi into play as fast as possible. Watch the video.
Pioneer Format Borders Remain Firm: Mark Rosewater shut down speculation about Pioneer expanding its starting point to include the Innistrad block and M13. According to R&D, shifting the starting point of non-rotating formats is something they are highly skeptical of doing. Read MaRo's thoughts.

Marvel Super Heroes is a Draft Hit: Mark Rosewater reported that his 4th of July Marvel Super Heroes draft with work friends was a "huge success." While we wait for the official limited tier lists to drop, it's a great sign for the format's replayability if the head designer is enthusiastically firing pods on his holidays. See the post.

Weekly Winners: Marvel Staples Spike: MTGStocks' Weekly Winners highlights the heavy financial movers this week, and it's impossible to ignore the Marvel Super Heroes impact. Cards like Loki, God of Mischief and Black Widow, Agile Avenger are seeing massive spikes, alongside unexpected Legacy all-stars like Stronghold Gambit. Track the market.
Post-Marvel Market Correction: Draftsim's weekly price spike update notes that the initial feeding frenzy over Marvel Super Heroes cards is finally starting to cool off. Now is the time to hunt for deals on Standard and Pioneer staples as dealers adjust their inventory. Check the financial advice.
European Market Inflating? European grinders are noticing a steady creep in prices on CardTrader over on r/magicTCG. Despite the convenience of CardTrader Zero, players are debating whether the platform's pricing algorithms are artificially inflating the secondary market compared to Cardmarket. Join the discussion.

Blocks Are Never Coming Back: Despite fan desires for sets like Lorwyn Eclipsed and Strixhaven to get more breathing room for worldbuilding, MaRo definitively stated there are no plans for blocks to return. The data heavily indicates that players highly prefer the current single-set structure over the old three-set block model. Read the full answer.
The Future of Horror Planes: For fans of Innistrad, Phyrexia, and Duskmourn, MaRo confirmed that there is absolutely enough design space and player interest to keep doing new horror-adjacent sets. Start manifesting your dread for the next spooky plane! See the Q&A.
Upkeep vs. Precombat Main Phase Triggers: Have you ever wondered why certain card draw effects specify "precombat main phase" instead of the traditional upkeep? MaRo explained that R&D actively tries to avoid "tanking" on upkeep steps, as evaluating a complex board state before you know your draw artificially slows down tournament play. Get the insight.