Arena Craft Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Kaladesh Remastered Draft Overview with Cory Nov 16, 2020

Show notes

CGB takes a vacation this week as Arjuna welcomes Draft and Draft's Cory to the show! This week we're talking Kaladesh Remastered draft, and there's a lot to talk about. In this show we cover some of the most relevant archetypes you'll encounter in the draft: Temur Energy, GB Counters, UW Fliers / Tempo, Boros Aggro / Vehicles, BW Artifacts, and more. This set is incredibly deep, so listen to discover what is possible in the format and how to go about it.

See here for the complete Kaladesh Remastered spoiler

Find Cory's Draft and Draft podcast here. You can listen to Arjuna's guest episode on the show here.

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

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This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

Kaladesh Remastered Constructed Set Review Nov 09, 2020

Show notes

Kaladesh Remastered hits Historic this week, and it brings some serious jank and a few haymakers to the format. Going down the card list, there are actually a lot of cards that are set to become format staples, most notably the cycle of 'fast lands' that ETB untapped if you control 2 or fewer lands. However, we also get constructed staple Fatal Push, powerful counterspells like Disallow, fun haymakers like Aetherworks Marvel, and some solid players from Standard's past to try in the form of Energy and Vehicles decks. Historic is definitely set to get more interesting...

See here for the complete Kaladesh Remastered spoiler

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

CGB (Almost) Wins a Tournament, and MPL Meta Recap Nov 02, 2020

Show notes

Covertgoblue stood up for the podcast's honor this last week by winning his pod in the LFM Streamer Showdown, getting knocked out only by Standard master Brad Nelson who won the other pod. We share his reflections on the meta and his games, including some stonkers against some of the best Magic players of all time! Then we discuss the results of the MPL weekend and our thoughts as to the best decks currently in the format. Exciting times for Standard!

CGB's LFM Azorius Yorion Decklist

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

Standard Metagame Update and MPL Decklists Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

Standard is wide open, and with the MPL firing up over the past weekend, we have data to start to work with. Yorion looks to be a strong option, as does Rogues, although nobody can seem to agree on the best build of either. There are also plenty of other things to try – Gruul Aggro is continuing to put up good results, and decks like Rakdos Midrange and Temur Ramp still have some fight left in them. Enjoy this metagame before it gets solved...

MPL Decklists

Rivals Decklists

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

ZNR Draft Masterclass with Deathsie Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

Today, Arjuna is thrilled to welcome draft master Deathsie to the podcast... and Covertgoblue finds ways to stay awake while we discuss something other than his beloved Standard format. We go into how being on the play vs. the draw affects key Zendikar Rising mechanics like landfall, and how you need to be building your decks to be resilient on the draw. Deathsie also goes into his theory of removal (spoiler: a lot of it is overcosted and underperforming) and how to properly rate it. Hear more about what Deathsie prioritizes when firing up a ZNR draft...

Find Deathsie at his twitch stream and at deathsie.com.

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

MOAR BANS - Omnath, Clover, Escape get the boot Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

We thought it'd never happen... ok, that's not true. We thought it'd take a while... ok, actually, a lot of us were expecting Omnath to get banned today... AND IT DID! Cheetofingers has been unceremoniously ejected from Standard, Historic and Brawl. Also leaving Standard are Lucky Clover, as well as another card that both Covertgoblue and Arjuna are a little surprised to see leaving Standard – Escape To The Wilds. Lots to discuss and unpack here about what this means for Standard, and which decks are going to be top of the meta moving forward.

Also, we had Omnath banned in Historic, and an unforseen unsuspending of Burning Tree Emissary. Gruul's back on the menu! We both like all of these announcements very much, and are predicting the Arena metagames to be approaching a period of relative balance and, dare we say it... fun.

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

ZNR Standard Week 2 – Guess Who? Oct 05, 2020

Show notes

And then they banned Uro. And then everybody kept playing Omnath. The end. Also, the beginning. Of more discussion about Omnath. So if you were looking for a port in the storm of Omnath, we offer no safe harbor here. Today, we go over tournament results from Red Bull France and midway through the CFB Clash Showdown. Rogues, 4C Omnath Adventures, Mono Green, and some interesting Rakdos and Grixis lists help to flesh out the format somewhat. We're not clear where this is all going to end up, but one thing that is clear: Omnath, Omnath, Omnath...

CFB Clash tournament results and decklists

Red Bull France Qualifier results and decklists

Arjuna's Boros Party Time BO1 list

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

BREAKING: Uro Banned In Standard Sep 28, 2020

Show notes

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, and NO OTHER CARDS, banned in Standard. Covertgoblue and Arjuna dive into what this means, and why Standard will continue to be broken until Omnath is banned.

Read the announcement directly from Wizards.

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

DanyTLaw Weighs In On The Elemental In the Room Sep 28, 2020

Show notes

So. Much. To. Talk. About. This. Week! We have a week of Zendikar Rising Standard under our belts, and it has been very revealing... of how busted these Omnath decks are. Neither aggro nor control has been definitely able to keep them down, and midrange is a laughable joke by comparison. We discuss the different angles we and others have been taking to attack this deck: Monogreen Aggro by Rumti. Gruul Adventure by Jason Fleurant. Azorius and Dimir Control by Covertgoblue and DanyTLaw. The announcement of an announcement didn't help any, leading us to speculate which cards will get banned on Monday. We were all pretty sure an Uro ban was incoming, but we didn't think that alone would be enough to correct the format... we shall see, we shall see.

Find DanyTLaw on his Twitch stream and YouTube channel. Listen to his podcast with Jason Fleurant and Seth Manfield, Planeswalker Diaries.

Rumti's Monogreen Aggro List

Jason Fleurant's Gruul Adventure List

Covertgoblue's Dimir Control List

Covertgoblue's Azorius Control List

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.

Omnath Rules ZNR Standard Week 1 Sep 21, 2020

Show notes

Zendikar Rising Standard week 1 is here, and SURPRISE surprise... the Uro ramp deck is insane. Specifically the Omnath one. Covertgoblue predicted accurately that this card would be at the top of the format, and oh baby was he ever on the money! These Omnath decks are pretty consistently going off turn 4 or 5, playing their whole deck and killing with alarming speed. This is not Gyruda all over again. This is a bold new villain in the Standard metagame, so we're going to have to return to the drawing board, bring in our interaction, and sketch up a plan for how we're going to combat it.

Covertgoblue's Rogues decklist. Watch his video here.

Arjuna's RG landfall decklist.

Find Covertgoblue on his YouTube channel and at his personal site.

Find Arena Craft on:

This show features the track 'Real Virtuality' from Eero Johannes released on the Sound Pellegrino label and is used with permission.